Toon Boom
Producer 21
Producer Link

TOON BOOM ANIMATION INC.

+1 514 278 8666

4200 Saint-Laurent, Suite 1020
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
H2W 2R2

contact@toonboom.com
toonboom.com

Producer 21 User Guide

Legal Notices
Toon Boom Animation Inc.
4200 Saint-Laurent, Suite 1020
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
H2W 2R2
Tel: +1 514 278 8666
Fax: +1 514 278 2666
toonboom.com

Disclaimer
The content of this document is the property of Toon Boom Animation Inc. and is copyrighted. Any
reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.
The content of this document is covered by a specific limited warranty and exclusions and limit of liability
under the applicable License Agreement as supplemented by the special terms and conditions for

Adobe®Flash ® File Format (SWF). For details, refer to the License Agreement and to those special terms andconditions.
Some icons in this document were provided with Font Awesome Free 5.6.1 by Font Awesome. These icons areprovided under the CC BY 4.0 license. For more information on Font Awesome, visit https://fontawesome.com.
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Some icons in this document were provided with the Glyphicons Halflings font by Glyphicons. For more
information on Glyphicons, visit https://www.glyphicons.com/.

Trademarks
Toon Boom® is a registered trademark. Producer™ and the Toon Boom logo are trademarks of Toon Boom
Animation Inc. All other trademarks of the property of their respective owners.

Publication Date
08-24-2021
Copyright © 2021 Toon Boom Animation Inc., a Corus Entertainment Inc. company. All rights reserved.

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Contents

Contents
Contents

3

Producer Link

4

About Producer Link

5

Installing Producer Link

8

Logging into Producer Link

11

Producer Link Interface

13

Configuring Producer Link

15

Creating Workspaces

17

Uploading Assets

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Producer Link
Producer Link is a desktop application allowing you to upload preview files as well as link assets to Producer
from your computer. The desktop application can be downloaded from the Downloads and Resources sectionof Producer and installed locally for each user who will need to use Producer Link.

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About Producer Link
Web applications such as Producer cannot access files on a computer, unless a specific file is uploaded.
Producer Link bridges the communication between Producer and local files.
The Producer Link desktop application can be used directly with Producer without the need of Harmony or
Harmony Server. It can be used to link files such as PSDs as well as open the linked PSD files directly from
Producer. It can also be used to create scenes generated in Storyboard Pro as well as uploading the matching
preview movies. Finally, it can also be used to link scene assets such as Maya projects.
NOTE
Assets are linked to Producer from your external centralized repository. Only preview files such as
thumbnails and movie preview are uploaded to Producer.

Producer and Producer Link without Harmony Setup

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Producer and Producer Link with Harmony Setup

Workspaces
To allow everyone on your team to access and open files, your data such as backgrounds, library assets, Maya
projects and so on must be located in a centralized repository accessible by everyone who needs access to it towork. Each computer must be able to access the location via an absolute path that will be configured in
Producer Link.
You can have one or multiple repositories. These shared locations are called workspaces. Each location will beidentified in Producer with a Workspace Id. The Workspace Id will then be linked to the absolute path fromeach computer who will need to access the location.

Everyone will be using the same Workspace Ids, but everyone will most likely be using a different absolute
path to access these shared locations from their computers.

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Therefore, the first step will be to create this shared space and give access to the users. This is done outside of
Producer and Producer Link. This is an internal operation to your organization.

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Installing Producer Link
Producer Link installer can be downloaded from the Downloads and Resources section of Producer. It can beinstalled on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

How to install Producer Link
1. Log into your Producer instance.
2. In the user profile drop-down menu, select Downloads & Resources.

3. In the Downloads & Resources window, click on the Producer Link installer matching youroperating system.

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4. Once downloaded, click the Close button.
5. Launch the installer and follow the on-screen instruction to install the application.
The application can be found here:lmacOS: /Applications/Producer LinklWindows: C:\Program Files\Producer Link

Even when closing the Producer Link interface, the application is still running in the background. To
completely stop the application, you must either quit the background process or from the top menu,
select Exit.

