Toon Boom
Storyboard Pro 22

Reference Guide

TOON BOOM ANIMATION INC.

+1 514 278 8666

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

contact@toonboom.com
toonboom.com

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference 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 w hole or in part is strictly prohibited.
The content of this document is covered by a specific limited w arranty and exclusions and limit of liability
under the applicable License Agreement as supplemented by the special terms and conditions for
Adobe® Flash® File Format (SW F). For details, refer to the License Agreement and to those special terms andconditions.

Trademarks
Toon Boom® is a registered trademark. Storyboard Pro™ and the Toon Boom logo are trademarks of Toon
Boom Animation Inc. All other trademarks of the property of their respective ow ners.

Publication Date
09-26-2022
Copyright © 2022 Toon Boom Animation Inc., a Corus Entertainment Inc. company. All rights reserved.

1

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Table of Contents

2

Chapter 1: Introduction

8

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

10

Advanced Merge Storyboard Dialog Box

13

Audio Gain Dialog Box

16

Blur Dialog Box

18

Change Bitmap Layer Resolution Dialog Box

20

Choose Encoding and Font Dialog Box

22

Colour Picker W indow

23

Customize Captions Dialog Box

25

Default Caption Format Dialog Box

27

Directional Blur Dialog Box

28

Export Audio Dialog Box

30

Export Bitmap Dialog Box

33

Export CSV Dialog

40

Export to FBX Dialog Box

44

Export Layout Dialog Box

46

Export to Movie Dialog Box

51

Export Project / Selected Scenes / Tracked Scenes Dialog Box (Conformation)

58

Export to EDL/AAF/XML Dialog Box

65

Export to Harmony Dialog Box73

W rite Node Image Formats for Harmony

87

Export to PDF W indow

93

Extract Storyboard Dialog Box

96

Find Sound Clips Dialog Box

98

Find Text in Captions Dialog

100

Flash Export Settings Dialog Box

102

Format Captions Dialog Box

104

Generate Auto-Matte Dialog Box

108

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Import CSV Dialog

110

Import from Final Draft Dialog Box

112

Import Images Dialog Box

117

Conformation Import Project Dialog Box

120

Import Sound Clips Dialog Box

123

Import Videos/Images as Clips Dialog Box

125

List Picker Dialog Box

129

Manage Tool Presets Dialog Box

130

Marker Dialog Box

132

Merge Layers Dialog Box

133

Merge Modified Panels Dialog Box

135

Merge Settings Dialog Box

138

Merge Storyboard Dialog Box

140

Movie Options Dialog Box (macOS)

143

QuickTime Movie Settings Dialog Box (W indow s)

148

Multiw heel Colour W indow

152

New Project Dialog Box

155

New Resolution W indow

157

New Tool Preset Dialog Box

160

Optimize Project Dialog Box

162

Overlay Settings Dialog Box

163

Panel PDF Options W indow

166

PDF Export View /W indow

168

PDF Profile Dialog Box

170

Pen Pressure Feel Dialog Box

188

Project Properties Dialog Box

191

Radial Zoom Blur Dialog Box

202

Record Sound Dialog Box

204

Record Voice Annotation Dialog Box

206

Rename Panel Dialog Box

207

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Table of Contents

Rename Scene Dialog Box

208

Rename Sequence Dialog Box

210

Render 3D Model Dialog Box

212

Save Version Dialog Box

216

Scripts Manager Dialog Box

218

Select Font Dialog Box

220

Select Project Dialog Box

222

Show /Hide Captions Dialog Box

223

Smart Add Panel Dialog Box

224

QuickTime Sound Settings Dialog Box (W indow s)

225

Spelling Dialog

229

Split Storyboard Dialog Box

232

Spread Layer Motion Dialog Box

234

QuickTime Standard Video Compression Settings Dialog Box (W indow s)

235

Toolbar Manager Dialog Box

242

Track Changes W indow243

W elcome Screen244

W indow s Media Video Settings Dialog Box (W indow s)

246

W orkspace Manager Dialog Box

250

Chapter 3: Menus

252

Main Menus

253

Camera Menu

254

Caption Menu

256

Clips Menu

258

Edit Menu

259

File Menu

261

Help Menu

268

Layer Menu

270

Play Menu

275

Storyboard Menu

277

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Tools Menu

283

View Menu

287

W indow s Menu

293

View Menus

296

3D Graph View Menu

297

Point of View Menu

299

Script Editor View Menu

300

Chapter 4: Toolbars

304

Alignment Guides Toolbar

305

Camera Toolbar

307

Clips and Tracks Toolbar

308

Coordinate Toolbar

310

Edit Toolbar

311

File Toolbar

312

Layer Toolbar

313

Reference View Toolbar

314

Navigation Toolbar

316

Onion Skin Toolbar

318

Pen Settings Toolbar

320

Playback Toolbar

323

Script Editor Toolbar

325

Scripting Toolbar

329

Storyboard Toolbar

330

Text Formatting Toolbar

332

Tool Presets Toolbar

334

Tools Toolbar

335

View Toolbar

340

W orkspace Toolbar

342

Chapter 5: Tool Properties

344

Brush Tool Properties

346

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Table of Contents

Camera Tool Properties

368

Centerline Editor Tool Properties

371

Close Gap Tool Properties

373

Contour Editor Tool Properties

374

Create Layer on Surface Tool Properties

378

Cutter Tool Properties

379

Dropper Tool Properties

382

Ellipse Tool Properties

383

Eraser Tool Properties

391

Layer Transform Tool Properties

412

Line Tool Properties

417

Maintain Size Tool Properties

427

Paint Tool Properties

428

Pencil Tool Properties

432

Perspective Tool Properties

441

Polyline Tool Properties

444

Rectangle Tool Properties

451

Select Tool Properties

459

Stamp Tool Properties

468

Stencil Brush Tool Properties

476

Text Tool Properties

498

Zoom Tool Properties

501

Chapter 6: Views

502

3D Graph View

503

Camera View

505

Colour View

511

Effect Stack View

512
514

Effects515

Function Editor View

518

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Guides View

525

Layers View

529

Library View

532

Message Log View

534

Reference View

535

Panel View

538

Pitch Mode View

542

Playback View

543

Project Management View

545

Script Editor View

548

Stage View

552

Storyboard View

559

Thumbnails View

561

Timeline View

563

Tool Properties View

570

Top and Side View s

571

Chapter 7: W orkspaces

574

Pitch Mode W orkspace

576

Thumbnails View

578

Control Panel

579

Playing Back the Storyboard

580

Navigating the Camera View

581

Panel View

582

7

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 1: Introduction
The Storyboard Pro Reference Guide lists every menu, button and option available in the user interface along
w ith a description of their functionality. Its purpose is to be looked up w hen you need to understand a specificoption or functionality in the user interface, or if you w ant to learn about all the capabilities of a specificfeature.

NOTE
For step by step instructions on how to use Storyboard Pro features, refer to the User Guide. If you
need information about a preference in the Preferences dialog box, refer to the Preferences Guide.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

9Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes
W hile you w ork in Storyboard Pro, you w ill encounter dialog boxes from w hich you set parameters, options
and many other settings, depending on the task you are performing.
W indow s allow you to set parameters and continue w orking w ith the w indow open, so you can further tw eak
the settings. Here are examples of a dialog box and a w indow .

Here are the dialogs documented in this section:
Advanced Merge Storyboard Dialog Box

13

Audio Gain Dialog Box

16

Blur Dialog Box

18

Change Bitmap Layer Resolution Dialog Box

20

Choose Encoding and Font Dialog Box

22

Colour Picker W indow

23

Customize Captions Dialog Box

25

Default Caption Format Dialog Box

27

Directional Blur Dialog Box

28

Export Audio Dialog Box

30

Export Bitmap Dialog Box

33

Export CSV Dialog

40

Export to FBX Dialog Box

44

Export Layout Dialog Box

46

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Export to Movie Dialog Box

51

Export Project / Selected Scenes / Tracked Scenes Dialog Box (Conformation)

58

Export to EDL/AAF/XML Dialog Box

65

Export to Harmony Dialog Box

73

Export to PDF W indow

93

Extract Storyboard Dialog Box

96

Find Sound Clips Dialog Box

98

Find Text in Captions Dialog

100

Flash Export Settings Dialog Box

102

Format Captions Dialog Box

104

Generate Auto-Matte Dialog Box

108

Import CSV Dialog

110

Import from Final Draft Dialog Box

112

Import Images Dialog Box

117

Conformation Import Project Dialog Box

120

Import Sound Clips Dialog Box

123

Import Videos/Images as Clips Dialog Box

125

List Picker Dialog Box

129

Manage Tool Presets Dialog Box

130

Marker Dialog Box

132

Merge Layers Dialog Box

133

Merge Modified Panels Dialog Box

135

Merge Settings Dialog Box

138

Merge Storyboard Dialog Box

140

Movie Options Dialog Box (macOS)

143

QuickTime Movie Settings Dialog Box (W indow s)

148

Multiw heel Colour W indow

152

New Project Dialog Box

155

New Resolution W indow

157

New Tool Preset Dialog Box

160

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Optimize Project Dialog Box

162

Overlay Settings Dialog Box

163

Panel PDF Options W indow

166

PDF Export View /W indow

168

PDF Profile Dialog Box

170

Pen Pressure Feel Dialog Box

188

Project Properties Dialog Box

191

Radial Zoom Blur Dialog Box

202

Record Sound Dialog Box

204

Record Voice Annotation Dialog Box

206

Rename Panel Dialog Box

207

Rename Scene Dialog Box

208

Rename Sequence Dialog Box

210

Render 3D Model Dialog Box

212

Save Version Dialog Box

216

Scripts Manager Dialog Box

218

Select Font Dialog Box

220

Select Project Dialog Box

222

Show /Hide Captions Dialog Box

223

Smart Add Panel Dialog Box

224

QuickTime Sound Settings Dialog Box (W indow s)

225

Spelling Dialog

229

Split Storyboard Dialog Box

232

Spread Layer Motion Dialog Box

234

QuickTime Standard Video Compression Settings Dialog Box (W indow s)

235

Toolbar Manager Dialog Box

242

Track Changes W indow243

W elcome Screen244

W indow s Media Video Settings Dialog Box (W indow s)

246

W orkspace Manager Dialog Box

250

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Advanced Merge Storyboard Dialog Box
The Merge and Replace dialog is useful if you have extracted or split your project into different project to allow
different project collaborators to w ork on it, but have kept a copy of the original project (or master project).
W ith this dialog, you can replace the original scenes in the master project w ith the updated scenes in theextracted project.
Optionally, you can keep a copy of the original scenes so that you can compare them. You can also customize
w hich scenes from the extracted projects should be imported into the master project.

NOTE
W hen merging projects, the video and sound clips in the master project w ill remain synchronized
w ith the cue time of their respective panels. Clips that extend beyond the boundaries of a panel
w ill be synchronized w ith the panel in w hich they are cued, not the panel in w hich they end.

How to access the Advanced Merge Storyboard window
1. Open your master project.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select File > Project Management > Merge and Replace.

l

In the Project Management view , click on

Menu and select Merge and Replace—see

Project Management View .
The Advanced Merge Storyboard dialog box appears.

Parameter

Description

Displays the list of Storyboard Pro project files selected for merging w ith yourcurrent file.
List of Storyboard Pro
projects

NOTE
A checkbox appears to the left of every project in the list. Checking thatcheckbox w ill select every scene in that project for merging into the current
project.

Import Project

Lets you select the Storyboard Pro project files to merge/replace w ith yourcurrent file.

Remove Project

Lets you select any unw anted Storyboard Pro project files and delete them fromthe list.

Move Up/Move Dow n

Lets you organize the files into the order in w hich you w anted them to beimported in relation to your current file.

The list of scenes in the project that is currently selected in the projects list at the
top. A checkbox appears left of each scene in the list. Checking this checkbox w ill
make it so the scene is merged from the selected project into the current project.
Select scenes to merge

If the project being imported contains sequences, the sequences w ill also be in
the list, and scenes w ill be listed under their respective sequence. You can checkthe checkbox next to a sequence to simultaneously select all scenes in thesequence.

Select All

Checks every scene in the selected project for merging into the current project.

Deselect All

Unchecks every scene in the selected project.

Keep and move original

Creates a backup of each scene in the master project that gets replaced by a

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

scenes to the end

scene in the imported projects. The backup scene w ill be placed at the end of the
project, and its scene name w ill have the _orig prefix added to it.

Respect locked audio tracks

Ensures that the sound clips in locked audio tracks do not get moved to remain
synchronized w ith their respective panels.

Import audio changes fromsource project

Imports the changes done to the audio tracks and sound clips of the imported
projects into the current project.

Only Merge Modified Panels(Track Changes)

Only merges the panels that w ere tracked as changed in the projects being
merged. If this option is enabled, changes made to panels that w ere not tracked
for changes in the imported projects w ill not be applied to the master project.

Replaces the artw ork in the master project w ith the artw ork in the imported
projects, but does not adjust the timing of panels and scenes in the animatic.

Replace Artw ork Only

NOTE
Layer transformations and animations in the master project w ill still be
replaced by layer transformations and animations in the imported projects
unless the Preserve Layer Transformations in Master Project option isenabled.

Preserve Layer
Transformations in Master
Project

W ith the Replace Artwork Only option enabled, layer transformations in themaster project are still replaced by the layer transformations and animations in
the imported projects by default. W ith this option enabled, draw ings in themaster project w ill be replaced, but not the transformations and animations on
their layers.

15

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Audio Gain Dialog Box
The Audio Gain dialog box allow s you to set or adjust the gain effect on one or several sound clips.

Gain is similar to volume in that it affects how quiet or how loud a sound clip plays. It is different from volume
in the follow ing w ays:lGain is applied to sound before volume.

lGain can be used to amplify, and even saturate, a sound clip.

lGain is an effect. It can be adjusted and removed. It cannot how ever be interpolated over time likevolume.

lGain can be set or adjusted simultaneously for several sound clips.

How to access the Audio Gain dialog box
1. In the Timeline view , select the clips for w hich you w ant to adjust the audio gain by doing one of
the follow ing:l

To select a single sound clip, click on it.

l

To select a series of sound clips, draw a rectangle around them by clicking just outside of theclips you w ant to select, then dragging the mouse cursor all the w ay to the last clip you
w ant to select:l

To select a series of sound clips, you can also click on the first clip you w ant to select, then,w hile holding the Shift key, click on the last clip you w ant to select. This w ill select all clips
betw een the tw o clips you clicked on, inclusively.

l

To select several sound clips, press and hold Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS), then clickon each clip you w ant to select.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the selection and select Audio Gain.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guidel

In the top menu, select Clips > Audio Gain.

The Audio Gain dialog box appears.

Name

Description

Select this option is you w ant to set the audio gain for the selected sound clips to a specific value,
regardless of their current gain value.
Set Gain to:

TIP
Setting the audio gain of a sound clip to 0 w ill remove its gain effect.

Adjust Gainby:

Select this option if you w ant to increase or decrease the audio gain of the selected sound clips
relative to their current gain value.

OK

Apply the audio gain to the selected sound clips and close the dialog.

CancelClose the dialog w ithout affecting the audio gain of the selected sound clips.

17Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Blur Dialog Box
T-SBADV-007-003
The Blur effect softens, fogs or obscures the image evenly in all directions. This effect is useful w hen you w ant
to make images cloudy and not detailed. For example, you can make a draw ing object that is farther back or in
the background of your scene appear blurry due to the law s of atmospheric perspective. Other uses include
the general softening of objects such as snow , stars and shadow s that do not naturally have a hard outline.

How to access the Blur dialog boxlFrom the top menu, select Layer > Apply Effect > Blur.

l

In the Camera or Stage view , right-click on the layer you w ant to apply the effect to and selectApply Effect > Blur.

Parameter

Description

RadiusSize of the blur. The larger the value, the greater the strength or reach of the blur.

Quality

Select High for a slow and accurate operation or Low for a faster operation w ith amore raw look.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Preview

Generates a preview of the effect on the actual artw ork using the current values.
This can be done as many times as needed.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Change Bitmap Layer Resolution Dialog Box
The Change Bitmap Layer Resolution dialog box lets you change the resolution of a bitmap layer to better suitthe needs of your scene.

How to access the Change Bitmap Layer Resolution dialog box
1. From the Layers panel or the Layers view , select the bitmap layer for w hich you w ant to change theresolution.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click the layer and select Change Bitmap Layer.

lFrom the top menu, select Layer > Change Bitmap Layer Resolution.

Parameter

Description

Project Resolution

The project resolution of the project, displayed for reference.

Canvas Size & Pixel Density

Pixel Density

Determines the amount of pixels to store for each pixel that displays on thescreen w hen the draw ing is not zoomed in or scaled up. For example, at 100%,
zooming in or scaling up a bitmap draw ing w ill make it lose picture quality. If set
to 200%, bitmap draw ings can be zoomed in or scaled up until they're tw ice their
original size w ithout losing picture quality.

W idthThe default w idth of the canvas w hen creating a bitmap draw ing layer. The
percentage is relative to the w idth of the project. Its default value, 200%, makes
the w idth of the canvas tw ice the w idth of the stage.

Height

The default height of the canvas w hen creating a bitmap draw ing layer. The
percentage is relative to the height of the project. Its default value, 200%, makes
the height of the canvas tw ice the height of the stage.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Resample Bitmap

W hen enabled, the artw ork is resampled based on the new Pixel Density topreserve its currents proportions in the stage. Otherw ise, increasing the pixel
density w ill scale dow n the artw ork, and decreasing it w ill scale it up.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Choose Encoding and Font Dialog Box
The Choose Encoding and Font dialog box lets you select the language encoding and embedded PDF font
w hen exporting Unicode character to a PDF document. These w ill be used to display the text in a PDF.

How to access the Choose Encoding and Font dialog box
1. In the Export to PDF w indow , click New Profile.
The PDF Profile dialog box opens.
2. Select the General tab.
3. In the Font field, click the brow se [...] button.

Parameter

Description

Choose Font

Encoding

Lets you select the type of Unicode encoding for the PDF.

Built-in Fonts
Lets you select any font installed on your system to use for all text in the PDF
document.
Font

TrueType Fonts (TTF)
Lets you select a TrueType font for the PDF.
Font File22

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Colour Picker W indow
The Colour Picker w indow lets you select and customize colours, create solid or gradient colours, store colours
in the colour storage library and open the Multiw heel Colour w indow .

How to access the Colour Picker window
1. In the Colour view , make sure the Colour area is expanded by clicking the Collapse/Expand arrow .
2. Double-click on the current colour sw atch.
The Colour Picker w indow opens.

Parameter

Description

Colour slider

Displays the colour gradation of the colour selected in the colour picking area.

Colour picking area

Displays a colour range w ith a cursor w hich you can drag to select a colour. This
display changes w hen you select one of the these options: H, S, V, R, B, or B.

Add Colour

Adds the selected colour to the colour storage library.

Colour Storage LibraryLets you save colours you have defined.

Multiw heel Mode

Opens the Multiw heel Colour w indow —see Multiw heel Colour W indow on page
152.

23

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Current Colour

Displays the current colour on the left side. On the right side is the currently you
are modifying.

Colour Scale

Displays the hue selected in the colour picking and colour slider areas, and its
different values.

Dropper

Lets you select a colour from any place on your screen. Hold dow n the Dropperand drag to the desired colour and release to select the colour.

H, S, V

Displays the hue, saturation or value of a selected colour in the colour picking
area.

RGB

Displays the red, green or blue colour w heel.

Alpha

Lets you change the transparency level by typing in a value or dragging the slider.

Solid

Creates an even, uniform colour.

Gradient

Lets you create a linear or radial gradient.

Gradient Scale

Displays a colour range and arrow s. Move the arrow s to define the gradientcolours.

Gradient Preview

Displays a preview of the gradient as you move the arrow s on the gradient scale.

LinearCreates a linear gradient.

RadialCreates a radial (circular) gradient.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Customize Captions Dialog Box
The Customize Captions dialog box allow s you to configure how the caption fields in a project you're insertingare matched w ith the caption fields in your current project. You can associate caption fields from the project
being inserted w ith caption fields in the current project, and decide w hether the unmatched caption fields areadded to your project or discarded.

How to access the Customize Captions dialog box
1. In your current project, in the Timeline view , move the timeline playhead over the scene after w hich
you w ant the project to be inserted.
2. From the top menu, select File > Project Management > Insert.
The Open Storyboard Project w indow appears.
3. Brow se to and select the *.sboard or *.sbpz file of the project you w ant to select and click on Open.
4. In the dialog prompting you to confirm how to manage the caption fields of the project being
inserted, click on Customize.

Parameter

Description

The list of captions being merged. The left column is for the caption fields in thecurrent project, and the right column is for the caption fields in the project being
inserted.

Captions list

Captions that are aligned horizontally w ill be matched, and the value of these
captions in the inserted project w ill be added to that caption field in the current
project. By default, captions that have the same name w ill already be aligned
together. Should you need to customize the w ay the caption fields in bothprojects are matched, keep in mind the follow ing behaviors:l

If a caption field of one of the project being merged is aligned w ith one of
the caption fields in the current project, the values for that merged
project's field w ill be added to the current project's field it is aligned w ith,
for all the scenes that are imported from that merged project, even if these25

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Parameter

Description

fields don't have the same name.
For example, if the current project has a caption field named Action andthe project being merged has a caption field named Action Notes, andthey are both aligned horizontally, once the projects are merged, the valueof the Action Notes caption field for the scenes being imported w ill be
stored in the Action field.
l

If a caption field for the project getting merged is below all the fields inthe current project, it w ill be added as a new field to the current project.

l

If a caption field for the project getting merged is below all the fields inthe current project and is crossed out, it w ill be ignored.

l

If a caption field for the project getting merged is aligned w ith one of the
fields of the current project and is crossed out, this field w ill be empty for
all the scenes that are imported from that project.

l

If a caption field is added to the project but has the same name as anexisting caption field, it w ill have a suffix number.

Add Caption

If you have removed a caption from one of the project getting inserted, you canselect the removed caption and click on this button to add it back.

Remove Caption

Ignores the currently selected caption field for the inserted project. The values forthat caption field w ill not be imported in the current project.

Move Up

Moves the selected caption field up in the list of captions, changing w hich caption
field in the original project it is matched w ith.

Move Dow n

Moves the selected caption dow n in the list of captions, changing w hich caption
field in the original project it is matched w ith.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Default Caption Format Dialog Box
The Default Caption Format dialog box lets you set the default font face and font size of all new captions
added to your project.
The Default Caption Format is automatically applied w hen typing captions into a caption field that w aspreviously empty, but does not affect the format of existing captions or of new text typed into existing
captions.
The Default Caption Format is saved in your local preferences and affects all projects.

How to access the Default Caption Format dialog box
1. From the top menu, select Captions > Captions Default Format.
The Default Caption Format dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Font

Sets the default font face for new captions.

Font Size

Sets the default font size for new captions.

27

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Directional Blur Dialog Box
T-SBADV-007-005
The Directional Blur effect creates a motion blur that pulls and smears the image from one contour edge to adifferent direction or angle. This effect is useful in creating the impression of speed, such as the streaks ofcolour that follow a car travelling at high speed. The look of the blur is similar to the look achieved using
Gaussian blur w hen applied w ith multiple iterations.

How to access the Directional Blur dialog boxlFrom the top menu, select Layer > Apply Effect > Directional Blur.

l

In the Camera or Stage view , right-click on the layer you w ant to apply the effect to and selectApply Effect > Directional Blur.

Parameter

Description

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

LengthLength of the blur.

W idthThickness of the blur.

The direction in w hich the blur is applied, in degrees. At 0°, the blur is applied
tow ards the right.

Angle

NOTE
You can click and drag on the dialat the right of the field to visually set

this angle.

Bidirectional

Applies the blur on both sides of the pixel.

Fall OffThe distance w here the blur fades from the edge of the image. Select a value
betw een 0 and 1. A fall-off rate of 0 causes the blur to fade out slow ly,
distributing the blur evenly from the edge of the character to the farthest edge ofthe blur. A fall-off rate of 1 causes the blur to fade out quickly, so the blur isheaviest closer to the edge of the image.

The number of times the blur is applied to the image. A higher number of
Number of Iterations

Preview

iterations creates smoother transitions betw een colours and increases the blur,
but also increases render time.

Generates a preview of the effect on the actual artw ork using the current values.
This can be done as many times as needed.

29

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Export Audio Dialog Box
The Export Audio dialog allow s you to export your project's audio tracks into sound files. You can choose toexport a single file for all your project's audio tracks, or to export each audio track individually. You can alsochoose to export a single track for your w hole project, or to separate it by scene, sequence or act.

How to access the Export Audio window
1. Select File > Export > Audio.
The Export Audio dialog opens.

Parameter

Description

Allow s you to specify the directory in w hich to save the exported files. You canDestination Path

click on the Brow sebutton right of the field to brow se your file system andselect the destination folder.

Allow s you to enter the prefix or the pattern for the names of the exported files.
You can leave this field blank to use the default file naming pattern, type in a filename to use it as a prefix, or type a full pattern using the follow ing variables:
File Patternl%t - Project titlel%a - Act numberl%q - Sequence number

30

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guidel%s - Scene numberl%n - Audio track number

TIP
Numbers used in file naming patterns are automatically padded by zeros asneeded. You can type a number betw een the % sign and the variable letterto determine the amount of characters you w ant the variable to use. For
example, w ith the variable %4s, scene 1 w ould appear as scene 0001.

Options

Process Audio Tracks
Individually

Exports each audio track in your project into separate sound files.

Merge All Audio
TracksMixes dow n all the audio tracks in your project into a single soundtrack before
exporting it.

Process Audio Tracks
Individually andMergedExports each audio track into separate sound files, then exports another file w ith
all the audio tracks mixed together.

Don't Break Sound

Exports audio tracks spanning for the entire length of your project. If you chose tomerge audio tracks, you w ill have one sound file for the entire project. If you choseto export audio tracks separately, you w ill have one sound file for each audio
track in your project.

Break Sound Per
Scene

Breaks dow n each exported audio track into scenes. If you chose to merge theaudio tracks, you w ill have one sound file for each scene in your project. If you
chose to export audio tracks separately, you w ill have one sound file per scene
per audio track.

Break Sound Per
Sequence

Breaks dow n each exported audio track into sequences. If you chose to merge theaudio tracks, you w ill have one sound file for each sequence in your project. If you
chose to export audio tracks separately, you w ill have one sound file persequence per audio track. This option is only available if your project contains
sequences.

Break Sound Per Act

Breaks dow n each exported audio track into acts. If you chose to merge the audio
tracks, you w ill have one sound file for each act in your project. If you chose toexport audio tracks separately, you w ill have one sound file per actper audio
track. This option is only available if your project contains acts.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Sound Settings

Sample Rate

Sets the frequency rate of the exported audio files. It is recommended to export
sound files at the rate at w hich they w ere originally created. For reference, thestandard sample rate is 48.0 kHz for broadcasting and DVD.

Sets the precision level of each w avelength in the sound file. The standard bit
depth is 16 bit. Setting this to 8 bit w ill cut the size of audio files in half, but w ill
significantly impact sound quality.
Bit Depth

NOTE
On W indow s, audio can only be exported in 16 bit unless QuickTime Player
is installed.

Channels

Allow s you to select w hether to export sound in Mono or Stereo. Stereo sounduses a separate track for the left and right speakers, w hich allow s to simulate arealistic sound environment. Mono uses a single track for both speakers, w hichsaves disk space.

Export Range

All

Exports the entire storyboard’s audio.

Selected Scenes

Select this option and click Select to open the Scenes Picker dialog box in w hich
you can select specific scenes to export. You can also select your scenes per
sequence if your project contains sequences.

Current Scene

Exports only the currently selected scene's audio.

Open folder after export

Storyboard Pro automatically opens the folder that contains the exported audio
files.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Export Bitmap Dialog Box
The Export Bitmap w indow lets you export a storyboard project to bitmap files in .jpg, .tga, .psd or .png format.
The exported data includes a separate bitmap file for each panel in the storyboard.

NOTE
For .psd files, the transform and transition animations are not exported. How ever, camera moves
are rendered into an independent layer.

33

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

How to access the Export Bitmap windowl

Select File > Export Bitmap.

Parameter

Description

Destination Path

Allow s you to specify the directory in w hich to save the exported files. You canPathclick on the Brow sebutton right of the field to brow se your file system andselect the destination folder.

Allow s you to enter the prefix or the pattern for the names of the exported files.
You can leave this field blank to use the default file naming pattern, type in a filename to use it as a prefix, or type a full pattern using the follow ing variables:

File Patternl%t - Project titlel%a - Act numberl%q - Sequence numberl%s - Scene numberl%p - Panel number

TIP
Numbers used in file naming patterns are automatically padded by zeros asneeded. You can type a number betw een the % sign and the variable letterto determine the amount of characters you w ant the variable to use. For
example, w ith the variable %4s, scene 1 w ould appear as scene 0001.

Setup Bitmap Export Parameters

Allow s you to select an image format in w hich to save the exported bitmaps:

Bitmap FormatlJpeg (*.jpg): An image format w ith lossy compression optimized for theW eb. Only use this format if export speed is more important than quality.

l

Targa (*.tga): An image format w ith basic lossless compression.

lPhotoshop (*.psd): The format used for Adobe Photoshop projects. It is
uncompressed.

lPortable Network Graphics (*.png): An image format w ith a more
effective lossless compression than Targa (.tga). Exporting in this format
is slow er, but saves a lot of disk space. PNG files are supported by w eb

34

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

brow sers, most operating systems and image editing softw are.

Resolution

Sets the resolution to be a quarter size, half size, full size or double size of thecurrent storyboard resolution. A custom size option also exists. Selecting theCustom option enables the W idth and Height fields below . These fields areproportionally linked.

Image Zoom Level(%)

Sets the magnification of the image. Enter a value betw een 0 and 400. The
default value is 85%.

Colour Space

Sets the colour space for the image export. If you plan to create an export for use
in a different softw are, you may w ant to match colour spaces to keep all yourcolours consistent. The default setting is the current Storyboard Pro project
colour space, w hich w as selected on creation of the project.

Transparent
Background

This option is only available w hen Targa (.tga), Photoshop (.psd) or Portable
Netw ork Graphic (.png) file formats are selected. By default, this option isenabled and w ill export files w ith a transparent background instead of an opaque
w hite background.

Print All Camera
FramesPrints a camera frame for each camera keyframe in the panel.

If the camera is at an angle in a panel, and there is no camera movement in thatpanel, enabling this option w ill render the panel as if the camera w as at a straightangle.

Rectify Static Camera

Allow Camera
Scaling

This option is enabled by default. This ensures that w hen a camera close-up isincluded in a scene, the exported image is larger so that the closest camera frame
is at least the size of the chosen resolution. This w ay, the image w ill not appear
pixelated w hen zooming in on the closest camera frame. If disabled, the exported
images w ill be the size of the chosen resolution.
In the follow ing example, the camera zooms out, but the image is exported big
enough that the closest (smallest) camera frame is exactly the size of the export
resolution. That w ay, if the image is zoomed in to the closest camera frame, itdoes not look scaled:

35

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Ensures that the elements from the exported panels retain their size across thedifferent panels of the same scene. For example, w hen exporting a scene w here
the camera zooms in on a character through tw o different panels, this option w ill
make it so the character is the same size in both exported images. In the same
situation w ith this option unchecked, both bitmaps w ill be just big enough so that
their closest camera frame is as big as the chosen export resolution.
In the follow ing example, the camera zooms out on the scene throughout tw opanels. In the exported images, the scene elements are the same size, but theimage canvas increases in size as the camera zooms out:

Maintain Size
Through Scene

NOTE
By default, exported bitmaps cannot be larger than 4096 x 4096 pixels,
w hich might cause this option not to w ork as expected w hen exporting
scenes w ith camera zooms.

Expand Render Area
to Scene Camera

By default, exported panels only cover the area covered by the camera
movements in the panel. W ith this option enabled, exported panels w ill cover thearea covered by the camera movements in all the panels in their scene combined.
That w ay, if all the exported panels in a scene are combined, the elements of thescene w ill all be in their proper position respective to each other.
In the follow ing example, the camera goes from 1 to 2 in the first panel, then from
2 to 3 in the second panel, but both panels are exported to cover the w hole36

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

camera movement, from 1 to 2 to 3:

Ensures the exported images include all the areas covered by the camera
movements. If this option is disabled, the exported images w ill cover the camera
keyframes and everything in-betw een, but may not include parts of the panels
that are covered by curvilinear camera movements.

Include Camera Path

Export All Snapshots

Snapshot Pattern

If your project has a panel that contains several snapshots, by default, only themain snapshot in that panel w ill be exported. If this option is enabled, panels that
contain several snapshots w ill be exported as several image files, one for eachsnapshot.

W hen exporting all the snapshots in a panel that contains several snapshots, thisfield allow s you to customize how the number of the snapshot is appended to thefile name. The # symbol represents the number of the snapshot. Its default valueis -#, w hich means that a dash follow ed by the snapshot number is appended to
the file name. For example, if exporting panel 4 of scene 16, and that panel
contains three snapshots, the exported bitmaps for that panel w ould be named
MyProject-16-4-1.jpg, MyProject-16-4-2.jpg and MyProject-16-43.jpg.

NOTE
Only images for panels that contain several snapshots w ill have a snapshot
number appended to their file name.

37Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Export Range Tab

All

Exports the entire storyboard.

Select this option to export a specific selection of scenes. Then, click on the Selectbutton to open the Scenes Picker dialog box, in w hich you can:Selected SceneslType the number of a sequence or of a scene in the Sequence or Scene
fields in the Filter section, to only show matching sequences or matching
scenes in the list.

lClick and drag to select a range of scenes.

lHold the Ctrl key and click on each scene you w ant to add to yourselection.

lHold the Shift key, then click on the first scene and the last scene you
w ant to add to your selection, to select every scene betw een those tw oscenes inclusively.

l

If your project has sequences, click on a sequence to select every scene inthat sequence.

Current Scene

Exports only the currently selected scene.

Current Panel

Exports only the currently selected panel.

Tracked Panels - [0panel]

Exports panels on w hich tracking changes is enabled.

Burn-In Tab

Print Scene Names
and Panel Numbers

Prints the scene names and panel numbers as an overlay on your video.

Captions Tab

Print Captions

Choose w hether to not print captions (None) or select one of your project’s
captions to print into the exported movies. By default, a Storyboard Pro project
has Action Notes, Dialog, Slugging and Notes captions, but you can also choose
to print custom captions if your project has any.

Font

Select w hich font the captions w ill be printed in. By default, they w ill be printed in
Arial.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Height %Sets the size of caption lines relative to the height of the exported movies. For
example, if exporting a movie at 1080p w ith 3% Height captions, each caption
line w ill be 32 pixels in height.

Position

Prints the captions at either the Top Left, Top Centre, Top Right, Bottom Left,
Bottom Centre or Bottom Right of the panels. By default, captions are printed to
the Bottom Centre.

Sets the maximum amount of caption lines to print on each panel. If a caption
being printed requires more than the maximum amount of lines, it w ill be cut off
w ith an ellipsis (...) at the end.

Max Lines

NOTE
Even if captions are printed at the bottom, they w ill be aligned to the top of
the space reserved for them, w hich is calculated by the amount of Max Linesx the Height %. Therefore, if this setting is too high and captions are printed
at the bottom, they may appear closer to the middle of the picture than tothe bottom.

Text Colour

Select the font colour in w hich to print the captions.

Bg Colour

Select the background colour on w hich to print the captions. If the checkbox isunchecked, the captions w ill be printed directly into the rendered picture.
Otherw ise, they w ill be printed in rectangular boxes of the chosen colour.

Open folder after
exportLets you view the location and contents of the exported folder w hen it is ready.

39

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Export CSV Dialog
The Export CSV dialog allow s you to export your project's metadata, such as its scene and panel names, its
transitions, the captions for each of your project's panels, the names of each layers in your panels, and othersuch information into a Comma Separated Value (.csv) spreadsheet.

CSV is a text-based spreadsheet format that is commonly supported by spreadsheet editors, and w hich iseasy to process in scripts and other softw are as it is merely a text file containing the value of each cell,typically separated by a comma. How ever, it does not support advanced spreadsheet features such as text
formatting and formulas.
Exporting a CSV file can be useful if you w ish to view the metadata for your project in a spreadsheet editor,
such as Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice Calc or Google Sheets, for analysis, or if you w ish to make a script that w ill
use the metadata for your project in any specific w ay.
You can also use this dialog to export your project's captions into a spreadsheet, edit them in a spreadsheet
editor, then import the edited spreadsheet back into your project to update its captions. To import an edited
CSV file into your project, see Import CSV Dialog on page 110.

40

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

IMPORTANT
If your captions contain non-latin character (ie: Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc.), you should avoid
editing a CSV containing your project's captions in Microsoft Excel, as it w ill display those nonlatin characters, but it w ill not save them in your CSV file. LibreOffice Calc and Google Sheets
support saving CSV files w ith non-latin characters.

A CSV file exported by Storyboard Pro w ill contain one row for each exported panel. It w ill also have at least
one column, the Object Id column, w hich stores a special identifier composed of 16 hexadecimal characters foreach panel in your storyboard, making sure that Storyboard Pro can identify w hich row belongs to w hich panel
in your project. Besides the identifier, you can select w hich type of data gets exported for each panel.

How to access the Export CSV window
1. Select File > Export CSV.

Parameter

Description

Destination Path

Lets you specify the location and name of the folder for the storyboard projectdata.

CSV Export Options

Encoding

Allow s you select the text encoding for the CSV file. By default, this option is set
to UTF- 8.

Allow s you select the character used to separate each cell in the CSV file, among
the follow ing options: Comma, Semicolon, Tab or Vertical bar (pipe).
Field Separator
By default, this option is set to Comma, and it is the most commonly used field
separator among all softw are that support CSV files.

Include Column
Names

Adds an extra header row at the top w hich indicates the purpose of each column
in the table.

Include Sequence
Names

Adds a Sequence column w hich indicates the number of the sequence for eachpanel.

Include Scene Names

Adds a Scene column w hich indicates the number or name of each scene for eachpanel.

41

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Include Panel Names

Adds a Panel column w hich indicates the number or name of each panel.

Include Transitions

Adds a column for each transition in the project, betw een the row s corresponding
to the tw o panels that are joined by the transition.

Include Scene Frame
NumberAdds a column that indicates the length of the scene in frames.

Include Panel Frame
NumberAdds a column that indicates the length of the panel in frames.

Include Captions

Adds a column for each caption type in your project, and w hich w ill indicate thecontent of each caption type for each panel.

Include Rich Text
Formatting

If your captions have any formatting, check this option to export the content of
your captions in HTML, w hich w ill preserve the formatting of your captions. If thisoption is unchecked, your captions w ill be exported in plain text. They w ill beeasier to read and edit, but if you re-import the .csv file into your project, theformatting of the captions w ill be lost.

Include Camera
Information

Indicates w hether the camera is static or dynamic (animated) for each panel.

Include Layer Names

This w ill add as many columns as the amount of layers in the panel that has themost layers. For each panel, the name of each layer in the panel w ill be indicated.
Layers at the bottom are listed in the leftmost layer column, and layers at the top
are listed in the rightmost layer column.

Include Tracking
Information

Indicates w hether or not the panel is tracked, the date at w hich the panel started
getting tracked, and the tracking notes added to that panel, if any.

Export Range

All

Exports the entire storyboard.

Select this option to export a specific selection of scenes. Then, click on the Selectbutton to open the Scenes Picker dialog box, in w hich you can:lType the number of a sequence or of a scene in the Sequence or Scene
fields in the Filter section, to only show matching sequences or matching
scenes in the list.

lClick and drag to select a range of scenes.

Selected Scenes

42

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guidel

Hold the Ctrl key and click on each scene you w ant to add to yourselection.

lHold the Shift key, then click on the first scene and the last scene you
w ant to add to your selection, to select every scene betw een those tw oscenes inclusively.

l

If your project has sequences, click on a sequence to select every scene inthat sequence.

Current Scene

Exports only the currently selected scene.

Current Panel

Exports only the currently selected panel.

Tracked Panels - [0panel]

Exports panels on w hich tracking changes is enabled.

Open the exported CSV file in your operating system's default CSV editor
immediately after creating it.
Open document/folder after
exportNOTE
Typically, if you installed a spreadsheet editor such as Microsoft Excel or
LibreOffice Calc, this w ill be your operating system's default CSV editor.

43

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Export to FBX Dialog Box
The Export FBX dialog box allow s you export scenes, sequences or your entire animatic into animated Filmbox(.fbx) files. This can be useful if your project has 3D elements. The exported Filmbox (.fbx) file w ill contain all
the 2D and 3D elements in your animatic as w ell as their animation. You can them import it in a third-party
softw are and use it as a template to create the 3D animations for your production.

How to access the Export to FBX dialog box
1. Select File > Export > FBX.
The Export to FBX dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Destination Path

Allow s you to specify the directory in w hich to save the exported files. You canPathclick on the Brow sebutton right of the field to brow se your file system andselect the destination folder.

Allow s you to enter the prefix or the pattern for the names of the exported files.
You can leave this field blank to use the default file naming pattern, type in a filename to use it as a prefix, or type a full pattern using the follow ing variables:
File Patternl%t - Project titlel%a - Act numberl%q - Sequence number

44

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guidel%s - Scene number

TIP
Numbers used in file naming patterns are automatically padded by zeros asneeded. You can type a number betw een the % sign and the variable letterto determine the amount of characters you w ant the variable to use. For
example, w ith the variable %4s, scene 1 w ould appear as scene 0001.

Options

Export Camera Frame

Includes the camera frame's black border in the scene.

Per Scene: Exports one clip per scene.

One Clip

Per Project: Exports one clip for the entire project.

Per Sequence: Exports one clip per sequence. This option is available only if yourproject contains sequences.

Export Range

All

Includes all the scenes in your project.

Current Scene

Includes only the scene you selected w hen you opened this dialog box.

Current Sequence

Includes only the scenes from the sequence you selected w hen you opened this
dialog box. This option w ill only be visible if your project contains sequences.

Open folder after export

Opens the folder in w hich files w ere exported in a file brow ser once the export is
done.

45

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Export Layout Dialog Box
The Export Layout w indow lets you export some or all the scenes of your project into layout images, w hich canbe used to properly position scene elements w hen w orking on different aspects of the scene throughout the
production. For example, a layout can be be imported in Harmony to accelerate its set up and properly position
the elements and camera keyframes of the scene. Also, a layout exported into .psd format can serve as thebase to create the background art for the scene so that it’s properly adapted to the scene’s layout, action andcamera movements.
Layout images can be rendered w ith all layers combined or w ith one image per layer, and can optionally
include camera keyframes and movements. Layouts can be exported in .psd (w ith separate layers), .tga, .jpg or.png format.

How to access the Export Layout windowl

Select File > Export > Layout.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Parameter

Description

Destination Path

Allow s you to specify the directory in w hich to save the exported files. You canPathclick on the Brow sebutton right of the field to brow se your file system andselect the destination folder.

Allow s you to enter the prefix or the pattern for the names of the exported files.
You can leave this field blank to use the default file naming pattern, type in a filename to use it as a prefix, or type a full pattern using the follow ing variables:

File Patternl%t - Project titlel%a - Act numberl%q - Sequence numberl%s - Scene number

TIP
Numbers used in file naming patterns are automatically padded by zeros asneeded. You can type a number betw een the % sign and the variable letterto determine the amount of characters you w ant the variable to use. For
example, w ith the variable %4s, scene 1 w ould appear as scene 0001.

Options

Allow s you to select an image format in w hich to save the layout images:lJpeg (*.jpg): An image format w ith lossy compression optimized for theW eb. Only use this format if export speed is more important than quality.

l

Targa (*.tga): An image format w ith basic lossless compression.

lPhotoshop (*.psd): The format used for Adobe Photoshop projects. It is
uncompressed.

File Format

NOTE
W hen you export layouts in this format, each layer in the first panelof the scene is exported as a separate layer in the PDF file. If you
choose to export camera frames, they w ill also be on a separate
layer over other layers.

lPortable Network Graphics (*.png): An image format w ith a more
effective lossless compression than Targa (.tga). Exporting in this format

47

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

is slow er, but saves a lot of disk space. PNG files are supported by w eb
brow sers, most operating systems and image editing softw are.

Transparent
Background

This option only appears if the file format selected is Photoshop (*.psd). W hen
exporting in Photoshop (*.psd) format, by default, a w hite background layer isadded behind every other layer. Enable this option to have no background layer.

Base Image Size

Allow s you to select w hether you export at the same size as your project's
resolution, at half its dimensions or at a quarter of its dimensions.

Sets the colour space for the export.
Colour Space

If you plan to create an export for use in a different softw are, you may w ant tomatch colour spaces to keep all your colours consistent. The default setting is thecurrent Storyboard Pro project colour space, w hich w as selected on creation of
the project.

Expands the area to render into the layouts. By default, only the area of the scenethat is covered by the camera is rendered, and exported layout images arecropped at the edges of the camera frames. If enabled, this option adds spacearound the render area and captures extra details outside the camera frames. By
default, the render area is expanded by 10%. You can use the input field to theright of the option to change this ratio.
Expand Render Area

Scale Image Up to
Smallest Camera
Frame

Ensures that w hen a camera close-up is included in a scene, the exported imageis larger so that the closest camera frame is at least the size of the chosen image
size. This w ay, the layout does not appear pixelated w hen zooming in on theclosest camera frame. If disabled, the size of the exported images w ill be based
off the chosen Base Image Size and Expand Render Area options.

Limit Image Size

If the Scale Image Up to Smallest Camera Frame option is enabled, this ensures
images do not get scaled up too much. If enabled, images w ill be limited to 4096
pixels in w idth and height by default.

Export One ImagePer Layer

Exports each layer as a separate image file. If Print Camera Frames option isenabled, the camera frames and camera movements w ill be printed on each layer.

Apply Layer Motion

W hen exporting one image per layer and w ith camera frames, if your layers are48

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

animated, this option allow s you to combine the layer's animation w ith thecamera movement that is printed on it. By follow ing the resulting camera
movement, the layer w ill appear to be animated just like it is in your animatic.
For example, in a scene w here a draw ing layer moves tow ards the right, and thecamera moves up, the camera movement that w ill be printed on the layer's layout
image w ill be combined w ith that layer's animation, and the resulting camera
movement w ill go up and tow ards the left, so that the layer itself appears tomove tow ards the right.
to Camera

Print Camera Frames

Prints the first and last camera frame of each scene into the exported layout
images. If exporting in .psd format, the camera frames w ill be printed on a
separate layer.

If a scene contains a camera movement w ith more than tw o keyframes, this prints
each camera keyframe into the layout.
Print a Frame for
Each Camera
Keyframe

Adds the camera position label in the top-left corner of each camera frame.
Camera frames are labeled w ith a letter of the alphabet indicating their respective
order.

Print Camera Labels

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Export Range

All

Exports the entire storyboard.

Select this option to export a specific selection of scenes. Then, click on the Selectbutton to open the Scenes Picker dialog box, in w hich you can:Selected Scenes

Current Scene

Open folder after exportlType the number of a sequence or of a scene in the Sequence or Scene
fields in the Filter section, to only show matching sequences or matching
scenes in the list.

lClick and drag to select a range of scenes.

lHold the Ctrl key and click on each scene you w ant to add to yourselection.

lHold the Shift key, then click on the first scene and the last scene you
w ant to add to your selection, to select every scene betw een those tw oscenes inclusively.

l

If your project has sequences, click on a sequence to select every scene inthat sequence.

Exports only the currently selected scene.

Opens the folder in w hich files w ere exported in a file brow ser once the export is
done.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Export to Movie Dialog Box
The Export Movie w indow lets you export your storyboard and animatic as a movie file w hich you can shareand play back. You can export your movie file in different formats (QuickTime, SW F movie (Flash), jpeg, targa)
and as image sequences.

How to access the Export to Movie window
1. Select File > Export > Movie.
The Export to Movie w indow opens.

Parameter

Description

Destination Path

Path

Allow s you to specify the directory in w hich to save the exported files. You can

51

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

click on the Brow sebutton right of the field to brow se your file system andselect the destination folder.

Allow s you to enter the prefix or the pattern for the names of the exported files.
You can leave this field blank to use the default file naming pattern, type in a filename to use it as a prefix, or type a full pattern using the follow ing variables:

File Patternl%t - Project titlel%a - Act numberl%q - Sequence numberl%s - Scene number

TIP
Numbers used in file naming patterns are automatically padded by zeros asneeded. You can type a number betw een the % sign and the variable letterto determine the amount of characters you w ant the variable to use. For
example, w ith the variable %4s, scene 1 w ould appear as scene 0001.

Export Movie Format

Allow s you to specify the format in w hich to export the movie. You can choose
betw een the follow ing formats:l

QuickTime ProRes Movie (*.mov): The Apple QuickTime format. This is
the default export format and is recommended for its portability, and also
because it allow s you to choose among several video codecs.

NOTES
l

On W indow s, Apple QuickTime must be installed to allow
Storyboard Pro to export QuickTime movies. You can configure
the export of QuickTime movies to use any codec that iscompatible w ith QuickTime, including H.264, MPEG-4 andAnimation.

l

On macOS, Storyboard Pro uses Apple AVFoundation to export
QuickTime movies, w hich allow s you to export using codecs
such as H.264, Apple ProRes 422 and Apple ProRes 4444,
among others.

l

If you are looking to export a QuickTime movie w ith
transparency, be sure to choose a codec that supports encoding
w ith an alpha channel.

Movie Formatl

H.264/MPEG- 4 (*.mov) : A simple movie format that uses the H.264
codec, w hich is supported by most w eb brow sers.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

NOTES

l

l

Using this format does not require additional softw are.
How ever, if this is the first time you export a movie in
H.264/MPEG-4 format, you w ill be prompted to dow nload the
OpenH264 library from Cisco. Simply click Yes w hen prompted,
and Storyboard Pro w ill automatically dow nload the library,then export the movie.

lThere are no encoding options for this format.

lThis format supports resolutions of up to 4096×2304. Eachdimension must be a multiple of 16 pixels.

l

Audio exported in this format is encoded in PCM 16-bit stereo,
22.05 kHz.

W indows Media Video (*.wmv): The native format for W indow s Media
Player.

NOTESlW indow s Media Video (.wmv) files can only be exported on
W indow s.

lVideo players and editors on non-W indow s systems cangenerally not open W indow s Media Video (.wmv) files.

lFlash (.swf): The vector-based movie format exported by Adobe
Animate. It uses vector graphics and interpolations instead of bitmap
images.

l

Jpeg (*.jpg): An image format w ith lossy compression optimized for theW eb. Only use this format if export speed is more important than quality.

l

Targa (*.tga): An image format w ith basic lossless compression.

lPortable Network Graphics (*.png): An image format w ith a more
effective lossless compression than Targa (.tga). Exporting in this format isslow er, but saves a lot of disk space. PNG files are supported by w eb
brow sers, most operating systems and image editing softw are.

NOTE
The option to export to W indow s Media Video is only available on
W indow s, and the option to export to QuickTime Movie is only available onmachines w ith QuickTime Player installed.

Transparent
Background

This option exports movies or image sequences w ith a transparent background. If
this option is NOT checked, frames w ithout a background w ill be exported w ith aw hite background. This option is only available for QuickTime Movie (.mov), Targa(.tga) and Portable Netw ork Graphic (.png) formats.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

W hen exporting in W indow s Media Video (.wmv), QuickTime Movie (.mov) orFlash (.swf) format, this opens a dialog in w hich you can select video and audio
compression settings for the movie files.

NOTE

Movie Options

For more information, see QuickTime Movie Settings Dialog Box(W indow s),Movie Options Dialog Box (macOS) on page 143, W indow s
Media Video Settings Dialog Box (W indow s) on page 246 and Flash Export
Settings Dialog Box.

Resolution

Sets the resolution to be a quarter size, half size, or full size of the current
storyboard resolution.

Sets the colour space for the export.
Colour Space

If you plan to create an export for use in a different softw are, you may w ant tomatch colour spaces to keep all your colours consistent. The default setting is thecurrent Storyboard Pro project colour space, w hich w as selected on creation of
the project.

Allow s you to select how to separate the exported movie files:

One Clip

Include Transitionsl

Per Scene: Create one movie file for each scene in your project.

l

Per Sequence: Create one movie file for each sequence in your project, if
any.

l

Per Project: Export your w hole animatic into a single video file.

Includes transitions in your export movie files.

Export Range Tab

All

Exports the entire storyboard.

Select this option to export a specific selection of scenes. Then, click on the Selectbutton to open the Scenes Picker dialog box, in w hich you can:lType the number of a sequence or of a scene in the Sequence or Scene
fields in the Filter section, to only show matching sequences or matching
scenes in the list.

lClick and drag to select a range of scenes.

lHold the Ctrl key and click on each scene you w ant to add to yourselection.

