Idle and breathing

1. No sprite sits identical for more than ~1 s. Animators cap a held drawing near 2 s and add a drift, blink or sway well before that; 1 s is the safe sprite figure (derived). Exceptions: a 16 px RPG walker shares its 2-frame walk as idle, and 8 px items may be 2 drawings at most.
2. The minimum idle is two poses with the feet planted. Upper body 1 px down, arms and knees give a little, mass unchanged. The ground contact never moves, or the sprite skates.
3. Move chunks in order, not the whole sprite. Torso first, arms and hands 1 frame later, head last or not at all on some steps. Extremities travel 2–4× the core (core 1 px, fists 2–4 px at 92 px tall). A uniform 1 px bob across 3 frames is the textbook stiff version.
4. Silhouette moves first, contents follow. Shift the outline, then face and shading pixels a frame later. Vertical-only motion is dull: add a 1 px horizontal drift on a secondary part (hair, hand, cloth).
5. Mass is constant. Opaque pixel count may vary ±2 % between frames. When the body drops, shorten the legs or widen a soft body; never let the character grow. validate checks volume drift.
6. Time it by holds, not by frame count. Hold the two extremes about twice as long as the transitions; the breath slows at the top like a jump apex. Fast-down/slow-up is a bounce or a ready stance; slow-in/fast-out is calming down; fast-in/slow-out is out of breath. Equal durations are the metronome (rules://00-core-principles).
7. Pick the frame count by size and scope. 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 is the ladder: 2 = minimum, 4 = life, 6 = arms move, 8 = hair and accessories. Keep the ladder step identical for the whole cast.
8. A 16 px top-down walker needs no breath; a 16 px front or side action sprite gets the 2-frame version; ≥ 32 px always breathes. 1 px is ~6 % of a 16 px body (a hop) and ~1 % of a 100 px one (a breath). A big sprite that holds still is noticed. Tiny action sprites may use a personality idle instead (foot tap, sword spin).
9. Stance is the personality. Choose the rest pose from the role (boxer guard, karate low stance, slump, weight on one leg) before animating. It must pass the silhouette test (rules://03-silhouette-and-form).
10. Weight shift is the best standing idle. Weight moves foot to foot; the head lags the hips by about 2 sprite frames; a slow blink rides on it. One shift is ~1–1.3 s. Alternate it with plain breaths.
11. Blink on a different clock than the breath. One blink every 2–4 s, 1–3 frames (half, closed, half at ≥ 32 px; one eye-row change at 16 px). Build a long loop (breath 4 frames ×2, blink in only one half) so they never lock. Fidgets (look round, scratch, yawn, stretch) are separate tagged one-shots on a 4–10 breath timer.
12. Secondary parts lag and overshoot. Hair, cape, tail, weapon tip: 1–2 frames behind, 1–4 px overshoot, settle over 2–3 frames (rules://45-secondary-motion). A loop for the secondary part with a different length than the body hides the repeat.
13. Non-living idles use a clock, not a heartbeat. Floating things (ghosts, orbs, hover): ±1–2 px sine, period 8–16 frames, via cel op oscillate. Flames and foliage: rules://80-vfx-fire-smoke-magic.
14. Never animate the face in the loop except the blink: eyes, brows and mouth pixels are identical across frames, or the face shimmers. A character that must emote does it in a one-shot.
15. The loop closes. The last frame is a plausible predecessor of frame 1; 3 unique drawings + pingpong = a 4-step loop. Do not texture or dither moving areas (inconsistent pixels flash).

Conflicts. Most sources animate the whole upper body down 1 px; one animates torso and arms up with head and legs fixed. Both are the same breath seen from different rest poses: choose the rest pose, then move the upper chunk away from it by 1 px. Idle tempo ranges 100–500 ms/frame across sources: calm characters 300–500, ready stances 100, because a stance is a bounce, a villager is a lung.

Shipped idles (frames × ms): Shovel Knight NPC 2 × 350, ≤ 5 colours; measured 35 px archer 8 × 125, head dips 1 px for frames 2–5, bow lags the head 2 frames, hem flares 3–4 px; fighter 48×92, 8 frames, 100 × 4 then 50 × 4 (600 ms total); 8×16 run-and-gun hero idle 120; top-down hero idle 6 frames 200/200/400/200/200/400; Celeste keeps a short base idle (9 drawings) plus long rare fidgets (12–24); Pokémon gen 3 front sprites are 2 drawings driven by a timing script (median 72 ticks, 1.2 s).