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Logging into Producer Link
To access the Producer Link user interface, you must first log into the application using your Producer user.

How to log into Producer Link
1. In the URL field, type the address to your Producer instance.
2. In the Username field, type your Producer username.
3. In the Password field, type your Producer password.
4. Click Login.
5. Once the login is successful, click Done.

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Producer Link Interface
Once logged into Producer Link, you can access various functions via the top menu. You can configure yourworkspaces using the Workspaces menu and upload files using the Upload menu.
macOS has a Producer allowing you to exit the application, access the version number, and so on.
You can launch Producer using the Producer menu.

To set up your workspaces, How to create a workspace from the user interface on page 17 and How to create aworkspace using the terminal or command prompt on page 18.

For the Upload menu, you can upload multiple assets from a CSV file, scene assets, external assets such as
PSDs, and import a scene list and the matching movie previews from Storyboard Pro, see Uploading Assets.

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Configuring Producer Link
As users will be accessing files from various locations and various computers, the path to those files will bedifferent for most users. For example, files could be stored on a centralized cloud location such as DropBox or acentralized server in the studio. Each computer will have a different path to access these files.
Producer Link Commands
Using a Terminal or a Command Prompt, Producer Link can be modified.
You can navigate to the Producer Link application using the following command:lmacOS cd /Applications/Producer\ Link.app/Contents/MacOSlWindows: cd “C:\Program Files\Producer Link”

You can access the list of commands using the following command:lmacOS: ./Producer\ Link config --helplWindows: “Producer Link.exe” config --help"

How to add new workspace button to the UI
By default, the Add New Workspace button is not visible in the UI. If the user requires to add newworkspaces, Producer Link can be configured by setting a project using the Terminal or the Command
Prompt.

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1. Use the following command to configure a project for Producer Link:l

Mac OS: ./Producer\ Link config --set-project project_namelWindows: “Producer Link.exe” config --set-project project_name

Most of the time, the project name will be main_project. If you created a different project (not theenvironment, but Producer project), use that project name.
When the project to be used is set, you will be able to relaunch Producer Link and have access to the Add
New Workspace button in the UI.

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Creating Workspaces
Once the Add Workspace button is visible, you can create various workspaces based on your needs. You could
create a single workspace leading to all the directories with various assets such as characters and backgrounds
or you could create one workspace per asset type.
To add the New Workspace button to the UI, please see How to add new workspace button to the UI on page
15.

How to create a workspace from the user interface
1. Launch Producer Link.
2. In the top menu, select Workspaces > Edit.
3. In the New Workspace field, type the ID name of the new workspace.
4. Click the + button.
5. Once the new workspace appears in the list, set the root folder by typing it or browsing to thefolder location using the Select Folder button.
6. Click Save.

How to delete a workspace
1. Launch Producer Link.

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2. In the top menu, select Workspaces > Edit.
3. Beside the workspace to delete, click the Delete Workspace button.

How to create a workspace using the terminal or command prompt
You can set up your workspaces directly with command lines instead of using the user interface. Use thefollowing command to configure workspaces:lmacOS: ./Producer\ Link config --set-workspace WorkspaceName --root /path/to/my/workspacelWindows: “Producer Link.exe” config --set-workspace WorkspaceName --root/path/to/my/workspace

where you replace WorkspaceName with the name of the location where your assets will be located and/path/to/my/workspace with the root path to that folder.

Configuring Harmony Server to Recognize Workspaces
Once your workspaces are created, you can export the configuration from Producer Link as a json file. That json
file needs to be copied on the Harmony Server in the USA_DB directory. The paths in the json file must be
paths that can be accessed from the Harmony Server so that assets can be baked into Harmony scenes during
the Assembly (Scene Setup) process.
Note that if you create new workspaces, you will need to reexport a new json file.
To learn more about assembly, see About Assembly and to learn more about baking, see About Sending
Assets to Harmony (Baking).