Selected Scenes

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guidel

Hold the Shift key, then click on the first scene and the last scene you
w ant to add to your selection, to select every scene betw een those tw oscenes inclusively.

l

If your project has sequences, click on a sequence to select every scene inthat sequence.

Current Scene

Exports only the currently selected scene.

Current Panel

Exports only the currently selected panel.

Tracked Panels - [0panel]

Exports panels on w hich tracking changes is enabled.

Burn-In Tab

Print Time CodePrints the project timecode on the video as an overlay on your video.

Print Scene Names
and Panel Numbers

Prints the scene names and panel numbers as an overlay on your video.

Print Additional
Duration

Prints another time code counting the time for the current panel, scene orsequence, depending on w hat is selected in the Repeat drop-dow n.

Units

Displays additional duration information using Time Code or Frames units.

RepeatDisplays additional duration information per panel, scene or sequence.

Camera Grid Tab

Title Safe Area

Title Safe Area: Prints the Title Safe Area over the picture. By default, this area is
20% smaller than the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of the area that CRT
displays might crop out of the picture. Visual elements such as text and logos
should be placed w ithin this area.The size of this area can be changed in the
Camera tab of the Preferences dialog.

Action Safe Area

Action Safe Area: Prints the Action Safe Area over the picture. By default, thisarea is 10% smaller than the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of the areathat CRT displays might crop out of the picture. Characters and action should beplaced w ithin this area. The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of
the Preferences dialog.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

4:3 Safety

Prints the title safe area and the action safe area for the 4:3 camera frame over theexported image. They can be used to position elements in projects that are meant
to be displayed in both w idescreen and 4:3 proportions.

4:3 Reference

Prints the 4:3 camera frame over the exported image. This frame corresponds tothe camera frame if the aspect ratio of the picture w as 4:3. It can be used toposition elements in projects that are meant to be displayed in both w idescreen
and 4:3 proportions.

Captions Tab

Print Captions

Choose w hether to not print captions (None) or select one of your project’s
captions to print into the exported movies. By default, a Storyboard Pro project
has Action Notes, Dialog, Slugging and Notes captions, but you can also choose
to print custom captions if your project has any.

Font

Select w hich font the captions w ill be printed in. By default, they w ill be printed in
Arial.

Height %Sets the size of caption lines relative to the height of the exported movies. For
example, if exporting a movie at 1080p w ith 3% Height captions, each caption
line w ill be 32 pixels in height.

Position

Prints the captions at either the Top Left, Top Centre, Top Right, Bottom Left,
Bottom Centre or Bottom Right of the panels. By default, captions are printed to
the Bottom Centre.

Sets the maximum amount of caption lines to print on each panel. If a caption
being printed requires more than the maximum amount of lines, it w ill be cut off
w ith an ellipsis (...) at the end.

Max Lines

NOTE
Even if captions are printed at the bottom, they w ill be aligned to the top of
the space reserved for them, w hich is calculated by the amount of Max Linesx the Height %. Therefore, if this setting is too high and captions are printed
at the bottom, they may appear closer to the middle of the picture than tothe bottom.

Text Colour

Select the font colour in w hich to print the captions.

Bg Colour

Select the background colour on w hich to print the captions. If the checkbox isunchecked, the captions w ill be printed directly into the rendered picture.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Otherw ise, they w ill be printed in rectangular boxes of the chosen colour.

Open document/folder after
exportOpens the folder in w hich files w ere exported in a file brow ser once the export is
done.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Export Project / Selected Scenes / Tracked Scenes Dialog Box(Conformation)
The Export Project dialog box lets you export your storyboard to a third-party softw are using XML or AAF
format. You can then edit your project, and import the changes back into Storyboard Pro.

How to access the Export Project dialog boxlSelect File > Conformation > Export Project.

Parameter

Description

Destination Path

Path

Allow s you to specify the directory in w hich to save the exported files. You can clickon the Brow sebutton right of the field to brow se your file system and select the58

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

destination folder.

Allow s you to enter the prefix or the pattern for the names of the exported files. You
can leave this field blank to use the default file naming pattern, type in a file name touse it as a prefix, or type a full pattern using the follow ing variables:

File Patternl%t - Project titlel%a - Act numberl%q - Sequence numberl%s - Scene numberl%p - Panel number

TIP
Numbers used in file naming patterns are automatically padded by zeros asneeded. You can type a number betw een the % sign and the variable letter todetermine the amount of characters you w ant the variable to use. For example,
w ith the variable %4s, scene 1 w ould appear as scene 0001.

Render Images On Export

W hen enabled, this exports the images associated w ith the video clips. This isenabled by default. You can disable it if you are re-exporting your sequence anddon't need to export the images again, to save time. Otherw ise, disabling this option
w ill cause the exported sequence to be missing the image files linked to the clips.

Choose Format

FormatLets you select export format, Final Cut Pro XML or Media Composer AAF.

Options

Export One ImagePer Layer

Exports the draw ing layers in your panels as separate video clips instead offlattening them together to make one clip per panel. This option is only available
w hen exporting in Final Cut Pro XML format.

Alw ays Nest
LayersW hen exporting one image per layer, this w ill store all the layers for a single panel
into a nested clip. By default, different layers are spread on different video tracks,
except w hen a panel contains both camera movements and layer animations.

Export Panels as
movies on
additional track

Exports the panels as movies in an XML or AAF file.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Only Panels w ith
MotionChecking this option renders only panels that have camera or layer motion.

Export Video
TracksExports an XML or AAF file that w ill include the content of the video tracks.
Rendering of the first frame of the panel is used as source image. Linked video files
are not exported.

Clip Handles(Frames)

Allow s you to control the duration of handles w hen exporting to non-linear editing
softw are. As clips are converted to MXF files upon import, a shorter handle w ill
result in faster import time to Avid Media Composer. The default value for Clip
Handles is 240. The minimum value to be entered is 0 and the maximum value is9999.

Prints the camera frames on the exported images. The first camera frame w ill be
printed in green, and the last camera frame w ill be printed in red.

Print Camera
Frame

If the camera is at an angle in a panel, and there is no camera movement in thatpanel, enabling this option w ill render the panel as if the camera w as at a straightangle.
Rectify Static
CameraNest scenes
containing camera
motionW hen this option is checked and you are exporting to Avid Media Composer or
Premiere Pro for conformation, scenes in your animatic containing camera motion
w ill export as a nest on w hich the camera animation w ill be applied. This w ill makeit easier to edit clips containing camera movements.

Maintain image
size throughout

By default, the resolution of each image that is exported so that, at the end of acamera zoom-in, or at the beginning of a camera zoom-out, there is no pixelation.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

This means that the smallest camera frame in each panel must be at least the same
resolution of the project. Hence, panels w ith small camera frames w ill have to beexported at a bigger resolution than other panels. For example, the follow ing panel
must be exported in a bigger resolution than the project's resolution, so that thesmallest camera frame has the same resolution as the project:

sceneThis can also mean that, w ithin a same scene, a panel that has a camera zoom-in orzoom-out w ill have to be exported in a bigger resolution than the other panels in thescene. W ith this option enabled, all the panels in any given scene are exported in thesame resolution.

NOTE
The panels w ill appear as expected in your video editing softw are regardlessof w hether or not this option is enabled.

By default, exported panels only cover the area covered by the camera movementsin the panel. W ith this option enabled, exported panels w ill cover the area coveredby the camera movements in all the panels in their scene combined. That w ay, if all
the exported panels in a scene are combined, the elements of the scene w ill all be in
their proper position respective to each other.

Expand Render
Area to Scene
CameraIn the follow ing example, the camera goes from 1 to 2 in the first panel, then from 2
to 3 in the second panel, but both panels are exported to cover the w hole camera
movement, from 1 to 2 to 3:

Allow s you to select the image format in w hich to save the exported panels:
Bitmap FormatlJpeg (*.jpg): An image format w ith lossy compression optimized for the61

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

W eb. Only use this format if export speed is more important than quality.
l

Targa (*.tga): An image format w ith basic lossless compression.

lPortable Network Graphics (*.png): An image format w ith a more effective
lossless compression than Targa (.tga). Exporting in this format is slow er,
but saves a lot of disk space. PNG files are supported by w eb brow sers,
most operating systems and image editing softw are.

NOTE
Since the images exported for conformation are generally not imported into the
Storyboard Pro project w hen you re-import your sequence, the quality ofexported images is not critical. Hence, the default image format for
conformation is Jpeg (*.jpg). Although Jpeg images do not preserve picture
quality, they are quicker to export and do not use a lot of disk space.

Export Markers at
scene beginning

Places a chapter marker at the beginning of each scene. These markers are used tofind the in-point of each scene w hen conforming from Final Cut Pro to Storyboard
Pro. The markers are named "Scene:" follow ed by the name of their respective
scene, and they have a unique scene ID and chapter marker as their comment.

Export scenes
references track

Adds an extra video track to the sequence in w hich images indicating the number ofthe current scene are displayed.

Export captions

Includes the captions of each panel as metadata in the exported sequence. The
captions can be edited in the sequence, and importing modified captions w ill update
the captions in the Storyboard Pro project.

Include Rich Text
Formatting

If you're exporting the project's captions and your captions have special text
formatting, this w ill export the captions in HTML instead of plain text, to preserve
their formatting. If you export your captions in plain text, then re-import them, theyw ill lose their formatting. How ever, plain text captions are easier to read and edit inthird party softw are.

Burn-In

Print Scene Names
and Panel
Numbers

Prints the scene names and panel numbers as an overlay on your video.

Camera Grids

Title Safe Area

Prints the Title Safe Area over the picture. By default, this area is 20% smaller than62

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of the area that CRT displays might cropout of the picture. Visual elements such as text and logos should be placed w ithin
this area.

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of the Preferences
dialog.

Prints the Action Safe Area over the picture. By default, this area is 10% smaller
than the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of the area that CRT displays mightcrop out of the picture. Characters and action should be placed w ithin this area.
Action Safe Area

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of the Preferences
dialog.

4:3 Safety

Prints the title safe area and the action safe area for the 4:3 camera frame over theexported image. They can be used to position elements in projects that are meant tobe displayed in both w idescreen and 4:3 proportions.

4:3 Reference

Prints the 4:3 camera frame over the exported image. This frame corresponds to thecamera frame if the aspect ratio of the picture w as 4:3. It can be used to position
elements in projects that are meant to be displayed in both w idescreen and 4:3
proportions.

Captions

Print Captions

Choose not to print captions (None) or select one of your project’s captions to print
into the exported bitmaps. By default, a Storyboard Pro project has Action Notes,
Dialog, Slugging and Notes captions, but you can also choose to print custom
captions if your project has any.

Font

Select w hich font the captions w ill be printed in. By default, they w ill be printed in
Arial.

Height %Sets the size of caption lines relative to the height of the exported bitmaps. For
example, if exporting bitmaps at 1080p w ith 3% Height captions, each caption line
w ill be 32 pixels in height.

Position

Prints the captions at either the Top Left, Top Centre, Top Right, Bottom Left,

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Bottom Centre or Bottom Right of the bitmap. By default, captions are printed to the
Bottom Centre.

Sets the maximum amount of caption lines to print on each panel. If a caption being
printed requires more than the maximum amount of lines, it w ill be cut off w ith anellipsis (...) at the end.

Max Line

NOTE
Even if captions are printed at the bottom, they w ill be aligned to the top of thespace reserved for them, w hich is calculated by the amount of Max Lines x theHeight %. Therefore, if this setting is too high and captions are printed at thebottom, they may appear closer to the middle of the picture than to the bottom.

Text Colour

Select the font colour in w hich to print the captions.

Bg Colour

Select the background colour on w hich to print the captions. If the checkbox isunchecked, the captions w ill be printed directly into the rendered picture. Otherw ise,
they w ill be printed in rectangular boxes of the chosen colour.

Notify Flix

Open folder after
exportW hen new XML data is exported, a message is sent to Flix so it w ill automatically
update its asset database. Note that Flix must be installed on your computer.

Opens the folder in w hich files w ere exported in a file brow ser once the export is
done.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Export to EDL/AAF/XML Dialog Box
The Export to EDL/AAF/XML w indow allow s you to export your animatic into a video editing sequence w hich
you can import in Non-Linear Editing (NLE) softw are such as Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, Avid
Xpress, Avid Media Composer or Sony Vegas.
The timing, motions, and sound clips in your project are preserved.

How to access the Export to EDL/AAF/XML window
1. Select File > Export > EDL/AAF/XML.
The Export to EDL/AAF/XML w indow opens.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Parameter

Description

Destination Path

Allow s you to specify the directory in w hich to save the exported files. You canPathclick on the Brow sebutton right of the field to brow se your file system andselect the destination folder.

Allow s you to enter the prefix or the pattern for the names of the exported files.
You can leave this field blank to use the default file naming pattern, type in a filename to use it as a prefix, or type a full pattern using the follow ing variables:%t - Project title

File Patternl%a - Act numberl%q - Sequence numberl%s - Scene numberl%p - Panel number

TIP
Numbers used in file naming patterns are automatically padded by zeros asneeded. You can type a number betw een the % sign and the variable letterto determine the amount of characters you w ant the variable to use. For
example, w ith the variable %4s, scene 1 w ould appear as scene 0001.

Export Type

Lets you elect the format in w hich to store the timing information (timecode forpanels and audio tracks). The format w ill be chosen depending on the destination
application:lGenerate EDL file: Can be imported in Final Cut Pro, Avid
Media Composer and Adobe Premiere.

NOTE
Due to limitations w ith the EDL format,
only the first four audio tracks in yourproject can be exported, and sound clips
that are used multiple times in the projectw ill only appear one time in the exported
sequence.

l

Generate AAF file: Can be imported in Avid Media

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Composer, Avid Xpress, Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere.

NOTE
Due to limitation w ith the AAF format,
Slide-in and Slide-out transitions w ill be
converted to Dissolve transitions, Clock
W ipe transitions w ill alw ays be exported
as 12 o’clock (0 degree) clockw ise
transitions, and Edge W ipe transitions w ill
be exported as either Horizontal, Verticalor Corner W ipe transitions.

lGenerate XML file: Can be imported in Final Cut Pro and
Adobe Premiere.

NOTE
If your editing system is not mentioned above, check its
specifications to verify w hich format can be imported.

Generate EDL, AAF,
XML File

Generates an EDL, AAF, or XML file.

Options

Allow s you to select the movie format in w hich each clip is exported:lQuickTime ProRes Movie (*.mov): The Apple QuickTime format. This is
the default export format and is recommended for its portability, and also
because it allow s you to choose among several video codecs.

NOTES
l

On W indow s, Apple QuickTime must be installed to allow
Storyboard Pro to export QuickTime movies. You can configure
the export of QuickTime movies to use any codec that iscompatible w ith QuickTime, including H.264, MPEG-4 andAnimation.

l

On macOS, Storyboard Pro uses Apple AVFoundation to export
QuickTime movies, w hich allow s you to export using codecs
such as H.264, Apple ProRes 422 and Apple ProRes 4444,
among others.

l

If you are looking to export a QuickTime movie w ith
transparency, be sure to choose a codec that supports encoding
w ith an alpha channel.

Movie Format

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxesl

H.264/MPEG- 4 (*.mov) : A simple movie format that uses the H.264
codec, w hich is supported by most w eb brow sers.

NOTES

l

l

Using this format does not require additional softw are.
How ever, if this is the first time you export a movie in
H.264/MPEG-4 format, you w ill be prompted to dow nload the
OpenH264 library from Cisco. Simply click Yes w hen prompted,
and Storyboard Pro w ill automatically dow nload the library,then export the movie.

lThere are no encoding options for this format.

lThis format supports resolutions of up to 4096×2304. Eachdimension must be a multiple of 16 pixels.

l

Audio exported in this format is encoded in PCM 16-bit stereo,
22.05 kHz.

W indows Media Video (*.wmv): The native format for W indow s Media
Player.

NOTESlW indow s Media Video (.wmv) files can only be exported on
W indow s.

lVideo players and editors on non-W indow s systems cangenerally not open W indow s Media Video (.wmv) files.

Transparent
Background

This option exports movies or image sequences w ith a transparent background. If
this option is NOT checked, frames w ithout a background w ill be exported w ith aw hite background. This option is only available for QuickTime Movie (.mov), Targa(.tga) and Portable Netw ork Graphic (.png) formats.

Video Config

Click this button to configure the video settings. W hen exporting in QuickTime,
this allow s to set the video codec, framerate and quality. W hen exporting in
W indow sMedia Video allow s to set the video bit rate and variable bit ratequality.The resolution drop-dow n right of the Video Config button can be used todefine the output resolution, since you might not alw ays need to export thestoryboard at full resolution. You can select Full, Half or Quarter of a project’s
resolution.

Resolution

Sets the resolution to be a quarter size, half size, or full size of the current
storyboard resolution.

Sets the colour space for the export.
Colour Space
If you plan to create an export for use in a different softw are, you may w ant to68

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

match colour spaces to keep all your colours consistent. The default setting is thecurrent Storyboard Pro project colour space, w hich w as selected on creation of
the project.

One Movie Clip Per
Panel

Generate Video Files

Exports more than one QuickTime movie clip per scene (w hich might containmore than one panel) e.g. to obtain better granularity during editing since thestoryboard w ill have smaller movie clips.

If you only need the EDL, AAF or XML files to be generated, deselect this option
so no video files are rendered.

W hen enabled, the project’s sound files are copied to the same directory as the
EDL/XML/AAF files and the video files w hen exporting. Sound clips that are used
several times in the project w ill only be copied once and linked to several times inthe EDL/XML/AAF sequence. Disabling this option can be useful if you are
overw riting a previous EDL/XML/AAF export of your project and have not madechanges to the sound clips in your project, as it w ill make the export faster.
Copy Audio Files

NOTE
W hen this option is unchecked, the project’s audio tracks and their editing
data w ill still be exported into the EDL/XML/AAF sequence. Only the actual
sound files w ill be missing.

Export Range Tab

All

Exports the entire storyboard.

Select this option to export a specific selection of scenes. Then, click on the Selectbutton to open the Scenes Picker dialog box, in w hich you can:Selected SceneslType the number of a sequence or of a scene in the Sequence or Scene
fields in the Filter section, to only show matching sequences or matching
scenes in the list.

lClick and drag to select a range of scenes.

lHold the Ctrl key and click on each scene you w ant to add to yourselection.

lHold the Shift key, then click on the first scene and the last scene you
w ant to add to your selection, to select every scene betw een those tw oscenes inclusively.

l

If your project has sequences, click on a sequence to select every scene inthat sequence.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Current Scene

Exports only the currently selected scene.

Current Panel

Exports only the currently selected panel.

Tracked Panels - [0panel]

Exports panels on w hich tracking changes is enabled.

Burn In Tab

Print Time CodePrints the project timecode on the video as an overlay on your video.

Print Scene Names
and Panel Numbers

Prints the scene names and panel numbers as an overlay on your video.

Print Additional
Duration

Prints another time code counting the time for the current panel, scene orsequence, depending on w hat is selected in the Repeat drop-dow n.

Units

Displays additional duration information using Time Code or Frames units.

RepeatDisplays additional duration information per panel, scene or sequence.

Camera Grid Tab

Prints the Title Safe Area over the picture. By default, this area is 20% smaller
than the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of the area that CRT displays
might crop out of the picture. Visual elements such as text and logos should beplaced w ithin this area.
Title Safe Area

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of the Preferences
dialog.

Action Safe Area

Prints the Action Safe Area over the picture. By default, this area is 10% smaller
than the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of the area that CRT displays
might crop out of the picture. Characters and action should be placed w ithin this
area.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of the Preferences
dialog.

4:3 Safety

Prints the title safe area and the action safe area for the 4:3 camera frame overthe exported image. They can be used to position elements in projects that aremeant to be displayed in both w idescreen and 4:3 proportions.

4:3 Reference

Prints the 4:3 camera frame over the exported image. This frame corresponds tothe camera frame if the aspect ratio of the picture w as 4:3. It can be used toposition elements in projects that are meant to be displayed in both w idescreen
and 4:3 proportions.

Captions Tab

Print Captions

Choose w hether to not print captions (None) or select one of your project’s
captions to print into the exported movies. By default, a Storyboard Pro project
has Action Notes, Dialog, Slugging and Notes captions, but you can also choose
to print custom captions if your project has any.

Font

Select w hich font the captions w ill be printed in. By default, they w ill be printed in
Arial.

Height %Sets the size of caption lines relative to the height of the exported movies. For
example, if exporting a movie at 1080p w ith 3% Height captions, each caption
line w ill be 32 pixels in height.

Position

Prints the captions at either the Top Left, Top Centre, Top Right, Bottom Left,
Bottom Centre or Bottom Right of the panels. By default, captions are printed to
the Bottom Centre.

Sets the maximum amount of caption lines to print on each panel. If a caption
being printed requires more than the maximum amount of lines, it w ill be cut off
w ith an ellipsis (...) at the end.

Max Lines

NOTE
Even if captions are printed at the bottom, they w ill be aligned to the top of
the space reserved for them, w hich is calculated by the amount of Max Linesx the Height %. Therefore, if this setting is too high and captions are printed
at the bottom, they may appear closer to the middle of the picture than tothe bottom.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Text Colour

Select the font colour in w hich to print the captions.

Bg Colour

Select the background colour on w hich to print the captions. If the checkbox isunchecked, the captions w ill be printed directly into the rendered picture.
Otherw ise, they w ill be printed in rectangular boxes of the chosen colour.

Open folder after export

Opens the folder in w hich files w ere exported in a file brow ser once the export is
done.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Export to Harmony Dialog Box
The Export to Harmony dialog allow s you to export your animatic into a set of Harmony scenes. After theexport, you can open the scenes Toon Boom Harmony right aw ay and kickstart the production of youranimation project. If you are w orking w ith Harmony Server, you can export a package of scenes that can beimported into your database using Control Center. The resulting Harmony scenes w ill be the same length as
the scenes in your Storyboard Pro project, they w ill contain each of their panels so that you may animate overthem, and they w ill contain their respective part of the animatic's soundtrack.
You can choose to export your animatic in rendered frames, w hich w ill not be editable in Harmony and can
only be used as reference, or to export the draw ings, 3D objects, images, videos and camera movements ofeach scene in your project directly into the Harmony scenes, allow ing you to reuse its elements in Harmony. If
you are rendering your animatic, you can choose w hether you w ant to export one scene for the w hole project,for each sequence or for each act, w hereas if you w ant to export original scenes, you can only export one
Harmony scene for each scene in your animatic.

TIP
If you w ant to exclude some elements from getting exported to Storyboard Pro, you can selectlayers in the Layers view and uncheck the Export To: Toon Boom option for these layers.

How to access the Export to Harmony dialog
1. In the top menu, select File > Export > Export to Harmony.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

The Export to Harmony dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Destination Path

Allow s you to specify the directory in w hich to save the exported files. You can click on
Path

the Brow sebutton right of the field to brow se your file system and select thedestination folder.

Allow s you to enter the prefix or the pattern for the names of the exported files. You
can leave this field blank to use the default file naming pattern, type in a file name touse it as a prefix, or type a full pattern using the follow ing variables:l%t - Project titlel%a - Act numberl%q - Sequence numberl%s - Scene number

File Pattern74

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

TIP
Numbers used in file naming patterns are automatically padded by zeros asneeded. You can type a number betw een the % sign and the variable letter todetermine the amount of characters you w ant the variable to use. For example,
w ith the variable %4s, scene 1 w ould appear as scene 0001.

Export Type

FormatLets you select w hether to export your animatic into Harmony Offline scenes, Harmony
Database scenes or Animate/Animate Pro scenes.

VersionW hen exporting Harmony Offline or Harmony Database scenes, lets you selectw hether to export scenes that are compatible w ith Harmony version 7.8 or w ith
Harmony version 9.2 or Higher.

Export Style

Renders the animatic into a sequence of bitmap images that are assembled into theexported Harmony scenes. This ensures that the content of your animatic is accurately
rendered in Harmony, especially if you intend to use an older version.

Resolution: Allow s you to select the resolution of rendered frames relative to theproject resolution betw een the follow ing options: Full Size, Half Size or Quarter Size.

Generate One Scene: Allow s you to select how to separate the project into Harmony
scenes:RenderedAnimaticl

Per Scene: Generates one scene for each scene in your project.

l

Per Sequence: Generates one scene for each sequence in your project.

l

Per Act: Generates one scene for each act in your project.

Optimize Still Images: W hen there is no animation or camera movement for a certain
time span, a single draw ing is rendered and its exposure is rendered until there is
movement. If this option is disabled, one frame is rendered for every frame in youranimatic, regardless of if there is movement or not.

Animatic on Top: If you generate scenes based on sequences or acts, this option
becomes available. W hen enabled, the animatic is rendered and placed as the top
layer and column in Harmony or Animate.

75

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Exports the animatic directly into Harmony scenes w ithout rendering it. This preserves
the layers, draw ings, 3D objects, images, videos and camera movements so that they
can be used in Harmony.

Original Scene

Nest Panels in Symbols: Upon export to Harmony or Animate, the panel's content w ill
be nested inside symbols. Instead of having several layers in your root timeline, you
w ill have a single one. You w ill need to enter the symbol to edit its content.

Add Camera Reference Layer: Adds a layer containing the different camera frames on
top of the other layers to use as a reference in Harmony and Animate.

Apply Transformation on Drawings: Applies transformation on the first and last
position of each panel. The in-betw een animation w ill be lost.

Export Range Tab

All

Exports the entire storyboard.

Select this option to export a specific selection of scenes. Then, click on the Selectbutton to open the Scenes Picker dialog box, in w hich you can:lType the number of a sequence or of a scene in the Sequence or Scene fields inthe Filter section, to only show matching sequences or matching scenes in the
list.

l

Click and drag to select a range of scenes.

lHold the Ctrl key and click on each scene you w ant to add to your selection.

lHold the Shift key, then click on the first scene and the last scene you w ant to
add to your selection, to select every scene betw een those tw o scenes
inclusively.

l

If your project has sequences, click on a sequence to select every scene in thatsequence.

Selected Scenes

Current Scene

Exports only the currently selected scene.

Sounds TablKeep Original Files: Copies the sound clips from your project into the exported
scenes, w ithout mixing them.

lProcess Audio Tracks Individually: Creates a mixed sound file for each audio
track and stores each sound file into its ow n sound layer in the exported scene.

Processing76

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guidel

Merge All Audio Tracks: Creates a single sound file w ith all the audio tracks
merged and stores it into a single sound layer in the exported scene.

l

Process Audio Tracks Individually and Merged: Creates a single sound file foreach audio track and stores each sound file into its ow n sound layer, then adds
an extra sound layer w ith all the audio tracks merged together.

Allow s you to enter the prefix or the pattern for the names of the exported files. You
can leave this field blank to use the default file naming pattern, type in a file name touse it as a prefix, or type a full pattern using the follow ing variables:

File Patternl%t - Project titlel%a - Act numberl%q - Sequence numberl%s - Scene numberl%n - Sound track number

TIP
Numbers used in file naming patterns are automatically padded by zeros asneeded. You can type a number betw een the % sign and the variable letter todetermine the amount of characters you w ant the variable to use. For example,
w ith the variable %4s, scene 1 w ould appear as scene 0001.

Sample Rate

Sets the frequency rate of the exported audio files. It is recommended to export soundfiles at the rate at w hich they w ere originally created. For reference, the standard
sample rate is 48.0 kHz for broadcasting and DVD.

Sets the precision level of each w avelength in the sound file. The standard bit depth is
16 bit. Setting this to 8 bit w ill cut the size of audio files in half, but w ill significantly
impact sound quality.
Bit Depth

NOTE
On W indow s, audio can only be exported in 16 bit unless QuickTime Player isinstalled.

Channels

Allow s you to select w hether to export sound in Mono or Stereo. Stereo sound uses a
separate track for the left and right speakers, w hich allow s to simulate a realistic
sound environment. Mono uses a single track for both speakers, w hich saves disk
space.

Burn-In Tab

77

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Print Time CodePrints the project timecode on the video as an overlay on your video.

Print Scene
Names andPanel Numbers

Prints the scene names and panel numbers as an overlay on your video.

Print Additional
Duration

Prints another time code counting the time for the current panel, scene or sequence,
depending on w hat is selected in the Repeat drop-dow n.

Units

Displays additional duration information using Time Code or Frames units.

RepeatDisplays additional duration information per panel, scene or sequence.

Camera Grid Tab

Prints the Title Safe Area over the picture. By default, this area is 20% smaller than thecamera frame. It is used as a guideline of the area that CRT displays might crop out ofthe picture. Visual elements such as text and logos should be placed w ithin this area.
Title Safe Area

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of the Preferences dialog.

Prints the Action Safe Area over the picture. By default, this area is 10% smaller thanthe camera frame. It is used as a guideline of the area that CRT displays might crop outof the picture. Characters and action should be placed w ithin this area.
Action Safe
Area

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of the Preferences dialog.

4:3 Safety

Prints the title safe area and the action safe area for the 4:3 camera frame over theexported image. They can be used to position elements in projects that are meant to be
displayed in both w idescreen and 4:3 proportions.

4:3 Reference

Prints the 4:3 camera frame over the exported image. This frame corresponds to thecamera frame if the aspect ratio of the picture w as 4:3. It can be used to position
elements in projects that are meant to be displayed in both w idescreen and 4:3
proportions.

Scene Options Tab

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

W hen enabled, you can use the options below to set the parameters of the W rite node
for the exported Harmony scenes, so that you w on't have to configure the W rite nodefor each exported scene individually in Harmony.
Custom W rite
NodeParameters

If this option is disabled, the W rite node in the exported Storyboard Pro scenes w ill
have the follow ing default options:lDrawing Folder: frameslDrawing Filename: final-lDrawing Type: TGA

The path to the folder in w hich to save the rendered frames. This path can be absoluteor relative to the scene's folder. For example, the default path for rendered frames isframes, w hich means the images are saved in the frames subfolder of the scenefolder. If you w ant to select an absolute path, you can click on the Brow sebutton at

the right of the text field and select the folder in w hich your scenes should export theirframes.
Image RenderPath

You can type a simple path, so that every exported scene has the same image render
path, or you can define a different image render path for each scene by typing in apattern using the follow ing variables:l%t - Project titlel%a - Act numberl%q - Sequence numberl%s - Scene number

The prefix for the file name of each exported frame. Frames w ill be named w ith thisvalue, follow ed by the frame number and their image type extension. It is
recommended to leave the hyphen (-) at the end of the prefix to separate the prefixfrom the frame number.

Image Filename

Image Format

You can type a simple prefix, so that it is the same for all the exported scenes, or you
can define a different prefix for each scene by typing in a pattern using the follow ing
variables:l%t - Project titlel%a - Act numberl%q - Sequence numberl%s - Scene number

The image format in w hich the exported frames w ill be saved. Storyboard Pro can
export in the follow ing formats:79

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

FormatSpecification

TGA

Full colour

TGA1

Greyscale

TGA3

Full colour

Description

Truevision TGA/TARGA (*.tga)
A standard image format w ith losslesscompression and support fortransparency.
TGA files use more disk space than PNG
files, but rendering in TGA is faster.
TGA4

Full colour w ith
transparency

SGI

Full colour / 8 bits
per channel

SGI1

Greyscale / 8 bits
per channel

SGI3

Full colour / 8 bits
per channel

SGI4

Full colour w ith
transparency / 8
bits per channel

SGIDP

Full colour / 16 bits
per channel

SGIDP3Full colour / 16 bits
per channel

SGIDP4

Full colour w ith
transparency / 16
bits per channel

Silicon Graphics Image (*.sgi)
A highly capable format w ith losslesscompression as w ell as support for
double precision and transparency.

Photoshop Document (*.psd)

PSD

Full colour / 8 bits
per channel

80

An Adobe Photoshop proprietary format
used for image editing.
PSD files exported by Harmony containa single background layer w ith therasterized image.

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

FormatSpecification

PSD1

Greyscale / 8 bits
per channel

PSD3

Full colour / 8 bits
per channel

PSD4

Full colour w ith
transparency / 8
bits per channel

Description

NOTE
PSD files exported from
Storyboard Pro are tagged

PSDDP

Full colour / 16 bits
per channel

w ith their colour space
information in their
metadata, except for PSD
files exported in greyscale.

PSDDP1Greyscale / 16 bits
per channel

PSDDP3Full colour / 16 bits
per channel

PSDDP4

Full colour w ith
transparency / 16
bits per channel

Y'UV frame (*.yuv)
A legacy format optimized for NTSC
television. The image information is
encoded in the Y'UV color space, w hichmeans Luma (Y') and Chrominance (UV).
YUV

NOTE
YUV images must be
exported in NTSC resolution(720 x 540), or they w ill not
be legible.

PAL frame (*.pal)
PAL

A legacy format optimized for PAL
television.

81

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

FormatSpecification

Description

NOTE
PAL images must be
exported in PAL resolution(768 x 576), or they w ill not
be legible.

Toon Boom Scan Files (*.scan)
A Toon Boom proprietary format usedby Scan to store scanned image
information along w ith its registration(peg), resolution and field chart
metadata. SCAN files are in gresycale.

SCAN

PNG

PNG4

Full colour / 8 bits
per channel

Full colour w ith
transparency / 8
bits per channel

PNGDP

Full colour / 16 bits
per channel

PNGDP3Full colour / 16 bits
per channel

Portable Network Graphics (*.png)
A highly portable image format w ithhigh lossless compression as w ell as
support for transparency and doubleprecision. PNG is typically used for W eb
applications, graphical user interfaces
and image sharing.
Rendering in PNG takes more time thanrendering in TGA or in uncompressed
image formats, but saves a lot of disk
space.

NOTE
PNG files exported from
Storyboard Pro are tagged
w ith their colour space

PNGDP4

Full colour w ith
transparency / 16
bits per channel

information in their
metadata.

Jpeg (*.jpg)
A very compact image format w ith lossy
compression. It is typically used for W eb
pages and photo sharing. Because it
does not preserve image quality, it isrecommended to never render in Jpeg
format unless you are exporting stills fora W eb page or are making quick render
tests.

JPG

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

FormatSpecification

Description

BMP

Full colour

Bitmap (*.bmp)

BMP4

Full colour w ith
transparency

A standard uncompressed image format
commonly used on Microsoft operating
systems.

OPT

Full colour

OPT1

Greyscale

OPT3

Full colour

OPT4

Full colour w ith
transparency

Toon Boom Optimized image (*.opt)
A legacy Toon Boom proprietary format
that stores bitmap image data w ith
lossless compression. It supports
transparency.

Toon Boom Variable Header image(*.var)VAR

A legacy Toon Boom proprietary format
that stores greyscale bitmap image dataw ith lossless compression.

Tagged Image File Format (*.tiff)
An image format w ith many
compression and encoding settings. It is
often used for image exchange in visualarts and publishing.

TIF

TIFF images exported by Harmony areuncompressed, encoded on a per-pixel(interleaved) basis in PC byte order.

DPX

8 bits per channel /Full color / RGB
channel order

DPX3_88 bits per channel /Full color / RGB
channel order

DPX3_1010 bits per channel/ Full color / RGB
channel order83

Digital Picture Exchange (*.dpx)
A professional photo format that
supports various different approaches tostoring colour information, w hich can beused for storing, exchanging and editing
raw information recorded by cameras. It
is commonly used in film production.

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

FormatSpecification

DPX3_12

12 bits per channel/ Full color / RGB
channel order

DPX3_16

16 bits per channel/ Full color / RGB
channel order

DPX3_10_
INVERTED_CHANNELS

10 bits per channel/ Full color / BGR
channel order

DPX3_12_
INVERTED_CHANNELS

12 bits per channel/ Full color / BGR
channel order

DPX3_16_
INVERTED_CHANNELS

16 bits per channel/ Full color / BGR
channel order

Description

OpenEXR (*.exr)

EXR

16 lines Zip
compression

84

A highly capable deep image format.
Each pixel in an EXR file is exported w ith
its Z-depth information. Additionally, if apixel is semi-transparent, the color anddepth information of pixels further backis stored along w ith it. If your scene has
multiplane or 3D elements, this format
can be used for compositing youranimation w ith other graphical elements
in 3D animation softw are.

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

FormatSpecification

Description

NOTES
l

OpenEXR files exported
from Storyboard Pro aretagged w ith the w hite
point and primaries
coordinates for theircolour space.

l

OpenEXR files are
alw ays exported by

EXR_ZIP_1LINE

1 line Zip
compression

Storyboard Pro alw ays
have 1 line Zip
compression if they
contain a 3D image.

Portable Document File (*.pdf)
Typically, PDF files are used to store,archive, share and print documents.
How ever, Harmony uses the PDF format
for its capability to store bitmap images
and vector graphics.
PDF

If the w rite node is connected to a vectordraw ing layer or to a vector composite,
the exported PDF files w ill contain theimage as a vector graphic. It w ill ignore
bitmap layers, effects and deformations.
Otherw ise, the PDF files w ill contain therendered image as a bitmap.

Deep Texture (*.dtex)
A commonly used deep image format.
Each pixel in an DTEX file is exported
w ith its Z-depth information.
Additionally, if a pixel is semitransparent, the color and depth
information of pixels further back isstored along w ith it. If your scene has
multiplane or 3D elements, this format
can be used for compositing youranimation w ith other graphical elements
in 3D animation softw are.

DTEX

85

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

FormatSpecification

Description

NOTE
Exporting in Deep Texture
requires RenderMan to beinstalled on the machine andthe path to RenderMan
properly configured inHarmony. For more
information, see the Setting
3D Renderer Paths topic of
the User Guide.For more
information, see the Setting
3D Renderer Paths topic of
the Harmony User Guide.

Open folder after export

Opens the folder in w hich files w ere exported in a file brow ser once the export is done.

86Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

W rite Node Image Formats for Harmony
W hen exporting Harmony scenes from your Storyboard Pro project, you can choose to customize theparameters of the W rite node w hich w ill create the rendered frames of your scenes. One of the most complex
parameters for a scene's W rite node is the Image Format, as it has a very extensive set of options.

Most available formats are named after their file extension, but some also contain suffixes indicating how
they're encoded. For example, w hile PNG is exported w ith three colour channels—red, green and blue—andencoded at 8 bits per channel by default, PNG4DP is a variant of PNG w ith four channels—red, green, blue
and alpha (transparency)—as w ell as double precision, w hich means each colour channel is encoded in 16 bits
instead of 8 bits.
Here is a list of all the image formats supported for rendering w ith W rite nodes in Harmony
FormatSpecification

TGA

Full colour

TGA1

Greyscale

Description

Truevision TGA/TARGA (*.tga)
A standard image format w ith lossless compression and support fortransparency.
TGA3

Full colour
TGA files use more disk space than PNG files, but rendering in TGA isfaster.

TGA4Full colour w ith
transparency

SGI

Full colour / 8 bits
per channel

SGI1

Greyscale / 8 bits
per channel

SGI3

Full colour / 8 bits
per channel

Silicon Graphics Image (*.sgi)
A highly capable format w ith lossless compression as w ell as support
for double precision and transparency.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

FormatSpecification

SGI4

Full colour w ith
transparency / 8
bits per channel

SGIDP

Full colour / 16
bits per channel

SGIDP3Full colour / 16
bits per channel

SGIDP4

Full colour w ith
transparency / 16
bits per channel

PSD

Full colour / 8 bits
per channel

PSD1

Greyscale / 8 bits
per channel

PSD3

Full colour / 8 bits
per channel

Description

Photoshop Document (*.psd)

PSD4

Full colour w ith
transparency / 8
bits per channel

PSDDP

Full colour / 16
bits per channel

PSDDP1Greyscale / 16 bits
per channel

PSDDP3Full colour / 16
bits per channel

PSDDP4

Full colour w ith
transparency / 16
bits per channel

An Adobe Photoshop proprietary format used for image editing.
PSD files exported by Harmony contain a single background layer
w ith the rasterized image.

NOTE
PSD files exported from Storyboard Pro are tagged w ith theircolour space information in their metadata, except for PSD
files exported in greyscale.

88

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

FormatSpecification

Description

Y'UV frame (*.yuv)
A legacy format optimized for NTSC television. The image
information is encoded in the Y'UV color space, w hich means Luma(Y') and Chrominance (UV).
YUV

NOTE
YUV images must be exported in NTSC resolution (720 x 540),
or they w ill not be legible.

PAL frame (*.pal)
A legacy format optimized for PAL television.
PAL

NOTE
PAL images must be exported in PAL resolution (768 x 576),
or they w ill not be legible.

Toon Boom Scan Files (*.scan)
A Toon Boom proprietary format used by Scan to store scanned
image information along w ith its registration (peg), resolution andfield chart metadata. SCAN files are in gresycale.

SCAN

PNG

Full colour / 8 bits
per channel
Portable Network Graphics (*.png)

PNG4

Full colour w ith
transparency / 8
bits per channel

A highly portable image format w ith high lossless compression as
w ell as support for transparency and double-precision. PNG is
typically used for W eb applications, graphical user interfaces andimage sharing.

PNGDP

Full colour / 16
bits per channel

Rendering in PNG takes more time than rendering in TGA or in
uncompressed image formats, but saves a lot of disk space.

PNGDP3Full colour / 16
bits per channel

PNGDP4NOTE
PNG files exported from Storyboard Pro are tagged w ith theircolour space information in their metadata.

Full colour w ith
transparency / 16
bits per channel

89Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

FormatSpecification

Description

Jpeg (*.jpg)
A very compact image format w ith lossy compression. It is typicallyused for W eb pages and photo sharing. Because it does not preserve
image quality, it is recommended to never render in Jpeg format
unless you are exporting stills for a W eb page or are making quick
render tests.

JPG

BMP

Full colour

BMP4

Full colour w ith
transparency

OPT

Full colour

OPT1

Greyscale

OPT3

Full colour

OPT4

Full colour w ith
transparency

Bitmap (*.bmp)
A standard uncompressed image format commonly used on Microsoft
operating systems.

Toon Boom Optimized image (*.opt)
A legacy Toon Boom proprietary format that stores bitmap image
data w ith lossless compression. It supports transparency.

Toon Boom Variable Header image (*.var)
VAR

A legacy Toon Boom proprietary format that stores greyscale bitmap
image data w ith lossless compression.

Tagged Image File Format (*.tiff)
An image format w ith many compression and encoding settings. It is
often used for image exchange in visual arts and publishing.

TIF

TIFF images exported by Harmony are uncompressed, encoded on a
per-pixel (interleaved) basis in PC byte order.

DPX

DPX3_88 bits per channel/ Full color / RGB
channel order

8 bits per channel/ Full color / RGB
channel order

Digital Picture Exchange (*.dpx)
A professional photo format that supports various different
approaches to storing colour information, w hich can be used forstoring, exchanging and editing raw information recorded by cameras.
It is commonly used in film production.

90

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

FormatSpecification

DPX3_1010 bits perchannel / Fullcolor / RGB
channel order

DPX3_12

Description

12 bits perchannel / Fullcolor / RGB
channel order

DPX3_16

16 bits perchannel / Fullcolor / RGB
channel order

DPX3_10_
INVERTED_CHANNELS

10 bits perchannel / Fullcolor / BGR
channel order

DPX3_12_
INVERTED_CHANNELS

12 bits perchannel / Fullcolor / BGR
channel order

DPX3_16_
INVERTED_CHANNELS

16 bits perchannel / Fullcolor / BGR
channel order

OpenEXR (*.exr)

EXR

16 lines Zip
compression

A highly capable deep image format. Each pixel in an EXR file isexported w ith its Z-depth information. Additionally, if a pixel is semitransparent, the color and depth information of pixels further back isstored along w ith it. If your scene has multiplane or 3D elements, thisformat can be used for compositing your animation w ith othergraphical elements in 3D animation softw are.

91

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

FormatSpecification

Description

NOTES

EXR_ZIP_1LINE

1 line Zip
compressionl

OpenEXR files exported from Storyboard Pro are tagged
w ith the w hite point and primaries coordinates for theircolour space.

l

OpenEXR files are alw ays exported by Storyboard Pro
alw ays have 1 line Zip compression if they contain a 3D
image.

Portable Document File (*.pdf)

PDF

Typically, PDF files are used to store, archive, share and print
documents. How ever, Harmony uses the PDF format for its capability
to store bitmap images and vector graphics.
If the w rite node is connected to a vector draw ing layer or to a vector
composite, the exported PDF files w ill contain the image as a vector
graphic. It w ill ignore bitmap layers, effects and deformations.
Otherw ise, the PDF files w ill contain the rendered image as a bitmap.

Deep Texture (*.dtex)
A commonly used deep image format. Each pixel in an DTEX file isexported w ith its Z-depth information. Additionally, if a pixel is semitransparent, the color and depth information of pixels further back isstored along w ith it. If your scene has multiplane or 3D elements, thisformat can be used for compositing your animation w ith othergraphical elements in 3D animation softw are.
DTEX

NOTE
Exporting in Deep Texture requires RenderMan to be installedon the machine and the path to RenderMan properly
configured in Harmony. For more information, see the Setting
3D Renderer Paths topic of the User Guide.For more
information, see the Setting 3D Renderer Paths topic of theHarmony User Guide.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Export to PDF W indow
The Export to PDF w indow lets you export a storyboard project as a PDF file or share electronically.

How to access the Export to PDF window
1. Select Export > PDF.

Parameter

Description

Destination Path

Lets you specify the name and location of the PDF file you are creating.

PDF Export Parameters

3 Panels Horizontal

This is a classic layout of a printed storyboard. It consists of three panels per
page, including captions, in an horizontal arrangement.

3 Panels Vertical

This is a classic layout of a printed storyboard. It consists of three panels per

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

page, including captions, in a vertical arrangement.

Full Page

This layout consists of one large panel per page, including captions.

Overview 2x4 Panels

This layout consists of a total of eight panels per page, organized on tw o row s offour, w ith captions in the middle.

Overview 4x3 Panels

This layout consists of a total of 12 panels per page, organized in three row s offour. No caption is included.

Overview 8x10This layout consists of a total of 80 panels per page, organized in ten row s of four.
No caption is included.

Vertical JapaneseFormatThis layout consists of a total of 5 panels per page, aligned on the left side of thepage. Captions are organized on the right size of each panel. This export also
includes a cut and a duration column, and displays the duration of each scene at
the beginning of every new one.

Legacy JapaneseFormatThis layout consists of a total of five panels by page, aligned on the left side of thepage. Captions and duration are aligned in tw o consecutive row s on the right side.
Note that your PDF reader and system may require an additional font package inorder to display the PDF file properly.

Alternate Vertical
LayoutThis layout consists of a total of 5 panels per page, aligned on the left side of thepage. This export includes vertical columns for the dialog, action, sluggin, notes,
and time (duration) column w hich is displayed near the end of each scene(optionally). The scene name appears near the top of the first panel of a scene.
The caption titles appear at the top and do not repeat at each panel. The total
duration appears at the bottom of the page.

New Profile

Creates a completely new layout.

Delete Profile

Deletes the selected layout from the list.

Edit Profile

Lets you edit the selected layout from the list.

Profile Options

This menu contains the follow ing profile options: create (New ), Delete, Edit,
Duplicate, Export and Import. The Delete, Edit and Duplicate options affect thecurrently selected profile in the PDF Export Parameters list.
Selecting Export Profile opens a dialog box that allow s you to select w hichprofiles from the PDF Export Parameters list that you w ish to export.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Selecting Import Profile opens a brow ser w indow that allow s you to search forand select the profile you w ish to import.

Export Range

All

Exports the entire storyboard.

Select this option to export a specific selection of scenes. Then, click on the Selectbutton to open the Scenes Picker dialog box, in w hich you can:Selected SceneslType the number of a sequence or of a scene in the Sequence or Scene
fields in the Filter section, to only show matching sequences or matching
scenes in the list.

lClick and drag to select a range of scenes.

lHold the Ctrl key and click on each scene you w ant to add to yourselection.

lHold the Shift key, then click on the first scene and the last scene you
w ant to add to your selection, to select every scene betw een those tw oscenes inclusively.

l

If your project has sequences, click on a sequence to select every scene inthat sequence.

Current Scene

Exports only the currently selected scene.

Current Panel

Exports only the currently selected panel.

Tracked Panels - [0panel]

Exports panels on w hich tracking changes is enabled.

Open document after export

Opens the PDF file after export.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Extract Storyboard Dialog Box
The Extract Storyboard Dialog Box lets you divide a storyboard into several parts. Each export portion of thestoryboard w ill be saved as a different file. You can choose to save an intact copy of the entire storyboard or
divide the project into separate files.

IMPORTANT
If you w ant to keep the extracted scenes in the original project, and later import the changes madeto the extracted projects back into the original project using the Merge and Replace dialog, it ishighly recommended to lock you project's scene and panel numbers before splitting your project.
To do this, in the top menu, select Storyboard > Lock Scene and Panel Names.

How to access the Extract Storyboard dialog box
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select File > Project Management > Extract.

l

In the Project Management view , click on
Management View .

The Extract Storyboard dialog box appears.

Parameter

Description

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Menu and select Extract—see ProjectStoryboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

The list of scenes in your project. You can select one or several scenes in this list, anddecide to save the selected scenes into their ow n project.

Scenes

Prompts you to select the location and project name in w hich to save the scenes that are
selected in the Scenes list. Once you are done, a new item containing the range of scenesthat you selected w ill be added to the Projects list below .
Extract
Selected
ScenesNOTE
This adds a project to extract to the list of projects, but the projects are not actually
extracted until you click the OK button.

Projects

RemoveSelected
Projects

Remove extracted
scenes from current
project

Link extracted project

Displays the list of projects w hich you have chosen to extract. This list w ill contain a newitem every time you select scenes in the Scenes list, then choose a location and name forthem w ith the Extract Selected Scenes button.

Removes the project that is currently selected in the Projects list from the list. Use thisbutton if you made a mistake in the scenes and projects you w ant to extract and need totry again.

Removes the extracted scenes from the project. If you w ant to keep the entire storyboard
project intact as a master project, uncheck this option.

Adds each extracted project to the project list in the Project Management view , so thatyou can easily track and merge changes to the extracted projects back into the current
project—see Project Management View on page 545.

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Find Sound Clips Dialog Box
The Find Sound Clips dialog box allow s you to search through your project's audio tracks for its sound clips.
You can search using the full name or part of the name of a sound clip, including its extension. You can iterate
through the sound clips that match your search string, or simultaneously select all matching sound clips.
W hen iterating through matching sound clips, it cycles through audio tracks vertically, from top to bottom,
then from left to right. For example, if three matching sound clips are cued at the same time and a fourth one iscued much later, it w ill go through the matching sound clips that are cued at the same time first, from the top
one to the bottom one, then to the clip cued later.

How to access the Find Sound Clips dialog box
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select Clips > Find Sound Clips.

lRight-click anyw here in one of your project's audio tracks, then select Find Sound Clips.

The Find Sound Clips dialog box appears.

Paramter

Description

SearchThe search string to use for finding sound clips. Clips w ill match if part or all of their clip namematches the search string.

If checked, sound clips w ill only match the search string if their name is in the same case as thesearch string.
Case Sensitive

For example, the search strings "sound clip" or "SOUND CLIP" w ould only match a clip named"Sound Clip.w av" if the Case Sensitive option is unchecked. If it is checked, only the search string"Sound Clip" w ould match w ith that clip name.

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Paramter

ScrollVertically on
Find

Find All

Description

By default, w hen clicking on the Previous or Next button, the Timeline view w ill only scroll
horizontally to the position of the sound clip it finds. If this option is selected, the Timeline view
w ill also scroll vertically to display the matching sound clip.
If your project has a lot of audio tracks and the Timeline view in your w orkspace hasn't been
expanded to display them all at the same time, you might need to scroll up or dow n to find amatching sound clip, since the matching sound clip might be in an audio track that is not
currently visible.

Simultaneously select all the sound clips that match the search criteria, w ithout moving thetimeline playhead or scrolling the Timeline view .

Search for a matching sound clip before the starting search position. If a sound clip is found, theTimeline view w ill scroll to the sound clip, it w ill become selected, and the timeline playhead
w ill be moved to the beginning of the sound clip.
Previous

NOTE
If no sound clip is selected, it w ill start searching from the position of the timeline playhead.
If a sound clip is selected, it w ill start searching from the position of that sound clip.

Search for a matching sound clip after the starting search position. If a sound clip is found, theTimeline view w ill scroll to the sound clip, it w ill become selected, and the timeline playhead
w ill be moved to the beginning of the sound clip.
Next

NOTE
If no sound clip is selected, it w ill start searching from the position of the timeline playhead.
If a sound clip is selected, it w ill start searching from the position of that sound clip.

Close

Close the dialog box.

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Find Text in Captions Dialog
The Find Text in Captions dialog allow s you to search for a specific string of text in all of the captions in yourproject. This includes the Script field in the Storyboard view and the caption fields in the Panel view , for all thepanels in your storyboard. You can also use it to replace instances of a string of text w ith a different string.