A 92 px fighter's offsets, step by step (core, hands): F1→2 +1 up, hands +2/+4; F2→3 all +1 (highest); F3→4 core −1, head holds, hands −2; F4→5 knees out, −1, hands −2/−3; F5→6 −1, hands −2; F6→7 −1 (lowest); F7→8 all +1, head holds. Head holds on two of the seven steps and the fists travel 2–4× the core: that is what makes the breath look soft.

Hero is 14×16 including a 1 px margin: figure 12 px wide, light upper-left, outline is also the eye colour. Feet stay on row 15 in every frame.

Frame A — high (rest). Stand-in for the whole set: head rows 0–5, torso 6–10, legs 11–15. Draw this first; every other frame is an edit of it.

O = outline      #2b1d2e
H = hair         #6b3a2a
S = skin-light   #f2b48a
T = cloth-mid    #4a86c8
L = cloth-light  #7db4e6
D = cloth-shadow #2f5a96
P = pants        #5a4a7a
K = boots        #5b3a29
---
....OOOOOO....
...OHHHHHHO...
...OHHHHHHO...
...OSOSSOSO...
...OSSSSSSO...
....OSSSSO....
..OTLTTTTTTO..
.OTDLTTTTTDTO.
.OTDTTTTTTDTO.
.OSDDDDDDDDSO.
..OODTTTTDOO..
...OPPOOPPO...
...OPPOOPPO...
...OPPOOPPO...
..OKKKOOKKKO..
..OOOOOOOOOO..

Frame M1 — falling. Torso, arms and belt drop 1 row, the head holds, a 1-row neck fills the gap, legs lose a pants row so feet stay on row 15. The head lag is the whole trick.

O = outline      #2b1d2e
H = hair         #6b3a2a
S = skin-light   #f2b48a
T = cloth-mid    #4a86c8
L = cloth-light  #7db4e6
D = cloth-shadow #2f5a96
P = pants        #5a4a7a
K = boots        #5b3a29
---
....OOOOOO....
...OHHHHHHO...
...OHHHHHHO...
...OSOSSOSO...
...OSSSSSSO...
....OSSSSO....
.....OSSO.....
..OTLTTTTTTO..
.OTDLTTTTTDTO.
.OTDTTTTTTDTO.
.OSDDDDDDDDSO.
..OODTTTTDOO..
...OPPOOPPO...
...OPPOOPPO...
..OKKKOOKKKO..
..OOOOOOOOOO..

Frame B — low. Head follows the torso down 1 row. Legs stay 1 row shorter (knees bend). Loop A → M1 → B → M2, where M2 = A with the head still on row 1 (chin overlaps the shoulder row) — or tag A, M1, B pingpong and skip M2.

O = outline      #2b1d2e
H = hair         #6b3a2a
S = skin-light   #f2b48a
T = cloth-mid    #4a86c8
L = cloth-light  #7db4e6
D = cloth-shadow #2f5a96
P = pants        #5a4a7a
K = boots        #5b3a29
---
..............
....OOOOOO....
...OHHHHHHO...
...OHHHHHHO...
...OSOSSOSO...
...OSSSSSSO...
....OSSSSO....
..OTLTTTTTTO..
.OTDLTTTTTDTO.
.OTDTTTTTTDTO.
.OSDDDDDDDDSO.
..OODTTTTDOO..
...OPPOOPPO...
...OPPOOPPO...
..OKKKOOKKKO..
..OOOOOOOOOO..

Weight shift. Torso and head sit 1 px left of the legs, right leg tucked in 1 px: weight lands on the left foot. Hold ~1 s, use once per 4–6 breaths.

O = outline      #2b1d2e
H = hair         #6b3a2a
S = skin-light   #f2b48a
T = cloth-mid    #4a86c8
L = cloth-light  #7db4e6
D = cloth-shadow #2f5a96
P = pants        #5a4a7a
K = boots        #5b3a29
---
...OOOOOO.....
..OHHHHHHO....
..OHHHHHHO....
..OSOSSOSO....
..OSSSSSSO....
...OSSSSO.....
.OTLTTTTTTO...
OTDLTTTTTDTO..
OTDTTTTTTDTO..
OSDDDDDDDDSO..
.OODTTTTDOO...
...OPPOPPO....
...OPPOPPO....
...OPPOPPO....
..OKKKOKKKO...
..OOOOOOOOO...

