TOON BOOM HARMONY 12.2.1- Premium Edition -Traditional Animation Guide (Server)

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Publication Date
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Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)2

Contents
Toon Boom Harmony 12.2.1- Premium Edition -Traditional Animation Guide (Server)

1

Contents

3

Chapter 1: Traditional Animation - An Introduction

5

Chapter 2: Scanning

7

The Scanning Process

7

Scanning and Importing Drawings

8

Creating Custom Vectorization Parameters

17

Chapter 3: Timing

31

Preparation

31

Setting the Scene Length

33

Creating Drawings

35

Filling Exposure

58

Extending the Exposure of Previous Drawings

64

Overwriting Exposures and Keyframes

81Managing Key Exposures

82

Navigating between Frames and Columns

87Managing Drawings

88

Merging Drawings

93

Setting Tempo Markers

112

Printing the Xsheet

113

Modifying Paste Presets

115

Chapter 4: Colour Styling

119

Preparation

119

Working with Palettes

124

Colours

148

Painting the Model165

Sharing the Colour Model

167

Chapter 5: Ink and Paint

173

Preparation

174

Dirt Cleanup

178

Art Layers

182

Painting

188

Painting Using the Paint Tool

190

Importing Models

195

Protecting Colours

206

3

Contents

Inking the Lines

208

Verifying the Zones are Painted

212

Ink and Paint Tool Properties

215

Glossary

222

Index

231

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Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)2

Chapter 1: Traditional Animation - An Introduction
Harmony is a high-performance animation software which not only offers a wide range of features, but also handles
more than one animation type and workflow. In this guide, you will learn how to perform tasks related to the
traditional animation workflow from start to finish using Harmony.
Before reading this guide, be sure to take some time to familiarize yourself with the basic concepts in theFundamentals Guide. Each chapter is self-contained. so you can concentrate only on the chapter pertaining to yourtask. You do not need to read the entire guide, but you should read the whole chapter before starting to work.

Topics in this section:•

Scanning on page 7•

Timing on page 31•

Colour Styling on page 119•

Ink and Paint on page 173

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6Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)2

Chapter 2: Scanning

Once your traditional animation sequences are completed and cleaned up, you're ready to scan and import them in
Harmony. The scanning process is the point where the traditional production becomes digital. It's the moment where
you use Harmony to control the project.
This chapter is divided as follows:•

The Scanning Process on page 1•

Scanning and Importing Drawings on page 8•

Creating Custom Vectorization Parameters on page 17

The Scanning Process
There are three steps in the scanning process which Harmony handles automatically:•

Vectorization•

Line art and colour art creation•

Optical registration

You can choose the following vectorization styles, which are set at the vectorization step:•

Solid lines•

Texture lines

7

Chapter 2: ScanningThis retains the texture from the original drawing and applies it to the vectorized drawing as a bitmap fillingzone.

Harmony can receive images from any TWAIN device, such as scanners or digital cameras. You can load theseimages as bitmaps into your scene or convert them into vector-based images that can be edited using Harmony.
You must install a TWAIN driver for your device in order to access its contents. Refer to the manufacturer of yourdevice to get a TWAIN driver. Once all the animation layers are scanned in, you can set the timing in the digital
exposure sheet.

Scanning and Importing Drawings
Once your scene length is set, you can start scanning drawings and importing them into Harmony in one of thefollowing ways:
A bitmap image is an image composed of pixels that are both size and resolution dependent. In Harmony, you canscan an image as a bitmap drawing.
You can turn bitmap images into vector drawings, while maintaining the sketchiness of a pencil line or into vector
images with a bitmap fill. Both options can add life to an animation, which straight vectorization with smoothing
does not usually afford.

How to scan images as bitmap drawings
1. From the top menu, select File > Import > From Scanner.
The Scan Drawings window opens.

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2. Select your scanner from the Scanner list.

3. In the Layer section, decide if the scanned or imported image will be placed on a new layer or existing layer.
‣

Create Layer: Scans or imports the image into a new layer. Select one of the following options:Parameter

Description

Create Single Layer Named

Creates a layer you can name.

Create Layer(s) Based on Filenames

Creates a layer based on each unique filename prefix. For example, thefilenames a-1.tga, a-2.tga and b-1.tga will create layers named "a" and"b", where "a" has two drawings and "b" has one. When creating asingle layer from these three filenames, all three drawings will be inserted in the new layers.

‣

Add to Existing Layer: Scans or imports the image into an existing layer. Select a layer from the Layer
list. You must scan into the same layer type if you're using an existing layer.

9Chapter 2: Scanning‣

Create Symbol for Acquired Items: Encapsulates the bitmap image in a symbol. To mix bitmap
images with vector drawings on the same layer, the bitmap image must be encapsulated in a symbol
and vice versa. Symbols will also be automatically added to the Symbol folder in the Library view.

4. In the Import Options section, select one of the following:‣

Keep As Bitmap: Retains the imported image as a bitmap. In the Alignment section, decide on thesize and placement of your image within the camera frame. Depending on the Scene Settings (theheight and width in pixels that you chose for your project), an image that you import may get scaled tothe point where all its individual pixels become visible. There are three options available in the
Alignment section:

Parameter

Description
Enlarges or shrinks (but not distorts) the image height to match the full heightof the scene grid.

Fit

If the image orientation is landscape, this will enlarge or shrink (but not distort)
the image width to match that of the scene grid.

Note that the Fit alignment rule equals the Center Fit rule in the layer
properties.
Pan

This is the opposite of the Fit parameter. If the image orientation is portrait, its

10Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)2

width will be made to match the width of the scene grid. As a result, part of theimage’s height will extend beyond the height of the frame. This can be useful if
you want to make your background move up and down, or from left to right tomake it appear as if the camera is panning or to actually perform a camera pan.

The opposite will apply to a landscape image. Its height will be fit to the scene
grid, therefore it is possible that the image will extend beyond the scene grid's
boundaries.

Note that the Pan alignment rule equals the Center First Page rule in the layer
properties.
Scales the image in proportion to the scene's resolution. The system looks at
the resolution of the bitmap image, for example 4000 x 2000, then compares itto the scene's resolution, for example 1920 x 1080, and adjusts the scale
factor in proportion. So, in this example, the bitmap would appear at 208%
(4000/1920). If you import a bitmap that is 960 x 540, it will be displayed at 50%(960/1920) of the size of the project resolution.
Project Resolution

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Chapter 2: Scanning

Note that the Project Resolution alignment rule is equal to the As Is rule in thelayer properties.
‣

Import As Bitmap Drawing: Imports a bitmap drawing into a vector layer where you can edit the image
using the drawing tools. In the Alignment section, select one of the following:

Parameter

Description
Enlarges or shrinks (but not distort) to your image height to match the fullheight of the scene frame (alignment grid).

Vertical Fit

Enlarges or shrinks (but not distort) to your image height to match the full widthof the scene frame (alignment grid).

Horizontal Fit

Actual Size

Scales the image in proportion to the scene's resolution. The system looks at
the resolution of the bitmap image, for example 4000 x 2000, then compares itto the scene's resolution, for example 1920 x 1080, and adjusts the scale
factor in proportion. So, in this example, the bitmap would appear at 208%
(4000/1920). If you import a bitmap that is 960 x 540, it will be displayed at 50%(960/1920) of the size of the project resolution.

5. In the Drawing Options section, set the following options if desired:

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Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)2‣

Drawing Name: Name of the drawing to import.

‣

Hold Value: Type the number of frames that the drawing will be exposed.

‣

Scan and Advance: Lets you scan one drawing after another every time you click Scan.

‣

Flip Drawing: Mirrors the drawings horizontally and scans it this way.

6. Adjust the Scale control and sliders in the Preview Image window until you are satisfied with the view.

7. Click Scan to scan your drawing.
8. If you are scanning panoramic drawings, in the Page Panning section, move the slider to the next letter to capture your next frame.

9. If you have more than one drawing, set the next drawing in place and click Scan again. Repeat until you havefinished scanning all your drawings.
How to import and vectorize bitmap drawings
1. From the top menu, select File > Import > From Scanner.
The Scan Drawings window opens.

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Chapter 2: Scanning

2. Select your scanner from the Scanner list.

3. Click Preview to get a test scan of your drawing.
4. In the Layer section, select one of the following:‣

Create Layer: Imports an image into a new layer. Type a name for the layer in the Name field.

‣

Add to Existing Layer: Imports the image into an existing layer. Select a layer from the Layer list.

5. In the Import Options section, select the Convert to Vector Drawing option.
6. In the Vectorization section, set the following:

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Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)2‣Black and White: Vectorizes drawings as a solid black line; creates a 100% vector-based drawing. Set
the Threshold and Smooth parameters.

‣

Grey: Vectorizes the image as a mix of vector contour and greyscale bitmap filling. Lines keep the texture
from the scan, and the white of the paper becomes transparent.

‣

New Preset: Lets you create a new preset.

‣

Delete Preset: Lets you delete any preset in the list.

‣

Custom vectorization: Lets you set custom vectorization parameters—see Creating a Vectorization
Style on page 1.

7. In the Drawing Options section, set the following options if desired:‣

Drawing Name: Name of the drawing to import.

‣

Hold Value: Type the number of frames that the drawing will be exposed.

‣

Scan and Advance: Lets you scan one drawing after another every time you click Scan.

‣

Overwrite: Lets you overwrite existing drawings—see Overwriting Drawings on page 16.

‣

Flip Drawing: Mirrors the drawings horizontally and scans it this way.

8. Adjust the Scale control and the sliders in the Preview Image window until you're satisfied with the view.

9. Click Scan to import your drawing.
10. If you are scanning panoramic drawings, in the Page Panning section, move the slider to the next letter to capture your next frame.

11. If you have more than one drawing, set the next drawing in place and click Scan again. Repeat until you havefinished scanning all your drawings.

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Chapter 2: Scanning

Overwriting Drawings
At times, it might be more efficient to create a scene and fill in the exposure sheet before scanning. Then you cansimply scan your drawings to fill in the necessary cells in the exposure sheet. Note that when you start scanning,the drawings are named sequentially regardless of whether there is an exposure or not in the Xsheet.
How to overwrite existing drawings
1. In the Xsheet, select the first cell to overwrite.
2. From the top menu, select File > Import > From Scanner.
3. In the Scan Drawings window, do the following:‣

Scanner: Select your scanner from the list.

‣

Layer: Select the Add to Existing Layer option.

‣

Import Options: Select the Convert to Toon Boom Vector Drawing option.

‣

Vectorization: Select an appropriate option: Black and White or Grey, or create a new preset.

‣

Drawing Options: Select the Overwrite option.

4. Click Preview.
The scanner window opens.
5. Make any necessary adjustments to the image before scanning, then click Preview.

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6. In the Scan Drawings window, click Scan.
The scanned drawing replaces the selected cell in the Xsheet, filling the entire exposure. The Drawing
Options section indicates the name of the cell the drawing overwrote and its exposure value.

Creating Custom Vectorization Parameters
You can create your own vectorization settings with Harmony. The vectorization parameters you create can besaved, shared and also inserted into the VectOptions.conf file used by the Scan and Control Center modules
when scanning or vectorizing a series of drawings.
You can use an interface to select and test the different options, as well as type in some advanced settings.
The Vectorization Parameters dialog box lets you vectorize pencil drawings, along with any red, blue or green pencil
marks you may have used to indicate highlights and shadows. The drawing will be vectorized into pure red, blue,
green and black (RGB values), while creating colour art zones wherever lines connect. After painting in your tones
and highlights, change your pure RGB colours to transparent (0 Alpha) in the Colour Picker window and watch theindicator colour zone lines disappear.
How to open the Vectorization Parameters dialog box
1. From the top menu, select File > Import > From Scanner.
You can also open it from any other import option that allows you to customize the vectorization parameters(i.e. from the scanner).
2. In the Scan Drawings window, do the following:‣

In the Layer section, decide on the layer options.

‣

In the Import Options section, select the Convert to Toon Boom Vector Drawing option‣

Click Preview.

3. In the Vectorization section, click the Vectorization Parameters
The Vectorization Parameters dialog box opens.

17

button.

Chapter 2: Scanning•

Options Tab on page 18•

Help Tab on page 20

Options Tab
The Options tab contains the main vectorization settings. More settings are available in the Help tab.

Parameter

Description

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The input filters are applied to the bitmap image before it is vectorized.
One Pass: One threshold value is applied to both the Line and Colour Art. For
drawings with distinct vector-style lines of mattes, you only need one pass.
Two Passes: Applies a different threshold value to each layer. For greyscaledrawings, you may want to perform the vectorization process twice to apply different threshold values to the Line and Colour Art layers.
Input

Threshold: Determines which values in the scanned image are consideredpart of the Line or Colour Art layer and what will be eliminated from thevectorized drawing; 0% is white and 100% is black. The threshold is between
these two values.
Expand Bitmap: Lets you enter a value to scale the bitmap to detect small
variations in the line. Use this option if you scanned a greyscale image andwant to preserve small variations in the texture to apply to the line art.
Jag Filter: Lets you enter a value to scale back the bitmap to remove some of
the line’s roughness. This is useless when you have a drawing that appears
quite rough; the Jag filter will eliminate excess strokes in the final drawing.
The output filters are applied during the vectorization process.
No Colour Art: Does not generate filling zones in the Colour Art layer.

OutputNo Texture: Does not generate texture in the Line Art layer in the final images.
Select this option to create solid lines in the final line art.
Generate Matte in Underlay Layer: Creates an opaque zone behind yourdrawing’s lines to avoid seeing through the layers.
Colour as Texture: Converts colour values into a texture layer.
The optical registration options are used to automatically align drawings basedon the position of the peg holes on the animation paper. The peg holes must
appear in the scanned drawings for the optical registration to work.
DPI: Lets you enter the dots-per-inch value of your image. You must enter thesame value as the DPI used to scan the image.

Optical Registration

Peg Side: Lets you select the position of the peg holes on your drawings.
Identify whether they are on the top, bottom, left or right.
Strictness: Determines how exact the location of the peg holes must be for thesoftware to recognize them. There are two values to choose from:•

Strict: The peg holes must be in a tightly defined area to be recognized.

•

Loose: The peg holes can be recognized somewhere in a larger area.
This is the recommended setting.

Field Chart: Lets you indicate the size of the animation paper, 12 or 16.

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Chapter 2: Scanning

The Post Processing filters are applied to the final vector images.
Remove Holes: Removes holes of a specified value that might make painting
difficult.
Post Processing

Remove Dirt: Removes stray marks and dirt of a specified value. Try a value
around 500.
Remove Hair Size: Removes small strokes that have no line art.
Remove Hair: Number of Passes: The number of times the drawing will beanalyzed to identify hair marks.
Close Gaps: Closes gaps in the Colour Art so you can paint it.

Miscellaneous

Smooth Passes for Line Art Before Breaking Triangles: The number oftimes the smoothing operation runs before creating the triangles that breaklines in the drawing. If unnecessary triangles are appearing in the drawing,
increase this value.
Smooth Passes for Line Art: The number of times the smoothing operation is
performed after the triangles have been created. This further smooths the line
art.

Preview

Show Strokes: Shows the strokes in the Vectorized Image panel.
Stroke Thickness: Shows the size of the strokes.

Help Tab
The Help tab contains the most advanced vectorization settings which you type in the Advanced Option fields atthe bottom of the Vectorization Parameters dialog box.

File IO Options-file <filename (including extension)> [ options ]-infile <filename (including extension)>; same as -file-outfile <filename>; alternate output file-informat <format>; the input format. Used if reading from stdin-debug; turn on debug mode

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Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)2-noforce; don't force output if image is inconsistent-version; print version information and quit
-output_version <version>; output files of this version. Valid versions can be: 0 or 604-force_unamed_palette_for_texture; will generate a texture in TVG's internal palette

Registration Options-register <dpi side strictness>; perform optical registration.
•

Side can be one of left, right, top, bottom or l, r, t, b.

•

Strictness can be either loose, strict or l, s.

-register_center_peg_holes; will use only round holes in 16 fields page-rcph; short form of register_center_peg_holes-registration_looseness_factor <factor>; registration looseness factor (default 2.000000)-rlf; short form of registration_looseness_factor-rdebug; output registration debug messages-pegpitch <inch (default 8.000000)>; distance between peg bars
-threshr < (default 0.500000)>; threshold for optical registration; range 0.0 to 1.0-rmargin <inch (default 1)>; region size where to look for peg bars
-peg_distance_from_center <inch (default 5.25)>; peg distance from centre of the image-pdfc; short form of -peg_distance_from_center-out_peg_position <side (default same)>; wanted position of the peg on the drawing.
•

Can be one of right, left, top, bottom (or r, l, t, b) or same.

•

A rotation will be performed if it is different from the side passed to -register.

-output_peg_matrix; output the peg transformation matrix on standard output.
-scanner_calibrate; < (default 1.0000 1.0000) > x and y scale factors to be applied to scanner image.

Filtering Options-pixel <pixel_shape (default '4x3')>; Valid values: 4x3-gap <worldUnits (default 10)>; close gaps up to this big-pencil; generate line art only
-keep_dirt; don't filter out dirt
-thresh <threshold (default 0.2)>; range 0.0 to 1.0-rmv_hairs <worldUnits (default 1)> <passes (default 1)>•

remove hairs of size smaller than "size" in "passes" passes-rmv_holes <area (default 7)>; remove holes smaller than "area"

21Chapter 2: Scanning-rmv_dirt <area (default 1)>; remove dirt smaller than "area"•

try values between 100 and 500 for rmv_holes and rmv_dirt. The area is in world units squared-rmv_triangles <worldUnits (default 30.000000)>; remove triangles at "pixels"•

distance from each other. Use -no_break to remove all triangles-no_texture; don't generate textured strokes-color_as_texture; will vectorize the alpha channel and put the RGB colour in a textured colour-noclosegap; disable all gap closing algorithms-no_break; disable the breaking of line art-jag_filter <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap-expand_bitmap <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap-fit_errorc <error (default 1.000000>; fitting error for the colour art-fit_errorl <error (default 1.000000>; fitting error for the line art-smoothl <passes (default 1>; number of smooth passes for line art-smoothc <passes (default 1>; number of smooth passes for colour art-first_smooth <passes (default 0>; number of smooth passes for line art before breaking triangles-first_smoothl <passes (default 0>; number of smooth passes for line art before breaking triangles-first_smoothc <passes (default 0>; number of smooth passes for line art in colour art pass (needs -2pass)-2pass; specify two sets of parameters; one for line art "l", one for colour art "c"(-thresh, -rmv_holes and -rmv_dirt will be overridden by -threshl, threshc, -rmv_holesl,-rmv_holesc, -rmv_dirtl and -rmv_dirtc)-threshl <threshold for line art (default 0.5)>; range 0.0 to 1.0-threshc <threshold for color art (default 0.5)>; range 0.0 to 1.0-jag_filterl <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap for line art-jag_filterc <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap for colour art-expand_bitmapl <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap for line art-expand_bitmapc <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap for colour art-rmv_holesl <area (default 7)>; remove line art holes smaller than "area"-rmv_holesc <area (default 7)>; remove colour art holes smaller than "area"-rmv_dirtl <area (default 1)>; remove line art dirt smaller than "area"-rmv_dirtc <area (default 1)>; remove colour art dirt smaller than "area"
try values between 100 and 500 for rmv_holesl, rmv_holesc, rmv_dirtl and rmv_dirtc. The values are inworld units squared-margins <inch (default 0.25)>; remove margin around bitmap-top_margin <inch (default 0.25)>; remove margin at top of bitmap

22Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)2-bottom_margin <inch (default 0.25)>; remove margin at bottom of bitmap-left_margin <inch (default 0.25)>; remove margin at left of bitmap-right_margin <inch (default 0.25)>; remove margin at right of bitmap-remove_peg_bars; remove the peg bar holes-field_size <fields (default 12 or use value in scan file)>; set the drawing to this field size
-fs; short hand for -field_size-peg_bar_size <inch (default 1)>; the size of the peg bar region-noframe; do not put a frame around the colour art-frame_fields <default -1.000000>; put a frame of the specified dimension around the colour art-downscale_input <default 1>; downscale the raw input by this integer factor-downscale_texture <default 1>; downscale the output texture by this integer factor-buildmatte; generate a matte on underlay for line test
-buildmatte_colourart; generate a matte on colour art for line test
Note: -buildmatte and -buildmatte_colourart are mutually exclusive-copystrokes; copy original strokes when building matte.

Options for bitmap that has no registration information-pixel_margins <inch (default 0)>; remove margin around bitmap-top_pixel_margin <inch (default 0)>; remove margin at top of bitmap-bottom_pixel_margin <inch (default 0)>; remove margin at bottom of bitmap-left_pixel_margin <inch (default 0)>; remove margin at left of bitmap-right_pixel_margin <inch (default 0)>; remove margin at right of bitmap-dpi <(default -1)>; dpi information of input bitmap

RGB Keying Options-rgb; generate separate zones for red, green and blue lines-rgb_alpha <value (default 255)>; generate red, green and blue colour with alpha of this value-no_red; ignore red colour in vectorization-no_green; ignore green colour in vectorization-no_blue; ignore blue colour in vectorization-flatten; flatten the drawing after generating colours-rmv_rgb_dirt <threshold area default 0.0>; remove red, green and blue regions smaller than area
-expand_bitmap_rgb <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap for rgb-threshrgb <value> <threshold for rgb vectorization default 0.200000>;

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Chapter 2: Scanning-threshsv <saturation threshold default 0.500000> <value threshold default 0.500000>; thresholds on saturationand value to consider a pixel to be grey

Colour Vectorization Options-color_vectorize; perform a colour vectorization-file2 <colour art filename>; specify the colour art bitmap-penstyle <center alpha (0.0-20.0)> <edge alpha (0.0-20.0)> <gamma (0-10)><centre pressure effect (0.0-1.0)><edge pressure effect (0.0-1.0)><texture bitmap downscaling (0.2-20)> <texture bitmap file (valid filename or "" ifno file)>; generate brush texture for the line art-pressure_variation <strategy (0, 1 or 2)> <min pressure (0.0-1.0)> <max pressure (0.0-1.0)> <max variation(0.0-1.0)>; specify a pressure strategy for the centre line.
-blur_radius <pixels (default 0)>; blur the penstyle texture generated-color_contour_smooth_passes <times (default 3)>; perform number of smooth passes on contour before
computing texture-ccsp <times (default 3)>; short for -color_contour_smooth_passes-color_rmv_holesl <world units (default 0.000000)>; remove holes of this size when computing texture-color_fill_holesl <world units (default 0.000000)>; fill holes of this size for colour line art

Bubble Usage (implemented only for colour vectorization's line art)-create_bubbles; add bubbles into the LineArt. Implemented for colour vectorization only
-bubble_gap <value (default 3)>; max number of colour art points between 2 bubbles-bubble_length <value (default 10)>; max number of circles in a bubble-min_radius <value (default 1.5000)>; min radius of a circle in a bubble relative to the line thickness (must be >=1.0)-max_radius <value (default 3.5000)>; max radius of a circle in a bubble relative to the line thickness (must be>= 1.0)-uniform_gap; the space between bubbles is constant

4 Colour Vectorization-4colours [key:value] ... [key:value] ; The key value list can be empty. The list of keys is:
rgbdiff:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]
dark:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]
grey:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]
white:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]
dirt:value ; dirt area. 200 is a good value
rt:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]
gt:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]

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bt:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]

NOTE:
There must be no space between the colon and the key/value. For example: -4colours rgbdiff:20 dark:20 grey:120
white:250 dirt:200 rt:240 gt:240 bt:240

Creating a Vectorization Style
With Harmony, you can create custom vectorization parameters that can be saved, reused, shared, or used to set
the Scan module vectorization style list.
You can vectorize drawings using one of the following methods:•

Black and White: All the lines become vector based and 100% black. The white areas become completelytransparent.

•

Greyscale: All the lines preserve their initial textured look in grey shades as a bitmap image contained inside
a vector frame. The white areas become completely transparent.

•

Four Colours: With the advanced parameters, you can isolate the red, green, blue, and black lines and turnthem into 100% vector lines, preserving their original colours—see Creating Custom Vectorization
Parameters on page 17.

How to create or modify the vectorization parameters
1. Set the different options available in the Vectorization Parameters dialog box.

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Chapter 2: Scanning

2. Click the Vectorize button to update the Vectorized Image preview.
The vectorized image is just a preview. The actual vectorization happens when you click OK in the Import
Images dialog box. There are many options to try in the Vectorization Parameters dialog box. These areapplied during the vectorization process.
3. To set advanced parameters, read the information on the Help tab, then type in the Advanced Options fieldat the bottom of the dialog box.
4. To save your vectorization parameters to reuse them later, share them, or use them to set the Scan module vectorization style list, click Save.
5. In the Browser window, name and save the file.

6. To save the current settings as your default settings, click Save As Default. To restore the default settings, click Restore Defaults.
7. To load a vectorization style, click Load and locate the existing *.vof file.
8. Click OK.

Setting the VectOptions.conf FileToon Boom Harmony Server uses a file called VectOptions.conf to get the vectorization style when batch
vectorizing a series of drawings. A series of default styles is available in this file, but you will certainly want tocreate your own to fit your production style.
How to set the VectOptions.conf file on Windows or Mac OS X
1. Open the vectOptions.conf file:‣

Windows: Select Programs / All Programs > Harmony 12.2 > Tools > Configuration Editor.

‣

Mac OS X: Select Applications > Harmony 12.2 > Tools > Configuration Editor.

The Configuration Editor window opens.

26

Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)22. In the bottom section of the window, select the VectOptions.conf tab.
3. Scroll down the VectOptions.conf file to see all the different options available for creating your custom vectorization style. These options are the same as in the Vectorization Parameters dialog box. It is recommended that you create your vectorization style using Harmony and the Vectorization Parameters window
and copy the result parameters in this file—see Creating a Vectorization Style on page 1.
4. Scroll down toward the bottom of the file to see the default styles. You can modify them or add new ones tothe list using the parameters you got using the Vectorization Parameters window. Notice that some of thelines have a “#” sign at the beginning to indicate that the line is a comment and will not appear in the style list.
The lines that have no sign at the beginning appear in the style list.

5. To create a new style, type the following below the existing styles:
style_name:
This should be followed by the name of your new style. For example: style_name: Black Lines.
6. Under the style name line, type the following:
options:

27

Chapter 2: Scanning

7. Copy and paste the information in your *.vof style when saving your settings in the Vectorization Parameters window.
‣

To open the *.vof file, use any plain text editor application.

8. In the Configuration Editor’s top menu, select File > Save.
9. If you have Toon Boom Harmony Scan on your computer, you can start the application and verify that the
new style appears in the Vectorization Style list under Edit > Vectorization Style.

