User blog:D Man o3o/How to setup and use BluuArc's BFFrameAnimator

Resources BFFrameAnimator v2.1.2 (direct download link):

https://github.com/BluuArc/BFFrameAnimator/releases/download/v2.1.2/BFFrameAnimator-2.1.2.jar

Github:

https://github.com/BluuArc/BFFrameAnimator - Tutorial This Blog is to help you set up and use the BFFrameAnimator to generate sprites either for your own needs or to upload to the Wiki.

Notice:This generator can sometimes cause some frames to have a yellow BG, if that is the case you will need to look up and download a program called GIMP if you do not own Photoshop.

Downloading and setting up the BFFrameAnimator ''Please make sure you have downloaded and/or updated Java prior to setting this up. This will prevent problems from occurring.''

Basic knowledge on how to open and use the Command Prompt (cmd.exe) is required.

Step 1. Download and save the .jar file to the root folder. To check which folder it is, open the cmd.exe program and it will show you a folder destination. That is the folder you will be placing it in.

NOTE: If you want to change the location of the file to be somewhere different, you will have to manually type the path to the file before pasting the text found in Step 5.

Step 2.

Make a folder where you will save and store everything (you can name this whatever you want). Inside that folder, you will need to make 2 more folders and 1 .txt file which can easily be made in Notepad.
 * The first folder is the Destination folder which I name GIFs. If you would rather call it something else that's fine. This is the folder where all the sprites will be generated to. You can make multiple folders inside this one to organize your generations but just be sure when prompted to you open this folder up and select the folder inside you want to generate them to.


 * The second folder is the Parent Directory folder named Units. This one I recommend not changing the name of, nor the names of the folders that will be within it. This is the folder that you will store the sprite sheet and necessary files for the units you are generating. The folders in this one will be named after the unit IDs which is important to name correctly for the .txt file to work properly.


 * The .txt file (which you can name whatever, I just use list.txt) is a text file with the IDs of the units you want to generate. You can generate multiple units at a time simply by putting a new ID on the next line.

Step 3.

This step requires you to gather all the necessary files to generate the sprite.

Open the following link up. (Just for example purposes, we will be using the GL XML)

http://2.cdn.bravefrontier.gumi.sg/content/unit/img/unit_anime_xxxxx.png

Where the X's are is where you will put the unit ID. If done correctly, a sprite sheet will pop up. Save that sprite sheet in the Units folder in a folder named after that unit's ID.

' Do not change any names of the files downloaded! '

After this is downloaded, you will need to download csv files which tell the program which animation to generate.

Using the link earlier, erase the text all the way until you get to /content/

Paste the following, replacing the X's with the unit ID just like before.

unit/cgg/unit_cgg_xxxxxx.csv

unit/cgs/unit_idle_cgs_xxxxxx.csv

unit/cgs/unit_atk_cgs_xxxxxx.csv

unit/cgs/unit_move_cgs_xxxxxx.csv If the unit is stationary (ex. Vashi) then they will not have this file as they immediately go from Idle to Atk.

You will know you did the .csv files right because a download prompt will pop up. If one didn't, either the file isn't there or you messed up the link somewhere.

As an example, here are all the files for the unit Carnal Domina Beatrix

http://2.cdn.bravefrontier.gumi.sg/content/unit/img/unit_anime_860518.png

http://2.cdn.bravefrontier.gumi.sg/content/unit/cgg/unit_cgg_860518.csv

http://2.cdn.bravefrontier.gumi.sg/content/unit/cgs/unit_idle_cgs_860518.csv

http://2.cdn.bravefrontier.gumi.sg/content/unit/cgs/unit_atk_cgs_860518.csv

http://2.cdn.bravefrontier.gumi.sg/content/unit/cgs/unit_move_cgs_860518.csv

Step 4.

Open/Create(if you haven't done so yet) the .txt file and make sure its completely empty with no spaces.

Type in the ID of the unit and save the file. If you generate more than one unit, press enter and type in the next.

Step 5.

With the Command Prompt still open, paste the following text in there and press enter

java -jar BFFrameAnimator-2.1.2.jar

This will launch the Java program. Follow the on-screen prompts to guide you through it.

It will always ask for destination first and parent directory after. Make sure you also edit the .txt file to have the unit ID that you want to generate prior to this.

When it asks for the Parent Directory, make sure you select the Units folder and not the ID folder. The .txt file reads the IDs you put in there and selects the folders according to what you wrote in the file.

Afterwards you will get a bunch of questions regarding how you want it generated such as transparency, if you want the normal generation or the Wiki generation, etc.

If you do generate it using the Wiki generation, this will only do the idle animation as it is meant to realign the sprite to fit perfectly in the animation box.

Step 6.

Now you play the waiting game as everything generates. Just uh....play a game or something....I don't know. It's a slightly lengthy process so you'll be there for a little while.

Step 7.

After the sprite is done, it will tell you if any errors have occurred (i.e. the yellow BG), if this happens, regenerate the sprite and select to generate all frames individually and replace the messed up frame in an image editor that supports animation like GIMP or Photoshop. If you fear this will happen, you can always just generate them individually on your first generation.

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AND VOILA! You should now have the unit animations generated.

If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to leave a comment below or message me on my wall.

Thank you for taking your time to read this~