How to access the Find Text in Captions dialog
1. In the Panel or Storyboard view , select the caption field w here you w ant to start searching.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight above the selected caption field, click on the

Menu button and select Find Text in

Captions.
l

In the top menu, select Caption > Find Text in Captions.

lPress Ctrl + Shift + F (W indow s) or ⌘ + Shift + F (macOS).

The Find Text in Captions dialog box appears.

Parameter

Description

Find

The string of text to search.

Replace

To string of text to replace the original string w ith. You do not need to typeanything in this field if you only w ant to search for text w ithout replacing it.

If enabled, the Find Text in Captions dialog w ill only find instances of the string in
the Find field that match both its text content and its case.
Case sensitive

For example, if the Case sensitive option is not checked, the search string "My
Storyboard" w ill match against "my storyboard", "MY STORYBOARD" and "My
Storyboard". If it is checked, the search string "My Storyboard" w ill only matchagainst "My Storyboard", w here every letter being in the same case.

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Search results

Displays information about the results of the last search performed.

Allow s you to decide in w hich direction to search for the text string:l

Forward: Searches from the current position of the text cursor to the endof the selected caption field, then searches in the next caption fields in thecurrent panel, and then in the ensuing panels.

l

Backward: Searches from the current position of the text cursor to thebeginning of the caption field, and then searches in the previous caption
fields in the current panel, and then in previous panels.

Direction

Locates the next instance of the w ord or phrase in the Find field in your project,
starting from the current position of the text cursor.
Find

The panel in w hich the w ord is found w ill be selected. The caption fieldcontaining the w ord w ill scroll dow n to the location of the w ord, and the w ord
itself w ill be highlighted.

If an instance of the string in the Find field is highlighted, this replaces thisinstance w ith the string in the Replace field, then finds the next instance of thestring in the Find field and highlights it.
Replace

If no instance of the w ord in the Find field is highlighted, this button simply
locates the next instance of the string in the Find field and highlights it, w ithout
replacing it, so that you can decide w hether or not you w ant the next instancereplaced. To replace the instance it finds, click Replace again.

Replace All

Replaces all instances of the string in the Find field w ith the string in the Replace
field, in all the caption fields for your entire project.

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Flash Export Settings Dialog Box
The Flash Export Settings dialog box lets you compress and set the video quality of the movie you areexporting.

How to access the Flash Export Settings dialog box
1. Select File > Export > Movie.
The Export to Movie w indow opens.

2. In the Movie Format drop-dow n, select Flash (*.swf).
3. Click Options.
The Flash Export Settings dialog box opens.

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Parameter

Protect from Import

Description

Protects the movie from being imported into another application and have its
assets extracted.

Compress

Applies standard lossless compression to the exported Flash file, to make it use
less disk space.

JPEG Quality

Allow s you to set the JPEG compression quality of bitmap images in the exported
Flash file. All bitmap images in a Flash movie are encoded in JPEG format to save
space. Increasing this setting w ill increase the quality of bitmap images in theexported movie, and decreasing this setting w ill make it use less disk space.

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Format Captions Dialog Box
The Format Captions dialog box allow s you to make changes to the formatting of all the captions in yourproject. Optionally, you can use it to change the formatting of all the captions in one, or several specific panels.

The Format Captions dialog is comprised of:l

A Text Formatting toolbar that is very similar to the one used for making changes to the local
formatting of captions, except that this toolbar instantly changes the formatting of all the captions inyour project or in the specified range, except of to the selected text.

NOTE
For the regular Text Formatting toolbar that only changes the formatting of the selected
text, see Text Formatting Toolbar on page 332.

l

A Scale Captions section, for increasing or decreasing the size of the text in the specified range
proportionally to their current size.

l

A Range section, for selecting w hich range of panels and w hich caption fields to make changes to.

IMPORTANT
Any changes made to the format of captions in your project using this dialog w ill take effectimmediately on all the captions in all of the panels specified in the Range section of this dialog,
and w ill override any local formatting.

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NOTE
The Format Captions dialog only changes the formatting of panel captions in the Panel view . It
does not change the formatting of the text in the Script field of the Storyboard view .

How to access the Format Captions dialog
1. In the top menu, select Captions > Format Captions.

Icon

Parameter

Description--

Text Formatting
ToolbarEntering anything in the fields or clicking on any of the buttons in this toolbar
w ill instantly change the formatting of all the captions in the range specified in
the Range section, and w ill override their local formatting.

--

Font Family

Allow s you to change the font for all the text in the captions in the specified
range.

--

Font Size

Allow s you to change the font size for all the text in the captions in thespecified range.

Instantly makes all the text in the captions in the specified range bold.
Bold

If all the text in the specified range is already bold, this w ill make the text notbold instead.

Instantly makes all the text in the captions in the specified range italic.
ItalicIf all the text in the specified range is already bold, this w ill make the text notitalic instead.

Instantly makes all the text in the captions in the specified range underlined.
Underline

If all the text in the specified rang is already underlined, this w ill remove theunderline instead.

Align Left

Instantly makes all the text in the captions in the specified range aligned to theleft.

Align Center

Instantly makes all the text in the captions in the specified range aligned to thecentre.

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Icon

Parameter

Description

Align Right

Instantly makes all the text in the captions in the specified range aligned to theright.

Justify

Instantly makes all the text in the captions in the specified range justified. This
makes the spacing betw een w ords automatically adjust to make each line oftext occupy all the available horizontal space, except for the last line of eachparagraph.

Text Colour

Opens the Select Colour dialog box, from w hich you can select a new colour
for the text in the specified range.

Opens the Select Colour dialog box, from w hich you can select a backgroundcolour for the text in the specified range.
Background
ColourNOTE
The background colour is applied around the text, like this, and does notcover the entire caption field.

Removes all font, font size, bold, italic, underline, text colour and backgroundcolour formatting from the text in the specified range.
Clear Formatting

NOTE
The

--

--

Clear Formatting button does not affect text alignment.

Scale Captions

This section allow s you to increase or decrease the size of the text in the
project's captions proportionally to their current size. Hence, you can adjust thesize of the text w ithout overriding the local font size formatting across yourproject's captions.

Scale up point
size

Proportionally increases the font size of all the text in the captions in thespecified range.

Scale dow n point
size

Proportionally decreases the font size of all the text in the captions in thespecified range.

Range

This section allow s you to specify the range of captions fields to reformat.

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Icon

Parameter

Description

Allow s you to select the range of panels for w hich captions should bereformatted:--lCurrent Panel: Only change the formatting of the captions in thecurrent panel.

lSelected Panels: Only change the formatting of the captions in thepanels that are currently selected in the Thumbnails or Timeline view .

lAll Panels: Change the formatting of the captions in all the panels in
the project.

Panel range

By default, All Panels is checked. If you w ant to preserve the formatting incertain panels in your project, select the appropriate panel range before
making any change to the formatting in your captions.

Allow s you to select w hich caption fields to reformat. The text in the captions
corresponding to all the checked caption fields w ill be reformatted, provided
that they're in a panel in the specified panel range.
By default, this list contains the follow ing items.

--lDialoglAction Notesl

Scrubbing

l

Notes

Caption range

The items in this list correspond to the caption fields in your project, w hich can
be customized. By default, all the items in this list are checked. If you w ant topreserve the formatting in a specific type of caption, simply uncheck it before
making any change to the formatting in your captions.

--

Close

Closes the dialog.

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Generate Auto- Matte Dialog Box
The Generate Auto-Matte dialog box enables you to quickly fill in sketch objects, hiding anything that isbehind the object.

How to access the Generate Auto- Matte dialog box
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select Layer > Generate Auto- Matte.

l

In the layer panel, right-click on a layer and select Generate Auto- Matte.

Parameter

Description

Radius

The radius used to analyze the draw ing to generate its matte. The default value is
200 and its value can range betw een 1 and 9999. A low er setting w ill create amore precise matte but may make the generation slow and the resulting matte
too detailed for its purpose. A higher setting w ill make a more approximate
matte.

Matte Colour

The colour to fill the matte w ith. By default, this is set to Current, w hich is thecurrently selected colour in the Colour view . You can select Custom in the dropdow n, then click on the colour sw atch to select a different colour.

If checked, a new layer w ill be created under the source layer and the matte w ill
be stored in that layer. The new layer w ill have the name of the source layer
follow ed by _Matte. If unchecked, the matte w ill simply be added to the source
draw ing in its source layer, behind the existing artw ork.
Create Matte on New Layer

NOTE
W hen creating a matte on a new layer, all of the source layer's properties(ie: alignment, export options, opacity) as w ell as its transformations andanimations are copied onto the new layer.

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Copy Strokes to
Destination

If checked, the contours of the source draw ing w ill be copied onto the matte, as
invisible strokes. This separates the matte into different sections that you can fill
w ith different colours, based on the outlines of the draw ing.

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Import CSV Dialog
The Import CSV allow s you to import a Comma Separated Values (.csv) file that has been exported by
Storyboard Pro. It w ill take the content of the caption fields for each of your panels from the CSV file andtransfer it to their respective caption fields in your project.
This allow s you to export your project's captions into a CSV file, edit your captions in a spreadsheet editor,
then import the updated captions into your project.

IMPORTANTIn order to be able to import a CSV file using this dialog, the CSV file must have been exported by
Storyboard Pro using the Export CSV dialog box, and must include the follow ing items:lColumn NameslSequence Names (if your project contains sequences)l

Scene NameslPanel NameslCaptions

Additionally, if the captions w ere not exported w ith the Include Rich Text Formatting option, theirtext formatting w ill be discarded w hen you import the CSV file.
For more information, see Export CSV Dialog on page 40.

How to access the Import CSV window
1. In the top menu, select File > Update Captions from CSV.
The Import CSV dialog appears.

Parameter

Description

110Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

The path to the CSV file to import.
File

You can click on the

Brow se button to open the Select CSV File dialog, w hichallow s you to navigate your file system and locate the CSV file.

ReportImportW hen you click Import, this w ill display information about each caption in yourproject that w as updated.

Imports the selected CSV file, and checks the content of each caption in the CSV
file w ith their corresponding caption in your project. If any caption in the CSV fileis different, its content is copied to the corresponding caption in your project.

Close

Closes the dialog.

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Import from Final Draft Dialog Box
The Import from Final Draft dialog box allow s you to import a Final Draft script and generate a new
Storyboard Pro project w ith it, w ith empty scenes and panels automatically generated based on your script's
structures, and the script's action notes and dialogues automatically copied to their respective panel's caption
fields.

For example, you can import a Final Draft script and, among other things:lCreate a new scene in your project for each Scene Heading element in your script.

lCreate a new panel in your project for each Action element in your script, and copy the action into thatpanel's Action Notes caption.

lCreate a new panel in your project for each combination of Character and Dialogue elements or for eachcombination of Character and Parenthetical elements in your script, and copy the character's name andtheir dialogue or parenthetical into the panel's Dialog caption.

lCreate a new transition in your project for each Transition element in your script.

lCreate a new act in your project for each New Act element in your script.

How each type of element in your script translates into a structuring element or caption in your Storyboard Pro
project is entirely configurable.

NOTE
For more information on how to create a new project w ith a Final Draft script, refer to the User
Guide.

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How to access the Import from Final Draft dialog box
1. In the top menu, select File > New from Final Draft Script.
The Import from Final Draft dialog box appears.

NOTE
You cannot access this dialog box from the W elcome screen. Therefore, you must
either open an existing project or create a new project before you can access this dialog
box from the top menu.

Parameter

Description

The path to the Final Draft script you are importing.
Script file

You can click on the

Brow se button on the right to open a dialog box that w ill allow you tobrow se for and select your script.

Script elements
list

The list of all element types included in your Final Draft script. These may include Action,
Character, Dialogue, Scene Heading, Shot, Transition, End of Act, New Act, General, and anyother type of element, including custom elements.
You can select an element in this list, then configure w hat Storyboard Pro w ill do w ith each
instance of this type of element it finds in your script in the Element Options section of this
dialog.

Element Options

W hat to do each time an element of the selected type is found in your script.
W hen you import a Final Draft script as a new Storyboard Pro project, Storyboard Pro goes
through your script from top to bottom and, for every element in your script, it performs theaction you selected for that element type, so as to create the structure of your project.
ActionFor example, you can select Scene Heading in the Elements list, then select New Scene in theaction drop-dow n, so that Storyboard Pro generates a new scene in your Storyboard Pro
project for each Scene Heading element it finds in your script.
lNone: Does not create anything in your project for this type of element.

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Parameter

Description

NOTE
Even if an element is not configured to perform any action, its text can still be
stored in captions. If you select a caption in the Destination caption field dropdow n, its text w ill be stored in that caption field, but for the last panel that w as
generated.

l

New Act: Creates a new act in your project w henever an instance of this element isencountered in your script. The act is named after the text content of this element.
Typically, this action should be selected for New Act elements.

l

New Sequence: Creates a new sequence in your project w henever an instance of thiselement is encountered in your script.

l

New Scene: Creates a new scene in your project w henever an instance of this element
is encountered in your script.
Typically, you should select this action for Scene Heading elements.

l

New Panel: Creates a new panel in your project, w henever an instance of this element
is encountered in your script.
Typically, this action should be selected for Action elements, as w ell as Character
elements, as they are usually used to signify that a character is about to speak.

l

New Transition: Creates a new transition in your project w henever an instance of thiselement is encountered in your script.
Typically, this action should be selected to Transition elements.

NOTE
A transition is alw ays follow ed by a new scene in Storyboard Pro.

l

New Scene Prefix: Sets the prefix to add to the name of every ensuing scene. The
name of every scene created after this element w ill start w ith the text in this element,
follow ed by its scene number

If this option is enabled for the selected element type, w hen Storyboard Pro finds several
consecutive elements of this type in your script, it w ill only perform the selected action in the
Action drop-dow n for the first of these consecutive elements.
Combinesuccessive
elements

For example, if you configure Action elements to generate new panels, by default, a newpanel w ill be generated for every Action element in your script. How ever, if you also enable
this option for Action elements, then consecutive Action elements w ill only generate a single
panel, and their text content w ill be added to the same caption field, separated by paragraphbreaks.

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Parameter

Include Element
Number w hen
available

Description

In Final Draft, it is possible to number scenes, or any type of element for that matter. If thisoption is enabled for an element type that is numbered in your Final Draft script, Storyboard
Pro w ill add that element's number before the element's text w hen importing it into a caption
field.
For example, if your Character elements are numbered in your script, you set each Character
element to be imported into your project's Dialogue caption fields, and you enable this option
for Character elements, each character name that is added to a panel's Dialogue caption field
w ill be preceded by its character number.

The caption field in w hich to import the element's text.
For example, it is typical to import Character, Dialogue and Parenthetical elements into the
Dialog captions, and the Action elements into the Action Notes captions.

NOTES
Destination
caption fieldl

If the selected element is configured to create a new panel, then its text w ill be stored
in the captions for that new panel. Likew ise, if the selected element is configured tocreate a new scene, sequence or act, its text w ill be stored in the captions for the firstpanel in the scene, sequence or act. Otherw ise, it w ill be stored in the captions for thelast generated panel.

l

If several consecutive elements are set to be imported into the same caption field,
their text w ill be added to that same caption field in the order in w hich they appear in
the script, separated by paragraph breaks.

Allow s you to instantly create a caption field for your project, so that you can import specificscript elements into caption fields that are not created by default.

Add caption
field

For example, Storyboard Pro has four default caption fields: Dialog, Action Notes, Slugging
and Notes. You could choose to store Scene Heading elements into the Notes caption of theirrespective panel, or you may w ant to store Scene Heading elements into a caption field of
their ow n, w hich you could name "Scene Heading" or "Setting". This button allow s you tocreate such custom caption fields for your project on the fly.
To create a new caption field, simply click on this button and, in the dialog that appears, typethe name of the new caption and click OK.

TIP
If you accidentally created a caption field that you don't w ant to use, you can leave it in for
now and delete it from your project later.

Save as default
rules

If this option is checked, w hen you click on Import, the current configuration w ill be saved, andw ill be reloaded next time you attempt to create a project from a Final Draft script.

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Parameter

Description

ImportImports the Final Draft script, then opens the New Project dialog. In this dialog, you can set thename, location and resolution of your new project. Once you confirm the information for the
new project, Storyboard Pro w ill generate a new project using your Final Draft script. It w illcreate scenes, panels and, depending on the settings you chose, sequences and acts based on
the structure of your script, and w ill copy snippets of your script into each panel's captions, as
you configured it to do.

Close

Dismisses the dialog and returns to the currently open project.

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Import Images Dialog Box
The Import Images dialog box lets you import an image into your project as layers or scenes. The imported
image w ill be vectorized in colour and fit the camera frame.

How to access the Import Images dialog box
1. Do one of the follow ing to open the Preferences dialog:ll

W indows:l

In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U.

macOS:l

In the top menu, select Storyboard Pro 22 > Preferences.

l

Press ⌘ + U.

2. In the User Preferences dialog box, select the Import/Export tab.
3. Select the Display Vectorize Options Dialog option.

4. Select File > Import > Images as Layers.
5. In the brow ser that opens, select an image to import.
The Import Images dialog box opens.

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The preview area displays the original image on the left and the resulting image on the right. The
preview of the resulting image automatically updates each time you modify a parameter.

Parameter

Description

Import Options

As Bitmap Layer

Preserves the exact look of the imported images and imports it in a bitmap layer.

Colour to Vector
Layer

Preserves the exact look of the imported images and imports it in a vector layer.

Gray Scale to Vector
Layer

Imports the selected images as a gray scale in a vector layer.

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Imports the images as black line art.

Threshold (%): Filters out noise in your images. Noise can be dirt or faintsmudges on your scanned images. For example, if your value is set to 70%, allcolour values below 70% are converted to w hite and ignored in the final image. If
your value is set to 100%, only completely black lines w ill be kept.
Black and W hite to
Vector Layer

Expand: Enter a value betw een 1 and 100 to thicken lines or the outer edges ofthe bitmap. Use this option if your line art is too fine or pale so that their visibility
is increased in the softw are.

Smooth: Enter a value betw een 1 and 5 to set the smoothness level. Greatersmoothness equals less jaggedness and imperfections, but at a greater loss todetail.

Resampling Options

Original Size

Maxiumum Size

Scaled Size

The original dimensions of the imported image.

Enter a specific maximum size for your imported image to be scaled dow n to. The
original ratio of the image w ill be preserved during the operation. You can see thefinal values resulting from the scaling process in the Scale Size fields. Note thatyou can not use these fields to scale up an image.

Displays the final size the image w ill be scaled after it is imported in your project.

SourceDisplays the source image you imported.

Preview

Displays a preview of the image w hen adjusting its parameters.

Save as default

Saves the current settings. Every time you open this dialog box, the new default
parameters w ill automatically be set. The import images commands w ill still use
this new default even if you deselect the Display Vectorize Options Dialog
preferences.

Do not show this dialog
again

Deselects the Display Vectorize Options dialog option in the Preferences dialog
box directly from here.

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Conformation Import Project Dialog Box
The Import Project dialog allow s you to import a sequence w hich you exported for conformation, edited in athird party video editing softw are and re-exported for import in Storyboard Pro. You can import a sequence inFinal Cut Pro XML Interchange Format (.xml), or in Advanced Authoring Format (.aaf).

NOTES
l

Refer to your video editing softw are’s documentation to learn how to export the animatic
project in XML or AAF format.

l

It is recommended to only import a sequence w hich w as originally exported from the same
project via Storyboard Pro. If you import a video editing sequence that w as not originally
exported from your project, the panels in your sequence w ill be imported as bitmap images.

How to access the Import Project window
1. In your original storyboard project, select File > Conformation > Import Animatic Project.

Parameter

Description

You can click on the Brow se
Sequence

button next to the Sequence field to brow se forand select the AAF or XML sequence w hich you exported from your video editing
softw are.

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Parameter

Description

Options

Process Panels

Checking this option w ill provide you w ith options for how panels w ill be
imported in the process of conformation.

Create Layers from
PSD files

If you are importing a PSD file to Storyboard Pro, checking this option w ill ensure
the PSD files import as multiple Storyboard layers.

Use the Scene
Reference track to
conform scenes

Checking this option w ill use the timing of each scene to accurately place eachpanel into place upon import after conformation w ith a third-party softw are. This
item is only available if Process Panel is checked.

Process Audio Tracks

Changes to audio tracks, new audio tracks, deleted audio tracks, as w ell aschanges to sound clips, their in and out points, their volume envelope, deleted
sound clips and new sound clips in the imported sequence w ill be conformed into
your Storyboard Pro project. Uncheck this option if you do not w ish to make anychanges to your project's audio tracks and sound clips.

Changes to panels such as their cue time, their length, their order, deleted panels,
new panels, transitions, camera movements and, in the case of XML sequences,layers and layer animations in the imported sequence w ill be conformed into your
Storyboard Pro project. Uncheck this option if you do not w ish to make anychanges to your project's storyboard and animatic, but only to the audio tracks or
captions.
Process Video Tracks

TIP
You can import audio tracks composed from scratch in a video editing
softw are by exporting them into an XML or AAF sequence, then importing
the sequence via this dialog, w ith the Process Video option unchecked.

Process Markers

Checking this option w ill allow the timeline markers created in Premiere Pro,
Avid, or from Storyboard Pro to appear in Storyboard Pro upon import after
conformation.

Process Captions

Changes to the panel captions in the imported sequence w ill be conformed into
your Storyboard Pro project.

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Parameter

Description

NOTE
If you exported your captions w ithout Rich Text Formatting, and madechanges to them, they w ill lose their formatting w hen the changed captions
are imported into your project.

W hen you click on the Import button, this w ill display information about each
Reportstep of the conformation process, as w ell as any error it encounters in theprocess, if any.

ImportOnce you have selected the XML or AAF sequence and the options you w ant, clickon the Import button to import the sequence and apply to changes that w ere
made to it to your Storyboard Pro project.

Close

Dismiss this dialog box.

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Import Sound Clips Dialog Box
The Import Sound Clips dialog box lets you import sound clips.
You can import sound clips (.w av, .aif, .aiff, or .mp3) into an audio track at the first frame or at the current
frame. If the sound clip does not already exist in your project, Storyboard Pro copies the file from its present
location to the audio folder in your storyboard project folder. You must w ork in the Timeline view .

IMPORTANT
It is not recommended to w ork .mp3 files as it is a compressed format. Long .mp3 files may notproperly sync w ith the action in your project.

How to access the Import Sound Clips dialog box
1. In the Timeline view , select the audio track in w hich you w ant to import sound clips.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select File > Import > Sound Clip.

l

Right-click on the audio track in w hich you w ant to import sound clips, then selectImport Sound Clips.

lRight-click on the empty space below the tracks in the Timeline view , then selectImport Sound Clips.

The Import Sound Clips dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Source Sound Clips

Allow s you to brow se for and select the sound files to import as sound clips.

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Destination

New Audio Tracks

Determines in w hich audio track the sound clips are added.

Adds the imported sound clips onto their ow n new audio tracks.

Adds the imported sound clips to the currently selected audio track.

Current Audio Track

NOTE
This option is unavailable if no audio track is selected.

Position

Determines at w hich frame in the timeline the new clips are added.

First Frame

Adds the imported sound clips at the first frame of the project.

Current Frame

Adds the imported sound clips just after the timeline cursor.

W hen importing in an existing audio track, this decides w hat happens if theclips are imported w here sound clips are already present.
Import Rule

NOTE
These options are unavailable if no audio track is selected.

Overw rite ExistingSound Clip

If there are existing sound clips w here the imported clips are supposed to be
added, the existing clips w ill be overw ritten.

Fill Next Available
FramesIf there are existing sound clips w here the new clips are supposed to be added,
the clips w ill be trimmed just before the existing clips.

Set as default and don't show
dialog again

If this option is enabled, the next time you w ant to import sound clips,
Storyboard Pro w ill prompt you to brow se for the sound files to import, anduse the currently selected options w ithout displaying this dialog.

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Import Videos/Images as Clips Dialog Box
The Import Videos/Images as Clips dialog allow s you to import still images or movie files into video tracks inyour projects. Video tracks are independent from your animatic. They can be put above the storyboard track todisplay video and image clips over the elements in the storyboard, or underneath the storyboard track todisplay its clips behind the storyboard.

Movie files can be imported as video clips to be played in your projects. Still images can be imported as static
video clip w hich can be made to last any amount of time.
You can import any image file supported by Storyboard Pro as a video clip. You can also import movie files in
QuickTime Movie (.mov) or MPEG-4 (.mp4, .m4v) format w hich are encoded w ith the H.264. On W indow s
only, you can also import W indow s Media Video (*.w mv) files, and on macOS only, you can also import
QuickTime Movie (.mov) files encoded in Apple ProRes.

How to access the Import Sound Clips dialog box
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select File > Import > Videos/Images as Clips.

lRight-click on the video track in w hich you w ant to import clips, then select Import
Videos/Images as Clips.

lRight-click on the empty space above or below the tracks in the Timeline view , then selectImport Videos/Images as Clips.

The Import Video Clips dialog box opens.

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Parameter

Description

Source Files

Allow s you to brow se for and select the image or movie files to import as clips.

Destination

Allow s you to select the video track in w hich to import the clips.

Creates a new video track and imports the clip in this new track.
If you are importing several clips, a video track w ill be created for each clip. Eachclip w ill be placed into its ow n video track and cued at the same time.

New Video Tracks

NOTE
If you choose to import your movie's audio streams into the same audio
track, the audio clips w ill have to be cued one after the other. Hence, thevideo clips w ill also be cued one after the other despite being imported into
different video tracks.

Allow s you to select, using the drop-dow n below , a video track in w hich to import
the clips.
Existing Video Track
If you are importing several clips, the imported clips w ill be added to the same
video track, one after the other.

Clip Settings

If you are importing still images, clips w ill be created from these images by
displaying the static image for a certain amount of frames. This allow s you to set
the length, in frames, of the image clips that w ill be imported in your project.
Still Images Duration

For example, if you w ant to import image clips that last 1 second each, and theframe rate of your project is 24 frames per second, set this option to 24.
This option is ignored w hen importing movie files, as they have their ow n length.

If you are movie files w ith transparency, this allow s you to select thetransparency mode of your clips, so that they are rendered properly.

Alpha TypeThe transparency mode is how the colour values in semi-transparent pixels havebeen encoded relative to their alpha value. Selecting the right alpha type for yourvideo clip w ill ensure that it is properly blended w ith the other visual elements inyour animatic.
l

Ignore Alpha: Display every pixel in the video clip as opaque, w ithout
demultiplying their colour values or blending them w ith other visualelements in your animatic.

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Parameter

DescriptionlPremultiplied with Black: The colour values of semi-transparent pixels inthe video have been encoded so that the more transparent they are, thecloser to black they are. W hen a video that is premultiplied w ith black is
loaded in a softw are that does not support transparency, it appears
blended w ith a black background. Select this to make Storyboard Pro
reverse this premultiplication so that the video clip blends properly w ith
other visual elements in your animatic.

l

Premultiplied with W hite: The colour values of semi-transparent pixels
in the video have been encoded so that the more transparent they are, thecloser to w hite they are. W hen a video that is premultiplied w ith w hite isloaded in a softw are that does not support transparency, it appears
blended w ith a w hite background. Select this to make Storyboard Pro
reverse this premultiplication so that the video clip blends properly w ith
other visual elements in your animatic.

lStraight: The colour of semi-transparent pixels in the image is encoded
independently from their transparency. W hen a video clip that is notpremultiplied is loaded in a softw are that does not support transparency,
semi-transparent pixels simply appear fully opaque, making its edges
appear pixelated.

TIP
If you are not sure about the alpha type of your movie file, select Straight.
Then, once your clips are imported, view them in the Stage view . If the semitransparent pixels in your movie appear too dark, change the clip's Alpha
Type to Premultiplied with Black. If the transparent pixels in your movie
appear too light, change the Alpha Type of the clip to Premultiplied with
W hite.
You can change the Alpha Type of a video clip by right-clicking on the clip in
the Timeline view , then selecting Alpha Type in the context menu.

NOTE
If you are importing image files, this option w ill be ignored. Image clips areimported using straight alpha.

Import Audio

New Audio Tracks

If checked, Storyboard Pro w ill import the audio stream of the selected video file
as a sound clip and insert it in an audio track in your project.

Creates a new audio track and imports the movie file's audio stream in this new
track.
If you are importing several movie files, an audio track w ill be created for each127Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Parameter

Description

movie file that contains an audio stream. Each audio stream w ill be imported as asound clip into its ow n audio track and cued at the same time.

NOTE
If you choose to import your video clips into the same video track, the video
clips w ill have to be cued one after the other. Hence, the audio clips forthese movie files w ill also be cued one after the other despite being
imported into different audio tracks.

Allow s you to select, using the drop-dow n below , an audio track in w hich toimport the movie file's audio stream.
Existing Audio Track

If you are importing several movie files, the sound clips imported from thesemovie files w ill be added to the same audio track, each cued at the same time as
the video clip imported from the same movie file.

W hen importing in an existing video track, this decides w hat happens if the clips
are imported w here videos clips are already present.

Import Rulel

Overwrite Existing Sound Clip: If there are existing video clips w here theimported clips are inserted, the existing clips w ill be overw ritten.

lFill Next Available Frames: If there are existing video clips w here the
new clips are inserted, the clips w ill be trimmed just before the existing
clips.

NOTE
These options are unavailable if no video track is selected.

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List Picker Dialog Box
The List Picker dialog box lets you select specific captions for export to a PDF document.

How to access the List Picker dialog box
1. In the Panel PDF Options dialog box, make sure the Export All Captions option must be deselected,
then click the Brow se button in the Caption List field.

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Manage Tool Presets Dialog Box
The Manage Tool Presets dialog box lets you import, export, delete, and update existing tool presets. Anychanges you make to the tool presets are reflected in the Tool Presets toolbar.

How to access the Manage Tool Presets dialog box
1. In the Tool Presets toolbar, click the Manage Tool Presets

button.

Parameter

Description

List of tool presets

Name of the currently selected tool preset.

ImportLets you import tool presets that other Storyboard Pro artists created.

ExportLets you export tool presets to share w ith other Storyboard Pro artists.

Deletes the selected tool presets.

Name

Name of the currently selected tool preset.

Icon

Lets you select an icon to associate w ith the selected tool preset or upload your
ow n.

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ShortcutLets you set a keyboard shortcut to quickly access your preset. By default, theshortcuts are unassigned. To assign a keyboard shortcut, select Edit >Preferences > Shortcuts > Tool Presets (W indow s) or Storyboard Pro 22 >Preferences > Shortcuts > Tool Presets (macOS).

ColourIncludes the current colour in the new tool preset.

Lets you select a draw ing layer to be used on the current panel w hen the tool
preset is clicked. W hen selecting the preset, if the assigned layer exists, it w ill beLayerselected, if not, it w ill be created. W hen changing panels, depending on yourglobal navigation setting, it w ill look for the layer. If it does not exist, the firstlayer w ill be selected. Select the Layer option, assign a layer to the tool preset,and decide w hether the layer is vector or bitmap.

Draw Behind

W hen this option is selected, saves the specified Draw Behind option to the tool
preset. W hen deselected, the current Draw Behind status is unchanged w hen thetool preset is clicked

Auto Flatten

W hen this option is selected, saves the specified Auto-Flatten state to the tool
preset. W hen deselected, the current Auto-Flatten state is unchanged w hen thetool preset is clicked

Tool Preview

Displays the size and colour of the tool preset.

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Marker Dialog Box
The Marker dialog box enables you to change the previously-set or default parameters of a marker.

How to access the Marker dialog boxlSelect Storyboard > Markers > Edit Marker.

Parameter

Description

Express the duration of the marker in time code. The default value is 00:00:00.00.
Duration

This parameter w ill not appear in the marker’s tooltip until the default value ischanged.

ColourSets the colour of the marker. The default value is red. Once this parameter ischanged, every marker added afterw ards w ill have this colour until a new colour
is set.

Note

Gives a name to the marker. The note can represent an action, noise, object and soon, that happens at the time marked by the marker. This parameter w ill notappear in the marker’s tooltip unless something is entered in the text field.

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Merge Layers Dialog Box
The Merge Layers dialog box lets you combine selected layers. Using the Merge Layers dialog box gives you
more control over the w ay you are merging layers than the Merge Dow n and Merge Selected Layers
commands. Among other things, you can pick a name for the resulting layer, specify w hether it is a vector or
bitmap layer, select the source layers, and more.

NOTEl

W hen merging layers, the animation on all layers being merged is discarded.

l

If you quickly merge a bitmap layer w ith a vector layer, the resulting layer w ill be a bitmap
layer.

l

Layers containing a 3D object cannot be merged.

l

The artw ork in hidden layers is not added to the merged artw ork.

How to access the Merge Layers dialog box
1. Select the layers to merge.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click and select Merge Layers.

lSelect Layer > Merge Layers.

The Merge Layers dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

133Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

New Layer

Name

Name of the new layer.

Vector Layer

Makes the merged layer a vector layer. If there are bitmap layers in your selection,
they w ill be converted to vector rectangles w ith a bitmap texture inside them.

Bitmap Layer

Makes the merged layer a bitmap layer. If there w ere vector layers in yourselection, they w ill be converted to bitmap.

Bitmap Canvas SizeIf your merged layer is bitmap, set the Bitmap Canvas Size parameters.

Resolution Factor

Determines the amount of pixels to store for each pixel that displays on thescreen w hen the draw ing is not zoomed in or scaled up. For example, at 100%,
zooming in or scaling up a bitmap draw ing w ill make it lose picture quality. If set
to 200%, bitmap draw ings can be zoomed in or scaled up until they're tw ice their
original size w ithout losing picture quality.

W idth Factor andW idthThe default w idth of the canvas w hen creating a bitmap draw ing layer. The
percentage is relative to the w idth of the project. Its default value, 200%, makes
the w idth of the canvas tw ice the w idth of the stage.

Height Factor andHeight

The default height of the canvas w hen creating a bitmap draw ing layer. The
percentage is relative to the height of the project. Its default value, 200%, makes
the height of the canvas tw ice the height of the stage.

Source Layers

Delete Source Layers

Deletes the source layers.

Remove Invisible
LayersRemoves invisible or hidden layers. This option is available only if the Delete
Source Layers option is selected. W hether you decide to delete them or not,hidden layers w ill not be merged, even if selected from the list.

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Merge Modified Panels Dialog Box
The Merge Modified Panels dialog box allow s you to instantly merge the changes from a project that w as
extracted from your current project into that current project.

How to access the Merge Modified Panels dialog box
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select File > Project Management > Merge Modified Panels.

l

In the Project Management view , click on

Menu and select Merge Modified Panels—see

Project Management View .
The Merge Modified Panels dialog box appears.

Name

Description

The full path to the project you w ant to merge into the current project.
Project to merge

You can click on the

Brow se button right of this field to brow se for and select the

project in your w orkstation's file system.

Options

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Name

Description

There are tw o w ays to select w hich panels from the selected project should be merged tothe current project:lMerge Most Recent: Merges every panel in the selected project that has been
modified later than its corresponding panel in the current project.
To do this, it checks the date and time of the last modification made on each panelin the selected project. If this date and time is later than that of the lastmodification date on the corresponding panel in the current project, the panel w ill

Select w hich panels
to merge

be merged.
lMerge Existing
Scenes Only

Merge Tracked Panels: If you have tracked your changes in the selected project,
you can select this option to merge every panel in the selected project that ismarked as changed.

By default, if any scene in the selected project does not exist in the current project, thosescenes are added at the end of the current project. You can check this option to prevent
this, and only merge new panels in existing scenes as w ell as changes to existing panels.
This option can be useful if you w ant to merge the changes from a source project into asmaller project that w as extracted from it.

Respect Locked

Ensures that the sound clips in locked audio tracks do not get moved to remain

Audio Tracks

synchronized w ith their respective panels.

Preserve Captions in
Current Project

Do not replace the captions in the current project w ith captions in the selected project.

Replaces the artw ork in the master project w ith the artw ork in the imported projects, butdoes not adjust the timing of panels and scenes in the animatic.
Replace Artw ork
Only

NOTE
Layer transformations and animations in the master project w ill still be replaced bylayer transformations and animations in the imported projects unless the Preserve
Layer Transformations in Master Project option is enabled.

Preserve Layer
Transformations in
Current Project

W ith the Replace Artwork Only option enabled, layer transformations in the masterproject are still replaced by the layer transformations and animations in the imported
projects by default. W ith this option enabled, draw ings in the master project w ill be
replaced, but not the transformations and animations on their layers.

Add Project to List

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Name

Description

ReportMerge

Cancel137

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Merge Settings Dialog Box
The Merge Settings dialog box allow s you to select the settings that are used to merge modified panels from alinked project into your current project in the Project Management view .
These settings w ill be automatically used w hen you select a project in the Project Management view , thenclick on the

Merge Modified Panels from Selected Project button just above the project list.

How to access the Merge Settings dialog box
1. Add the Project Management view to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top-right corner of a view , click onl

In the top menu, select W indows > Project Management.

2. In the Project Management view , click

Add View and select Project Management.

Merge Settings.

NOTE
If you never opened the Merge Settings dialog before, it w ill appear the first time you click on the
Merge Modified Panels from Selected Project button.
Once you've confirmed your merge settings, they w ill be automatically applied the next time you
click onMerge Modified Panels from Selected Project, and the dialog w ill only appear if you

click onMerge Settings from that point on.

Name

Description

There are tw o w ays to select w hich panels from the selected project should be merged tothe current project:
Select w hich panels
to mergelMerge Most Recent: Merges every panel in the selected project that has been
modified later than its corresponding panel in the current project.
To do this, it checks the date and time of the last modification made on each panelin the selected project. If this date and time is later than that of the last138

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Name

Description

modification date on the corresponding panel in the current project, the panel w ill
be merged.
lMerge Tracked Panels: If you have tracked your changes in the selected project,
you can select this option to merge every panel in the selected project that ismarked as changed.

By default, if any scene in the selected project does not exist in the current project, those
Merge Existing
Scenes Only

scenes are added at the end of the current project. You can check this option to prevent
this, and only merge new panels in existing scenes as w ell as changes to existing panels.
This option can be useful if you w ant to merge the changes from a source project into asmaller project that w as extracted from it.

Respect Locked
Audio Tracks

Ensures that the sound clips in locked audio tracks do not get moved to remain
synchronized w ith their respective panels.

Preserve Captions in
Current Project

Do not replace the captions in the current project w ith captions in the selected project.

Replaces the artw ork in the master project w ith the artw ork in the imported projects, butdoes not adjust the timing of panels and scenes in the animatic.
Replace Artw ork
Only

NOTE
Layer transformations and animations in the master project w ill still be replaced bylayer transformations and animations in the imported projects unless the Preserve
Layer Transformations in Master Project option is enabled.

Preserve Layer
Transformations in
Current Project

W ith the Replace Artwork Only option enabled, layer transformations in the masterproject are still replaced by the layer transformations and animations in the imported
projects by default. W ith this option enabled, draw ings in the master project w ill be
replaced, but not the transformations and animations on their layers.

OK

Confirm the merge settings and close the dialog box.

CancelUndo changes to the merge settings and close the dialog box.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Merge Storyboard Dialog Box
The Merge Storyboard dialog box lets you reassemble a storyboard project that w as split or extracted into
several files. By merging several projects into one, you can have one final Storyboard Pro project.

How to access the Merge Storyboard dialog box
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select File > Project Management > Merge.

l

In the Project Management view , click on

Menu and select Merge—see ProjectManagement View .
The Merge Storyboard w indow opens.

Parameter

Description

List of Storyboard Pro
projects

Displays the list of Storyboard Pro projects selected for merging into your current
project.

Import Project

Allow s you to brow se for and select a Storyboard Pro project to add to the list of
projects to merge.

Remove Project

Removes the selected project from the list of projects to merge.

Move Up

Moves the selected project up in the list of projects to merge.

Move Dow n

Moves the selected project dow n in the list of projects to merge.

Allow s you to make sure the caption fields in the projects being merged areproperly matched w ith the caption fields in your project. The left column is for thecaption fields of your current project. They cannot be modified from this dialog.
The other columns are for the caption fields of the projects getting merged.

Captions list

In most cases, the caption fields for the projects being merged w ill match andStoryboard Pro w ill automatically align caption fields that have the same nametogether. In the case of exceptions, you can reorganize the caption fields of the
projects being merged, minding that the follow ing behaviours w ill take place:l

If a caption field of one of the project being merged is aligned w ith one of
the caption fields in the current project, the values for that merged
project's field w ill be added to the current project's field it is aligned w ith,
for all the scenes that are imported from that merged project, even if thesefields don't have the same name.

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For example, if the current project has a caption field named Action andthe project being merged has a caption field named Action Notes, andthey are both aligned horizontally, once the projects are merged, the valueof the Action Notes caption field for the scenes being imported w ill be
stored in the Action field.
l

If a caption field for the project getting merged is below all the fields inthe current project, it w ill be added as a new field to the current project.

l

If a caption field for the project getting merged is below all the fields inthe current project and is crossed out, it w ill be ignored.

l

If a caption field for the project getting merged is aligned w ith one of the
fields of the current project and is crossed out, this field w ill be empty for
all the scenes that are imported from that project.

l

If a caption field is added to the project but has the same name as anexisting caption field, it w ill have a suffix number.

Add Caption

If you have removed a caption from one of the projects getting imported, you canselect the removed caption and click on this button to add it back.

Remove Caption

Ignores the currently selected caption field for the project it is under. The values
for that caption field and project w ill not be imported in the current project.

Move Up

Moves the selected caption field up in the list of captions, changing w hich caption
field in the original project it is matched w ith.

Move Dow n

Moves the selected caption dow n in the list of captions, changing w hich caption
field in the original project it is matched w ith.

Force scene numbering

By default, if any scene being merged to the current project has the same name asa scene that is already in the project, it w ill have a suffix letter added to it. W ith
this option enabled, all scenes in the project w ill be re-numbered sequentially.

Start scene base name

If the Force scene numbering option is selected, enter a number in this field. The
number you enter w ill be assigned to the first scene in the resulting project.

Use project name as scene‘sprefixScenes that are added to the current project from other projects w ill have theirproject name as a suffix, so you can easily identify w hich projects they came fromand to avoid naming conflicts.

Create new audio tracks

Imports the audio tracks from the other projects by adding them as new audio
tracks to the current project. If this option is unchecked, the sound clips of otherprojects w ill be inserted in the current project's existing audio tracks and new141

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

audio tracks w ill only be created if the merged projects have more audio tracks
than the current project.

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Movie Options Dialog Box (macOS)
The Movie Options dialog box allow s you to configure the video and audio settings w hen exporting a movie in
QuickTime Movie (.mov) format on macOS.

NOTES
l

For tasks related to this dialog box, refer to the User Guide.

How to access the Movie Settings dialog box from the Export Movie dialog
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Movie.
The Export Movie dialog box opens.

143Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

2. In the Movie Format drop-dow n, select QuickTime Movie (*.mov).
3. Click on the Movie Options button.

How to access the Movie Settings dialog box from the Export to EDL/AAF/XML dialog
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > EDL/AAF/XML.
The Export to EDL/AAF/XML dialog box opens.

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2. In the Movie Format drop-dow n, select QuickTime Movie (*.mov).
3. Click on the Movie Options button.

Parameter

Description

Video

Allow s you to select w hich algorithm to use to compress the video data. The follow ing
video codecs are supported:
Codecl

H.264 Legacy: A very effective lossy compression algorithm that is commonly
supported by w eb brow sers and media players.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Parameter

DescriptionlH.265 Legacy: Same compression quality as H.264, but w ith a smaller compression
size. This is useful for videos intended for the w eb and mobile devices. Not
supported on all major brow sers or operating systems.

lApple ProRes 422 Legacy: A nearly lossless compression algorithm commonlyused for video editing on Apple systems. This codec is optimized for preserving
video quality, but not for publishing or streaming.

lApple ProRes 422 HQ Legacy: Preserves visual quality at the same high level asApple ProRes 4444 but for 4:2:2 image sources (cleaner footage for things likegreen screening). Heavier than Apple ProRes 422 for real-time editing performance.

lApple ProRes 422 LT Legacy: A more highly compressed codec than Apple ProRes
422, w ith roughly 70 percent of the data rate and 30 percent smaller file sizes. This
codec is perfect for environments w ith limited storage capacity and data rates.

lApple ProRes 422 Proxy Legacy: An even more highly compressed codec thanApple ProRes 422 LT, intended for use in offline w orkflow s that require low data
rates but full-resolution video.

lApple ProRes 4444 Legacy: A nearly lossless compression algorithm commonlyused for video editing on Apple systems. Compared to Apple ProRes 422, this codec
preserves more colour detail and supports transparency. How ever, it results inheavier file sizes.

Check this option if you w ant to export a video w ith transparency.

Alpha

NOTE
This option is only available w hen exporting w ith the Apple ProRes 4444 codec. Other
codecs do not support transparency.

Uncheck this checkbox if you w ant to export a movie w ithout an audio track.

Sound

NOTE
The Sound section of this dialog is not available if you are exporting an EDL/AAF/XML
sequence, as this type of export creates video files w ith no audio track and export
sound clips in separate sound files.

Rate

Allow s you to select the sample rate, or frequency, in w hich to export the audio track for themovie.

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Parameter

Description

NOTE
Storyboard Pro cannot export audio at a higher sample rate than 22.050 kHz. If you
select a higher sample rate, your project's audio w ill be upsampled, w hich means it w ill
take more disc space w ithout increasing in quality.

Allow s you to select w hether to export the movie's audio track using the Mono or Stereo
channel mode.
Use

NOTE
Stereo sound has a separate track for the left and right speakers, w hereas mono soundonly has a single audio track for all speakers.

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QuickTime Movie Settings Dialog Box (W indows)
The Movie Settings dialog box allow s you to configure the video and audio compression settings w hen
exporting a QuickTime Movie (.mov) file.

NOTES
l

For tasks related to this dialog box, refer to the User Guide.

lThis dialog can only be accessed on W indow s and requires Apple QuickTime to be installed.

How to access the QuickTime Movie Settings dialog box from the Export Movie dialog
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Movie.
The Export Movie dialog box opens.

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2. In the Movie Format drop-dow n, select QuickTime Movie (*.mov).
3. Click on the Movie Options button.

How to access the QuickTime Movie Settings dialog box from the Export to
EDL/AAF/XML dialog
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > EDL/AAF/XML.
The Export to EDL/AAF/XML dialog box opens.

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2. In the Movie Format drop-dow n, select QuickTime Movie (*.mov).
3. Click on the Movie Options button.

Parameter

Description

Video

Settings

Opens the Standard Video Compression Settings dialog box. This is w here you
can set the video compression settings for the movie you w ill export—see
QuickTime Standard Video Compression Settings Dialog Box (W indow s) on page
235.

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FilterOpens the Choose Video Filter dialog box, w here you can select from a range offilters to apply to your video export.

Size

Opens the Export Size Settings dialog box. This dialog is available because of thew ay the Apple QuickTime interface is designed, but its settings are not taken inaccount by Storyboard Pro. The size of the exported video is determined by
Storyboard Pro.

Settings

Opens the Sound Settings dialog box. This is w here you can you set the soundcompression settings for the movie you w ill export—see QuickTime Sound
Settings Dialog Box (W indow s) on page 225.

Sound

If this option is enabled, the video w ill be optimized to start playing w hile it is
dow nloading, as videos do in w eb brow sers and w eb-based streaming
applications.

Prepare for Internet
Streamingl

Fast Start: The video plays as soon as enough data required to start
playback has been dow nloaded.

lFast Start - Compressed Header: Same as Fast Start, except the header
is compressed for an even faster start. Requires QuickTime 3.0 or later.

lHinted Streaming: Allow s you to optimize the movie file for streaming
through QuickTime Server Softw are. Click on the Settings button toconfigure how hints are created in your movie file.

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Multiwheel Colour W indow
The Multiw heel Colour w indow lets you select and customize colours, create solid or gradient colours, store
colours in the colour storage library, open the Colour Picker w indow and undo actions.

How to access the Multiwheel Colour window
1. In the Colour view , make sure the Colour area is expanded by clicking the Collapse/Expand arrow .
2. Double-click on the current colour sw atch.
The Colour Picker w indow opens.
3. Click Multiwheel.
The Multiw heel Colour w indow opens.

Parameter

Description

Single W heel Mode

Opens the Colour Picker w indow —see Colour Picker W indow on page 23.

Current Colour

Displays the current colour on the left side. On the right side is the currently you
are modifying.

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Colour slider

Displays the colour gradation of the colour selected in the colour picking area.

Colour picking area

Displays a colour range w ith a cursor w hich you can drag to select a colour. This
display changes w hen you select one of the these options: H, S, V, R, B, or B.

Dropper

Lets you select a colour from any place on your screen. Hold dow n the Dropperand drag to the desired colour and release to select the colour.

Colour Scale

Displays the hue selected in the colour picking and colour slider areas, and its
different values.

Add Colour

Adds the selected colour to the colour storage library.

Colour Storage LibraryLets you save colours you have defined.

Alpha

Lets you change the transparency level by typing in a value or dragging the slider.

Solid

Creates an even, uniform colour.

Gradient

Lets you create a linear or radial gradient.

Gradient Scale

Displays a colour range and arrow s. Move the arrow s to define the gradientcolours.

Gradient Preview

Displays a preview of the gradient as you move the arrow s on the gradient scale.

LinearCreates a linear gradient.

RadialCreates a radial (circular) gradient.

View

Undo List

Show s or hides the Undo list.

HSV W heels

Show s or hides the HSV colour w heels.

RGB W heels

Show s or hides the RGB colour w heels.

Undo List

Displays a list of actions you can undo by clicking a sw atch in the list.

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HSV

Displays the hue, saturation or value of a selected colour in the colour picking
area.

RGB

Displays the red, green or blue colour w heel.

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New Project Dialog Box
The New Project dialog allow s you to create a new project w hile a project is already open. It can be accessedfrom the File menu.

How to access the New Project window
1. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect File > New.

l

In the File toolbar, click the NewlPress Ctrl + N (W indow s) or ⌘ + N (macOS).

button.

The New Project dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Project Name

The name of the storyboard project. This name w ill appear as the file name.

Project Directory

The location of your new project.

Project Title

The name of the project. It is a good idea to use the same name for the project
name and project title.

Project Subtitle

The titles that w ill appear on the appropriate pages of PDF exports.

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Colour Space

Displays a list of colour space options for your project. If you plan to importelements from a project created in a different softw are, or to export this project toa different softw are, you may w ant to match colour spaces to keep all yourcolours consistent.

Camera Size

Displays a list of resolutions for you to choose from for your project.

W idthHeight
The parameters of the resolution you chose from the Camera Size menu. Notethat you cannot change these parameters.
Frame Rate

Field of View

Add

Opens the New Resolution w indow from w hich you can create a custom
resolution.

RemoveRemoves a custom resolution from the Camera Size menu.

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New Resolution W indow
The New Resolution w indow lets you create a custom resolution. Your new resolution w ill appear in the
Camera Size menu of both the New Project w indow and W elcome screen.

How to access the New Resolution window
1. In the W elcome screen or New Project w indow , click theAdd button right of the Camera Sizedrop-dow n to add a new resolution to the list.
The New Resolution dialog box appears.

Parameter

Description

Resolution Name

This is name you give the custom resolution. Your new resolution w ill appear in the
Camera Size menu of both the New Project w indow and W elcome screen.

Resolution

W idthThis is the w idth of the resolution that w ill be created.

HeightThis is the height of the resolution that w ill be created.

Aspect Ratio

Displays the ratio betw een the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the scene. For
example, if the scene w idth and height are the same value, this ratio equals 1. The
standard aspect ratio for w idescreen televisions is 1.777. For legacy displays, it is
1.333.

Field of View

Horizontal Fit

Adjusts the image's size so that its w idth matches the scene's w idth, w ithout affecting
its aspect ratio.

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Adjusts the image's size so that its height matches the scene's height, w ithout affecting
its aspect ratio.

Vertical Fit

Custom Fov

After selecting this option, enter a value, in degrees, of the angle that you w ant thecamera cone to be. Increasing this value w ill make the camera cone w ider (the angle ismore obtuse). W idening the FOV w ill make the grid and all elements appear farther
aw ay. Decreasing the default value w ill create the opposite effect.

Frame Rate

PresetAllow s you to select a frame rate for your scene among one of many commonly usedpreset frame rates.

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NOTE
The standard framerate for film production is 24 frames per second. How ever,televisions in some countries play at 25 frames per second. Some productions may
use 23.976 frames per second to preserve compatibility w ith legacy standard
displays.

Frames per
SecondAllow s you to type in the frame rate for your scene.