NOTE:
If you are using the batch processing method available with Toon Boom Harmony Server to scan and vectorize
drawings, the selected style must be available on all the machines included in the batch processing list.
Refer to the Control Center Guide Guide to learn more about setting up and using batch processing.

How to set the VectOptions.conf file on Linux using the vi text editor
1. Open a Terminal window:
Menu: Applications > System Tools > Terminal

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Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)2

2. Open the etc folder inside the installation directory:$ cd /usr/local/ToonBoomAnimation/harmony_12.2/etc
3. Change your user to "root":$ su‣

If your user is part of the sudoers list, enter the following command and go to step 5.
$ sudo vi VectOptions.conf

4. Enter the root password.
5. Open the VectOptions.conf file:$ vi VectOptions.conf
6. To start editing, press I to enter Insert mode.
7. When you're finished editing the file, press Esc to exit Insert mode.
8. To save the changes made to the file, type the following and press Enter/Return:$ :w!
9. To exit the vi editor and return to the Terminal, type the following and press Enter/Return:$ :q
10. If you have Toon Boom Harmony Scan module on your computer, start the application and verify that the newstyle appears in the Vectorization Style list under Edit > Vectorization Style.

NOTE:
If you are using the batch processing method available with Toon Boom Harmony Server to scan and vectorize
drawings, the selected style must be available on all the machines included in the batch processing list.
Refer to the Control Center Guide Guide to learn more about setting up and using batch processing.

How to set the VectOptions.conf file on Linux using the gedit text editor
1. Open a Terminal window:

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Chapter 2: Scanning

Menu: Applications > System Tools > Terminal
2. Open the etc folder inside the installation directory:$ cd /usr/local/ToonBoomAnimation/harmony_12.2/etc
3. Change your user to "root":$ su‣

If your user is part of the sudoers list, enter the following command and go to step 5.
$ sudo gedit VectOptions.conf

4. Enter the root password.
5. Open the VectorOptions.conf file:$ gedit VectOptions.conf
6. Edit the parameters of the VectOptions.conf file as you would do in most text editor applications.
7. Select File > Save.
8. Select File > Quit.
9. If you have Toon Boom Harmony Scan module on your computer, start the application and verify that the
new style appears in the Vectorization Style list under Edit > Vectorization Style.

NOTE:
If you are using the batch processing method available with Toon Boom Harmony Server to scan and vectorize
drawings, the selected style must be available on all the machines included in the batch processing list.
Refer to the Control Center Guide Guide to learn more about setting up and using batch processing.

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Chapter 3: Timing

When you create hand-drawn animation traditionally or in a paperless environment, it's important to know how to set
and modify the timing of your drawings.
In a traditional workflow, the person in charge of the digital exposure sheet reproduces the paper exposure sheet
created by the animator. In a paperless workflow, the animator creates and manages their own exposure sheet
directly in Harmony without the need for reproduction.
If you're more of a traditional animator, you will probably work with an exposure sheet. If you're a digital animator,
you may prefer to work with a timeline to visualize your timing. Harmony offers both.
The Xsheet view displays the digital reproduction of a traditional paper exposure sheet used in hand-drawn
animation. You can set the animation sequence's exposure and name the drawings.
The Timeline view is also used to visualize timing, and represents elements and groups of elements as layers.
You can adjust timing in both views; your choice depends on which technique you're accustomed to using.
Depending on your working style, some actions may seem preferable to do in one view instead of another. Many of
the actions you perform in the Xsheet can also be accomplished in the Timeline. This chapter will often show bothtechniques. You can choose which one you prefer.
In this chapter, you will learn how to work on your drawing’s exposure and length. The exposure and animation paths
for symbols are covered in separate chapters.

NOTE: The exposure sheet is not mandatory for cut-out animation. It can be useful for creating characters and parts,
but is not really needed for animation and timing. If you plan to work with cut-out animation, you can still learn usefultips by reviewing the section on exposure sheets.

The basic digital exposure sheet process is divided into the following steps:

Preparation
The digital exposure task is quite simple. There are very few things to prepare in order to get ready.
Opening the Scene
The scene is generally created during a previous step, such as scanning (in a traditional animation workflow), scene
31Chapter 3: Timing

set up, digital layout, or production organization.
Using the Workspace
The person creating the exposure sheet will need only the Xsheet view to create the digital exposure sheet,although the Timeline view may also be helpful. If you're doing paperless animation, use the Camera or Drawing
view if you want to sketch at the same time.
If you work with this layout often, you can use the Workspace Manager to save it as a workspace,and name it
Xsheet, for example.

While drawing and animating paperless animation, you can use the Workspace Manager to save a frequently
used layout and name it Paperless Animation, for example.
Preparing References

To start an exposure sheet, you need to prepare your references. For traditional animation, you will need toreproduce the animator's paper exposure sheet. If you're working remotely, the studio can scan the paper
exposure sheet using third-party software and send the digital files to be opened and viewed digitally.

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In paperless animation, you will usually create an exposure sheet from the Xsheet view.The information from yourlayout and posing or storyboard will help you approximate how many elements are required in the scene.

Setting the Scene Length
Once the references are ready, you need to set the scene length by adding the right number of frames to your scene.
You can set the global scene length from the top menu.
In the Xsheet and Timeline view, you can add and remove frames from a scene to edit its length.
How to set the scene length
1. From the top menu, select Scene > Scene Length.
The Set Scene Length dialog box opens.

2. In the Number of Frames field, enter the number of frames needed.
How to extend or reduce the scene length in the Timeline view
When you remove frames at the end of a scene to reduce the scene length in the Timeline view, the exposeddrawings and symbols are not deleted. They're still available if you extend the scene afterward.
1. In the Timeline view, drag the scene length bracket:‣

Right: To add more frames to your scene.

‣

Left: To reduce the number of frames in your scene.

How to add frames in the middle of a scene
You can add frames anywhere in the middle of the scene—before or after a selection. If you select a frame row in the
Xsheet view, Harmony will add the new frames before or after the selection, depending on your choice.
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Timeline view, select the frame to which you want to add frames before or after.

‣

In the Xsheet view, select a frame row.

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Chapter 3: Timing‣

In the Timeline view, select the frame to which you want to add frames before or after.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Scene > Frame > Add Frames Before Selection or Add Frames After
Selection.

‣

In the Xsheet view, right-click and select Frames > Add Frames Before Selection or Add Frames
After Selection.

‣

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Add Frames‣

Press Ctrl + G and Ctrl + H (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + G and Ctrl + H (Mac OS X).

button to add frame after your selection.

The Add Frames dialog box opens.

3. In the Number of Frames to Add field, enter the number of frames needed in the scene.
4. Click OK.

How to add frames at the start or end of a scene
1. In the top menu, select Scene > Frames > Add Frames at Start or Add Frames at End.
The Add Frames dialog box opens.

2. In the Number of Frames to Add field, enter the number of frames needed in the scene.

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3. Click OK.
How to remove a frame or a range of frames to reduce the scene length in the Xsheet view
In the Xsheet view, you can remove any selected frame range, such as the last frame.
1. In the Xsheet view, do one of the following:‣

Select a frame in a given column.

‣

Select a frame range by clicking the first frame’s number and then dragging the selection highlight down to
the last frame to delete.

2. To delete the selected frames, do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Scene > Frame > Remove Selected Frames.

‣

Press Delete to delete the selection.

‣

Click the Remove Frames

button. To remove several frame selections, click the button repeatedly.

If you selected a range of frames, the Warning dialog box may open.

3. To complete the operation:‣

Click Yes to delete the selection.

‣

Click No to delete only the exposure in the cell and not the frames.

‣

Select the Don’t Show This Message Again option to prevent the warning message from being
displayed each time you delete a frame range.

Creating Drawings
Before filling any value or setting any timing or exposure, you need to add different drawing elements.

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Chapter 3: Timing

Each drawing element is represented as a vertical element column in the Xsheet view and a horizontal element
layer in the Timeline view.
In Harmony, whether you work in the Timeline or Xsheet view, any modification you do to one view will be applied
to both. You can also see your layers displayed in the Node view as nodes.
To start an exposure sheet, you will use drawing elements. Drawing elements are drawing containers. Any image
file, either bitmap or vector, will use a drawing element.
When you add a drawing element to your scene, a folder is added to the scene directory. This folder is named thesame way as the drawing element. Its purpose is to contain all the drawings related to this element. For example,
in cut-out animation, a character can have many heads available. All of the head drawings will be contained in thisfolder, even if they are not exposed in the Timeline or the Xsheet view. There is always a drawing container
connected to a drawing element (layer, column).

NOTE: There are different element types available, such as sound and expression. A sound element contains
sound files. Expressions, Beziers, eases, 3D path, Quadmaps and Pegs are for motion purposes during thecompositing step. It's not necessary to create these types to create your exposure sheet.

You can add drawing elements from the Timeline view, Xsheet view, and the Scene menu.
This section is divided as follows:•

Layer and Column Basics on page 36•

Layer and Column Types on page 37•

Adding Layers and Columns on page 40•

Deleting Layers and Columns on page 43•

Layer and Column Properties on page 44•

Modifying Layers and Columns on page 47•

Duplicating Layers and Columns on page 50•

Cloning Layers and Columns on page 51•

Adding an Annotation Column on page 51•

y bLinking External Files with Timing Columns on page 56

Layer and Column Basics
A layer is linked to a directory, the location where all its drawings are saved. This directory has the same name as
the layer. When a name is typed in a cell ,Harmony searches the layer's directory for the corresponding drawing
to display. If there is no corresponding drawing, a new one is created.
Drawings are exposed in cells and linked to the drawings saved in the layer's directory. When you remove adrawing from a cell, it is not displayed and still exists in the directory.
A drawing that is exposed multiple times (for example, in a walk-cycle) would be linked to the same original
drawing in the layer's directory. If you modify, repaint, or correct the drawing, all exposed drawings with the same
name are updated simultaneously. You must duplicate or create a new drawing to modify a single exposure andretain the others.

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When you create a drawing cycle, all of the repeated drawings are linked to the original files. This means that when
you modify, repaint, or correct a drawing named “1,” all drawings named “1” are updated simultaneously. In order tomodify a drawing independently from its other exposures, you must duplicate the drawing.

Layer and Column Types
A column is also known as a layer. There are several types of layers that you can add in the Xsheet and Timeline
view. Each layer is indicated by an icon to help you differentiate them. Some layers are represented differently in the
Xsheet view.
Drawing Layer

The most common layer type is the drawing layer. Any time you need to create a vector drawing or import a symbol
or image, you can use a drawing layer. You can also create bitmap artwork on a drawing layer.

NOTE: Bitmap images are contained in bitmap layers.

Bitmap Layer

If you import a bitmap images (as original bitmap) in your project, they are inserted in a Bitmap layer. If you choose tovectorize your image when you import, the vectorized object will be placed on a Drawing layer.
When importing a bitmap image, you have the option of encapsulating the image in a symbol. If you place a bitmap
into a symbol, you will be able to mix vector drawings with it on the same layer.

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Chapter 3: Timing

Camera Layer

You can only have one Camera layer at a time in the Timeline view. By default, there is no Camera layer when
you create a scene. You need to add a Camera layer when you want to create a camera motion.
The Camera layer is not visible in the Xsheet view.

NOTE: If you want to have several cameras with different settings, you can keep adding Camera layers in yourTimeline view (however, only one will ever be visible at a time as you can only have one camera at a time in yourtimeline). To switch to a different camera, select Scene > Camera and select another camera layer.

Effect Layer

To enhance the look of your scene, you can add effect layers and attach your drawings to them.
In Harmony, there is a series of effect nodes in the Node Library view.
When you select the Effect layer in the Timeline view, the effect’s parameter columns are displayed in the
Functions section of the Xsheet view.
Colour-Card Layer

The Colour-Card layer is used to add a plain colour background to a scene. By default, your scene has nobackground colour and if you render it as a QuickTime movie or image sequence, it will have a black background.
This layer is not visible in the Xsheet view.
Group Layer

A Group layer can be used to organize both the Timeline and Node views. You can drag and drop other layers ontoa Group layer and then collapse the Group layer to hide these other layers from view.
If you create the Group layer in the Timeline view, a corresponding node will appear in the Node view. Any layersthat you connect to the Group layer will appear in the Group node connected to an Input and Output port.

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Peg Layer

A Peg layer is a trajectory or motion path layer that does not contain drawings. It can be attached to any drawing
layer, cut-out puppet, or other peg layers; they will all follow the trajectory you set in the Peg layer.
When you select the Peg layer in the Timeline view, the peg’s function columns are displayed in the Functions
section of the Xsheet view.
Quadmap Layer

A Quadmap layer can be described as a deformation transformation layer that does not contain drawings. This canbe attached to any drawing layer, cut-out puppet, or even other Peg layers. They will all follow the deformation you
set in the Quadmap layer.
When you select the Quadmap layer in the Timeline view, the Quadmap’s function columns are displayed in the
Functions section of the Xsheet view.
Sound Layer

You can import sound files to add dialog and sound effects to your project. The sound layer will be added to yourTimeline and Xsheet view when you import a sound file in your scene.
In the Xsheet view, the Sound layer is a dark grey colour.

39Chapter 3: Timing

Advanced Column Types
In the Xsheet view, you can add several advanced column types to create particular animation paths. When you
create these columns, they are not linked automatically to any particular drawing layer. You can create a motion
path using these columns and then link or unlink several drawing or peg layers to it.
Advanced column types include:•

Timing•

3D Path•

3D Rotation•

Bezier Curve•

Ease Curve•

Expression•

Annotation

Adding Layers and Columns
There are different ways to add a drawing layer to your project. By default, when you create a new scene there is
one Drawing column in the Xsheet view and one corresponding Drawing layer in the Timeline view.
You can add an element for each drawing and it will appear as a column in the Xsheet view or as, a layer in theTimeline view, and a node in the Node view.
How to add a drawing element from the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view, click the Add Drawing Layer(Mac OS X).

button or press Ctrl + R (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + R

The Add Drawing Layer window opens.

2. In the Name field, name your new layer.
3. Set the Line Art and Colour Art options to Vector to get a vector layer or to Bitmap to have a bitmap layer.
4. Do one of the following:‣

Click Add to add a first layer and keep the window open to add more layers.

‣

Click Add and Close to add a new layer and close the window.

A new drawing layer is added to the Timeline view.

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How to add a drawing element from the top menu
1. From the top menu, select Insert > Drawing.
The Add Drawing Layer dialog box opens.

2. In the Name field, type a relevant element name and click OK.
The new drawing element appears in your scene.
How to add a drawing element from the Xsheet view
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Xsheet menu, select Columns > Add Columns.

‣

Click the Add Columns‣

Press Shift + C.

button.

The Add Column dialog box opens.

2. In the Name field, type a relevant element name.

3. In the Type field, select Drawing.

4. To complete the operation:‣

Click OK to add your new layers and close the dialog box.

‣

Click Apply to add your new layers and keep the dialog box open to add column.

‣

Click Close to cancel the operation.

The new drawing element appears in the Timeline, Xsheet and Node views—see Layer and Column Types on
page 37.

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Chapter 3: Timing

How to create a column using the advanced Add Column dialog box
You can use the advanced Add Column dialog box to make more file format and field size options available when
you insert a column.
1. From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (Windows/Linux) or Stage > Preferences (Mac OS X)
and select the Advanced tab.
2. In the Advanced Options section, select the Advanced Element Mode option to access the advanced
Add Column dialog box.

3. Click OK.
4. In the Xsheet menu, select Columns > Add Column or press Shift + C.
The Add Column dialog box opens.

5. In the Name field, type the new column’s name.
6. In the Type menu, select the Drawing type.

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7. In the Element section, select one of the following:‣

Create New Element: Creates an independent column with its own drawing folder.

‣

Reuse Existing Folder: Links your column to an existing folder within the Element folder of your scene. If
you select this option, in the Folder menu, select the folder to which you want to link your new column.

‣

Use Existing Element: Uses drawings from an existing column in the new column. Both columns will be
attached to the same set of drawings, but their timing will remain independent from one another. If you
modify one of the drawings, it will be modified in both columns. This is the same principle as the Clone
column.
In the Name menu, select the column to which you want to link your new column.

8. If you selected the Create New Element option:‣

Deselect the Vector option if you want your layer to contain bitmap images or enable it if you want thelayer to contain vector drawings. Most of the time, the Vector option will be enabled.

‣

If you deselected the Vector option, from the Bitmap Format list, select which type of bitmap image youwant to insert in the column. Select the SCAN type if you are planning to scan drawings using the Toon
Boom Harmony Scan module.

‣

If you deselected the Vector option and you chose the SCAN type, from the Scan Type menu, selectwhat kind of scanning you want to achieve.

‣

In the Field Chart field, when importing traditional animation, indicate the size of paper on which theanimation or background was drawn. If you are not using perforated animation paper, leave the 12 field
default value as is.

9. Do one of the following:‣

Click OK button to create the new column and close the dialog box.

‣

Click Apply to create the new column but keep the dialog box opened to create other new columns.

Deleting Layers and Columns
You can delete an element in the Timeline view or Xsheet view.
How to delete layers in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view, select the layers to delete.

2. Do one of the following:

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Chapter 3: Timing‣

In the Timeline’s Layer toolbar, click the Delete Layers‣

Right-click on the selection and select Delete.

button.

How to delete columns in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet view, select the columns to be deleted by clicking on their header.

2. Do one of the following‣

Right-click on the selection and select Delete Columns.

‣

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Delete Columns‣

Press Delete.

button.

The Confirm Delete dialog box opens.

‣

Select the Delete Drawing Files and Element Folder option if you want to delete the drawings andfolders linked to the selected column.

3. To complete the operation:‣

Click OK to delete the selected layers.

‣

Click Cancel to cancel the operation.

The Warning dialog box may open.

4. Do one of the following:‣

Click Yes to delete all the frames from your scene.

‣

Click No to keep the frames in your scene.

‣

Select the Don’t Show This Message Again option if you do not want the dialog box to display again
in the future.

Layer and Column Properties
Each element has its own set of properties that you can modify, including effect and peg layers.

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If you want to modify an element’s properties, you can display the properties of a selected layer in the Timeline viewor selected node in the Node view. If you're working with the Xsheet, you can display its properties as well. You candisplay a layer's properties as a window or as a view of its own.
The Layer Properties editor allows you to:•Rename the layer•

Enable or disable the layer•

Lock the layer•

Change the track colour•

Activate the onion skin preview•

Adjust the positioning and animation parameters•

Adjust many other advanced parameters

The Column Properties editor allows you to:•Rename the layer•

Enable or disable the layer

How to display a layer's properties
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Layer Properties view is not part of your workspace, from the top menu, select Windows > Layer
Properties. In the Timeline view, select a layer‣

In the Timeline view, double-click on a layer.

‣

Press Shift + E.

‣

In the Node view, click on a node’s yellow properties button.

The properties display.

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Chapter 3: Timing

How to display a column's properties in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet view, do one of the following:‣

Double-click on a column header.

‣

Right-click on a column header and select Column Editor.

The properties for the column are displayed.

46

Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)22. (Optional) To view additional properties, select Edit > Preferences from the top menu.
3. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Advanced tab, then select the Advanced Element Mode option.

4. In the Xsheet view, double-click on a column header.
Additional properties for the column are displayed.

Modifying Layers and Columns
Once you add layers and columns to your project, you can modify their properties, names, or ordering.
You can change the order of your elements in the Timeline view and Xsheet view. When you change the order ofyour elements in one view, the other one is updated.
The Element Manager window lets you add, delete or modify elements (drawing folders) in your scene. If you havedrawing folders that are not linked to a column in your scene, use the Element Manager to delete them if needed.
How to rename a layer in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view, double-click on the name of the layer to rename.
2. In the Name field, rename the layer and press Enter/Return.

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Chapter 3: Timing

How to rename a layer in the Layer Properties editor
1. In the Timeline view, double-click anywhere on the layer except the layer name to rename.
The Layer Properties editor opens.
2. In the Name field, rename the layer.

3. Click Close.
How to rename a column
1. In the Xsheet view, double-click on a column name. Do not click on the drawing folder name that thecolumn is linked to (this also appears in the column header just below the column name).
The Drawing dialog box opens.

2. In the Name field, rename the column.
3. Click OK.
How to reorder layers in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view, select the layers to move.
2. Drag the selection to the new location.

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3. Do one of the following:‣

Drop the selection on an existing layer to make it a child of another element layer.

‣

Drop it between the existing layers. Timeline layers that are located above the selection are displayed in
front it. Layers located under it in the Timeline View are displayed behind it.

How to reorder columns in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet view, click on the column’s header with the middle mouse button.
2. Drag the column to its new position.

How to use the Element Manager‣ From the top menu, select Scene > Element Manager.

Parameter

Description

Elements

Elements

Delete Elements

Deletes the selected elements.

Delete Elements and Directories

Deletes the selected layer and its directories(drawing folder).

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Chapter 3: Timing

Parameter

Description

Add/Modify Element

Add/Modify Element

Name

Type in a new name in this field to create anelement or to rename the selected element.

Vector

Select this option if the new element is a vector
drawing or if you want to enable the parameters on
the selected element in the Elements list.

Bitmap Format

Lets you select the file format of the bitmap layer.

Scan TypeIf you're planning to scan elements with the Toon
Boom Harmony Scan module, select the scan
type from the list.

Field Chart

If you're importing traditional animation, select thesize of the paper on which the animation was
drawn.

Add

Creates a new element with the current parameters entered in the Add/Modify Element section.

ModifyApplies the parameter changes made to the selected element.

Duplicating Layers and Columns
Duplicating an element provides you with a copy of the drawings and their exposure. You can modify anything
you want in the duplicated element without affecting the original one.
How to duplicate an element
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, click the layer or column to duplicate.

2. Do one of the following:‣(Xsheet) Right-click on the column and select Duplicate Selected Columns.

‣(Xsheet) In the Xsheet menu, select Drawings > Duplicate Drawings.

‣(Timeline) Right-click on the layer and select Duplicate Selected Layers.

‣(Timeline) In the Timeline menu, select Layers > Duplicate Selected Layers.

The new duplicated layer or column appears.

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Cloning Layers and Columns
Cloning a layer or column provides you with a copy of the selected element that uses the same drawings as theoriginal. For example, if you modify a drawing in the cloned or original column, it is updated in both columns.
You can choose whether or not to copy the column timing to the cloned columns.
•

You can modify the column timing independently from each other, but the drawings remain linked.

•

You can copy the columns timing, so drawings and timings remain linked.

You can clone selected nodes from the Node view in the same way.
This is useful when you want to reuse a hand-drawn animation but have different timings.
How to clone an element
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the layer or column to clone.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Clone: Drawings Only to clone only the layer or column drawings.

‣

From the Timeline menu, select Layers > Clone Selected Layers: Drawings Only.

‣

From the Xsheet menu, select Columns: Clone Selected Columns: Drawings Only.

The new cloned layer or column appears.

Adding an Annotation Column
The annotation columns are useful for marking actions, corrections or other information related to your animation thatyou want to draw or write. This way, you can print your Xsheet, take it back to your animation table and work withthe annotations.
Before you can draw in the Annotation column, you must first activate the Enable Drawing option to activate theDrawing mode. Pen tablet pressure sensitivity is not supported in the annotation column.

In the annotation column, you can type in your notes and relevant information, as well as draw sketches and ideasthat will be useful in producing your animation.
Typing in an annotation column is independent from the Drawing mode. You can be in either mode and the typing will
work. To learn about typing values in the Xsheet view, see Typing Exposure on page 1.

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You can erase part or all of the annotation column’s text and drawn annotations. Annotations that you type incannot be erased using this method.
You can change the pen size and colour when you draw in the annotation column.
When working with the annotation columns, it is useful to display tick marks on odd-numbered frames.

To display the tick marks, you must run a short script.
If you scanned your paper exposure sheet’s annotations or if you need to place some pictures or drawings in the
Annotation columns, you can easily import them.
How to add an annotation column
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Xsheet menu, select Columns > Add Columns.

‣

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Add Columns‣

Press Shift + C.

The Add Column dialog box opens.

2. In the Name field, type in an appropriate name.
3. From the Type list, select Annotation and click OK.
The new column appears.

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How to draw in the annotation column
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Xsheet menu, select Annotation > Enable Drawing.

‣

In the Annotation column header, click the icon in the upper-right corner to cycle through the icons until theBrushicon is displayed.

The Drawing mode is enabled.
2. To draw in an Annotation column, simply use your mouse or pen tablet.

How to type in an annotation column
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the selected cell, press Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (Mac OS X).

‣

In the selected cell, hold down Ctrl + Shift + click (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + click (Mac OS X).

2. In the selected cell, type the desired text.

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How to erase part of a drawn annotation using Erasing mode
1. In the annotation column header, click the icon in the upper-right corner to cycle through the icons until theErasericon is displayed.
2. In the column, click and drag the cursor on top of the drawn annotation to erase parts of it.

NOTE: When using a pen on a tablet, you MUST flip your pen to the eraser side for the eraser towork.

How to change the pen width
1. In the Xsheet menu, select Annotation > Pen Width and do one of the following:‣

Select a pen width preset.

‣

Select Change Current to display the Pen Width dialog box. In the Pen Width field, type the numberof pixels for the pen size and click OK.

How to change the pen colour
1. In the Xsheet menu, select Annotation > Change Pen Colour.
The Select Colour dialog box opens.

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2. Choose a new colour.
3. Click OK.
How to display tick marks
1. From the top menu, select Windows > Script Editor.
2. From the Script Editor menu, select File > New Script.
3. Type in a name for your script and click OK.
4. In the File list, select the script you created.
5. On the right side of the view, type the following script:
function display_tick_marks(){
preferences.setBool("XSHEET_ANNOTATION_FRAME_MARKER", true);MessageLog.trace( preferences.getBool("XSHEET_ANNOTATION_FRAME_MARKER", false));}
6. Click Verify.
The script is verified.
7. From the Script Editor menu, select Play/Debug > Run.
A dialog box opens with your script selected in the Files column.
8. In the Functions column, select display_tick_marks and click OK.
Tick marks appear on odd frames in the Annotation column. If you do not see tick marks, close and restart
Harmony.

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How to turn off the display of tick marks
1. Follow steps 1 to 5 of How to display tick marks and use the following script:{
preferences.setBool("XSHEET_ANNOTATION_FRAME_MARKER", false);
MessageLog.trace( preferences.getBool("XSHEET_ANNOTATION_FRAME_MARKER", false));}
2. Follow steps 6 to 8.
All tick marks are removed from the Annotation column.
How to import annotation files
1. In the Xsheet view, select the first cell in the Annotation column where you want the imported image tostart.

2. Do one of the following:‣

Right-click on the cell and select Annotation > Import File.

‣

From the Xsheet menu, select Annotation > Import File.

