Bind Frame

Bind Frame swaps an object's picture on its own, based on your variables. Use it for a door that shows open or closed, a weather icon, a mood face, a locked or unlocked level button, or a number shown as a digit from a sheet.

It has two modes. Pick by rule works like if / else if / else: show this picture when these checks pass, otherwise that one. Pick by number lets a number variable pick a frame of a sliced sheet.

Add it from Add Component ▸ Bind Frame, or with + binding: Frame on an existing Bindings card. The object needs an Image.

Pick by rule

This is where new Bind Frames start. You build a list of rules, and each rule pairs a picture with the checks that show it.

Setting	What it does
mode	Pick by rule.
+ rule	Adds a rule to the bottom of the list.
show	The picture for this rule. Drag in an image file, or one frame of a sliced sheet, from the Project panel. Click it to find the file in the Project panel; ✕ clears it.
▲ / ▼	Moves the rule up or down. Order matters (see below).
✕ (on the rule row)	Removes the rule.
when	The checks for this rule: always, all of these or any of these, then + check to add one. These are the same checks as Bind Visible: a number, Bool, option or text variable, an Input Field's text, or whether another object is visible.
otherwise	The picture to show when no rule passes. Leave it empty to keep the object's own picture.
On/off checkbox	Turns this binding off without removing it.

How it picks

• Rules are checked from the top. The first rule that passes shows its picture, and the rest are skipped. Put your most specific rules first.
• A rule with no checks always passes, so it works as a catch-all. A rule with no picture is skipped.
• If nothing passes, the otherwise picture shows. If otherwise is empty, the object shows its own picture, as you set it on the Image (an animating sheet keeps animating).
• Only the picture changes. The Image's size, tint and other settings stay the same.
• Pictures don't need to come from the same sheet. Mix separate files and single frames freely.

Example: a door

1. Give the door object an Image with the closed door picture.
2. Add Bind Frame. In the first rule, drop in the open door picture and add a check: doorOpen is on.
3. Leave otherwise empty. The door shows closed until doorOpen turns on.

For three or more states, add a rule per state. For a weather icon: weather = 1 shows the cloud, weather = 2 shows rain, weather = 3 shows snow, and otherwise shows the sun.

Pick by number

Use this when the frame number itself is the data: a digit 0 to 9, a hearts strip showing 0 to 5 hearts, or the portrait of hero number 3.

Setting	What it does
mode	Pick by number.
frame from	The number variable that picks the frame.
first frame is	Which value shows the first frame: 0 or 1. Pick 1 if your variable counts from 1 (level 1 shows the first frame).
On/off checkbox	Turns this binding off without removing it.

With first frame is set to 0, a value of 0 shows the first frame, 1 the second, and so on.

This mode needs a sliced image: an Image whose sheet is cut into frames in the Sprite Editor. Until it has one, the card shows a warning.

Good to know

• Bind Frame only changes the picture while the game runs. In the Scene you always see the picture you set on the Image, and your saved project isn't changed.
• Bind Frame wins over a Set image action on the same object. For a picture you only change now and then, use the action instead (see Cycling art with Set Frame).
• Projects made before Pick by rule existed keep working: their Bind Frames open in Pick by number, with first frame is matching the old setting.
• On a real watch, a rule's picture always draws as a plain (Simple) image, even if the Image is set to Sliced or Tiled.
• Works in Game and App projects, in Preview and on both Wear OS and Apple Watch. Not offered on watch faces; use Frame Animation there.