Spine 4.2 export
Spine export for game engines
Every Spine 2D AI animation made with Animate4Me is delivered as standard Spine 4.2 data in one zip file. This page explains what is in the zip, the licence you need, and which game engines can play the export.
You can download an example export (3.3 MB) and open it before you buy anything.
What is in the zip?
skeleton.json: the Spine 4.2 skeleton data with bones, weighted meshes and the animations you chose.skeleton.atlas: the texture atlas description.- The PNG texture pages, straight alpha.
- A README file.
The skeleton uses bones and weighted meshes. Each template you chose is a named animation in skeleton.json, for example idle, win or open_idle. Idle loops are loop-perfect, and win returns to the first frame of idle, so the two chain without a jump.
Is it a Spine editor project?
No. The export is Spine 4.2 data, not a .spine editor project. For template animations you do not need to open an editor at all. If you own the Spine editor, you can import the JSON and keep editing.
Do I need a Spine licence?
The exported files are yours. To play them inside your own product with an official Spine Runtime you need your own Spine license from Esoteric Software, the same as for any Spine export.
Animate4Me does not sell or include a Spine licence. Spine is a trademark of Esoteric Software; Animate4Me is not affiliated.
Which game engines can use the export?
Any engine with a Spine 4.2 runtime: PixiJS, Phaser, Unity, Godot, Unreal, Cocos and plain web players among them.
The previews on animate4me.com are rendered live in the browser by the official Spine runtime 4.2, so what you see before download is the same data you receive.
How do I use the files in my game?
- Keep
skeleton.json,skeleton.atlasand the PNG pages together; the atlas refers to the pages by file name. - Load the skeleton and the atlas with your engine's Spine 4.2 runtime, following that runtime's own documentation.
- Play an animation by its template name, such as
idleorwin. - The texture pages use straight alpha. If your runtime setup assumes premultiplied alpha, set it to straight alpha for these files.
The version matters: the files are Spine 4.2 data, so use a runtime made for Spine 4.2.
What are the other formats?
Today the export is Spine 2D only: Spine 4.2 JSON, atlas and PNG pages. Live2D is not exported yet.
How much does an export cost?
The export is included in every animation. A symbol or object from your image costs 20 tokens, from a prompt 30 tokens, a character 60 tokens from your image or 70 tokens from a prompt, and a text edit 5 tokens.
Tokens come with a monthly plan: Indie $19 a month for 300 tokens, Studio $59 a month for 1200 tokens, Pro $199 a month for 5000 tokens. Yearly billing costs $190, $590 and $1,990 a year. Subscribers can add one-time top-ups from $9 for 100 tokens; top-ups need an active plan. There is no free trial and there are no free tokens. Payments are by card through Stripe, sold through Link. All purchases are final, see the Refund Policy; if an animation fails on our side, its tokens are returned automatically.
Questions and answers
What is in the exported zip?
A Spine 4.2 export: skeleton.json, skeleton.atlas, the PNG texture pages with straight alpha, and a README file.
Which game engines can use the export?
Any engine with a Spine 4.2 runtime: PixiJS, Phaser, Unity, Godot, Unreal, Cocos and plain web players among them.
Is the export a Spine editor project?
No. The export is Spine 4.2 data, not a .spine editor project. If you own the Spine editor, you can import the JSON and keep editing.
Do I need a Spine licence?
The exported files are yours. To play them inside your own product with an official Spine Runtime you need your own Spine license from Esoteric Software, the same as for any Spine export.