3. Browse for the bitmap image to import.
4. Click Open.
The image appears in the Annotation column.

y bLinking External Files with Timing Columns
Timing columns are unique in that they can reference a source folder outside of the project folder to bring images
into the project. For example, you may have background scenes created in a third party software that you mightneed to update in the future. By using Timing columns, you can dynamically link your backgrounds, expose
different backgrounds at different times, and have live, automatic updating capabilities.

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IMPORTANT: If the project file is moved, or if the folder that the column is linked to is moved, then dynamic linking isbroken and the images that were in that folder will disappear in Toon Boom Harmony.

How to use a Timing column
1. In the Xsheet view, click the Add Columns

button.

1. In the Add Column dialog box, type in the name of the new column, then from the Type menu, select Timing.
1. Do one of the following:‣

Click OK if you are finished.

‣

Click Apply if you want to continue adding more columns and column types.

A peach coloured column appears in the Xsheet with the name you typed in, and for the header, <unused>.

1. In the Node view, add a new node.
1. Open the Layer Properties editor by clicking the yellow square of the node.
1. In the Drawing tab, select the Timing Columns option.
1. In the Name field, enter the path of the folder you want to access. If you use the Browse button to locate afolder, you must select a file in the folder you want and then delete the dash and the suffix (for example, background-01 should be renamed to background) from the file name in the field. If you leave the full file nameselected, Harmony will display that file for the entire duration of the scene, regardless of the contents of theTiming Column field.

NOTE: This means that all the images in the folder that you are linking to are named using the naming convention
described above. If for some reason you are unable to access a certain directory, type the directory extension directlyin the path extension field at the top of the browser window.

1. In the Timing Column field, click the Arrow button to create a new timing column, or select the name of thecolumn from the list. If you have an element directory selected in the Name field, the Timing Column will indicate which files are called from that element directory. Remember that the file displayed at each frame isbased on the element name, cell label, and extension. If the element is toto, the timing column is labeled 1,
2, and 3, and the extension is TVG, Harmony will display drawings totobody-1.tvg, totobody-2.tvg,
and totobody-3.tvg at the selected frames.

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In the Xsheet, the <unused> header changes to the name of the node in the Node view.
1. From the Extension list, select the file format of the files you want to display.
1. Click OK.
1. In the Xsheet view, in the Timing column, type the number that corresponds to the suffix of the drawing filethat you want to expose to make it appear in the Camera view.

Filling Exposure
Harmony provides different tools to fill in exposures and values, create cycles, and set increments.
This section is divided as follows:•

Filling Exposure Mode on page 59•

Typing Exposure on page 59•

Holding Exposure on page 61•

Extending a Single Exposure on page 61•

Extending an Exposure Sequence on page 62•

Extending the Exposure of Previous Drawings on page 64•

Dragging Cells on page 65•

Increasing and Decreasing Exposure on page 68•

Inserting Blank Cells on page 71•

Setting the Exposure on page 72•

Filling a Selection with a Single Exposure on page 73•

Filling a Selection with a Sequence on page 74•

Filling a Selection Randomly on page 76•

Filling Empty Cells on page 77•

Deleting Exposure on page 70•

Creating Cycles on page 78•

Managing Key Exposures on page 82

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Filling Exposure ModeIn the Xsheet view, you can fill columns using two different filling modes: Overwrite or Insert. These modes control
the filling behaviour. The Timeline view only uses the Overwrite mode.
By default, the Xsheet view is set to Overwrite mode. Adding a new value or a new value sequence overwrites
existing ones. The existing timing sequence remains in the same place and is not pushed down the column.

The Insert mode is the opposite of the Overwrite mode. When you add a new value or a new value sequence overexisting ones, the new values are inserted between the old ones. The existing timing sequence is pushed down thecolumn.

How to switch between Overwrite and Insert modes
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the bottom-right corner of the Xsheet view, click Overwrite/Insert.

‣

Press I.

Typing Exposure
To fill in your exposure, you can type the values directly in the Xsheet view.
If you want to type an exact drawing name or value in the Timeline view, you must use the Parameters section of theTimeline.

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NOTE: You can only use alphanumeric values. (0-9, a-z, underscore (_) and dash (-)).

How to type a value in the Timeline view
1. In the Drawing Substitution field, double-click to edit the field and type the name of the drawing you want tocreate.

2. Press Enter/Return to validate the value.

How to type values in the Xsheet view
1. In an Xsheet column, double-click on a cell.

2. Type a value or drawing name in the cell.

3. Press Enter/Return to move to the next cell.

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4. Press Esc to exit the typing mode and return to normal mode.

Holding Exposure
Drawings in an animation project are often exposed for more than one frame. The most common exposure of adrawing is two frames. In the industry, this type of exposure is known as animation in double frames or animation on
twos. A drawing can also be exposed for three, four, or five cells and so on. To prevent mistakes and save time, you
can hold cells automatically as you type in the Xsheet view.
How to hold exposure
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Xsheet menu, select Exposure > Hold Exposure > Hold 2 Cells.

‣

From the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Hold Exposure > the desired option.

2. Type a value or drawing name in the cell.
‣Press Enter/Return to move on to the next cell.

‣Press Esc to quit the typing mode.

Extending a Single Exposure
Extending the exposure lets you select a cell that contains a value and pull it down to the desired frame.
How to extend a cell exposure gesturally
1. In the Xsheet view, select the red arrow in the cell’s right side. Make sure you see the drag down

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2. Pull down the selected cell to the desired frame.

NOTE: The red selection box must be visible when releasing the cursor. If not, the action isconsidered cancelled.

How to extend a sequence from the top menu
1. Select a cell and do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Extend Exposure.

‣Press F5.

The Extend Exposure dialog box opens.
2. Enter the frame number you want to extend the cell to.

Extending an Exposure Sequence
When working with a sequence that contains only numbers, you can extend an exposure sequence in a similarmanner to extending a single exposure.
How to extend an exposure to create a sequence
1. In the Xsheet view, select a cell containing a number.
2. In the selected cell, click the red arrow on the cell’s right side. Make sure to see the drag down
cursor.

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3. Hold down the Shift key. Make sure a plus sign (+) appears.
4. Pull down the selection box to the desired frame.

NOTE: The red selection box must be visible when releasing the cursor. If not, the action is considered
cancelled.

5. First release the Shift key, then release the mouse button.

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Extending the Exposure of Previous Drawings

Extending the Exposure of Previous Drawings
When drawing on a blank frame you can automatically create a new drawing and extend the timing from theprevious exposed drawing.
In the following example, a cell is selected on the timeline for creating a new drawing in image A. In image B, theprevious exposure does not extend to the new drawing, while in image C, it does.

How to extend the exposure of previous drawings
1. Open the Preferences dialog box by doing one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences.

‣

Press Ctrl + U (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + U (Mac OS X).

The Preferences dialog box opens.
2. Select the Exposure Sheet tab.

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3. In the Drawing Creation section, select the Extend Exposure of Previous Drawing option.

4. On the left side of the Timeline view, select a cell and create a new drawing.
The previous exposure automatically extends to the beginning of the new drawing.

Dragging Cells
To readjust your timing, you can drag one or more cells to a new location. You can drag a cell to any other frame inthe same column or into another column.
You can turn off the Gestural Drag mode for the Xsheet view to prevent drawings from being dragged from one
location to another. This feature does not apply to Annotation columns.
How to drag a cell to another location in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view, select one or more cells to move.

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2. Drag the cells to the new location.

3. Drop the selection by doing one of the following:‣

Drop by simply releasing the mouse or pen.

‣

Hold Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (Mac OS X) while dropping the selection to copy the cells. The original
cells will not be moved.

‣

Press Shift while dropping the selection to insert them between existing frames.

How to drag a cell to another location in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet view, select one or more cells.

2. In the Xsheet view, position the pointer over the small dotted area

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3. Drag the selection to any other cell in the same column or in another column.

4. Do one of the following:‣

Drop the selection to overwrite the existing cells.

‣

Hold down Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (Mac OS X) while dropping the selection to copy the cells. The
original selection will not be moved.

‣

Press Shift while dropping the selection to insert it between existing frames.

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How to turn off the Gestural Drag mode
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Xsheet view, right-click and deselect Gestural Drag Mode.

‣

From the Xsheet menu, select Edit > Gestural Drag Mode‣In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Toggle Gestural Drag Mode
toolbar to display it).

button (you may have to customize the

The dragging pad disappears on selected cells when the Gestural Drag mode is off.

Increasing and Decreasing Exposure
Once a value is entered in the Timeline or Xsheet view, you can increase and decrease its exposure.
Increasing the exposure adds one more exposure to a selected cell; repeating this action adds an extra cell eachtime. This is an efficient way to extend a drawing's exposure and is always set in Insert mode. Increasing an
exposure pushes the existing exposure forward.
Decreasing the exposure removes one exposure from a selected cell and pulls any cells following it to thebeginning of selection.
How to increase exposure
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a cell.

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2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Increase Exposure.

‣In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Increase Exposure‣

At the bottom-right corner of the Xsheet view, set the number of cells over which the drawing will be
exposed.

‣Right-click and select Exposure > Increase Exposure.

‣Press +.

button.

How to decrease exposure
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a cell.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Decrease Exposure.

‣In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Decrease Exposure‣

At the bottom-right corner of the Xsheet view, set the number of cells over which the drawing will be
exposed.

‣Right-click and select Exposure > Decrease Exposure.

‣Press -.

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How to use the Clear Exposure and Pull feature
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a range of cells.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Clear Exposure and Pull.

‣

Right-click and select Exposure > Clear Exposure and Pull.

‣

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Clear Exposure and Pullbutton.

The exposure is reduced by the selected number of cells.

Deleting Exposure
You can delete a drawing’s exposure in several ways. When you delete a drawing’s exposure from the Timeline or
Xsheet view, you are not deleting the actual drawing file. You can always retrieve it by typing its name again in acell.
You can delete the exposure in a selected cell range or delete the entire exposure of a drawing exposed over
several cells. Note that you can also delete the exposure for drawings inside a collapsed group.
How to delete selected exposures
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the exposure you want to delete.
2. Do one of the following:‣

Right-click and select Delete.

‣Press Delete.

How to clear the entire exposure of a drawing
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a cell of a drawing exposed over several cells.
2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Clear Exposure.

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In the Timeline view, right-click and select Exposure > Clear Exposure.

‣In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Clear Exposure
display it).

button (you may have to customize the toolbar toInserting Blank Cells
You can place an empty cell between other cells.
How to insert blank cells
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell in which you want to insert a blank cell.

2. Do one of the following:‣

In the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Insert Blank Cell.

‣

Right-click and select Exposure > Insert Blank Cell.

‣In the Timeline or Xsheet toolbar, click the Insert Blank Cell
toolbar to display it).

‣Press Shift + J.

A blank cell is inserted.

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Extending the Exposure of Previous Drawings

How to clear a selected cell range without changing the exposure and timing
1. In the Xsheet view, select a frame range to clear.

2. Right-click and select Clear.

Setting the Exposure
You can easily increase or decrease the exposure for a selected cell range.
How to set the exposure
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell range on which you want to set the exposure.

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2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Set Exposure to > Set Exposure to 1, 2, 3, or Set
Exposure.

‣

In the Timeline toolbar, click one of the Set Exposure
customize the toolbar to display them).

‣

In the Xsheet view, right-click and select Exposure > Set Exposure to > Set Exposure to 1, 2, or 3, or
Set Exposure.

buttons (you may have to

3. If you chose the Set Exposure option, the Set Exposure dialog box opens. Enter the number of frames you
want the drawings to display and click OK.

The new timing is displayed in the Xsheet view.

Filling a Selection with a Single Exposure
You can fill the same value over an entire selection. The selection can be over one cell, a cell range in one column, acell range over many columns, an entire column, or many columns. You can use numbers, words, letters, or any
alphanumeric value.

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How to fill a selection with a single exposure
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a cell range.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Fill Selection.

‣

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Fill Selection
display it).

‣Press Ctrl + T (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + T (Mac OS X)).

button (you may have to customize the toolbar to

The Fill Selection dialog box opens.

3. In the Value field, type the desired value.
4. To insert a key exposure in the frame following the last cell in the selection, select the Add Key Exposure
After option. Otherwise, leave it deselected.
5. Click OK.

Filling a Selection with a Sequence
You can create a numbered sequence over a selection. The sequence can be forward, backward, single, double
or higher increment, as a cycle, and so on. The selection can be over one cell or a cell range in one column or
more or an entire column or many entire columns.

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How to fill a selection with a sequence
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a cell range.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Sequence Fill.

‣

In the Timeline view, right-click and select Exposure > Sequence Fill.

‣

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Sequence Fillit).

‣

Press Ctrl + M (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + M (Mac OS X)).

button (you may have to customize the toolbar to display

The Sequence Fill dialog box opens.

3. In the Starting Value field, type the first number in the sequence.
4. In the Increment field, type the number by which the drawing number will increase from frame to frame. For
example, an increment of 1 gives you: 1-2-3-4; an increment of 2 gives you: 1-3-5-7; and -2 gives you
this: 8-6-4-2.

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Filling a Selection Randomly
You can fill in random values over a selection. You can give a maximum and a minimum value and create a rangefor Harmony to choose the random values from. The selection can be over one cell or a cell range in one column
or more or an entire column or many entire columns.
How to fill cells randomly
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a cell range.

2. Do one of the following:‣

Select Animation > Cell > Fill Cells Randomly.

‣

In the Xsheet view, click the Fill Cells Randomly
display it).

The Fill Cells Randomly dialog box opens.

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3. In the Minimum Value field, enter the lowest acceptable value.
4. In the Maximum Value field, enter the highest acceptable value.
5. In the Hold field, choose an exposure holding value.
6. If you are applying this option to a drawing column, select the Whole Numbers option to avoid decimal
points.
7. Click OK.

Filling Empty Cells
You can fill empty cells to extend the exposure of single frame drawings to fill the range of empty cells after each
one.When creating drawings on cells that are not side-by-side, the exposure of the first drawing no longer fills
automatically. You must select the frame range where you want your drawings to hold their exposure up to the next
drawing and use the Fill Empty Cells command.
How to fill empty cells
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a cell range.

2. Do one of the following:‣

Right-click and select Exposure > Fill Empty Cells.

‣

From the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Fill Empty Cells.

‣

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Fill Empty Cells

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Each drawing in the selection is exposed in the range of empty cells that follow it.

Creating Cycles
Once you have entered a series of drawings and exposures, you can create cycles out of them in several ways.
You can loop your drawings using the following commands:•

Create Cycle•

Paste Cycle•

Paste Reverse

When you create a drawing cycle, all the repeated drawings are linked to the same original files. When modify,
repaint, or correct a drawing named “1” for example, all drawings named “1” are updated simultaneously. In orderto modify a drawing independently from its other exposures, you must duplicate the drawing.
How to create a cycle
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell range to loop.

2. In the Timeline toolbar, click the Create Cycle
play it).
The Create Cycle dialog box opens.

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3. Enter the number of cycles you want, including the current selection.
How to paste a cycle
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell range to loop.

1. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Cell from Timeline or Xsheet or press Ctrl + C (Windows/Linux) or⌘ + C (Mac OS X).
2. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell where you want your cycles to start.

3. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Cycle.

‣

Right-click and select Paste Cycle.

‣

Press Ctrl + / (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + / (Mac OS X).

The Paste Cycle dialog box opens.

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Extending the Exposure of Previous Drawings

4. Do one of the following:‣

In the Number of Cycles field, enter the number of cycles you want to paste.

‣

Increase or decrease the number of cycles you want to paste.

5. In the Cycle Type menu, select the type of cycle you want to paste.

‣

Normal (forward): Pastes cycles as for all cycles, starting with the first cell of your selection andending with the last.

‣

Reverse: Pastes cycles in the reverse order of the original selection, starting with the last cell of yourselection and ending with the first one.

‣

Forward > Reverse: Pastes the first cycle in your selection as is, then the following one in reverse
order. This repeated until all cycles are pasted.

‣

Reverse > Forward: Pastes the first cycle in your selectionin reverse order, then the following one as
is. This repeated until all cycles are pasted.

6. Click OK.

NOTE: You can perform the same operation using the Paste Special dialog box. To open the Paste
Special dialog box, select Edit > Paste Special or press Ctrl + B (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + B (Mac OSX).

How to paste a reversed cycle
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell range to paste in reverse order.

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2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Cell from Timeline or Xsheet or press Ctrl + C (Windows/Linux) or⌘ + C (Mac OS X).
3. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell where you want your cycles to start.

4. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Reverse.

‣

Right-click and select Paste Reverse.

‣

Press Ctrl + . (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + . (Mac OS X).

Overwriting Exposures and Keyframes
If the area on which you are dropping a selection contains exposures and/or keyframes, they are overwritten by thecontent you are selected by dragging. You can set this mode in two places: the Timeline toolbar and the Preferences
dialog box.
How to override exposure and keyframes
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, drag to select the drawings you want to move.
2. Do one of the following:‣

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Toggle Override Exposure and Keyframe During Drag and Dropbutton (you may have to customize the toolbar to display it).

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Extending the Exposure of Previous Drawings

From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences or press Ctrl + U (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + U (Mac OS
X). Select the Timeline tab, then select the Override Exposure and Keyframe During Drag andDrop option.

3. Drop your selection at the desired location.

Managing Key Exposures
Before working with key exposures, it's important to understand how keyframes, exposure and key exposure
work in Harmony:•

Keyframe: A keyframe is a point in time where a change to the properties of the object or characteroccurs. In Harmony, keyframes consist of the coordinates that determine how an entire layer and its
contents are moved. Keyframes include these parameters: XYZ position, skew, scale, angle and pivot.

•

Exposure: Exposure is a property; it is the length of time that a drawing is visible over a series of frames.
In Harmony, exposure is independent of keyframes. That is, keyframes are not linked to drawings.
Keyframes can be moved independently from the drawing exposure.

•

Key Exposure: A key exposure in Harmony is a type of exposure that forces a drawing to remain exposedon a specific frame. If a drawing is exposed before a key exposure and you swap out that drawing foranother one, then the original drawing is retained. This preserves the key drawing. Note that Harmony
automatically sets a key exposure when you perform a drawing swap.

Adding Key Exposures
Key exposures are mainly used for swapping drawings in cut-out animation where you will have numerous
drawings for the various positions of the mouth or eyes of a character for example.
If there is a particular drawing you want to keep on a specific frame, you can set it as a key exposure. This
prevents it from be overwritten by a drawing swap on a preceding frame. A key exposure is simply a property ofan exposure that forces it to be exposed on a certain frame regardless of whether the previous exposure is thesame drawing or not.

NOTE: Keep in mind that if you modify the artwork in a drawing, all instances of that drawing will be automatically
updated even if set as a key exposure. This keeps your existing animation key poses intact. It is frequently used ona mouth or eyes layer.

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In the following example, drawing 3 (DR 3) is selected on the timeline and it contains no key exposure.

When it is swapped for drawing 4 (DR 4), the entire duration of drawing 3 substituted for drawing 4.

Example: Swapping a drawing with a key exposure
Here's what happens when swapping a drawing with a key exposure. In the following example, the playhead is
positioned in the middle of drawing 5 (DR 5) to set the position for the new key exposure. When the new key
exposure is added, drawing 5 is split in two; both halves contain drawing 5. Now if you swap the first drawing 5 fordrawing 1, the second drawing 5 retains its exposure.

How to add a key exposure
1. In the Timeline view, select the drawing cell to set as the key exposure.
2. Do one of the following:In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add Key Exposure‣

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add Key Exposure‣

In the Timeline menu, select Exposure > Add Key Exposure.

‣

Right-click and select Exposure > Add Key Exposure.

A new key exposure is added.

83

button.

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If you added a key exposure at the beginning of the drawing, the entire exposure is filled with that samedrawing. If you added a key exposure anywhere other than the beginning of the drawing, then the drawing
is split in two and both parts contain the same drawing.

Removing Key Exposures
When you no know longer need a key exposure, you can remove it. When you do this, the existing key exposure
is replaced by the preceding exposure. In the following example, a key exposure is set to drawing 1 (DR 1). Whenthe key exposure is removed, the exposure is replaced by the preceding exposure, drawing 4 (DR 4).

How to remove a key exposure
1. In the Timeline view, select a key exposure to remove.
2. Do one of the following:‣

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Remove Key Exposure

button.

‣In the Timeline menu, select Exposure > Remove Key Exposure.

‣

Right-click and select Exposure > Remove Key Exposure.

The key exposure is removed and replaced by the preceding exposure.

Removing Duplicate Key Exposures
When working with drawings to adjust the timing of a mouth in a lipsync, for example, and forcing the use of
specific key exposures, unnecessary key exposures will be created. You can delete these duplicates without
affecting the rest of the drawing. The first drawing of the selection will be used for the range.

NOTE: Duplicate key exposures may occur when pasting with the Enforce Key Exposure option selected.

How to remove duplicate key exposures
1. In the Timeline view, select the layer that contains duplicate key exposures.

84Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)22. In the Timeline toolbar, click the Remove Duplicate Key Exposure
the toolbar to display it).

button (you may have to customize

Pasting Key Exposures Using Different Modes
As you animate, you will find that you reuse key exposures. There are different options to paste your selecteddrawings when they contain key exposures:•

Enforce Key Exposure: If there are key exposures that exist on copied drawings, they are preserved when
pasting. No key exposures are added. This is the default behavior when pasting.

•Fill Gap with Previous Drawing: Fills selected area in the Xsheet or Timeline view with the previous
drawing.

•

Fill to Next Key Exposure: Fills selected area till the next key exposure.

How to paste using different modes
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the drawings you want to copy and press Ctrl + C (Windows/Linux) or⌘ + C (Mac OS X).
2. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell where you want your pasted selection to start.
3. Do one of the following:‣

Press Ctrl + B (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + B (Mac OS X).
The Paste Special dialog box opens.

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From the Timeline menu, select Edit > Modify Paste Presets > Exposure.
The Edit Exposure Paste Preset dialog box opens.

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4. Select the Enforce Key Exposure or Fill to Next Key Exposure option. In the Paste Special dialog box,
these options are on the Basic tab.
5. Click OK.
6. Press Ctrl + V (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + V (Mac OS X) to paste your selection.

Navigating between Frames and Columns
Once a cell is selected in the Timeline or Xsheet view, you can navigate between the drawings, frames, and layers
using keyboard shortcuts that work in the Camera, Drawing, Xsheet and Timeline views.
You can navigate through:•Drawings•

Frames•Columns

How to navigate through drawings, and frames and columns
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a cell.

2. Once the cell is selected, you can navigate between:‣

Previous and next layers: From the top menu, select Drawing > Previous Layer and Next Layer orpress H and J.

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Previous and next drawings: From the top menu, select Drawing > Previous Drawing and Next
Drawing or press F and G..

‣

Previous and next frames: From the top menu, select Play > Previous Frame and Next Frame orpress comma (,) and period (.).

Managing Drawings
Drawings that are created in Toon Boom Harmony are not stored in their cells. They are actual files stored in the
project’s folder. If you want to rename a drawing or delete a drawing from your project, you need to edit the file andnot the cells.
This section is divided as follows:•

Renaming a Drawing on page 88•

Deleting a Drawing on page 90•

Duplicating a Drawing on page 91•

Copying and Pasting Drawings on page 91•

Merging Drawings on page 93

Renaming a Drawing
To rename a drawing, you need to select the drawing cell and use the Rename Drawing command.
How to rename a drawing
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the drawing to rename.

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2. Do one of the following:‣

Right-click and select Drawings > Rename Drawing.

‣

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Rename Drawing
display it).

‣Press Ctrl + D (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + D (Mac OS X).

button (you may have to customize the toolbar to

The Rename Drawing dialog box opens.

3. In the New Name field, type in the new drawing name.
How to rename a drawing sequence with a prefix
You can rename a drawing sequence with a prefix, which can be quite useful for cut-out puppet breakdown anddeformation animation.
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a drawing sequence. Note that you can only select a drawing range in
one column or layer at a time.
2. Right-click and select Drawings > Rename Drawing with Prefix.
The Rename Drawing with Prefix dialog box opens.

3. In the Prefix to Add field, type the prefix to add before the drawing name.
How to rename drawings by their frame position
You can rename a series of drawings relative to their frame position. This is useful in hand-drawn animation.
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the drawing sequence to rename.

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2. From the top menu, select Drawing > Rename by Frame.

Deleting a Drawing
You can permanently delete a drawing file from a project's folder.

NOTE: Deleting a drawing file is an operation that cannot be undone.

How to delete a drawing
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the drawings to delete.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Delete Selected Drawings.

‣

Right-click and select Drawings > Delete Selected Drawings.

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Duplicating a Drawing
If you want to modify a drawing that already exists, but keep the original drawing intact, you can duplicate thedrawing and work on the copy. When duplicating a drawing, the selected cell is replaced with the new drawing. The
exposure of the original drawing that was on the current cell is removed. The original drawing is not deleted from the
project folder or other cells in which it is exposed.
With Toon Boom Harmony, you can create a keyframe at the same time as you duplicate your drawing. This way,
you can modify and reposition drawings without affecting the original drawing.
How to duplicate a drawing
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the drawing to duplicate.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Duplicate Drawings.

‣

Right-click and select Drawings > Duplicate Drawings.

‣

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Duplicate Drawing‣

Press Alt + Shift + D.

button.

Copying and Pasting Drawings
When you copy and paste a selection in the Timeline or Xsheet view, you are not copying and pasting the actual
drawings, you are pasting the exposure. Exposure is a property; it is the length of time that a drawing is visible over aseries of frames. In Harmony, exposure is independent of keyframes. That is, keyframes are not linked to drawings.
Keyframes can be moved independently from the drawing exposure.
If you want to copy and paste selected drawings into a different layer or paste the selection in the same layer toduplicate the drawings, you must use the Paste Special feature.
There are four different ways to paste your selected drawings with the Paste Special dialog box:
When adding exposures to a drawing layer, drawing files will not be created.
Only create drawing files when they do not exist: When adding exposures to a drawing layer, newdrawings will be created only when drawings with the same name do not already exist in thedestination.

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Replace existing drawings. Create drawing files when they do not exist: Replace drawings
with the same names to update a scene with new modified drawings and preserve the animation.
Tip: If you don't want to lose the existing animation when pasting a template, such as
when placing new drawings after the animation, then delete the template's animation.
It will still have updated the drawings but not override the existing animation.
Always create drawing files: When adding exposures to a drawing layer, new drawings will
always be created. If drawing files with the same name already exist, Harmony will create a newname for the drawing.
If you want to perform another Paste Special operation using the same settings you used previously, you can use
the Paste Special Again command instead. You can paste your selection using the same settings as in the mostrecent Paste Special operation, without opening the Paste Special dialog box.
How to paste drawings with the Paste Special command
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the drawings to copy and press Ctrl + C (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + C(Mac OS X).

2. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell where you want your pasted selection to start.

