# Pixel Art AI Animation Cycle Generator

> Pixel Art AI Animation Cycle Generator is a paid API for AI agents from pixelart.withzero.xyz, paid per call via MPP, $0.3/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-10, last successful call 2026-07-16).

Uses the Retro Diffusion AI model to generate a game-quality pixel-art animation cycle (4–16 frames) from the current canvas, redrawing the sprite per frame for presets like walking, idle, jump, attack, and more.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://pixelart.withzero.xyz/api/v1/canvas/{id}/animate?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.3/call
- Payment: MPP
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-10
- Last successful call: 2026-07-16
- Success rate: 67% of calls made through Zero
- Rating: 4.3 / 5 from 1 review
- Activations on Zero: 19
- Provider: pixelart.withzero.xyz
- Website: https://pixelart.withzero.xyz
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/pixelart-withzero-xyz-pixel-art-ai-animation-cycle-generator-c515812e
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_JSTD9e3ovaeNq9qfS2SqG

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability pixelart-withzero-xyz-pixel-art-ai-animation-cycle-generator-c515812e -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Take my pixel art canvas (id: a1b2c3d4-...) and generate an 8-frame walking animation cycle using Retro Diffusion — make the character stride confidently with a cape flowing behind them.

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need AI-generated, game-quality pixel art animation with realistic pose changes per frame (not sliding cutouts). Ideal for game developers who want walking, idle, attack, or custom motion cycles without manually drawing each frame. Choose this over manual frame endpoints when you want Retro Diffusion to handle the per-frame sprite redrawing automatically.

## Known failure modes

- Canvas dimensions outside 32–256px per side — returns validation error
- Canvas has active layers with cels that override frames — results may be unexpected unless layers are flattened first
- custom_action preset used without a prompt field — returns validation error
- Timeout if generation takes longer than 120s — may need retry
- Invalid canvas ID — returns 404 not found
- Invalid frame count (not one of 4,6,8,10,12,16) — returns validation error

## How this service works

Generate a flattened animation cycle through Retro Diffusion and atomically replace the canvas frames. This is the legacy external-provider compatibility route; use segmentation plus layer transforms when authored, deterministic motion is required. Full agent guide: https://pixelart.withzero.xyz/llms.txt

## Output

Returns a JSON object with the canvas ID, the total frame count after generation, the provider used, and a viewUrl where the animation can be previewed or shared. The animation replaces all existing flat frames on the canvas.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "preset",
  "frames",
  "provider"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "frames": {
   "anyOf": [
    {
     "type": "number",
     "const": 4
    },
    {
     "type": "number",
     "const": 6
    },
    {
     "type": "number",
     "const": 8
    },
    {
     "type": "number",
     "const": 10
    },
    {
     "type": "number",
     "const": 12
    },
    {
     "type": "number",
     "const": 16
    }
   ],
   "default": 8,
   "description": "Frame count of the generated cycle."
  },
  "preset": {
   "enum": [
    "walking",
    "idle",
    "jump",
    "crouch",
    "attack",
    "destroy",
    "custom_action",
    "subtle_motion"
   ],
   "type": "string",
   "description": "Animation preset. 'custom_action' animates whatever `prompt` describes; 'subtle_motion' adds ambient life to scenes."
  },
  "prompt": {
   "type": "string",
   "maxLength": 300,
   "description": "Motion description, e.g. 'confident steady walk, cape flowing'. Required for custom_action."
  },
  "provider": {
   "enum": [
    "retrodiffusion"
   ],
   "type": "string",
   "default": "retrodiffusion",
   "description": "Animation backend. Retro Diffusion redraws the sprite per frame from your canvas as the start frame."
  }
 },
 "additionalProperties": false
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "canvasId",
  "frameCount",
  "provider",
  "viewUrl"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "viewUrl": {
   "type": "string"
  },
  "canvasId": {
   "type": "string",
   "format": "uuid",
   "pattern": "^([0-9a-fA-F]{8}-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}-[1-8][0-9a-fA-F]{3}-[89abAB][0-9a-fA-F]{3}-[0-9a-fA-F]{12}|00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000|ffffffff-ffff-ffff-ffff-ffffffffffff)$"
  },
  "provider": {
   "type": "string"
  },
  "frameCount": {
   "type": "integer",
   "maximum": 9007199254740991,
   "minimum": -9007199254740991,
   "description": "Total animation frames on the canvas after generation."
  }
 },
 "additionalProperties": false
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/pixelart-withzero-xyz-pixel-art-ai-animation-cycle-generator-c515812e/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from pixelart.withzero.xyz](https://www.zero.xyz/host/pixelart.withzero.xyz/llms.txt)