Is it possible to have a Atlas-File, or Spriter JSON / XML-File? Spriter has an open documented format, but Spine also. There are plugIns for Photoshop and Affinity Designer, that could setup the JSON for Spine, but we would need to have seperate PNGs for the limbs on the bones and so on.
The PNG export does only export the complete image? We don't get the scaled parts of the body? If you would export the parts of the body, your CC2D could be the Reallusion Character Creator 3 and Spine / Spriter would be the Reallusion iClone. Also it could make more sense for body-part-export+JSON Atlas for Blender-Animations or any other 2D animation tool. DragenBones, Godot, Kestrelmoon Creatur
Kestrelmoon Creatur: https://www.kestrelmoon.com/creaturedocs/Rigging/Rigging_Description.html
Spine: http://de.esotericsoftware.com/spine-api-reference
Spriter: http://www.brashmonkey.com/spriter_manual/creating%20and%20assigning%20bones.htm
Godot: https://docs.godotengine.org/de/stable/tutorials/animation/2d_skeletons.html
DragonBones API Docs: http://docs.egret.com/dragonbones/en/docs/api/dragonBones.Animation
DragenBones is Part of Egret Game Engine: https://developer.egret.com/en/list/example/id/13
Also there a many game engines, that are not Unity, that support Skeletton animations, App Game Kit e.g. supports FBX, Spriter, Spine. Creatur can import Spine files and export as FBX.
If you could create layered photoshop files, you people could use scripts to build up on that: https://github.com/EsotericSoftware/spine-scripts/tree/master/photoshop
The potential for your CharacterCreator2D is great, but most animators, visual designers, artists, are not in the Unity ecosystem. And if we only can export as a complete Sprite-Sheet, a game creator, artist or any person in the pipeline would have to start from scratch again. If you would provide a bunch of skeletton animations, maybe it is not as complecated, the steps would be as following:
- pre-created Spine or Spriter animation, maybe both. That is some work, but would be possible.
- scale the sekelloton with a procedure in the Setup pose and you are done.
- export your created and scaled parts fixed to an texture Atlas or as seperate sprites.
there are also Atlas tools around.
TexturePacker: https://www.codeandweb.com/texturepacker
ShoeBox: https://renderhjs.net/shoebox/
SpriteUV2: https://www.spriteuv.com/
First thing would be, is it possible, that you could export only one limb / body part as PNG?
If that is possible, the rest is "easy". A texture Atlas is only a simple file, where X, Y, and the size of the Sprite are written in text-format
What Game Maker Studio 2 and other programs can do, is import a Standard-Skeletton with Animation and use e.g. Spines Attachment or Skinning functions to swap the body-parts out. But we would need to have the before created bodyparts from your CC2D to make that happen.