3. Do one of the following:‣

Right-click and select Paste Special.

‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Special.

‣

In the Xsheet or Timeline toolbar, click the Paste Special
toolbar to display it).

‣Press Ctrl + B (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + B (Mac OS X).

The Paste Special dialog box opens.

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4. Select the Basic tab.
5. In the Drawings section, select the Always Create Drawings or Only Create Drawings When They Do
Not Exist option.
How to paste new drawings with the previous Paste Special settings
1. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Special Again.

‣

Right-click and select Paste Special Again‣

In the Timeline or Xsheet toolbar, click the Paste Special Again
the toolbar to display it).

‣Press Ctrl + Shift + B (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + B (Mac OS X).

Merging Drawings
There are two methods of merging drawings.

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Chapter 3: Timing

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You can merge selected drawings in adjacent elements. The columns and layers will be left intact, andeach new merged drawing will reside in the frames of the left-most column or lower layer.

•

You can merge elements. All drawings will be merged. Unused columns and layers will be deleted, but theoriginal drawing files are still accessible.

How to merge selected drawings
1. In the Xsheet view, select the drawings to merge.

2. Do one of the following:‣

In the Xsheet menu, select Columns> Merge Selected Drawings.

‣

In the Timeline menu, select Layers > Merge Selected Drawings.

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3. Do one of the following:‣

In the Xsheet menu, select Columns > Merge Selected Columns.

‣

In the Timeline menu, select Layers > Merge Selected Layers.

In the Xsheet view, the right-most column will contain the merged drawings and the remaining columns will be left
blank at the corresponding frames. In the Timeline view, the bottom timeline layer will contain the merged drawings
from all layers and the other layers will be left blank at the corresponding frames. Drawings are not deleted and arestill accessible.
How to merge drawings in entire layers or columns
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Timeline view, select the layers you want to merge.

‣

In the Xsheet view, Shift-click the headers of the columns you want to merge.

‣

In the top menu, select Edit > Merge.

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In the Xsheet menu, select Columns > Merge Selected Columns.

‣

In the Timeline menu, select Layers > Merge Selected Layers.

In the Xsheet view, the right-most column will contain the merged drawings and the other columns will bedeleted. In the Timeline view, the bottom timeline layer will contain the merged drawings from all layers
and the other layers will be deleted. Drawings are not deleted and are still accessible.

Customizing Layers and Columns
You can change the way a column in the Xsheet view displays. You can change the way a layer in the Timelineview or a column in the Xsheet view displays. You can stay organized without changing the content of elementsor your animation output.
This section is divided as follows:•

Expanding and Collapsing Layers and Columns on page 96•

Showing or Hiding Layers on page 97•

Showing and Hiding Columns on page 99•

Customizing Columns on page 102•

Displaying Thumbnails in the Xsheet on page 107•

Changing the Layer or Column Colour on page 108•

Setting Scene Markers on page 109•

Setting Tempo Markers on page 112

Expanding and Collapsing Layers and Columns
To simplify the look of the Timeline or Xsheet view, you can expand and collapse the layers and columns. If somelayers are parented to other ones, you can collapse the parent layer to hide its children.
How to collapse or expand selected layers in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view, select the layer(s) to collapse or expand.
2. Do one of the following:96Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)2‣

Right-click on the selection and select Collapse/Expand > Collapse/Expand.

‣

Click the Expand Children Arrow‣

Click the Collapse/Expand‣

Press Ctrl + I (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + I (Mac OS X).

button on the parent layer.

button (you may have to customize the toolbar to display it).

How to collapse or expand all layers in the Timeline view
1. Do one of the following:‣

Right-click on the layers and select Collapse/Expand > Expand All or Collapse All.

‣In the Timeline toolbar, click the Collapse All
the toolbar to display them).

‣

Press 0 and 9.

or Expand All

buttons (you may have to customize

How to collapse and expand 3D path or rotation columns in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Show Column List

button to display the Functions list.

2. In the Xsheet view, select the column header of the 3D path or 3D rotation column to collapse or expand.
3. Do one of the following:‣

Right-click on the column’s header and select Expand/Collapse > Collapse Selection or Expand
Selection.

‣

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Collapse Selection
customize the toolbar to display it).

or Expand Selection

buttons (you may have to

How to collapse or expand all 3D path and 3D rotation columns in the Xsheet view
Do one of the following:‣

Right-click on any column’s header and select Expand/Collapse > Collapse All or Expand All.

‣

Press 0 and 9.

‣

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Collapse All
the toolbar to display it).

or Expand All

buttons (you may have to customize

Showing or Hiding Layers
As you work in the Drawing or Camera view, some layers may be in the way or are used as references. You can hidethese layers to make your work area less cluttered and easier to navigate. You can show and hide layers in theTimeline view in several different ways.
When using the Solo mode to show or hide layers, here's how it works:•

If you have anything selected, it is not affected.

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When multiple layers are selected and you enable/disable the Solo mode on any of those layers, it isapplied to all the selected layers.

•

When multiple layers are selected and you enable/disable the Solo mode on layers that are not part of theselection, it is applied only to those particular layers.

When exporting or rendering a scene, the Solo mode setting of layers is ignored.

NOTE: When a layer is affected by an inverted cutter, enabling the Solo mode for this layer will not show it unlessthe mask is also enabled.

How to show or hide all layers
1. Click one of the following in the Layers toolbar:‣

Enable/Disable All

button to show or hide all layers.

Any hidden layers are unhidden, so you can view all layers.
‣

Solo Modebutton to view disable your current Solo mode selection. Any soloed drawing or soundlayers are disabled, so you can view all layers. When you click again on the Solo Mode button, you last
Solo selection is displayed.

How to show or hide individual layers
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Layer toolbar, click the Solo Modebutton.

‣Click the layer's Enable/Disable All‣

Press A to show a layer or D to hide selected layers.

‣

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Enable/Disabledisplay it).

button to show or hide that layer.

button (you may have to customize the toolbar to

When you deselect a layer in the Timeline view, the corresponding column is hidden in the Xsheet view.
How to enable the selected layer and disable all others
1. Do one of the following:‣

Hold down Alt and click the Solo Modelayers.

button of the layer you want to solo and hide all other‣In the Timeline toolbar, click the Disable All Others
to display it).

button (you may have to customize the toolbar

In the Timeline view, you can hide or show certain types of layers such as Group and Effect.

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How to show and hide layer types in the Timeline view
1. From the Timeline menu, select View > Show > Show Manager.
The Show Manager dialog box opens.

2. Select the types of layers you want to display and deselect the ones you want to turn off.
3. Click Set As Default to make these new settings the default ones that will be used each time to start theapplication. Click Restore Default to restore the settings used when installing the application.
In the Xsheet view, you have the choice of hiding or showing certain types of columns such as Annotation
and Functions.

Showing and Hiding Columns
The Xsheet view has a Column List section that displays all the columns contained in the exposure sheet. It can beused to hide individual columns.
If you need to see a column after it has been hidden, you can display it directly from the Xsheet view without using
the Column List section.
You can also hide a column type, such as Drawing or Sound. When you do this, its corresponding layer is disabled in
the Timeline view.
How to show or hide columns in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Show Column List

button.

2. On the right side of the Functions section, click the Expand button to display the Column List section.
3. Do one of the following:‣

In the Column List section, select the columns to display and deselect the columns to hide.

‣In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Hide Selected Column
to display it).

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How to show a hidden column in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet view, do one of the following:‣

Click the thick grey line that represents a hidden column.

‣

Right-click on the column header and select Show Hidden Columns.

‣

Press Alt + Shift + H.

The Show Hidden Columns dialog box opens.

2. In the Show column, select the hidden columns you want to display in the Xsheet view.
‣

Click Check to select all the selected columns.

‣

Click Uncheck to deselect all selected columns.

How to show all columns‣

In the Xsheet menu, select View > Unhide All Columns.

How to show and hide column types
1. In the Xsheet view, select View > Column Types Manager.
The Column Types dialog box opens.

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2. Select the types of columns you want to display and disable the ones you want to hide.
Click Set As Default if you want to make these new settings the default ones used each time you start Harmony.
Click Restore Default if you want to return the settings to their defaults.
How to show or hide Xsheet columns using the Column List
1. In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Show Column List

button.

2. On the right side of the Functions section, click the Expand button to display the Column List section.
3. In the Column List section, select the columns to display and deselect the columns to hide.

How to show or hide an Xsheet column type using the Column List
1. In the Column List section, click the button corresponding to the column type you want to show or hide.

Column Type

ActionShow/Hide All Columns
Show/Hide Drawing Columns
Show/Hide Function Columns
Show/Hide 3D Path Columns
Show/Hide 3D Rotation Columns

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Show/Hide Sound Columns
Show/Hide Annotation Columns

How to show or hide function columns on the left side of the Xsheet view
1. Right-click on a column and select Tag > Function Columns Visible or Function Columns Invisible.

Customizing Columns
In Harmony, you can customize the way the column displays drawings, empty cells and the column width.
You can modify the following elements:•

Empty cells•

Row units•

Held exposure•

Column width

How to modify the look of empty cell
1. From the Xsheet menu, select View > Empty Cells > With an “X” or Blank.

How to modify row units
1. From the Xsheet menu, select View > Row Units > Frames or Feet.

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How to modify the look of a held exposure
1. In the Xsheet menu, select View > Held Exposures > Line or Value.

How to modify column width
1. In the Xsheet view, select a column.
2. From the Xsheet menu, select View > Set Columns Width.
The Xsheet Column Width dialog box opens.

3. In the Column Width field, enter the desired width in pixels.
4. Do one of the following:‣

Click OK to validate and close the dialog box.

‣

Click Apply to validate the operation and keep the dialog box opened to adjust the next column’s width.

‣

Click Set As Default to create all the new columns to this width.

‣

Click Close to cancel the operation.

5. To restore all columns to the default value, in the Xsheet menu, select View > All Columns to Default
Width.

Drawing Identification
In the Xsheet view, you can identify drawings as Key, Breakdown or In-between.
This helps to keep the Xsheet well organized while animating.
When working with several animators, directors or even other studios, the necessity for retakes will often arise.
Harmony gives you the possibility to mark new drawings as either Retake Key, Retake Breakdown, or Retake Inbetweens.
If your production requires you to mark drawings with a custom marker, you also have the option to create your own.
Make custom marks for the Xsheet by creating your own icons, then cutting, pasting and changing a bit of code. Not
only is it possible to have your custom mark appear in the Xsheet and Mark Drawing toolbars, but also in the Onion
Skin and Flip toolbars.

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NOTE: You can create custom shortcuts for the Drawing Identification options in the Preferences dialog box.

Key Drawing
A key drawing is a visually significant pose in a movement, often an extreme position. For example, if a character
that is sitting down falls on his back, the key poses would be the character sitting and the character on his back.
Of course, it may vary from one animation to another.

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Breakdown Drawing
A breakdown drawing is a pose somewhere between two key poses that better shows the movement. Most
animation moves are arcs, such as an arm waving, somebody bending, or a leg walking. All of these movements arerotations. The breakdown pose is used to describe this curve better.
The breakdown drawing is then used to indicate secondary poses, also called the follow-through. These actions canbe a big stomach jiggle as somebody jumps, a cloak floating behind somebody that is running, or arms moving after
the main body action. These moves will generally have a different timing than the primary action. They will mainly
start later and finish later. So, the breakdown drawings are used to complete the key drawings.
Note that a breakdown drawing is not always placed exactly in the middle of two keys. It will often be closer to one
or the other depending on the timing and the action. Also, you can have more than one breakdown pose between two
keys.

How to mark a drawing as Key, Breakdown or In-between
1. From the top menu, select Windows > Toolbars > Mark Drawing.
The Mark Drawing toolbar displays.

2. In the Xsheet view, select the cell you want to identify. This option is not available in the Timeline view.
3. In the Mark Drawing toolbar, click one of these buttons: Mark as Key Drawing, Mark as Breakdown
Drawing
or Mark as In-between Drawing. In the Xsheet menu, you can also select Drawing > Mark
Drawing As > Key Drawing, Breakdown Drawing, In-between Drawing, Retake Key, Retake BD andRetake IB.
‣

If you selected Mark as Key Drawing, aicon appears in the cell.

‣If you selected Mark as Breakdown Drawing, a‣

If you selected Mark as In-Between Drawing, there is no icon displayed in the cell since it is used toremove a Key or Breakdown marker.

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How to create custom markers
1. With a bitmap editing software, create the following icons in PNG format:‣

Mark Drawing Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)‣

Onion Skin Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)‣

Flip Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)‣

Xsheet Column icon (16 x 16 pixel)

2. Close Harmony.
3. When your icons are ready, open the Toon Boom Harmony drawingTypes.d folder.
In Harmony Server, the path is global for all users so you must create the folder and place in /USA_DB.
‣/USA_DB/drawingTypes.d

NOTE:
If the drawingTypes.d folder does not exist, you must create it. To do so, copy the resources
folder from the following location.
•

Windows: Start > Programs > Harmony 12.2 Premium

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Mac OS X: Applications > Toon Boom Harmony 12.2.1PremiumdrawingTypes.d•

Linux: /usr/local/ToonBoomAnimation/harmony_12/lnx86_
64/bin/Stage/resources/drawingTypes.d> resources >4. Paste your icons in the drawingTypes.d directory.
5. In the same directory, open the drawingTypes.xml file in a text editor.
6. For each custom icon you want to create, add the following line. Make sure to place it before this closing tag:</DrawingTypes>.
‣<DrawingType text="NewButtonName" pixmapFile="XsheetIcon.png"
commandIcon="MarkDrawingIcon.png" flipIcon="FlipIcon.png" onionIcon="OnionIcon.png" />7. In that line, replace the following information with your new icon information:‣

NewButtonName: Write the name of your new marker. This name will appear in the button tooltip.

‣

XsheetIcon.png: Write the name of the icon that you created to appear in the Xsheet column. Include thefile extension.

‣

MarkDrawingIcon.png: Write the name of the icon that you created to appear in the Mark Drawing toolbar.
Include the file extension.

‣

FlipIcon.png: Write the name of the icon that you created to appear in the Flip toolbar. Include the fileextension.

‣

OnionIcon.png: Write the name of the icon that you created to appear in the Onion Skin toolbar. Include
the file extension.

8. Save the file and close it.
9. Start Harmony.

Displaying Thumbnails in the Xsheet
When there are a large number of columns in the exposure sheet, it's not easy to quickly identify a particular column.
Displaying the column thumbnails makes this easier. This option displays a small thumbnail picture of the current
frame below the column header.
How to display the thumbnails
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Show Thumbnails‣

In the Xsheet menu, select View > Show Thumbnails.

The thumbnails appear.

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Changing the Layer or Column Colour
To easily identify elements in the Timeline or Xsheet view, you can change the colour of layers and columns. The
colours you choose will be reflected in the Node view.
How to change the layer’s colour in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view, click the Change Track Colour

button of the layer you want to modify.

2. In the Select Colour dialog box, select a new colour for your layer.

3. Click OK.
The layer’s background colour is updated. In a Drawing layer, exposed cells are the brighter, selectedcolour for easy identification. The corresponding column colour is also updated in the Xsheet.

How to reset a layer’s colour in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view, select the layers to reset.
2. In the Timeline toolbar, click the Default Track Colour
to display it).

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button (you may have to customize the toolbar

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How to change a column’s colour in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet view, select one or more columns to modify.
2. Right-click on the column’s header and select Colour > Change Columns Colour.
3. In the Select Colour dialog box, select a new colour for your columns.

4. Click OK.
The column’s colour is updated. The corresponding column colour is also updated.

How to reset the column’s colour in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet view, select the columns to reset.
2. Right-click on the column’s header and select Colour > Default Columns Colour.

Setting Scene Markers
Scene markers are visual indicators displayed at the top of the Timeline view in the frame counter area. You can use
it to denote anything relevant to your work. You can indicate the frames you want to clean up, a change in action, an
impact, or where you intend to apply an effect. You can also add a note to a scene marker, which is displayed when
you hover over the scene marker.
There are two ways to add a scene marker. You can mark the current frame or make a frame range selection andmark the whole section.

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How to mark the current frame
1. In the Timeline view, make sure the red playhead is set on the frame you want to mark. Even if you rightclick on a different frame, the scene marker will be created on the current frame on which the playhead is
positioned.
2. Right-click in the frame counter area and select Scene Markers > Mark Current Frame.

The Timeline Scene Marker dialog box opens. The Colour box displays a black colour swatch, or thecolour of the last scene marker you created.

3. Click the Colour swatch to open the Marker Colour dialog box and select a colour for the scene marker.
Click OK.

4. In the Note field, enter text to display as the tooltip and click OK.

In the Timeline view, the scene marker is displayed at the current frame.

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5. Hover over the scene marker to display its tooltip.

How to create a scene marker on a frame range
1. In the frame counter area, select the frame range you want to mark.

2. Right-click and select Create Scene Marker.
The Timeline Scene Marker dialog box opens. The Colour box displays a black colour swatch, or the colour ofthe last scene marker you created.

3. Click the Colour swatch to open the Marker Colour dialog box and select a colour for the scene marker. Click
OK.

4. In the Note field, enter text to display as the tooltip and click OK.
In the Timeline view, the scene marker is displayed over the selected frame counters.
5. Hover over the scene marker to display its tooltip.

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How to edit a scene marker
1. In the frame counter area, select the entire scene marker.

NOTE: It's important to select the entire length of the scene marker, otherwise the Timeline Scene Marker dialog
box will not open for editing.

2. Right-click and select Scene Markers > Edit Scene Marker.
The Timeline Scene Marker dialog box opens.

3. Make your changes.
4. Click OK.
How to delete a scene marker
1. In the frame counter area, select at least one frame in the scene marker you want to delete.

2. Right-click and select Scene Markers > Delete Scene Marker.

Setting Tempo Markers
Tempo markers are used to synchronize your animation with a musical score. This lets you reproduce the FPB(Frames Per Beat) and use the tempo signature as tempo markers. The Xsheet view lets you pace your animationaccording to the tempo or beat of the soundtrack music or to any rhythmic sound, such as the ticking of a clock orwater leaking from a spout.

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How to set the tempo markers
1. In the Xsheet menu, select View > Set Tempo Marker.
The Tempo Marker dialog box opens.

2. Reproduce the tempo and beat value of your music or sound for the Xsheet view marker display.
‣

Starting Frame: Enter the number of the frame where you want the tempo markers to begin.

‣

Frames/Beat: Set the frames per beat value. This will determine the frequency (in frames) in which abeat marker will appear. Keep in mind that, by default, 24 frames represent 1 second.

‣

Beat/Bar: Set the tempo of your music or sound. This will determine the frequency (in beats) in which a
tempo marker will appear in the Xsheet view.

3. Click OK.

Printing the Xsheet
Once you have marked all the information, corrections, and timing you want in the Xsheet view, you can print yourexposure sheet. Printing the Xsheet allows you to take it with you to your animation table or give a copy to theanimator. You can also use it to create your Xsheet skeleton directly in Harmony.

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How to print your exposure sheet
1. Select File > Print > Xsheet.
The Print dialog box opens.

2. To set up your print:‣

Windows: In the Select Printer section, select your printer and adjust the rest of the printing settings.

‣

Linux: In the Print Destination section, select your printer and adjust the rest of the printing settings.

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Mac OS X: In the Printer section, select your printer and adjust the rest of the settings by clicking on the
Parameters
button. You can also click PDF and select an option from the menu if you want to save a
PDF version of your exposure sheet.

NOTE: Refer to your printer user guide to learn more about its options.

3. Do one of the following:‣

Windows and Mac OS X: Click Print.

‣

Linux: Click OK.

Modifying Paste Presets
When pasting key frames and exposures, you can modify the existing presets to your liking. There are three presets
you can modify: the default presets for both key frames and exposures, key frames only and exposures only.
How to modify paste presets
1. From the Timeline view menu, select Edit > Modify Paste Presets and one of the following options:‣

All to edit the default paste preset settings.

‣

Key Frame to edit the preset settings for pasting key frames.

‣

Exposure to edit the preset settings for pasting exposures.

The Edit Paste Presets dialog box opens.

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2. Refer to the following table and edit the presets as desired.
Edit Paste Preset Dialog Box Parameters
Parameter

Description

Drawings
Never create drawing files: When adding exposures to a drawing layer,drawing files will not be created.
Only create drawing files when they do not exist: When adding exposures
Add/Remove Exposure to a drawing layer, new drawings will be created only when drawings with thesame name do not already exist in the destination.
Always create drawing files: When adding exposures to a drawing layer, newdrawings will always be created. If drawing files with the same name alreadyexist, Harmony will create a new name for the drawing.
Enforce Key Exposure

If there are key exposures that exist on copied drawings, they are preserved
when pasting. No key exposures are added. This is the default behavior when
pasting.

Fill Gap with Previous
Drawing

Fills selected area in the Xsheet or Timeline view with the previous drawing.

Fill to Next Key
Exposure

Fills selected area till the next key exposure.

Keyframes
Motion: Copies the properties of the selected motion keyframe to the newframe.

Add/Remove
Keyframes

Velocity: Copies the properties of the selected velocity keyframe to the newframe.
Rotation: Copies the properties of the selected rotation keyframe to the newframe.
Scale: Copies the properties of the selected scale keyframe to the new frame.
Skew: Copies the properties of the selected skew keyframe to the new frame.

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Force Keyframes at Function's Beginning and End: Adds a keyframe to thebeginning and end of the pasted function, reproducing the source function.

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Chapter 4: Colour Styling

Once the characters, props and locations are designed, it's time for the colour styling and colour models creation.
This is when the colours and moods are determined. The line models created during the design step are painted andorganized as colour models for the colourists.
Harmony has a great concept of colour palettes. Each character can have its own set of colours that is carriedthrough the entire project called the master palette. If the master is modified, the colours in the entire project are
updated simultaneously.
By doing the colour styling in Harmony, your master palette will be created at the same time, so you do not need touse third party software. Also you will not have to recreate the colour palette again in Harmony. It is possible tocreate this step in an external software, but it is a great time saver to do it directly in Harmony.
To create the colour style and colour models, follow these steps:•

Preparation on page 119•

Working with Palettes on page 124•

Colours on page 148•

Painting the Model on page 165

Preparation
Before painting, you need to organize the colour model scenes and bring in your references. The colour stylingpreparation is done in five steps:•

Colour Model Storage on page 120•

Scene Creation on page 120•

Setting Up the Workspace on page 121•

Naming on page 121

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Colour Model Storage
First, you will need to create a storage location for all your models and palettes. The best way to do this is tocreate a colour model scene. There are different possibilities available to structure your designs and colour model
scenes. We strongly recommend that you put all of your colour models in the same scenes. It is important tomaintain a structure for your models so they do not end up scattered throughout the project.
There are four main model categories:

If you have a small project, such as a short or an advertising contract, you can always place all the characters,
props, effects, and locations in the same scene. For large projects such as feature-length productions or series,
you should create four separate model scenes following these categories.

Scene Creation
In order to create colour models, you need to create your scenes.
When working on a paperless or cut-out animation project, if you have designed your characters, props, effects
and locations directly in Harmony, you can paint your models directly in your design scene. You can also create a
new colour model scene and import your designs in that one. Refer to the Fundamentals Guide to learn more
about creating a scene.
If you have not already done so, refer to the Fundamentals Guide to learn about production structure, fileorganization, and how to create a Project root directory. We recommend storing your colour model scenes in theroot directory or in a colour models subdirectory for even better organization.
A useful way to name your colour model scene is to include the project name, then the colour model type such as
characters, props, effects, or locations, and finally colourmodel. For example, a character colour model scene
for the Adventure project would be named adventure_characters_colourmodel. This ensures that you
always know what scene corresponds to what.

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To learn how to create environment, job, and scene for your colour models, refer to the Control Center Guide.

Colour Model Scene Structure
To store your colour models in a scene, you should create one drawing layer for each character, prop, effect, or
location. You should name these according to the model.
You can also load other colour references in the scene to balance your overall colours. For example, if you work in acharacter colour model scene, it's a good idea to import some of the key locations to compare and adjust the colours
so they match well.

Setting Up the Workspace
Now that your scenes are created and structured, you can open the corresponding colour model scene. For the
optimal workspace for inking and painting, set up your workspace with these views:•

Xsheet•Camera•Drawing•

Colour•Model

NamingNow that your models are imported, you can rename them appropriately. You should rename elements (layers) anddrawings corresponding to the model. This will help keep the work organized and make it easy for others to follow.
For example, if there is a black and white character model called Erik in one drawing element and its colour models
in another one, rename your elements to include the character's name. For example, the colour model for Erik's
armour could be named: erik_armour_colour.

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How to rename a drawing element
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Xsheet view, double-click on the column header of the drawing element.

‣

In the Timeline view, double-click on the drawing element's layer.

The Layer Properties window opens.

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2. Type in a new name.

How to rename a drawing
1. In the Xsheet view, click on a drawing name.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the Xsheet view menu, select Drawings > Rename Drawing.

‣

Press Ctrl + D (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + D (Mac OS X).

The Rename Drawing dialog box opens.

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3. Type in a new name and click OK.

Working with Palettes
In animation, specific colours are used to paint each particular character. In order to maintain absoluteconsistency, a colour palette is created for each character, prop and effect throughout the production. This isreferred to as a master palette.
Master palettes contain a colour swatch for each zone to colour with a precise RGBA colour value.
Using a master colour palette has many benefits, including:•

Each character consistently retains their dedicated colours.

•

You cannot accidentally use a colour which is not in the master palette.

•

Standardization and colour consistency throughout the production•

Multiple artists can use the same colour palette and produce the same results.

Toon Boom Harmony uses palettes to hold all the colours needed to paint your elements, allowing complete
control and consistency in your painting process.
A palette is created by assigning a set of colours to each character, prop or effect. You will create a new paletteand add a new colour, known as a colour swatch, for each zone of the character, such as the skin, hair, tongue,
shirt, pants, and so on.
In Harmony, palettes are individual files that you can copy, transfer, and store. Palettes have a *.plt file nameextension—see Palette File Storage.
When a zone on the character is painted with the colour contained in a colour swatch, a link is automaticallycreated between that colour swatch and the zone. This means that if the tint of the colour in the colour swatch ischanged, any zone linked to it will update to the new tint. This is one way that colour palettes can save time andmoney in your production.
Another advantage of this system is that you can create complete palettes for different lighting situations. For
instance, in addition to the regular palette for a character, you could have one for that character in the rain using
colours that are duller and less vibrant than the dry daytime colours, or yet another for using in a night scene.
Using palettes linked to your character in this way allows you to instantly change its colouring to suit the moodand atmosphere of the scene without tediously repainting each element.