How to configure Harmony server for baking
1. Completely close Producer Link, including the back-end process.
2. On the Harmony Server, in the Terminal or Command Prompt, browse to Producer Link.
3. Use the following command to export the workspaces as a json file:l

Mac OS: ./Producer\ Link config --export-workspaceslWindows: “Producer Link.exe” config --export-workspaces

4. Once the json file is exported, a message is displayed indicating the path where the file has beensaved. Browse to that path to find the file.
lExample: Your WebCC workspaces have been written to /Users/username/workspaces.json

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5. Copy and paste the workspaces.json file to /USA_DB. The file has to be located on the
Harmony Server at the root of USA_DB.
6. You can open the json file to verify that the paths are accessible from this location. If the paths are
not accessible, the baking process will fail.

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Uploading Assets
Using Producer Link, you can upload assets directly to Producer from your local computer. Harmony is only
required if you are uploading assets created with Harmony. WebCC is not required for the upload. Producer
Link communicates directly with Producer.
In order to link assets and upload previews, workspaces need to be configured. See Configuring Producer Link.

Uploading Assets from CSV
Upload Assets from CSV can be used to provide Producer with a list of assets to create and previews to upload.
This process is very useful when you have a series of existing assets, such as hundreds of backgrounds andwould like to load them in Producer in a single operation.
l

The actual source file, specified by the \"Relative Path\", will not be uploaded but its path will be
registered for later access.

l

The Thumbnail will be uploaded.

CSV Format Specifications
The CSV field delimiter is a semicolon (or comma). The first line of the CSV must contain the various fieldnames.
The following fields are recognized (case insensitive):
Field

Description

Asset Name

It is a mandatory field, unless an asset code is specified.

Asset Code

It is used to update an existing asset.
To determine which workflow will be used with this asset.

Workflow CodeNOTE
This cannot be used to update existing assets.

Type

Must match an existing asset type - Optional.

Category

Must match an existing asset category - Optional.

Workspace Id

Workspaces are predefined using Producer Link.

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Field

Description

Relative Path

Path of the source file for the asset, relative to the Workspace. In the case of a
Harmony Standalone template, must point to the .xstage file.

Thumbnail Path

Absolute Path of a file to be uploaded and used as thumbnail in Producer.

Process Name

Specify the process for the uploaded asset and note.
Use one of these two ExternalRef Types:

ExternalRef Typel

Harmony Standalone (Standalone scene used to build a template)lref (any other type, such as third party software images)

Note

Note for the asset. Quote your note e.g. \"Your note,;\" so that , or ; are notrecognized as separators.

Note Attachment Path

Absolute path of a note attachment.

Sample CSV

How to upload CSV files with thumbnails
1. In the top menu, select Upload > Assets from CSV.
2. In the Project field, select the Producer Project. This is not the environment. Assets are global to the
Producer project.
3. In the Source field, browse or drag and drop the CSV file containing the list of assets to be
uploaded.
4. In the Converter section, browse for the Harmony executable file.
5. Click Upload Assets.

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Uploading Scene Assets
Scene assets are any files that are used to build your scenes such as Harmony standalone files, Maya projects,
movie files, and so on. You can use the Upload Scene Asset to link Producer to the scene files on yourcentralized repository as well as uploading the matching preview. Once the Scene Asset file is linked, you can
open the file directly from Producer, regardless if the application is Harmony, Maya, Photoshop, or any other
tool you are using in production.
To upload scene assets, a workspace must be defined in the centralized repository. See How to create aworkspace from the user interface on page 17.

How to upload a scene asset
1. In the top menu, select Upload > Scene Asset.
2. In the Project field, select the Producer project containing the Environment you are uploading to.
3. In the Environment field, select the corresponding environment.
4. In the Job field, select the corresponding job (episode, sequence, etc.).
5. In the Scene field, select the scene you are linking an asset to. As you start typing the name,22Producer Link

existing scenes will be populated. Note that the scene must already exist in Producer.
6. In the Process field, select the Process (task) you are linking your scene asset to.
7. In the Source field, click Choose File and browse to the location of the file you are linking. If a
Harmony file, select the *.xstage file. If a Maya file, select the *.ma file. The executable file must
be selected in order for Producer to launch the application and open the file later on. See Opening
an Asset from Producer.
NOTE
The file you are looking for must be located within the workspace (shared location), if
not an error message will be displayed.

