Free open-source tool to instantly rig and animate your illustrations (also with mesh deform)

A new open-source tool called Stretchy Studio is automating a critical bottleneck in 2D character animation. It takes the multi-layer output from the viral 'see-through' AI model—which decomposes a single anime image into 23+ separate layers—and automatically rigs it for animation in a web browser. This process, which traditionally requires expensive software like Live2D ($100/year) or Spine Pro ($379) and weeks of manual labor costing $500+, is now reduced to seconds of setup. The app handles complex mesh deformations and manages layer draw order, providing a direct keyframe animation interface similar to Adobe After Effects.

Built by a solo developer, Stretchy Studio integrates DWPose for fully automatic joint detection (requiring WebGPU) but also offers a fast manual placement mode. The workflow transforms a static image into an animatable character through background removal, AI decomposition via see-through on Hugging Face, and finally auto-rigging in the app. While still in early development with bugs being ironed out, its core functionality is complete. The roadmap includes ambitious features like export formats for Spine and Dragonbones software, and a standalone JavaScript render library for game engines, though exporting to Live2D's closed format remains impossible.