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This section is divided as follows:•

Palette Lists•

Palette File Storage•

Creating a Colour Palette on page 131•

Duplicating a Colour Palette on page 135•

Cloning a Colour Palette on page 137•

Palette Operations on page 139•

Importing and Linking Palettes on page 143

Palette Lists
The Colour view has two modes: basic and advanced.

•

Basic Mode
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The Colour view’s basic mode only shows the Colour list. When you open Toon Boom Harmony, you only
see the colours available in the Default palette which contains six basic colour swatches and is
automatically named the same as your scene. For simple projects, you can manage with the default
palette, but for movies, series, or shorts it is recommended that you create palettes for your characters. To
create a palette, you have to switch to the Advanced mode of the Colour view and show the Palette list.
•

Advanced Mode
The Advanced mode displays the list of all palettes that are linked to the scene. To create palettes for yourcharacters, you must display the Palette list.

A palette list is a file containing all of the links to the original palette files. Every drawing layer has a palette list.
The scene also has a palette list. For example, a drawing layer can use three different palettes stored in threedifferent locations, while another drawing layer can use two of these palettes plus another one coming fromanother scene. The palette list keep track of the locations of the palettes.
There are two types of palette lists:•

Scene Palette List
The Scene Palette list is mainly used with cut-out animation, but is also very useful for paperless andtraditional animations. A cut-out character will often be divided into 20 to 30 different drawing elements that
use the character’s master palette.
The palette list is stored at the scene level instead of the Element directory. This way, all palettes linked tothis list will appear in every drawing element created in the scene. There is no need to manually load thepalette in each element.
The Scene Palette list is the simplest one to use. By default, Toon Boom Harmony is set to use only
Scene Palette lists.

•

Element Palette List

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In Toon Boom Harmony, you can switch to Advanced Palette List mode and choose to save your palette at
an element’s level. The Element Palette list is mainly used with traditional and paperless animation. Unlike
cut-out animation, all columns (drawing elements) contain different characters, props, backgrounds, andeffects. The Element Palette list is used when you do not necessarily want all of the palettes for all of yourelements linked in every column.
The palette list is stored in the drawing element’s directory instead of directly in the Scene level. This ensuresthat the links to the palettes appear only in the appropriate element. If you prefer to access a global palettelist, link your palettes to the Scene Palette list.

To prevent users from accidentally removing a link to a palette, the palette lists are locked. To link or create a newpalette, the palette list must first be unlocked.
When you are using several cloned palettes that are related to the same original palette, Toon Boom Harmony uses
the palette located highest in the list to determine the colour of the painted zones—see Cloning a Colour Palette .
How to show or hide the Palette list‣

In the Colour view, click the Show/Hide Palette List View
List area.

The Palette List window opens and displays all your palettes.

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How to lock and unlock to the palette list‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Edit Palette List Mode.

A grey pencil appears on the top-right corner of the Palette list to indicate that it can be modified.

How to set the Advanced Palette Lists mode
1. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (Windows/Linux) or Stage > Preferences (Mac OS
X).

‣

Press Ctrl + U (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + U (Mac OS X).

2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. In the Advanced Options section, select the Advanced Palette Lists option.
4. Click OK.
How to reorder palettes in the Palette list
Do one of the following:‣

From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Move Up or Move Down.

‣

In the Palette list, click the Up

and Down

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Palette File Storage

In Harmony, palettes are individual *.plt files that can be copied, transferred and stored. When a palette is createdfrom Harmony, it needs to be stored somewhere. By default, the palette file is stored in the scene directory in apalette-library folder unless you specify a different location.
There are four locations where you can find palette-library folders:lElement: The Palette Library folder is stored directly in the drawing Element folder.

l

Scene: The Palette Library folder is stored directly in the Scene folder.

lJob: The Palette Library folder is stored in a Job folder contained in the Scene folder.

lEnvironment: The Palette Library folder is stored in an Environment folder contained in the Scene folder.

By default, the palette is stored at the scene level. For simple projects and standalone projects, it is recommended
to keep it as is. If you work with a larger studio, it is recommended to verify with them on the file structure.
This existing structure is compatible with Harmony Server. Harmony’s database has a leveled structure startingfrom the Environment down to the Element. Its client-server configuration allows all data, such as palettes andscenes, to be shared between a series of client machines.

Element Level
Working with Harmony Stand Alone, the Element level is very useful when there are a lot of different palettes. Whena colour model drawing is created, it is stored in its element folder. By storing the corresponding palette file with thecolour model, the colourist can load them both from the same location. This also creates a more organized structure.

Scene Level
Working with Harmony Stand Alone, a palette file can also be saved at the scene level, so that all of the palettes
from the scene are stored together. The palette naming must be structured so the colourist or character builders canfind the correct one. Saving the palettes at the scene level makes it very easy to back up the palettes and retrieve
their location.

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The scene level can also be useful for cut-out animation. Instead of creating a colour model scene that includes
all of the characters, props, effects, and location, the colour palette or model will often be directly imported to, or
created in, the character building scene. Just as with a cut-out character building scene, each element uses thesame palette so it would not be efficient to save the palette inside one element. Instead, it is saved at the scenelevel. This prevents a palette overload because all of the models are in different scenes. It also allows each scene
to have its own set of palettes corresponding to its model.
When working on a cut-out animation production, it is highly recommended that you work with the Scene level.

Where to Save the Palette File
The palette storage location depends on the type of production and the backup plan being used. Some studios liketo store their palettes at the Element level and others at the Environment level as this will not create a problem solong as the scene is in the Harmony structure. In fact, as long as the Harmony structure is maintained it can be
stored at any level. However, difficulties may occur when the scene is backed up or transferred to another studioor database and removed from the structure.

What happens when you export a palette file?
It is important to understand what is happening to a palette file when the scene is exported.
Because of the Harmony client-server configuration, all of the data can be shared through all of the scenes in the
database. This also includes the palette files, even if they are stored at the Element, Scene, Job, Drawing orEnvironment level. The palette files can be accessed from any scene of any project.
When you export scenes from Harmony to either archive or send them to other users or studios, the palettes
stored in external scenes, jobs or environment will NOT be exported.
An exported scene will carry palettes stored in its own Element’s Palette Library, scene’s palette library, the Job
and the Environment where it is stored. Any other palette from other Environments, Jobs, Elements or Scenes(even from the same job) will NOT follow. Instead a recovery palette will be created when the scene is reopened
in another Harmony system. A recovery palette is a local palette created by the system when palettes andcolours are missing. This palette is no longer shared with the rest of the project.
For example, in the following chart, if you export Scene 2 from Job 1, the package will carry the palettes from
Scene 2, Job 1 and Environment. It WILL NOT carry the palettes from Element 3 in Scene 1, Scene 1 and Job 2.
If Scene 2 was linked to any of these, the system will create a recovery palette the next time Scene 2 is opened inanother Harmony system.

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The best place to store your palette is:•Environment level for a movie or series•

Job level for a publicity or small project•

Scene level for a student exercise

To store your palette with their colour models, you can use the Element level, however, it will require more structure
when exporting the scenes. The scene will have to be exported along with its colour model scene. The other studio
you are working with must recreate an identical structure to yours, then import the received scenes into the same
location as you have them in order to maintain the links.

Palette Backup
When sharing palettes between scenes, some users may accidentally modify the colours, even though the palettes
are locked by default. That is why it is a good idea to copy and back up your palette libraries and master palette
directories.
When a palette file is copied, it automatically becomes a clone palette, so there will not be any trouble replacing analtered file. Harmony automatically updates all of the files and drawings linked to it.

Creating a Colour Palette
You can create a palette in either Basic or Advanced mode.

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By default, Toon Boom Harmony is set to the Basic mode. For simple productions, it is recommended to use the
Basic mode. This setting stores the palettes automatically for you and saves them at the Scene level. When you
use the Advanced Palette Lists mode, you can decide at which level you want to store your palettes:
Environment, Job, Scene, or Element.
If you are using Harmony Server, see Palette File Storage on page 1.
Before you can create a palette in the Advanced Palette Lists mode, you must first set your preferences to
Advanced Palette Lists mode in the Preferences dialog box. You also need to have the rights to modify the palettelist. If you do not, select Edit > Edit Palette List Mode from the top menu.
You can remove palettes from your Palette list if they're not needed in your scene. The actual palette file will not
be deleted and you can reimport it in your Palette list later on.
How to set the Advanced Palette Lists mode
1. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (Windows/Linux) or Stage > Preferences (Mac OS
X).

‣

Press Ctrl + U (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + U (Mac OS X).

2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. In the Advanced Options section, select the Advanced Palette Lists option.
4. Click OK.
How to create a new palette (Basic Palette Lists mode)
1. From the Colour view menu, select Palettes > New or click the New Palette‣button.

Make sure you have the rights to modify the palette list. If not, select Edit > Edit Palette List Mode.

The Create Palette dialog box opens.
2. Enter the palette name according to the model.

3. Click OK.
The palette appears in the drawing element’s palette list.

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How to create a palette from the Advanced Palette Lists mode
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the drawing that requires a palette.
2. Make sure that you have the necessary rights to modify the palette list. If you do not, select Edit > Edit
Palette List Mode.
3. In the Colour view, click the Show Palette List View button to display the palette list.

4. Do one of the following:‣

From the Colour view menu, select Palettes > New.

‣

Click the Create Palettebutton.

The Palette Browser: Create Palette dialog box opens.

5. Select the level to store the palette file.
‣

Environment: The palette-library folder is stored in the scene's parent environment folder.

‣

Job: The palette-library folder is stored in the scene's parent job folder.

‣

Scene: The palette-library folder is stored directly in the scene folder.

‣

Element: The palette-library folder is stored directly in the drawing element folder.

When you select a level that has a palette stored in it, the palette names are displayed in the Palette field.

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6. Name the palette. There is no need to add the suffix "palette" to the name as it is always recognized as apalette file.

7. Select a Palette List option.

The Scene Palette List is mainly used with cut-out animation. A cut-out character will often be divided in twenty tothirty different drawing elements that use the character's master palette.
The palette list is stored at the scene level instead of the Element directory. This way, all palettes linked to thislist will appear in every drawing element created in the scene. There is no need to manually load the palette ineach element.
The Element Palette List is mainly used with traditional and paperless animation. Unlike cut-out animation, allcolumns (drawing elements) contain different characters, props, backgrounds and effects. The Element Palette
List is used because you do not necessarily want all of the palettes for all of your elements linked in every
column.
The palette list is stored in the drawing element's directory instead of directly in the Scene level. This ensures thatthe links to the palettes appear only in the appropriate element. If you prefer to access a global palette list, link
your palettes to the Scene Palette List.
8. Click OK.
The new palette appears in the palette list.
How to rename a palette
1. In the Colour view, select the palette to rename.

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2. Do one of the following:‣

Right-click and select Rename.

‣

From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Rename.

3. In the Rename dialog box, give the palette a new name and click OK.

How to remove a palette
1. In the Colour view, select the palette to remove.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Remove.

‣

Right-click on the selected palette and select Remove.

‣

Click the Remove Palettebutton located above the Palette list.

If the palette was used in your scene, the zones painted with its colours turn red.

Duplicating a Colour Palette
A duplicated palette is a simple copy of the original palette. It uses the same names, colour values, but has adifferent ID and is independent from the original palette. This ensures that both palettes are completely independent.
This option is used when there are similar models and you want to avoid recreating and naming all the colours. You
can change the values and the names afterward without affecting the original palette. You can also keep some
RGBA values, such as the eyes, teeth, tongue, inside mouth, etc.

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How to duplicate a palette
1. In the Colour view, select the palette to be duplicated.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the Colour menu, select Palettes > Duplicate.

‣

Right-click on the selected palette and select Duplicate.

The Palette Browser: Duplicate Palette window opens.
3. If you are in Advanced Palette List mode, select the palette storage level—see Palette File Storage .

4. In the New Palette Name field, name the palette.

5. In the New Palette Name field, name the palette.
6. Click OK.
The palette appears in the palette list.

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Cloning a Colour Palette

A character usually has only one master palette, although there are times when the characters are placed in different
lighting conditions and require a different colour shading. The night palette is a popular choice when a scene orsequence changes from day to night. It can be difficult and time-consuming to repaint everything and creating two
independent palettes can be quite complex. As an alternative, Toon Boom Harmony provides clone palettes.
The clone palette is a copy of the master palette. The colours in each palette have the same properties. The colours
have the same identification number pointing to the same colour zones, but they can have different names and
RGBA values. Depending on the palette (night or day) you're currently using, the painted drawing will update. So
there's no need to repaint the animation. All you have to do is create or import a clone palette (palette style).
How to clone a palette
1. In the Colour view, select a palette to clone.

2. From the Colour menu, select Palettes > Clone or right-click and select Clone.
The Palette Browser: Clone Palette dialog box opens.

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3. If you're in Advanced Palette List mode, select the palette storage level—see Palette File Storage on page129.

4. In the New Palette Name field, name the palette. We recommend keeping the "-clone" in the name.
5. Click OK.
The cloned palette appears in the palette list.

6. In the Palette list, select the clone palette you created to offset or blend colours—see Mixing Colours on
page 163.
7. From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Tint Panel or right-click and select Tint Panel.
The Blend/Offset Tint panel opens.

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8. Select one or more colours to modify. You can select all your colours by pressing Ctrl + A (Windows/Linux) or⌘ + A (Mac OS X).
9. Offset, blend, or mix the colours using the sliders and increasing the Amount value.

10. Select the Preview option to see a preview of the colours while you adjust them.

NOTE: You can also modify the colours individually with the Colour Picker window.

Palette Operations
When you start Toon Boom Harmony connected to the database, you can access the Palette Operations dialog box
which lets you clone, rename, or delete palettes.
How to open the Palette Operations dialog box
1. Start Harmony and log in.

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2. Close the Database Selector dialog box.
3. From the top menu, select Tools > Palette Operations.

The Palette Operations dialog box opens.

How to clone a palette in the Palette Operations dialog box
1. Select the palette you want to clone at the location and level in which it was stored.

2. Click Clone.
A Warning dialog box opens.

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3. Select the Don't show this message again option if you do not want to see this message every time you perform this operation.
4. Click Yes.
The Palette Browser dialog box opens.
5. Select the level to store the palette file.

6. Name the palette. There is no need to add the suffix "palette" to the name as it is always recognized as apalette file.

7. Select a Palette List option.

The Scene Palette List is mainly used with cut-out animation. A cut-out character will often be divided in twenty tothirty different drawing elements that use the character's master palette.
The palette list is stored at the scene level instead of the Element directory. This way, all palettes linked to this list
will appear in every drawing element created in the scene. There is no need to manually load the palette in eachelement.

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The Element Palette List is mainly used with traditional and paperless animation. Unlike cut-out animation, allcolumns (drawing elements) contain different characters, props, backgrounds and effects. The Element Palette
List is used because you do not necessarily want all of the palettes for all of your elements linked in every
column.
The palette list is stored in the drawing element's directory instead of directly in the Scene level. This ensures thatthe links to the palettes appear only in the appropriate element. If you prefer to access a global palette list, link
your palettes to the Scene Palette List.
8. Click OK.
How to rename a palette in the Palette Operation dialog box
1. Select the palette you want to rename at the location and level in which it was stored.

2. Click Rename.
A Warning dialog box opens.

3. Select the Don't show this message again option if you do not want to see this message every time you
perform this operation.
4. Click Yes.
The Rename Palette dialog box opens.

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5. Type in a name for the palette.
6. Click OK.
How to delete a palette in the Palette Operation dialog box
1. Select the palette you want to delete at the location and level in which it was stored.

2. Click Delete.
A Warning dialog box opens.

3. Select the Don't show this message again option if you do not want to see this message every time you perform this operation.

NOTE: It is not recommended to disable the warning message as deleting a palette cannot be undone.

4. Click Yes.

Importing and Linking Palettes
Before starting colouring work such as ink and paint or even creating new colour models, you may want to load
existing colour palettes to your scene. You can do so by linking colour palettes to your palette lists.

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You may encounter a case where only a colour palette is visible when a layer is selected. If you need that palettein a second layer, you can link the palette to the second layer's palette list. A good example would be a scene
where there is a character on one layer and its arm is on another. In order for both layers to access the palette,you must link both Element Palette lists to that palette. If your palette is linked to the Scene Palette list, it will beaccessible by all layers.
If you created a palette in another project and you want to import it in your current project, you can browse for the
palette file on your computer and add it to your scene. When the palette is imported in your scene, the file iscopied in the project’s directory. It is not linked to the original file.
This method is not recommended. It is always safer to have the palettes contained within the database to avoid
data loss if the source palette were to be deleted or the project exported without including the external palettes.
You will notice that when you create or link a palette, a small icon appears on its left. These icons represent the
palette's link status.
Icon

Description
Indicates that the palette is safe.
There won’t be any problems once the scene is exported. For example, the palette file isstored in the scene folder and is linked to the Scene Palette List.
Indicates that the palette file is stored in a directory external to the scene’s structure.
The palette file is probably stored in a Master Palette directory on a hard drive external to thepalette-libraries planned for the palette storage. The warning in this case is that if you moveyour Master Palette directory to another location, you may loose the palette in your scene.
Indicates that a palette file stored in a level such as Element, Scene, Job or Environment islinked to a Palette list that is not on the same level.
For example, a palette file is stored into the Environment folder and is linked to the Element
Palette list. The palette is shared.
Indicates a potentially dangerous situation.
Problems may occur when trying to export or link to the palette file. For example, a palette fileis stored into the element folder and is linked to the Scene Palette list. The issue in this caseis that if you decide to delete the layer containing the palette, it will be lost from your scene.

How to link a colour palette
1. Do one of the following:‣

From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Link.

‣

Right-click and select Link.

‣

Click the Importbutton.

The Palette Browser: Link Palette dialog box opens.

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2. Select the level where the palette file is stored—see Palette File Storage on page 129.
3. Select the palette list linking level by enabling either Scene Palette List or Element Palette List—see
Palette Lists on page 125.
The palette appears in the Colour view.
How to import a palette into your project
1. Do one of the following:‣

From the Colour menu, select Palettes > Import.

‣

Right-click and select Import.

The Browser window opens.
2. Browse for a palette file located (*.plt) on your hard drive. You will generally find the palettes in your project's palette-library directory.
3. Click Open.
The Palette Browser opens.

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4. If you're in Advanced Palette mode, select the level where the palette file is stored—see Palette File Storage .
5. If you're in Advanced Palette mode, select the palette list linking level by enabling either Scene Palette
List or Element Palette List—see Palette Lists.
6. In the New Palette Name, name the imported palette.
The palette appears in the Colour view and the file is copied in your project.
How to link to an external palette
1. In the Colour view, click on the Create Palettebutton to create a palette to be used as external.

2. Save your scene by selecting File > Save from the top menu or by clicking the Save
Ctrl + S (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + S (Mac OS X).

button or press

3. On your computer or server, create a master directory. Ideally, this should be created in your Root folder tokeep it within the project directory. You could also place it inside your Colour Model’s subdirectory—see
Chapter 6: Project Organization and File Structure in the Fundamentals Guide.

4. Name the folder appropriately, for example: Joe_master_palette.

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5. From your operating system, browse to your Toon Boom Harmony scene and open the palette-library folder.

6. Select and copy your palette *.plt file to copy it to the master palette directory.

7. Create a new Toon Boom Harmony scene or open the scene where you will link this palette.
8. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the element to link the palette to.

9. From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Link to External.
The Link to External Palette dialog box opens.

10. Click Browse to search for your master palettes folder and select the palette *.plt file you want to link.
11. In the Palette list section, select how you want to load the palette; at the scene or element level.
12. Click OK.
The linked palette appears in the Colour view.

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If a palette is outside the scene, the External

icon appears beside the palette name.

NOTE: To link an element (such as a colour model) to the palette that is stored in the external palette directory,
you must remove the original palette from the element’s palette list. You will then load the duplicated palette into
the palette list using the Link to External command, like you did for the other elements.

Colours
Toon Boom Harmony has some very powerful colouring features when it comes to painting. To paint yourdrawings, you will use different colour swatches, unlike some other painting programs where you modify the main
swatch each time you want to paint with a different colour.

In the Colour view, you choose a different colour swatch for each colour you want to paint in your drawing. You
can add as many swatches as you want. You can also rename them and modify existing ones.

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When you modify the colour of an existing swatch, it automatically updates all the zones painted with this swatch
throughout the entire project. The colour swatch has a unique ID number that associates it with the painted zones.
This way, you can change the look of your character at any time without having to repaint it!
This section is divided as follows:•

Adding a Colour Swatch•

Editing Gradients and Textures on page 200•

Colour Display Modes on page 161•

Copying and Pasting Colours on page 162•

Mixing Colours on page 163

Adding a Colour Swatch
You can use several different types of colour swatches, including solid colour, gradient colour and bitmap texture
swatches.

A colour palette is an actual file on the hard drive. These palette files can be stored in a different location on theserver. They can be stored in the Environment, Job, Scene, or Element folder and linked to any palette list. Thismeans that if the original palette file is modified, it will update in every drawing element the palette is linked to.
To avoid accidentally modifying the palette, the palette files can be locked. If a palette must be modified, you must
get the rights to modify them before doing so.
In Toon Boom Harmony, when you click the Add Colour
button, a new colour swatch is created using the colourof the currently selected swatch from your palette. However, you can set a default colour to be used every time you
create a new colour in your colour palette. This is useful for creating different shades of the same basic colour.
The default colour is also the colour used when you choose to vectorize images you're scanning into your scene,
however you add the Default colour swatch to your palette in a different way, so it's unique. It has a unique ID
number that makes it easily recognizable from all the other colours in your colour palettes. Being able to change thiscolour allows you to change the basic colour of all scanned drawings. This can be useful on more than just an
aesthetic level as sometimes when you go to NTSC or PAL, pure colours, such as pure black, can create problems.

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How to lock and unlock the palette list‣

In the Colour view, click the Edit Palette Modebutton.

A grey pencil icon appears in the top-right corner of the Palette list.

How to add or modify a solid colour swatch
1. In the Colour view, click the Add Colour

button.

2. From the Colour view menu, select Colours > Edit or double-click on the colour swatch.
The Colour Picker window opens.

3. To set your colour, do one of the following:‣

In the colour wheel, select a colour.

‣

Enter the HSV or RGB values in the corresponding fields. Select the R,G,B,H,S or V options tochange the look of the colour picking area.

‣

Click the Dropper
button to select any colour on your screen. It can be from the Harmony interface,your operating system or any other open application.

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You can also click Multi Wheel Mode to open the Multiwheel Colour window. This displays all the picking
area styles together and also contains a picking undo list. To return to the regular Colour Picker window, click
Single Wheel Mode.

4. Click on the Shade Scale swatches to modify the shade of the selected colour.

5. Adjust the transparency with the Alpha slider or type the value directly in the Alpha field.

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6. Click the Add button to add the current selected colour to the Colour Storage Library, so you can quickly
access it later.

7. Rename the colour swatch in the Colour Picker window or directly in the colour list by double-clicking on
its name.

How to change the default swatch colour for all your colour palettes
1. From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (Windows/Linux) or Stage > Preferences (Mac OS X).
2. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Drawing tab.
3. In the New Colour Pots section, select the Create New Colour Pots Using the Default Colour option.
You can also click on the colour swatch beside the option to change the default colour.
How to add a new colour swatch using the default colour‣

From the Colour View menu, select Colours > New.

A new swatch is added to your palette using the default colour swatch colour. The new swatch createdwith the New command will be named New 0.
How to create a gradient colour swatch
1. In the Colour view, select a colour to modify .
2. Do one of the following:‣

Click the new colour and from the Colour View menu, select Colours > New.

‣

Double-click on the colour swatch.

The Colour Picker window opens.

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3. Select the Gradient option.
4. Select the Linear or Radial option.
5. Adjust the Gradient arrows to modify the colours.

‣

Add extra colours by clicking between the arrows below the gradient bar. Then click on the Colour
Preview to select a colour.

‣

Pull down the arrows to remove them.

‣Move the arrows left and right to modify the gradient distance.

NOTE: To learn how to reposition the gradient zones in your drawings, see Editing Gradients and Textures on page200.

How to create a texture colour
1. From the Colour menu, select Colours > New Texture or click the New Texture

button.

The Browser window opens.
2. Browse for a PSD or TGA bitmap file created with a third party software and click Open.
The texture is added to the colour list.

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NOTE:
To learn how to reposition the textured zones in your drawings, see Editing Gradients and Textures on page 200.

You can also replace a texture once it is painted. If you decide to make the character’s shirt wool instead of plaid,
just update the texture file in the swatch and the entire project updates. Any transformation previously applied tothe texture’s position in your drawings will be kept.

How to replace a texture swatch
1. In the Colour view, select the texture swatch that contains the bitmap texture you want to replace.

2. From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Edit Texture or double-click on the swatch.
The Browser window opens.
3. Browse for the new PSD or TGA bitmap file created in a third party software.

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4. Click Open to update the colour swatch.

How to delete a colour swatch
1. In the Colour view, select the colour swatches to delete.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Delete.

‣

Click the Delete Colour‣

Right-click and select Delete.

‣Press Delete.

button.

If the colour swatch is used in a drawing, the Delete Colour dialog box opens.

3. Click OK to delete the colours or click Cancel to abort the operation.
‣

If you delete colour swatches already in use, the zones painted with them turn red so you can easily
identify them.

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Editing Gradients and Textures

If you paint a zone with a gradient or texture colour, you can use the Edit Gradient/Texture tool to modify its
position in the zone. You can move, scale, rotate and skew. If you want to match the colour to the animation, set
the first texture position and copy the Edit Gradient/Texture position. When moving to the next drawing, you canselect the next texture and paste the previous position to continue the modifications.
If you are painting a hand-drawn animation or if your want the Brush tool and Paint tool to use your gradient’s
position, angle and scale settings instead of the default ones, you can store your own settings and reuse themafterward.
This way of editing a texture using the Edit Gradient/Texture tool also works with pencil lines drawn with textured“brushes”. If you then paint your textured pencil line with a gradient, you can do so and then edit both elements
independently at the same time.
How to use Edit Gradient/Texture tool
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Tools toolbar, click the Edit Texture

tool.

‣

From the Camera or Drawing View menu, select Drawing Tools > Edit Gradient/Texture.

‣

Press Shift + F3.

2. Click the gradient or texture colour to modify.

A blue selection frame surrounds the selected gradient or texture.

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3. Edit the gradient or texture by adjusting the control handles around the selection frame.
How to store gradient and texture settings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

2. In the Camera or Drawing view, select the gradient or texture zone to store.

3. In the Tool Properties view, click the Store Colour Gradientbutton.

How to use the stored gradient and texture settings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushor Paint

tool.

2. In the Tool Properties view, click the Use Stored Colour Gradientbutton.

3. In the Camera or Drawing view, draw and paint.
How to use Pencil Editor tool to edit the texture or gradient on a pencil line
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil Editor

tool.

‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Pencil Editor.

