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Create a Voxel Animation Variant

Add a new variant to an existing animated (rigged) voxel asset-generation version (asset_kind = "voxel-animation" — a sculpted, rigged model whose required animations are authored as F-curves). The full procedure is in Creating a Voxel Animation Variant.

The key constraint: there is no target model and resolution rejects any [[reference]] (common or per-variant), plus any per-variant [voxel], [model], or asset_kind. A variant varies only the brief (an additive spec) the model sculpts toward — a tighter palette, a stricter operation budget, a required technique, or an observable animation constraint. The [voxel] volume and the [model] required-animation contract are fixed at the version level, so every variant produces the same required animations by the same names.

Static (unrigged) voxel case (asset_kind = "voxel-model")? See Create a Voxel Model Variant. Rigged meshed case (mc-animation/sn-animation/dc-animation)? See Create a Mesh Animation Variant.

Steps

Section titled “Steps”
  1. Choose a consistent slug (e.g. armored) and display name (e.g. Up-Armored) describing the constraint the variant imposes — favor one a reviewer can observe in a still part preview or the posed 3D viewer.
  2. Write specs/<slug>.md: an additive brief stated as a delta against the common brief (“same subject and required animations, except …”), with precise, testable constraints; say whether it applies to every part, a named feature, or the behaviour of a named animation. It may reference the common specs but not another variant’s spec.
  3. Create variants/<slug>.toml (a standalone TOML file whose top-level keys are the variant’s fields; dest defaults to source) and add its path to the variants list in test-case.toml (first = default):
variants/armored.toml
slug = "armored"
name = "Up-Armored"
description = "Same subject and required animations, with heavier chassis and turret plating — still clearing the hull as the turret sweeps."
spec = [{ source = "specs/armored.md" }]

spec entries are additive on the common ones; within one variant no two seeded specs may share a dest. A variant declares no review_items — an asset-generation case has no reviewer checklist. Do not add a reference, [voxel], [model], or asset_kind — all are rejected or version-level.

Validate

Section titled “Validate”
Terminal window
tcab seed   --test-case <slug> --version <version> --variant <new-variant>
tcab prompt --test-case <slug> --version <version> --variant <new-variant>

Seed and render the new variant and re-check the existing ones to confirm nothing else changed, no target model is seeded, and the [voxel] volume and [model] animation contract (the pre-seeded rig.json) resolve intact.