Blink (head only, rows 0–5). Eye pixels become the skin shadow for one frame (50–100 ms); nothing else in the sprite changes. Paste over frame A's head rows.

O = outline      #2b1d2e
H = hair         #6b3a2a
S = skin-light   #f2b48a
s = skin-shadow  #c47a5a
---
....OOOOOO....
...OHHHHHHO...
...OHHHHHHO...
...OSsSSsSO...
...OSSSSSSO...
....OSSSSO....

32 px, four frames (side view). Strip of four 15×33 frames, figure 30 px tall, ground row last: A rest (hip 15, legs nearly straight), M1 torso falls 1 px while the head holds (the 1 px gap fills with the neck row), B low (hip 14, knees give, head follows), M2 hip back to 15 with the head still low. Feet, boots and the far leg never move; hands sway 2–4° out and in, so they travel about 1 px, later than the torso. Opaque pixels 271 / 274 / 267 / 264 (±2.5 %). Loop A → M1 → B → M2 at 400, 150, 400, 150 ms (mood table), blink from idle-16-hero-blink-head redrawn at this size on a separate clock. look op filmstrip: only the torso, head and hands change.

O = outline        #2b1d2e
S = skin-light     #f2b48a
s = skin-shadow    #c47a5a
C = tunic-light    #d9604a
c = tunic-shadow   #9c3a3c
A = sleeve-light   #e8806a
a = sleeve-shadow  #b24c47
P = pants-light    #4a5b8c
p = pants-shadow   #34405f
B = boot-light     #9a6a3f
b = boot-shadow    #6a4529
H = hair           #7a4a2a
---
............................................................
.....OOOOO..........OOOOO...................................
....OHHHHHO........OHHHHHO.........OOOOO..........OOOOO.....
...OHHHHHHHO......OHHHHHHHO.......OHHHHHO........OHHHHHO....
...OHHHHSSSO......OHHHHSSSO......OHHHHHHHO......OHHHHHHHO...
...OHHHSSOSO......OHHHSSOSO......OHHHHSSSO......OHHHHSSSO...
...OHHHSSSSO......OHHHSSSSO......OHHHSSOSO......OHHHSSOSO...
....OHHSSSSO.......OHHSSSSO......OHHHSSSSO......OHHHSSSSO...
...OOOHSSSsO........OHSSSsO.......OHHSSSSO......OOHHSSSSO...
..OCCCOssOO.......OOOOssOO.......OOOHSSSsO.....OCCOHSSSsO...
..OCCCAOOcO......OCCCCOOcO......OCCCOssOO......OCCCAssOO....
..OCCAAaCcO......OCCCACCcO......OCCCAOOcO......OCCAAaOcO....
..OCCAAaCcO......OCCAAaCcO......OCCAAaCcO......OCCAAaCcO....
...OCAAaCcO......OCCAAaCcO......OCCAAaCcO.......OCAAaCcO....
...OAAaCCcO.......OCAAaCcO.......OCAAaCcO.......OCAAaCcO....
...OASSCCcO.......OAAaCCcO.......OCAAaCcO.......OCASSCcO....
...OASSCCcO.......OASSCCcO.......OCASSCcO.......OCASSCcO....
...OCSSSCcO.......OASSCCcO.......OCASSCcO.......OCCSSCcO....
...OccSSccO.......OCSSCCcO.......OCCSSCcO.......OccSSccO....
....OPSSpOO.......OcSScccOO......OccSSccOO.......OPSSpOO....
....OPSSpOO........OSSPPpOO.......OOSSPpOO.......OPSSpOO....
....OPPPpOpO.......OSSPPpOpO.......OSSPpOpO......OPPPpOpO...
....OPPPpOpO........OPPPPpOpO......OPPPPpOpO.....OPPPpOpO...
....OPPPpOpO.........OPPPpOpO.......OPPPpOpO.....OPPPpOpO...
....OPPpOpO..........OPPPpOO........OPPPpOO......OPPpOpO....
....OPPpOpO.........OPPPpOpO.......OPPPpOpO......OPPpOpO....
....OPPpOpO.........OPPpOppO.......OPPpOppO......OPPpOpO....
...OPPpOpppO.......OPPpOppO.......OPPpOppO......OPPpOpppO...
...OPPpOpppO.......OPPpOppO.......OPPpOppO......OPPpOpppO...
...OPPpOOOpOOO....OPPpOOOpOOO....OPPpOOOpOOO....OPPpOOOpOOO.
...OBBBBBBObbbO...OBBBBBBObbbO...OBBBBBBObbbO...OBBBBBBObbbO
...ObbbbbbObbbO...ObbbbbbObbbO...ObbbbbbObbbO...ObbbbbbObbbO
....OOOOOOOOOO.....OOOOOOOOOO.....OOOOOOOOOO.....OOOOOOOOOO.