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2. Click on the pencil line to be modified to bring up its contour envelope.

3. Select one of the contour points around the envelope and move its position to change the size of the tiled
texture or gradient. You can also pull directly on the lines of the contour envelope or play with the Bezier
handles of any given point in order to continue to modify the envelope form.

Expanding the width of the envelope parallel to the pencil line’s central vector will cause the tiled texture to
be stretched. Conversely, reducing the envelope’s width will cause the tiled texture to look squashed.
Reducing the contour’s width perpendicular to the pencil line’s central vector will reduce the number oftiles, while expanding it will increase the number of tiled images.

This editing technique does not just work on texture fills, but can also be applied to pencil lines drawn witha textured “brush”.
How to use Edit Gradient/Texture tool to edit the texture or gradient on a pencil line
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In the Tools toolbar, select the Edit Gradient/Texture

tool.

‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Edit Gradient/Texture.

‣

Press Shift + F3.

2. Click on the pencil line to be modified to bring up the editor controls.

3. The editor controls delineate a single tile in the texture. For gradients, this is less applicable. Pull on the top of
the editor controls to stretch the tiled texture throughout the length of the stroke.
As gradients are parallel to the stroke’s central vector, this will stretch the way that the gradient is distributedin the pencil line’s envelope. The envelope still acts as a boundary for the texture or gradient.

4. Drag the editor control perpendicular to the stroke. You will feel it glide along the strokes central vector line.
This is another way to resize the texture tile. Instead of stretching or shrinking it vertically, this motion

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stretches or shrinks it vertically. As gradients are parallel to the pencil line’s central vector, stretching themvertically gives no visual result.

How to use Edit Gradient/Texture tool to edit the texture and gradient of a pencil line
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Tools toolbar, select the Edit Gradient/Texture

tool.

‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Edit Gradient/Texture.

‣

Press Shift + F3.

2. Click on the pencil line to be modified to bring up the editor controls.

3. Use the top editor controls edit the gradient.

4. Use the bottom controls edit the “brush” texture.

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Colour Display Modes
The Colour view has two display modes:
•

List

•

SwatchYou can also display the RGB values and names of your solid colour swatches instead of only the name. This option
is not available when displaying the colours in Swatch mode.

How to switch between the display modes
1. From the Colour View menu, and do one of the following:‣

Select Colours > Swatch Mode to display the swatches.

‣

Deselect Colours > Swatch Mode to display the colour list.

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How to display the swatch colour values‣ From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Display Colour Values.
The solid colour swatches’ RGB values are displayed between the colour swatch and its name. The
gradient colour swatches will be identified as (gradient).

Copying and Pasting Colours
When you're creating palettes, you may want to copy colour swatches or their values and paste them in otherpalettes to save time. You can also quickly copy a colour value from a palette in your scene to a selected colour
swatch in a different palette.
You can copy a selected colour swatch and paste it as a clone. Since it produces a clone colour swatch, it is
impossible to use the Paste as Clone command in the same palette as you copied the original colour swatch
from.
If you would like to keep a reference file of some colour IDs or use them with custom plug-ins, you can copy thecolour swatch IDs. Here is an example of colour ID: 075cf5b552401130.

‣

In the Colour view, click the Edit Palette Modebutton to edit the colour list.

How to copy and paste colours
1. In the Colour view, select one or more colours to copy.
‣

In the Colour view, click the Edit Palette Mode162

button to edit the colour list.

Harmony 12.2 Premium - Traditional Animation Guide (Server)22. In the Colour View menu, select Colours > Copy or press Ctrl + C (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + C (Mac OS X).
3. In the Palette list, select the palette in which you want to paste the colours.

4. From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Paste as New Colours or press Ctrl + V (Windows/Linux) or⌘ + V (Mac OS X).
‣

To paste the colour values of the copied swatch over an existing colour swatch, select Colours > Paste
Colour Values.

How to clone a colour swatch
1. In the Colour view, select the colour swatch you want to clone.
‣In the Colour view, click the Edit Palette Modebutton to edit the colour list.

2. From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Copy or press Ctrl + C (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + C (Mac OS
X).
3. In the Colour view, select the colour palette you want to paste the clone into or create a new palette.
4. From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Paste as Clone.
The cloned colour swatch appears in the palette.
How to copy a colour ID
1. In the Colour view, select the colour swatch you want toget the ID from.
‣In the Colour view, click the Edit Palette Modebutton to edit the colour list.

2. From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Copy Colour ID or press Ctrl + C (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + C(Mac OS X).
3. Paste the copied value as plain text in the desired document.

Mixing Colours
If you want to modify a series of colours to blend a tint in them or offset their RGBA values, you can use the Tint
panel. You can also create palette styles, such as night and day styles.
How to mix colours
1. In the Colour view, select the palette that contains the colours you want to offset or blend.

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2. Do one of the following:‣

From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Tint Panel.

‣

Right-click and select Tint Panel.

The Tint Blend/Offset panel opens.

3. Select one or more colours to modify in the colour list. To select all the colours, press Ctrl + A (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + A (Mac OS X).

4. Select Preview option.
5. Select the Offset, Blend, or Mixer option.

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Parameter

Description

OffsetOffsets the selected colours by the adjustments made using the HSB and RGB
sliders. Use the Amount slider to adjust the degree of offset. Use the Alpha slider
to adjust the opacity of the selected colour.

Blend

Blends the selected colours with the colour swatch in the top-right corner. Use theAmount slider to adjust the degree of blend. A blend of 100% turns the selectedcolours into the same colour as the swatch. Adjusting the HSB and RGB sliders
affect the swatch colour, which in turn affects the selected colours on the left.
Use the Alpha slider to adjust the opacity of the swatch.

Mixer

Select a Base and Tint colour to form a third colour swatch. Use the slider justbeneath to mix the Base and Tint colours by different amounts. This will affect themixed swatch whether it is selected or not. Select either the Tint or Base swatch
and use the HSB and RGB sliders to adjust its colour. This will affect the mixed
swatch colour, which in turn affects the selected colours on the left.

6. Click Apply.

Painting the Model
Now that you've created the colours and the palette, you're ready to paint your model.
The colour model needs to be painted in order to adjust the colours with the other elements in the production. You
can paint your model regardless of the colour RGBA and adjust them later when all the elements are together.
Once your palette is created and your model is painted, you can import a key background and other characters using
the Import Drawings option or the Library to compare and adjust the palettes—see Sharing the Colour Model on page
167 to learn how to import your background file.

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For paperless and cut-out animation, it's a good idea to provide a line-up template with the colour model to show
the scale ratio between the characters, props and backgrounds.

Once your colour model is completed, create a line-up template by pasting one of the production's main
characters, or even just a hand, beside the colour model to show the relative size. This allows the animator,
layout artist, or scene setup artist to retain the correct scaling throughout the entire project when setting theelements in the scene. You can store your template in the Library.
How to paint a colour model
1. From the Drawing or Camera View menu, select View > Switch to Colour Art/Switch to Line Art or pressL.
2. Create your master colour palette—see Creating a Colour Palette on page 131
3. Add new colours to the palette—see Adding a Colour Swatch on page 149.
4. Select your Paint Bucket

tool. We recommend the Paint Unpainted

5. In the Colour view, select a colour to paint your drawing.

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6. Paint the model by selecting colour swatches in the palette and clicking on your drawing. Note that only
closed zones will be painted. If there's a gap in your artwork, you must close before you can paint it.

7. To separate the lines and fill zones on separated art layers, see Art Layers on page 182.
8. Adjust the colours—see Mixing Colours on page 163.

Sharing the Colour Model
When your colour models are prepared and organized in a colour model scene, it's time to share them.
The Library is a central repository for all the data which will be reused throughout the production. It can be accessedfrom any Harmony scene; if multiple users are connected to the same network, all machines can access a central
library. These models can be shared among all the users to ensure that everyone has the same set of colours andreferences.
A template is a set of elements created from a Harmony scene that can be imported into other scenes. It can containdrawings, palettes, and any other elements available in Harmony.

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A colour model template is very simple to make. When a drawing is stored in the Library, the corresponding
palette is attached to it. This means that whenever the colour model is imported from the Library into the scene,
the palette is also imported. To learn more about libraries and templates—see the Harmony Cut-Out Animation
Guide.

NOTE: It is recommended that you add a colour model subfolder to your library.

In the Timeline view, you can create a template by selecting the drawing element's node. This contains all
drawings from the drawing element, palettes, and exposure. A template that was created by selecting the drawing
exposure contains the selected drawings, their exposures, and the palettes.
How to create a template from the Timeline view
1. In the Library, select a folder to store the template. Right-click and select Right to Modify.
2. From the Timeline view, select the drawings, pegs, effects, keyframes, sounds, exposures, and nodes,
and drag them to the Library's folder. Anything that is available in the Timeline view can be stored as a template.

The Rename window opens.

3. Type in a name for the template and click OK.
There is no need to save the library. Everything is automatically stored and saved as soon as it is pasted in
the library.
How to load a colour model from the Timeline or Xsheet view
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a drawing (*.tvg).

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2. Bring the model into the Model view by doing one of the following:‣

In the Timeline view, drag the selected drawing and drop it directly in the Model view.

‣

From the Model View menu, select Use Current Drawing as Model.

NOTE: The Use Current Drawing as Model button is not part of the default Model View toolbar. To add the Use
Current Drawing as Model button to the Model toolbar, right-click in the Model view toolbar and select Customize.
Drag the Use Current Drawing as Modelbutton from the Available Tools column and move it to the right(Toolbar) column. Click OK.

‣

In the Model View toolbar, click Current Drawing

button.

The model appears in the Model view.
How to browse for a colour model drawing on your hard drive
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Model View toolbar, click the Import Model‣

From the Model View menu, select Import Model.

‣

Select File > Import > Colour Model.

button.

2. In the Browser window, browse for any *.tvg drawing file on your hard drive or in the database.
3. Click Open.
The model appears in the Model view.
How to load the default models
1. In your scene’s folder, create a new folder and name it: models.
2. On your hard drive, copy the *.tvg drawing file you want to use as colour models in your scene.
3. Do one of the following:‣

From the Model View menu, select Load Default Models.

‣In the Model View toolbar, click the Load Default Modelbutton.

NOTE: The Load Default Model button is not part of the default Model View toolbar. To add the Load Default Modelbutton to the Model toolbar, right-click in the Model view toolbar and select Customize. Drag the Load Default Modelbutton from the Available Tools column and move it to the right (Toolbar) column. Click OK.

How to load a single drawing from the Library view
1. In the Library view, click the template containing the drawing to import in the Model view.

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2. Right-click on the template and select Open As Folder.
3. In the Library view’s left side, select the template’s folder and continuing expanding its subfolders until*.tvg files appear on the right side.

4. In the Library view’s right side, select the TVG drawing to import and drag it into the Model view.
How to load a template with multiple drawings from the Library view
1. In the Library view, find the template you want to import in the Model view.
2. In the Library view’s right side, drag the template (*.tpl file) and drop it directly in the Model view.
3. Use the Previous Model
and Next Modelbuttons in the Model View toolbar to view all the drawings contained in the template. This can often be the front, profile, and 3/4 views of a character.

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How to load a symbol from the Library view
1. In the Library view’s left side, select the Symbols folder.
2. In the Library view’s right side, select the symbol you want to use as a model, and drag and drop it into theModel view.

3. Use the Previous Model
and Next Modelbuttons in the Model View toolbar to view all the drawings
contained in the template. This can often be the front, profile, and 3/4 views of a character.
How to clear a colour model‣

In the Model View menu, select Clear Model or press Delete.

How to copy the entire model from the Model view
1. In the Model View toolbar, select the Selecttool.

1. In the Model view, select your model.

2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Drawing Object or pressCtrl + C (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + C (MacOS X).

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2. In the Timeline view, make sure you have the correct layer and frame selected.
3. Select the Drawing or Camera view, then go to the top menu and select Edit > Paste Drawing Object, or
select the Timeline view and from the top menu, select Edit > Paste cells in the Timeline or pressCtrl + V(Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + V (Mac OS X).
The model appears in the selected view.
How to copy part of the model in the Model view
1. In the Model View toolbar, select the Cutter

tool or press Alt + T.

1. In the Model view, use the Cutter tool to create a selection around the part of your model that you want tocopy.

2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Drawing Object or pressCtrl + C (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + C (MacOS X).
2. In the Timeline view, make sure you have the correct layer and frame selected.
3. Do one of the following:‣

Select the Drawing or Camera view and select Edit > Paste Drawing Object.

‣

Select the Timeline view and select Edit > Paste cells in the Timeline or press Ctrl + V(Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + V (Mac OS X).

The model appears in the selected view.

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Chapter 5: Ink and Paint

When traditional animation is traced, cleaned up, scanned in and properly exposed, it's time for the ink and paintprocess. This consists of cleaning all dirt and hair (for example, dust that was in the scanner, dots that do not belong
in the drawing, extra floating artwork around the drawing that must be removed), painting the lines and filling thecolours in the empty zones on an entire animation sequence.
For paperless animation, the drawings are cleaned up directly in Harmony, so there is generally no dirt to clean, only
painting and inking.
For cut-out animation, once the character builder paints the pieces, there is no more ink and paint process because
the same parts are always reused and moved around. The ink and paint process applies only to traditional andpaperless animation workflows.
Harmony is optimized to ink and paint drawings efficiently. Since most of the drawings are vector-based, the colour
zones are completely filled and there are no scattered spots left blank. Also, there are some actions that can beapplied on an entire animation sequence at once, like dirt removal, some colour filling, line repainting, and so on.
Harmony uses palettes to hold all the colours you need to paint your elements. A palette is created by assigning a
set of colours to each character, prop or effect. The colour styling artist will create a new palette and add a newcolour for each zone of the character, such as the skin, hair, tongue, shirt, pants, and so on. Each colour is known asa colour swatch—see Working with Palettes on page 124.

When a zone on the character is painted with the colour contained in a colour swatch, a link is automatically createdbetween that colour swatch and the zone. This means that if the tint of the colour in the colour swatch is changed,
any zone linked to it will update to the new tint. This is one way that colour palettes can save time and money in yourproduction.
Another advantage of this system is that you can create complete palettes for different lighting situations. For
instance, in addition to the regular palette for a character, you could have one for that character in the rain using

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colours that are duller and less vibrant than the dry daytime colours, or yet another for using in a night scene.
Using palettes linked to your character in this way allows you to instantly change its colouring to suit the moodand atmosphere of the scene without tediously repainting each element.
The ink and paint process is divided into the following steps:
Preparation

174

Dirt Cleanup

178

Art Layers

182

Painting

188

Painting Using the Paint Tool

190

Importing Models

195

Protecting Colours

206

Inking the Lines

208

Verifying the Zones are Painted

212

Ink and Paint Tool Properties

215

Preparation
The optimal workspace for creating colour models and inking/painting in traditional animation includes thefollowing views:•

Xsheet•Camera•Drawing•

Colour•Model

As there is no default workspace for these tasks, you will need to create a custom workspace for yourself—see
the Fundamentals Guide.

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You may have a character or element palette that has colours that are very similar to the Drawing and Camera
view's background colour. For example, a white eyeball colour on a white background which makes it difficult toknow if the zone was painted. You can change the background colour of the Camera or Drawing view in the
Preferences dialog box.

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How to change a view's background colour
1. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences.

‣

Mac OS X: Select Stage > Preferences.

‣

Press Ctrl + U (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + U (Mac OS X).

The Preferences dialog box opens.
2. Select the General tab.
3. In the Colours section, click Edit Colours.
The Colours dialog box opens.

4. Select the Camera or Drawing tab.
5. Change the background colour of:‣

Camera View: Click the Clear colour swatch.

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Drawing View: Click the Background colour swatch.

The Select Colour dialog box opens.
6. Select a colour by clicking a colour swatch, clicking a colour in the colour gradient, or entering a HSV/RGB
Value.

7. Click OK in the three opened dialog boxes to apply your changes.

NOTE:
When you need to paint drawings with similar colours throughout the palette, you can create a clone of that paletteand change all the colours to very bright tints to facilitate the paint process—see Cloning a Colour Palette on page

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137.

Dirt Cleanup
When paper drawings are passed through a scanner, there can be some hair and dirt scattered across them.
These lines and dots need to be cleaned. Harmony provides different tools to help get rid of them quickly.

The Remove Dirt tool selects small dots and hairs on the drawing.
Raising the Remove Dirt level will select bigger dots. When selecting larger dots, be careful not to lose small
details like pupils and nostrils. Once you have chosen the level, you can apply it to the current drawing or theentire animation sequence. This is a quick way to get rid of most dirt and dust.
During this process, the dirt that will be removed is highlighted in red.

The Remove Art Outside Selection option lets you remove any art existing outside a selection. It is recommended
that you clean your Colour Art level as well. If you have a stroke accumulation in your Colour Art, it can result inlarge output files, especially if you work in high-definition resolutions.

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If there are some marks that cannot be removed with the automated tools, you can erase them with the Eraser toolor select them with the Select tool and then delete them. It's always safer to select and delete them than to erase
them, so you do not overlook anything.

How to use the Remove Dirt tool
1. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Clean Up > Remove Dirt.

‣

From the Camera or Drawing View menu, select Drawing > Clean Up > Remove Dirt.

‣

Press Shift + D.

2. Increase the Remove Dirt value by moving the slider to the right.
3. Select the Apply to All Drawings option if you want to apply the operation to all drawings in the layer.
How to clean dirt with Remove Art Outside Selection
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool.

2. In the Tool Properties view, click the Permanent Selection

button.

3. Draw a selection around the animation making sure to include the entire animation sequence.

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4. In the Camera or Drawing View menu, select Drawings > Clean Up and one of the following options:‣Remove Art Outside Selection to delete artwork outside your selection on a single drawing.

‣

Remove Art Outside Selection on All Drawings to delete artwork outside your selection on all thedrawings.
The art outside the selection is removed.

Removing Art Inside a Selection

You can delete any art inside a selection with the Remove Art Inside Selection option. We recommend that you
clean your Colour Art level as well. If you have a stroke accumulation in your Colour Art, it can result in large
output files, especially if you work in high definition resolutions.
You can simultaneously apply this operation to all your drawings in the layer by using the Remove Art Inside
Selection on All Drawings command.
How to clean dirt with Remove Art Inside Selection
1. In the Tools toolbar, click the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

2. To apply the action to your entire animation, click the Permanent Selection
erties view.

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3. In the Camera or Drawing view, draw a selection around the animation. Make sure the area is large enough toinclude all the zones to be cleaned up on all drawings.
4. From the top menu, select Drawing > Clean Up > Remove Art Inside Selection to delete artwork inside
your selection on one single drawing. You can also press Delete.
5. To apply the action on all your drawings in the layer, select Drawing > Clean Up > Remove Art Inside
Selection on All Drawings to delete artwork inside your selection on all the drawings.

Removing Small Strokes in the Colour Art Layer

The Remove Hair command lets you remove any small strokes created in the Colour Art layer from very thick lines
or filled zones. Increasing the Remove Hair level value will select larger strokes for removal from the drawing.
How to use the Remove Hair tool
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the drawing containing the drawing to clean.
2. From the top menu, select View > Show > Show Strokes to display the invisible lines or press K.
3. In the top menu, select Drawing > Clean Up > Remove Hair.
The Remove Hair dialog box opens.

4. Move the slider to the right to increase the number and length of hairs to be selected.
5. Select the Apply to All Drawings option if you want to apply the operation to all the drawings in the layer.
6. Click OK.
How to access the Eraser tool‣

From the Tools toolbar, click the Eraser

button.

‣From the top menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Eraser.

‣

From the Camera or Drawing View menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Eraser.

‣

Press Alt + E.

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How to access the Select tool‣

From the Tools toolbar, click the Selectbutton.

‣From the top menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Select.

‣

From the Camera or Drawing View menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Select.

‣Press Alt + S.

Art Layers

Art layers give you the possibility to divide the artwork in your drawing on different layers. For example, you canseparate the outline and colour fill on two art layers, similar to 1950s traditional cell animation. These art layers
are contained within a single drawing as opposed to the layers in the Timeline view or Xsheet columns whereindividual drawings with individual timing are stacked one on top of the other—see Creating Strokes on page 187.
Toon Boom Harmony drawings include four art layers.
•

Overlay on page 183•

Line Art on page 184•

Colour Art on page 184•

Underlay on page 185

You can access the art layers through the Art Layer toolbar. By default, only the Line Art and Colour Art are
displayed. You need to enable the Support Overlay and Underlay Arts option in the Preferences dialog box.

Each layer can be used for separate hand-drawn animation tasks, letting you organize your work and facilitatecreation and revision.

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Overlay

The Overlay layer can serve multiple purposes:•

Highlights and tones•

Annotations and corrections•

Sketching
You can also draw in the Overlay layer as it's a regular layer.

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Line Art

In hand-drawn animation, the Line Art layer is mainly used to trace and clean up animation. The outline is drawn in
the Line Art layer and colour is painted in the Colour Art layer.
Colour Art

In hand-drawn animation, you use the Colour Art layer to paint your animation. The outline is drawn in the Line Art
layer and colour is painted in the Colour Art layer. Strokes (invisible lines) are generated from Line Art to containthe painted area.

When you are doing rough animation, you may want to send a clip for feedback or approval before carrying on withyour work. If you have several characters in your project that are overlapping, it may be difficult to understandwhat is going on as you can see through the characters. Toon Boom Harmony can generate a matte automaticallyin the Underlay, or even in the Colour Art layer, and fill all the zones inside your characters to make them opaque.
This process is fast and easy, and allows you to send easy-to-understand movies.

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Underlay

The Underlay layer can serve multiple purposes. It is frequently used by animators to sketch rough animation or
generate a matte colour when doing line testing.
How to enable the Support Overlay and Underlay Arts option
1. From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences ( Windows/Linux ) or Stage > Preferences ( Mac OS X ).
2. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Advanced tab.
3. In the Advanced Options section, select the Support Overlay and Underlay Arts option.
4. Click OK.
How to switch between drawing layers
1. In the Art Layer toolbar, click the Line Art
or Colour Art
edit the select layer without affecting the other one.

buttons. When switching art layers, you can

2. Click the Preview All Enabled Art Layers
button to display both layers together. Even when the Preview
mode is enabled, you will only be able to edit the select art layer. The other ones are only displayed as a reference. By default, the Preview mode is always enabled in the Camera view. You will only be able to see theselect art layer by itself if you enable the Current Drawing on Top
option located in the Camera bottom
toolbar.

NOTE:
To edit both Line Art and Colour Art at the same time, you must enable the Apply to Line Art and Colour Art
button in the Tool Properties of the tools supporting the operation.

How to switch between the drawing layers in Advanced Art mode
1. In the Art Layer toolbar, click the Overlay Art, Line Art, Colour Art
or Underlay Art
buttons todisplay the appropriate layer—see How to enable the Support Overlay and Underlay Arts option on page 185.
When switching art layers, you can edit the selected layer without affecting the other one.

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2. Click the Preview All Enabled Art Layers
button to display all the layers together. The other ones are
only displayed as a reference. By default, the Preview mode is always enabled in the Camera view. You
can view only the selected art layer if you select the Current Drawing on Top
option in the Camera bottom toolbar.
How to generate a matte
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Tools toolbar, select the Select‣Press Alt + S.

tool.

2. In the Camera or Drawing view, select the drawing you want to create a matte for.

NOTE: You can also apply the operation to all the drawings in the layer at the same time.

3. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Generate Auto-Matte.

‣

In the Camera or Drawing menu, select Drawing > Generate Auto-Matte.

The Auto-Matte dialog box opens.

4. If you want to create a matte for all the drawings included in your layer, select the Apply to All Drawings
option.
5. Depending on how precise or rough your line is, increase or decrease the radius value. Use a lower value,
the closer to your lines’ contours the matte will be shaped. The higher the value, the looser the matte will
be shaped.

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6. In the Source Art menu, select the layer from which you want the matte created: Line Art,Colour Art, Underlay or Overlay.
7. In the Destination Art menu, select the layer on which you want the matte to be created: Line Art,Colour Art,
Underlay or Overlay.
8. If you already have artwork on the destination layer and you want the content to be deleted before the matte isadded into it, select the Clear Destination Art First option.
9. If you want the contour of your lines to be copied as invisible lines in your matte drawing (in case you everneed to keep them for later), select the Copy Stroke in Destination option.
10. Click OK.

Creating Strokes
A drawing is composed of Line and Colour filling layers. Lines and colours can be separated or kept together,
depending on which animation process you use. The following diagram presents Line Art and Colour Art
recommendations based on the selected animation workflow.

When a traditional drawing is scanned, strokes are automatically created in the Colour Art from the Line Art whendrawings are vectorized unless you specified otherwise.
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When working with Cut-out animation, we recommend that you do all of the work in the Line Art.
Once the drawing sequence is completed for paperless drawings, you can proceed with creating Colour Art
strokes if you plan to paint the animation in the Colour Art. Use the Create Colour Art from Line Art option tocreate strokes from your lines.
You can create strokes in the Colour Art during the following stages:•

After the full drawing is completed in Line Art•

While drawing in Line Art

You may have some traditional drawings that need to be fixed; for example, needing extra lines to patch gaps.
Use the Auto-Create Colour Art from Brush option to create the strokes at the same time as the lines are drawn.
This creates strokes from the lines and brush strokes created in the Line Art while you draw and is useful for fixing
drawings. However, if you are drawing a new sketch, it is better to create the strokes afterward using the Create
Colour Art from Line Art option.
How to create Colour Art zones out of the Line Art content
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

2. In the Tool Properties view, click the Permanent Selection
all drawings in the layer.

button if you want to apply the operation on

3. In the Camera or Drawing view, select the artwork to transfer to the Colour Art. Create a selection aroundthe entire animation sequence if you want to apply the operation to all your drawings.
4. In the Drawing View toolbar, click the Create Colour Art from Line Art

button or press *.

How to create strokes with the Create Colour Art Automatically option
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush tool.
2. In the Tool Properties view, enable the Create Colour Art Automatically

option.

3. Draw the required lines.
4. Once you're done, deselect the Create Colour Art Automatically

option.

You are now ready to paint your model.

Painting
You can choose to paint your animation in the Line Art or Colour Art level. You can paint in Line Art, but fortraditional and paperless animation, you should fill your colour zones in Colour Art. You can access the art layers
through the Art Layer toolbar—see Art Layers on page 182.
There are many advantages to separating the lines and colour zones, but the main one concerns the painting
process. To paint very quickly, it's useful to not have to worry about painting over the lines. If the lines are
separated, you can fill the zones very quickly and you will never accidentally paint the lines. Conversely, if you
are inking the lines, you will not repaint the colour zones either.
If you have transparent lines, bitmap lines, or textured lines with transparency, it's better to have your colour
zones bleeding under your lines to avoid seeing the backgrounds and other elements through the lines.

