To add to that, I'd highly recommend something like Spriter to complement the above: http://www.brashmonkey.com/spriter.htm (No affiliation, but I did back

To add to that, I'd highly recommend something like Spriter to complement the above: http://www.brashmonkey.com/spriter.htm (No affiliation, but I did back the kickstarter...) Lots of developers undervalue the importance of a good set of tools for the asset pipeline.