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New Tool Preset Dialog Box
The New Tool Preset dialog box lets you create a new tool preset. You w ill need to select a tool, adjust theproperties, and then create a tool preset for it. Once you have created a tool preset, you can make adjustments
to fine-tune it, as w ell as create a keyboard shortcut for it. All tool presets are displayed in the Tool Presets
toolbar.

How to access the New Tool Preset dialog box
1. In the Tool Presets toolbar, click the Manage Tool Presets

button.

Parameter

Description

Name

Name of the currently selected tool preset.

Icon

Lets you select an icon to associate w ith the selected tool preset or upload yourow n.

ColourIncludes the current colour in the new tool preset.

ShortcutLets you set a keyboard shortcut to quickly access your preset. By default, theshortcuts are unassigned. To assign a keyboard shortcut, select Edit >Preferences > Shortcuts > Tool Presets (W indow s) or Storyboard Pro 22 >Preferences > Shortcuts > Tool Presets (macOS).

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Layer

Lets you select a draw ing layer to be used on the current panel w hen the tool
preset is clicked. W hen selecting the preset, if the assigned layer exists, it w ill beselected, if not, it w ill be created. W hen changing panels, depending on yourglobal navigation setting, it w ill look for the layer. If it does not exist, the firstlayer w ill be selected. Select the Layer option, assign a layer to the tool preset,and decide w hether the layer is vector or bitmap.

Draw Behind

W hen this option is selected, saves the specified Draw Behind option to the tool
preset. W hen deselected, the current Draw Behind status is unchanged w hen thetool preset is clicked

Auto Flatten

W hen this option is selected, saves the specified Auto-Flatten state to the tool
preset. W hen deselected, the current Auto-Flatten state is unchanged w hen thetool preset is clicked

Tool Preview

Displays the size and colour of the tool preset.

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Optimize Project Dialog Box
The Optimize Project dialog box allow s you to flatten all draw ings in your project, remove unused files andreduce the texture size.

NOTE
Strokes draw n w ith different colours w ill not be flattened together.

How to access the Optimize Project dialog box
1. Select File > Optimize Project.
The Optimize project dialog box opens.

IMPORTANT
Performing projects optimizations w ill clear the Undo list. The operations performed by this dialog
cannot be reversed.

Parameter

Description

Remove unused elementsfrom the projectAs you create a storyboard you w ill delete panels or layers, update draw ings,
unlink sounds, and so on. Some of these files are kept for backup purposes, butthey take up space and increase the size of your project on your hard drive. This
option removes these unw anted elements.

Flatten draw ings in the
project

Flattens all the brush or pencil line strokes of all the vector draw ings in yourproject. This means that all overlapping strokes w ill no longer be editable assingle strokes, but only as w hole, draw n objects.

Reduce texture resolution of
all draw ings in the project

Reduces the resolution of bitmap textures in draw ings that have an unnecessarily
high pixel density.

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Overlay Settings Dialog Box
The Overlay Settings dialog box allow s you to configure w hat is displayed as overlays in the Stage View and
the Camera View .

How to access the Overlay Settings dialog box
1. At the bottom of the Stage View or the Camera View , either double-click or long-click on theShow Overlays icon.
2. In the pop-up menu, selectOverlay Settings.

The Overlay Settings dialog box appears.

Name

Description

Timecode

Displays the timecode of the current frame in the Stage and Camera view s.
Display
Timecode

Position

The timecode is displayed in the HH:MM:SS:FF format, w here HH means hours, MMmeans minutes, SS means seconds and FF means frames.

The position in w hich the timecode should be displayed w ithin the Stage and Camera
view s.

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Name

Description

Project Info

Display
Project Info

Displays information about the current frame in the Stage and Camera view s. Depending
on w hat you put in the Display Pattern field, this can display the name of the current act,
sequence, scene and panel.

The pattern of the information to display. This is a string of text in w hich you can insert,
at any point, one or several of the follow ing variables:

Display
Patternl%a: The name of the current actl%q: The name of the current sequence.

l%s: The name of the current scene.

l%p: The name of the current panel.

For example, the default value is "Scene: %s Panel: %p", w hich displays "Scene:"follow ed by the name of the current scene, then "Panel:" follow ed by the name of thecurrent panel.

Position

The position in w hich the project information should be displayed w ithin the Stage andCamera view s.

Captions

Display Text
Captions

Displays the content of one of the current panel's captions in the Stage and Camera
view s.

Selected
Caption

The type of caption to display.

Position

The position in w hich the caption should be displayed w ithin the Stage and Camera
view s.

Max Lines

The maximum amount of lines the caption should occupy in the Stage and Camera view
before cutting it off, to avoid cluttering the view .

Font

The font in w hich to display all the overlays.

Font Size

The size of the font in w hich to display all the overlays.

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Name

Description

Text Colour

The colour of the text in w hich to display all the overlays. Click on the colour sw atch toopen a colour picker in w hich you can select the text colour.

BG Colour

The background colour to display behind all the overlays. Click on the colour sw atch toopen a colour picker in w hich you can select the background colour. Alternatively, you
can uncheck the checkbox left of BG Colour to make the overlays display w ithout abackground.

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Panel PDF Options W indow
The Panel PDF Options w indow lets you set the export options to apply to selected panels in your storyboard.

How to access the Panel PDF Options window
1. Select W indows > Panel PDF Options.

Parameter

Description

Options

Export to PDF

Exports the selected panel. This option is enabled by default. Deselect this option
if you do not w ant to export this particular panel.

Force New Page

Starts panel on a new page.

Full Page

Prints panel on a full page.

Image

Maximum Height for Full
Page

ExpandLets you set the maximum image height for a full page panel. Applies tolandscape orientation only. 0 = No Limit.

Displays camera motion (such as pan, tilt, or zoom) in the image across several

panels.

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Zoom Level (%)

Size, in percentage, that the panel w ill appear w ithin its frame.

Caption & Sketch

Export All Captions

This option is enabled by default. All captions from this panel w ill be exported to
PDF. If you w ant to select specific captions to export, deselect this option and use
the Caption List option to make your selections.

This option is unavailable w hen the Export All Captions option is enabled. W hen
Caption List

available, click the Brow se button to open the List Picker for selecting specificcaptions to export.

Adapts the box to the text and spreads it across the next panel if necessary.
Spread Captions

W hen this option is deselected, caption text is cut if it is too long or big for the
space available in the box.

Caption Font Scale(%)

Select the scale, in percentage, the text w ill appear in the captions of this panel.

Shrink Text to Fit

Shrinks captions if they do not fit in the panel.

Export Sketch

Exports the sketch caption field of this panel.

Preview

Creates a quick PDF of the page containing the selected panel(s), using thecurrent default PDF export profile for the other panels.

Restore All from Profile

Returns the options to the current default PDF export profile.

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PDF Export View/W indow
The PDF Export view /w indow lets you export a storyboard project as a PDF file.

How to access the PDF Export view/window
1. Select W indows > PDF Export.

Parameter

Description

ProfileDrop-dow n Menu

Lets you select a profile for the export.

Edit

Opens the PDF Profile dialog box from w hich you can edit a selected profile.

Export RangeAll

By default, the export range is set to All, w hich means your entire storyboard
project w ill be exported.

Selected Scenes

Select this option and click Select to open the Scenes Picker dialog box in w hich168

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

you can select specific scenes to export.

Current Scene

Exports only the currently selected scene to PDF.

Current Panel

Exports only the selected panels to PDF.

Tracked Panels

Exports panels that are marked as tracked. The number of tracked panels w ill
appear beside the option.

AnalysisStarts the analysis of your PDF options.

AnalyseIf no issue is encountered, the list w ill remain empty and the w ord Done! w ill
appear beside the Analyse button.
If issues are encountered, they w ill appear in the list area. The scene, panel, andpage numbers w ill be indicated, as w ell as a description of the problem found.

Filters

A menu w ill lets you select the type of issues you w ant the analysis to display.
Options include: Text Overflow , Text Overlap, and Camera Pan issues.

Select All

Restore Ignored

Resets an ignores issue and removes the red X beside it in the list.

IgnoreRemoves an issue from the list of issues encountered during the PDF analysis.

Preview

Generates a PDF preview of the selected scene(s). If you select more than one
panel in a scene, the complete scene w ill be preview ed.

ExportExports a PDF file of your storyboard.

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PDF Profile Dialog Box
The PDF Profile dialog box allow s you to create or modify a PDF profile, w hich is a set of options for exportinga storyboard as a PDF document.
The PDF Profile dialog contains the follow ing tabs, each of w hich contains a specific type of options:lGeneral Tab on page 170lPage Tab on page 172lCover Tab on page 174lPanels Tab on page 175lCaptions Tab on page 180

l

Header Tab on page 183lFooter Tab on page 185

How to access the PDF Profile dialog box
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the PDF Export view or w indow , click Edit.

l

Access Top Menu > File > Export > PDF. In the Export to PDF dialog box, click.

l

Access Top Menu > File > Export > PDF. In the Export to PDF dialog box, click

andselect Edit Profile.

General Tab
The General tab lets you set up a personalized layout for your PDF.

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Parameter

Description

Name

Lets you enter a a name for your custom layout or edit the existing name.

Description

Lets you enter a short description of the layout. This description only appears in
the PDF Profile dialog box.

Icon

Lets you Select an image file representing the custom layout you are creating; itw ill be displayed in the profile list. For best results, your image should be 45x45
pixels.

Unit

Lets you select the unit of measurement (points, mm, cm or inches) used in thePage, Panels, Header and Footer tab of the PDF Profile dialog box. The unit
measurement is used for margin, spacing, height and w idth of a panel, header orfooter.

Lets you select any font installed on your system to use for all text in the PDF
document.
Font

To export Unicode characters to your PDF document, click the [...] button to selectthe language encoding and the embedded PDF font that w ill be used to display
the text in the PDF document.

Font Size

Lets you define the size of the font.

Duration in Feet

Lets you set the duration value in feet. The foot measurement w as used mostly bytraditional animators. In the XSheet, a foot contains 16 frames.

Render Image in B/WCreates a black and w hite PDF instead of colours.

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Page Tab

Parameter

Description

Select the type of page you w ant to print on:
l

11x17

l

A3

l

A4

l

Legal

l

Letterl

CustomPage Format

If you select Custom, fill in the desired w idth and height.

Custom W idth

Lets you enter the desired w idth of your PDF. The value w ill be w ritten in a w ay
to reflect the set unit type in the General tab of the PDF Profile dialog box.

Custom HeightLets you enter the desired height of your PDF. The value w ill be w ritten in a w ay
to reflect the set unit type in the General tab of the PDF Profile dialog box.

Lets you set the PDF to portrait or landscape orientation.
Options include:
Orientationl

0 degreel

90 degreesl

180 degrees

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guidel

270 degrees

Lets you set the titles used in the main table.

Display Table Title

Use a semicolon (;) to separate each entry. You can also specify the font size after
a title. If you w rite more titles than the number of columns in the storyboard, thePDF w ill only use those w ritten first. The font size value must be w ritten after thetitle and a coma.
If you w ant to make sure that each title respects the naming of the captions, you
can w rite <caption_titles> as the title. This entry w ill affect all of the captions inthe storyboard.
For example: Cut;Picture,15;Caption,15;Time

RotationLets you set the degree of clockw ise rotation of the storyboard on the printed
page.

Pages Per Sheet

Lets you select the number of storyboard pages to print on each sheet.

Reverse Page Layout

Lets you reverse the position of the captions in relation to the panels.

Top Margin

Lets you enter the distance from the top page edge. The value w ill be w ritten in aw ay to reflect the set unit type in the General tab of the PDF Profile dialog box.

Bottom Margin

Lets you enter the distance from the bottom page edge. The value w ill be w ritten
in a w ay to reflect the set unit type in the General tab of the PDF Profile dialog
box.

Left Margin

Lets you enter the distance from the left page edge. The value w ill be w ritten in aw ay to reflect the set unit type in the General tab of the PDF Profile dialog box.

Right Margin

Lets you enter the distance from the right page edge. The value w ill be w ritten ina w ay to reflect the set unit type in the General tab of the PDF Profile dialog box.

Background Image

Lets you select an image to use as a w atermark on all pages, except the cover.

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Cover Tab

Parameter

Description

Show CoverLets you insert a cover as the first page of the PDF.

Background Image

Lets you select an image (.bmp, .jpg or .png) to use as a w atermark on the cover.

Show Title

Displays the project title defined in the storyboard properties.

Show Subtitle

Displays the project subtitle defined in the storyboard properties. You can find theproperties in the Top Menu > Storyboard > Properties.

Show Duration

Displays the duration (as a time code or frame) of the selected storyboard panels.

Show Date

Displays the date of export.

Include Note

Lets you include a revision note on the cover page.

Show Filename

Displays the filename of the PDF on the cover.

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Panels Tab

Parameter

Description

Number of Row s

Defines the number of panel row s displayed per page.

Panel Vertical Spacing

Defines the vertical spacing betw een panels. The value w ill be w ritten in a w ay toreflect the set unit type in the General tab of the PDF Profile dialog box.

Panel Horizontal Spacing

Defines the horizontal spacing betw een panels. The value w ill be w ritten in a w ay
to reflect the set unit type in the General tab of the PDF Profile dialog box.

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Number of Columns

Defines the number of panel columns displayed per page.

Show Panel Image

Displays each panel’s visual content.

Frame Panel Image

Displays a rectangle around the panel’s visual content on each page.

Image Zoom Level (%)

Displays the image in the panel at a percentage of the original size.

Image Resolution (DPI)

Defines the DPI value of the exported images in the PDF storyboard. The default
value is 150. A higher value increases the sharpness of the images, as w ell as the
final file size of your PDF.

Maximum image height for
fullpage panel (Landscape
only - 0 = No Limit)

Defines the maximum height a panel can have w hen it is full page.

Start Scene on New Page

Makes each new scene start on a new page.

Start Sequence on New Page

Makes each new sequence start on a new page.

Start Act on New Page

Makes each new act start on a new page.

Show Panel Header

Displays each panel’s shot name, panel number, and duration as a header.

Frame Panel Header

Displays a rectangle around the panel header on each page.

Display Total Number ofPanels

Displays the total number of panels in the scene in the panel header.

Display Scene Duration

Displays the duration of each scene.

Display Panel Duration

Displays the duration of each panel.

Display Sequence Name

Displays the name of the sequence.

Display Act Name

Displays the name of the act. This option is grayed out by default. To activate it,enable the option called Enable Acts in the General tab of the Preferences dialog
box.

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Displays the sequence name as part of the scenes’ names. For example, if scene
18 appears in the second sequence, it w ill be w ritten like this: 2-18.
Use Sequence Name as
Scene Name Prefix

This option can also be set at the same time as Use Act Name As Scene Name
Prefix. If so, the prefix for the act w ill appear before the prefix for the sequence.
Thus, if scene 18 from the second sequence is in the first act, it w ill be w ritten like
this: 1-2-18.

Displays the act name as part of the scenes’ names. For example, if scene 18
appears in the first act, it w ill be w ritten like this: 1-18.
Use Act Name as Scene
Name Prefix

This option can also be set at the same time as Use Sequence Name As Scene
Name Prefix. If so, the prefix for the sequence w ill appear after the prefix for theact. Thus, if scene 18 from the second sequence is in the first act, it w ill be w ritten
like this: 1-2-18.

Display Selected Caption

Displays the content of the selected caption.

Expand Panels

Displays camera motion (such as pan, tilt, or zoom) in the image across several
panels.

Fit Camera Path

Ensures the camera movement is included in a single panel space.

Rectify Static Camera

If the camera in a panel is at an angle and there is no camera movement in thepanel, it w ill be rendered as if the camera w as straight, preventing it from taking
extra space in the storyboard.

Show Transition

Displays transition information (Transition type and duration).

Display "No Panel" on Board

Replaces the panel’s image w ith an X and the text “No Panel” above it. This isused w hen there is not enough space to display a panel on the same page. The
panel w ith the image is normally displayed on the next page or the nearest one
w ith enough space to show the image on.

Render Scene Layout Panel

W hen a scene has a camera movement, this adds an extra thumbnail for thescene's layout before the thumbnails for the scene's panels. This thumbnail
contains the camera movement for the entire scene, as w ell as the artw ork in thefirst panel of that scene.

Align Left Most Camera
Frame

Aligns the left most camera keyframe w ith the panel frames in the exported PDF.
The artw ork and camera movement w ill spread over the caption columns and tothe other row s depending on the range of camera movement. It w orks best w ith
the Japanese PDF profiles.

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Maximize Panel Height

Displays the panel at the maximum of its height.

Maintain Size Throughout
Scene

Keeps every panel of your printed storyboard the same size.

In and Out Thumbnails for
3D Panels

Renders an in thumbnail and an out thumbnail for the 3D panel, as if the user
w ould have added a snapshot at both ends of the panel.

Transition as Panel

Displays a transition as a panel.

Display Panel on Right

W hen using the Vertical profile, displays images on the right side of the page
instead of the left.

Frame Snapshots

W hen a panel contains snapshots, this renders the snapshots as framed by thecamera at the time of the snapshot. This means that the thumbnail is renderedfrom the camera's point of view , that artw ork outside the camera frame is notrendered, and that the camera movements are not rendered over the artw ork.

Displays the camera frame and camera path on the PDF export.

NOTE
Enabling this option is required for the follow ing options to have an effect:

Render CameralDisplay Camera KeyframeslDisplay Hash Marksl

Display Camera Labell

Display 4:3 Areal

Display 4:3 Safe Areal

Display Safe Area

Display Camera Keyframes

Prints the different camera keyframes on the exported images. The actual camera
keyframes on each panel are rendered instead of just the in and out frames. To
see this change, enable the Render Camera option.

Display Hash Marks

Displays the hash marks below each camera frame, w hich indicate the aspectratio of the camera and the position of the horizontal limits of the 4:3 area

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Display Camera Label

Prints the In and Out camera labels of your camera moves to your storyboard. But
if the Display Camera Keyframes option is selected, In and Out w ill be replaced byletters (A, B, C, and so on), representing each camera keyframe. To see thischange, enable the Render Camera option.

Covers everything outside of the camera frames and the camera's trajectory w itha solid colour.

Display Camera Mask

Mask Color

The colour of the camera mask.

Prints the Title Safe Area over the picture. By default, this area is 20% smaller
than the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of the area that CRT displays
might crop out of the picture. Visual elements such as text and logos should beplaced w ithin this area.
Display Title Safe Area

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of the Preferences
dialog.

Display Action Safe Area

Prints the Title Safe Area over the picture. By default, this area is 20% smaller
than the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of the area that CRT displays
might crop out of the picture. Visual elements such as text and logos should be

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placed w ithin this area.

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of the Preferences
dialog.

Display 4:3 Area

Prints the 4:3 area on each panel of your storyboard w hich has a camera
movement. To see this change, enable the Render Camera option.

Display 4:3 Safe Area

Prints the 4:3 safe area on each panel of your storyboard w hich has a camera
movement. To see this change, enable the Render Camera option.

Captions Tab

Parameter

Description

Captions List

Includes every caption in the PDF. You can deselect this option to activate thebrow sing button. Click the Brow se button to display a list of all the captions.
Select the ones to export.

Show Empty Captions

Includes the empty captions of your project in the PDF.

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Include Revision Notes

Adds revision notes as a new caption. Revision notes can only exist on panels thatw ere marked as changed.

Trim Captions

Removes empty lines after captions.

Lets you decide how captions are framed. Options include:lBox: Displays a black rectangle around captions on each page.

lLine Above: Displays a line above each caption.

l

No Frame: No frames w ill be displayed around captions.

Frame Captions

Caption Font

Lets you select the font for the caption.

Caption Font Size

Lets you define the size of the font.

Caption Font Scale (%)

Determines the scale factor used w hen converting a font to a PDF font (screen
resolution versus print resolution).

Min Caption Font Size

Lets you set the minimum font size to use w hen shrinking captions.

Shrink Text to Fit

Reduces size of captions if they do not fit in the panel.

Specific Font for Caption
Names

Enables the Caption Title Font and Caption Title Font Size options.

Caption Title Font

Lets you select the font for the caption title.

Caption Title Font Size

Lets you set the size of the font for the caption title.

Output Caption in Plain Text

Ignores text formatting, such as bold, italics, that may be in the caption fields inthe interface.

Prints the Sketch captions to your storyboard. This option needs to be enabled togive access to:Show SketchlShow Empty SketchlSketch Height PolicylSketch HeightlSketch Render Method

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Show Empty Sketch

Prints the Sketch captions even if they are empty. To see this change, enable theShow Sketch option.

Sets the height rule for the Sketch captions:lAutomatic Height: Lets Storyboard Pro automatically define the height ofeach Sketch panel depending on the available space in the current layout.

l

Evenly Distributed: Keeps the same size of sketch boxes throughout thestoryboard. Otherw ise, the caption boxes are set to fit the content of eachsketch independently.

lFixed Height: Keeps the same height throughout the storyboard.

l

Max Height: Enables the Sketch Height field in w hich you can define themaximum height you w ant your Sketch caption to follow .

Sketch Height Policy

To see this change, enable the Show Sketch option.

Sketch Height

Defines the maximum height a Sketch caption can be. Set the Select Max Heightin the Sketch Height Policy to make this option available.The value w ill be w ritten
in a w ay to reflect the set unit type in the General tab of the PDF Profile dialog
box.
To see this change, enable the Show Sketch option.

Sets the rule of how your sketch w ill appear in the Sketch caption.
l

Crop: The sketch w ill keep its original aspect and be cropped if it does not
fit the current Sketch caption size.

lFit: The height of the sketch w ill fit the height of the caption, any
exceeding part on the w idth may be cropped.

lStretch: The sketch w ill be resized to fit inside the caption field and w ill
not be cropped.

Sketch Render Method

To see this change, enable the Show Sketch option.

Spread Captions & Sketch

Adapts the box to the text or sketch and spreads it across the next panel ifnecessary. W hen this option is deselected, the caption text or a sketch that is toolong or big for the space available in the box w ill be cut.

Distribute Evenly

Keeps the same size of caption boxes throughout the storyboard. W hen thisoption is deselected, the caption boxes are set to fit the content.

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Header Tab

Parameter

Description

Display Header

Displays a header on each page (except the cover). The header includes the
project title, project subtitle, and project episode defined in the storyboard
properties.

Header HeightLets you enter the size of the footer for each page except the cover. The value w ill
be w ritten in a w ay to reflect the set unit type in the General tab of the PDF
Profile dialog box.

Header Logo

Lets you select an image (.bmp, .jpg or .png) to display on the header. Scale thelogo to match header's height.

Position of Logo

Sets the position of your logo in the header.

Show Title

Displays the project title defined in the storyboard properties. You can find theproperties in the Top Menu > Storyboard > Properties.

Show Subtitle

Displays the project subtitle defined in the storyboard properties. You can find theproperties in the Top Menu > Storyboard > Properties.

Show Filename

Displays the filename of the PDF on the cover.

Show Page Number

Displays a page number in the header on each page (except the cover). Affects
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Use Sequence Name as Page Number Prefixl

Use Act Name as Page Number PrefixlShow Total Page NumberlStart Page Numberl

Sub Page Number

Displays the sequence name as part of the page number. For example, if thepanels (or at least the first panel) on page 25 are in the third sequence, the page
number w ill appear as Page 3-25.
Use Sequence Name as Page
Number Prefix

This option can also be set at the same time as Use Act Name As Page Number
Prefix. If so, the prefix for the act w ill appear before the prefix for the sequence.
Thus, if the panels from page 25 are also in the first act, the page number section
w ill display as: Page 1_3-25. In this example, the underscore is used after the act
number because it is follow ed by the prefix of the sequence.

Displays the act name as part of the page number. For example, if the panels (orat least the first panel) on page 25 are in the first act, the page number w ill
appear as Page 1-25.
Use Act Name as Page
Number Prefix

This option can also be set at the same time as Use Sequence Name As Page
Number Prefix. If so, the prefix for the act w ill appear before the prefix for thesequence. Thus, if the panels from page 25 are also in the third sequence, thepage number section w ill display as Page 1_3-25. In this example, the underscoreis used after the act number because it is follow ed by the prefix of the sequence.

Show Total Page Number

Show s the current page number, as w ell as the total number of pages of thestoryboard. To see this change, enable the Show Page Number option. For
example, if this option is enabled, Page 3/7 w ill display, but if this option isdisabled, Page 3 w ill display.

Start Page Number

Defines the first number to start the page numbering. To see this change, enable
the Show Page Number option.

If you already printed your storyboard, but have recently added new panels or a
new scene to your project, using this option allow s you to create a PDF of the newpanels or new scenes in your storyboard that can be inserted into the existing
print w ithout causing issues w ith the page numbers.
Sub Page NumberThis option does the follow ing:l

Makes the page number displayed in the corner of the page alw ays
display the number in the Start Page Number field, w ithout incrementing.

lAdds a "sub page number" after the page number, w hich actually
increments w ith every page.

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For example: Let's say you have a storyboard printed out, but a new scene w as
added to the Storyboard Pro project, and this new scene is to be inserted at page
100 of the original printed storyboard. Instead of reprinting the w hole storyboard,
you can simply print out the scene. In this case, you could set the Start Page
Number option to 100, and then type -1 in the Sub Page Number field. Thisw ould result in each page in the PDF for the new scene to be numbered like so:
100-1, 100-2, 100-3, etc. W ith the pages numbered in this w ay, the printed
PDF can be inserted at page 100 of your original printed storyboard, w ithout
affecting the existing page numbers.

TIP
This option can also use letters to number sub-pages. In the previous
example, setting this option to a w ould result in pages numbered like so:
100a, 100b, 100c, etc.

Frame Page Number

Displays a rectangle around the page number in the header on each page.

Font

Lets you select any font installed on your system for the footer text in the PDF
document.

Font Size

Lets you define the size of the font.

Footer Tab

Parameter

Description

Display Footer

Displays a footer on each page (except cover). The footer includes the project
copyright, defined in the storyboard properties.

Footer HeightLets you enter the size of the footer for each page except the cover. The value w ill

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be w ritten in a w ay to reflect the set unit type in the General tab of the PDF
Profile dialog box.

Footer Logo

Lets you select an image file (.bmp, .jpg or .png) to use as the logo in the footer.
Scale the logo to match footer's height.

Font

Lets you select any font installed on your system for the footer text in the PDF
document.

Font Size

Lets you define the size of the font.

Show Title

Displays the project title defined in the storyboard properties.

Title Font

Lets you select the font for the title in the footer.

Title Font Size

Lets you set the font size for the title in the footer.

Show Filename

Displays the filename of the PDF on the cover.

Show Page Duration

Displays the duration per page. For example, (03:11).

Labeling Tab

NOTE
Add %1 at the end of the label to place the label and corresponding number on the same line.

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Parameter

Description

Page

Lets you enter a substitute for the w ord page.

Title

Lets you enter a substitute for the w ord title.

Lets you enter a substitute for the w ord act.
Act

This option is grayed out by default. To activate it, enable the Enable Acts
option in the General tab of the Preferences dialog box. Then, select the
Display Act Name option in the Panels tab of the PDF Profile dialog box.

Lets you enter a substitute for the w ord sequence.
Sequence

To see this change, select the Display Sequence Name option in the Panels
tab of the PDF Profile dialog box.

Scene

Lets you enter a substitute for the w ord scene.

Panel

Lets you enter a substitute for the w ord panel.

Lets you enter a substitute for the w ord transition.
Transition

To see this change, select the Transition As Panel option in the Panels tab of
the PDF Profile dialog box.

DurationLets you enter a substitute for the w ord duration.

Lets you enter a substitute for the w ords no panel.
No PanelTo see this change, select the Display "No Panel" on board option, in the
Panels tab of the PDF Profile dialog box.

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Pen Pressure Feel Dialog Box
The Pen Pressure Feel dialog box allow s you to configure how Storyboard Pro processes the pressure you put
on your tablet pen to apply it to the size of your draw ing tool.

By default, Storyboard Pro applies the pressure you put on your pen to your tool in a linear fashion. That is, if
you put 25% of the maximum pressure on your pen, your tool's size w ill be 25% of the w ay betw een its
minimum and maximum size. If you put 75% of the maximum pressure on your pen, your tool's size w ill be
75% of the w ay betw een its minimum and maximum size.
How ever, you may find that it w ould feel more natural, or that it w ould make it easier to control the size ofyour draw ing strokes, if Storyboard Pro interpreted the pressure you put on your pen differently. For example,
you may w ant Storyboard Pro to make your brush strokes small unless you put a lot of pressure on your pen,or you may w ant Storyboard Pro to make your brush strokes big unless you put very little pressure on yourpen. This is w here the Pen Pressure Feel dialog box comes in handy.

NOTE
For information on how to use the Pen Pressure Feel dialog, refer to the User Guide.

How to access the Pen Pressure Feel dialog
1. Add the Pen Settings toolbar to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Pen Settings.

lRight-click on any existing toolbar and, in the context menu, select Pen Settings.

2. In the Pen Settings toolbar, click on the

Pen Pressure Feel button.

The Pen Pressure Feel dialog appears.

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Parameter

Description

The percentage of your pen's maximum pressure you must apply before Storyboard Pro
registers that you are draw ing. If you increase this setting, you can lightly brush your tablet
w ith your pen w ithout draw ing, and you must apply a certain amount of pressure on it to draw .
Min Pressure

For example, if you set this to 15%, you can apply up to 15% of your pen's maximum pressure
w ithout actually draw ing. If you apply exactly 15% of your pen's maximum pressure,
Storyboard Pro w ill draw a stroke in your tool's minimum size.
By default, this is set to 0%, w hich means that just brushing the tablet w ith your pen w ill draw
in your tool's minimum size. You can increase this setting up to 25%.

Curve Preset

Allow s you to instantly apply a curve preset to the pressure curve below .

The percentage of your pen's maximum pressure at w hich point your draw ing tool should draw
in its maximum size.
Max Pressure

For example, if you set this to 80%, your draw ing tool w ill draw in its maximum size if you
apply 80% of your tablet pen's maximum pressure.
By default, this is set to 100%, w hich means you have to press your tablet pen all the w ay todraw in your draw ing tool's maximum size. You can decrease this setting dow n to 75%.

This curve determines how to process the amount of pressure you apply to your tablet pen into
your draw ing tool's size.
By default, it is linear, meaning that the amount of pressure you put on your tablet pen is
directly applied to the size of your draw ing tool. By moving the tw o Bezier handles betw een
the extremities of the curve, you can change the curve's shape.
l

If you make an ease-in curve like the one below , the size of your draw ing strokes w illtend to be closer to the minimum size of your draw ing tool, unless you apply a lot ofpressure on your tablet pen.

l

If you make an ease-out curve like the one below , the size of your draw ing strokes w illtend to be closer to the maximum size of your draw ing tool, unless you apply very little
pressure on your tablet pen.

Pressure Curve

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Parameter

Descriptionl

If you make an ease-in-ease-out curve like the one below , the size of your draw ing
strokes w ill tend to be closer to the minimum size of your draw ing tool w hen applying
light pressure, and to be closer to the maximum size of your draw ing tool w hen
applying more pressure, but it w ill rarely be the median betw een the minimum and the
maximum size.

l

If you make an ease-out-ease-in curve like the one below , the size of your draw ing
strokes w ill tend to be closer to median betw een the minimum and maximum size ofyour draw ing tool, unless you apply very little or a lot of pressure on your tablet pen.

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Project Properties Dialog Box
The Project Properties dialog box lets you change the property settings in your project.

How to access the Project Properties dialog box
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

Select Storyboard > Project Properties.

‣

Press Alt + Return.

Settings Tab
In the Settings tab, you can define the project naming scheme and start time for the current project.

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Parameter

Description

Project Title: By default, the Project Name already appears is this field if noproject title w as entered during the creation of this project. The Project Nameis the name of the Storyboard Pro project file. The Project Title is the title thatw ill appear in all PDF renders. They can, and often should, be the same.

NOTE

Title Info

Special characters (!"/$) cannot be used for project names because theyinterfere w ith the operating system. How ever, they can be used in the
project title.

Project Subtitle: The name of the project subtitle w hich appears in theproper places in all PDF renders.

Project Episode: The episode number. If you w ant the w ord “Episode” toappear next to the number, you must include it in the field as w ell. The
information entered in this field w ill appear after the Project Subtitle in all
PDF renders.

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Project Copyright: The copyright date. This can be the month and year orjust the year. This information w ill appear at the bottom of the page in all
PDF renders.

Project Start Time: This time is important w hen generating an EDL (Editing
Decision List) of your project. EDLs are generally used by third party editing
softw are, such as Final Cut Pro. The EDL determines how the panels of yourproject are distributed in the timeline of the third party softw are. The
numerical value you enter in this field also appears as the start time in theTimeline view .

Film Size: W hen w orking on a 3D scene, the film size determines the focal
length of the camera. You should use the same value as that used in the 3D
softw are used to create the 3D elements. A value of 1.417 is equivalent to35mm film.

Metrics

3D Models

Project Field Chart: Sets the field standard for the project.

Default Scale Factor: The default scale factor to apply to a 3D model w hen
it is imported into your project. You can enter a decimal value betw een 0 and
1 to make new ly imported 3D models appear smaller than their original size,or a decimal value greater than 1 to make 3D models appear bigger thantheir original size.

Colour SpaceThe colour space that each layer w ill be converted to before all
elements in the scene are composited together along w ith your scene's
effects. The follow ing colour spaces are available for your project:lLinear: The same primaries and w hite point as sRGB and Rec. 709,
but w ith no gamma transfer curve applied to the colour values. This
colour space is useful for compositing intermediary images that aremeant to be rendered in sRGB or Rec. 709.

l

Display P3: A colour space commonly used for digital projection. It
has the same primaries as DCI-P3, the same w hite point as sRGB andthe same gamma transfer curve as sRGB.

l

Display P3 Linear: The same as Display P3, except w ith no gammatransfer curve. This colour space is useful for compositing
intermediary images that are meant to be rendered in Display P3.

lRec. 709: The colour space used for HDTV. It has the same primaries
and w hite point as sRGB, but has a different gamma transfer curve.

lRec. 709 2.4: The same colour space as Rec. 709 or sRGB, except

Colour Space

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w ith a gamma transfer curve of 2.4 (per ITU-R BT.1886). This colour
space exists because some editing systems use a gamma transfer
curve of 2.4 instead of the standard gamma curve for Rec. 709.
lRec. 2020: A colour space used for Ultra High Definition TV(UHDTV). It has a complex gamma transfer curve and primaries thatcover more of the human-perceivable colour space than other colour
spaces, especially in the area of human-perceivable greens.

lRec. 2020 2.4: The same colour space as Rec. 2020, except w ith asimple gamma transfer curve of 2.4 (per ITU-R BT.1886). This colour
space exists because some editing systems use a gamma transfer
curve of 2.4 instead of the standard gamma curve for Rec. 2020.

lRec. 2020 Linear: The same colour space as Rec. 2020, except w ith
no gamma transfer curve. This colour space is useful for compositing
intermediary images that are meant to be rendered in Rec. 2020.

lsRGB: A colour space typically used for standard computer monitors.
It has the same primaries and w hite point as Rec. 709, but has adifferent gamma transfer curve.

Project Resolution Tab
In the Project Resolution tab, you can define the project resolution, aspect ratio, field of view and frame
rate for the current project:

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Parameter

Description

Lets you define the project resolution. Your project resolution should match
the format of the production for w hich you are creating the storyboard.

HDTV: High Definition Television delivers a higher quality image thanstandard television because it has tw ice the standard number of scanninglines per frame. To take advantage of the superior quality, your output device
must be compatible w ith HDTV technology to make this resolution setting
useful.

HDTV_Vertical: The "vertical resolution" of HDTV_Vertical refers to how thedraw ing grid is fit into the camera frame. W hen w orking w ith 12 or 16 fielddraw ing grids, the grid is a different aspect ratio from the camera frame.
W hen you fit vertically, you fit the grid w ith the top and bottom of thecamera frame.

NOTE
The HDTV_Vertical format is ideal w hen importing images into an HD
project.

Resolution
film- 1.33: Applies to a w ide screen film format that conforms to thestandard 4:3 pixel aspect ratio.

film- 1.66: Applies to a w ide screen film format that conforms to the 16:9
pixel aspect ratio in w hich the pixel's w idth is greater than its height.

film- 1.66_Vertical: This is essentially the same as film-1.66. Refers to how
the draw ing grid is fit into the camera frame. W hen w orking w ith 12 or 16
field draw ing grids, the grid is a different aspect ratio from the camera frame.
W hen you fit vertically, you fit the grid w ith the top and bottom of thecamera frame.

NOTE
The film-1.66_Vertical view is ideal for importing images into film
projects.

NTSC: The standard analog television broadcasting system that w as used inmost of the Americas, Japan, South Korea, Taiw an, Burma, and some Pacific

195Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

island nations and territories. It conformed to the North American standards
on how rectangular pixels w ere displayed for computer and televisionscreens. This format has been replaced in most regions w ith HDTV.

PAL: An analog television encoding system that w as used in broadcast
television systems in large parts of the w orld, such as W estern Europe, Asia,
Australia, most of Africa and some North American countries. This resolution
w orked best w ith the European format for television and computer screens,as the rectangular pixels are displayed at a different orientation. This format
has been replaced in most regions w ith HDTV.

Low: This format is ideal for videos destined for the w eb, w here size and fast
dow nload of a video file might take precedence over quality.

W idth: The w idth of the project, in pixels.

Height: The height of the project, in pixels.

Resolution

Aspect Ratio: The aspect ratio describes the number of pixels w ide theproject is divided by the height. Storyboard Pro alw ays w orks w ith square
pixels. An aspect ratio of 1:1 indicates that the camera frame is square, andhas the same number of pixels defining the w idth as it does defining theheight. The aspect ratio is defined automatically w hen you enter values forthe w idth and height of the camera frame.

Defines how the camera frame fits w ith the draw ing grid in your scene.
W hen w orking in 3D, a different custom FOV might be more common, so thiscan be set here as the default FOV for the scenes in your project. The FOV
can be adjusted for individual 3D scenes, in order to sw itch out the camera
lens.
Field of View
Horizontal Fit: Fits the draw ing grid to the w idth of the camera frame.

Vertical Fit: Fits the draw ing grid w ith the top and bottom of the camera
frame.

Frame Rate

Lets you set the frame rate for the project. The higher the frame rate, forexample 30 fps, the smoother your animation w ill look, but the heavier it w ill
be. The low er the frame rate, for example 12 fps, the choppier youranimation may look, but the lighter it w ill be.

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Bitmap Resolution Tab
In the Bitmap Resolution tab, you can define the default resolution for textured brushes in vector draw ing
layers, as w ell as the default size and resolution of canvases for bitmap draw ing layers.

NOTE
This w ill not affect the pixel density and canvas size of existing draw ings in your project.

Parameter

Description

Project Resolution

The project resolution of the project, displayed for reference.

Default Texture Pixel Density for Vector Layers

Pixel Density

Determines the amount of pixels to store in textured brush strokes for eachpixel that displays w hen the draw ing is not zoomed in or scaled up. For
example, at 100%, zooming in or scaling up textured brush strokes w ill
make them lose texture quality. If set to 200%, textured brush strokes can bezoomed in or scaled up until they're tw ice their original size w ithout losing
picture quality.

Default Canvas Size & Pixel Density for Bitmap Layers

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W idthThe default w idth of the canvas w hen creating a bitmap draw ing layer. The
percentage is relative to the w idth of the project. Its default value, 200%,
makes the w idth of the canvas tw ice the w idth of the stage.

Height

The default height of the canvas w hen creating a bitmap draw ing layer. The
percentage is relative to the height of the project. Its default value, 200%,
makes the height of the canvas tw ice the height of the stage.

Lock/Unlock

Pixel Density

W hen enabled, changing either the W idth or the Height property w ill update
the other property to preserve their proportions.

Determines the amount of pixels to store for each pixel that displays on thescreen w hen the draw ing is not zoomed in or scaled up. For example, at
100%, zooming in or scaling up a bitmap draw ing w ill make it lose picture
quality. If set to 200%, bitmap draw ings can be zoomed in or scaled up until
they're tw ice their original size w ithout losing picture quality.

Naming Tab
In the Naming tab, all options affect the Panel w indow . The changes you make in this tab override your
Storyboard Pro preferences and affect the current project only. Your default preferences remain in effectfor any new projects you create.

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Parameter

Description

Override Naming Preference
for this Project

W hen selected, current preferences for this project are overridden, and all
the options on this tab become active.

Automatically Add Leading Zeros to Names: Automatically adds a zero
before the scene or sequence name.

Increment Name By:

Incremental Naming on Copy:

Min. Number of Characters: Determines the minimum number of charactersthe scene names w ill contain w hen using leading zeros.

Resolution Suffix: Lets you set the suffix pattern to use w hen a suffix is
added to a new scene w hen the name is already in use. You can choose thepunctuation mark preceding the suffix from the first drop-dow n menu:None:
Suffix appears immediately follow ing the name of the scene. For example:
12A._: Suffix appears after an underscore. For example: 12_A..: Suffix
appears after a period. For example: 12.A.You can choose w hich type of
Scene/Sequence Naming
Rules

suffix to use:Auto: Uses an upper case alphabetical suffix. Once the suffix
reaches Z, it w ill start again at A, preceeded by a number. Example: 12_A,
12_B, (...), 12_1A, 12_1B, and so on.Numerical: Uses a numerical suffix. For
example: 12_1, 12_2, and so on.Uppercase: Uses an upper case alphabeticalsuffix. For example: 12_A, 12_B, and so on.Lowercase: Uses a low er casealphabetical suffix. For example: 12_a, 12_b, and so on.

Reset Scene Name on New Sequence: By default, this option is enabled.
W henever you create a new sequence, the scene naming scheme is reset.
For example, the naming w ill be as follow s: Seq 1, Scene 1, Seq 1, Scene 2,
Seq 2, Scene 1. W hen disabled, the scene number alw ays increments. For
example, Seq 1, Scene 1, Seq 1, Scene 2, Seq 2, Scene 3.

Allow Custom Panel Names: Activates the Panel field so you can enter in acustom name for all panels.

Display Total Number of Panels in Panel Name: Displays a counter at theend of the Panel field w hich indicates the total number of panels in theselected panel’s scene.

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Enable Acts: Displays the Act field, along w ith the Act number.

Panel Auto- increment Rule: By default, panel names are named using
numbers. This preference allow s you to select a different naming rule, mostof w hich use letters instead:l

1, 2, 3... : Uses decimal numbers composed of Arabic numerals toname panels.

l

A ... Z, AA ... ZZ, AAA ... ZZZ, AAAA ... : This is a positional letterbased notation, w hich means it w orks similarly to decimal numbers,
except it uses letters instead of Arabic numerals, making the panel
numbers use base 26 instead of base 10. For example, panels 1
through 26 are named using single letters from A to Z, after thatcomes AA, then AB, and so on until AZ, and after that comes BA, BB,
etc.

l

A ... Z, ZA ... ZZ, ZAA ... ZZZ, ZAAA ... : This notation uses tw odifferent logics: After the first time the panel names cycle throughthe w hole alphabet, a single Z is added at the beginning of the panel
names, and subsequent panels are named ZA to ZZ. Every letter afterthat first Z make up a 26-based number in positional notation, justlike the previous option. Therefore, panels 1 through 26 are named
using single letters from A to Z, then after that comes ZA, ZB, and soon until ZZ, and after that comes ZAA, ZAB, and so on until ZAZ, andafter that comes ZBA, ZBB, etc.
In summary, the first Z is essentially an exceptional notation thatmeans 26, w hile the other letters constitute a number in base 26
positional notation.

l

A ... Z, ZA ... ZZ, ZZA ... ZZZ, ZZZA ... : Each time the panel names
cycle through the alphabet, a Z is added at the beginning of thepanel's name and the last letter in the name cycles from Z back to A.
The Zs at the beginning of the notation accumulate, meaning that theamount of Zs at the beginning of the panel's name indicates theamount of time panel names have cycled through the w holealphabet.
In summary, the value of this notation is equal to the sum of eachletter's position in the alphabet.

l

A ... Z, ZA ... ZZ, 2ZA ... 2ZZ, 3ZA ... : Each time the panel names
reach Z, a Z is added at the beginning of the panel's name and thelast letter in the name cycles back to A. Those Zs accumulate.
How ever, w hen more than one Z is present at the beginning of thepanel's name, they are notated by a number follow ed by the letter Z,
instead of by multiple Zs. Hence, the number preceding the Z at the
beginning of the panel's name indicates the amount of times panel

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names have cycled through the w hole alphabet.
In summary, the value of this notation is equal to 26 × the number
preceding the first Z added to the position of the last letter in thealphabet.

Resolution Suffix: Lets you set the suffix pattern to use w hen a suffix is
added to a new scene w hen the name is already in use. You can choose thepunctuation mark preceding the suffix from the first drop-dow n menu:None:
Suffix appears immediately follow ing the name of the scene. For example:
12A._: Suffix appears after an underscore. For example: 12_A..: Suffix
appears after a period. For example: 12.A.You can choose w hich type of
suffix to use:Auto: Uses an upper case alphabetical suffix. Once the suffix
reaches Z, it w ill start again at A, preceeded by a number. Example: 12_A,
12_B, (...), 12_1A, 12_1B, and so on.Numerical: Uses a numerical suffix. For
example: 12_1, 12_2, and so on.Uppercase: Uses an upper case alphabeticalsuffix. For example: 12_A, 12_B, and so on.Lowercase: Uses a low er casealphabetical suffix. For example: 12_a, 12_b, and so on.

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Radial Zoom Blur Dialog Box
T-SBADV-007-007
The Radial Zoom Blur effect creates blurs around a centre point, simulating the look of a zooming or rotatingcamera.

How to access the Radial Zoom Blur dialog boxlFrom the top menu, select Layer > Apply Effect > Radial Zoom Blur.

l

In the Camera or Stage view , right-click on the layer you w ant to apply the effect to and selectApply Effect > Radial Zoom Blur.

Parameter

Description

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Focus(x) and (y) Axis

Lets you set the x and y coordinates individually for the centre.

BlurrinessAmount of blur applied to the layer.

Direction

Presets

Lets you select preset blur types. A set of preset radial, zoom, and spiral blurs areavailable to get you started. You can then adjust the type to customize the blur.

CustomLets you select a custom blur direction. Create your ow n blur by entering a value
for the direction of the blur lines.

Bidirectional

Applies the blur on both sides of the pixel.

Preview

Generates a preview of the effect on the actual artw ork using the current values.
This can be done as many times as needed.

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Record Sound Dialog Box
The Record Sound dialog box lets you record sound directly in Storyboard Pro and insert it on the Timeline.

How to access the Record Sound dialog box
1. In the Timeline view , add a new audio track if needed.
2. Position the play head at the frame you w ant your recording to begin and select the audio track you
w ant to record your sound guide in.
3. Do one of the follow ing:

Icon

l

In the top menu, select File > Import > Record Sound.

l

In the Sound toolbar, click on Record Sound

Parameter.

Description

Record Sound Clip

Start recording

Lets you record, play/stop and name your sound recording.

Stop recording or
playing

Play recording

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Icon

Parameter

Description

Target Audio Track

New Audio Tracks

Places the recorded sound clips on a new audio track.

Current Audio Track

Places the recorded sound clips on the current audio track.

First Frame

Places the recorded sound clips starting on the first frame.

Current Frame

Places the recorded sound clips starting on the current frame.

Overw rite ExistingSound Clip

By default, w hen you recorded a sound, it w ill replace sounds that exist in
the target frames.

Fill Next Available

Places the sound clip into the first available empty frames after any

Framesexisting sound selection.

Target Frame

Import Rule

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Record Voice Annotation Dialog Box
The Record Voice Annotation dialog box lets you create vocal annotations using a microphone connected toyour computer and Storyboard Pro.

How to access the Record Voice Annotation dialog box
1. In the Thumbnails view , select the panel on w hich you w ant to record a voice annotation.
2. Display the Panel view .
The Voice Annotation section appears as part of the panel.

3. Click the Record Voice Annotation

button.

The Record Voice Annotation dialog box opens.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

RecordRecords your voice annotations. Be sure to verify
that your microphone is functioning properly.

Stop or Play

Stops or plays the recording.

Play Recorded Sound

Plays the voice annotations you recorded.

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Rename Panel Dialog Box
The Rename Panel dialog box lets you renamed a selected sequence . You can also rename Panel in the Panelview .

How to access the Rename Panel dialog box
1. In the Thumbnails view , select a panel to rename.

2. Select Storyboard > Rename Panel.
The Rename Panel dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

New Name

The new name of the panel.

Renaming Rule for Subsequent Panel

Current Pane lOnly

Renames only the selected panel.

Renumber Panels

Renumbers the current panel, as w ell as all the panel that follow .

Renumber Selected
Panel

Renumbers the first selected panel of a multiselection, as w ell as all thefollow ing panel that are part of the multiselection.

Renumber Prefix
Only

Renumbers the panel's numerical prefixes beginning at the selected panel. The
new name must be a numerical value.

Renumbered Panel Names

Displays the current and new names for all the panels that w ill be affected by therenaming process.

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Rename Scene Dialog Box
The Rename Scene dialog box lets you renamed a selected scene. You can also rename scenes in the Panelview .

How to access the Rename Scene dialog box
1. In the Thumbnails view , select a scene to rename.
2. Select Storyboard > Rename Scene.
The Rename Scene dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

New Name

The new name of the scene.

Renaming Rule for Subsequent Scene

Current Scene Only

Renames only the selected scene.

Renumber Scenes

Renumbers the current scene, as w ell as all the scenes that follow .

Renumber Selected
ScenesRenumbers the first selected scene of a multiselection, as w ell as all thefollow ing scenes that are part of the selection.

Renumber Prefix

Renumbers the scenes' numerical prefixes beginning at the selected scene. The

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Only

new name must be a numerical value.

Reset Panel Name

Resets all panel names according to the current panel time automatic increment
rule.

Renumbered Scene Names

Displays the current and new names for all the scenes that w ill be affected by therenaming process.

Do not show this dialog

Prevents this dialog box from automatically opening every time you move scenes

automaticallyaround.

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Rename Sequence Dialog Box
The Rename Sequence dialog box lets you renamed a selected sequence . You can also rename scenes in the
Panel view .

How to access the Rename Sequence dialog box
1. In the Thumbnails view , select a sequence to rename.
2. Select Storyboard > Rename Sequence.
The Rename Sequence dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

New Name

The new name of the sequence.

Renaming Rule for Subsequent Sequence

Current Sequence
Only

Renames only the selected sequence.

Renumber Sequences

Renumbers the current sequence, as w ell as all the sequencethat follow .

Renumber Selected
Sequence

Renumbers the first selected sequence of a multiselection, as w ell as all thefollow ing sequence that are part of the multiselection.

Renumber Prefix
Only

Renumbers the sequence's numerical prefixes beginning at the selectedsequence. The new name must be a numerical value.

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Renumbered Sequence
Names

Displays the current and new names for all the sequence that w ill be affected by
the renaming process.

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Render 3D Model Dialog Box
The Render 3D Model dialog box allow s you to set up how a 3D model should be positioned before rasterizing
into a 2D layer, so it can be imported into a 2D scene.

NOTE
For information on how to use this dialog, see the User Guide.

How to access the Render 3D Model dialog box
1. Make sure the current scene is a 2D scene.
2. In the Thumbnails or Timeline view , select the panel to w hich you w ant to add a 3D object.
3. In the Library view , select the 3D Models library.
4. In the list of 3D models, select the model you w ish to add to the current panel.
5. Drag and drop the 3D model from the Library view to the Stage or Camera view :lTo insert it betw een tw o specific layers, drop it betw een those layers in the Layer panel ofthe Stage or Camera view .

l

If you w ant to insert it over all the other layers, you can drop it directly in the Stage or
Camera view .

The follow ing dialog box appears:

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6. Click on Render to 2D.
The Render 3D Model dialog appears.

Parameter

Description

The preview area displays the 3D model as it w ill be rendered in the stage. Black bars
display around the area to mark parts of the areas that are outside of the camera frame.
In this area, you can:lEither click and drag on the vertical slider to the right or scroll the mouse w heelup or dow n to adjust the distance betw een the camera and the model.

lHold Ctrl + Shift (W indow s) or Shift + ⌘ (macOS), then click and drag on thepreview area to rotate the camera.

l

Hold Spacebar, then click and drag on the preview area to pan the camera
laterally.

Preview Area

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Parameter

Description

Camera

The angle of the camera cone used to render the 3D model. A w ide angle w ill render
the model w ith less perspective, and a narrow angler w ill render it w ith exaggerated
perspective.
Focal Length

NOTE
Increasing this setting w ill also decrease the perceived size of the 3D model, anddecreasing it w ill increase its perceived size. You must then adjust the camera's
distance from the model or the model's scaling to compensate.

Transformation

The position of the 3D model relative to the center of the stage:l

X: The horizontal position of the 3D model, from w est to east.

l

Y: The vertical position of the 3D model, from south to north.

l

Z: The position of the 3D model relative to the camera, from near to far.

