Appropriate resolution for 2d animation spritesheets

Hi guys, first post here!

I'm currently working on a new 2d asset pack for the asset store (I hope this is the right place to post this question). I'm stuck on an issue atm.

I'm animating my 2d characters with the animation tools in Unity with spritesheets. I have 2 questions:

1. Can you use the same animations (nodes) with different resolution spritesheets? So for example: I have a character spritesheet of 512x512, but is it possible to scale the animations so a spritesheet of the same character on 1024x1024 also works?

2. If it's not possible to scale these spritesheets and animations, what resolution is the best to work with for the asset store? 512x512 for a 2d cartoony character seems right, but perhaps I should just make it as large as possible? I want to cater to all possible developers, so that means mobile and desktop.

I hope these questions make sense! And I hope I posted this in the right place!

Thanks!

 

I feel, to try and sum both of these questions up shortly, that it would be best to make the sheets at a larger resolution. It is far easier to scale down and preserve quality than it is to attempt to scale the image up from a smaller size.

 

I see what you mean! And it makes sense, however, the problem is that I don't know if the animations can be scaled to work with bigger spritesheets... I'm afraid you'd have big spritesheets with working animations, but when you scale them down the animations won't work with them anymore.

 

I generally make all my art at super big resolution somewhere like 4098 x 4098 and then duplicate it for a working version and an original. I never use that kind of resolution in the game of course but at least if something like 512 ends up being too small, I can go back and make a 1024 without any scaling problems.

Plus, if you ever need to print something and your original is only a 64 x 64 pixel sprite at 72 resolution... that won't work. Make it as big as you can, and then make a copy and work down to the resolution you need.

 

Yep.
Well said!