Animated game sprite generation

A workflow for generating consistent animated sprite sheets using AI image models (GPT Image 1.5, Nano Banana 2, or similar). The key insight: generate full animation strips from a single anchor frame, not frame-by-frame.

Core workflow

1. Start from a shipped seed frame

Anchor the model to an actual production sprite, not a loose concept. This locks in palette, proportions, line weight, and shading direction.

2. Build a reference canvas

Don't send the raw sprite directly. Upscale with nearest-neighbor and place into a larger transparent canvas (1024x1024) with reserved frame slots.

# Upscale a 64x64 sprite to fit in a 1024x1024 edit canvas
# with reserved slots for animation frames