Sheetah

For After Effects · Version 3

Animation in. Sprite sheet out.

Sheetah renders your comp and packs a production-ready spritesheet, plus the data file your engine needs, in one click. No exporting frames by hand, no external packer, no cleanup.

Get Sheetah on aescriptsSee how it packs

Free trial · After Effects 2022+ · Windows & macOS

The same 24-frame animation exported twice, as a 1600 by 1600 classic grid and as a 1024 by 512 smart atlas, five times smaller.

Watch

See it work

Sheetah V3 in 72 secondsWhat it does, both packing modes, and the export formats.
The full tutorial, start to finishInstall, your first sprite sheet, the Smart Packer, exporters, preview, import and keyframes. Just under four minutes.

Features

Everything between comp and engine

One panel handles the whole trip from timeline to texture atlas. Version 3 is a complete rewrite, and everything except the one-click export is new.

  • One-click export

    Pick a comp, press Create Spritesheet. Sheetah renders the frames, packs the atlas and writes the image plus a data file that remembers every frame.

  • New in V3

    The Smart Packer

    Optimal bin-packing algorithms fit every frame like a puzzle. Trim, extrude, padding, multipack and power-of-two sizes, all handled for you.

  • New in V3

    Live preview

    Scrub every frame of the packed sheet right inside the panel, on any background, before you export.

  • New in V3

    Round-trip import

    Import any spritesheet, even ones Sheetah did not make, and get a live, editable composition back.

  • New in V3

    Keyframes as code

    The Animations tab keyframes your sprite frames on a slider and exports the data as C#, GDScript, C++, CSV or JSON.

  • New in V3

    Custom exporters

    Need a format nobody ships? Write a simple Mustache template and Sheetah picks it up automatically.

Two packing modes

Classic grid, or the Smart Packer.

Both modes ship in every licence. These are the real files Sheetah wrote from the same 24-frame animation, not mock-ups.

The classic grid export: 24 frames in 5 by 5 same-size cells on a 1600 by 1600 sheet.
Classic grid1600 × 1600 px · 5 × 5 cellsExact rows and columns you choose, every frame in a same-size cell. Predictable, with scan direction and axis control. When your runtime expects frame N in cell N, this is your mode.
The Smart Packer export: the same 24 frames trimmed and fitted into a 1024 by 512 sheet.
Smart Packer 5× smaller1024 × 512 px · same 24 framesOptimal bin-packing finds the tightest layout automatically. Frames are trimmed and fitted like a puzzle, with padding, extrude, multipack and power-of-two sizes handled for you.

The dashed boxes are the frame rectangles from the data file Sheetah wrote, numbered in playback order.

Inside After Effects

One dockable panel, four tabs

Sheetah docks next to your comp, so everything happens where the animation already is: no image sequences to export, no command-line packer, no re-importing. Here is every tab, exactly as it looks in After Effects.

The Export tab with the Smart Packer selected.
Export · Smart PackerAlgorithm, dimensions, padding and extrude, scaling, output format.
The Export tab in Grid mode with columns and rows.
Export · GridColumns and rows, scan direction and axis, the same output settings.
PreviewReal playback inside the panel: scrub frames, set the FPS, check edges on light or dark backgrounds.
The Import tab, rebuilding a composition from a sprite sheet.
ImportRebuild a live composition from any sheet, with a data file or by slicing a grid.
The Animations tab with Setup Animation and Export Keyframes.
AnimationsKeyframe sprite indices on a slider, then export them as code or data.

How it works

Three steps, no cleanup

  1. 01

    Pick your comp

    Any composition works, character animation, effects, UI, pixel art.

  2. 02

    Press Create Spritesheet

    Sheetah renders every frame, trims and packs the atlas, and writes the image plus the data file.

  3. 03

    Drop it in your engine

    The data format matches your target, so the sheet just works, frames, order and timing included.

Output

One click. Any engine.

Sheetah writes the frame data in the format your target reads, so the sheet drops straight into your project.

  • Unreal Engine

    Unreal Engine

    Paper2D sprite data, ready to import.

  • Unity

    Unity

    Sprite atlas metadata for the Unity importer.

  • Godot

    Godot

    Frame data your Godot scenes can read directly.

And every other format

  • Phaser
  • Spine
  • Starling
  • Cocos2d
  • Pixi
  • JSON
  • XML
  • CSS
  • Egret
  • UIKit
  • Custom Mustache

FAQ

Good questions

Is there a free trial?

Yes. Download Sheetah from aescripts and run it in trial mode to test everything on your own project before buying.

Which After Effects versions are supported?

After Effects 2022 or newer, on Windows and macOS.

My engine is not on the list. Can I still use Sheetah?

Very likely. Sheetah writes plain JSON, XML and CSS out of the box, and you can add any text-based format with a small Mustache template, no coding required.

Can Sheetah read sheets it did not create?

Yes. The Import tab rebuilds a live composition from any spritesheet plus its data file, even ones made by other tools.

Try Sheetah on your own animation

The free trial runs inside your After Effects, with your comps. When it clicks, one license takes the sheet all the way to production.

Get Sheetah on aescripts