8 px, frame A (rest). 8×7, mass ≈ 50 px. For 8–16 px blobs, creatures and items a 2-frame idle is the whole budget.

O = outline      #2b1d2e
F = body-mid     #6fcf6f
G = body-light   #b9f0a0
N = body-shadow  #2f8f5a
---
..OOOO..
.OGGFFO.
OGFFFFFO
OFOFFOFO
OFFFFFFO
ONNNNNNO
.OOOOOO.

8 px, frame B (squash). 10×6: 2 px wider, 1 px lower, bottom row unchanged. Loop A/B with pingpong.

O = outline      #2b1d2e
F = body-mid     #6fcf6f
G = body-light   #b9f0a0
N = body-shadow  #2f8f5a
---
...OOOO...
.OGGFFFFO.
OGFFFFFFFO
OFOFFFFOFO
ONNNNNNNNO
.OOOOOOOO.

1. sprite_info, then rig on layers: head, torso+arms, legs (rules://06-layers-and-rigging). Legs hold feet static.
2. Draw frame A and run the silhouette test (rules://03-silhouette-and-form).
3. frame op duplicate (linkCels off) twice. On frame 2 cel op move the torso layer dy: 1; on frame 3 also the head layer. Redraw the legs 1 row shorter with draw op grid; paint the neck row on frame 2.
4. look op diff frame 1 → 2 and 2 → 3: only edge rows and the moved chunk should change. If more than ~50 % of the pixels differ you moved too much.
5. look op onion with layer set to torso: the ghosts must sit 1 row apart, never 2.
6. frame op set_duration with durations e.g. [400,150,400,150]. tag op create idle, direction forward (4 unique) or pingpong (3 unique).
7. Add the blink as its own cel range or tag, not inside the breath. look op filmstrip, then validate with checks: ["animation"] and fix volume drift or uniform timing.

• Skating feet / sprite slides → whole sprite shifted. Anchor the foot row; move only chunks above the ankle.
• Inflating and deflating → pixel count drifts. Shorten legs on the low frame; diff the counts.
• Stiff lift → whole-sprite 1 px bob over 3 frames. Offset parts: hands lag 1 frame, head holds on 1–2 steps.
• Hole between head and body → head held, torso dropped. Add a neck row (frame M1), not a new head.
• Strobing flicker → amplitude 2 px on a 16 px body, or in-between identical to a key. Back to 1 px.
• Metronome → equal durations. Hold the extremes ~2×.
• Face shimmer → eyes or highlights redrawn per frame. Copy them from frame A pixel for pixel.
• Blink locks to breath → both loop at the same period. Lengthen the loop or move the blink to frame 3 of 8.
• Loop seam → last frame is not a predecessor of the first. Reorder or add one hold.

• Feet on the same rows in every frame; the figure never grows (±2 % pixels).
• Core moves ≤ 1 px at 16–32 px; hands/hair move more, later.
• At least two distinct durations in any loop ≥ 3 frames; extremes held longest.
• Face unchanged except a blink; blink period ≠ breath period.
• look op filmstrip reads as breathing, not as bobbing; the loop point is invisible.

• Thomas & Johnston, The Illusion of Life, moving hold, ch. on timing and acting; Williams, The Animator's Survival Kit, ch. on overlapping action (the "hardest thing is nothing" idle) and weight shift.
• Pixel Logic (Michael Azzi), ch. 8 Sub-pixeling (Owlboy idle, soldier A/B/C breathing) and ch. 9 Animation; Silber, Pixel Art for Game Developers, ch. 8 (two-frame idle).
• Slynyrd (Raymond Schlitter), Pixelblog 8 (idle ladder), 52 (fighting stance offsets, 100/50 ms), 55, 59–60; Saint11, Character Idle; Imonk, hero idle tutorial; Shovel Knight NPC blog (Yacht Club Games); Tsugumo, So You Want To Be A Pixel Artist? chs. 10–11 (breathing cycle, size scaling); Dawe, Make Your Own Pixel Art, ch. on idle exercises.