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NOTE: To avoid painting in Line Art by mistake, turn off the Preview mode and paint in the Drawing view instead of
the Camera view. Press P to turn the mode on or off.

This section is divided as follows:•

Painting Using the Paint Tool on page 190•

Advanced Painting Features on page 191•

Selecting a Colour in a Drawing on page 194•

Importing Models on page 195•

Editing Gradients and Textures on page 200•

Closing Gaps on page 205•

Protecting Colours on page 206•

Highlighting a Selected Colour on page 207•

Inverting a Colour Selection on page 208

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Painting Using the Paint Tool

The main tool you will use to paint your drawings with is the Paint tool. The Paint tool can be used in several
different modes, which can be customized in the Tool Properties view.
The Paint tool paints closed zones, including brush strokes and pencil lines. If there are gaps in the lines defining
a zone, you must close them using the Brush, Pencil, or Close Gap tools or the Automatic Close Gap option.
How to paint with the Paint tool
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell on which you want to paint.

2. Do one of the following:‣

In the Tools toolbar, click the Paint‣

Press Alt + I.

tool.

3. In the Colour view, select a colour.

4. In the Drawing or Camera view, start painting. Click on a zone or pencil line to paint it, or trace a lasso or
marquee selection to paint several zones or pencil lines at the same time.

NOTE: The last colour you select while using the Paint tool will be used the next time you select the Paint tool if
you're using the unlocked painting tools in the Colour view.

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Advanced Painting Features
The following advanced painting features are available in Toon Boom Harmony:•

Repaint Selection on page 191•

Repaint Selection on All Drawings on page 191•

Repaint Outside Selection on page 192•

Repaint Outside Selection on All Drawings on page 192•

Unpaint Selection on page 193•

Unpaint Selection on All Drawings on page 193•

Unpaint Outside Selection on page 193•

Unpaint Outside Selection on All Drawings on page 194

Repaint Selection
The Repaint Selection command is used to repaint any art inside a selection. You must first draw a selection using
the Select tool in order for this command to be available.

Repaint Selection on All Drawings
The Repaint Selection On All Drawings command is used to repaint any art inside a selection on all the drawings
contained within the same layer. You must enable the Permanent Selection
option in the Select tool Tool
Properties view and then select an area of your drawing using the Select tool in order for this command to beavailable. The Permanent Selection option lets you maintain the same selection throughout the drawings of a samelayer.

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Repaint Outside Selection
The Repaint Outside Selection command is used to repaint any art outside a selection. If no selection has beendrawn using the Select tool, the entire drawing will be repainted.

Repaint Outside Selection on All Drawings
The Repaint Outside Selection On All Drawings command is used to repaint any art outside a selection on all thedrawings contained within the same layer. You must enable the Permanent Selection
option in the Select tool
Tool Properties view and then select an area of your drawing using the Select tool in order for this command to beavailable. The Permanent Selection option lets you maintain the same selection throughout the drawings of asame layer.

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Unpaint Selection
The Unpaint Selection command is used to unpaint any art existing inside a selection. You must first draw aselection using the Select tool in order for this command to be available.

Unpaint Selection on All Drawings
The Unpaint Selection on All Drawings command is used to unpaint all art contained inside a selection on all thedrawings within the same layer.
You must enable the Permanent Selection
option in the Select tool Tool Properties view and then select an areaof your drawing using the Select tool in order for this command to be available. The Permanent Selection option lets
you maintain the same selection throughout the drawings of a same layer.

Unpaint Outside Selection
The Unpaint Outside Selection command is used to unpaint any art existing outside a selection. If no selection havebeen drawn using the Select tool, the entire drawing will be unpainted.

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Unpaint Outside Selection on All Drawings
The Unpaint Outside Selection on All Drawings command is used to unpaint all art outside a selection on all thedrawings within the same layer. You must enable the Permanent Selection
option in the Select tool Tool
Properties view and then select an area of your drawing using the Select tool in order for this command to beavailable. The Permanent Selection option lets you maintain the same selection throughout the drawings of asame layer.

How to access the advanced painting tools‣

From the top menu, Camera or Drawing view menu, select Drawing > Paint and one of the following:
Repaint Selection
Repaint Selection on All Drawings
Repaint Outside Selection
Repaint Outside Selection on All Drawings
Unpaint Selection
Unpaint Selection on All Drawings
Unpaint Outside Selection
Unpaint Outside Selection on All Drawings

Selecting a Colour in a Drawing

While working in the Camera or Drawing view, you can use the Dropper tool to pick a colour from your drawing
without going to the Colour view.

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How to use the Dropper tool
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Tools toolbar, select the Dropper

tool.

‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Dropper.

‣

Press Alt + D.

2. In the Camera or Drawing view, click on the desired colour.
‣

If you're using another drawing tool such as the Paint tool, you can temporarily hold down the D key andclick in your drawing before releasing the key to pick your colour. When you release the key, you will
return to your previous tool. You may also want to select the zones painted with the colour currently
selected in the Colour view. This can be useful for removing rough lines from a clean drawing.

How to select the zones painted with the current colour
1. In the Colour view, select the colour from which you want to select the corresponding zones.

2. Do one of the following:‣

Select Drawing > Select Strokes With Current Colour.

‣

Press Ctrl + Shift + A (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + A (Mac OS X).

Importing Models

Once you have a fully painted drawing, you can use it as a colour model and load it in the Model view. That drawing
can be used and loaded in any of your Harmony scenes.
Once a drawing is loaded in the Model view, you can use the Dropper
to select a colour from the model and use it
to paint in your Camera or Drawing view without having to pick the colour from the colour palette.
You can do more than just copy colours from a colour model. Harmony gives you the ability to copy parts of thecharacter directly from its colour model and paste these elements into the Drawing or Camera views.

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How to load a colour model from the Timeline or Xsheet view
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a drawing (*.tvg).

2. Bring the model into the Model view by doing one of the following:‣

In the Timeline view, drag the selected drawing and drop it directly in the Model view.

‣

From the Model View menu, select Use Current Drawing as Model.

NOTE: The Use Current Drawing as Model button is not part of the default Model View toolbar. To add the Use
Current Drawing as Model button to the Model toolbar, right-click in the Model view toolbar and select Customize.
Drag the Use Current Drawing as Modelbutton from the Available Tools column and move it to the right(Toolbar) column. Click OK.

‣

In the Model View toolbar, click Current Drawing

button.

The model appears in the Model view.
How to browse for a colour model drawing on your hard drive
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Model View toolbar, click the Import Model‣

From the Model View menu, select Import Model.

‣

Select File > Import > Colour Model.

button.

2. In the Browser window, browse for any *.tvg drawing file on your hard drive or in the database.
3. Click Open.
The model appears in the Model view.
How to load the default models
1. In your scene’s folder, create a new folder and name it: models.
2. On your hard drive, copy the *.tvg drawing file you want to use as colour models in your scene.
3. Do one of the following:‣

From the Model View menu, select Load Default Models.

‣In the Model View toolbar, click the Load Default Model196

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NOTE: The Load Default Model button is not part of the default Model View toolbar. To add the Load Default Modelbutton to the Model toolbar, right-click in the Model view toolbar and select Customize. Drag the Load Default Modelbutton from the Available Tools column and move it to the right (Toolbar) column. Click OK.

How to load a single drawing from the Library view
1. In the Library view, click the template containing the drawing to import in the Model view.
2. Right-click on the template and select Open As Folder.
3. In the Library view’s left side, select the template’s folder and continuing expanding its subfolders until *.tvg
files appear on the right side.

4. In the Library view’s right side, select the TVG drawing to import and drag it into the Model view.
How to load a template with multiple drawings from the Library view
1. In the Library view, find the template you want to import in the Model view.
2. In the Library view’s right side, drag the template (*.tpl file) and drop it directly in the Model view.
3. Use the Previous Model
and Next Modelbuttons in the Model View toolbar to view all the drawings
contained in the template. This can often be the front, profile, and 3/4 views of a character.

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How to load a symbol from the Library view
1. In the Library view’s left side, select the Symbols folder.
2. In the Library view’s right side, select the symbol you want to use as a model, and drag and drop it into theModel view.

3. Use the Previous Model
and Next Modelbuttons in the Model View toolbar to view all the drawings contained in the template. This can often be the front, profile, and 3/4 views of a character.
How to clear a colour model‣

In the Model View menu, select Clear Model or press Delete.

How to copy the entire model from the Model view
1. In the Model View toolbar, select the Select
1. In the Model view, select your model.

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2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Drawing Object or pressCtrl + C (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + C (MacOS X).
2. In the Timeline view, make sure you have the correct layer and frame selected.
3. Select the Drawing or Camera view, then go to the top menu and select Edit > Paste Drawing Object, or
select the Timeline view and from the top menu, select Edit > Paste cells in the Timeline or pressCtrl + V(Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + V (Mac OS X).
The model appears in the selected view.
How to copy part of the model in the Model view
1. In the Model View toolbar, select the Cutter

tool or press Alt + T.

1. In the Model view, use the Cutter tool to create a selection around the part of your model that you want tocopy.

2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Drawing Object or pressCtrl + C (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + C (MacOS X).
2. In the Timeline view, make sure you have the correct layer and frame selected.
3. Do one of the following:‣

Select the Drawing or Camera view and select Edit > Paste Drawing Object.

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Select the Timeline view and select Edit > Paste cells in the Timeline or press Ctrl + V(Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + V (Mac OS X).

The model appears in the selected view.

Editing Gradients and Textures

If you paint a zone with a gradient or texture colour, you can use the Edit Gradient/Texture tool to modify its
position in the zone. You can move, scale, rotate and skew. If you want to match the colour to the animation, set
the first texture position and copy the Edit Gradient/Texture position. When moving to the next drawing, you canselect the next texture and paste the previous position to continue the modifications.
If you are painting a hand-drawn animation or if your want the Brush tool and Paint tool to use your gradient’s
position, angle and scale settings instead of the default ones, you can store your own settings and reuse themafterward.
This way of editing a texture using the Edit Gradient/Texture tool also works with pencil lines drawn with textured“brushes”. If you then paint your textured pencil line with a gradient, you can do so and then edit both elements
independently at the same time.
How to use Edit Gradient/Texture tool
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Tools toolbar, click the Edit Texture‣

From the Camera or Drawing View menu, select Drawing Tools > Edit Gradient/Texture.

‣

Press Shift + F3.

2. Click the gradient or texture colour to modify.

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A blue selection frame surrounds the selected gradient or texture.

3. Edit the gradient or texture by adjusting the control handles around the selection frame.
How to store gradient and texture settings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

2. In the Camera or Drawing view, select the gradient or texture zone to store.

3. In the Tool Properties view, click the Store Colour Gradient201

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How to use the stored gradient and texture settings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushor Paint

tool.

2. In the Tool Properties view, click the Use Stored Colour Gradientbutton.

3. In the Camera or Drawing view, draw and paint.
How to use Pencil Editor tool to edit the texture or gradient on a pencil line
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil Editor

tool.

‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Pencil Editor.

‣

Press Alt + W.

2. Click on the pencil line to be modified to bring up its contour envelope.

3. Select one of the contour points around the envelope and move its position to change the size of the tiled
texture or gradient. You can also pull directly on the lines of the contour envelope or play with the Bezier
handles of any given point in order to continue to modify the envelope form.

Expanding the width of the envelope parallel to the pencil line’s central vector will cause the tiled texture to
be stretched. Conversely, reducing the envelope’s width will cause the tiled texture to look squashed.
Reducing the contour’s width perpendicular to the pencil line’s central vector will reduce the number oftiles, while expanding it will increase the number of tiled images.

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This editing technique does not just work on texture fills, but can also be applied to pencil lines drawn with atextured “brush”.
How to use Edit Gradient/Texture tool to edit the texture or gradient on a pencil line
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Tools toolbar, select the Edit Gradient/Texture

tool.

‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Edit Gradient/Texture.

‣

Press Shift + F3.

2. Click on the pencil line to be modified to bring up the editor controls.

3. The editor controls delineate a single tile in the texture. For gradients, this is less applicable. Pull on the top of
the editor controls to stretch the tiled texture throughout the length of the stroke.
As gradients are parallel to the stroke’s central vector, this will stretch the way that the gradient is distributedin the pencil line’s envelope. The envelope still acts as a boundary for the texture or gradient.

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4. Drag the editor control perpendicular to the stroke. You will feel it glide along the strokes central vector
line. This is another way to resize the texture tile. Instead of stretching or shrinking it vertically, this motion
stretches or shrinks it vertically. As gradients are parallel to the pencil line’s central vector, stretching themvertically gives no visual result.

How to use Edit Gradient/Texture tool to edit the texture and gradient of a pencil line
1. Do one of the following:‣

In the Tools toolbar, select the Edit Gradient/Texture

tool.

‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Edit Gradient/Texture.

‣

Press Shift + F3.

2. Click on the pencil line to be modified to bring up the editor controls.

3. Use the top editor controls edit the gradient.

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4. Use the bottom controls edit the “brush” texture.

Closing Gaps

When painting, you may notice that some drawing areas are not closed. To close the zone, you can draw themissing line with the Brush or Pencil tool, or close the gap with an invisible line using the Close Gap tool.
The Close Gap tool lets you close small gaps in a drawing by creating small, invisible strokes between the two
closest points to close the colour zone. You do not need to trace directly over the gap. You can draw it a few
millimeters away. The two closest points automatically close the gap.

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How to close gaps
1. From the top menu, select View > Show > Show Strokes or press K to see a preview of the result.
2. If you want the strokes you draw to be flattened in your drawing instead of being on top, click the Auto-Flatten
button in the Tool Properties view.
3. From the top menu, select Drawing > Clean Up > Close Gaps or press Shift + F10 (Windows/Linuxonly).
The Close Gaps dialog box opens.
4. Adjust the slider to set the size of the gap you want to be closed.

5. To close all gaps in the drawings of the selected layer, select the Apply to all drawings option and clickOK.
6. In the Tools toolbar, select the Close Gaps

tool.

7. In the Camera or Drawing view, trace a line near the gap to be closed. Your strokes will be invisible
The gap automatically closes.

Protecting Colours

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When you are finished inking one colour, you can lock it so if you ever paint over it accidentally, the work alreadydone will not be affected. You can also use the Protect Colour feature to block the filling colours if you painted all of
the animation in Line Art and you plan to repaint the lines.
How to protect colours
1. In the Colour view, select the colour to be protected.

2. Do one of the following:‣

Right-click and select Protect Colour.

‣

From the Colour view menu, select Colours > Protect Colour.

A red bar appears beside the colour to indicate that it is locked.

Respecting Protected Colours
When painting, the Respect Protected Colour
option is enabled by default. In the Colour view, you can protect In
the Colour view, you can protect a colour swatch to avoid repainting or unpainting the zones linked to that swatch. If
you using the Paint tool and this option is deselected, you will repaint or unpaint the protected colours on yourdrawings until you enable the option again.
How to enable the Respect Protected Colours option
Do one of the following:‣

In the Paint tool properties, click the Respect Protected Colour

button.

‣From the top menu, select Drawing> Colour Protection > Respect Colour Protection.

‣

Press Shift + S.

Highlighting a Selected Colour
If there are unnamed colours in your palette and you want to know if a particular colour was used on the current
model or drawing, you can select a colour and it will be used to highlights the parts that use that colour. The rest of
the colours are dimmed, so you can easily identify the highlighted colour. You can then rename it accordingly.

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How to highlight a selected colour
1. In the Colour view, select the colour to highlight.
2. From the Camera or Drawing menu, select View > Show > Highlight Selected Colour.

Inverting a Colour Selection
When you need to select all colour swatches but one, or select only a few swatches here and there, it might befaster to select the only colour you do not need in order to select and invert the selection.
How to invert a colour swatch selection in the Colour view
1. In the Colour view, select the colour swatch you DO NOT want to have in your final selection.

2. Do one of the following:‣

From the Camera or Drawing View menu, select Edit > Invert Selection‣

Press Ctrl + Shift + I.

Inking the Lines
Unless you're repainting all the lines in the entire animation sequence, do not use the Apply Tool to All Drawings
option. Since the line positions change a lot over time, you risk painting lines that should not be painted.
These are the main tools and techniques used to ink lines:•

Repaint Tool on page 209•

Repaint Brush Mode on page 209

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Inking the Lines on page 208•

Protecting Colours on page 211•

Breaking Triangles on page 211

Repaint Tool
The main tool used to ink the lines is the Repaint tool. As the colour filling is probably done in the Colour Art, you will
not have to worry about not touching it. The Repaint tool will not paint empty zones either.
During the vectorization process on traditional scanned drawings, triangles are added on the lines' intersections to
break the artwork in segments. This way, when you paint a line, it will not repaint the whole drawing, only therelevant segment.

How to access the Repaint Tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Repainttool located in the Paint tool drop-down menu.

Repaint Brush Mode
The Repaint Brush mode is used to paint a section by manually painting over the lines. This is useful when thevectorization triangles are not placed as you would like or you simply need to repaint a section of a segment. It isalso useful for paperless animation, where there are no triangles. So, the Repaint Brush is used to paint a certain
area. It acts like the Brush tool, but will only show on painted areas that are already painted.
Unlike the Brush tool, the Repaint Brush mode flattens automatically. The brush strokes are not added one on top ofeach other.
How to enable the Repaint Brush mode
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushtool.

2. In the Tool Properties view, enable the Repaint Brushmode.

Ink Tool
Although pencil lines can be painted in much the same way as closed zones, you can use the Paint, Repaint,
Repaint Brush, and Ink tools to make painting segmented lines easier. Normally when you have a drawing, such as
the one below, and you use the Paint tool to paint one of the lines, the entire line is painted.

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However, if you select the Inktool instead and click on the same pencil line, only the segment that you
clicked on between two intersections will be painted.

The newly inked segment will always be moved to the front of all other pencil strokes, even if it was behind allother pencil strokes before it was inked.

That is, unless you hold down Alt while clicking a segment. Then the opposite happens. The inked segment will
be sent to the back, even if it was in front of all other segments to begin with.

Painting and inking can be used in combination depending on what you need to paint. If you need to ink acharacter’s outline in black, it might be easier to use the Paint tool. If you need to paint the outline of a character’s
neck with a tan colour and its shirt outline blue and both the neck and shirt belong to the same continuous outline,
then the Ink tool might prove more useful.

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How to access the Ink tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Inktool located in the Paint tool drop-down menu.

Protecting Colours

When you are finished inking one colour, you can lock it so if you ever paint over it accidentally, the work alreadydone will not be affected. You can also use the Protect Colour feature to block the filling colours if you painted all of
the animation in Line Art and you plan to repaint the lines.
How to protect colours
1. In the Colour view, select the colour to be protected.

2. Do one of the following:‣

Right-click and select Protect Colour.

‣

From the Colour view menu, select Colours > Protect Colour.

A red bar appears beside the colour to indicate that it is locked.

Breaking Triangles
The Brush tool is often the most intuitive and rapid tool for creating rough sketches and clean lines. A single colour,
such as black, is often used when tracing a clean version of a rough sketch. However, when it comes time to soft
trace the lines in different colours, the flattened or unflattened clean brush strokes can suddenly become time
consuming to ink.
Toon Boom Harmony lets you create triangular breaks at natural line intersections. These intersections are theprobable locations where colour line breaks may occur, such as where a sleeve meets a hand.

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How to create breaking triangles on a drawing
1. In the Drawing or Camera view, use the Selecttool to select part or all of the drawing to be broken.

2. From the top menu, select Drawing > Create Breaking Triangles. If your brush strokes are not flattened,
they will be flattened automatically before the breaking occurs.

3. Use the Repaint tool

to paint the outline of different colour zones with different colours.

Verifying the Zones are Painted
When the ink and paint process is completed, it's always a good idea to verify that every zone was painted
properly.
The first step to check your ink and paint is to go through all your drawings and verify that there are no colour
mistakes. You can use the F and G keyboard shortcuts or the Preview option available in the Xsheet.

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The backlight produces a silhouette effect by changing the drawing’s coloured areas into a single dark, solid colour.
Use this to verify the completeness of the ink and paint process. Any unpainted zones can be seen as the lightshows through the unpainted areas of the silhouetted drawing.
How to preview drawings from the Xsheet
1. First, save your scene.
2. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select File> Save.

‣

Click the Save‣

Press Ctrl + S (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + S (Mac OS X).

button.

3. In the Xsheet view, select the range of drawings or the whole column to preview.

4. In the Xsheet View menu, select View > Preview Selected Drawings or press Alt + P.
The Play window opens.

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5. Play your drawings.

6. Select the Preroll option to see blank frames at the beginning and end of the animation sequence while
looping the playback.

How to use the backlight

NOTE: This feature is only available in the Drawing view.

1. Do one of the following:‣

From the top menu, select View > Backlight.

‣

Press Alt + Shift + B.

2. Verify the drawings in the Colour Art to make sure that all the areas are painted. From the Camera or Drawing View menu , select View > Switch to Colour Art or press L.
1. In the Art Layer toolbar, click the Preview All Art Layers
button to see the colour zones with lines toensure that you did not forget any spots between the colour filling and lines.

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Ink and Paint Tool Properties
The Ink and Paint tool properties contain many options that will help you along with your task.
•

Ink Tool Properties on page 215•

Paint Tool Properties on page 216

Ink Tool Properties
When you select the Ink tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Tool
The Lasso and Marquee options let you choose thetype of selection the current tool will perform. The
default selection mode is Marquee.

Lasso and Marquee•

Lasso lets you draw a custom selection box
around zones.

•

Marquee makes a rectangle selection box.

NOTE: NOTE: Hold down the Alt key to switch totoggle between the selection modes.

Show Inkable Lines

Highlights all pencil lines (no brush strokes) on theselected layer. Pencil line segments that are alreadyinked with the selected swatch colour from the colour palette are also not highlighted.

Be Smart on Connecting Lines

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be highlighted. When you click on your mouse or
stylus the highlighted segments are inked. With thisoption disabled, all the intersecting segments thatyour cursor comes near will be highlighted andbecome part of the selection, even if they were notsituated in the direction of the chosen path.

NOTE: NOTE: This option only works if the Ink tool
is in Hover mode.

Select ModeUse this mode instead of the Hover Mode. In the
Hover Mode, any potentially inkable pencil line will
have its central vector line highlighted as the Inktool’s cursor hovers over it. Use Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (Mac OS X) to toggle between thetwo modes.

Mitre

As you hover over two perpendicular or nearly perpendicular segments, a highlighted path with acorner is created. Clicking on these highlighted segments inks both segments and makes them appear
as a single stroke with a corner or bend. Options
include: As Is, Round, Miter, and Bevel.

Tip StyleLets you customize the edge of the Ink tool. Options
include: Round, Flat, and Bevel.

Paint Tool Properties
When you select the Paint tool, its properties and options appears in the Tools Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Lasso and Marquee on page 217
Painting Modes on page 217
Paint and Remove Texture on page 219
Apply to Multiple Drawings on page 219
Apply to All Visible Drawings on page 219
Respect Protected Colour on page 220

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Use Stored Colour Gradient on page 220
Select Newly Painted, Repainted and Unpainted Contours/Lineson page 220
Close Gap on page 220

Lasso and Marquee
The Lasso and Marquee options let you choose the type of selection the current tool will perform. The default
selection mode is Marquee.
•

Lasso

•

Marqueelets you draw a custom selection box around zones.
makes a rectangle selection box.

NOTE:
Hold down the Alt key to switch to toggle between the selection modes.

Painting Modes
The Paint tool has four different modes available:

You can also find these tools directly in the Tools toolbar and in the Drawing Tools menu.

Paint Mode

The Paintmode paints everything it touches, including empty and filled zones—see Painting Using the Paint
Tool on page 190.

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Paint Unpainted Mode

The Paint Unpainted

mode paints only empty zones. Any line or filled zone will remain unchanged.

Repaint Mode

The Repaintintact.

mode paints everything it touches except empty zones. Any zone that is not painted will remain

Unpaint Mode

The Unpaintmode unpaints everything it touches, including empty and filled zones.

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Paint and Remove Texture

The Paint and Remove Texture
option is used when you vectorized images as greyscale texture style. An image
vectorized as texture is a mix of bitmap filling encapsulated in a vector-based frame. Painting a textured zones with
the Paint tool will change the tint of the textured lines. Painting the textured zones using the Paint and Remove
Texture option transforms the bitmap filling into a 100% vector based zone and fills it with a solid colour.

Apply to Multiple Drawings

The Apply to Multiple Drawings
option is used for fast painting in hand-drawn animation. When you want to paintseveral drawings in a same layer at once, such as a walk cycle, you can enable this option and make a selection in
the Camera or Drawing view. All the closed zones located within your Paint tool selection are painted with theselected colour swatch.
You do not need to enable the Onion Skin preview to use this option. The option will stay enabled only for the next
action. If you want to use it again, you must click on the Apply to Multiple Drawings button again, or press Alt + A.

Apply to All Visible Drawings
The Apply to All Visible Drawings
option is used to paint several drawings on separated layers on the current
frames. If you have a character broken in several layers, you can enable this option to paint all your layers at once.
The operation is only applied on the current frame. This option will stay enabled only for the next action. If you want
to use it again, you must click on the Apply to All Visible Drawings button again.

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NOTE: This option is only available in the Camera view and does not affect symbols.

Respect Protected Colour
The Respect Protected Colour
option is enabled by default. In your Colour view, you can protect some colour
swatches to avoid repainting or unpainting the zones linked to that swatch.
If you disable this option the Paint tool will not follow the protect colour rule and will repaint or unpaint theprotected colours on your drawings until you enable the option again—see Protecting Colours on page 206.

Use Stored Colour Gradient

When you paint a zone with a gradient or textured colour swatch, the gradient or texture’s position is set relative
to the size of the zone you are painting. If you want the Paint tool to use a particular size and position, you mustfirst store your desired position and size using the Selecttool and then enable the Use Stored Colour
Gradient
option in the Paint tool properties—see Editing Gradients and Textures on page 200.

Select Newly Painted, Repainted and Unpainted Contours/Lines

In the Paint tool properties, this option
keeps a selection highlighted around the latest painted zone afterusing the Paint, Repaint, Unpaint, or Paint Unpainted tool.

Close Gap
The Close Gap option has four modes available:

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When painting, you may notice that some drawing areas are not closed. To close the zone, you can draw themissing line with the Brush or Pencil tool, or close the gap with an invisible line using the Close Gap tool.
The Close Gap tool lets you close small gaps in a drawing by creating small, invisible strokes between the two
closest points to close the colour zone. You do not need to trace directly over the gap. You can draw it a few
millimeters away. The two closest points automatically close the gap.
For more information, see Closing Gaps on page 205.

