Roblox flipbook templates

A Roblox flipbook is one square image split into a grid of frames, which a ParticleEmitter plays one after another on each particle. The templates below are the three grids Roblox reads, drawn on a transparent 1024 px square with every frame numbered in the order Roblox plays them, so you can draw straight into the cells.

Download the templates

• 2x2 template: 4 frames of 512 px, for a quick flash or a pulse.
• 4x4 template: 16 frames of 256 px, the usual choice for hits, poofs and short loops.
• 8x8 template: 64 frames of 128 px, for longer or smoother effects such as explosions and fire.

Each cell has a centre mark and an inner box. Keep your drawing inside the box: the empty margin stops a frame from bleeding into its neighbour when Roblox shrinks the texture with distance. Draw on a layer above the template and hide the template before you export, or the lines and numbers show in game.

The rules a flipbook has to follow

• Square. The image must be square, and its grid must match FlipbookLayout exactly.
• 1024 px at most. Roblox scales larger uploads down, so a 2048 px sheet only costs you detail. Smaller is fine: 512 px suits small effects.
• Every cell used. The emitter plays all 4, 16 or 64 frames. With fewer drawings, hold a drawing over two cells rather than leaving cells empty, or the effect blinks out.
• Transparent background. Save a PNG with real transparency. A black background shows as a black square unless LightEmission is 1.
• Timing. With FlipbookMode set to OneShot, Roblox spreads the frames evenly over the particle's Lifetime, so the Lifetime is the length of the effect. With Loop or PingPong, FlipbookFramerate sets the speed instead.

Fill it in an art program

1. Open the template in Aseprite, Photoshop, Krita or any program with layers, and add a new layer above it.
2. Draw frame 1 in cell 1, frame 2 in cell 2, and so on, keeping each drawing inside the inner box and centred on the mark so the effect does not drift.
3. Hide the template layer and export a PNG with transparency at 1024 px. In Aseprite you can also draw each frame at 128 or 256 px on its own and use File > Export Sprite Sheet with By Rows and 8 or 4 columns.
4. Upload the PNG and set up the emitter as on the Roblox setup page.

A hand-drawn flipbook has no fixed length, so choose its speed: this script plays a 4x4 sheet at 12 frames a second, one particle per cycle, using the same names as the setup page.

-- A Script inside the part. In Properties, set its RunContext to Client.
-- Plays a hand-drawn 4x4 flipbook (16 frames) at 12 frames a second, over and over.
local emitter = script.Parent:WaitForChild("Attachment"):WaitForChild("Flipbook")
local FRAMES, FPS = 16, 12
local cycle = FRAMES / FPS

emitter.FlipbookLayout = Enum.ParticleFlipbookLayout.Grid4x4
emitter.FlipbookMode = Enum.ParticleFlipbookMode.OneShot
emitter.Lifetime = NumberRange.new(cycle)
emitter.Rate = 0

while true do
	emitter:Clear()
	emitter:Emit(1)
	task.wait(cycle)
end

Or skip the drawing

Every effect in the library already downloads as a finished flipbook: press ROBLOX on any effect page, with no account. The grid is picked from the effect's length, and the page shows the FlipbookLayout and Lifetime to use. These are popular starting points:

Bullet Hit SparksMidair Fireball ExplosionPixel Art Firework BurstFrost NovaCoin PickupPixel Smoke PuffBig ExplosionFrost Explosion

To turn your own GIF into a flipbook, open the studio, make the canvas square under Effect settings, and drag the GIF onto the stage: it becomes a layer that plays your animation. Then press Export, choose Roblox, and download the flipbook PNG. A free account exports 3 effects a day.