Use case: identity-preserve. Production sprite RUNNING cycle for this exact adolescent fiddle-carrying soldier, same outfit, red hair, age, pockmarks, mismatched worn armour and cracked wooden shortsword scabbard. Reference is identity only; replace its stiff walking poses.
Exactly FOUR columns and FOUR rows =16 isolated sprites. Row1 SOUTH/front, row2 WEST/left, row3 EAST/right, row4 NORTH/back. All four columns within a row face the same direction. Camera slightly overhead orthographic JRPG.
Four distinct running phases across EACH row:
A: long LEFT leg forward touching ground, RIGHT leg extended behind, RIGHT arm forward and LEFT arm behind.
B: AIRBORNE passing phase, RIGHT KNEE high in front, LEFT heel folded up behind toward buttocks, arms crossing middle.
C: long RIGHT leg forward touching ground, LEFT leg extended behind, LEFT arm forward and RIGHT arm behind.
D: AIRBORNE passing phase, LEFT KNEE high in front, RIGHT heel folded up behind, opposite arm swing.
Do NOT draw four repeated contact poses! Columns B and D have boots clearly OFF the ground and visibly BENT knees, compact limbs, unlike the wide strides A and C. Add modest forward torso lean in side views, energetic relaxed elbow pumping, controlled movement appropriate to a soldier, not exaggerated ninja sprint.
CRITICAL INVARIANTS: use precisely identical head/hair/face pixel clusters within each row, unchanged eye positions/no blinking, same body size, no random cloth/armour texture changes. Instrument is FIXED to his BACK, not flopping from side to side. In FRONT row the shortened broken fiddle neck ALWAYS protrudes over his anatomical LEFT shoulder, viewer RIGHT, in ALL four columns. In BACK row it ALWAYS protrudes on viewer LEFT; rounded scorched fiddle body across lower back. NEVER mirror it on alternate steps. Same strap, shoulder armour and scabbard placement in all poses, no extra instruments.
Simplified crisp pixel clusters legible at48x64 logical cells, body height50px. Each sprite separated by ample transparent gutters. Four-by-four square atlas, no grid, lettering, labels, shadows, glow, blur, ghost trails, scenery, antialiasing or semi-transparent pixels. True transparent alpha background.