Translation

The angle of the 3D model relative to its default angle:l

X: The rotation angle of the model around the horizontal axis.

l

Y: The rotation angle of the model around the vertical axis.

l

Z: The rotation angle of the model around the z-axis.

Rotation

The size of the 3D model relative to its default size:
Scalingl

Lock Scaling Axis: W hen enabled, you can use the X scaling field to set the214Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Parameter

Description

scaling of the 3D model on all axes, preserving its proportions.
l

X: The horizontal scaling of the model.

l

Y: The vertical scaling of the model.

l

Z: The scaling of the model on the z-axis.

Click on this button to automatically adjust the model's Truck, Translation X and
Fit Model to View

Translation Y parameters so that the model fits inside the camera field and ispositioned in its centre.

Render to Scene

Rasterize the 3D model into a bitmap layer and add it to the current panel.

CancelDismiss this dialog and do not import the 3D model.

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Save Version Dialog Box
The Save Version dialog box allow s you to save multiple versions of your project, as w ell as to delete versionsof your project that you no longer need.

How to access the Save Version dialog box
1. In the top menu, select File > Save as New Version.
The Save Version dialog box appears.

Name

Description

The list of existing project versions for this project. This list w ill contain one item for each.sboard file inside the project's directory, as w ell as the date of its last modification.

TIPS
Version listl

You can select one or several projects in this list, right-click on the selection and selectDelete Selected to delete old versions of your project. You cannot delete the version ofyour project that is currently open.

l

You can also select one of the versions to fill the Version Name field w ith its name,allow ing you to quickly overw rite an old project version if you w ant.

VersionName

Allow s you to type in the name of the version you w ant to create.

Save

Saves the project as a version named according to w hat is in the Version Name field and closes
the dialog.

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Name

Description

NOTES

Cancell

If the name in the Version Name field is for a project version that already exists, you w ill beprompted to confirm w hether you w ant to overw rite it.

l

From that point on, you w ill be w orking on the project version you just created. If you w ant
to resume w orking on the previous project version, you must manually reopen it.

Closes the dialog and does not create a new project version.

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Scripts Manager Dialog Box
The Scripts Manager dialog allow s you to create buttons in the Scripting toolbar. Each button you create canrun a specific function in one of your scripts. You can also choose an icon and a tool tip for the button, if you
w ant.

NOTE
For tasks related to this dialog box, see the User Guide.

How to access the Scripts Manager Dialog Box
1. Add the Scripting toolbar to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Scripting.

l

Right-click on any existing toolbar and select Scripting.

2. In the Scripting toolbar, click on theManage Scripts button.

The Scripts Manager dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Files

A list of the available JavaScript files.

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Functions

A list of the available functions for the selected script.

In Toolbar

The list of script functions already added to the Scripting toolbar.

Runs the selected function.

ExecuteTIP
Press Esc to interrupt the execution of the script.

Customize Icon

Allow s you to select an icon for the toolbar button. Clicking on this button w ill
open an Open dialog prompting you to brow se for and select a .png, .jpg, .xpm
or .svg file.

Customize Tooltip

Allow s you to type in a custom tooltip for the toolbar button.

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Select Font Dialog Box
In the Pitch Mode w orkspace or view , the Show /Hide Captions dialog box lets you format text in caption fields.
By default, the selected caption field has a black background and a gray font. You can change the colours andthe font.

How to access the Select Font dialog box
1. Select one of the follow ing:‣

Pitch Mode W orkspace: Select W indows > W orkspace > W orkspace > Pitch Mode.

‣

Pitch Mode View : Select W indows > Pitch Mode View.

The Select Font dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Font

Lets you select the font in w hich to display the text.

Font Style

Lets you set the style of selected text.

Size

Allow s you to set the size of the selected text.

Effects

Lets you strike out and underline selected text.

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SampleShow s a preview of the selected font and the parameters you set.

W riting System

Changes the selected text to a different w riting sytem.

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Select Project Dialog Box
The Select Project dialog box appears w hen you open a project inStoryboard Pro Packed File (.sbpz)

format w hich contains several versions of the project inside it.

If you are trying to open a project in the regular

Storyboard Pro Project (.sboard) format, each version of

the project is its ow n .sboard file in the project directory. Since an .sbpz file is a single file containing aw hole project and all of its versions, this dialog allow s you to select w hich version to open after Storyboard
Pro extracts the project files from the .sbpz file.

NOTE
If you open an .sbpz file that contains a single project version, Storyboard Pro w ill automaticallyselect this version and open it.

Name

Description

Version list

The list of project versions in the project. This list w ill contain one item for each .sboard file
found inside the .sbpz file as w ell as the date of its last modification.

Open

Opens the selected project version.

CancelCloses the dialog and cancels opening the project.

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Show/Hide Captions Dialog Box
The Show /Hide Captions dialog box lets you determines w hich captions to display and hide.

How to access the Show/Hide Captions dialog box
1. Select Caption > Show/Hide Captions.
The Show /Hide Captions dialog box opens.

Parameter

Dialogue, Action Notes,
Slugging and Notes

Description

Lets you display selected captions. Deselected captions are hidden.

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Smart Add Panel Dialog Box
The Smart Add Panel dialog box lets you create a new , duplicated panel that contains specific elements thatyou select.

How to access the Smart Add Panel dialog box
1. In the Thumbnails view , select the panel that contains the elements you w ant duplicate into thenew panel.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect Storyboard > Smart Add Panel.

l

In the Storyboard toolbar, click the Smart Add Panelbutton.

The Smart Add Panel dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Panel layers to duplicate

Lets you select the layers that contain elements you w ant to copy into the newpanel.

Add default layer if missing

Creates the default layers in the new panel if they are not part of the Smart Add
Panel selection list.

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QuickTime Sound Settings Dialog Box (W indows)
The Sound Settings dialog box allow s you to set the audio compression settings w hen you w ant to export a
QuickTime Movie (.mov) file.

NOTES
l

For tasks related to this dialog box, refer to the User Guide.

lThis dialog can only be accessed on W indow s and requires Apple QuickTime to be installed.

How to access the QuickTime Sound Settings dialog box from the Export Movie dialog
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Movie.
The Export Movie dialog box opens.

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2. In the Movie Format drop-dow n, select QuickTime Movie (*.mov).
3. Click on the Movie Options button.
The QuickTime Movie Settings dialog box appears.

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4. In the Sound section, click Settings.

Parameter

Description

Allow s you to select the compression algorithm to use the compress the movie'saudio track.
Compressor

NOTE
It is recommended to leave this setting to None, as other formats are likely
to sacrifice audio quality for negligible savings in disk space.

Allow s you to select the sample rate, or frequency, in w hich to export the audio
track for the movie.

Rate

NOTE
Storyboard Pro cannot export audio at a higher sample rate than 22.050
kHz. If you select a higher sample rate, your project's audio w ill be
upsampled, w hich means it w ill take more disc space w ithout increasing inquality.

Size

Allow s you to select the bit depth in w hich to encode the audio track. This
determines the amount of precision to record each w avelength in the audio track.

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Parameter

Description

NOTE
The standard bit depth is 16- bit. If you choose 8- bit, the amount of disk
space the audio track of your movie file requires w ill be halved, but theaudio quality w ill be significantly low er.

Allow s you to select w hether to export the movie's audio track using the Mono or
Stereo channel mode.
Use

NOTE
Stereo sound has a separate track for the left and right speakers, w hereas
mono sound only has a single audio track for all speakers.

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Spelling Dialog
The Spelling dialog allow s you to fix spelling mistakes in your storyboard script and captions, to select thedictionary language to use for spell checking and to add or remove w ords from your personal dictionary.

How to access the Spelling dialog
1. In the top menu, select Caption > Spelling > Spell Check.

NOTES
l

As soon as you open the Spelling dialog, it w ill search for the first unknow n or
misspelled w ord it can find and suggest possible spellings for this w ord.

l

The Spelling dialog w ill start searching for unknow n w ords from the position of the
cursor in the currently selected captions field, w hether it is the script text field in the
Storyboard view or one of the caption fields for one of the panels in your project in
the Panel view .

Parameter

Description

The currently selected unknow n or misspelled w ord.

NOTE
Unknow n W ord

As soon as this dialog is opened, it w ill find the first unknow n w ord in your project's
storyboard script or panel captions and select it as the current unknow n w ord. W hen thatw ord's spelling is corrected, it w ill automatically jump to the next unknow n w ord in yourproject, and so on until no more misspelled w ords are found in the project.

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Parameter

Description

The currently selected spelling suggestion for the misspelled w ord.

Replace W ith

By default, this field contains the first w ord in the suggested spellings list. If you select a
different w ord in this list, the selected w ord w ill appear in this field.
If the proper spelling for the w ord cannot be found in the list, you can manually type the proper
spelling for the misspelled w ord into this field.

Suggestedspellings list

This list displays all the dictionary w ords that are spelled similarly to the w ord in the Unknown
W ord field. You can click on one of the w ords in this list to select it as the replacement for the
misspelled w ord.

Adds the current misspelled w ord to your personal dictionary, then jumps to the next
misspelled w ord in your project.
Add toDictionary

NOTE
W ords added to your personal dictionary are not considered misspelled.

Replace Once

Replaces the selected instance of the unknow n w ord w ith the w ord in the Replace W ith field.

Replace All

Replaces all instances of the current misspelled w ord that can be found in your project w ith thew ord in the Replace W ith field.

Skip

Skips the current unknow n w ord, leaving it misspelled, and jumps to the next unknow n w ordthat can be found in your project.

Temporarily ignores all instances of the current unknow n w ord in the project, and jumps to thenext unknow n w ord that can be found in your project.

Ignore All

NOTEThis adds the current unknow n w ord to a temporary list of w ords to ignore. This list is not
saved w ith your project or your preferences, and is discarded w hen you close Storyboard
Pro.

Close

Closes the dialog.

Language

Allow s you to select a dictionary to use for checking the spelling of your script and captions.
The follow ing dictionaries are supported:

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Parameter

DescriptionlEnglish (AU): English (Australia)lEnglish (US): English (United States)lEnglish (CA): English (Canada)lEnglish (GB): English (United Kingdom)lEspañol (ES): Spanish (Spain)lFrançais (FR): French (France)l한국어 (KR): KoreanlPortuguês (BR): Portuguese (Brasil)lPortuguês (PT): Portuguese (Portugal)lрусский (RU): Russianl

No Spellchecking: Disables spellchecking

NOTE
W hen you select a dictionary, the change takes effect in the Spelling dialog immediately.

Opens the Personal Dictionary dialog, w hich displays a list of all the w ords you added to yourpersonal dictionary using the Add to Dictionary button.

Personal
Dictionary

To remove a w ord from your personal dictionary, select it in the list, then click on Remove
From Dictionary. The w ord w ill be considered a misspelled w ord again from that point on.
Once you are done, click on Close to close the dialog and return to the Spelling dialog.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Split Storyboard Dialog Box
The Split Storyboard dialog box allow s you to separate the current project into tw o different projects, w hichcan be shared and edited independently. You can choose to export one half of the project into a different
project and keep the other half in the current project, or you can choose to split the current project into tw o
new projects and keep the current project as an original copy.

IMPORTANT
If you intend to split your project into tw o new projects, then import the changes made in the tw o
new projects into the original project using the Merge and Replace dialog, it is highly
recommended to lock you project's scene and panel numbers before splitting your project. To dothis, in the top menu, select Storyboard > Lock Scene and Panel Names.

How to access the Split Storyboard dialog box
1. In the Timeline, move the timeline playhead to the panel w here you w ant to split your project.

NOTE
You can choose in w hich one of the tw o projects the current panel w ill go in the Split
Storyboard dialog.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select File > Project Management > Split.

l

In the Project Management view , click on
Management View .

The Split Storyboard dialog box appears.

Parameter

Description

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Menu and select Split—see ProjectStoryboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Export before
selected panel

Path

Includeselectedpanel

Export after selected
panel

Path

Includeselectedpanel

Exports all panels before the selected panel into a new project.

Using the Brow sebutton, you can brow se to the location w here you w ant to save thefirst half of the project, and type in its project name.

Includes the selected panel in the first half of the project.

Exports all panels after the selected panel into a new project.

Using the Brow sebutton, you can brow se to the location w here you w ant to save thesecond half of the project, and type in its project name.

Includes the selected panel in the second half of the project.

Remove exported

Removes the panels you selected to export from the current project. If you do not selectpanels from current
project

this option, the current project w ill preserve a copy of the panels getting exported into
new projects.

Link extracted
project

Adds each extracted project to the project list in the Project Management view , so thatyou can easily track and merge changes to the extracted projects back into the current
project—see Project Management View on page 545.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Spread Layer Motion Dialog Box
The Spread Layer Motion dialog box lets you spread the current layer motion across all panels in the same
shot or a specified number of adjacent panels after the current panel in the same shot.
A new layer w ill be added and the draw ing w ill be duplicated for those panels that do not have the same
name in the defined range.

How to access the Spread Layer Motion dialog box
1. Select a layer
2. Do one of the follow ing:‣

Select Layer > Spread Layer Motion.

‣

In the Layer toolbar, click the Spread Layer Motion
to the Layer toolbar by customizing it.
The Spread Layer Motion dialog box opens.

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QuickTime Standard Video Compression Settings Dialog Box(W indows)
The Standard Video Compression Settings dialog box allow s you to configure the video compression settings
w hen exporting a QuickTime Movie (.mov) file.

NOTES
l

For tasks related to this dialog box, refer to the User Guide.

lThis dialog can only be accessed on W indow s and requires Apple QuickTime to be installed.

How to access the QuickTime Standard Video Compression Settings dialog box fromthe Export Movie dialog
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Movie.
The Export Movie dialog box opens.

235Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

2. In the Movie Format drop-dow n, select QuickTime Movie (*.mov).
3. Click on the Movie Options button.
The QuickTime Movie Settings dialog box appears.

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4. In the Video section, click Settings.

How to access the QuickTime Standard Video Compression Settings dialog box fromthe Export to EDL/AAF/XML dialog
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > EDL/AAF/XML.
The Export to EDL/AAF/XML dialog box opens.

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Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

2. In the Movie Format drop-dow n, select QuickTime Movie (*.mov).
3. Click on the Movie Options button.

Parameter

Description

Allow s you to select the codec to use to compress the video stream of yourmovie. It is recommended to use one of the follow ing codecs, depending on yourusage scenario:
Compression Typel

H.264: A very effective lossy compression algorithm that is commonly
supported by w eb brow sers and most media players.

l

MPEG- 4 Video: A very effective lossy compression algorithm that is

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Parameter

Description

commonly supported by media players, but less so by w eb brow sers.
lAnimation: A high quality compression algorithm that is commonly used
for media interchange and video editing.

MotionFrame Rate

The amount of frames per second for the video stream. Leave this setting toCurrent to use your project's frame rate.

Some codecs compress the video by recording a limited amount of keyframes,
w hich are frames in w hich the entire picture is encoded, pixel by pixel and, inbetw een, recording deltas, w hich are frames that are only defined by theirdifference w ith the previous frame. This significantly reduces the size of the movie
file. How ever, the less keyframes a movie has, the more it is likely to encounter
decoding errors, and the harder it is for players to scrub or jump to a specific timein the video. This option allow s you to decide w hen keyframes are inserted in thevideo stream.
Automatic: Lets the encoder decide w hen keyframes should be inserted.
Key Frames

Every ... frames: Allow s you to set the exact interval, in frames, at w hichkeyframes should be inserted.
All: Encodes every frame as a keyframe. This option w ill significantly impact filesize, but w ill make it easier to scrub through the video w ithout causing any
rendering error.

NOTE
If you are using the H.264 codec, you must set the Key Frames option to All,or you w ill get an error message w hen you confirm the compression
settings.

Frame Reordering

Encodes frames in a different order than the one at w hich they are meant to be
displayed. This allow s for more efficient compression, but may not be compatible
w ith some players.

Compressor

Depth

Allow s you to set the colour depth for your video. A low er colour depth w ill
reduce the size of the video stream but w ill have significant impacts on picture
quality.

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Parameter

Description

TIP
Set this to Millions of Colors+ if you w ant to export a video w ith
transparency.

Quality

Lets you choose a quality setting for the video compression. A higher quality
setting w ill increase the size of the movie file, but w ill look better. A low er quality
setting w ill reduce the size of the movie file, but w ill cause blurriness andcompression artifacts to appear in the picture.

Allow s you to choose betw een the follow ing scan modes:lInterlaced: Frames are encoded starting w ith their odd-numberedscanlines, then their even-numbered scanlines.

lProgressive: Frames are encoded w hole, from the highest scanline to thelow est scanline.

Scan Mode /Interlaced

NOTE
Some codecs w ill display a drop-dow n allow ing you to select Interlaced or
Progressive, w hile others w ill simply have an Interlaced checkbox.

Allow s you to select one of the follow ing aspect ratios:
Aspect Ratio

Filterl

4:3: For output on standard definition displays.

l

16:9: For output to w idescreen displays.

W hen exporting w ith the PNG compression type, this determines the algorithm
w ith w hich each pixel is encoded relative to other pixels. Leaving this option to
Best w ill export in the most space-efficient filter, w ithout compromising picture
quality. Picking a filter may increase rendering speed a bit, at the expense of somedisk space.

Data Rate

Automatic

Lets the encoder use the optimal bit rate for your compression settings.

Restrict To

Allow s you to specify the encoding bit rate.

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Parameter

Description

NOTE
This setting w ill override other compression settings, so that the specified
bit rate is respected.

Optimize the encoding to be responsive depending on the intended view ing
method:l

CD/DVD- ROM: Optimizes the bit rate for a video that w ill be played using
an optical disc player.

lDownload: Optimizes the bit rate for a file that is going to be
dow nloaded, then view ed from the user's hard drive.

lStreaming: Optimized the bit rate for a video that w ill be streamed fromthe w eb and played as the video is being dow nloaded.

Optimized For

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Toolbar Manager Dialog Box
The Toolbar Manager dialog box lets you customize a selected w orkspace, create a new w orkspace, andorganize and rename a w orkspace.

How to access the Toolbar Manager dialog box
1. Right-click (W indow s) or Ctrl+click (macOS) on any button in a toolbar and select Customize.
The Toolbar Manager dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Available Tools

Displays a list of the available tools you can add to the toolbar.

Default

Resets the toolbar to the default tools available for this toolbar.

Arrow sLets you organize the list by moving a selected item up or dow n the list, as w ell
as add and remove items from a toolbar.

Toolbar

Displays the tools available in the selected toolbar.

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Track Changes W indow
The Track Changes w indow lets you track changes by date. If a storyboard becomes very large, it may beeasier to track changes made on a specific date.

How to access the Track Changes windowl

Select Storyboard > Track Changes > Track Changes by Date.

Parameter

Description

From and To

Lets you define a particular time range in w hich to track changes. If you w ant totrack changes done on one specific day, place that day’s date in both the Fromand To fields. Click the From button and select the first date. Only the dates at
w hich a change occurred w ill be available. The other dates w ill appear dimmed.

Information display

The first line displays the number of panels found in the storyboard that havebeen modified during the defined time range, and the panel that is currently
selected.The second line displays information about the currently selected panel,such as w hich scene it is part of, the name of the panel, and the date it w as lastmodified.

Mark as Changed

Marks the currently selected panel as being edited on the current date; this is thedefault option. Click the button to activate it.

Mark as Scene Changed

Marks the scene of the currently selected panel as being edited on the current
date.

Mark All as Changed

Marks all the storyboard panels as being edited on the current date.

Previous and Next

Navigates from one modified panel to the next.

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W elcome Screen
W hen you open Storyboard Pro for the first time, tw o dialogs appear. The first one provides links for:l

Learning how to use Storyboard Pro.

l

Details on w hat's new in this version of Storyboard Pro.

l

Joining the Toon Boom Forum, w here you can exchange w ith other Storyboard Pro users, ask questions,and get answ ers to your questions.

W hen you close the first W elcome screen, the second one displays, in w hich you can create and open projects.

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TIP
Once in the main application w indow , you can return to the W elcome Screen by selecting Help >Show W elcome Screen from the top menu.

245Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

W indows Media Video Settings Dialog Box (W indows)
The W MV Settings dialog box allow s you to configure the video and audio settings w hen exporting a movie in
W indow s Media Video (.wmv) format.

NOTES
l

For tasks related to this dialog box, refer to the User Guide.

lThis dialog can only be accessed on W indow s.

How to access the W MV Options dialog box from the Export Movie dialog
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Movie.
The Export Movie dialog box opens.

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2. In the Movie Format drop-dow n, select W indows Media Video (*.wmv).
3. Click on the Movie Options button.

How to access the W MV Options dialog box from the Export to EDL/AAF/XML dialog
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > EDL/AAF/XML.
The Export to EDL/AAF/XML dialog box opens.

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2. In the Movie Format drop-dow n, select W indows Media Video (*.wmv).
3. Click on the Movie Options button.

Parameter

Description

Video

Variable Bit Rate
QualitySound

Allow s you choose a quality setting ranging from 5 to 100 for the video stream.
The higher the quality of the export, the larger the resulting file.

Uncheck this checkbox if you w ant to export a movie w ithout an audio track.

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NOTE
The Sound section of this dialog is not available if you are exporting an
EDL/AAF/XML sequence, as this type of export creates video files w ith noaudio track and export sound clips in separate sound files.

Allow s you to select one of the preset combinations of audio sample rates,
sample sizes and channel modes for the audio stream:l

Sample rate: Available sample rates are 8000 Hz, 16000 Hz, 22050 Hz
and 44100 Hz. The higher the sample rate, the better the audio quality.

NOTE
Storyboard Pro cannot export audio at a higher sample rate than
22.050 kHz. If you select a higher sample rate, your project's audio
w ill be upsampled, w hich means it w ill take more disc space
w ithout increasing in quality.

ProfilelSample size: Also know n as bit depth, this determines the amount ofprecision used to record each w avelength in the audio track. The standard
size is 16- bit. If you choose 8- bit, the amount of disk space the audio trackof your movie file requires is halved, but the audio quality w ill besignificantly low er.

NOTE
Exporting in 8-bit audio requires Apple QuickTime to be installed.

l

Channel mode: Available channel modes are Stereo and Mono. Stereo
sound has a separate audio track for the left and the right speakers,
w hereas mono sound uses a single track for all speakers.

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W orkspace Manager Dialog Box
The W orkspace Manager dialog box lets you customize a selected w orkspace, create a new w orkspace, andorganize and rename a w orkspace.

How to access the W orkspace Manager dialog box
1. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect W indows > W orkspace > W orkspace Manager.

lSelect W indows > Toolbars > W orkspace and in the W orkspace toolbar, click the
W orkspace Manager

button.

Parameter

Description

Available W orkspaces

Displays a list of the available w orkspaces.

Duplicate Selected
W orkspace

Copies the selected w orkspace.

Delete W orkspace

Deletes the selected w orkspace.

Arrow sLets you organize the list by moving a selected item up or dow n the list, as w ell
as add and remove items from a selected w orkspace.

RenameLets you rename the selected w orkspace.

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Toolbar

Displays the toolbars available in the selected w orkspace.

251Chapter 3: Menus

Chapter 3: Menus
In Storyboard Pro, you can access the commands from the follow ing three types of menus:
Top Menu: Located at the top of the Storyboard Pro interface, the top menu contains most of the commands.
Depending on the view you are w orking in and the selected element, some commands are available andothers not.
View Menus: Some view s have their ow n menu containing commands specifically related to that view . To
access a view menu, click the View Menu

button in the top-right corner of a view .

Contextual Menus: Each view has a contextual menu containing commands for recurring actions. To access acontextual meu, right-click (W indow s) or Ctrl+click (macOS) anyw here in a view .

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Main Menus
The follow ing is a list of the top menus that are documented in this section:

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Camera Menu
The Camera menu lets you enhance your animatics by adding camera movements to the scenes. An example
of a camera movement w ould be if you w anted the camera to go from a w ide shot and then zoom in to a closeup.

How to access the Camera menu‣

At the top of the interface, select Camera.

Command

Description

Copy Camera from Selected Panels

Copies a selected camera keyframe from a selected panel.

Paste and Fit Camera on Selected
Panels

Pastes a copied camera keyframe in a selected panel.

Align Camera Keyframe w ith Stage
View Position

Fits the camera frame to the current space available in the Stage vieww hile retaining its original ratio. This is very useful in 3D scenes.

Add Camera Keyframe at Beginning ofPanel

Adds a camera keyframe to the beginning of the selected panel.

Add Camera Keyframe at Current Frame

Adds a camera keyframe at the current frame.

Add Camera Keyframe at the End of
PanelAdds a camera keyframe at the end of the currently selected panel.

Remove Camera Keyframes at Current
Frame

Deletes the camera keyframe at the current location of the red
playhead.

Remove Selected Camera Keyframes

Deletes the selected camera keyframes.

Reset Selected Camera Keyframes

Removes all motion in the camera keyframe and resets to its original
position.

Reset Camera

Removes all the keyframes in your scene and reverts them back to theoriginal Static Camera.

Reframe Static Camera

Reset the position of the static camera in a scene w hile repositioning
the draw ings. This is useful for preserving the composition.

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Keyframes Sync Mode

None

Relative to Panels

Makes your keyframes remain exactly w here they are w hen you
change the panel duration. You w ill lose keyframes that are not w ithin
the range of the scene.

The default option. W hen adjusting the length of a panel, the positionof camera keyframes w ithin this panel w ill be adjusted to fit the newlength of the panel. If camera keyframes are outside of that panel but
inside the same scene, their distance relative to each other w ill not beaffected.

Relative to Scene

W hen adjusting the length of the panel, the position of all camera
keyframes w ithin the scene in w hich that panel is w ill be adjusted to fit
the new length of the scene. This could cause some camera keyframes
to end up in a different panel than the one w here they originally w ere.
How ever, since camera movements occur at the level of the scene, notthe panel, this option may give preferable results in some situations.

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Caption Menu
The Caption menu lets you add captions to panels and the Storyboard view . In addition, it enables you todelete, rename, format and search captions.

How to access the Caption menu
1. At the top of the interface, select Caption.

Command

Description

Add Caption to Storyboard

Adds a caption field to the Storyboard view . By default, theStoryboard view only has one caption field, the Script field, to store
your project's script. Caption fields in the Storyboard view are for theentire project.

Add Caption to Panels

Adds caption field to the Panel view . A panel caption field can store
different text for each panel in your project.

Adds a sketch field to the current panel, in the Panel view . A sketch
field is a field in w hich you can draw annotations for a panel. W hen
you add a sketch field, it is only added to the current panel..
Add Sketch to Current PanelNOTE
You cannot add a sketch caption to the Storyboard view .

Allow s you to delete a caption field. This menu w ill list all available
caption fields for the project. Caption fields for panels, w hich are listed
in the Panel view , w ill be preceded by Panel:, and caption fields for the
project, listed in the Storyboard view , w ill be preceded by Storyboard:.
Delete Caption

IMPORTANT
Deleting a panel caption field deletes it for every panel in theentire project, not just for the current panel. If this caption
contains text in some of the panels in your project, this text w illalso be deleted.

Rename Caption

Allow s you to rename a caption field. This menu w ill list all available
caption fields for the project. Caption fields for panels, w hich are listed
in the Panel view , w ill be preceded by Panel:, and caption fields for the
project, listed in the Storyboard view , w ill be preceded by Storyboard:.

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NOTE
Renaming a panel caption field renames it for the entire project,
not just for the current panel.

Format Captions

Opens the Format Captions dialog, w hich allow s you to change theformatting of all the panel captions in your project.

Opens Find Text in Captions dialog, w hich allow s you to search forFind Text in Captions

phrases, w ords or parts of a w ord in the captions in your project. Thisdialog searches through all the captions in your project, including theones in the Storyboard view and the ones in the Panel view . It can also
be used to search and replace w ords in your project's captions—seeFind Text in Captions Dialog.

Spelling

Spell Check

Opens the Spelling dialog, w hich w ill go through every spelling
mistake in your project's script and captions and suggest correctspelling for the w ord based on the selected dictionary—see Spelling
Dialog on page 229.

Check Spelling W hile Typing

W hen enabled, spelling mistakes in the Script field of the Storyboard
view and in the caption fields of the Panel view are automaticallyunderlined w ith a w avy red line. W hen disabled, Storyboard Pro w ill
only detect spelling mistakes in your project through the Spelling
dialog.

Save Captions Layout as Default

Saves the current layout of caption fields as the default caption layout.
The projects you create in the future w ill automatically have thislayout by default.

Show /Hide Captions

Allow s you to select caption fields to display or hide in the Panel view .
This allow s you to hide caption fields w ithout deleting them.

Captions Default Format

Lets you set the default caption font and font size for new captions
that are added to the project.

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Clips Menu
The Sound menu lets you add sound to your storyboard.

How to access the Sound menu
1. At the top of the user interface, select Sound.

Command

Description

Find Sound Clips

Allow s you to search for sound clips in your project by their clip name.
The Timeline view w ill automatically focus on matching sound clips.

Split Clip at Current Frame

Splits the selected video or sound clip at the current frame, separating
it into tw o independent clips.

Show W aveform

Displays a w aveform inside the audio clip, allow ing you to see w here
the audio peaks so you can sync the action w ith it.

Displays a volume envelope throughout the sound clip. By default, thisenvelope is a straight line in the middle of the clip, indicating that theShow Volume Envelope

volume of the clip is neutral all throughout. You can add keyframes tothe envelope, and move them up or dow n to modulate the volume ofthe sound clip as it plays.

Show Sound Clip Name

Displays the name of the audio file inside each sound clip.

Overw rite Clips

Enable this option to be able to move a video or sound clip overanother video or sound clip. The part of the target clip that meshes
w ith the clip being moved w ill be cut out.

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Edit Menu
The Edit menu lets you repeat and undo actions, cut/copy/paste selected objects, select and manipulate
objects, and access the Preferences dialog box.

How to access the Edit menulFrom the top menu, select Edit.

Command

Description

Undo

Removes the last change made to your project. Storyboard Pro
supports multiple undo, so you can undo changes you made in theorder you made them.

Redo

Redoes an operation you have undone. This command is active only
after you use the Undo command.

Cut

Removes selected objects. You can then paste the object or its
properties to another object.

Copy

Copies selected objects and properties.

Paste

Places an object you cut or copied into the location you select in aview .

DeleteRemoves selected objects.

Select All

Selects all draw ing objects in the current draw ing w indow in the
Draw ing, Timeline and Camera view s. This helps you manage multiple
objects as one w hen moving them.

Select All Panels in Act

Lets you select all panels in an act.

Select All Panels in Scene

Lets you select all panels in a scene.

Select All Draw ings in Scene

Lets you select all draw ings in a scene.

Deselect All

Deselects all selected objects in the Draw ing and Camera view s.

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Group Draw ing Selection

Groups selected draw ing objects in the Camera or Draw ing view .

Ungroup

Ungroups a selected group in the Camera view .

Preferences

Opens the Preferences dialog box w here you can set your preferences
for Storyboard Pro.

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File Menu
The File menu lets you open, close, save, optimize, import and export files.

How to access the File menulFrom the top menu, select File.

Command

Description

New

Creates a new project w hile closing any scene already open. The New
Project dialog box opens, asking for directory, name, and resolution
information.

New from Final Draft Script

Uses your Final Draft script to create a new Storyboard Pro project.
This saves you time as it handles the creation of scenes and panels, as
w ell as inserting all the text in the proper captions automatically.

You can create a project from Harmony scenes. Before you do this, inHarmony, you must mark the frames you w ant to use as panels in yourproject. Frames must be marked in an annotation column called "EM".

New from Harmony Scenes

For each marked frame, a panel is created in Storyboard Pro. If you
don't mark your frames, the first frame of each Harmony scene w ill be
used.
You must group all your different Harmony scenes in one folder.
Storyboard Pro w ill create one scene per Harmony scene. If yourHarmony scene contains several EM markers in the annotation column,
Storyboard Pro w ill create multiple panels w ithin the scene.

Open

Displays the Open Project dialog box w here you can brow se for a
project file. You can open a new project from the current one and theprevious project w ill close.

Open Recent

Displays a list of the most recently opened projects.

Clear

Clears the list of recently opened projects.

Close

Closes the currently opened project, but does not close the Storyboard
Pro application.

Save

Saves all changes made to the opened project, draw ings, palettes, and261

Chapter 3: Menus

palette lists. If you are w orking on an unpacked project, your changes
are saved to the local cache.

Saves the current file w ith a different name and at a different location.
Saves the current state of a project as another project. The Save As
w indow prompts you for a new name and a different location for thisproject before saving it. This w ill create a complete project directory
for the new project.
Save AsNOTE
The project name cannot exceed 23 characters. To use longer
names, select the Disable project name length limitation option
in the Preferences dialog box.

You can also save a project as a single file by saving it as an .sbpz file.

Save and Pack

Saves an unpacked project and rezips it to the original zipped project
file.

Project Management

Split

Opens the Split Storyboard dialog, in w hich you can divide the current
Storyboard Pro project into tw o smaller project so that tw o different
project collaborators can w ork on each half simultaneously. The
project w ill be split at the currently selected panel, so you should
select the panel w here you w ant to divide your project before opening
this dialog.

Extract

Opens the Extract Storyboard dialog, in w hich you can extract
different parts of the current project into several smaller projects, sothat several project collaborators can w ork on different parts of yourproject at the same time.

Merge

Opens the Merge Storyboard dialog, w hich allow s you to combine
several small projects into the current project. You can insert eachproject in a specific order, before or after the scenes in your current
project.

InsertAllow s you to brow se for an insert another Storyboard Pro project into
the current project. The selected project w ill be inserted after thecurrently selected scene.

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Merge and Replace

Merge Modified Panels

Opens the Advanced Merge Storyboard dialog. This dialog allow s you
to select one or several projects that w ere extracted from the current
project, then modified by project collaborators, and scenes in thecurrent project w ith their corresponding scenes in these extracted
projects. You can manually select w hich scenes to import from theextracted projects.

Opens the Merge Modified Panels dialog. This dialog allow s you toselect a project that w as extracted from the current project, thenmodified by a project collaborator, and to quickly import the changes
that w ere made to this project into the current project. It automaticallyselects w hich panels to import, either by the time and date of their lastmodification, or based on w hether or not they are marked as tracked.

Restore and Open Backup

Lets you locate a previously backed up version of a project and opensit.

Backup Storyboard

Creates a compressed version of your project. Backing up your w ork
provides a safety net against corrupted files and allow s you to haveseveral versions of your project at different stages, in case you everw ant to go back and w ork from an earlier point in the production.

Opens the Optimize Project dialog box from w hich can remove unused
Optimize Project

Create Optimized Draw ings

elements, flatten all draw ings and reduce the texture resolution in the
project. This w ill reduce the file size of a project and increase thespeed at w hich you can w ork on a project.

W hen using any of the playback options in Storyboard Pro, thesoftw are has to calculate the positioning of all the *.tvgs (Toon Boom
vector graphics), the file format that is created from all your draw ing
strokes. This calculation tends to slow dow n the rate of playback.
There is, how ever, a w ay to circumvent this problem.
There is a a second file format, the *.tvgo (Toon Boom vector graphic
optimized) that has all the pixel position information precalculated.
Using these draw ings should significantly speed up playback.

Regenerate All Thumbnails

Lets you get the most up-to-date thumbnails in the Thumbnails view .
As you draw , a series of small images (thumbnails) is generated.
These thumbnails are automatically refreshed based on the refresh
duration you set in the Preferences dialog box (Advanced tab, Delay
Before Updating Thumbnails parameter).
You can update thumbnails immediately. This removes all cached
thumbnails in the Thumbnails and Timeline view s, and forces new

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thumbnails to be regenerated.

ImportImages as Scenes

Let you import one or several images and automatically create a newscene for each. This is useful if you have a series of bitmap images thatyou need to include, such as backgrounds or scanned storyboards.
The supported image formats include: .bmp, .jpg, .omf, .opt, .pal, .png,.psd, .scan, .sgi, .tga, .tif, .tvg, and .yuv.

As you build a scene, you may w ant to use bitmap images forbackgrounds and overlays. You may also w ant to import an image as areference for a vector draw ing you w ant to create.
W ith Storyboard Pro, you can import a variety of bitmap formats (.jpe,.jpeg, .jpg, .opt, .pal, .png, .psd, .omf, .scan, .sgi, .tga, .tvg, .yuv) w hich
you can combine w ith vector-animated content to create rich andunique graphic styles.
Images as Layers

You can import a single image (or multiple images located in the same
folder) into a new layer.

IMPORTANT
Storyboard Pro does not support import of 8-bit CMYK or 16-bit
RGB or CMYK format .psd files. You can currently import only 8bit RGBA format .psd files.

Allow s you to import images or movie files into clips in video tracks,
w hich are independent from your animatic and can be made to appear
over or underneath the elements in your storyboard.

Videos/Images as Clips

Movie files can be imported as video clips to be played in your projects.
Still images can be imported as static video clip w hich can be made tolast any amount of time.
You can import any image file supported by Storyboard Pro as a video
clip. You can also import movie files in QuickTime Movie (.mov) or
MPEG-4 (.mp4, .m4v) format w hich are encoded w ith the H.264. On
W indow s only, you can also import W indow s Media Video (*.w mv)
files, and on macOS only, you can also import QuickTime Movie (.mov)files encoded in Apple ProRes.

Sound Files

Allow s you to import sound files (.w av, .aif, .aiff or .mp3) as soundclips into an audio track.

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Record Sound

Allow s you to record a sound clip using your w orkstation's recording
device directly into an audio track in your project.

ExportBitmapLets you export a storyboard project to bitmap files in .psd (w ith
separate layers), .tga, .jpg or .png format. A separate bitmap file isexported for each panel in the storyboard. W hen exporting .psd files,
animations and transitions are not exported, but camera movements
are rendered into an independent layer.In the case of a .psd file,transform and transition animations are not exported. How ever,camera moves are rendered into an independent layer.

LayoutLets you export scenes into layout images, w hich can be used to set up
animation scenes or to create background art based on the scenelayout and camera movements. Layout images can be rendered w ith
all layers combined or w ith one image per layer, and can optionally
include camera frames and movements. Layouts can be exported in.psd (w ith separate layers), .tga, .jpg or .png format.

Lets you export the current frame into a .jpeg, .psd, .tga or .png image.
Note that .psd files w ill contain each layer in the panel, named by theirlayer name.
Current Image

NOTE
No caption or camera frame w ill be exported in the image file.

CSV

EDL/AAF/XML

Lets you the data in a storyboard project in comma separated value(.csv) file format. You can view this data in any application that
supports comma separated value files, such as Microsoft Excel. If you
do not have Microsoft Excel installed, you can save the .csv file to yourcomputer and open the file in another application.

Once a storyboard is complete, you can send it to a Non-linear Editing(NLE) system to complete the animatic in a real editing suite w ith adirect return on TV or use it as a pre-editing map to replace thestoryboard scenes w ith the final materials (shot in live action orrendered from a 2D or 3D softw are).
You can export your storyboard project and preserve the timing,
motions, and sounds edited w ith Storyboard Pro, directly to Apple
Final Cut Pro 7 or Adobe Premiere using the EDL or XML formats, or to
Avid Xpress, Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere using the AAF format.

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Movie

Lets you export your storyboard and animatic as a movie file to shareand play back easily for an efficient timing reference. You can export
your movie file in different movie formats (W indow s Media Video,
QuickTime or Flash) and as image sequences (.jpeg, .tga or .png).

PDF

Lets you export your storyboard project as a .pdf file w hich you canlater print or share electronically. This is w here you w ill find the w ay to
set up your visuals to represent a classic storyboard on paper. An
extensive number of options, settings and customizing is possible
w hile exporting to PDF.

Audio

Allow s you to export your project's audio into one or several soundfiles. You can choose to export a single file for all your project's audio
tracks, or to export each audio track individually. You can also choose
to export a single track for your w hole project, or to separate it byscene, sequence or act.

To Harmony

Allow s you to export your animatic into a set of Harmony scenes. Afterthe export, you can open the scenes Toon Boom Harmony right aw ay
and kickstart the production of your animation project. If you are
w orking w ith Harmony Server, you can export a package of scenesthat can be imported into your database using Control Center. The
resulting Harmony scenes w ill be the same length as the scenes inyour Storyboard Pro project, they w ill contain each of their panels sothat you may animate over them, and they w ill contain their respective
part of the animatic's soundtrack.

FBX

Lets you export your storyboard project in FBX format, w hich allow s
you to store any motion data (from element motion or Camera
angles/zooms), as w ell as the 2D and 3D elements in your scene. Once
exported to FBX, you can open the storyboard elements in a thirdparty 3D application and continue to w ork on them.
These elements should only be exported to FBX w hen you are finishedw ith them in Storyboard Pro. Normally, you w ould not bring theelements back into Storyboard Pro.

Conformation

Export Project

Allow s you to export your Storyboard Pro project for conformation.
You can export your project in a format compatible w ith Final Cut Pro 7
or Avid Media Composer. You can then make edits to your project in
the intended softw are, and conform it back into Storyboard Pro to
integrate the changes made in the video editing softw are.

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Export Selected Panels

Lets you export the selected panels for conformation, instead of theentire project.

Export Tracked Panels

Lets you export tracked panels for conformation, instead of the entire
project.

Once you have imported your project’s conformation (XML or AAF)
into the-third party softw are and finished editing it,, you w ill need toexport it once again as an XML or AAF file to bring it back into your
Storyboard Pro project. This option allow s you to import the resulting
XML or AAF file back into the project and apply the changes made in
the editing softw are to your animatic.
Import Animatic Project

NOTES
l

Refer to your third party softw are’s documentation to learn
how to export the animatic project in an XML or AAF fileformat.

l

You can only reimport a modified conformation XML or AAF
file into the original project from w hich it w as first exported.

Lets you update the captions in your project. If you generate a .csv
sheet (comma separated values) from your project, you can update theUpdate Captions from CSV

file, then import it into Storyboard Pro. Doing so w ill update all caption
fields automatically. You must first generate the CSV from yourcurrent project.

Quit

Closes the application.

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Help Menu
The Help menu lets you display the Storyboard Pro documentation, W elcome screen and end user license
agreement, as w ell as access the Toon Boom w ebsite, and identify the product name and version number.

How to access the Help menulAt the top of the interface, select Help.

Command

Description

Online Help

Opens the Storyboard Pro Help system, complete w ith instructions on
how to use the system. This requires an internet connection.

Getting Started

Opens the Storyboard Pro Getting Started Guide (in PDF format) in abrow ser w indow . Requires Acrobat Reader.

Storyboard Pro on the W eb

Opens the Toon Boom w ebsite, w hich features a Support andCommunity > Forum section.

The Customer Experience Improvement Program allow s Toon Boom

Customer Experience Improvement
Programto collect usage information. The data does not contain any personallyidentifiable information and cannot be used to identify you. The data
w ill consist of a basic hardw are description, a project summary andusage information. The information is used only for softw are
improvement purposes, as w ell as for sharing w ith third parties for thesame reason.
This program is enabled by default but is voluntary. If you prefer not toparticipate, you can opt out w hen you first launch the softw are, byusing a global preference, or by a command line argument.

Show End User License Agreement

Displays the End User License Agreement.

Check for Updates

Checks for updates to Storyboard Pro.

Debug Mode

W hen enabled, information is logged in the Message Log view about
the preview generated in the Camera view , each time the preview isrefreshed. In OpenGL preview mode, summary information is logged
about the amount of nodes to process and the time it takes to generate
the preview . In Render Preview mode, detailed information about eachcomposite and effect that is processed is logged.

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About

Identifies the product name and version number.

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Layer Menu
The Layer menu lets you manipulate layers, create new layers, change the resolution, and reset thetransformation and pivot.

How to access the Layer menulAt the top of the interface, select Layer.

Command

Description

New

Vector Layer

Bitmap Layer

Adds a vector draw ing layer to the current panel, in w hich you candraw w ith the w hole suite of vector draw ing tools available in
Storyboard Pro. Most of the artw ork in vector layers is made of vector
shape information, w hich is lightw eight and scalable.

Adds a bitmap draw ing layer to the current panel, in w hich you candraw using the bitmap draw ings tools available in Storyboard Pro.
Artw ork in bitmap layers is saved as a grid of pixels, each of w hichstoring their colour information. It is not scalable and is moreheavyw eight, but may be better suited for textured artw ork.

Group Layer

Adds a group layer to the current panel. Groups can contain one orseveral layers, and even other groups. If you manipulate or animate agroup, all of its elements w ill be subjected to the sametransformations as the group itself.

Copy Layers

Copies the currently selected layers to the clipboard, so that you canpaste the copies in the same panel or into a different panels.

Paste Layers

Pastes the layers copied w ith the Copy Layers command into thecurrent panel.

Duplicate Layers

Instantly creates a copy of the selected layer and puts it in the current
panel.

Rename Layers

Allow s you to rename the selected layer.

Delete Layers

Deletes the selected layer.

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Change Layer Opacity

Allow s you to set the opacity level of the selected layer.

Change Vector Layer Brush Resolution

Allow s you to set the pixel density of textured brush strokes on theselected vector layer. Since textured brush strokes have bitmap
textures inside them, it may be necessary to increase their pixel
density before you start draw ing, if you intend to scale up to layer or tozoom in on it. Otherw ise, the textures in the brush strokes is liable toappear pixelated.

Change Bitmap Layer Resolution

Allow s you to set the canvas size and pixel density of the selected
bitmap layer. It may be required to expand a layer's canvas if you
intend to move, shrink or zoom out on the layer. It may also benecessary to increase a bitmap layer's pixel density before you draw in
it if you intend to scale it up or to zoom in on it. Otherw ise, the artw ork
is liable to appear pixelated.

Instantly merge the selected layer w ith the layer just below it.

Merge Dow n

NOTE
If both layers are vector layers, the merged layer w ill be avector layer. If one of the layers is a bitmap layer, the mergedlayer w ill be a bitmap layer.

Merges the selected layers into a single layer.

Merge Selected Layers

NOTE
If all the selected layers are vector layers, the merged layer w ill
be a vector layer. If at least one of the selected layer is a bitmap
layer, the merged layer w ill be a bitmap layer.

Merge Layers

Opens the Merge Layers dialog box, w hich allow s you to merge theselected layers into a single layer and gives you more options than the
Merge Selected Layers command.

Group Selected Layers

Puts the selected layers inside a new group layer.

Ungroup Selected Group

Breaks the selected group layer. All its layers w ill be outside thegroup, and the group w ill be deleted.

Convert to Vector Layer

Convert a bitmap layer to a vector layer. If any artw ork is in the bitmap
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inside it.

Convert to Bitmap Layer

Converts a vector layer to a bitmap layer. If any artw ork is in the vector
layer, it w ill be flattened and rasterized into a single bitmap canvas.

If you have imported an animated template or a template containing
multiple elements, for example, a template created in Harmony, or atemplate made from importing a Flash Movie (.sw f) file, you might not
be able to edit it w ith the draw ing tools. This is because the template
is not a simple draw ing layer. This option w ill convert the layer
containing a template to a flat draw ing layer that can be edited freely.
It can also be used to convert a group of layers into a single draw ing.

Convert to Draw ing

NOTES
l

In Storyboard Pro, a draw ing layer can only contain one
draw ing for the w hole panel, w hereas a template may beanimated and contain several frames w ith different
draw ings in each frame. If you convert an animatedtemplate to a draw ing, the appearance of the template atcurrent frame w ill be used to generate a static draw ing
layer.

lConverting a template or a group to a draw ing w ill discard
any 3D object they contain.

Share Draw ing

Adds the selected draw ing to the library of shared draw ings, w hichcan be opened, navigated and edited in the Library view . You can thenimport the draw ing into other panels. Since the draw ing is shared,
making changes to that draw ing in one panel w ill apply the samechanges to that draw ing in all the other panels it w as added to.

Unlink from Shared Draw ing

If you have a shared draw ing in a panel, and you w ant to makechanges to that draw ing w ithout affecting it in other panels w here it isshared, this option w ill convert the shared draw ing into its ow n
independent draw ing in the current panel only. The draw ing w ill
remain shared in other panels w here it w as added.

Apply EffectBlur

Applies a simple blurring effect to the selected layer.

Radial Zoom Blur

Applies a blur that follow s one of several preset movement patterns
to the selected layer.

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Directional Blur

Applies a blur that follow s a specific direction, in a straight line, to theselected layer.

Generate Auto-Matte

Opens the Auto-Matte dialog box, enabling you to fill in sketch
objects, hiding anything that is behind the object. You can create newlayers by generating auto-matte of selected vector layers. This menu
option is grayed-out if no layers are selected, or if none of the selected
layers are non-empty vector layers.

Arrange

Bring Layer to Front

Moves the selected layer in front of all other layers in the current
panel.

Bring Layer Forw ard

Moves the selected layer up one level in the current panel.

Send Layer Backw ard

Move the selected layer dow n one level in the current panel.

Send Layer Back

Moves the selected behind all other layers in the current panel.

Select Next Layer

Selects the next layer in the layer list.

Select Previous Layer

Selects the previous layer in the layer list.

Lock/Unlock Layers

Locks or unlocks the selected layer. W hen a layer is locked, it isprotected from changes to its artw ork and from transformations.

Show /Hide Layers

Show s or hides the selected layer. A hidden layer does not appear in
the storyboard and cannot be changed or transformed.

Toggle Background Layers

Sets the selected layer as a background layer. Background layers are
not taken in account w hen Onion Skin is enabled.

Align Layer to Camera

W hen w orking in 3D, if the camera has been rotated on the x-axis or
y-axis, draw ing layers w ill no longer be facing the camera. Thisinstantly rotates the layer so that it faces the camera.

Copy End Layer Position to Start

Uses the position of the last frame from the current layer and pastes itover the position of the first frame.

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Copy Start Layer Position to Start

Spread Layer Motion

Uses the position of the first frame from the current layer and paste it
over the last frame.

You can spread the current layer motion across all panels in the same
shot or a specified number of adjacent panels after the current panel inthe same shot.
A new layer w ill be added and the draw ing w ill be duplicated for
those panels that do not have the same name in the defined range.

Reset Transform

Resets the selected layer to its default position, size and angle.

Reset Selected 3D Sub-Objects

Resets the selected sub-objects of a 3D model to their default
position, size and angle.

Pivot

Reset Pivot

Places the pivot back at its default position at the centre of the camera
frame.

Center Pivot on Selection

Places the pivot at the centre of a selection.

Set Layer Layout as Default

Once you set up a layer layout in a panel, you can select that panel andsave this layout as the default layout to use w henever a new panel isadded.

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Play Menu
The Play menu lets you preview your project as an animatic in Storyboard Pro at any time during its
development process. Using the Playback toolbar, you can preview the visual content, includingtransformations and transitions, and have it synchronized w ith sounds.

How to access the Play menulAt the top of the interface, select Play.

Command

Description

Play

Plays the animatic in the Stage or Camera view .

Play Selection

Plays the selected panel in the Timeline or Thumbnails view .

Loop

If pressed, your animatic w ill repeat indefinitely w hen playing.
Otherw ise, it w ill stop w hen the end is reached.

Audio Playback

W hen enabled, the soundtrack of your project w ill play during
playback.

Audio Scrubbing

W hen enabled, the part of the soundtrack that is at the current frame
w ill play every time you move the timeline cursor, allow ing you tonavigate the timeline of your animatic by sound. This makes it easier tosynchronize the action and the audio in your animatic.

Camera Preview

Lets you preview camera moves and transitions. W hen you drag thetimeline playhead w hile Camera Preview is enabled, it w ill adjust theStage view to match the point of view of the camera.

Project First Frame

Moves the timeline playhead to the first frame of the project.

Previous Sequence

Moves the timeline playhead to the previous sequence.

Previous Scene

Moves the timeline playhead to the previous scene.

Previous Panel

Moves the timeline playhead to the previous panel.

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Panel First Frame

Moves the timeline playhead to the first frame of the current panel.

Previous Frame

Moves the timeline playhead to the previous frame.

Next Frame

Moves the timeline playhead to the next frame.

Panel Last Frame

Moves the timeline playhead to the last frame of the current panel.

Next Panel

Moves the timeline playhead to the next panel.

Next Scene

Moves the timeline playhead to the next scene.

Next Sequence

Moves the timeline playhead to the next sequence.

Project Last Frame

Moves the timeline playhead to the last frame of the project.

Go to Scene

Opens the Go to Scene dialog box, w hich allow s you to select a scene
in your project and instantly move the timeline playhead to that scene.

Opens the Go to Frame dialog in w hich you can enter a frame number
and instantly move the timeline playhead to that specific frame.

Go to FrameNOTE
The frame number is based on the start time of your project. If
your project starts at frame 0, entering 0 w ill move the timeline
playhead to the first frame of your project.

