Disclosure: This draft was generated with AI and checked against the cited primary sources, with a separate AI editorial review. It was prepared for the FrameSprite team, which has a commercial interest in FrameSprite. Proposed examples are not executed tests unless explicitly identified as recorded fixture results.
Freestyle lines can be rendered separately from the main image. If the line pass exists but the saved sprite has no outline, trace the compositor and output branch before changing edge-detection settings. An outline that was never generated and one omitted during composition are different failures.
Key Takeaways
- Inspect the relevant view layer and its line pass independently.
- A Viewer preview does not prove that the final output uses the same composition.
- Check line thickness and alpha at the actual sprite dimensions after composition.
Determine whether lines were generated
Preserve the project and choose one representative pose. Inspect the scene's Freestyle settings and the intended view layer. The Freestyle manual documents As Render Pass, under which lines are available for composition instead of automatically appearing over the main image.
If that pass contains no useful lines, inspect the chosen line set, edge selection and view-layer scope. If the pass is correct, leave detection alone while tracing delivery. Increasing line thickness at that point can conceal the branch mistake when you later include the pass correctly.
Trace the pass into the delivery branch
Blender's Passes reference describes intermediate images that can be combined in the compositor. The Render Layers node exposes enabled outputs from its selected scene and view layer. Verify those selections rather than assuming every Render Layers node reads the same source.
Inspect the line composition, its foreground/background order and the branch connected to the final output. A separate File Output node may save a different branch from the one you are previewing. Use a clearly named candidate directory so a previous outline render cannot be mistaken for the new delivery.
| Observation | Layer of the pipeline to inspect |
|---|---|
| Line pass empty | Freestyle generation and view-layer selection |
| Line pass correct, composite missing lines | Composition and branch connections |
| Composite correct, PNG missing lines | Saved output branch or stale file |
| Lines present but nearly invisible | Color, width and final-size rendering |
Review a controlled outline example
Consider an unexecuted example with a small armored character. The line pass shows its helmet silhouette clearly, but a File Output node saves the uncomposited beauty image. Connecting the approved combined branch is the relevant repair. Regenerating the character or modifying mesh visibility would address a different problem.
After including the pass, inspect both the outer silhouette and internal equipment lines. At a small runtime size, internal lines can merge into a dark patch. Decide which lines belong in the art direction rather than preserving every line merely because it renders.
For an animation, inspect several poses with changing overlaps. A correct idle outline does not prove that the sword and torso remain distinguishable throughout an attack. Keep the line-generation configuration and output composition traceable for later action variants.
Accept the actual saved sprite
Reopen the delivery PNG over light and dark backgrounds. Confirm the outline survives, its alpha boundary is intended and the image dimensions match the action set. No Freestyle render or compositing test was executed here.
Related guides address mesh render visibility, compositor output-path ownership and source/export/preview separation. Acceptance requires the intended lines in the saved delivery, not only in a pass selector or temporary preview.
Written by the FrameSprite Workflow Team. Send a correction.
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