Hey all, I am having an issue with trying to blend an animation back to the static art once it finishes. The workflow involves creating the animation in Spine then export the MOV file for After Effects for the final animation. The exported MOV file has some artifacts here and there and some aliasing that make it difficult to blend back smoothly to the static artwork.
To address the pixel perfect issues and artifacts you're experiencing when exporting MOV files from Spine for use in After Effects, here are some steps and considerations:
Export Settings: Ensure that your export settings in Spine are optimized for high quality. This includes setting a higher resolution and checking the Anisotropic filtering under Settings > Viewport > Smoothing, which can improve rendering at smaller sizes.
Image Size and Resolution: Export your images or MOV files at a higher resolution to avoid aliasing and artifacts. As mentioned in the context, exporting at a low resolution can lead to aliasing artifacts at the borders of rotated or distorted attachments.
Smoothing Settings: If you are working with pixel art and want to avoid any smoothing, you can set the Smoothing parameter to 0 to get nearest-neighbour filtering. However, this might introduce staircase aliasing artifacts.
Transparent Image Trick: If you are experiencing issues with the exported frames not being centered, you can use a transparent image that covers the entire area to ensure that the setup pose is correctly sized. This trick can help Spine understand the size and avoid cropping issues.
Check for Artifacts: If you notice artifacts in the exported MOV files, it might be related to the filtering and interpolation settings. Enabling MSAA (Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing) in the settings can help reduce these artifacts.
Spine Version: Ensure you are using the latest version of Spine, as there have been improvements in exporting features in newer versions. For example, Spine 4.1 has improved exporting capabilities.
Reproduction Case: If the problem persists, consider creating a reproduction case and sharing it with the support team. This can help identify specific issues related to your project setup.
By following these steps, you should be able to reduce artifacts and achieve a smoother blend between your animation and static artwork.
NikoDeGallo Sorry for the trouble. In order to check this issue in more detail, could you show us your export settings?
So if I use Nearest Neighbor Smoothing then it removes the artifacts from the animation when the assets are in their original poses but then of course the whole animation suffers...In the animation the different elements come back to rest at their original poses at different times otherwise I would just export 1 nearest neighbor and 1 with smoothing then blend them in AE. I can separate all the parts and export them separately then combine them in AE and fix it that way, just looking to see if there is a workaround in Spine.
Export 1 Settings:
Export 1 Frame 1:
Export 1 Frame 4:
Export 2 Settings:
Export 2 Frame 1:
Export 2 Frame 4:
NikoDeGallo Thank you for showing us your export settings! According to the results of the check with our example skeleton, I have confirmed that there is no discrepancy when adding the MOV and PNG files exported from Spine sequentially, but the problem you are experiencing is that if the PNG file was exported from another software, it does not match the appearance of the MOV file exported from Spine, right? I think that setting the Smoothing to the maximum value of 11 might reduce the artifacts, but it might actually be difficult to make it look the same as a PNG exported by another software. So it might be better to uncheck the Include last frame box and use a PNG exported from another software to fill in the final frame.
