Flipbook Maker

Module: Art · Category: VFX · Tool ID: FlipbookMaker

A four-mode sprite-sheet builder. Assembles flipbook textures from any of: a folder of image frames on disk, a SkeletalMesh captured frame-by-frame in the level, a video file or EXR/PNG sequence, or a hand-picked set of Content Browser textures. Output is a single sprite sheet texture with live preview, animated playback, and one-click PNG or UAsset export.

Tool open with a SkeletalCapture run completed, sprite sheet preview visible on the right, animated playback running.

When to use it

• Building VFX flipbook textures (smoke, fire, explosions) from offline-rendered frame sequences
• Capturing a character’s animation cycle as a sprite sheet for billboard impostors or 2D fallbacks
• Converting a video reference into a frame-flippable texture
• Assembling hand-picked Content Browser textures into a sheet for use in particle systems or UI

What it isn’t for

• Don’t use this for live runtime sprite sheets. It’s an authoring tool that produces a static texture.
• Don’t expect this to render Niagara directly. For that, use real-time capture in your particle system.

Opening the tool

1. Open the EQLabs Hub and search for Flipbook (or browse to Art → VFX).
2. Click the tool card.
3. Pick a mode from the mode switcher at the top of the panel.

The four modes

Mode 1: Image Sequence

Import a folder of pre-rendered frame images.

Field	What it does
Image Folder	Folder containing the frame images (loaded in alphabetical order)
Browse	Picks the folder via OS dialog

Mode 2: Skeletal Capture

Capture frames from an animated SkeletalMesh in the level.

Field	What it does	Default
SkeletalMesh	Mesh to capture	(empty)
AnimSequence	Animation to play during capture	(empty)
Frame Count	How many frames to capture	16
Capture Resolution	Per-frame resolution before tiling	512
View Angle	Front / Back / Left / Right / Top / Bottom / 3/4 Perspective	Front
Capture FOV	Camera FOV (degrees)	45
Background Mode	Transparent / Solid Color / Level/Scene	Transparent
Lighting Preset	Studio 3-Point / Outdoor Sun / Dramatic Rim / Flat Ambient	Studio 3-Point
Capture Background Color	Used when Background Mode = Solid Color	(transparent black)

The capture spawns a temporary actor + lighting rig per the chosen preset, runs the animation, captures each frame at the chosen view angle, then tiles them.

Mode 3: Video Sequence

Extract frames from a video file or EXR/PNG sequence on disk.

Field	What it does	Default
Video File	Path to the source video / sequence	(empty)
Extract Frames	How many frames to sample	16
Start / End Time	Time range (seconds, normalized)	0.0 / 1.0

Mode 4: Content Browser Textures

Pick textures from the Content Browser, reorder them, and assemble.

Action	What it does
Add from Content Browser	Adds the currently-selected Content Browser textures to the frame list
Remove Selected	Removes selected rows
Move Up / Down	Reorder frames

Shared output settings

These apply across all four modes:

Field	What it does	Default
Output Resolution	Per-frame size in the final sheet	256
Columns	Number of columns in the sheet grid	4
Max Frames	Cap on total frames (rows × columns)	64
Background Color	Sheet background fill	(transparent)

Tool with a sprite sheet generated, animation preview playing at 15 FPS, scrubber visible.

Workflow

Step 1: Pick a mode

The mode switcher at the top routes the rest of the panel to the right input controls.

Step 2: Configure the mode-specific inputs

Each mode has its own block (see “The four modes” above).

Step 3: Set the shared output (resolution, columns, background)

The defaults work for most VFX uses (256 × 256 per frame, 4 × 4 grid = 16 frames).

Step 4: Generate

Click Generate. The sprite sheet preview populates. Use the animation preview controls (Play / Pause / FPS / scrubber) to verify timing.

Step 5: Export

Action	Output
Export PNG	Sprite sheet as .png to disk
Export Asset	Sprite sheet as a UTexture2D UAsset in the Content Browser
Export Manifest	Plain-text frame manifest (frame paths, ordering)

Settings reference

Per-mode settings persist via the standard EQLabs settings system to [Project]/Saved/EQLabs/Settings/FlipbookMaker.json.

Output

• Live preview. Sprite sheet visible in the panel, with Play/Pause/FPS animated playback.
• PNG file. Via Export PNG.
• UTexture2D asset. Via Export Asset (saved to Content Browser at the configured asset path).
• Frame manifest. Via Export Manifest (text file listing frame ordering).

Tips and gotchas

• Image Sequence mode loads in alphabetical order. Name your frames with zero-padded indices (frame_001, frame_002) to ensure correct ordering.
• Skeletal Capture’s “Transparent” background mode hides the level. The temporary capture actor is rendered against an empty scene with the chosen lighting preset.
• Frame count × resolution can spike memory. 64 frames × 1024px is a 256MB allocation. Stay reasonable.
• The 3/4 Perspective view angle is usually the most useful for character flipbooks. Front and Back are flat.
• Video Sequence mode extracts at evenly-spaced times. For non-linear extraction, pre-export your video to a frame sequence and use Image Sequence mode instead.
• Particle Sheet Generator was absorbed into this tool (P19). Content Browser Textures mode replaces the standalone tool.

Related tools

• Niagara Profiler — for analyzing Niagara systems that consume flipbooks
• Texture Sheet Splitter — the inverse operation: split a sheet into individual textures
• Atlas Studio — when you need a packed atlas instead of a uniform-grid flipbook