Spritesheet-to-Spritesheet Style Transfer with Generative AI?

TL;DR: Not really. Perhaps with right fine-tuning it would but not out of the box.

Doing a short experiment to see if spritesheets generated by Universial LPC Spritesheet Generator can be remixed using image-to-image generative AI pipelines.

Source image is 1024×1024 cropped image of walk cycle generated by Universial LPC Spritesheet Generator after applying 4x zoom). Attribution is at the bottom of this page.

We are using 4x zoom, because our understanding is that VAE used in Flux1 models end up with compression artifacts if we use smaller zoom levels.

The question is can we adjust the overall character style without retouching every pixel manually.

Edit Model in Flux Playground

First, we will be testing out Edit model in Flux Playground.

Prompt: Convert the ALL sixteen characters into chibi style

While it did create some chibi style characters as instructed. It broke overall poses. As you can see, it is kinda hit or miss.

FLUX.1 Kontext [pro]

Layout is kept but poses are broken.

MJ Retexture

Same prompt. It completely changes the image.

Sora

I like the quality of these new pixel arts but poses and layouts are broken.

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Conclusion

Again, all this is anecdotal, but I didn’t find any good model that would be able to translate characters styles given a sprite sheet.

Perhaps with right set of fine-tuning this would be possible, but not out of the box.

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Attribution

body/bodies/teen/light.png
    - Note: see details at https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-character-bases; 'Thick' Male Revised Run/Climb by JaidynReiman (based on ElizaWy's LPC Revised)
    - Licenses:
        - OGA-BY 3.0
        - CC-BY-SA 3.0
        - GPL 3.0
    - Authors:
        - bluecarrot16
        - Evert
        - TheraHedwig
        - Benjamin K. Smith (BenCreating)
        - MuffinElZangano
        - Durrani
        - Pierre Vigier (pvigier)
        - Eliza Wyatt (ElizaWy)
        - Matthew Krohn (makrohn)
        - Johannes Sjölund (wulax)
        - Stephen Challener (Redshrike)
    - Links:
        - https://opengameart.org/content/liberated-pixel-cup-lpc-base-assets-sprites-map-tiles
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-medieval-fantasy-character-sprites
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-ladies
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-teen-unisex-base-clothes
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-jump-expanded
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-revised-character-basics
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-be-seated
        - https://gitlab.com/vagabondgame/lpc-characters
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-male-jumping-animation-by-durrani
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-jump-expanded

head/heads/human/male/light.png
    - Note: original head by Redshrike, tweaks by BenCreating, modular version by bluecarrot16
    - Licenses:
        - OGA-BY 3.0
        - CC-BY-SA 3.0
        - GPL 3.0
    - Authors:
        - bluecarrot16
        - Benjamin K. Smith (BenCreating)
        - Stephen Challener (Redshrike)
    - Links:
        - https://opengameart.org/content/liberated-pixel-cup-lpc-base-assets-sprites-map-tiles
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-character-bases

head/faces/male/neutral/light.png
    - Note: Original by Redshrike, Expressions by ElizaWy, mapped to all frames by JaidynReiman
    - Licenses:
        - OGA-BY 3.0
    - Authors:
        - JaidynReiman
        - ElizaWy
        - Stephen Challener (Redshrike)
    - Links:
        - https://github.com/ElizaWy/LPC/tree/main/Characters/Head
        - https://opengameart.org/content/ulpc-expanded-expressions

hair/ponytail/adult/fg/ash.png
    - Note: 
    - Licenses:
        - CC-BY-SA 3.0
        - GPL 3.0
    - Authors:
        - JaidynReiman
        - Manuel Riecke (MrBeast)
    - Links:
        - https://opengameart.org/content/liberated-pixel-cup-lpc-base-assets-sprites-map-tiles
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-expanded-hair

hair/ponytail/adult/bg/ash.png
    - Note: 
    - Licenses:
        - CC-BY-SA 3.0
        - GPL 3.0
    - Authors:
        - JaidynReiman
        - Manuel Riecke (MrBeast)
    - Links:
        - https://opengameart.org/content/liberated-pixel-cup-lpc-base-assets-sprites-map-tiles
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-expanded-hair

dress/kimono/normal/universal/female/blue.png
    - Note: 
    - Licenses:
        - OGA-BY 3.0+
        - CC-BY 3.0+
        - GPL 3.0
    - Authors:
        - JaidynReiman
        - Stephen Challener (Redshrike)
        - Johannes Sjölund (wulax)
    - Links:
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-kimono-relm

torso/clothes/shortsleeve/shortsleeve_polo/teen/white.png
    - Note: original by ElizaWy; spellcast/thrust/shoot/hurt/male adapted from original by JaidynReiman
    - Licenses:
        - OGA-BY 3.0
    - Authors:
        - ElizaWy
        - JaidynReiman
        - Stephen Challener (Redshrike)
        - Johannes Sjölund (wulax)
    - Links:
        - http://opengameart.org/content/lpc-revised-character-basics
        - https://github.com/ElizaWy/LPC/tree/main/Characters/Clothing
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-expanded-sit-run-jump-more
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-expanded-simple-shirts

legs/pants/thin/leather.png
    - Note: original male pants by wulax, edited for female by Joe White, recolors and edits to v3 base by bluecarrot16, teen legs by ElizaWy derived from base, climb/jump/run/sit/emotes/revised combat by JaidynReiman based on ElizaWy's LPC Revised
    - Licenses:
        - OGA-BY 3.0
        - GPL 3.0
        - CC-BY-SA 3.0
    - Authors:
        - bluecarrot16
        - JaidynReiman
        - ElizaWy
        - Joe White
        - Matthew Krohn (makrohn)
        - Johannes Sjölund (wulax)
        - Stephen Challener (Redshrike)
    - Links:
        - https://opengameart.org/content/liberated-pixel-cup-lpc-base-assets-sprites-map-tiles
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-medieval-fantasy-character-sprites
        - http://opengameart.org/content/lpc-clothing-updates
        - https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-expanded-pants