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Glossary

Glossary
3D stereoscopic

The ability to create stereo images which, when animated and viewed through 3D active
shutter glasses or using glasses with one red and one blue lens, will appear as a threedimensional movie.

alpha channel

An image channel that carries transparency information. An image already has threechannels: red, green and blue (RGB). The alpha channel is the fourth channel (A). The
matte, or the transparency information, is stored in this fourth channel. An image without
an alpha channel is always opaque.

animatic

A movie with sound that is developed from the storyboard. The storyboard panel is
exposed for the duration of the scene and at times, the characters are placed on a
trajectory to indicate motion. The camera moves are also animated. The animatic is used
to determine the rhythm of a project and provides a good overview of the project before
beginning production.

animation

A simulation of movement created by displaying a series of pictures or frames.

anime

An animation style known for its sinister and dark feel; popular in Japan.

arc

Action rarely occurs in a straight-forward manner; rather it typically unfolds in whatstorytellers refer to as an arc. The purpose of a story arc is to move a character orsituation from one state or scenario to the next.

aspect ratio

The relationship between the width and height dimensions for any scene, frame or film
format. Television ratio is 4:3 and widescreen ratio is 16:9.

auto-feed

An automated method of feeding drawings into a scanner in which multiple drawings arestacked into a sheet feeder. When the scanner is activated, the drawings are scanned
consecutively, without further user intervention.

automatic lip-sync
detection

Automatically mapping drawings in an element to the mouth chart generated for a sound.
This can save time when lip-syncing a voice track.

axis

An imaginary line around which an object rotates.
For 2D graphics, there are two axes: X (horizontal and Y (vertical).
For 3D graphics, there are three axes: X (horizontal, Y (vertical) and Z (depth).
In animations that constantly rotate, the axis element specifies what axis the object
rotates around. A negative number causes an animation to rotate counter clockwise
whereas a positive number causes an animation to rotate clockwise.

background

The part of a scene that is farthest to the rear. The background is the artwork, or decor,
against which the animation takes place.

Bézier

A method of defining curved lines invented by French mathematician Pierre Bézier. A
Bézier curve is a mathematical or parametric curve. Bézier curves use at least threepoints to define a curve.

bitmapAn image composed of pixels with a single resolution (size). If it is enlarged too much, itwill lose definition and individual pixels will begin to appear. This is known as pixelation.
Bitmap image files are defined as a standard rectangular mesh of individual pixels. Eachindividual pixel contains a value that represents a specific colour.

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breakdown

In cut-out animation, breakdown is the action of breaking a character into pieces to createa puppet with articulations. To break down a character, the artist cuts parts, such as thehands and arms, from the character's model and pastes them in separate layers. Next,
the joints are fixed and the pivots set.
In traditional animation, a breakdown is an animation pose generally found between two
key poses. The key poses are the main poses in an animation and the breakdowns aresecondary poses, ones that help describe the motion and the rotation curve (usuallyreferred to as an arc).

camera shake

Camera shake occurs in a scene when the camera moves slightly and quickly in several
directions. This gives the impression of an impact, vibration or, for example, bumps on
the road.

captionA text field containing dialogue, effects, sound or slugging information in a storyboard.

cel

In traditional animation, a cel (also known as celluloid) is a transparent sheet on which
the animation is inked and painted before being sent to the camera. The picture's outline
is drawn on the front of the cel and then coloured along the back.

character design

Each character in an animated film is drawn from multiple angles in poster-style format,
called a model sheet, which serves as a reference for the animators.

chromatic
aberration

In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), achromatism or chromatic distortion, is a type of
distortion in which there is a failure of a lens to focus all colours to the same convergencepoint.

clean up

After rough drawings have been tested and approved, all the noise in the image (excess
lines, notes, etc.) is removed to create final drawings which can be inked, painted andshot. The clean up process refers to either tracing a clean line over a rough drawing toachieve the final version or removing dirt and extra lines left by the scanning process.

CMYK

Acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black. These colours are the standard model used
in a process called offset printing.

colour card

A colour card is a card containing one solid colour that is the same size as the camera.
The colour card fills the background with a solid colour when there is no backgroundimage included.

colour model

The official colour design that must be used to paint the animation. A model is thedefinitive character, prop or location design that each artist must follow for the
production.

colour wheel

A display of the colour spectrum in the form of a circle.

compositing

Compositing is the action of incorporating all of a scene's elements to create the final
result prior to rendering. For example, the compositing artist will import all the animation
sequences, background, overlays and underlays in the scene and position themcorrectly. The artist will then set the camera frame and animate it, if needed. Finally, theanimator will create all the computer-generated effects for the project.

cross dissolve

An effect used to fade two scenes, one into the other.

cut

A direct transition between two scenes. When a cut is used, there are no transition
effects inserted to pass from one scene to the next. The first scene ends and the second
one starts immediately.

cut-out animation

The process known as cut-out animation is the action of animating characters made out

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Glossaryof several pieces by moving them around frame by frame. Cut-out animation can either
be computer generated or done traditionally using paper.
cycle

A group of images that together make up an action, such as walking. A cycle is an action
repeated as a loop over a period of time. It can be a series of animated drawings or
keyframes.

dialogue

The text spoken by a character in a movie or animation.

dope sheet

Used by animators, directors and other members of a crew to track the sequence andtiming of images, dialogue, sound effects, sound tracks and camera moves. Also known
as an exposure sheet.

dopingTo assign a particular drawing to a range of frames.

double bounce
walk

In the key frames and passing positions in a double bounce walk, the body is lower than areference line drawn in the upright position. During the in-betweens, the body is above
this line giving the appearance of a bounce.

DPI

Dots per inch is the standard measure of resolution for computerized printers. It issometimes applied to screens, in which case it should more accurately be referred to as
pixels per inch. Either way, the dot is the smallest discrete element making up the image.

ease

In animation, the ease, also known as velocity, is the acceleration and deceleration of amotion. It can be a motion created by a function curve, or a series of animated drawings.
Other common terms for ease-in and ease-out are slow-in and slow-out.

ease-in

Gradual acceleration in the action. Also known as slow-in.

ease-out

Gradual deceleration in the action. Also known as slow-out.

establishing shot

A scene in which the viewer can see the whole area in which a sequence is happening.
For example, if a child is playing on the ground in front of his house, the establishing shot
would be a scene where the viewer can see the house, the ground, a part of the street
and the buildings around the central point of action. This helps the viewer understand thestory location and scene orientation.

exposure

In animation, an exposure is the number of cels on which a drawing appears in the scene.
For a drawing to appear longer, the exposure must be extended over a greater number ofcels.

exposure sheet

A sheet with several vertical columns and horizontal frames used to indicate a scene's
timing. Each column represents a scene layer. The drawing numbers in each column are
indicated and repeated over the particular amount of frames they need to appear.
The exposure sheet is used by animators, directors and other members of a crew to track
the sequence and timing of images, dialogue, sound effects, sound tracks and camera
moves. Also known as a dope sheet.

fade in/fade out

Fade in or fade out is a transition effect used to open or close a sequence. A fade inoccurs when the first scene appears progressively, from complete transparency to its
complete opacity. A fade out occurs when the last scene progressively disappears, goingfrom complete opacity to complete transparency.

fast-inDramatic acceleration at the start of the action.

fast-out

Dramatic acceleration at the end of the action.

field

A measurement unit used to calculate motion, registration and camera positioning. A

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standard animation scene will vary between 6 to 12 fields.
field chart

A guide containing all the field units that animation and layout artists use to determine ascene size or camera motion.

film-1.33

A resolution that is ideal for the widescreen film format that conforms to the standard 4:3
pixel aspect ratio.

film-1.66

A resolution that is ideal for the widescreen film format that conforms to the 16:9 pixel
aspect ratio. (The pixels are wider than they are high).

flipping

In traditional animation, flipping is the action of going through the drawings of ananimation sequence very quickly in order to see the animation in motion. Flipping canalso be the action of creating a mirror transformation of an object.

follow-throughThe secondary motion caused by the main action. For example, a character wearing a
cloak is running. The main action is the body running. This will cause the cloak to follow
the motion, although it will not move at the same time, but react a few frames later andfollow the main motion curve.

forward kinematics Forward kinematics is a feature used to animate principally 3D characters and cut-out
puppets with hierarchy. It is used to animate a puppet from one of parent parts, such as ashoulder, and make the rest of the arm move with it as a single piece.
frame

An animation frame is a single photographic image in a movie. In traditional animation,
the North American standard generally contains 24 frames per second, while in Europe
the standard is 25 frames per second.

frame rate

The frame rate is the speed at which the frames are played. They are generally calculated
by frame per second. For example, a scene could be played back at 12, 24, 25, 30 or 60
frames per second or any other number.
This is the measurement of the frequency (rate) at which an imaging device produces
unique consecutive images, called frames. The term applies equally to computer
graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems.
Frame rate is most often expressed in frames per second (fps) and in progressive-scanmonitors as hertz (Hz).

function

A computer-generated motion, trajectory or path on which elements, other trajectories
and effects parameters can be attached. The function can be controlled by adding
keyframes and control points on the function curve.

gamut

The range of colours that a particular device can represent.

HDTV

Acronym for High Definition Television which delivers a higher quality image thanstandard television because it has a greater number of lines of resolution. To takeadvantage of the superior quality and make full use of your resolution setting, the output
device must be compatible with HDTV technology.

hold

A frame in the animation in which the character maintains its position without moving. A
hold can be created between any two keyframes.

HSV

Hue, Saturation, Value. A method of defining colours in terms of hue (tint), saturation(shade) and value (tone or luminance).

in-between

The drawings that exist between the key poses. These are drawn to create fluid
transitions between poses.

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ink and paint

The ink and paint process is the action of painting the empty zones and colouring thelines on the final animation drawings, while following a colour model.

interpolation

The computer-generated motion created between two keyframes. You have the choice tocreate interpolation, or not, between your keyframes.

inverse kinematics(IK)

A feature used mainly to animate 3D characters and cut-out puppets with hierarchy.
Inverse kinematics will animate a puppet from one of the extremities, such as a hand,and make the rest of the body follow naturally.

jump cut

A jerky cut between two scenes. Typically, a jump cut is not visually pleasing. It is
generally caused by one scene ending, and a second one starting, with a similar image.
The lack of difference causes the eye to see a little jump between the two scenes.

key pose

Important positions in the action defining the starting and ending points of any smoothtransition. Keys, or key poses, are the main drawings in an animation sequencedescribing the motion. For example, if an arm is waving, the keys will be of the arm at one
extremity of the wave motion and the other extremity. By flipping those drawings, theanimator can see the skeleton of the motion without having all the drawings.

keyboard
shortcuts

One or more keyboard keys which, when used, cause an operation to be performed.

keyframe

Important positions in the action defining the starting and ending points of any action. A
keyframe is a computer-generated position at a specific moment (frame) on a given
trajectory.

layer

In animation, a layer is an individual column, level or character. A scene's layers aresuperimposed to form the final image.

layout

The communication step between the storyboard and the animation. It is the action of
putting the storyboard on model. That is, drawing the character by following the design inthe model pack, so the animator can start working.
The layout artist draws the background, creates the camera and field guide matching thescene and camera motion. Lastly, the animator draws on model the main action poses.

layout and posing

The action of putting on model (at the right scale) the storyboard for the animator to startworking.

layout artist

The artist who draws the background, and creates the camera and field guide to matchthe scene and camera motion. They will draw on model the main action poses.

layout planning

Drawing of the main features of the scene used as reference when planning theanimation and executing the initial stages of it.

layout process

The communication step between the storyboard and the animation.

library

A storage area containing templates and assets that can be reused in any project orscene.

light table

A device that allows you to see other layers in transparency while you are working on aparticular layer.

line of action

The direction that the action will follow. Also known as path of action.

lip-sync

The process of synchronizing a character's mouth to sounds in the dialogue soundtrack.
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illusion that the character is speaking. Lip-sync can be used for any sound sequence, notonly speech, you could for instance have a bird chirping or a wolf howling at the moon.
low resolution

A format that is ideal for videos destined for the web, where size and fast download of avideo file take precedence over quality. A low-resolution image is one that lacks finedetail.

manual lip-sync
detection

The manual swapping of mouth position drawings to match a voice track. For thisprocess, both sound scrubbing (listening to a sound wave broken up frame-by-frame) anddrawing substitutions are used.

master palette

A group of colours attributed to a character or prop. The palette is used throughout theentire production to maintain consistency in the look and to ensure that the same colours
are used throughout the production. Also known as palette.

model/colour
model

The definitive character, prop or location design each artist must follow for a production.
A colour model is the official colour design that must be used to paint the animation.

morphing

A feature for creating computer-generated drawings between a source drawing and a
destination drawing. Animation created with the morphing feature can be reused indifferent projects.

motion keyframe

A keyframe with computer-generated interpolation.

mouth chart

A chart based on the eight animation phonemes (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and X, which isused to represent silence) used for lip-sync.

multiplane

The effect of passing through multiple levels of drawings to create a sense of depth in a
shot. A multiplane is a scene in which the layers are placed at different distances fromthe camera so that when the camera moves, a depth illusion occurs. With a multiplane,
all the perspective and scale is calculated automatically.

NTSC

The standard analogue television broadcasting system used in North America. NTSC
conforms to North American standards on how rectangular pixels are displayed forcomputer and television screens.

nudge

A small push (left, right, up, down, forward or backward) done with the keyboard arrow
keys on a selected element. Nudging is used to move a selection very slightly andprecisely.

onion skin

A feature that lets you see the previous and next drawings of a sequence.

overlay

A part of the scene environment, such as a chair or a bush, that is placed in front of themain animation.

PAL

A resolution that works best with the European format for television and computer
screens, as the rectangular pixels are displayed at a different orientation.

palette/master
paletteA palette or master palette is a group of colours attributed to a character or a prop. The
palette is used throughout the entire project to maintain a consistency in the look andavoid the colour changing during the animation. Also referred to as a master palette.

palette style

A palette style is a second version of an existing palette with a slight change in the tint
and value. A palette style can be used to create the night version of a palette. It may also
be called a clone palette.

pan

To move the camera across the scene in any direction.

panel

In a storyboard, a panel is a frame in a shot. A shot can be composed of one or several

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Glossary

panels.
paperless
The paperless animation process is the action of animating digitally. The main paperlessanimation/tradigital animation process is to draw, frame by frame, the animation directly in the software.
passing position

When drawing a walk sequence for a character, the passing position is the point at which
one leg passes the other.

path of action

Direction that the action will follow. Also known as line of action.

peg

In traditional animation, a tool used to ensure accurate registration of action as cel layers
move. In digital animation, in which you are doing a more advanced puppet rigging, you
can use peg layers. Peg layers are trajectory layers that do not contain drawings. They
are motion paths that you can use to add path articulations. For the latter, you can also
use an inverse kinematics tool.

phonemeA unit of sound in a language.

pivot

The point around which a peg or drawing rotates.

pixel

The smallest element of an image displayed on a monitor or TV screen.
Pixel, short for picture element, is a single point in a graphic image. It is a small sample of
an image, a dot, a square, or a very small section made out of smooth filtering. If you
zoom in close enough on a digital image, you will see the pixels, which look like small
squares of different colours and intensity.

pose-to-poseanimation

The pose-to-pose animation process is the action of creating all the main action poses,
called key poses, and then placing the secondary poses between the keys. The
secondary poses are called breakdown. Finally, the animator fills the gaps with the inbetween drawings to achieve a smooth animation.

rendering

The final step when animating by computer. During rendering, the computer takes eachpixel that appears on screen and processes all of the components, as well as adding
motion blur before it produces a final image. The process of calculating the final images
after the compositing process.

resolution

The size of a scene, generally calculated in pixels. For example, the NTSC resolution is
720 x 480. The resolution should match the final output: HDTV, film-1.33, film-1.66,
NTSC, PAL, low.

RGB

Red, Green, Blue. A method of defining colour by specifying amounts of these three
colour components.

rigging

The process of attaching the various parts of a cut-out puppet.

rotary table

Equivalent to the animation disk/table, a device that allows you to rotate the workspacefor greater comfort while drawing.

rotoscoping

An animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frameby frame, for use in animated films. The act of sketching over live-action footage tocreate an animated sequence.

roughsRough is a common name in an animation movie for a drawing that is used as a reference
but which does not form part of the final image. A layout is a rough.
The skeleton sketch of an animation or design. Roughs mainly consist of sketch lines
and shapes, but can also contain design details.

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safe area

The zone at the center of a scene's frame that is safe from being cropped by the TV
frame. As a TV frame cuts a margin off the original frame size, maintaining a safe area
ensures that the scene's main action will remain clearly visible once the film is screenedon television.

scene

A shot in a movie or show. A sequence is composed of several scenes. A scenechanges to another scene by a simple cut or transition.

scriptThe original text containing all the movie or show information. In animation, the script
contains all of the location descriptions, dialogue, time and more. A project starts with ascript.

sequence

A series of scenes or shots forming a distinct part of the story or movie, usuallyconnected by unity of location or time.

shot

A scene in a movie or show. A sequence is composed of several shots. A shot changes
to another shot by a simple cut or transition.

slow-in

The gradual acceleration in the action. Also known as ease-in.

slow-out

The gradual deceleration in the action. Also known as ease-out.

slugging

To indicate the start and stop times of dialogue and relevant actions.

sound scrubbing

A process that lets you hear sound in real time while you move the playhead forward or
backward. This is very useful for finely-tuning a lip-sync.

stop-motion
keyframe

A keyframe with no computer-generated interpolation.

storyboard

A visual plan of all the scenes and shots in an animation. The storyboard indicates what
will happen, when it will happen and how the objects in a scene are laid out.

straight-ahead
animation

A technique in which an entire sequence is drawn from the first position to the last, inorder. There is very little planning in this methodology. Where the character ends up andhow it gets there can be a surprise for both the audience and the animator. While thisapproach is spontaneous and creative, it can create inaccurate results.

strokes

Invisible vector lines forming the drawing zones. They can be adjusted with Bézier
handles.

symbol

A symbol combines animation, artwork or layers into a single object that you can control
in one layer. You can also create symbols out of each body part in your cut-out puppets.
You can place whatever you want in a symbol. You can use symbols to animate a puppet
or create reusable animations such as blinking.

tablet/pen

A device used in conjunction with, or instead of, a mouse to move a mouse pointer(sometimes referred to as the cursor) around the computer screen.

template

An asset stored in the library that can be reused in any project. A template can be a
drawing, a series of keyframes, a sound file, a panel, a cut-out character, an effect, a
trajectory, an animation, or anything else used in the animation.

thumbnailA very small image used as a reference or indicator.

timecode

The timing information printed on a movie clip to indicate the scene, hour, minute andsecond that is currently displayed on the screen.

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timeline

A horizontal representation of a scene's elements, timing and keyframes.

trace and paint

After the rough animations have gone through cleanup and a final line or pencil test, eachdrawing is traced and painted for the final animation. In today's digital world, this may bedone in a variety ways other than the traditional celluloid or acetate methods.

track breakdown

The break down of an animated film's soundtrack into individual sounds to produce theprecise frame-by-frame position of each sound.

traditional
animation

A type of animation process whereby all the animation sequences are drawn by hand on
paper before scanning or inking them on cels.

trajectory

A computer-generated path or trajectory that elements can follow. The trajectory can becontrolled by control points, keyframes and velocity.

transition

An effect placed between two scenes as they pass from one to the other. Common
transition effects are cross-dissolve and wipe.

underlay

In animation, an underlay is a specific part of the decor placed behind the main animation.

vector

A vector-based image is composed of points and Bézier curves. The computer reads thepoints and traces the segments, linking them to reproduce the image shape. There is no
fixed size or resolution in a vector image. The graphic can be enlarged and distorted asmuch as desired and the system will simply recalculate the segments and rebuild theshapes. Vector images are translated and displayed in pixels once the calculation isdone.

velocity

In animation, the velocity, also known as ease, is the acceleration or deceleration of amotion. This can be achieved by a function curve, or via a series of animated drawings.
Other common terms for ease-in and ease-out are slow-in and slow-out.

walk cycle

A series of drawings "on the spot" that describe the walk for a character. The illusion of
movement is created by the use of background pans. To avoid making innumerable
drawings, animators routinely make a walk cycle for a character.

zone

An area which can be painted with colour.

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Index •IndexColour-Carddeleting

layer 38

drawings 90

alpha channel 222

colour card 223

dialogue 224

animatic 222

colour model 223, 227

dope sheet 224

animation 222

colour palettes

doping 224

anime 222

back up 131

DPI 224

Annotation column 51

location 129

drawing elements

erasing annotations 54

storage location 130

adding 40

pen colour 54

colour wheel 223

creating 35

pen width 54

Column Properties editor

duplicating 50

annotations
changing pen colour 54

displaying in Xsheet 46
columns

Drawing layer 37
drawings

changing pen width 54

advanced types 40

copying/pasting 91

erasing 54

changing colour 108

deleting 90

arc 222

cloning 51

duplicating 91

aspect ratio 222

collapsing 96

identifying 105

auto-feed 222

deleting 43

importing 8

axis 222

duplicating 50

managing 88

background 222

expanding 96

marking 105

backing up

modifying 47

merging 93

modifying look 102

navigating 87

Bezier 222

navigating 87

renaming 88

bitmap images 222

properties 44

scanning 8

Bitmap layer 37

renaming 48

breakdown 223

reordering 49

Camera layer 38

Timing 56

ease 224

camera shake 223

types 37

ease-in 224

caption 223

Xsheet 36

ease-out 224

palettes 131

cel 223compositing 223

celluloid

copying

duplicatingdrawings 91

editors
Column Properties 46

See cel. 223

drawings 91

character design 223

cross dissolve 223

clean up 223

cut 223

cloning

cut-out animation 223

establishing shot 224

cycle 224

exportinglayers and columns 51
CMYK 223

Effect layer 38
Element Manager dialog box
parameters 49

cyclespalettes 130

exposure, creating 78

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exposure 224

navigating 87

Group 38

creating cycles 78

functions 225

hiding 97

decreasing 68

gamut 225

modifying 47

deleting 70

Gestural Drag mode 68

Peg 39extending 61

Group layer 38

properties 44

extending sequence 62

HDTV 225

Quadmap 39

Fill Exposure mode 59

hidingrenaming 47-48

filling 58

columns 99

reordering 48

filling empty cells 77

layers 97

showing 97

filling selection 74

Hold 225

Sound 39

filling selection randomly 76

holding exposure 61

types 37

filling sequence with single
exposure 73

HSV 225

layout 226

importinglayout and posing 226

holding 61
increasing 68
inserting blank cells 71
moving cells 65
setting 72
typing in values 59
exposure sheet 224
printing 113
extendingexposure 61
exposure sequence 62
fade-in 224
fade-out 224
field chart 225
Fill Exposure mode 59
film-1.33 225
film-1.66 225
flipping 225
follow-through 225
forward kinematics 225
frame 225
frame rate 225
frames 33
adding before/after selection 33

bitmap drawings 13

library 226

drawings 8light table 226

in-between 225

line of action 226

ink and paint 226

linking

interpolation 226
jump cut 226

external files 56
lip-sync 226

key pose 226
keyboard shortcuts 226
keyframes 226
Layer Properties editor

auto detection 222
lip-sync detection
manual 227
low resolution 227

displaying 45

manual lip-sync detection 227

renaming layers 48

markers

layers 36, 226

tempo, setting 112

bitmap 37

markers, scene

camera 38

setting 109

changing colour 108

markingcloning 51

drawings 105

collapsing 96

master palette 227

Colour-Card 38

exporting 130

deleting 43
drawing 37

merging
drawings 93

duplicating 50

model 227

effect 38

model sheet See character design

expanding 96

motion keyframe 227

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Index •mouth
chart 227
multiplane 227
navigatingcolumns 87
drawings 87
frames 87

pose-to-pose 228
printingsoundscrubbing 229

exposure sheet 113

Sound layer 39

Quadmap layer 39

stop-motion keyframe 229

renaming

storyboard 229

drawings 88

straight-ahead 229

rendering 228

strokes 229

NTSC 227

resolution 228

tablet 229

nudge 227

RGB 228

templates 229

onion skinning 227

rigging 228

tempo markers

overlay 227

rotary table 228

setting 112

PAL 227

rotoscoping 228

thumbnails 229

palettes 227

roughs 228

tick marks, Xsheet

backup 131

safe area 229

turning off 56

creating, Advanced Palette Listmode) 133scanning 7

timecode 229

drawings 8timeline 230

creating, Basic Palette Listmode) 132

images as bitmap drawings 8

Timeline view

exporting 130

process 7

cloning layers and columns 51

location 129

VectOptions.conf file 26

expanding and collapsinglayers/columns 96

storage location 130
style 227
panel 227
panning 227
paperless animation 228
passing position 228
Paste Special
pasting with 92
pasting
drawings 91-92
path of action 228
Peg layer 39
pegs 228
pen 229
phoneme 228
pivot 228
pixel 228

scene markers
setting 109

modifying layers and columns 47
renaming layers 47-48

scenes 229
adding frames before/after
selection 33
extending 33
removing frames 35
setting length 33

reordering layers 48
timingadding frames before/after
selection 33
Annotation column, adding 51
creating cycles 78

script 229
scrubbing 229
sequences 229

decreasing exposure 68
deleting exposure 70
erasing annotation 54

shot 229

extending exposure 61

showingcolumns 99

extending exposure sequence 62
extending scenes 33

layers 97

Fill Exposure mode 59

slow-in 229

filling empty cells 77

slow-out 229

filling exposure 58

slugging 229

pixelation See bitmap image

filling selection randomly 76

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filling selection with sequence 74

parameters, custom 17

filling sequence with single
exposure 73

parameters, modifying 25

frames 33
holding exposure 61
increasing exposure 68
inserting blank cells 71
linking external files 56
moving cells 65
preparing 31
references 32
removing frames 35

Vectorization Parameters dialog box
Help tab 20
opening 17
Options tab 18
vectorizing
bitmap drawings 13
velocity 224, 230
walk cycle 230
Xsheet view 47

scene length 33

adding frames before/after
selection 33

setting exposure 72

advanced column types 40

setting scene markers 109

Annotation column, adding 51

setting tempo markers 112

cloning layers and columns 51

Timing column 56

collapsing/expanding 3D path orrotation columns 97

typing in exposure values 59
Timing column 56
linking external files 56
using 57

columns 36
displaying thumbnails 107
erasing annotations 54

trace and paint 230

expanding and collapsinglayers/columns 96

track breakdown 230

layers 36

tradigital 228

modifying layers and columns 47

traditional animation 230

printing exposure sheet 113

introduction 5

removing frames 35

scanning 7

renaming columns 48

trajectory 230

reordering columns 49

transition 230

showing/hiding columns 99

underlay 230

Timing column 56

VectOptions.conf file 26

zone 230

Mac 26
Windows 26
vector 230
vectorization
creating a style 25parameters, creating 25234