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Storyboard Menu
The Storyboard menu lets you w ork w ith panels, scenes, sequences and transitions. You can also record
annotations, track changes, and view and edit the project properties.

How to access the Storyboard menu‣

At the top of the interface, select Storyboard.

Command

Description

New

New Panel

Creates a new panel after the current panel.

New Panel Before

Creates a new panel before the current panel.

New Scene

Creates a new scene after the current scene.

New Scene Before

Creates a new scene before the current scene.

New Scene from Selected
PanelsCreates a new scene from the selected panels.

Creates a new sequence w ith a new scene and a new panel inside it at
the end of the current sequence.

New Sequence

NOTE
If your project currently does not have sequences, it w ill put theentire storyboard into a single sequence, and create a new
sequence at the end of the storyboard.

New Sequence from Selection

Creates a new sequence from the currently selected scenes.

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NOTES
l

If your project currently does not have sequence, the scenes
before the selection w ill be grouped together into asequence, and all the scenes after the selection w ill begrouped together into another sequence.

lSequences must include w hole scenes. If you only selectsome of the panels in a scene, the w hole scene w ill be
included in the sequence.

New Video Track

Adds a new video track to your animatic.

New Audio Track

Adds a new audio track to your animatic.

Starts a new act at the current scene.

Start New Act

NOTEThis option is only available if acts are enabled in the Generaltab of the Preferences dialog.

Smart Add Panel

Creates a new panel that contains elements from another panel.

Duplicate Selected Panels

Lets you duplicate selected panels w hen you need to create an exact
copy of an existing one.

Delete Panel

Deletes a selected panel. Note that it is impossible to have an empty
project as there is a minimum of one panel.

Rename Panel

Lets you rename one or more panels simultaenously. By default, therename panels option is locked. You must unlock this option in the
Preferences dialog box before you can rename panels.

Rename Scene

Rename Sequence

Lets you rename a sequence. Once you start adding sequences to yourproject, the Sequence field w ill become visible in the Panel view ,allow ing you to view the selected sequence's name and edit it if
needed.

Lock Scene and Panel Names

Locks scene and panel names.

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Unlock Scene and Panel Names

Unlocks scene and panel names.

Lock Scene Duration

Locks the duration of all scenes in your project. This ensures that thecurrent length of every scene is preserved w hen adding, duplicating, ordeleting panels.

Split Panel at Current Frame

Splits the current panel in tw o, resulting in tw o identical panels
generated from the original. All elements, including layers, w ill be in
both panels. Each panel’s length is determined by the position of the
red playhead w hen you perform the operation.

Move Panel In to Current Frame

Lets you adjust the duration and position of a panel by moving its inand out points to a specific frame determined by the position of the red
playhead.

NOTE
Move Panel Out to Current Frame

Note that the frame you specify must be contained w ithin thecurrent position of the panel you w ant to change the in or out
point of.

Lets you adjust the duration of a panel one frame at a time.
Add Frame to Panel

NOTE

Remove Frame from Panel

By default, w hen changing the duration of a panel, the positionof existing Camera and Layer keyframes in the panel are
adjusted to the new duration of a panel. How ever, since theposition of keyframes is alw ays in w hole frames, they might not
get adjusted as expected w hen adjusting the duration of apanel one frame at a time. This behavior cannot be changed forLayer keyframes.

Lets you split the current scene in tw o or break it into three parts.
W hen you split a scene, it is divided before the current panel by
default.
Split Current Scene

NOTE
You can change this in your preferences so that w hen you split ascene, it is broken into three parts and the selected panel isisolated.

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Split Current Sequence

Separates a sequence in tw o.

Join Selected Sequence

Joins tw o selected sequences.

Join Selected Acts

Joins selected acts. Once an act has been split, it is possible to join acts
at any time.

Markers

Add Marker

Creates a new timeline marker at the current frame.

Edit Marker

Allow s you to change the colour and to add a note to the currently
selected timeline marker.

Delete Marker

Deletes the currently selected timeline marker.

Delete All Markers

Deletes all timeline markers in the project.

Go to Next Marker

Moves the timeline cursor to the next marker in the project.

Go to Previous Marker

Moves the timeline cursor to the previous marker in the project.

Rename Track

Renames the currently selected video or audio track.

Delete Current Track

Deletes the currently selected video or audio track.

Lock/Unlock All Video Tracks

If no video track is currently locked, this locks all video tracks in the
project. If at least one video track is locked, this unlocks all video tracks
in the project.

Lock/Unlock All Audio Tracks

If no audio track is currently locked, this locks all audio tracks in the
project. If at least one audio track is locked, this unlocks all audio
tracks in the project.

Disable/Enable Sync All Video
TracksIf at least one video track is synchronized, this disables synchronization
for all video tracks in the project. If all video tracks are unsynchronized,
this enables synchronization for all video tracks in the project.

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NOTE
W hen Sync is enabled on a video track, if a panel in w hich oneof its video clips is offset or moved, this video clip w ill be moved
along w ith it so as to remain synchronized w ith the action.

If at least one audio track is synchronized, this disables
synchronization for all audio tracks in the project. If all audio tracks are
unsynchronized, this enables synchronization for all audio tracks in the
project.
Disable/Enable Sync All Audio
TracksNOTE
W hen Sync is enabled on an audio track, if a panel in w hich oneof its sound clips is offset or moved, this sound clip w ill be
moved along w ith it so as to remain synchronized w ith theaction.

Add Snapshot

Lets you add snapshot markers to specify w hich frames in a panel w ill
be visible in a PDF file you export. By default, only the first frame ofeach panel is visible in the PDF file you export. Sometimes, you may
need to display a specific frame or several frames from a panel.

Change Panel Duration

Lets you modify the duration of a selected panel.

Add Transition

Lets you add a transition betw een scenes. Once the transition iscreated, you can customize it.

Delete Transition

Removes a selected transition.

Delete Transition Duration

Lets you modify the duration of a selected transition.

Converts a selected scene to 3D w hich lets you move and rotate 2D
and 3D layers in 3D space. Even if you do not have 3D objects in yourscene, you can still move 2D objects along the Z-axis to create amultiplane effect. A 3D scene w ill also allow a camera to be moved in
3D space using the Camera tool.
Enable 3D for Current Scene

NOTE
Converting a scene to 3D applies only to the selected scene, notthe entire project.

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Storyboard Pro lets you reset a scene to 2D. W hen you do so, thefollow ing happens:•

Imported 3D models are removed.

•

3D camera moves are removed.

•

2D layers that have been moved and rotated in 3D are set backto 2D, removing those transformations.

Reset Scene to 2D

Lets you record a voice annotation. You w ill need a microphonecorrectly connected to your computer and Storyboard Pro.

Record Voice Annotation

After the voice annotation has been recorded, the Voice Annotations
section indicates the total number of annotations, displaying the orderof the current voice annotation in the sequence and the total numberof voice annotations associated w ith the panel. As you record voice
annotations, they accumulate in sequence w ithout being overw ritten.
You can select and play back any of the annotations.

Track Changes

Auto Tracking Mode

Lets you automatically detect any changes in your project, and adds avisual notification in the Thumbnails and Timeline view s.

Track Change by Date

Lets you track changes by date. If a storyboard becomes very large, it
may be easier to track changes made on a specific date. Opens the
Search by Date dialog box w hich contains options to help you trackchanges even more efficiently.

W hen you use the Auto Tracking Mode feature, you can use the
Validate Changes option to follow up on these changes.
Validate Changes
Lets you follow up on changes made to your project w hen using Auto
Tracking Mode.

Properties

Opens the Project Properties dialog box w here you can change theproperty settings in your project.

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Tools Menu
The Tools menu lets you access all the main tools you need to w ork in Storyboard Pro.

How to access the Tools menu‣

At the top of the interface, select Tools.

Command

Description

SelectAllow s you to select and reposition, scale, rotate and skew brushstrokes, pencil lines, shapes and other parts of your artw ork.

Select by Colour

Lets you rapidly select all draw ing parts painted or draw n w ith thecolour you have selected in the Colour view .

Contour Editor

Allow s you to edit the vector contours of brush strokes, pencil lines
and shapes in your artw ork. You can add, remove, tw eak and movevector points, move the Bezier handles of the vector points as w ell as
deform vector outlines.

CutterAllow s you to cut a part of your artw ork, then reposition, scale, rotateand skew it.

Perspective

Allow s you to deform artw ork by applying a perspective effect on it.

Brush

A pressure-sensitive tool for creating a contour shape w ith a thick andthin line effect, as if created w ith a paint brush.

Stencil Brush

Allow s you to paint over existing artw ork w ithin the boundaries of that
artw ork or the boundaries set by selecting the artw ork of different
layers.

PencilA pressure-sensitive tool for draw ing outlines. Pencil lines are made ofcentral vector lines, making them easier to tw eak and edit than brushstrokes.

EraserA pressure-sensitive tool for erasing parts of a draw ing.

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Rectangle

EllipseDraw s a straight line segment going from one point to the other.

Line

Text

Allow s you to add text and to format it.

Paint

Allow s you to fill colour zones w ith a colour or texture.

Paint Unpainted

Allow s you to quickly fill empty zones in your artw ork w ith a colour or
texture, leaving filled zones unchanged.

Unpaint

Allow s you to empty filled colour zones of their colour and texture.

Close Gap

Allow s you to close open shapes so that they can be filled w ith the
Paint tool. By draw ing a stroke near a small gap in a shape, this tool
w ill create a small invisible stroke connecting the tw o closest points
around the gap.

Edit Gradient/Texture

Allow s you to adjust the position, angle and size of gradients andtextures in a colour zone.

Dropper

Allow s you to select a colour by clicking on a colour in your artw ork.

Hand

Allow s you to pan the Stage and Camera view s.

Zoom

Allow s you zoom in and out of the Stage and Camera view s.

Rotate View

Lets you rotate the Stage and Camera view s just like w ith a realanimation disc.

3D Navigation

3D Flying Navigation

Arrange

Bring to Front

Moves the selected art to the front (on top).

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Bring Forw ard

Moves the selected art one level forw ard (closer to the front).

Send Backw ard

Moves the selected art one level low er (behind).

Send to Back

Moves the selected art behind everything (bottom / back).

Transform

Flip Horizontal

Flips the current selection horizontally.

Flip Vertical

Flips the current selection vertically.

Rotate 90 CW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees clockw ise.

Rotate 90 CCW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees counter-clockw ise.

Rotate 180

Rotates the current selection 180 degrees.

ConvertPencil Lines to Brush Strokes

Changes a centre line pencil stroke to a contour line brush stroke.

Changes a centre line (pencil) stroke to a contour line (brush) stroke.
W hen draw ing on vector layers, you may w ant to change brushstrokes to pencil lines to convert contour strokes into centre line pencil
strokes.
Brush Strokes to Pencil Lines

NOTE
Any line thickness information is lost upon conversion frombrush to pencil.

Strokes to Pencil Lines

Break Apart Text Layers

Text contained in a text field is treated as a single draw ing object. This
option separates text so that each character becomes an individual
draw ing object that you can select and modify independently.

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NOTE
After your text has been broken apart tw ice, into a regulardraw ing object, you can use all the draw ing tools such as theEraser tool, on the draw ing. Be aw are that if you w ant to use
the Perspective tool on the text, you should create the text on avector layer before breaking it apart tw ice; then you can use the
Perspective tool on it.

Layer Transform

Lets you reposition, scale, rotate and even skew layers in the Camera
view .

Maintain Size

Scales draw ing layers w hen they are moved on the Z-axis to preserve
their size in the camera.

Create Layer on Surface

Creates a new layer on top of the hovered surface.

CameraLets you add camera movements to scenes and set keyframes toanimate it over time.

Lets you set the position of the content of the panels for the entire
scene so it fits the camera frame you defined.
ReframeNOTE
W hen setting the camera frame using the Reframe tool, it is notpossible to reset it to its former position.

FlattenMerges Merges draw ing objects and brush strokes into a single layer.
If you draw new lines to fix a draw ing or line w ith many brush strokes,
it can be useful to flatten them all into a single shape. By default, lines
are draw n one on top of each other. If you intend to repaint the lines ormodify their shape, it w ill be easier if they are flattened.

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View Menu
The View menu lets you manipulate the view by zooming, panning, or rotating. You can also display the gridand change its size, use the onion skin feature to help w ith draw ing, and set the preview resolution.

How to access the View menulAt the top of the interface, select View.

Command

Description

Cycles through the follow ing display modes:

Toggle Full ScreenlNormal Full- Screen: The main application w indow becomesfull screen.

lView Full- Screen: The selected view becomes full screen andall other view s are collapsed.

l

Normal: The main application w indow is restored to its original
size and collapsed view s are expanded.

Zoom In

Zooms in the view .

Zoom Out

Zooms out the view .

Reset Zoom

Resets the view ’s zoom to its default position.

Rotate View CW

Rotates the Camera view 30 degrees clockw ise, like an animationtable.

Rotate View CCW

Rotates the Camera view 30 degrees counter-clockw ise, like ananimation table.

Reset Rotation

Resets the view ’s rotation to its default position.

Look at Selected

Makes the Stage view perpendicular to a selected draw ing layer,allow ing you to draw on it. This is useful w hen rotating 2D layers in
3D space and the Stage view is no longer perpendicular to a Draw ing
layer, making it impossible to draw on it.

Reset Pan

Resets the view ’s pan to its default position.

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Reset View

Resets the view to its default position.

Reset Stage View To

Default Draw ing Area

Resets the Stage view to show the default draw ing area, w hich is thespace situated inside the default camera frame (before the camera ismodified).

Current Panel Overview

Resets the Stage view to show the current panel in its entirety

Camera Overview

Resets the Stage view to show an overview of the Camera frames. If a
Camera movement w as created in the selected panel, it w ill show theentire space w ithin the camera movement.

Start Camera Frame

Resets the Stage view to focus on the starting camera position of thecamera movement on the current panel.

End Camera Frame

Resets the Stage view to focus on the ending camera position of thecamera movement on the current panel.

Lets you determine at w hich level the current position of the Stage
Point of View Modeview (zoom, pan and rotation) is remembered w hen you are flipping
through panels.

Project Level

One global point of view for the entire project.

Scene Level

One point of view per scene.

Panel Level

One point of view per panel.

Show Grid

Displays the grid.

Grid Outline Only

Displays the outline of the grid only.

Underlay

Displays the grid under the draw ing elements.

Overlay

Displays the grid over the draw ing elements.

Grid

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Square Grid

Displays a standard square grid.

12 Field Grid

Displays a 12-field size grid.

16 Field Grid

Displays a 16-field size grid.

W orld Grid

Displays a reference grid that remains the same size w hen you scale
objects. This is useful w hen creating elements in your draw ing and you
need a reference point.

Camera Mask

Show s or hides a black mask around the scene’s frame to avoid seeing
anything outside the Camera frame. This is handy w hen you are
setting up the scene as it allow s you to see the scene’s composition
better.

ExtrasShow s or hides the proportion grid, w hich divides the stage in equal
sections horizontally and vertically so as to help you w ith thecomposition of your scene.

Proportion Grid

NOTE
By default, the proportion grid is divided in 3 horizontally andvertically so as to help you follow the rule of thirds incomposition. The number of vertical and horizontal divisions in
the proportion grid can be customized in the Camera tab of thePreferences dialog.

Displays the Title Safe Area frame inside the camera frame. By default,
this area is 20% smaller than the camera frame. It is used as a
guideline of the area that CRT displays might crop out of the picture.
Visual elements such as text and logos should be placed w ithin thisarea.
Show Title Safe Area

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of thePreferences dialog.

Show Title Safe Area Mask

Displays a semi-transparent black mask covering the area betw een
the camera frame and the Title Safe Area frame.

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Displays the Action Safe Area frame inside the camera frame. Bydefault, this area is 10% smaller than the camera frame. It is used as a
guideline of the area that CRT displays might crop out of the picture.
Characters and action should be placed w ithin this area.
Show Action Safe Area

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of thePreferences dialog.

Show Action Safe Area Mask

Displays a semi-transparent black mask covering the area betw een
the camera frame and the Action Safe Area.

Show 4:3 Safe Area

Show s or hides the TV safety zone and the centre of the camera frame
for a regular 4:3 resolution. If you are w orking on a w idescreen project,for example, you can easily plan in advance the conversion of yourproject to a TV format. This w ay, you can create your project to fit bothresolutions.

Show 4:3 Area

Show s or hides the 4:3 resolution zone w ithout the centre of thecamera frame and TV safety zone.

Show Strokes

Displays the strokes in your draw ings so that the invisible lines standout.

Show Complete Camera Path

Displays all the related camera keyframes and paths in a scene. W hen
this button is deactivated, the Stage view only displays keyframes thatare contained in a panel.

Show Layer Path

If the current layer is animated, this displays the animation path of thelayer in yellow in the Stage and Camera view s, w ith notches along thepath indicating the position of the layer on each frame of theanimation.

Onion Skin

No Previous Draw ing

Removes the previous draw ing's onion skin and displays only the next
draw ing.

Previous Draw ing

Displays the previous draw ing.

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Previous Tw o Draw ings

Displays the previous tw o draw ings.

Previous Three Draw ings

Displays the previous three draw ings.

No Next Draw ing

Do not show the onion skin for all of the next draw ings.

Next Draw ing

Show the onion skin for the next draw ing.

Next Tw o Draw ings

Show the onion skin for the next tw o draw ings.

Next Three Draw ings

Show the onion skin for the next three draw ings.

Show Only the Selected Layers

Only displays the onion skin for layers in neighbouring panels thathave the same name as the currently selected layer.

Light Table

Turns on the light table so you can see Turns on the light table so you
can see the previous and subsequent active layers in w ashed-out
colours. It is useful for seeing the other layers w hen designing,
animating or cleaning up your animation.

Realistic Preview

Gives you a live preview of shapes in Draw Behind mode, w hich is forpainting behind existing art. W hen using this mode, strokes appear
instantly under your w ork w hile draw ing w ith the Draw Behind mode.

Alignment Guides

W hen enabled, alignment guides w ill be visible in the Stage View and
the Camera View .
Show Alignment Guides

This is enabled by default. Disabling this option w ill hide and disablealignment guides, meaning that animation and draw ing tools w ill not
snap to them, even if theSnap to Alignment Guides option isenabled in the Tool Properties view .

It is possible to reposition alignment guides in the current panel bydragging them using theLayer Transform tool. Enabling thisLock Alignment Guides

option w ill lock the alignment guides in their current position, allow ing
you to manipulate layers and artw ork in your panel w ithout
accidentally moving alignment guides.

Clear Alignment Guides

Removes all the alignment guides in the current panel.

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Adds a horizontal alignment guide to the middle of the current panel.

New Horizontal Alignment
Guide

TIP
You can move the alignment guide from its default position
using theLayer Transform tool or the

Select tool.

Adds a vertical alignment guide to the middle of the current panel.

New Vertical Alignment Guide

TIP
You can move the alignment guide from its default position
using the292

Layer Transform tool or the

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W indows Menu
The W indow s menu lets you customize your w orkspace to suit your w orking style, save it as a new
w orkspace, and load it from the W orkspace toolbar. You can also show or hide the different toolbars andview s in Storyboard Pro.

How to access the W indows menulFrom the top menu, select W indows.

Command

Description

W orkspace

W orkspace Manager

Opens the W orkspace Manager w here you can modify, create, delete,rename and reorder your w orkspaces.

Save W orkspace

Saves the current w orkspace, including any changes you made to it.

Save W orkspace As

Lets you save the current w orkspace w ith a new name.

W orkspace

Lets you open w orkspaces designed specifically for w orking w ith 3D
elements, draw ing, overview , review ing PDFs, pitch mode, timelineand horizontal and vertical view s.

Allow s you to add or remove toolbars from your w orkspace.

Toolbars

NOTE
For information on the different toolbars in Storyboard Pro, see
Toolbars.

3D GraphShow s or hides the 3D Graph view .

Camera View

Show s or hides the Camera view .

ColourShow s or hides the Colour view .

Effect Stack

Show s or hides the Effect Stack view .

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Function Editor

Show s or hides the Function Editor view .

GuidesShow s or hides the Guides view .

LayersShow s or hides the Layer Properties view .

LibraryShow s or hides the Library view .

Message Log

Show s or hides the Message Log view .

ModelShow s or hides the Model view .

PanelShow s or hides the Panel view .

Panel PDF OptionsShow s or hides the Panel PDF Options view .

PDF Export

Show s or hides the PDF Export view .

Pitch Mode View

Show s or hides the Pitch Mode view .

Playback

Show s or hides the Playback view .

Project Management

Show s or hides the Project Management view .

Script Editor

Show s or hides the Script Editor view .

Side View

Show s or hides the Side view .

Stage View

Show s or hides the Stage view .

Storyboard

Show s or hides the Storyboard view .

Thumbnails

Show s or hides the Thumbnails view .

Timeline

Show s or hides the Timeline view .

Tool Properties

Show s or hides the Tool Properties view .

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Top View

Show s or hides the Top view .

Restore Default W orkspace

Returns Returns modified w orkspaces to their original default layout if
you do not like the current modifications or inadvertently closed somew indow s.

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View Menus
The follow ing is a list of the view menus that are documented in this section:

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3D Graph View Menu
The 3D Graph View menu gives you access to commands related to the 3D Graph view , such as selecting subobjects, and disabling and enabling sub-objects.

How to access the 3D Graph View menul

In the upper-left corner of the 3D Graph view , click the Menu

Commandbutton.

Description

Edit

Select All

Selects all the items in the 3D graph (all the parts of the 3D model).

Deselect All

Deselects all the items in the 3D graph (all the parts of the 3D model).

Select First Child Sub-Object

Jumps to the first child sub-object of a selected parent sub-object. Use
the Select Next Sibling sub-object menu option to continue dow n the listof children.

Select Parent Sub-Object

Jumps to the parent sub-object of a selected child sub-object.

Select Next Sibling Sub-Object

Selects the next child sub-object of the same parent sub-object.

Select Previous Sibling SubObject

Selects the previous child sub-object of the same parent sub-object.

Sub-Objects

EnableEnables the selected sub-object in the 3D graph list. Enabling the subobject displays the corresponding part of the 3D model in the Camera
and Stage view s. You can make a multi-selection w ith this command.

DisableDisables the selected sub-object in the 3D graph list. Disabling the subobject hides the corresponding part of the 3D model in the Camera andStage view s. It w ill also disable the sub-object children of this subobject. A sub-object cannot have its shape hidden and be disabled at thesame time. You can make a multi-selection w ith this command.

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Show ShapeShow s the selected sub-object shape in the 3D graph list. Show ing the
sub-object shape displays the sub-object in the Camera and Stageview s. You can make a multi-selection w ith this command.

Hide Shape

Hides the selected sub-object shape in the 3D graph list. Hiding the
sub-object shape hides the sub-object in the Camera and Stage view s. A
sub-object cannot have its shape hidden and be disabled at the sametime. You can make a multi-selection w ith this command.

Separate Sub-Tree

The layer containing the 3D objects is duplicated. In this new layer, theselected sub-object(s) and their children are displayed and all others
have their shapes hidden. In the original layer, the selected sub-object(s)and their children have their shape hidden. The new layer is grouped
w ith the original layer. Any transformation in the original layer istransferred to the parent group. If you selected multiple sub-objects toseparate, all the sub-objects and their children are visible on the new lycreated layer.

Separate

The layer containing the 3D objects is duplicated. In this new layer, theselected sub-object(s) are displayed and all others have their shapehidden. In the original layer, the selected node(s) have their shapehidden. The new layer is grouped w ith the original layer. Anytransformation in the original layer is transferred to the parent group. If
you selected multiple sub-objects to separate, all the sub-objects arevisible on the new ly-created layer.

Extended ModeShow s the complete sub-object hierarchy. In this mode, you can see
every sub-object of the 3D model, even those that cannot be selected ormanipulated.

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Point of View Menu
The Point of View menu lets you determine the level at w hich the current position of the Stage view (zoom,
pan and rotation) is remembered w hen you flip through the panels. The current Point of View mode w ill also
affect the different Reset View commands’ behaviour as they w ill reset according to the Point of View mode.

How to access the Point of View menu‣

In the status bar of the Stage view , click the Point of View menu and make a selection.

‣

Select View > Point of View Mode.

Parameter

Description

Project

Keeps the zoom, pan and rotation values of the Stage view for the panels of the
project.

Scene

Keeps the zoom, pan and rotation values of the Stage view for the panels that arepart of the current scene.

Panel

Allow s every panel of the project to have its ow n zoom, pan and rotation value.

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Script Editor View Menu
The Script Editor view menu gives you access to all of the commands needed for editing and testing scripts in
the Script Editor view —see Script Editor View on page 548.

How to access the Script Editor view menu
1. Add the Script Editor view to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top-right corner of an existing view , click on the

Add View button and select Script

Editor.
l

In the top menu, select W indows > Script Editor.

2. In the top-left corner of the Script Editor view , click on the

ButtonMenu button.

Description

File

Creates a new script. W hen you click on this button, you are first prompted to typein a name for the script. Then, you w ill be prompted to select w hich location tosave the script in:l

User: Saves the script to a directory in your user preferences directory. You
w ill be able to run and edit the script from any scene as long as you arelogged in as the same user.

l

Scene: Save the script to the project's scripts sub-folder. Anyone w ill beable to edit and run the script w hen w orking on this specific project.

l

System Variable: Save the script to the directory in the TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION environment variable. This option is only
available if this environment variable is set.

New Script

NOTE
For more information on script locations, see Script list on page 548.

Allow s you to import a script from your machine into Storyboard Pro. W hen you
click on this button, you are prompted to brow se for and select a script on your filesystem. Then, you are prompted to select w hich location to import the script in:Import Scriptl

User: Saves the script to a directory in your user preferences directory. You
w ill be able to run and edit the script from any scene as long as you arelogged in as the same user.

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ButtonDescriptionl

Scene: Save the script to the project's scripts sub-folder. Anyone w ill beable to edit and run the script w hen w orking on this specific project.

l

System Variable: Save the script to the directory in the TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION environment variable. This option is only
available if this environment variable is set.

NOTES
l

W hen you import a script, any user interface (.ui) or icon (.png) file thatis in the same directory and has the same filename as the script w ill also
be imported.

l

For more information on script locations, see Script Editor View on page
548.

Deletes the selected script.

NOTES
l

You cannot delete a script if it is in the Application Resources location, as
those are scripts that are installed w ith Storyboard Pro.

l

If you delete a script that w as originally in Application Resources but
w hich you copied to another location so you could make changes to it, theoriginal version of the script in the Application Resources folder w ill be
restored to the list.

Delete Script

Refresh Script File
List

Refresh the list of scripts in the Script Editor. If there are new scripts in your user
preferences or your scene's scripts sub-folder, click on this button to be able toopen them in the Script Editor.

EditorAllow s you to type in the path and name for your preferred text editing softw are.

NOTES
l

On macOS, only typing the name of your preferred text editing softw areis enough if that application supports the AppleScript Open Document
protocol.

l

On W indow s and GNU/Linux, unless your text editor is in your system's
PATH environment variable, you w ill have to type in the full path to theeditor.

Set External Editor

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ButtonDescription

External Editor

Opens the selected script in the chosen external text editing softw are.

Play/Debug

Prompts you to select w hich script and w hich function to use w ith the Run and
Debug commands.

NOTES
Set Targetl

You can set the entire script as the target by selecting the <Nothing>
function from the functions list.

l

You cannot link an entire script to a toolbar button. Only functions w ithin
scripts can be added as toolbar buttons. Therefore, running or debugging
an entire script rather than one of its functions should be done for testing
purposes only.

Runs the target script and function.

NOTES
l

If you have not set a target script and function, you w ill be prompted to
set one w hen you select this command.

l

You can set or change the target script and function by selecting Set
Target from this menu.

l

If you are editing <<<Sandbox>>>, this button w ill simply run w hat you
typed into the sandbox, regardless of w hether another target is set.

Run

Open the target script and function in the Qt Script Debugger, in w hich you can test
and debug the function.

NOTES
Debug

Stop

l

If you have not set a target script and function, you w ill be prompted to
set one w hen you select this command.

l

You can set or change the target script and function by selecting Set
Target from this menu.

l

If you are editing <<<Sandbox>>>, this button w ill simply debug w hat
you typed into the sandbox, regardless of w hether another target is set.

If a script is currently running, this interrupts its execution.

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ButtonDescription

Help

Opens the reference documentation for the Storyboard Pro scripting interface in a
w eb brow ser.
Scripting Interface
Documentation

NOTE
This documentation is installed w ith Storyboard Pro and does not requireInternet access.

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Chapter 4: Toolbars
The Storyboard Pro interface contains toolbars that quicky give you you access many useful tools. You canadd, move and remove toolbars in your w orkspace.
The follow ing toolbars are available in Storyboard Pro:
Alignment Guides Toolbar

305

Camera Toolbar

307

Clips and Tracks Toolbar

308

Coordinate Toolbar

310

Edit Toolbar

311

File Toolbar

312

Layer Toolbar

313

Reference View Toolbar

314

Navigation Toolbar

316

Onion Skin Toolbar

318

Pen Settings Toolbar

320

Playback Toolbar

323

Script Editor Toolbar

325

Scripting Toolbar

329

Storyboard Toolbar

330

Text Formatting Toolbar

332

Tool Presets Toolbar

334

Tools Toolbar

335

View Toolbar

340

W orkspace Toolbar

342

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Alignment Guides Toolbar
The Alignment Guides toolbar allow s you to create, remove, hide, show , lock and unlock alignment guides.
Alignment guides are horizontal or vertical rulers that you can add to your stage. You can make several tools,
such as theLayer Transform, theSelect tool and theContour Editor tool snap to alignment guides

so as to help you align layers, artw ork, strokes and vector draw ing points w ith precision. You can also makemany draw ing tools, such as theBrush,

Pencil,Rectangle,

Ellipse andLine tool snap toalignment guides to help you draw along them, like rulers.

TIP
To make a tool snap to alignment guides, click on the

Snapping button in the Tool Properties

view and, in the pop-up menu, select Snap to Alignment Guides. This w ill enable snapping toalignment guides for every animation and draw ing tool that supports it.

How to access the Alignment Guides toolbar
1. Do one of the follow ing:

Icon

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Alignment Guides.

lRight-click on any toolbar in your w orkspace and select Alignment Guides.

ButtonShow
Alignment
GuidesDescription

W hen enabled, alignment guides w ill be visible in the Stage View and the
Camera View .
This is enabled by default. Disabling this option w ill hide and disable alignment
guides, meaning that animation and draw ing tools w ill not snap to them, even iftheSnap to Alignment Guides option is enabled in the Tool Properties view .

It is possible to reposition alignment guides in the current panel by dragging
Lock Alignment
Guidesthem using theLayer Transform tool. Enabling this option w ill lock thealignment guides in their current position, allow ing you to manipulate layers andartw ork in your panel w ithout accidentally moving alignment guides.

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Chapter 4: Toolbars

Icon

ButtonDescription

Clear
Alignment
GuidesRemoves all the alignment guides in the current panel.

Adds a horizontal alignment guide to the middle of the current panel.
New Horizontal
Alignment
Guide

TIP
You can move the alignment guide from its default position using theLayer Transform tool or the

Select tool.

Adds a vertical alignment guide to the middle of the current panel.
New Vertical
Alignment
Guide

TIP
You can move the alignment guide from its default position using theLayer Transform tool or the306

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Camera Toolbar
The Camera toolbar lets you add keyframes to the beginning or end of a selected panel, and copy and paste
keyframes.
This toolbar is part of the default Storyboard Pro w orkspace. How ever, you can hide the toolbar to streamline
your w orkspace.

How to show or hide the Camera toolbarlSelect W indows > Toolbars > Camera.
Icon

Tool Name

Description

Add Keyframe at
Beginning of Panel

Adds a keyframe to the beginning of thecurrently selected panel.

Add Keyframe at Current
Panel

Adds a keyframe to the current frame w hich isdetermined by the position of the red playheadon the Timeline.

Add Keyframe at End of
Current Panel

Adds a keyframe at the end of the currently
selected panel.

Copy Camera from
Selected Panels

Copies a selected camera keyframe from aselected panel.

Paste and Fit on Selected
Panels

Pastes a selected camera keyframe from aselected panel.

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Clips and Tracks Toolbar
The Sound toolbar allow s you to quickly add and manage video and audio tracks

How to show or hide the Sound toolbarlSelect W indows > Toolbars > Sound.
Icon

Tool Name

Description

New Audio Track

Adds a new audio track to your project.

New Video Track

Adds a new video track to your project.

Move Track Up

Moves the selected video or audio track up in the list of tracks.

Move Track Dow n

Moves the selected video or audio track dow n in the list of tracks.

Record Sound

Allow s you to record a sound clip using your w orkstation's
recording device directly into an audio track in your project.

Optional Buttons
The follow ing are buttons you can add to this toolbar if you w ant to have them in your w orkspace.
Icon

Tool Name

Description

Audio Scrubbing

W hen enabled, the part of the soundtrack that is at the current
frame w ill play every time you move the timeline cursor, allow ing
you to navigate the timeline of your animatic by sound. This
makes it easier to synchronize the action and the audio in youranimatic.

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Icon

Tool Name

Description

Delete Current Track

Deletes the currently selected video or audio track.

Import Sound Clips

Allow s you to import sound files (.w av, .aif, .aiff or .mp3) as soundclips into an audio track.

Allow s you to import images or movie files into clips in video
tracks, w hich are independent from your animatic and can bemade to appear over or underneath the elements in yourstoryboard.

Import Videos/Images as
Clips

Movie files can be imported as video clips to be played in yourprojects. Still images can be imported as static video clip w hichcan be made to last any amount of time.
You can import any image file supported by Storyboard Pro as avideo clip. You can also import movie files in QuickTime Movie(.mov) or MPEG-4 (.mp4, .m4v) format w hich are encoded w ith
the H.264. On W indow s only, you can also import W indow s
Media Video (*.w mv) files, and on macOS only, you can also
import QuickTime Movie (.mov) files encoded in Apple ProRes.

Show Volume Envelope

Displays a volume envelope throughout the sound clip. By
default, this envelope is a straight line in the middle of the clip,
indicating that the volume of the clip is neutral all throughout.
You can add keyframes to the envelope, and move them up or
dow n to modulate the volume of the sound clip as it plays.

Show W aveform

Displays a w aveform inside the audio clip, allow ing you to see
w here the audio peaks so you can sync the action w ith it.

Split Clip at Current
Frame

Splits the selected video or sound clip at the current frame,
separating it into tw o independent clips.

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Coordinate Toolbar
The Coordinate toolbar displays parameters of keyframes or control points in the Cameraor Timeline view . You
can edit keyframes and control point parameters, such as the position, scale and rotation coordinates.

How to access the Coordinate toolbar
1. Select W indows > Toolbars > Coordinate.

Parameter

Description

Translation

The translation fields display the X, Y and Z translation values of the selected
layer. You can enter precise values to set the first frame and last frame position ofa layer. By default the Z value field is disabled. It w ill automatically become active
w hen the 3D option is enabled.

The scale fields display the X, Y and Z scaling values of the selected layer. You
Scale

can enter precise values to set the first frame and last frame size of a layer. By
default the Z value field is disabled. It w ill automatically become active w hen the
3D option is enabled.

Rotation

The rotation fields display the X, Y and Z rotation values of the selected layer. You
can enter precise values to set the first frame and last frame rotation of a layer. By
default the Z value field is disabled. It w ill automatically become active w hen the
3D option is enabled.

Skew

The skew field displays skew value of the selected object. You can enter a precise
value to set the skew of the object.

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Edit Toolbar
The Edit toolbar lets you cut, copy, paste, and delete draw ing objects.
This toolbar is part of the default Storyboard Pro w orkspace. How ever, you can hide the toolbar to streamline
your w orkspace.
There are also Undo and Redo menus that list the most recent actions you can undo or redo. For example, if
you cut a stroke, it w ill be listed in the Undo menu so you can restore it.

How to access the Edit toolbarlSelect W indows > Toolbars > Edit.
Icon

Tool Name

Description

Cut

Removes selected objects. You can then paste
the object or its properties to another object.

Copy

Copies the selected objects and properties.

Paste

Pastes the copied objects and properties.

DeleteDeletes selected objects.

Undo

Undoes an operation that you just did.

Redo

Redoes an operation that you just did. This
command becomes active only after you use theUndo command.

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File Toolbar
The File toolbar lets you create new projects, open existing projects, save the current project as w ell as savethe current project w ith a different name.
This toolbar is part of the default Storyboard Pro w orkspace. How ever, you can hide the toolbar to streamline
your w orkspace.

How to access the File toolbarlSelect W indows > Toolbars > File.
Icon

Tool Name

Description

New

Lets you create a new project.

Lets you open an existing project. If a project isOpenalready open, you must save it first.

Save

Saves the current project.

Save As

Lets you save the currently open project underanother name.

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Layer Toolbar
The Layer toolbar lets you add and remove vector and bitmap layers. You can also lock and unlock layers, turnon the light table, as w ell as spread the motion of a layer across all panels or just some of them.
In the default w orkspace, this toolbar located on the left-most side of the interface.
This toolbar is part of the default Storyboard Pro w orkspace. How ever, you can hide the toolbar to streamline
your w orkspace.

You can display the Layer toolbar horizontally if you find it more efficient for your w orkflow . Be sure to restart
Storyboard Pro in order to see the new position of the Layer toolbar.

How to show or hide the Layer toolbarlSelect W indows > Toolbars > Layer.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

New Vector Layer

Adds a vector layer to the Layers list.

New Bitmap Layer

Adds a bitmap layer to the Layers list.

Delete Layers

Deletes the selected layers.

Lock/Unlock Layers

Locks or unlocks selected layers.

Auto Light Table

Turns on the light table.

Spread Layer Motion

W ithin the same shot, you can spread the current
layer motion across all panels or a specified number ofpanels after the current panel.A new layer w ill be
added and the draw ing w ill be duplicated for panels
that do not have the same name in the defined range.

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Chapter 4: Toolbars

Reference View Toolbar
The Reference View toolbar appears in the Reference view . Use the commands and tools from this toolbar toview and sample from models (reference draw ings) that you have imported into the Reference view .

How to show or hide the Reference View toolbarlSelect W indows > Toolbars > Reference View.

Icon

Tool/Command

Description

Import References

Opens a brow ser w indow to locate and select *.tvg
draw ing files from outside the project. Once selected,
these draw ing files are imported into the Reference
view as models.

Previous

Allow s you to navigate backw ards from the currently
displayed model, to view other models previously
loaded into the Reference view .

Next

Allow s you to navigate forw ards from the currently
displayed model, to view other models loaded
afterw ards into the Reference view .

Colour Eyedropper

Allow s you to select a colour by clicking on a colour inyour artw ork.

Zoom

Allow s you zoom in and out of the Reference view .

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SelectAllow s you to select and reposition, scale, rotate andskew brush strokes, pencil lines, shapes and otherparts of your artw ork.

CutterAllow s you to cut a part of your artw ork, thenreposition, scale, rotate and skew it.

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Navigation Toolbar
The Navigation toolbar lets you quickly display the first and last frame of a panel. These buttons grey out
w hen the playhead is at the start or end of a panel.

How to access the Navigation toolbarlSelect W indows > Toolbars > Navigation.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

First Frame

Moves the timeline playhead to the first frame of the current panel.

Last Frame

Moves the timeline playhead to the last frame of the current panel.

Optional Buttons
The follow ing are buttons you can add to this toolbar if you w ant to have them in your w orkspace.
Icon

Tool Name

Description

Project First Frame

Moves the timeline playhead to the first frame of the project.

Previous Sequence

Moves the timeline playhead to the previous sequence.

Previous Scene

Moves the timeline playhead to the previous scene.

Previous Panel

Moves the timeline playhead to the previous panel.

Next Panel

Moves the timeline playhead to the next panel.

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Next Scene

Moves the timeline playhead to the next scene.

Next Sequence

Moves the timeline playhead to the next sequence.

Project Last Frame

Moves the timeline playhead to the last frame of the project.

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Onion Skin Toolbar
The Onion Skin toolbar displays the next and previous draw ings in the Stage view .

How to access the Onion Skin toolbarlSelect W indows > Toolbars > Onion Skin.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Enable Onion Skin

Enables or disables Onion Skin.

No Previous Panels

Does not include any previous panel in the Onion Skin.

Previous Panel

Includes the previous panel in the Onion Skin.

Previous Tw o Panels

Includes the previous tw o panels in the Onion Skin..

Previous Three Panels

Includes the previous three panels in the Onion Skin.

No Next Panels

Does not include any next panel in the Onion Skin.

Next Draw ing

Includes the next panel in the Onion Skin.

Next Tw o Panels

Includes the tw o next panels in the Onion Skin.

Next Three Panels

Includes the next three panels in the Onion Skin.

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Flip

Dragging this slider allow s you to flip through thepanels that are included in the Onion Skin.

Flip Forw ard

Click and hold this button to flip through the panels
included in the Onion Skin.

Displays the Expand Onion Skin dialog, w hichcontains buttons for the 15 previous panels and the
15 next panels. W hile this dialog is show ing, only thepanels that are toggled on in this dialog w ill be
included in the Onion Skin.

This allow s you to set up the Onion Skin including
panels very far behind and after the current panel.
Also, since only selected panels are included, thisallow s you to include specific panels in the Onion Skinw ithout including every panel in-betw een that panel
and the current panel.

Expand Onion Skin

For example, if you only w ant the third previous panel
to be in the onion skin, all you have to do is toggle thatpanel on. But if you w ant every panel from the firstprevious panel to the third previous panel to be
included, you have to toggle each of them on.

NOTE
The Onion Skin w ill return to its normal
setting once you close the dialog. Therefore,
you must leave it on for as long as you need
the Onion Skin to use the settings in this
dialog.

Only displays the onion skin for layers in neighbouring
panels that have the same name as the currently
selected layer.

Show Only the Selected
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Pen Settings Toolbar
The Pen Settings toolbar provides options for enabling and configuring the Pen Stabilizer, w hich can help you
draw smooth lines w ith precision and minutia. It also allow s you to access the Pen Pressure Feel dialog, w hichallow s you to configure how the pressure you apply to your tablet pen is processed by Storyboard Pro toaffect the size of your draw ing strokes.

NOTE
For information on how to use the Pen Settings toolbar, refer to the User Guide.

Icon

Parameter

Description

Allow s you to select a method for Storyboard Pro to stabilize your draw ing
strokes.
Stabilization is a process by w hich Storyboard Pro uses the general direction ofyour draw ing strokes to create smooth, stable curves and avoid jittering andsharp corners.

Pen Stabilizer
Mode

Storyboard Pro accomplishes this by his by letting you draw a stroke of acertain length w ithout generating artw ork right aw ay. After your stroke hasreached that length, Storyboard Pro starts generating an draw ing stroke thatkeeps trailing behind your mouse cursor or tablet pen as you draw . Storyboard
Pro uses the buffer betw een your mouse cursor or pen tablet and the actual
draw ing stroke to generate smooth curves and ignore jittering and small
mistakes.
The w ay Storyboard Pro does this depends on the stabilization method you
choose:lStabilizer Off: No stabilization is performed. W hen you draw a stroke,artw ork for it is generated immediately.

lAverage: Storyboard Pro calculates the average direction of all of yourmouse or pen gestures betw een the end of the actual draw ing stroke
and the current position of your mouse cursor or pen tip, and extends
the stroke in this average direction, effectively evening out jitter androunding sharp turns.

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Icon

Parameter

DescriptionlPulled String: W hen you start draw ing a stroke, Storyboard Pro
positions the draw ing tool w here your stroke starts. As you move themouse or tablet pen, the draw ing tool remains in that position, but a"string" appears, linking your draw ing tool to your mouse cursor or pen
tip.

This string has a certain maximum length. Once that length is reached,
the string pulls the draw ing tool in the direction of your mouse cursor ortablet pen.

NOTE
The distance betw een your mouse cursor or tablet pen and thestroke can be adjusted. For the purpose of demonstration, theseimages w ere done using the largest supported distance.

This parameter determines how far your draw ing strokes trail behind yourmouse cursor or tablet pen as you draw .

Pen Stabilizer
Distance

In the case of the Average technique Storyboard Pro lets you draw an invisible
stroke of a certain length before it starts generating the artw ork based on the
average direction of that invisible stroke. This parameter determines theinvisible stroke's length.
In the case of the Pulling String, Storyboard Pro binds your draw ing tool toyour mouse cursor or tablet pen w ith a virtual string of a given length. Thisparameter sets the length of that string.

Allow s you to enable or disable the follow ing options:
Pen Stabilizer
SettingslCatch Up: W hen using stabilization, your draw ing strokes trail behind
your mouse cursor or tablet pen. W ith this option enabled, w hen you
stop moving your pen and just leave it pressed against your tablet, thebrush stroke w ill progressively catch up to the position of your pen.

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Chapter 4: Toolbars

Icon

Parameter

Description

NOTES

l

l

This option only w orks if you are draw ing w ith a pen tablet.

lThis option only w orks w ith the Average stabilization
method.

Show String: W hen using the Pulled String method, the virtual string
binding your draw ing tool to your mouse cursor or tablet pen w ill be
displayed as you draw , allow ing you to visualize how the brush stroke
trails behind your mouse cursor or tablet pen.

lEraser: If enabled, strokes w ith theEraser tool w ill also bestabilized. By default, the stabilizer w orks w ith theBrush andPencil tools.

Pen Pressure
Feel

Opens the Pen Pressure Feel dialog, w hich allow s you to configure how
Storyboard Pro processes the pressure you put on your tablet pen before
applying it to the thickness of your draw ing strokes—see Pen Pressure Feel
Dialog Box.

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Playback Toolbar
The Playback toolbar lets you play back your storyboard. W hen you create an animatic w ith transitions andsound, you can play it back in real time in the Stage view to check the timing.
In the default w orkspace, this toolbar is located at the top of the interface.

Name

Go to First Frame of
Selection

Icon

Description

AccessAutomatically places the playback marker atthe beginning of the panel selection. This
selection can be one or many panels. In theTimeline view , you can see the playhead
positioning itself at the first frame of the firstpanel of the selection.

Select Play >Play Selection
or press Shift +Enter.

Play Selection

Plays back a selection of panels.

Play

Starts and stops playback of the storyboard.

Select Play >
Play.

Loop

Repeats playback.

Select Play >
Loop.

Sound

Enables sound in the playback.

Select Play >Audio
Playback.

CameraLets you preview camera moves andtransitions.

Select Play >CameraPreview.

Auto Update Playback
Cache

Only appears if the Playback view isenabled. Enables the rendering and caching323

Chapter 4: Toolbars

Name

Icon

Descriptionof the current frame and the playback
sequence.
Normally, you might preview a frame range,
make a small edit and then preview it again
to view the edit. In this case, it w ould be
efficient if the new frames w ere rendered
and cached right aw ay, so they w ould beready for real-time playback.
It is best to disable the Auto Update
Playback Cache button if you are going toheavily modify a scene before playing it
back. It prevents the softw are fromcontinually making render and caches of inprogress frames.

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Script Editor Toolbar
The Script Editor toolbar gives you quick access to some commonly used commands for editing and testing
scripts in the Script Editor view —see Script Editor View on page 548.

How to access the Script Editor toolbar
1. Add the Script Editor view to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top-right corner of an existing view , click on the

Add View button and select Script

Editor.
l

In the top menu, select W indows > Script Editor.

2. Click on the Script Editor view to set the focus on it.
3. In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Script Editor.

Icon

ButtonDescription

Creates a new script. W hen you click on this button, you are first prompted totype in a name for the script. Then, you w ill be prompted to select w hichlocation to save the script in:l

User: Saves the script to a directory in your user preferences directory.
You w ill be able to run and edit the script from any scene as long as you
are logged in as the same user.

l

Scene: Save the script to the project's scripts sub-folder. Anyone w ill
be able to edit and run the script w hen w orking on this specific project.

l

System Variable: Save the script to the directory in the TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION environment variable. This option is only
available if this environment variable is set.

New Script

NOTE
For more information on script locations, see Script list on page 548.

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Chapter 4: Toolbars

Icon

ButtonDescription

Allow s you to import a script from your machine into Storyboard Pro. W hen you
click on this button, you are prompted to brow se for and select a script on yourfile system. Then, you are prompted to select w hich location to import the script
in:Import Scriptl

User: Saves the script to a directory in your user preferences directory.
You w ill be able to run and edit the script from any scene as long as you
are logged in as the same user.

l

Scene: Save the script to the project's scripts sub-folder. Anyone w ill
be able to edit and run the script w hen w orking on this specific project.

l

System Variable: Save the script to the directory in the TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION environment variable. This option is only
available if this environment variable is set.

NOTES
l

W hen you import a script, any user interface (.ui) or icon (.png) filethat is in the same directory and has the same filename as the script
w ill also be imported.

l

For more information on script locations, see Script Editor View on
page 548.

Deletes the selected script.

NOTES
l

You cannot delete a script if it is in the Application Resources location,
as those are scripts that are installed w ith Storyboard Pro.

l

If you delete a script that w as originally in Application Resources but
w hich you copied to another location so you could make changes to it,
the original version of the script in the Application Resources folder
w ill be restored to the list.

Delete Script

Set External
EditorAllow s you to type in the path and name for your preferred text editing
softw are.

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Icon

ButtonDescription

NOTES

Open w ith
External Editorl

On macOS, only typing the name of your preferred text editing
softw are is enough if that application supports the AppleScript OpenDocument protocol.

l

On W indow s and GNU/Linux, unless your text editor is in yoursystem's PATH environment variable, you w ill have to type in the fullpath to the editor.

Opens the selected script in the chosen external text editing softw are.

Prompts you to select w hich script and w hich function to use w ith the
and

Run

Debug buttons.

NOTES
Set Targetl

You can set the entire script as the target by selecting the <Nothing>
function from the functions list.

l

You cannot link an entire script to a toolbar button. Only functions
w ithin scripts can be added as toolbar buttons. Therefore, running or
debugging an entire script rather than one of its functions should bedone for testing purposes only.

Runs the target script and function.

NOTES
l

If you have not set a target script and function, you w ill be prompted
to set one w hen you click on this button.

l

You can set or change the target script and function by clicking on theRun

Set Target button.
l

Debug

If you are editing <<<Sandbox>>>, this button w ill simply run w hat
you typed into the sandbox, regardless of w hether another target is
set.

Open the target script and function in the Qt Script Debugger, in w hich you cantest and debug the function.

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Chapter 4: Toolbars

Icon

ButtonDescription

NOTES
l

If you have not set a target script and function, you w ill be prompted
to set one w hen click on this button.

l

You can set or change the target script and function by clicking on the
Set Target button.

l

Stop Execution

If you are editing <<<Sandbox>>>, this button w ill simply debug
w hat you typed into the sandbox, regardless of w hether anothertarget is set.

If a script is currently running, this interrupts its execution.

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Scripting Toolbar
The scripting toolbar allow s you to create buttons that run functions in your scripts. You can add one button
for each function you w ant to be able to run, and clicking on the button w ill instantly run the script function
your linked it to.

How to add the Scripting toolbar to your workspace
1. Do one of the follow ing:

Icon

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Scripting.

l

Right-click on any existing toolbar and select Scripting.

Tool Name

Description

ManageScripts

Opens the Scripts Manager dialog box w here you can add scripts and functions
to your Scripting toolbar.

Stop Script

Stops the execution of a script launched from the Scripting toolbar.

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Chapter 4: Toolbars

Storyboard Toolbar
The Storyboard toolbar contains all of the basic commands related to adding and deleting panels, scenes, andtransitions, as w ell as sw itching betw een the 2D and 3D w orkspaces. In the default w orkspace, this toolbar islocated at the top of the interface.

How to access the Storyboard toolbar‣

Select W indows > Toolbars > Storyboard.

Name

Enable 3D

Icon

Description

AccessConverts a scene to 3D so you can move

Select
Storyboard >and rotate 2D objects in 3D space.

Enable 3D for
Current Scene.

Reset a scene to 2D. W hen you do so:

Reset Scene to 2D•

Imported 3D models are removed.

•

3D camera moves are removed.

•

2D layers that have been moved androtated in 3D are be set back to 2D,
removing those transformations.

Select
Storyboard >Reset Scene to
2D.

New Panel

Creates a new panel after the current panel.

Select
Storyboard >New > New
Panel or press P.

New Scene

Creates a new scene after the currently
selected scene.

Select
Storyboard >Create Scene.

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New Sequence

Adds a new sequence to your project anddisplays the sequence markers in theThumbnails and Timeline view s.

Select
Storyboard
New > New
Sequence.

Smart Add Panel

Select
Storyboard >Smart Add
Panel.

Duplicate Selected Panel

Creates an exact copy of an existing panel.

Select
Storyboard >Duplicate
Selected Panel.

Delete Selected Panel

Deletes a selected panel. Note that it is
impossible to have an empty project asthere is a minimum of one panel.

New Transition

Select
Storyboard >New Transition.