8. In the Preview section, browse for a flattened image, such as a PNG or JPG, to preview what the fileis in Producer.
9. Click Create Snapshot.

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Example with a Harmony File24

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Example with a Maya File

Uploading External Assets
You can link external assets such as background PSDs or Harmony templates to Producer and upload apreview for it. These assets can then be directly opened from Producer or baked in a Harmony scene. To upload
an external asset to, the asset must first exist in Producer. To learn how to create assets, see Uploading Assets
on page 20.

How to upload an external asset
1. In the top menu, select Upload > External Asset.
2. In the Project field, select the Producer project. This is not the environment. Most of the time, youwill select Main Project unless a different Producer project has been created.

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3. In the Asset Name field, start typing the name of an existing asset (already in Producer). As you
type the name, existing assets will be displayed in the drop-down menu. Select the matchingasset.
4. Once the asset name is selected, in the Process field, the matching workflow tasks appear. Selectthe task matching your upload.
5. In the Source section, click the Choose File button to browse for the file to upload. Note that theasset has to be located within the set workspace. If you select a file outside of the workspace, theupload will result in an error.

6. In the Preview section, click the Choose File to select a flattened image such as a PNG or a JPG todisplay the preview in Producer.
7. Click Create Snapshot.
Once the process is complete, a success message appears.

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In Producer, the file is linked and the preview file is uploaded and updated.

Opening an Asset from Producer
Once a file is linked via Producer Link, it can be opened directly from Producer by opening the Settings windowof that asset.. It can also be downloaded and deleted. From that same settings section, previously uploaded
versions can be accessed.

How to open an external asset
1. In the Asset list, hover over the asset preview.
2. Click the Settings Gear icon.
3. In the pop-up window, click the Open File icon. If you would like to download the asset, click
Download.
4. Once you click Open File, you will be prompted to open Producer Link. Confirm the request to open
Producer Link.

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5. To access previous versions, click the Process Version drop-down arrow.

Uploading a Storyboard Pro Scene List
When creating a project in Storyboard Pro, the scene list is already created and an animatic movie preview foreach one of these scenes can easily be exported. You can use Producer Link to automatically create scenes in
Producer and upload the matching movie preview. This process is very handy if you are working on a projectusing Storyboard Pro but are not using Harmony Server.

How to export your data from Storyboard Pro
1. In Storyboard Pro, make sure your scenes are named with leading zeros (example: 01, 02, 03 or
001, 002, 003 and not simply 1, 2, 3). You can use the Preferences > Naming Automatically Add

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leading Zeros and Minimum number of characters as well as the function Storyboard > Rename.

2. Save your SBP Project.
3. From Storyboard Pro, select File > Export > CSV.
4. In the Export to CSV dialog box, in the CSV Export Options section, disable the Include Transitions
option.
5. Click Export.

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6. From Storyboard Pro, choose File > Export > Movie.
7. Select a Destination Path.
8. Leave the File Pattern field empty.
9. In the One Clip field, select Per Scene.
10. Click Export.

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How to import Storyboard Pro data in Producer
1. In Producer Link, select Upload > Storyboard Pro Import.
2. In the Project field, select the Producer project containing the environment you will be creating
scenes for.

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3. In the Environment field, select the corresponding environment.
4. In the Job field, select the corresponding job (episode, sequence, etc.).
5. In the Scene field, select the scene you are linking an asset to. As you start typing the name,existing scenes will be populated. Note that the scene must already exist in Producer.
6. In the Workflow field, select the scene workflow that will be associated to the scenes.
7. In the Process field, select the Process (task) you are linking your scenes to, most likely Layout orAnimatic.

8. In the Customer Media Folder field, browse to the folder containing the rendered movie files.
9. Click Import CSV.

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10. You can monitor the import process by scrolling down.
11. In your Producer, refresh your Production Page to see the new scenes.

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