Skinning Editor

The Skinning Editor becomes available in the Sprite Editor after you install the 2D Animation package. The Skinning Editor is your main tool for creating the skeleton rig and weights necessary for animation from your imported character artwork.

To select the Skinning Editor follow the steps below:

1. Select the imported Asset and select the Sprite Editor.
2. Select the Skinning Editor module from the dropdown menu in the Sprite Editor window. The following options and tools then appear.

The following are the Skinning Editor’s tools, their functions, and shortcuts:

Tool	Default Shortcut	Function
Reset Pose	Shift + 1	Restore a character’s bones and joints to their original positions.
Toggle View Mode	Shift + 2	Switch between the Character and Sprite Sheet view
Copy	Ctrl + C	Copy the data from the current selection.
Paste	Ctrl + V	Pastes the copied data.
Paste	Shift + B	Show additional pasting options.
Visibility	Shift + P	Toggle visibility of selected Sprites or bones.
Preview Pose	Shift + Q	Preview character poses after rigging.
Edit Joints	Shift + W	Reposition the bones into a new positions. These changes are automatically saved as the default bind pose for the Restore Bind Pose tool. Sprite geometry does not deform with the bones in this mode, even if the bones are attached as influencers.
Create Bone	Shift + E	Click and drag to create bones.
Split Bone	Shift + R	Splits the selected bone.
Auto Geometry	Shift + A	Select to auto-generate Meshes for Sprites.
Edit Geometry	Shift + S	Edit generated Meshes by repositioning vertices.
Create Vertex	Shift + D	Create new vertices to create geometry.
Create Edge	Shift + G	Create new edges to create geometry.
Split Edge	Shift + H	Split an existing edge into two.
Auto Weights	Shift + Z	Auto-generate weights for geometry.
Weight Slider	Shift + X	Adjust weights via slider control.
Weight Brush	Shift + C	Adjust weights by painting with a brush.
Bone Influence	Shift + V	Select which bones influence a Sprite.
Toggle Tool Text	Shift + `	Show or hide text on tool buttons.

The Sprite Visibility panel is found on the right side of the Skinning Editor. It controls the visibility of the Sprite Meshes and bones in the Skinning Editor window, and displays the Sprites according to their Layer and Group order in the source art file (see image below). Refer to the Sprite Visibility panel page for more details of the panel’s functions.

Selecting a Sprite

To select a Sprite in the Skinning Editor window:

1. Double-click a Sprite to select it.
2. If there are multiple Sprites that overlay each other, double-click to cycle through all Sprites at the cursor location.
3. Double-click on a blank area to deselect all Sprites.

Selecting Bone and Mesh Vertices

To select a bone or Mesh vertex:

1. Click a bone or Mesh vertex to select it.
2. Click and drag a selection box over multiple bones or vertices to select them at once.
3. Right click to deselect any selected bone or Mesh vertices.