Delete Transition

Select
Storyboard >DeleteTransition.

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Chapter 4: Toolbars

Text Formatting Toolbar
The Text Formatting toolbar allow s you format the text in your project's script and in the captions of yourproject's panels.

How to access the Text Formatting toolbar
1. In the Panel or Storyboard view , click the

Text Formatting button above a caption field.

The Text Formatting toolbar appears, floating over the main application w indow .

IconTool Name

Description--

Font family

Allow s you to select the font in w hich to display the selected text.

--

Font Size

Allow s you to select the size, in points, in w hich to display theselected text.

Bold

Makes the selected text appear bold.

ItalicMakes the selected text appear italic.

Underline

Makes the selected text underlined.

Align Left

Makes all the text in the selected caption aligned to the left.

Align Center

Makes all the text in the selected caption aligned to the centre.

Align Right

Makes all the text in the selected caption aligned to the right.

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Justify

Makes all the text in the selected caption justified. This makes the
spacing betw een w ords automatically adjust to make each line of text
occupy all the available horizontal space, except for the last line ofeach paragraph.

Text Colour

Opens the Select Colour dialog box, from w hich you can select a newcolour for the selected text.

Opens the Select Colour dialog box, from w hich you can select abackground colour for the selected text.
Background Colour

NOTE
The background colour is applied around the selected text, like
this, and does not cover the entire caption field.

Removes all font, font size, bold, italic, underline, text colour andbackground colour formatting from the selected text.

Clear Formatting

NOTE
The

Clear Formatting button does not affect textalignment.

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Chapter 4: Toolbars

Tool Presets Toolbar
The Tool Presets toolbar lets you create new tool presets and manage existing ones. There are also four
default brush presets available.

How to access the Tool Presets toolbarlSelect W indows > Toolbars > Tool Presets.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

New Tool Preset

Opens the New Tool Preset dialog box in w hich you
can create a custom tool preset and add it to the Tool
Presets toolbar for quick access.

Manage Presets

Opens the Manage Tool Presets dialog box in w hich
you can update and delete existing tool presets, andimport and export tool presets.

Rough BrushA blue brush for quickly creating rough draw ings.

Clean BrushA black brush for creating the clean lines in a draw ing.

Shading Brush

A brush that is set for shading. Any strokes that you
draw w ill appear behind objects.

Revision BrushA red brush for making revisions to a draw ing. W hen
you activate this brush, a revision layer is created forthe current panel.

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Tools Toolbar
The Tools toolbar contains the main tools you need to w ork in Storyboard Pro. In the default w orkspace, thistoolbar located on the left edge of the application w indow .

By default, the Tools toolbar hides some of its tools inside pop-up menus. For example, to select thetool, you must double-click or long-click the

Select tool button, and selectCutterCutter in the pop-up menu.

How ever, it is possible to make the Tools toolbar display each tool as a separate button by enabling the Flat
Tools Toolbar preference. This makes the selection of tools quicker.

How to make every tool in the Tools toolbar display in buttons rather than pop- up
menus
1. Do one of the follow ing to open the Preferences dialog:

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Chapter 4: Toolbarsll

W indows:l

In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U.

macOS:l

In the top menu, select Storyboard Pro 22 > Preferences.

l

Press ⌘ + U.

2. Select the Global UI tab.
3. In the UI Style section, check the Flat Tool Toolbar option.
4. Click OK.
5. Close and relaunch Storyboard Pro.

NOTEIn Flat Tools Toolbar mode, some tools are hidden from the Tools toolbar by default. To
customize w hich tools are displayed in the Tools toolbar, and the order in w hich they aredisplayed, right-click on the Tools toolbar and select Customize.

Tool Name

Icon

Description

Allow s you to select and reposition, scale, rotate and skew brushstrokes, pencil lines, shapes and other parts of your artw ork.

SelectCutterAllow s you to cut a part of your artw ork, then reposition, scale,rotate and skew it.

Select by Colour

Allow s you to quickly select all zones painted w ith the colour you
click on in a single draw ing layer.

Contour Editor

Centerline Editor

Allow s you to edit the vector contours of brush strokes, pencil
lines and shapes in your artw ork. You can add, remove, tw eak andmove vector points, move the Bezier handles of the vector points
as w ell as deform vector outlines.

Allow s you to tw eak and deform a brush stroke by manipulating
the points at the centre of its line rather than its contour.

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Perspective

Allow s you to deform artw ork by applying a perspective effect onit.

Edit Gradient/Texture

Allow s you to adjust the position, angle and size of gradients andtextures in a colour zone.

Brush

A pressure-sensitive tool for creating a contour shape w ith a thickand thin line effect, as if created w ith a paint brush.

Stencil Brush

Allow s you to paint over existing artw ork w ithin the boundaries ofthat artw ork or the boundaries set by selecting the artw ork ofdifferent layers.

Overlay Brush ModeIn Overlay Brush Mode, the existing artw ork is used as a mask togenerate new brush strokes w hich are added on top, leaving theexisting artw ork untouched.

Repaint Brush Mode

In Repaint Brush Mode, the existing artw ork is replaced andrepainted, ignoring empty zones.

A pressure-sensitive tool for draw ing outlines. Pencil lines are
Pencilmade of central vector lines, making them easier to tw eak and edit
than brush strokes.

Text

Allow s you to add text and to format it.

EraserA pressure-sensitive tool for erasing parts of a draw ing.

Paint

Allow s you to fill colour zones w ith a colour or texture.

Paint Unpainted

Allow s you to quickly fill empty zones in your artw ork w ith acolour or texture, leaving filled zones unchanged.

Unpaint

Allow s you to empty filled colour zones of their colour andtexture.

Close Gap

Allow s you to close open shapes so that they can be filled w ith
the Paint tool. By draw ing a stroke near a small gap in a shape,
this tool w ill create a small invisible stroke connecting the tw o337

Chapter 4: Toolbars

closest points around the gap.

Line

Draw s a straight line segment going from one point to the other.

Rectangle

Draw s a rectangle.

EllipseDraw s an ellipse.

Polyline

Allow s you to draw shapes, segmented lines or complex curvedlines by clicking to create each point in the sequence of line
segments.

Dropper

Allow s you to select a colour by clicking on a colour in yourartw ork.

Hand

Allow s you to pan the Stage and Camera view s.

Zoom

Allow s you zoom in and out of the Stage and Camera view s.

Rotate View

Lets you rotate the Stage and Camera view s just like w ith a realanimation disc.

Shift and Trace

Allow s you to temporarily move draw ings so you can trace overthem in other draw ings using Onion Skin.

Lets you navigate through a scene in 3D using the follow ing:lLeft mouse button for rotation.

lMiddle mouse button for panning.

l

Right mouse button for zooming in and out.

3D Navigation

Lets you navigate through a scene in 3D using the follow ing:

3D Flying Navigationl

Use the mouse for rotation.

l

Use the mouse w heel to move forw ards or backw ards.

l

Use the arrow keys and PgUp/PgDn to move in all six
directions.

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Layer Transform

Allow s you to select draw ing layers and position, rotate, scale andskew them.

CameraAllow s you to position and rotate the camera, as w ell as toanimate camera movements.

Reframe

Allow s you to offset the position of the content of the panels forthe entire scene so that it fits in the camera frame you define.

Maintain Size

Keeps the visual scale in the Camera view as you move elementsin the Z-axis in the Top or Side view s.

Create Layer on Surface

Creates a new layers on top of the surface over w hich you arehovering w ith the mouse cursor.

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Chapter 4: Toolbars

View Toolbar
The View toolbar lets you sw itch betw een the different w orkspaces, and zoom in or out on the main area ineach w orkspace.
The first time you open Storyboard Pro, the default Draw ing w orkspace is loaded. There are a total of eight
ready-made w orkspaces.
Use the keyboard shortcuts 3 to 8 to open the corresponding w orkspaces. There is no keyboard shortcut for
the PDF View . You must use the button on the View toolbar.

How to show or hide the View toolbarlSelect W indows > Toolbars > View.

W orkspace

Icon

Description

Draw ing

This w orkspace is designed to enable you to draw your storyboard efficiently.
The main space is the large Stage view and the Thumbnails view is at thebottom. This w orkspace also gives you quick and easy access to all your tools,
as w ell as the Panel and Storyboard view s.

Timeline

This w orkspace is designed w ith the process of animatic creation in mind. The
main space is the large Stage view and the Timeline view is at the bottom,
w here you can easily edit the timing of panels, transitions and sounds. Thisw orkspace also gives you quick and easy access to all your tools, as w ell as the
Panel and Storyboard view s.

Overview

This w orkspace is designed to provide an organized overview of your project.
The main space is the Thumbnails view w here you can efficiently reorganize
the order of your panels.

Horizontal

This w orkspace displays your project as a classic horizontal paper storyboard
layout. The main space displays three panels at a time, w ith the panel
information show n below each one.

VerticalThis w orkspace displays your project as a classic vertical paper storyboard

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

W orkspace

Icon

Description

layout. The main space displays tw o panels at a time, w ith the panel
information show n at the side of each.

Pitch Mode

This w orkspace displays your project w ith a different set of view s than theother w orkspaces. Access is only given to a certain number of features. Thismaximizes the view ing space to focus solely on the story being pitched.
The Pitch Mode w orkspace occupies the entire display screen. There are no
toolbars or top menu available.

PDF View

This w orkspace displays your project w ith the view s required to quickly set up
your PDF export.

3D View

This w orkspace displays your project w ith the view s appropriate for w orking
w ith 3D objects, including the Camera, Top, Timeline, and Layers view s.

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W orkspace Toolbar
The W orkspace toolbar lets you sw itch to a different w orkspace and open the W orkspace Manager dialog box
in w hich you can rename and reorder w orkspaces, create a custom w orkspace and more.

How to show or hide the W orkspace toolbarlSelect W indows > Toolbars > W orkspace.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

W orkspace menu

Lets you sw itch betw een the default w orkspaces.

W orkspace Manager

Opens the W orkspace Manager dialog box.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Chapter 5: Tool Properties
Each tool in the Tools toolbar has a set of properties that you can customize according to the task you are
performing. Some tools, such as the Brush tool, can be customized and saved as a preset. W hen you select atool from the Tools toolbar, the Tool Properties view updates to display its properties.

Here are the tool properties available in Storyboard Pro:
Brush Tool Properties

346

Camera Tool Properties

368

Centerline Editor Tool Properties

371

Close Gap Tool Properties

373

Contour Editor Tool Properties

374

Create Layer on Surface Tool Properties

378

Cutter Tool Properties

379

Dropper Tool Properties

382

Ellipse Tool Properties

383

Eraser Tool Properties

391

Layer Transform Tool Properties

412

Line Tool Properties

417

Maintain Size Tool Properties

427

Paint Tool Properties

428

Pencil Tool Properties

432

Perspective Tool Properties

441

Polyline Tool Properties

444

Rectangle Tool Properties

451

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Select Tool Properties

459

Stamp Tool Properties

468

Stencil Brush Tool Properties

476

Text Tool Properties

498

Zoom Tool Properties

501

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Brush Tool Properties
The Brush tool allow s you to draw by creating shapes based on your draw ing strokes and filling them w ith
colour or textures. W hen used w ith a tablet, it is pressure sensitive, just like a real life brush.

How to access the Brush tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushtool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Brush Properties
The follow ing properties affect the brush's size, smoothing and other properties for the draw ing style of yourbrush. Those properties can be saved into brush presets for later use.
Property

Description

The Preview area lets you see a preview of the stroke your draw ing tool w ill make.
Preview Area

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Property

Description

The arrow button right of the preview area opens the Brush Properties dialog.

Brush Properties Dialog
W hile the Tool Properties view only gives you access to a few of the brushproperties, a list of brush presets and other draw ing options, the Brush Properties
dialog gives you access to all the available options for your brush's tip and texture.
For more information on the Brush Properties dialog, see the Brush Properties Dialog
section below .

Defines the maximum w idth of brush strokes.
Maximum Size

If the tool is used w ith a pressure sensitive pen tablet, the w idth of the stroke w illvary betw een its maximum size and minimum size depending on the amount ofpressure used. If used w ith a mouse, the w idth of the stroke w ill alw ays be its
maximum size.

Allow s you to set the opacity for each instance of the brush tip that gets printed into
your canvas. Contrary to the Opacity parameter, the flow parameter has a cumulative
effect. This means that a low er flow w ill make your brush strokes more transparent

Flow

tow ards its extremities and more opaque in its center. Your stroke's flow w ill also
accumulate if you draw over it. By default, your brush's flow varies w ith the amountof pressure you put on your tablet pen.

NOTE
This option is only displayed in the Tool Properties view w hen draw ing on abitmap layer.

The Opacity parameter are w here Lets you set the opacity of your brush strokes.
Contrary to the Flow parameter, the Opacity parameter is non-cumulative. Yourw hole brush stroke's opacity w ill not exceed the Opacity parameter. By default, theOpacity parameter varies depending on the amount of pressure you put on yourtablet pen.
Opacity

NOTEThis option is only displayed in the Tool Properties view w hen draw ing on abitmap layer.

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Brush Presets
These options allow you to select, create and manage brush presets.
Icon

Property

Description

By default, Storyboard Pro has preloaded brush presets. You can also
create your ow n brush presets by configuring your brush, then saving
its properties into a new preset. It is also possible to export andimport brush presets.

Presets list

New Brush Preset

Creates a new preset based on the current tool properties.

Delete Brush

Deletes the currently selected preset.

Open a menu that contains the follow ing options:l

New Brush Preset: Creates a new preset based on the current
tool properties.

lDelete Brush: Deletes the currently selected preset.

lRename Brush: Allow s you to rename the currently selected
preset.

lImport Brushes: Allow s you to import brush presets exported
from Storyboard Pro.

l

Export Brushes: Allow s you to export your brush presets into
an .xml file.

l

Small Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of small
thumbnails w ith a preview of their tip.

lLarge Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of big thumbnails,
w ith their name and a preview of their tip.

lStroke View: Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and a

Brush Presets Menu

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preview of a stroke done w ith each preset.

Drawing Options
These options affect the w ay your draw ing strokes are added to your artw ork.
Icon

Property

Description

W hen enabled, your brush strokes w ill appear behind the existingartw ork.

Draw Behind

NOTEYour brush stroke w ill temporarily appear over your artw ork as
you draw it, until you release the mouse cursor or tablet pen. If
you w ant a live preview of your stroke, activate the Realistic
Preview option by selecting View > Realistic Preview from the
top menu.

W hen enabled, a closed shaped automatically fills w ith its stroke colour.

Auto Fill

By default, w hen draw ing on a vector layer, each new stroke is createdas a separate draw ing object, w hich can be edited independently fromother parts of the artw ork. W hen enabled, the Auto-Flatten option
automatically merges strokes into existing artw ork.
Auto-Flatten Mode

NOTE
This option is only available w hen draw ing on a vector layer.
W hen draw ing on a bitmap layer, artw ork is alw ays flattened.

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Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all otheranimation and draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as to selectw hich types of snapping are enabled.

Snapping

If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up
menu in w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You can also
click on this button to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable all snapping
modes, and click on it again and toggle it on to re-enable the snapping
modes w hich w ere previously enabled.
This tool supports the follow ing snapping mode:lSnap to Alignment Guides: W hile draw ing, the draw ing tool
w ill snap against nearby alignment guides.

Brush Properties Dialog
Brushes have an extensive set of options and properties that are not displayed in the Tool Properties view , butrather, in a dialog you can access from it. To open the Brush Properties dialog, click on the arrow button rightof the stroke display area.

The Brush Properties dialog has five different tabs, minus the Smoothing tab if you are w orking on a bitmap
layers. Below is detailed information about the options available in each tab:l

Tip Tab on page 350lSmoothing Tab on page 357

lTransparency Tab on page 358l

Dual Tip Tab on page 361lPaper Texture Tab on page 365

Tip TabThe Tip tab allow s you to configure the shape, size, hardness and spacing of your brush tip.

NOTE
The "Size Proportional to Camera" option has been moved to the new Size Properties w indow .

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Property

Description

Allow s you to select betw een one of the follow ing brush types:lSolid Vector Brush: Creates vector shapes filled w ith a solid colour.
Makes artw ork lightw eight, scalable and easy to tw eak. Since this kind ofbrush can only create solid colour shapes, solid vector brushes have alimited set of options including size, roundness, angle, centerline
smoothing and contour smoothing.

l

Textured Vector Brush: Creates vector shapes filled w ith a texture. This
gives you access to bitmap brush tips, paper textures, transparency andseveral other options.

Brush Type351

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NOTE
This option is not available w hen w orking on a bitmap layer. W ith bitmap
layers, brushes are alw ays textured, and textured brush options are alw ays
available.

Brush Tip LibraryThis is w here you select the shape of the brush tip. By default it is round. Notethat some tips are designed to have semitransparent areas, even w hen the
maximum brush opacity is set to 100%.
To create a custom brush tip, you must prepare the file ahead of time, either inStoryboard Pro or in a third-party softw are, such as Adobe Photoshop. Colour is
not supported and transparency is not supported in the traditional sense. Black
appears as 100% opaque, w hite appears as 100% transparent and all the
shades of grey in betw een appear as varying degrees of semitransparency. A
range of file formats are supported—.jpeg, .png, .tif, .psd, .tga to name a few .
Alpha channels are disregarded on import. It is recommended that your file bebetw een 100 x 100 pixels and 400 x 400 pixels.
You can also import brush tips that you exported from Storyboard Pro, so you
can share them w ith colleagues.

The minimum and maximum sizes of your draw ing tool produce the thick andthin effect on your stroke. This w orks w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.
l

Maximum Size: Defines the maximum w idth of the stroke.

l

Minimum Size: Defines the minimum w idth of the stroke in relation toand as a percentage of the maximum size.

Minimum and Maximum Size
You can control the size properties by clicking on the arrow button on right andthe dialog box w ill appear as show n below .

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Pressure: Allow s you to apply more pressure and increases the size ofthe brush. You can check the box to invert this behaviour.

l

Tilt: Allow s you to tilt the pen closer to tablet for a bigger stroke. You cancheck the box to invert this behaviour.

l

Speed: Allow s you to reduce the size of the stroke by draw ing at a fast
speed. You can check the box to invert this behaviour.

l

Speed Sensitivity: A slider is used to control how fast must the stroke bedraw n to reach the minimum value.

lTaper: Allow s you to reduce the value of a property at the start or theend of each stroke. The value can be expressed using tw o options:Distance and Percentage. Distance is selected by default. For example:
A taper of 200 w ill be the same length as the w idth (diameter) of a strokethat has its size set at 200.

You can enable Start and End Tapering option individually.
lStart Taper: W hen distance is selected as a Taper value, the effect ofstart taper can be visualized as the stroke is draw n.

l

End Taper: W hen distance or percentage is selected as a Taper value,
the effect of end taper can be visualized once the stroke is complete andvectorized as the length is unknow n until the stroke is complete.

l

Fade Distance: Allow s you to fade the value of property over a given
distance. It uses the same units as the size and is applied as the stroke isdraw n.

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NOTE
Setting the Minimum Size value to 100% eliminates the possibility ofcreating w idth variation on your stroke. In other w ords, you w ould be
forcing a uniform line w idth using the Maximum Size value.

The Roundness and Angle parameters allow you to change the shape andorientation of the tip.
lRoundness: The vertical scaling to apply to the tip. Reducing this setting
squashes the tip vertically, allow ing you to turn round or square tips into
flat tips.

lRoundness and Angle

Angle: The angle at w hich to rotate the brush tip, counterclockw ise.

NOTE
The squashing is not relative to the angle—if the tip is rotated, thesquashing w ill still be done relative to the tip's original orientation.

If your pen and tablet support tilt sensitivity, this option allow s you to set
w hether your brush takes your pen's tilt angle into account, and how much.
W hen your pen is fully tilted, your brush tip w ill be stretched by the percentage
you set in this parameter, in the angle in w hich you tilt it. For example, if you set
the Pen Tilt Sensitivity to 50%, and you tilt your pen all the w ay up or dow n, yourbrush tip w ill be stretched vertically by 50%. W ith the same setting, if you tilt
your pen all the w ay left or right, your brush tip w ill be stretched horizontally by
50%.
Pen Tilt Sensitivity

Angle Function

If enabled, your brush tip w ill rotate w ith the angle of your pen tip. You can select354

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

one of the follow ing options:lConstant: The static orientation of the brush tip expressed in degrees.

lHeading: The orientation of the brush tip is determined by the direction in
w hich the stroke is draw n. It changes dynamically as the stroke is draw n.

lAzimuth: W hen the pen is tilted, it uses the direction in w hich the pen
eraser is facing.

lTwist (if supported by pen): It uses the tw ist angle of the stylus and is
only available w ith W acom Art Pen.

The hardness value corresponds to the softness of the brush tip's edges. The
low er the value, the softer the tip edge. The higher the value, the sharper the tipedge. Be aw are that some brush tips are not 100% opaque, so they w ill alw ays
appear somew hat soft, even at 100% hardness.
HardnessDefines the amount of space betw een each stamp of the brush. A value of 100%
sets the stamp marks edge to edge, if there is no w hite space around the shape.
The larger the value, the greater the space betw een marks. A really large value
can make the brush stroke appear as a string of individual marks. Conversely, asmall spacing value w ill give the appearance of a fluid brush stroke.
Spacing is only evident w hen making a continuous stroke.
Spacing

Random Size

You can create variation betw een the thick and thin of your brush stroke just by
setting the Maximum and Minimum Size values. If you add randomness to the355Chapter 5: Tool Properties

mix, pressure sensitivity from your draw ing tablet w ill still be applied. Lightpressure w ill create random values around the minimum, w hile heavy pressure
w ill create random values closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, thelarger the range of random variation.

NOTE
Setting the Minimum Size to 100% eliminates the possibility of creating
w idth variation on your stroke, w hether you are applying randomness ornot. Therefore, you w ould be forcing a uniform line w idth using theMaximum Size value.

Sets the range for random rotation around the set Angle value. For example, if
the Angle is set to 45° and the Random Angle set to 10°, the softw are w illchoose values betw een 40°–50° (plus or minus 5 degrees, equaling a total of 10
degrees).

Random Angle

Random Spacing

Sets the range for random spacing around the set Spacing value. For example, if
the Spacing is set to 50% and the Random Spacing is set to 10%, thenStoryboard Pro w ill choose values betw een 45%–55% (plus or minus 5 percent,equaling a total of 10 percent).

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Smoothing Tab
The Smoothing tab contains options to configure how Storyboard Pro should automatically smooth your brushstrokes as you paint.

NOTE
The Smoothing tab is only available w hen w orking on a vector layer, as bitmap layers do notsupport smoothing.

Property

Description

Centerline Smoothing

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the central lineof the brush stroke. A higher setting w ill prevent your line from being shaky, but isliable to reduce draw ing precision and turn sharp angles into curves.

Contour Smoothing

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the outer
contour of the brush stroke. A higher setting w ill round sharp corners and reduce the357

Chapter 5: Tool Properties

amount of control points for the resulting vector shape.

Transparency Tab
The Transparency tab allow s you to decide if your brush has antialiasing as w ell as to set its flow and opacity
settings.

NOTE
The Transparency tab's options are only available on vector layers if the Brush Type option of the
Tip tab is set to Textured Vector Brush. On bitmap layers, those options are alw ays available.

Property

Description

Enabled by default. This option causes the contours of the brush strokes to blend
w ith the surrounding colours, to create an illusion of smoothness otherw ise notpossible due to the picture resolution.

Antialiasing

If antialiasing is disabled, the brush's texture w ill only render fully transparent or
fully opaque pixels. Disabling this option can be useful if you need your outlines
to be very crisp, if you w ant to make pixel art or if you need your brush strokes torender in solid colors w ith no variation, w hich makes them easier to repaint orprocess in third party softw are.

NOTE
W hen disabled, all other options in the Transparency tab are disabled.

Maximum and Minimum Flow

The Maximum and Minimum Flow parameters let you set the range for the rate
at w hich paint flow s from your brush. The analogy w orks better w ith a pen. The

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greater the flow , the more ink comes out, hence the more consistent the colour
and texture of the line. If the flow is light, then the colour and texture of the line
may look spotty. This feature w orks w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.
l

Maximum Flow: Sets the maximum rate at w hich colour and texture areapplied as you create a fluid stroke.

l

Minimum Flow: Sets the minimum rate at w hich colour and texture areapplied as you create a fluid stroke. It is defined as a percentage of theMaximum Flow value. If the Minimum Flow value is set to 100%, thentablet pressure sensitivity w ill no longer be applicable. The flow w ill be
set to the constant rate of the Maximum Flow value.

You can control the flow properties by clicking on the arrow button on right andthe dialog box w ill appear same as show n for size properties above. Minimumand Maximum Size on page 352.

The Maximum and Minimum Opacity parameters are w here you set the opacity
range for a brush mark. This w orks w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.

Maximum Opacity and
Minimum Opacityl

Maximum Opacity: Sets the transparency limit of the brush mark w hen
the pressure is heavy.

lMinimum Opacity: Sets the transparency limit of the brush mark w hen
the pressure is very light. It is defined as a percentage of the Maximum
Opacity value. If the Minimum Opacity value is set to 100%, then tablet
pressure sensitivity w ill no longer be applicable. The opacity w ill be set
to the constant rate of the Maximum Opacity value.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

You can control the opacity properties by clicking on the arrow button on rightand the dialog box w ill appear same as show n for size properties above. Pleaserefer Minimum and Maximum Size on page 352

RandomnessTh Randomness parameter lets you set the range for the randomness of the flow
and opacity. This w orks w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.

You can create variation in the flow of your brush stroke just by setting theMaximum and Minimum Flow values. If you add randomness to the mix, pressure
sensitivity from your draw ing tablet w ill still be applied. Light pressure w illcreate random values around the minimum, w hile heavy pressure w ill create
random values closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, the larger therange of random variation.

Randomness Flow

NOTE
Setting the Minimum Flow value to 100% eliminates the possibility ofcreating flow variation on your stroke, w hether you are applying
randomness or not. That is, you w ould be forcing a uniform flow using theMaximum Flow value.

Random Opacity

You can create variation in the opacity of your brush stroke just by setting theMaximum and Minimum Opacity values. If you add randomness to the mix,pressure sensitivity from your draw ing tablet w ill still be applied. Light pressure
w ill create random values around the minimum, w hile heavy pressure w ill create
random values closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, the larger therange of random variation.

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NOTE
Setting the Minimum Opacity value to 100% eliminates the possibility ofcreating opacity variation on your stroke, w hether you are applying
randomness or not. That is, you w ould be forcing a uniform opacity using
the Maximum Opacity value.

Dual Tip Tab
The Dual Tip tab lets you set the parameters for creating a dual tip brush. The primary bitmap brush tip andthe dual tip alw ays w ork together. You can set the parameters for the primary tip in the Tip tab and those forthe dual tip in the Dual Tip tab. The Blend mode you select determines how the tips are combined.
By default, the Blend Mode is set to Multiply and the Random Angle to 360°.

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NOTE
To use a Dual Tip, you must enable option by checking the checkbox inside the Dual Tip tab.
Additionally, if you are w orking on a vector layer, the Brush Type option of the Tip tab must be set
to Textured Vector Brush.

Property

Description

Enable/Disable

The checkbox inside the tab allow s you to decide w hether or not your brush uses adual tip. If this checkbox is unchecked, the options in the Dual Tip tab w ill bedisabled.

Blend Mode

The Blend modes let you decide how the primary tip and the dual tip are combined.

Multiply

This is the default blend mode. W hen the tw o brush tips are combined in this mode,
they essentially cut each other out in overlapping areas, w here one or both tips havean area of 100% transparency. The less opaque the brush tips are, the lighter their362

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Property

Description

combination.

Colour Dodge

In this mode, the primary tip cuts out the shape of the dual tip. W here the tip shapes
overlap, w ithin the boundaries of the primary shape, the colour and opacity appear
darker.

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Property

CombineDescription

This mode treats the tw o tips as tw o different and separate brushes that have thesame colour and follow the same path.

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Property

Description

Paper Texture Tab
The Paper Texture tab lets you configure a paper-like texture for your brush. You can also add textures byimporting image files, or import paper textures that w ere previously exported from Storyboard Pro.

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NOTE
To use a Paper Texture, you must enable option by checking the checkbox inside the Paper
Texture tab. Additionally, if you are w orking on a vector layer, the Brush Type option of the Tip
tab must be set to Textured Vector Brush.

Property

Description

Enable/Disable

The checkbox inside the tab allow s you to decide w hether or not your brush uses apaper texture. If this checkbox is unchecked, the options in the Paper Texture tab w ill
be disabled.

Texture Scale

Increase or decreases the size of the paper texture.

Additive

This option layers the texture on top of itself as you scribble overlapping lines in one
continuous stroke. If this option is turned off, areas of overlapping lines from a single,
continuous stroke w ill appear the same, in terms of darkness and texture, as non-366

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Property

Description

overlapping areas.

This option defines the w ay separate, overlapping strokes behave. If this option isenabled, the paper texture's position does not change w ith each sw eep of the brush.
If this option is disabled, each sw eep of the brush produces a different texture
position. The texture orientation alw ays stays the same.

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Camera Tool Properties
The Camera tool allow s you to animate the camera in a scene by adding and manipulating camera keyframes.

How to access the Camera tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Camera

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Icon

Property

Description

Camera Transform

Add Keyframe at
Beginning ofCurrent Panel

Adds a keyframe at the beginning of the currently selected panel.

Add Keyframe at
Beginning ofCurrent Frame

Adds a keyframe at the beginning of the current frame.

Add Keyframe at
End of Current
Panel

Adds a keyframe at the end of the currently selected panel.

You can also select Camera > Add Keyframe at Beginning of Current
Panel.

You can also select Camera > Add Keyframe at Beginning of Current
Frame.

You can also select Camera > Add Keyframe at End of Current Panel.

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Icon

Property

Description

Reset Camera

Deletes all keyframes in the selected scene and reverts back to the original
static camera.

Copy Camera from
Selected Panels

Copies a camera keyframe in a selected panel.

Paste and Fit
Camera on
Selected Panels

Pastes a copied camera keyframe in a selected panel.

Lets you set the velocity at w hich the camera movement begins.
--

Ease InYou can enter the duration of the ease in after the first frame in w hich thegradual change cameramovement begins. For example, if you w ant to slow ly
accelerate to the normal cameraspeed from frame 1 to 10, enter a value of
10.

Lets you set the velocity at w hich the camera movement ends.
--

Ease OutYou can enter the duration of the ease out after the first frame in w hich thegradual change in camera movement begins. Enter the number of frames
before the last frame in w hich the change in camera movement is gradual.

Keyframes

Reset Keyframe

Resets the selected keyframe.

Delete Keyframe

Deletes the selected keyframe from the camera.

Align Camera Key
w ith Stage View
Position

Fits the camera frame to the current space available in the Stage view w hileretaining its original ratio, w hich is very useful in 3D scenes. You can also
select Camera > Align Camera Key with Stage View Position.

Go to Selected
Keyframe

Moves the playhead to the selected keyframe in the Timeline view . W hen
w orking in 3D and used in combination w ith the Camera view , this option
comes in very handy for properly frame a shot.

Function Editor

Opens the Function Editor w here you can edit function curves andparameters. It is a visual graph for adding, removing, and editing keyframes,

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Icon

Property

Description

as w ell as adjusting the velocity. The Function Editor allow s you to display
multiple functions in the background as a reference.

OffsetLets you set the position of the camera frame centre point. The fields
represent, respectively, the X position, Y position, and Z position (enabling
you to animate a truck in or truck out movement).
You can also use the Camera tool to position the camera frame from theStage or Camera view .

Focal Length

RotationLets you set the camera focal length value . By default the focal length value
is set to 36 millimiters. The focal length determines the angle value of theshot.

Lets you set the camera rotation value. W hen w orking in a 2D project, only
the last field is active, letting you rotate the camera only on the Z-axis (rightand left). W hen w orking in a 3D project, the three fields become active andrespectively represent the rotation value of the X, Y, and Z axis.
You can also use the Camera tool to rotate the camera frame from the Stageor Camera view

Static Attributes

Pivot

Displays the pivot position of the handle for the camera w hen 3D is enabled.
This how ever does not affect actual camera position.

Near Plane

The point on the camera cone w here the camera is located.

Far Plane

The far end of the camera cone. Nothing outside the far plane is visible.

Scene/Panel
Duration

Displays the length of the selected scene or panel in timecode format. The
default length of a panel is 1 second.

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Centerline Editor Tool Properties
The Centerline Editor tool allow s you to edit brush strokes by their centreline rather than by their contour. This
makes it easier to tw eak the tips, curves and corners of brush strokes. The purpose of this tool is to make it aseasy to edit brush strokes as it is to edit pencil lines w ith the Contour Editor tool.

How to access the Centerline Editor tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Centerline Editor

tool.

2. The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Tool Options
Icon

Property

Description

Allow s you to choose the method to visually select multiple
elements:lLasso: Allow s you to select multiple elements bydraw ing an irregular closed shape around them w ith
your mouse.

lMarquee: Allow s you to select multiple elements
by draw ing a rectangle around them. This is faster, as
you only need to drag your mouse from one corner ofthe rectangle to its opposite corner, but it may not be as
precise as you w ant.

Selection ModeTIP
You can press and hold the Alt key to temporarily use
the other selection mode.

Centerline Smoothness

Allow s you to adjust the amount of control points on thecentreline that is generated from the selected stroke. A low ervalue w ill create a centreline w ith less points, w hich makes it

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Icon

Property

Description

easier to manipulate large lengths of the stroke, and a higher
value w ill generate a centreline w ith more points, allow ing you
to tw eak details.

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Close Gap Tool Properties
The paint tool requires the area you attempt to fill to be closed in order to know exactly w hat area of yourartw ork must be filled. How ever, it is common for artists to accidentally leave small gaps in their artw ork.
The Close Gap tool allow s you to quickly close small gaps in a shape by creating an invisible stroke connecting
tw o extremities of the gap. You can then fill the area using the Paint tool, as this invisible stroke w ill be takenin account to determine the outline of the shape to fill.

TIP
You do not need to use the Close Gap tool w ith precision. If you draw a crude stroke near the gap
you w ant to close, the tool w ill automatically detect the tw o closest line extremities and w ill draw
an invisible straight line connecting them. closing the gap betw een them.

How to access the Close Gap tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Close Gap

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Tool Options
Icon

Property

Description

The Close Gap tool creates an invisible draw ing stroke to close the shape.
Enabling this option w ill merge the stroke into the artw ork instead of adding thestroke on top of it.
Auto Flatten

NOTE
The area you close w ith the Close Gap tool w ill be fillable regardless ofw hether or not this option is enabled.

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Contour Editor Tool Properties
The Contour Editor lets you reshape vector shapes, brush strokes and lines in your draw ings.
Artw ork in Storyboard Pro is made of vector shapes. Vector shapes are defined by points, the lines joining thepoints together (contours) and the curve vectors, represented by Bezier handles, w hich make the curve of saidlines.

The Contour Editor tool allow s you to select a contour or point, and change the position of points, add andremove points from the shape, rotate, lengthen and shorten curve handles to influence the curve of contours
betw een those points, or drag contours betw een points to change their curve directly.

How to access the Contour Editor tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Contour Editor

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Tool Modes
Icon

Property

Description

Allow s you to choose the method to visually select multiple
elements:
Selection ModelLasso: Allow s you to select multiple elements bydraw ing an irregular closed shape around them w ith yourmouse.

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Icon

Property

DescriptionlMarquee: Allow s you to select multiple elements bydraw ing a rectangle around them. This is faster, as you only
need to drag your mouse from one corner of the rectangle toits opposite corner, but it may not be as precise as you w ant.

TIP
You can press and hold the Alt key to temporarily use theother selection mode.

Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all otheranimation and draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as toselect w hich types of snapping are enabled.
If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up
menu in w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You canalso click on this button to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable allsnapping modes, and click on it again and toggle it on to re-enable
the snapping modes w hich w ere previously enabled.
This tool supports the follow ing snapping modes:lSnap to Contour: W hen enabled, moving the control point
in a contour near another contour w ill snap that control
point against that contour. This w ill lock the point and thecontour together, and moving the control point w ill deformthe contour.

Snapping

This option can be especially useful if you need to makes theedges of tw o shapes snap together, like so:

You can also use this option to make a control point snap
against another control point, allow ing you to join lines
together.

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Icon

Property

Description

NOTE
W hen a control point is snapped against a contour
or another control point in your draw ing, the Contour
Editor w ill manipulate them together. How ever,even if you make a point in one draw ing stroke snap
against another draw ing stroke, they w ill remain
separate draw ing strokes unless they are flattened
together, and you w ill still be able to manipulatethem individually w ith the Select

tool.

l

Snap to Alignment Guides: W hile moving the selection or
one of its control points, it w ill snap against nearbyalignment guides.

lSnap and Align: Snaps the selected anchor point to any
existing line w hile displaying temporary rulers as a guidethat you can also snap your anchor point to.

lSnap to Grid: W hile moving the selection, the mouse cursor
w ill snap against the intersecting points of the grid.

TIP
To display the grid, select View > Grid > Show Gridfrom the top menu or press Ctrl + G.

If you select and remove part of a pencil line, this option allow s you
to choose w hich kind of line tip the removed segment should leavebehind:l

Tip Style: Round: Leaves rounded tips at the extremitiesof the deleted line segment.

Tip Stylel

Tip Style: Flat: Leaves flat tips at the extremities of thedeleted line segment.

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Icon

Property

Description

Operations
Icon

Property

Description

The Smooth operation lets you smooth out selected draw ing
strokes and remove extra points.
Smooth Selection377

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Create Layer on Surface Tool Properties
W orking in the Camera view , the Create Layer on Surface tool lets you create a new vector or bitmap layer on
the surface of the 3D object over w hich you are hovering. The new layer w ill be positioned at the point in Z
depth on w hich you clicked, and is perpendicular to the camera so you can start draw ing.

How to access the Create Layer on Surface tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Create Layer on Surface

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Property

Description

Vector Layer

Creates a new vector layer over the 3D object over w hich you are hovering.

Bitmap Layer

Creates a new bitmap layer over the 3D object over w hich you are hovering.

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Cutter Tool Properties
The Cutter tool lets you cut out part of a draw ing so that you can transform it, copy it or delete it. It also allow s
you to trim overshot lines.

How to access the Cutter tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, click and hold on the Selectthe Cutter

tool to display the menu beneath and selecttool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Tool Options
Icon

Property

Description

Allow s you to choose the method to visually select multiple elements:lLasso: Allow s you to select multiple elements by draw ing anirregular closed shape around them w ith your mouse.

lSelection Mode

Marquee: Allow s you to select multiple elements by draw ing a
rectangle around them. This is faster, as you only need to drag yourmouse from one corner of the rectangle to its opposite corner, but it
may not be as precise as you w ant.

TIP
You can press and hold the Alt key to temporarily use the otherselection mode.

Easy Drag

W hen enabled, you can drag the selection by clicking anyw here inside its
bounding box. By default, you must click on the artw ork in the selection to beable to drag it.

Use Mouse
GestureW hen this option is enabled along w ith the Lasso379

selection type, quicklyChapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

draw ing a line w ith the Cutter tool over a line segment in your artw ork w ill
instantly delete it. This can be useful if you w ant to use the Cutter tool toquickly clean up your artw ork.

It allow s you to cut in tw o modes as follow s:lSingle Line Cutting Gesture: It deletes first line segment over w hicha straight gesture is draw n w ith the cutter.

lMultiple Lines Cutting Gesture: It deletes all line segments overw hich a straight gesture is draw n w ith the cutter.

NOTE
This option w ill only w ork w hen using the Cutter tool on separate
brush or pencil strokes. Hence, it is important not to flatten yourartw ork if you intend to use this option to clean up your draw ings. This
option has no effect on bitmap layers as the artw ork in bitmap layers is
alw ays flattened.

W hen cutting through pencil lines, this option decides w hat kind of pencil
line tips to put at the extremities of the remaining pencil line segments,
w here they w ere cut.

Tip Style

By default, this is set to Bevel, w hich w ill leave the tip of the pencil line

cut at the same angle as your cutter stroke. If you prefer, you can make pencil
lines that you split w ith the Cutter tool have Flat
instead.

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or Roundtips

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Icon

Property

Description

W hen w orking on bitmap artw ork, enabling this w ill smooth the edges of theartw ork you cut out, so that they do not appear pixelated.
Antialiasing

NOTE
This option is only available w ith bitmap layers.

Operations
Icon

Property

Description

Flip Horizontal

Flips the current selection horizontally.

Flip Vertical

Flips the current selection vertically.

Rotate 90 Degrees
CW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees clockw ise.

Rotate 90 Degrees
CCW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees counter-clockw ise.

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Dropper Tool Properties
The Dropper tool allow s you to pick a colour from your draw ing w ithout going to the Colour view .

NOTE
W hen picking a colour w ith the Dropper tool, the colour picked becomes the current colour, but is
not automatically added to the sw atch list.

How to access the Dropper tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Droppertool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Icon

Property

Description

Sample All Layers

By default, the Dropper tool picks the colour from the active draw ing layer
only. This means that if the colour is semi-transparent, it w ill still only takethe colour from the active layer, along w ith its transparency, and ignore thecolours from layers behind it.
W ith this option enabled, the Dropper tool w ill pick the colour as it appearson the screen instead, allow ing you to pick colours that are the result of
several layers composited together.

Do Not Pick
Transparency

By default, the Droppertool picks the colour's alpha value as w ell as its
colour values. W hen enabled, the colour picked w ill alw ays have an alphavalue of 255.

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Ellipse Tool Properties
The Ellipse tool allow s you to quickly draw an ellipse or a circle.

How to access the Ellipse tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Ellipse

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Pencil Properties
Just like other shape tools, this tool creates pencil lines. Hence, its tool properties are similar to the ones of thePencil tool and it can be used w ith pencil presets.
Property

Description

The Preview area lets you see a preview of the stroke your draw ing tool w ill make.
Preview Area

Pencil Properties
Dialog

The arrow button right of the preview area opens the Pencil Properties dialog.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

Description

W hile the Tool Properties view only gives you access to a few of the pencil properties,
a list of pencil presets and other draw ing options, the Pencil Properties dialog gives youaccess to all the available options for your pencil's shape and texture. For more
information on the Pencil Properties dialog, see the Pencil Properties Dialog on page387 section below .

SizeDefines the w idth of the pencil line used to draw the shape.

You can adjust the start, end, and join style of a pencil line.

Shape

l

Start: Lets you select the style of the start tip, w hich is the first tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lEnd: Lets you select the style of the end tip, w hich is the last tip you drew . You
can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lJoin: Lets you select the joint style. The joints are w here the line curves
abruptly. You could also define the Join style as the corner style. You can choose
betw een Round, Mitre and Bevel style.

Pencil Presets
These options allow you to select, create and manage pencil presets.
Icon

Property

Description

Presets list

Storyboard Pro provides a few pencil presets and also lets you createand save your ow n. It is a good idea to create and save pencils w ith
precise sizes and parameters w hen you draw for efficiency andconsistency.
You can export the pencil presets that you have created and importthose that others have created. This is a good w ay for you and project
collaborators to keep a consistent look for the project.

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Icon

Property

Description

New Brush Preset

Creates a new preset based on the current tool properties.

Delete Brush Preset

Deletes the currently selected preset.

Open a menu that contains the follow ing options:l

New Brush Preset: Creates a new preset based on the current
tool properties.

lDelete Brush: Deletes the currently selected preset.

lRename Brush: Allow s you to rename the currently selected
preset.

lImport Brushes: Allow s you to import brush presets exported
from Storyboard Pro.

l

Export Brushes: Allow s you to export your brush presets into an.xml file.

l

Small Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of small thumbnails
w ith a preview of their tip.

lLarge Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of big thumbnails,

Brush Presets Menu

w ith their name and a preview of their tip.
lStroke View: Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and apreview of a stroke done w ith each preset.

Drawing Options
These options affect the w ay your shape is added to your artw ork.
Icon

Property

Description

W hen enabled, your brush strokes w ill appear behind the existingartw ork.

Draw Behind385

Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

NOTEYour brush stroke w ill temporarily appear over your artw ork as
you draw it, until you release the mouse cursor or tablet pen. If
you w ant a live preview of your stroke, activate the Realistic
Preview option by selecting View > Realistic Preview from the
top menu.

W hen enabled, the shape you draw is automatically filled w ith theselected colour. By default, draw ing a shape only creates its outlines.

Auto Fill

Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all otheranimation and draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as to selectw hich types of snapping are enabled.
If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up
menu in w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You can also
click on this button to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable all snapping
modes, and click on it again and toggle it on to re-enable the snapping
modes w hich w ere previously enabled.
Snapping

Auto Flatten Mode

This tool supports the follow ing snapping modes:lSnap to Contour: W hen enabled, w hile you're draw ing, themouse cursor w ill snap to the nearby contours of the artw ork inyour draw ing.

lSnap to Alignment Guides: W hile draw ing, the draw ing tool
w ill snap against nearby alignment guides.

lSnap and Align: W hen enabled, w hile you're draw ing, themouse cursor w ill automatically align to the rectangularbounding boxes of other strokes and shapes in your draw ing.

By default, w hen draw ing on a vector layer, each new stroke is createdas a separate draw ing object, w hich can be edited independently fromother parts of the artw ork. W hen enabled, the Auto-Flatten option
automatically merges strokes into existing artw ork.

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Icon

Property

Description

NOTE
Using the Select tool, you can use select and remove a segment offlattened pencil lines. Overlapping pencil lines draw n w ith theAuto-Flatten mode are essentially cut into segments by theoverlap and can be treated as individual lines.

Pencil Properties Dialog
The Ellipse tool draw s the same type of line as the Pencil tool. Hence, you can configure the Ellipse tool's lines
using the Pencil Properties dialog, w hich you can open by clicking on the arrow button right of the stroke
display area in the Tool Properties view .

Size and Smoothness Tab
The Size and Smoothness tab allow s you to select your pencil's size, its smoothing parameters as w ell as theshape of its tips and corners.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

Description

Maximum Size

Defines the maximum size of the pencil line. If the tool is used w ith a pressure
sensitive pen tablet, the w idth of the stroke w ill vary betw een its maximum size andminimum size depending on the amount of pressure used. If used w ith a mouse, thew idth of the stroke w ill alw ays be its maximum size.

Minimum Size

Defines the minimum size of your stroke as a percentage of the maximum size. If you
do not have pressure sensitivity from a pen table, the minimum size value w ill beignored.

Centerline Smoothing

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the central lineof the pencil stroke. A higher setting w ill prevent your line from being shaky and w ill
reduce the amount of control points it has, making it easier to tw eak, but is liable toreduce draw ing precision and turn sharp angles into curves.

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the outer
contour of the pencil stroke.

Contour Smoothing

A pencil line is defined by its centreline and its variations in thickness, rather than its
apparent shape. W hen draw ing a pencil line w ith a mouse, its thickness is uniform.
Therefore, its outer contour does not have any control point, except at its extremities,
and no smoothing is required for its contour.
How ever, w hen draw ing a pencil line w ith a pressure sensitive tablet, its contour w ill
have control points and Bezier curves to define the line's variations in thickness, andthus smoothing must be performed on its contour. An increased contour smoothing
w ill reduce the amount of control points on the line's thickness and smoothen its
curves, but may affect the precision of the variations in line thickness.

You can adjust the start, end, and join style of a pencil line.

Shape

l

Start: Lets you select the style of the start tip, w hich is the first tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lEnd: Lets you select the style of the end tip, w hich is the last tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lJoin: Lets you select the joint style. The joints are w here the line curves
abruptly. You could also define the Join style as the corner style. You canchoose betw een Round, Mitre and Bevel style.

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Texture Tab
In the Pencil Properties view , the Texture Tab allow s you to select a texture to apply to your pencil lines. You
can also add, remove or rename textures, save the current pencil texture palette as the default one, or import
the pencil texture palette into your scene.

Icon

Property

New Texture

Description

Allow s you to import an image file into a new pencil texture sw atch inthe current pencil texture palette. The pencil texture's effect on yourpencil line w ill be based on the image's transparency channel, and w illfollow your pencil lines on its horizontal axis. This option is alsoavailable from the menu

Delete Texture

Rename Texture

button.

Deletes a pencil texture sw atch from the current pencil texture palette.
This option is also available from the menu

Renames the selected pencil texture sw atch in the current pencil
texture palette. This option is also available from the menu

This option is available from the menu
Use as Default Pencil
Texture Palettebutton.

button.

button. Sets the currently

selected pencil texture palette as the default pencil texture palette inyour user preferences. The default pencil texture palette is added toevery scene you create in Storyboard Pro. The palette is copied in yourpreferences, so it w ill be added to your new scenes in the exact state it
is w hen you make it the default pencil texture palette.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

Pencil Texture Display

Displays the pencil textures in the current pencil texture palette andallow s you to select one to use w ith the Pencil tool.

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Eraser Tool Properties
The Eraser tool allow s you to erase artw ork by draw ing eraser strokes over it. W hen using the Eraser tool w ith
a tablet, it is pressure sensitive, like w ith the Brush and Pencil tool.

How to access the Eraser tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Eraser

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Eraser Properties
The w ay the Eraser tool is configured is almost identical to the w ay the Brush tool is configured.
Property

Description

The Preview area lets you see a preview of the stroke your draw ing tool w ill make.
Stroke Preview Area

Eraser Properties
Dialog

The arrow button right of the display area opens the Eraser Properties dialog, w hichgives you access to all the parameters and options for your eraser. The Tool Properties
view only gives you access to a few of the eraser properties, a list of eraser presets and391

Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

Description

options for the Eraser tool that are not related to the eraser properties. For more
information on the Eraser Properties dialog, see the Eraser Properties Dialog section
below .

Defines the maximum size of the eraser.
If the tool is used w ith a pressure sensitive pen tablet, the w idth of the stroke w ill vary
betw een its maximum size and minimum size depending on the amount of pressureused. If used w ith a mouse, the w idth of the stroke w ill alw ays be its maximum size.

Maximum Size

Lets you set the opacity for each instance of the eraser tip that gets erased from yourartw ork. Contrary to the Opacity parameter, the flow parameter has a cumulative effect.
This means that a low er flow w ill make your eraser strokes less effective tow ards its
extremities and more effective in its center. Your stroke's flow w ill also accumulate if
you draw over it. By default, your eraser's flow varies w ith the amount of pressure you
put on your tablet pen.

Flow

NOTE
This option is only displayed in the Tool Properties view w hen draw ing on abitmap layer.

The Opacity parameter are w here Lets you set the opacity of your brush strokes.
Contrary to the Flow parameter, the Opacity parameter is non-cumulative. Your w holebrush stroke's opacity w ill not exceed the Opacity parameter. By default, the Opacity
parameter varies depending on the amount of pressure you put on your tablet pen.
Opacity

NOTEThis option is only displayed in the Tool Properties view w hen draw ing on abitmap layer.

Eraser Presets
These options allow you to select, create and manage eraser presets.
Icon

Property

Description

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Presets list

By default, Storyboard Pro has preloaded eraser presets. You can also
create your ow n eraser presets by configuring your eraser, thensaving its properties into a new preset. It is also possible to export
and import eraser presets.

New Brush Preset

Creates a new preset based on the current tool properties.

Delete Brush

Deletes the currently selected preset.

Rename Brush

Allow s you to rename the currently selected preset.

Import Brushes

Allow s you to import brush presets exported from Storyboard Pro.

Export Brushes

Allow s you to export your brush presets into an .xml file.

Small Thumbnail

Displays presets in a grid of small thumbnails w ith a preview of theirtip.

Large Thumbnail

Displays presets in a grid of big thumbnails, w ith their name and apreview of their tip.

Stroke View

Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and a preview of a stroke
done w ith each preset.

Erasing Options
These options affect the w ay your eraser strokes are applied to your artw ork.
Icon

Property

Description

W hen you erase part of a pencil line, this option determines the shape ofthe extremity of the pencil line w here you erased:lRound: Leaves a round tip at the extremities of the pencil
line you erased.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Descriptionl

Flat: Leaves a flat tip at the extremities of the pencil line you
erased. A flat tip is alw ays perpendicular to the angle of thecentreline of the pencil line, so it may not match the angle of youreraser stroke.

l

Bevel: Leaves a bevel tip at the extremities of the pencil line
you erased. A bevel tip is flat, but its angle matches the angle ofyour eraser stroke.

Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all otheranimation and draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as to selectw hich types of snapping are enabled.

Snapping

If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up
menu in w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You can also
click on this button to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable all snapping
modes, and click on it again and toggle it on to re-enable the snapping
modes w hich w ere previously enabled.
This tool supports the follow ing snapping mode:lSnap to Alignment Guides: W hile erasing, the eraser w ill snap
against nearby alignment guides.

