2D Character Rigging: File Naming for Body Part Assets

In this blog post we learn how to name character body parts to organize your files and speed up 2D skeletal animation setup.

When you prepare your character for animation, you split it into a number of segments. Each segment has its own name. When you have several of such segments, it’s ok to name them randomly. But when you have several dozens of segments, random naming can make a huge mess in your files.

Here are some tips to help you avoid a mess:

● Specify Left or Right — when you have paired segments you need to specify which side they are to distinguish them. But it’s up to you where the right or left side is: from your point of view or from the point of view of your character.

The first way (from your point of view) is easier and faster because you don't have to put yourself in the place of the character each time.

● Add numbers to names of replaceable segments — when you have several segments for one part of the body in different positions/states (f.e. positions of hands, mouth, eyes and feet), you can add numbers to their names (00, _01, _02) instead of describing their position (opened, _closed).

● Name segments as you wish, so you could understand their meaning, and do it constantly. Sooner or later, it will speed up and automate your workflow.