Eraser Properties Dialog
Erasers have an extensive set of options and properties that are not displayed in the Tool Properties view , butrather, in a dialog you can access from it. To open the Eraser Properties dialog, click on the arrow button rightof the stroke display area.

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The Eraser Properties dialog has five different tabs, minus the Smoothing tab if you are w orking on a bitmap
layers. Below is detailed information about the options available in each tab:l

Tip Tab on page 395lSmoothing Tab on page 401lTransparency Tab on page 402l

Dual Tip Tab on page 405lPaper Texture Tab on page 409

Tip TabThe Tip tab allow s you to configure the shape, size, hardness and spacing of your eraser tip.

Property

Description

Allow s you to select betw een one of the follow ing eraser types:
Eraser Typel

Solid Vector: Simply cuts out the eraser stroke's shape from the vector artw ork.
A solid vector eraser alw ays completely erase the artw orks leaving hard seams.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

DescriptionlTextured Eraser: Allow s to configure the eraser w ith the same options as w ith
a textured brush. A textured eraser w ill decrease the opacity of bitmap texturesin textured brush strokes if it doesn't completely erase it. If it completely erases
a brush stroke, it w ill cut out the erased part from the vector artw ork.

lTextured, Preserve Vector: Like a Textured Eraser, except that it w ill not cut
out from the vector shapes, even if it fully erases pixels in a textured brushstroke's texture.

NOTE
Textured erasers only w ork as expected on textured brush strokes. Using a
Textured eraser on a solid vector brush stroke or on a pencil line w ill only cut theeraser stroke's shape out of it. If you use a Textured, Preserve Vector type eraser
on a solid vector shape or on a pencil line, the eraser w ill not erase anything.

NOTE
This option is not available w hen w orking on a bitmap layer. W ith bitmap layers,erasers are alw ays textured, and textured eraser options are alw ays available.

Eraser Tip LibraryThis is w here you select the shape of the eraser tip. By default, it is round. Note thatsome tips are designed to have semitransparent areas, even w hen the maximum eraser
opacity is set to 100%.
To create a custom eraser tip, you must prepare the file ahead of time, either inStoryboard Pro or in a third-party softw are, such as Adobe Photoshop. Colour is notsupported and transparency is not supported in the traditional sense. Black appears as
100% opaque, w hite appears as 100% transparent and all the shades of grey inbetw een appear as varying degrees of semitransparency. A range of file formats aresupported—.jpeg, .png, .tif, .psd, .tga to name a few . Alpha channels are disregardedon import. It is recommended that your file be betw een 100 x 100 pixels and 400 x 400
pixels.
You can also import eraser tips that you exported from Storyboard Pro, so you canshare them w ith colleagues.

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Property

Description

The minimum and maximum sizes of your draw ing tool produce the thick and thineffect on your stroke. This w orks w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.
l

Maximum Size: Defines the maximum w idth of the stroke.

l

Minimum Size: Defines the minimum w idth of the stroke in relation to and as apercentage of the maximum size.

You can control the size properties by clicking on the arrow button on right and the
dialog box w ill appear as show n below .

Minimum andMaximum Sizel

Pressure: Allow s you to apply more pressure and increases the size of thebrush. You can check the box to invert this behaviour.

l

Tilt: Allow s you to tilt the pen closer to tablet for a bigger stroke. You can checkthe box to invert this behaviour.

l

Speed: Allow s you to reduce the size of the stroke by draw ing at a fast speed.
You can check the box to invert this behaviour.

l

Speed Sensitivity: A slider is used to control how fast must the stroke bedraw n to reach the minimum value.

lTaper: Allow s you to reduce the value of a property at the start or the end ofeach stroke. The value can be expressed using tw o options: Distance andPercentage. Distance is selected by default. For example: A taper of 200 w ill

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

Description

be the same length as the w idth (diameter) of a stroke that has its size set at200.
You can enable Start and End Tapering option individually.
lStart Taper: W hen distance is selected as a Taper value, the effect of starttaper can be visualized as the stroke is draw n.

l

End Taper: W hen distance or percentage is selected as a Taper value, theeffect of end taper can be visualized once the stroke is complete and vectorized
as the length is unknow n until the stroke is complete.

l

Fade Distance: Allow s you to fade the value of property over a given distance.
It uses the same units as the size and is applied as the stroke is draw n.

NOTE
Setting the Minimum Size value to 100% eliminates the possibility of creating
w idth variation on your stroke. In other w ords, you w ould be forcing a uniform line
w idth using the Maximum Size value.

The Roundness and Angle parameters allow you to change the shape and orientationof the tip.

Roundness and AnglelRoundness: The vertical scaling to apply to the tip. Reducing this setting
squashes the tip vertically, allow ing you to turn round or square tips into flat
tips.

l

Angle: The angle at w hich to rotate the brush tip, counterclockw ise.

NOTE
The squashing is not relative to the angle—if the tip is rotated, the squashing w ill
still be done relative to the tip's original orientation.

If your pen and tablet support tilt sensitivity, this option allow s you to set w hether youreraser takes your pen's tilt angle in account, and how much.
Pen Tilt Sensitivity

W hen your pen is fully tilted, your eraser tip w ill be stretched by the percentage you
set in this parameter, in the angle in w hich you tilt it. For example, if you set the Pen Tilt
Sensitivity to 50%, and you tilt your pen all the w ay up or dow n, your eraser tip w ill be

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Property

Description

stretched vertically by 50%. W ith the same setting, if you tilt your pen all the w ay leftor right, your eraser tip w ill be stretched horizontally by 50%.

If enabled, and if your pen and tablet support tip rotation, your eraser tip w ill rotate
w ith the angle of your pen tip.

Use Pen Rotation

The Hardness and Spacing parameters allow you to change the softness and spacingof the marks made by the eraser tip. You can preview the hardness and spacing at the
top of the Eraser Properties w indow , stroke preview area.

Hardness

Spacing

The hardness value corresponds to the softness of the eraser tip's edges. The low er
the value, the softer the tip edge. The higher the value, the sharper the tip edge. Be
aw are that some eraser tips are not 100% opaque, so they w ill alw ays appear
somew hat soft, even at 100% hardness.

Defines the amount of space betw een each stamp of the eraser. A value of 100% sets
the stamp marks edge to edge, if there is no w hite space around the shape. The larger
the value, the greater the space betw een marks. A really large value can make theeraser stroke appear as a string of individual marks. Conversely, a small spacing value
w ill give the appearance of a fluid brush stroke.
Spacing is only evident w hen making a continuous stroke.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

Description

Randomness

The Randomness parameters let you create a varied bitmap eraser stroke. Refining
these options can give your stroke a lovely, non-mechanical look.

You can create variation betw een the thick and thin of your eraser stroke just by setting
the Maximum and Minimum Size values. If you add randomness to the mix, pressure
sensitivity from your draw ing tablet w ill still be applied. Light pressure w ill create
random values around the minimum, w hile heavy pressure w ill create random values
closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, the larger the range of randomvariation.

Random Size

NOTE
Setting the Minimum Size to 100% eliminates the possibility of creating w idthvariation on your stroke, w hether you are applying randomness or not. Therefore,
you w ould be forcing a uniform line w idth using the Maximum Size value.

Random Angle

Sets the range for random rotation around the set Angle value. For example, if theAngle is set to 45° and the Random Angle set to 10°, the softw are w ill choose values
betw een 40°–50° (plus or minus 5 degrees, equaling a total of 10 degrees).

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Property

Description

Sets the range for random spacing around the set Spacing value. For example, if theSpacing is set to 50% and the Random Spacing is set to 10%, then Storyboard Pro w illchoose values betw een 45%–55% (plus or minus 5 percent, equaling a total of 10
percent).

Random Spacing

Smoothing Tab
The Smoothing tab contains options to configure how Storyboard Pro should automatically smooth youreraser strokes as you paint.

401Chapter 5: Tool PropertiesNOTE
The Smoothing tab is only available w hen w orking on a vector layer, as bitmap layers do notsupport smoothing.

Property

Description

Centerline Smoothing

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on your eraser
stroke's direction, curves and corners. A higher setting w ill prevent your line frombeing shaky, but is liable to reduce draw ing precision and turn sharp angles into
curves.

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on outer contour ofContour Smoothing

the eraser stroke. A higher setting w ill round sharp corners and reduce the amount ofcontrol points for the resulting vector shape.

Transparency Tab
The Transparency tab allow s you to decide if your eraser has antialiasing as w ell as to set its flow and opacity
settings.

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NOTE
The Transparency tab's options are only available on vector layers if the Eraser Type option of the
Tip tab is set to Textured Vector or Textured, Preserve Vector.. On bitmap layers, those options
are alw ays available.

Property

Description

Enabled by default. This option causes the contours of the eraser strokes toblend w ith the surrounding colours, to create an illusion of smoothness
otherw ise not possible due to the picture resolution.

Antialiasing

If antialiasing is disabled, the eraser w ill either fully erase pixels or leave themintact.

NOTE
W hen disabled, all other options in the Transparency tab are disabled.

The Maximum and Minimum Flow parameters let you set the range for the rate
at w hich your eraser's effect flow s. The greater the flow , the more consistent theeffect is. If the flow is light, then the effect may look spotty. This feature w orks
w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.
l

Maximum Flow: Sets the maximum rate at w hich colour and texture areapplied as you create a fluid stroke.

l

Minimum Flow: Sets the minimum rate at w hich colour and texture areapplied as you create a fluid stroke. It is defined as a percentage of theMaximum Flow value. If the Minimum Flow value is set to 100%, thentablet pressure sensitivity w ill no longer be applicable. The flow w ill be
set to the constant rate of the Maximum Flow value.

Maximum and Minimum Flow

Maximum Opacity and
Minimum Opacity

The Maximum and Minimum Opacity parameters are w here you set the opacity
range for a eraser mark. This w orks w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.
l

Maximum Opacity: Sets the transparency limit of the eraser mark w hen
the pressure is heavy.

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Property

DescriptionlRandomness

Minimum Opacity: Sets the transparency limit of the eraser mark w hen
the pressure is very light. It is defined as a percentage of the Maximum
Opacity value. If the Minimum Opacity value is set to 100%, then tablet
pressure sensitivity w ill no longer be applicable. The opacity w ill be set
to the constant rate of the Maximum Opacity value.

Th Randomness parameter lets you set the range for the randomness of the flow
and opacity. This w orks w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.

You can create variation in the flow of your eraser stroke just by setting theMaximum and Minimum Flow values. If you add randomness to the mix, pressure
sensitivity from your draw ing tablet w ill still be applied. Light pressure w illcreate random values around the minimum, w hile heavy pressure w ill create
random values closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, the larger therange of random variation.

Randomness Flow

NOTE
Setting the Minimum Flow value to 100% eliminates the possibility ofcreating flow variation on your stroke, w hether you are applying
randomness or not. That is, you w ould be forcing a uniform flow using theMaximum Flow value.

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Property

Description

You can create variation in the opacity of your eraser stroke just by setting theMaximum and Minimum Opacity values. If you add randomness to the mix,pressure sensitivity from your draw ing tablet w ill still be applied. Light pressure
w ill create random values around the minimum, w hile heavy pressure w ill create
random values closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, the larger therange of random variation.

Random Opacity

NOTE
Setting the Minimum Opacity value to 100% eliminates the possibility ofcreating opacity variation on your stroke, w hether you are applying
randomness or not. That is, you w ould be forcing a uniform opacity using
the Maximum Opacity value.

Dual Tip Tab
The Dual Tip tab lets you set the parameters for creating a dual tip eraser. The primary bitmap eraser tip andthe dual tip alw ays w ork together. You can set the parameters for the primary tip in the Tip tab and those forthe dual tip in the Dual Tip tab. The Blend mode you select determines how the tips are combined.
By default, the Blend Mode is set to Multiply and the Random Angle to 360°.

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NOTE
To use a Dual Tip, you must enable option by checking the checkbox inside the Dual Tip tab.
Additionally, if you are w orking on a vector layer, the Eraser Type option of the Tip tab must be set
to Textured Vector or Textured, Preserve Vector.

Tool Name

Description

Enable/Disable

The checkbox inside the tab allow s you to decide w hether or not your eraser uses adual tip. If this checkbox is unchecked, the options in the Dual Tip tab w ill bedisabled.

Blend Mode

The Blend modes let you decide how the primary tip and the dual tip are combined.

Multiply

This is the default blend mode. W hen the tw o eraser tips are combined in this mode,
they essentially cut each other out in overlapping areas, w here one or both tips havean area of 100% transparency. The less opaque the eraser tips are, the lighter their406

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Tool Name

Description

combination.

Colour Dodge

In this mode, the primary tip cuts out the shape of the dual tip. W here the tip shapes
overlap, w ithin the boundaries of the primary shape, the colour and opacity appear
darker.

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Tool Name

CombineDescription

This mode treats the tw o tips as tw o different and separate erasers that have thesame colour and follow the same path.

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Tool Name

Description

Paper Texture Tab
The Paper Texture tab lets you configure a paper-like texture for your eraser. You can also add textures byimporting image files, or import paper textures that w ere previously exported from Storyboard Pro.

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NOTE
To use a Paper Texture, you must enable option by checking the checkbox inside the Paper
Texture tab. Additionally, if you are w orking on a vector layer, the Eraser Type option of the Tip
tab must be set to Textured Vector or Textured, Preserve Vector.

Property

Description

Enable/Disable

The checkbox inside the tab allow s you to decide w hether or not your eraser uses apaper texture. If this checkbox is unchecked, the options in the Paper Texture tab w ill
be disabled.

Texture Scale

Increase or decreases the size of the paper texture.

Additive

This option layers the texture on top of itself as you scribble overlapping lines in one
continuous stroke. If this option is turned off, areas of overlapping lines from a single,
continuous stroke w ill appear the same, in terms of darkness and texture, as non-410

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Property

Description

overlapping areas.

This option defines the w ay separate, overlapping strokes behave. If this option isenabled, the paper texture's position does not change w ith each sw eep of the eraser.
If this option is disabled, each sw eep of the eraser produces a different texture
position. The texture orientation alw ays stays the same.

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Layer Transform Tool Properties
The Layer Transform tool lets you show or hide the translation control, flip, rotate, translate and scale aselected layer. You can also animate layers by setting keyframes and then fine-tune them using the Function
Editor.

How to access the Layer Transform tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Layer Transformtool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

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Icon

Property

Description

Layer Transform

Easy Drag

W hen enabled, you can drag the selection by clicking anyw here inside its
bounding box. By default, you must click on the artw ork in the selection to beable to drag it.

Show Translate

Show s or hides the translation controls in the Stage view w hen using theControls

Layer Transform tool on a layer. The controls are displayed by default.

Show Rotate
Controls

Show s or hides the rotation controls in the Stage view w hen using the Layer
Transform tool on a layer. The controls are displayed by default.

Show Scale
Controls

Show s or hides the scale controls in the Stage view w hen using the Layer
Transform tool on a layer. The controls are displayed by default.

Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all other animationand draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as to select w hich types ofsnapping are enabled.
If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up menu in
w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You can also click on thisbutton to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable all snapping modes, and click on it
again and toggle it on to re-enable the snapping modes w hich w ere
previously enabled.
This tool supports the follow ing snapping modes :SnappinglSnap to Contour: W hile moving the selection or one of its control
points, it w ill snap against the nearby points and contours of yourartw ork, allow ing you to snap parts of your artw ork together.

lSnap to Alignment Guides: W hile moving the selection or one of its
control points, it w ill snap against nearby alignment guides.

lSnap and Align: W hile moving the selection, the rectangular boundingbox of the selection w ill align w ith the rectangular bounding boxes ofother layers in the current panel. If you move one of your selection'scontrol points, it w ill also align w ith the bounding boxes of otherlayers.

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Icon

Property

Description

Snap to 3D
SurfaceW hen enabled, the layer or 3D element w ill snap against the nearby surfacesof 3D objects.

Animated Layer Operations

Flip Vertical

Flips the selection vertically.

Flip Horizontal

Flips the selection horizontally.

Rotate 90 CW

Rotates the selection 90° clockw ise.

Rotate 90 CW W

Rotates the selection 90° counterclockw ise.

Reset Pivot

The Reset Pivot button resets the current layer’s pivot point to its original
position at the centre of the camera frame. You can also select Layer > Pivot >Reset Pivot.

Center Pivot on
Selection

By default, the pivot is positioned at the center of the camera frame. Use thisbutton to set the pivot at the centre of the selected layer. You can also selectLayer > Pivot > Center Pivot on Selection.

Snap to GroundLets you snap a layer to the surface directly below it The angle of the layer isretained and the low est point of the layer w ill connect to the surface.

Offset X

Lets you enter a value to reposition the selection along the X-axis.

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Icon

Property

Description

Offset Y

Lets you enter a value to reposition the selection along the Y-axis.

W idthLets you enter a value to resize the w idth of the selection.

HeightLets you enter a value to resize the height of the selection.

Lock

Locks or unlocks the ratio betw een the W idth and Height values.

Lets you enter specific values to rotate the selection. A positive value rotates
the selection counter clockw ise and a negative value rotates the selection
clockw ise.
Angle

NOTE
This field is only available w hen w orking in 2D mode.

Keyframes

Add Keyframe

Adds a keyframe to the selected layer.

Reset Keyframe

Resets all the position values to their defaults.

Delete Keyframe

Deletes the selected keyframe from the layer.

Previous
Keyframe

Displays the previous keyframe.

Next Keyframe

Displays the next keyframe.

Function Editor

Opens the Function Editor w here you can edit function curves and parameters.
It is a visual graph for adding, removing, and editing keyframes, as w ell as
adjusting the velocity. The Function Editor allow s you to display multiple
functions in the background as a reference.

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Icon

Property

Description

Lets you set the velocity at w hich the layer movement begins.
--

Ease InYou can enter the duration of the ease in after the first frame in w hich thegradual change layer movement begins. For example, if you w ant to slow ly
accelerate to the normal layer speed from frame 1 to 10, enter a value of 10.

Lets you set the velocity at w hich the layer movement ends.
--

Ease OutYou can enter the duration of the ease out after the first frame in w hich thegradual change in layer movement begins. Enter the number of frames before
the last frame in w hich the change in layer movement is gradual.

Lets you position the layer along the X and Y axes.

OffsetNOTEThis field is only available w hen w orking in 2D mode.

Lets you scale the selected layer vertically and horizontally.

Scale

NOTE
This field is only available w hen w orking in 2D mode.

--

RotationLets you rotate the selected layer clockw ise and counter clockw ise.

Scene/Panel
Duration

Displays the length of the selected scene or panel in timecode format. The
default length of a panel is 1 second.

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Line Tool Properties
The Line tool allow s you to quickly draw a line segment by dragging the mouse from its starting point to its
end point.

How to access the Line tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Linetool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Pencil Properties
Just like other shape tools, this tool creates pencil lines. Hence, its tool properties are similar to the ones of thePencil tool and it can be used w ith pencil presets.
Tool Name

Description

The Preview area lets you see a preview of the stroke your draw ing tool w ill make.
Preview Area

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Tool Name

Description

The arrow button right of the preview area opens the Pencil Properties dialog.

Pencil Properties
DialogW hile the Tool Properties view only gives you access to a few of the pencil properties,
a list of pencil presets and other draw ing options, the Pencil Properties dialog gives youaccess to all the available options for your pencil's shape and texture. For more
information on the Pencil Properties dialog, see the Pencil Properties Dialog section
below .

Size

Defines the w idth of the pencil line used to draw the line.

You can adjust the start, end, and join style of a pencil line.

Shape

l

Start: Lets you select the style of the start tip, w hich is the first tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lEnd: Lets you select the style of the end tip, w hich is the last tip you drew . You
can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lJoin: Lets you select the joint style. The joints are w here the line curves
abruptly. You could also define the Join style as the corner style. You can choose
betw een Round, Mitre and Bevel style.

Pencil Presets
These options allow you to select, create and manage pencil presets.
Icon

Property

Description

Presets list

Storyboard Pro provides a few pencil presets and also lets you createand save your ow n. It is a good idea to create and save pencils w ith
precise sizes and parameters w hen you draw for efficiency andconsistency.
You can export the pencil presets that you have created and importthose that others have created. This is a good w ay for you and project418

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Icon

Property

Description

collaborators to keep a consistent look for the project.

New Brush Preset

Creates a new preset based on the current tool properties.

Delete Brush Preset

Deletes the currently selected preset.

Open a menu that contains the follow ing options:l

New Brush Preset: Creates a new preset based on the current
tool properties.

lDelete Brush: Deletes the currently selected preset.

lRename Brush: Allow s you to rename the currently selected
preset.

lImport Brushes: Allow s you to import brush presets exported
from Storyboard Pro.

l

Export Brushes: Allow s you to export your brush presets into an.xml file.

l

Small Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of small thumbnails

Brush Presets Menu

w ith a preview of their tip.
lLarge Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of big thumbnails,
w ith their name and a preview of their tip.

lStroke View: Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and apreview of a stroke done w ith each preset.

Drawing Options
These options affect the w ay your draw ing strokes are added to your artw ork.
Icon

Tool Name

Description

W hen enabled, your brush strokes w ill appear behind the existing artw ork.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Tool Name

Description

NOTEYour brush stroke w ill temporarily appear over your artw ork as you draw it,
until you release the mouse cursor or tablet pen. If you w ant a live preview
of your stroke, activate the Realistic Preview option by selecting View >Realistic Preview from the top menu.

Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all other animationand draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as to select w hich types ofsnapping are enabled.
If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up menu in
w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You can also click on this button
to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable all snapping modes, and click on it again andtoggle it on to re-enable the snapping modes w hich w ere previously enabled.
This tool supports the follow ing snapping modes:lSnap to Contour: W hen enabled, w hile you're draw ing, the mouse
cursor w ill automatically snap to the nearby contours of existing artw ork,
allow ing you to draw shapes that connect w ith other parts of yourdraw ing.

Snapping

NOTE
If you draw a line w ith the Line tool and make its tip snap to acontour or another control point in your artw ork, they w ill belocked together. You can then manipulate both simultaneously
using theContour Editor tool. You can also separate tw o

draw ing strokes that have been snapped together by selecting oneof them w ith theSelect tool and moving it aw ay.

lSnap to Alignment Guides: W hile draw ing, the draw ing tool w ill snap
against nearby alignment guides.

lSnap and Align: W hen enabled, w hile you're draw ing, the mouse cursor
w ill automatically align w ith the edges of strokes and shapes in yourartw ork, allow ing you to draw shapes that align w ith parts of yourdraw ing.

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Icon

Tool Name

Description

By default, w hen draw ing on a vector layer, each new stroke is created as aseparate draw ing object, w hich can be edited independently from other parts of
the artw ork. W hen enabled, the Auto-Flatten option automatically merges
strokes into existing artw ork.

Auto-Flatten
Mode

NOTE
Using the Select tool, you can use select and remove a segment offlattened pencil lines. Overlapping pencil lines draw n w ith the AutoFlatten mode are essentially cut into segments by the overlap and can betreated as individual lines.

W hen enabled, small gaps betw een the pencil lines you draw w ill be closed byan invisible stroke to make sure your shapes are closed and that they can be
filled w ith the Paint tool.
Auto-CloseGap

W hen draw ing contours w ith pencil lines, the centreline is used to determine
w hether or not the contour is closed, but the visible tips of the pencil line w ill
extend a bit beyond the tips of its centreline, making it possible to have shapesthat appear closed, but are not really. This can prevent the shape from being
filled w ith the Paint tool. Enabling this option w hen draw ing w ith the Pencil orLine tool w ill prevent you from leaving invisible gaps in your contours.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Draw s a straight line.
In this mode, you can draw curved lines w ith the follow ing method:
1. Draw the line by clicking and dragging from the start point to the end
point of the line, but don’t release the mouse button or pen yet.

Straight LineMode

2. W hile holding the mouse button or pen dow n, press and hold the Ctrl
(W indow s) or ⌘ (macOS) and move the mouse or pen to define the line’s
curve.

3. Once the line’s curve looks right, release the mouse button or pen.

This mode allow s you to draw s a simple curved (quadratic Bezier) line in tw oclicks:1. Draw the line by clicking and dragging from the start point to the end
point of the line.
Curve Line
Mode

2. Move the mouse or pen to define the curve of the line and click.

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Icon

Tool Name

Description

Draw s an S-shaped (cubic Bezier) line. This mode allow s you to draw lines w ith
finely tuned or even S-shaped curves w ith three clicks:
1. Draw the line by clicking and dragging from the start point to the end
point of the line.

S Curve Line
Mode

2. Move the mouse or pen to define the Bezier position of the beginning of
the line and click.

3. Move the mouse or pen to define the Bezier position of the end of the line
and click.

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Pencil Properties Dialog
Since the Line tool draw s pencil lines, you can use the Pencil Properties dialog to customize the type of lines it
draw s. To open the Pencil Properties dialog, click on the arrow button right of the stroke display area.

Size and Smoothness Tab
The Size and Smoothness tab allow s you to select your pencil's size, its smoothing parameters as w ell as theshape of its tips and corners.

Property

Description

Maximum Size

Defines the maximum size of the pencil line. If the tool is used w ith a pressure
sensitive pen tablet, the w idth of the stroke w ill vary betw een its maximum size andminimum size depending on the amount of pressure used. If used w ith a mouse, thew idth of the stroke w ill alw ays be its maximum size.

Minimum Size

Defines the minimum size of your stroke as a percentage of the maximum size. If you
do not have pressure sensitivity from a pen table, the minimum size value w ill beignored.

Centerline Smoothing

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the central lineof the pencil stroke. A higher setting w ill prevent your line from being shaky and w ill
reduce the amount of control points it has, making it easier to tw eak, but is liable toreduce draw ing precision and turn sharp angles into curves.

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Property

Description

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the outer
contour of the pencil stroke.

Contour Smoothing

A pencil line is defined by its centreline and its variations in thickness, rather than its
apparent shape. W hen draw ing a pencil line w ith a mouse, its thickness is uniform.
Therefore, its outer contour does not have any control point, except at its extremities,
and no smoothing is required for its contour.
How ever, w hen draw ing a pencil line w ith a pressure sensitive tablet, its contour w ill
have control points and Bezier curves to define the line's variations in thickness, andthus smoothing must be performed on its contour. An increased contour smoothing
w ill reduce the amount of control points on the line's thickness and smoothen its
curves, but may affect the precision of the variations in line thickness.

You can adjust the start, end, and join style of a pencil line.

Shape

l

Start: Lets you select the style of the start tip, w hich is the first tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lEnd: Lets you select the style of the end tip, w hich is the last tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lJoin: Lets you select the joint style. The joints are w here the line curves
abruptly. You could also define the Join style as the corner style. You canchoose betw een Round, Mitre and Bevel style.

Texture Tab
In the Pencil Properties view , the Texture Tab allow s you to select a texture to apply to your pencil lines. You
can also add, remove or rename textures, save the current pencil texture palette as the default one, or import
the pencil texture palette into your scene.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

Allow s you to import an image file into a new pencil texture sw atch inthe current pencil texture palette. The pencil texture's effect on your
New Texture

pencil line w ill be based on the image's transparency channel, and w illfollow your pencil lines on its horizontal axis. This option is alsoavailable from the menu

Delete Texture

Rename Texture

button.

Deletes a pencil texture sw atch from the current pencil texture palette.
This option is also available from the menu

Renames the selected pencil texture sw atch in the current pencil
texture palette. This option is also available from the menu

This option is available from the menu
Use as Default Pencil
Texture Palette

Pencil Texture Display

button.

button.

button. Sets the currently

selected pencil texture palette as the default pencil texture palette inyour user preferences. The default pencil texture palette is added toevery scene you create in Storyboard Pro. The palette is copied in yourpreferences, so it w ill be added to your new scenes in the exact state it
is w hen you make it the default pencil texture palette.

Displays the pencil textures in the current pencil texture palette andallow s you to select one to use w ith the Pencil tool.

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Maintain Size Tool Properties
The Maintain Size tool lets you retain the visual scale of elements as you move them in the Z-axis in the Sideor Top view s. As you move draw ing layers on the Z-axis, they are scaled to preserve their size in the camera.

How to access the Maintain Size tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Maintain Size

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Icon

Property

Description

Maintain Size Tool Properties

Allow s you to choose the method to visually select multiple elements:lLasso: Allow s you to select multiple elements by draw ing anirregular closed shape around them w ith your mouse.

lSelection Mode

Marquee: Allow s you to select multiple elements by draw ing a
rectangle around them. This is faster, as you only need to drag yourmouse from one corner of the rectangle to its opposite corner, but it may
not be as precise as you w ant.

TIP
You can press and hold the Alt key to temporarily use the other selectionmode.

Peg Selection
Mode

Lets you sw itch betw een selecting peg and draw ing layers. Select this option to
select peg layers. Deselect this option to select draw ing layers.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Paint Tool Properties
The Paint tool allow s you to fill closed areas of your draw ing w ith the selected colour.

How to access the Paint tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Paint, Paint Unpainted

or Unpainttool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Paint Tool Options
Icon

Property

Description

Allow s you to choose the method to visually select multiple elements:lLasso: Allow s you to select multiple elements by draw ing anirregular closed shape around them w ith your mouse.

lMarquee: Allow s you to select multiple elements by draw ing a
rectangle around them. This is faster, as you only need to drag yourmouse from one corner of the rectangle to its opposite corner, but it may
not be as precise as you w ant.

Selection
Mode

TIP
You can press and hold the Alt key to temporarily use the other selectionmode.

The Paint tool has three different modes:
Paint ModelPaint: Paints or repaints selected zones, w hether or not they are428

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Icon

Property

Description

already filled.
lPaint Unpainted: Only paints empty zones, and does not repaintzones that are already filled w ith colour.

lUnpaint: Removes colour from the selected zone, replacing it w ith
transparency.

By default, if you attempt to fill a shape that has a small gap in its contour, thePaint tool w ill not be able to fill the shape. This option allow s you to make the
Paint tool automatically add a stroke to close the shape w hen it detects a small
gap betw een tw o strokes in the shape.
The Close Gap setting can be set to a value betw een 0 and 10. This determines
the maximum size of a gap to close, in pixels. You can also use one of thefollow ing presets:
Close Gapll

No Close Gap: Sets the Close Gap setting to 0, disabling the feature.
Close Small Gap: Sets the Close Gap setting to 2, making the Paint
tool close gaps that are barely visible.

l

Close Medium Gap: Sets the Close Gap setting to 4, making the Paint
tool close gaps that are somew hat visible.

l

Close Large Gap: Sets the Close Gap setting to 8, making the Paint
tool close gaps that are easy to notice.

Bitmap Options
Since bitmap draw ings are made of pixels instead of shapes, and that the outlines of shapes in bitmap
draw ings are often feathered, it can be complicated to figure out exactly the area the Paint tool must fill w hen
trying to fill a zone in a bitmap draw ing. For example, if the Paint tool only replaces pixels w ith the exact same
colour as the one you click on w ith the selected colour, it w ill leave a small gap near the outlines of the shape.

The follow ing settings determine how the Paint tool figures out the area it must fill. W hen any of thesesettings are increased, the Paint tool's tolerance for colour or alpha differences increases and it w ill a bigger
area that it otherw ise w ould.

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Icon

Property

Description

The alpha threshold that separates opaque and transparent zones.
W hen filling a "transparent" zone, the paint tool w ill apply the colour
under semi-transparent pixels, making them opaque. Then filling an"opaque" zone, the paint tool w ill replace the colour of semitransparent pixels w ithout affecting their transparency.
If you w ant to repaint lineart or shapes that have no outlines, you cando so by decreasing this setting completely. This w ill make it fill any
pixel that isn't 100% transparent, so it w ill paint your outlines
completely. How ever, if you're using this method to repaint outlines,
they must not be filled yet for this method to w ork.
--

Alpha
If you w ant to paint transparent zones that have dirt or semitransparent spots, you can increase this setting to make the Paint tool
paint behind them instead of around them.

NOTE
Raising this setting too high may cause the paint tool to ignore
outlines that are not 100% opaque, w hich can cause it to think
the shape is not closed. Hence, it might fail to find a zone to fill
and not do anything.

--

Colour Tolerance

The amount of tolerance the paint tool has for changes in colour w hen
filling an area. Raising this setting w ill allow the paint tool to fill overareas that have some variations in colour, but may cause it to fillbeyond the areas you meant to paint.

The maximum amount of pixels beyond the fillable zone that the Paint
tool can fill.
W hen this setting is set to any value above zero, the paint tool w ill fill
the zone until it finds a pixel that is a different colour, value ortransparency as the one you clicked on. Then, it w ill start filling pixels
beyond that point, up until it filled the amount of pixels in the
Maximum Overlap setting.
--

Maximum Overlap

If it lands outside of a fillable zone before it reached the maximum
overlap, it w ill stop filling at that point. How ever, if it lands intoanother fillable zone before reaching its maximum overlap, it w ill fillthat zone as w ell. Therefore, if you're filling shapes inside othershapes, you have to set this setting to the approximate w idth of youroutlines. Setting it higher w ill make the colour spill beyond the zone
you clicked on and fill the zone outside of it, and setting it low er isliable to leave a small gap betw een the fill and the outlines.

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Icon

Property

Description

NOTE
W hen you fill a zone w ith overlap, Storyboard Pro tries todetect and preserve the outlines of your shape. This is easy to
do w hen filling a transparent shape, or w hen repainting a shape
made of solid outlines and a solid fill. How ever, if you are trying
to repaint an already painted zone, it may fail to detect youroutlines and may repaint over them if the colour of youroutlines or inside the shape isn't consistent. Therefore, it ishighly recommended to avoid repainting painted zones as muchas possible w hen w orking w ith bitmap layers.

W hen enabled, the outlines of the fill w ill be smoothed so that they do
not look pixelated.

Antialiasing

NOTE
The effect of this setting w ill not be visible if you fill all the w ay
to the outlines, as the Paint tool w ill preserve the antialiasing ofexisting outlines w hen filling up to them.

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Pencil Tool Properties
The Pencil tool allow s you to draw simple contour lines that are defined by their centerline and their thickness.
W hen you select the Pencil tool, the Tool Properties view displays the different Pencil modes that control how
the pencil line is draw n.

How to access the Pencil tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Pencil Properties
The follow ing properties affect the pencil's size, smoothing, shape and other properties for the draw ing styleof your pencil. Those properties can be saved into pencil presets for later use.
Property

Description

The Preview area lets you see a preview of the stroke your draw ing tool w ill make.
Preview Area

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Property

Description

The arrow button right of the preview area opens the Pencil Properties dialog.

Pencil Properties
DialogW hile the Tool Properties view only gives you access to a few of the pencil properties,
a list of pencil presets and other draw ing options, the Pencil Properties dialog gives youaccess to all the available options for your pencil's shape and texture. For more
information on the Pencil Properties dialog, see the Pencil Properties Dialog section
below .

Defines the maximum w idth of the pencil line.
Maximum Size

Centerline Smoothing

If the tool is used w ith a pressure sensitive pen tablet, the w idth of the stroke w ill vary
betw een its maximum size and minimum size depending on the amount of pressureused. If used w ith a mouse, the w idth of the stroke w ill alw ays be its maximum size.

Defines the number of control points added to the centre line. The few er the control
points the smoother (but less faithful) the line.

You can adjust the start, end, and join style of a pencil line.

Shape

l

Start: Lets you select the style of the start tip, w hich is the first tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lEnd: Lets you select the style of the end tip, w hich is the last tip you drew . You
can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lJoin: Lets you select the joint style. The joints are w here the line curves
abruptly. You could also define the Join style as the corner style. You can choose
betw een Round, Mitre and Bevel style.

Pencil Presets
These options allow you to select, create and manage pencil presets.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

Presets list

Storyboard Pro provides a few pencil presets and also lets you createand save your ow n. It is a good idea to create and save pencils w ith
precise sizes and parameters w hen you draw for efficiency andconsistency.
You can export the pencil presets that you have created and importthose that others have created. This is a good w ay for you and project
collaborators to keep a consistent look for the project.

New Brush Preset

Creates a new preset based on the current tool properties.

Delete Brush Preset

Deletes the currently selected preset.

Open a menu that contains the follow ing options:l

New Brush Preset: Creates a new preset based on the current
tool properties.

lDelete Brush: Deletes the currently selected preset.

lRename Brush: Allow s you to rename the currently selected
preset.

lImport Brushes: Allow s you to import brush presets exported
from Storyboard Pro.

l

Export Brushes: Allow s you to export your brush presets into an.xml file.

l

Small Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of small thumbnails
w ith a preview of their tip.

lLarge Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of big thumbnails,
w ith their name and a preview of their tip.

lStroke View: Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and apreview of a stroke done w ith each preset.

Brush Presets Menu

Drawing Options
These options affect the w ay your draw ing strokes are added to your artw ork.
Icon

Property

Description

Draw Behind

W hen enabled, your brush strokes w ill appear behind the existingartw ork.

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Icon

Property

Description

NOTEYour brush stroke w ill temporarily appear over your artw ork as
you draw it, until you release the mouse cursor or tablet pen. If
you w ant a live preview of your stroke, activate the Realistic
Preview option by selecting View > Realistic Preview from the
top menu.

W hen enabled, draw ing a closed shape w ill automatically fill it w ith thecurrently selected Paint colour.

Auto FillW hen enabled, draw ing a closed shape w ill automatically remove theoutstanding lines.
Trim Extra Lines

W hen the Trim Extra Lines option is enabled, enable this option to makethe point w here the beginning and end of the stroke meet into a smooth
curve rather than a hard corner.

Align Handles After
Trim

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Icon

Property

Description

By default, w hen draw ing on a vector layer, each new stroke is createdas a separate draw ing object, w hich can be edited independently fromother parts of the artw ork. W hen enabled, the Auto-Flatten option
automatically merges strokes into existing artw ork.

Auto Flatten

NOTE
Using the Select tool, you can select and remove a segment offlattened pencil lines. Overlapping pencil lines draw n w ith theAuto-Flatten mode are essentially cut into segments by theoverlap and can be treated as individual lines.

W hen enabled, small gaps betw een the pencil lines you draw w ill beclosed by an invisible stroke to make sure your shapes are closed andthat they can be filled w ith the Paint tool.

Auto-Close Gap

Snapping

W hen draw ing contours w ith pencil lines, the centreline is used todetermine w hether or not the contour is closed, but the visible tips of thepencil line w ill extend a bit beyond the tips of its centreline, making it
possible to have shapes that appear closed, but are not really. This canprevent the shape from being filled w ith the Paint tool. Enabling thisoption w hen draw ing w ith the Pencil or Line tool w ill prevent you fromleaving invisible gaps in your contours.

Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all otheranimation and draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as to selectw hich types of snapping are enabled.

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Icon

Property

Description

If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up
menu in w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You can also
click on this button to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable all snapping
modes, and click on it again and toggle it on to re-enable the snapping
modes w hich w ere previously enabled.
This tool supports the follow ing snapping mode:lSnap to Alignment Guides: W hile draw ing, the draw ing tool
w ill snap against nearby alignment guides.

Pencil Properties Dialog
Pencils have extra parameters w hich are not accessible from the Tool Properties view . To open the Pencil
Properties dialog, click on the arrow button right of the stroke display area.

Size and Smoothness Tab
The Size and Smoothness tab allow s you to select your pencil's size, its smoothing parameters as w ell as theshape of its tips and corners.

Property

Description

Maximum Size

Defines the maximum size of the pencil line. If the tool is used w ith a pressure

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

Description

sensitive pen tablet, the w idth of the stroke w ill vary betw een its maximum size andminimum size depending on the amount of pressure used. If used w ith a mouse, thew idth of the stroke w ill alw ays be its maximum size.

Minimum Size

Defines the minimum size of your stroke as a percentage of the maximum size. If you
do not have pressure sensitivity from a pen table, the minimum size value w ill beignored.

Centerline Smoothing

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the central lineof the pencil stroke. A higher setting w ill prevent your line from being shaky and w ill
reduce the amount of control points it has, making it easier to tw eak, but is liable toreduce draw ing precision and turn sharp angles into curves.

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the outer
contour of the pencil stroke.

Contour Smoothing

A pencil line is defined by its centreline and its variations in thickness, rather than its
apparent shape. W hen draw ing a pencil line w ith a mouse, its thickness is uniform.
Therefore, its outer contour does not have any control point, except at its extremities,
and no smoothing is required for its contour.
How ever, w hen draw ing a pencil line w ith a pressure sensitive tablet, its contour w ill
have control points and Bezier curves to define the line's variations in thickness, andthus smoothing must be performed on its contour. An increased contour smoothing
w ill reduce the amount of control points on the line's thickness and smoothen its
curves, but may affect the precision of the variations in line thickness.

You can adjust the start, end, and join style of a pencil line.

Shape

l

Start: Lets you select the style of the start tip, w hich is the first tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lEnd: Lets you select the style of the end tip, w hich is the last tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lJoin: Lets you select the joint style. The joints are w here the line curves
abruptly. You could also define the Join style as the corner style. You canchoose betw een Round, Mitre and Bevel style.

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Texture Tab
In the Pencil Properties view , the Texture Tab allow s you to select a texture to apply to your pencil lines. You
can also add, remove or rename textures, save the current pencil texture palette as the default one, or import
the pencil texture palette into your scene.

Icon

Property

New Texture

Description

Allow s you to import an image file into a new pencil texture sw atch inthe current pencil texture palette. The pencil texture's effect on yourpencil line w ill be based on the image's transparency channel, and w illfollow your pencil lines on its horizontal axis. This option is alsoavailable from the menu

Delete Texture

Rename Texture

button.

Deletes a pencil texture sw atch from the current pencil texture palette.
This option is also available from the menu

Renames the selected pencil texture sw atch in the current pencil
texture palette. This option is also available from the menu

This option is available from the menu
Use as Default Pencil
Texture Palettebutton.

button.

button. Sets the currently

selected pencil texture palette as the default pencil texture palette inyour user preferences. The default pencil texture palette is added toevery scene you create in Storyboard Pro. The palette is copied in yourpreferences, so it w ill be added to your new scenes in the exact state it
is w hen you make it the default pencil texture palette.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

Pencil Texture Display

Displays the pencil textures in the current pencil texture palette andallow s you to select one to use w ith the Pencil tool.

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Perspective Tool Properties
The perspective tool allow s you to deform artw ork by creating a rectangular bounding box around it andallow ing you to manipulate any of the four corners. The selected artw ork w ill be deformed to fit the shape you
make by simulating a perspective effect.

How to access the Perspective tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Perspectivetool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Perspective Tool Options

Allow s you to choose the method to visually select multiple elements:lLasso: Allow s you to select multiple elements by draw ing
an irregular closed shape around them w ith your mouse.

lSelection Mode

Marquee: Allow s you to select multiple elements bydraw ing a rectangle around them. This is faster, as you only
need to drag your mouse from one corner of the rectangle toits opposite corner, but it may not be as precise as you w ant.

TIP
You can press and hold the Alt key to temporarily use the otherselection mode.

Snapping

Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all otheranimation and draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as toselect w hich types of snapping are enabled.
If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up
menu in w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You can also441

Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Tool Name

Description

click on this button to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable all snapping
modes, and click on it again and toggle it on to re-enable the snapping
modes w hich w ere previously enabled.
This tool supports the follow ing snapping modes:lSnap to Contour: W hile moving the selection or one of its
control points, it w ill snap against the nearby points andcontours of your artw ork, allow ing you to snap parts of yourartw ork together.

lSnap to Alignment Guides: W hile moving the selection or oneof its control points, it w ill snap against nearby alignment
guides.

lSnap and Align: W hen enabled, w hile moving a selection, therectangular bounding box of the selection w ill snap to therectangular bounding box of any other draw ing stroke in thedraw ing, allow ing you to align draw ing strokes laterally.

lSnap to Grid: W hile moving the selection, the mouse cursor
w ill snap against the intersecting points of the grid.

TIP
To display the grid, select View > Grid > Show Gridfrom the top menu or press Ctrl + G.

Allow s you to select betw een one of the tw o follow ing deformation
modes:l

Perspective: Deforms the selection by simulating aperspective effect.

Deformation ModelLattice: Deforms the selection by simply making theartw ork fit the bounding box, w ithout applying a perspective
effect.

The difference betw een both modes becomes easier to understand if
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Icon

Tool Name

Description

Flip Horizontal

Flips the selection horizontally.

Flip Vertical

Flips the selection vertically.

Rotate 90 CW

Rotates the selection 90° clockw ise.

Rotate 90 CCW

Rotates the selection 90° counterclockw ise.

Operations

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Polyline Tool Properties
The Polyline tool allow s you to draw complex lines or shapes by defining each point and their Bezier handles
one by one.

How to access the Polyline tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Polyline

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Pencil Properties
Just like other shape tools, this tool creates pencil lines. Hence, its tool properties are similar to the ones of thePencil tool and it can be used w ith pencil presets.
Icon

Property

Description

The Preview area lets you see a preview of the stroke your draw ing tool
w ill make.
Preview Area

Pencil Properties
Dialog

The arrow button right of the preview area opens the Pencil Properties
dialog.

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W hile the Tool Properties view only gives you access to the pencil size,
a list of pencil presets and other draw ing options, the Pencil Properties
dialog gives you access to all the available options for your pencil's
shape and texture. For more information on the Pencil Properties dialog,
see the Polyline Tool Properties section below .

SizeDefines the w idth of the pencil line used to draw the shape.

Pencil Presets
Icon

Property

Description

Presets list

Storyboard Pro provides a variety of presets and also lets you create andsave your ow n. It is a good idea to create and save pencils w ith precise
sizes and parameters w hen you draw and design for efficiency andconsistency.
All tools using pencil lines share the same preset list. Therefore, thePolyline, Line, Rectangle, Ellipse, and Pencil tools share the same preset
list.

New Preset

Creates a new preset based on the current tool properties.

Delete Preset

Deletes the currently selected preset.

Presets Menu

Gives access to more options for managing presets.

Rename Brush

Allow s you to rename the currently selected preset.

Import Brushes

Allow s you to import brush presets exported from Storyboard Pro.

Export Brushes

Allow s you to export your brush presets into an .xml file.

Small Thumbnail

Displays presets in a grid of small thumbnails w ith a preview of their tip.

Large Thumbnail

Displays presets in a grid of big thumbnails, w ith their name and apreview of their tip.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Stroke View

Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and a preview of a stroke done
w ith each preset.

Drawing Options
Icon

Property

Description

W hen this option is enabled, clicking close to a contour in your draw ing
w ill add the point to that contour. The line you are building w ill be linked
to that contour.

Snap to Contour

If this option is disabled, attempting to click on existing contours w ill
alw ays create a point very close to that contour, but not exactly on it.
Therefore, it is necessary to enable this mode if you w ant to create linesthat branch from into existing contours in your draw ing.

NOTE
If you draw a line w ith the Line tool and make its tip snap to acontour or another control point in your artw ork, they w ill belocked together. You can then manipulate both simultaneously
using theContour Editor tool. You can also separate tw o

draw ing strokes that have been snapped together by selecting
one of them w ith theSelect tool and moving it aw ay.

W hen enabled, draw ing a closed shape w ill automatically fill it w ith thecurrently selected Paint colour.

Auto Fill

Trim Extra Lines

W hen enabled, draw ing a closed shape w ill automatically remove theoutstanding lines.

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W hen the Trim Extra Lines option is enabled, enable this option to makethe point w here the beginning and end of the stroke meet into a smooth
curve rather than a hard corner.
Align Handles After
Trim

By default, w hen draw ing on a vector layer, each new stroke is createdas a separate draw ing object, w hich can be edited independently fromother parts of the artw ork. W hen enabled, the Auto-Flatten option
automatically merges strokes into existing artw ork.

Auto-Flatten Mode

NOTE
Using the Select tool, you can use select and remove a segment offlattened pencil lines. Overlapping pencil lines draw n w ith theAuto-Flatten mode are essentially cut into segments by theoverlap and can be treated as individual lines.

Pencil Properties Dialog
The Polyline tool draw s the same type of line as the Pencil tool. Hence, you can configure the Polyline tool'slines using the Pencil Properties dialog, w hich you can open by clicking on the arrow button right of the stroke
display area in the Tool Properties view .

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Size and Smoothness Tab
The Size and Smoothness tab allow s you to select your pencil's size, its smoothing parameters as w ell as theshape of its tips and corners.

Property

Description

Maximum Size

Defines the maximum size of the pencil line. If the tool is used w ith a pressure
sensitive pen tablet, the w idth of the stroke w ill vary betw een its maximum size andminimum size depending on the amount of pressure used. If used w ith a mouse, thew idth of the stroke w ill alw ays be its maximum size.

Minimum Size

Defines the minimum size of your stroke as a percentage of the maximum size. If you
do not have pressure sensitivity from a pen table, the minimum size value w ill beignored.

Centerline Smoothing

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the central lineof the pencil stroke. A higher setting w ill prevent your line from being shaky and w ill
reduce the amount of control points it has, making it easier to tw eak, but is liable toreduce draw ing precision and turn sharp angles into curves.

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the outer
contour of the pencil stroke.

Contour Smoothing

A pencil line is defined by its centreline and its variations in thickness, rather than its
apparent shape. W hen draw ing a pencil line w ith a mouse, its thickness is uniform.
Therefore, its outer contour does not have any control point, except at its extremities,
and no smoothing is required for its contour.
How ever, w hen draw ing a pencil line w ith a pressure sensitive tablet, its contour w ill

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Property

Description

have control points and Bezier curves to define the line's variations in thickness, andthus smoothing must be performed on its contour. An increased contour smoothing
w ill reduce the amount of control points on the line's thickness and smoothen its
curves, but may affect the precision of the variations in line thickness.

You can adjust the start, end, and join style of a pencil line.

Shape

l

Start: Lets you select the style of the start tip, w hich is the first tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lEnd: Lets you select the style of the end tip, w hich is the last tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lJoin: Lets you select the joint style. The joints are w here the line curves
abruptly. You could also define the Join style as the corner style. You canchoose betw een Round, Mitre and Bevel style.

Texture Tab
In the Pencil Properties view , the Texture Tab allow s you to select a texture to apply to your pencil lines. You
can also add, remove or rename textures, save the current pencil texture palette as the default one, or import
the pencil texture palette into your scene.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

Allow s you to import an image file into a new pencil texture sw atch inthe current pencil texture palette. The pencil texture's effect on your
New Texture

pencil line w ill be based on the image's transparency channel, and w illfollow your pencil lines on its horizontal axis. This option is alsoavailable from the menu

Delete Texture

Rename Texture

button.

Deletes a pencil texture sw atch from the current pencil texture palette.
This option is also available from the menu

Renames the selected pencil texture sw atch in the current pencil
texture palette. This option is also available from the menu

This option is available from the menu
Use as Default Pencil
Texture Palette

Pencil Texture Display

button.

button.

button. Sets the currently

selected pencil texture palette as the default pencil texture palette inyour user preferences. The default pencil texture palette is added toevery scene you create in Storyboard Pro. The palette is copied in yourpreferences, so it w ill be added to your new scenes in the exact state it
is w hen you make it the default pencil texture palette.

Displays the pencil textures in the current pencil texture palette andallow s you to select one to use w ith the Pencil tool.

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Rectangle Tool Properties
The Rectangle tool allow s you to quickly draw a rectangle or a square.

How to access the Rectangle tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Rectangle

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Pencil Properties
Just like other shape tools, this tool creates pencil lines. Hence, its tool properties are similar to the ones of thePencil tool and it can be used w ith pencil presets.
Property

Description

The Preview area lets you see a preview of the stroke your draw ing tool w ill make.
Preview Area

Pencil Properties
Dialog

The arrow button right of the preview area opens the Pencil Properties dialog.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

Description

W hile the Tool Properties view only gives you access to a few of the pencil properties,
a list of pencil presets and other draw ing options, the Pencil Properties dialog gives youaccess to all the available options for your pencil's shape and texture. For more
information on the Pencil Properties dialog, see the Pencil Properties Dialog on page455 section below .

SizeDefines the w idth of the pencil line used to draw the shape.

You can adjust the start, end, and join style of a pencil line.

Shape

l

Start: Lets you select the style of the start tip, w hich is the first tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lEnd: Lets you select the style of the end tip, w hich is the last tip you drew . You
can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lJoin: Lets you select the joint style. The joints are w here the line curves
abruptly. You could also define the Join style as the corner style. You can choose
betw een Round, Mitre and Bevel style.

Drawing Options
These options affect the w ay your shape is added to your artw ork.
Icon

Property

Description

Draw Behind

W hen enabled, your brush strokes w ill appear behind the existingartw ork.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Icon

Property

Description

NOTEYour brush stroke w ill temporarily appear over your artw ork as
you draw it, until you release the mouse cursor or tablet pen. If
you w ant a live preview of your stroke, activate the Realistic
Preview option by selecting View > Realistic Preview from the
top menu.

W hen enabled, the shape you draw is automatically filled w ith theselected colour. By default, draw ing a shape only creates its outlines.

Auto Fill

Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all otheranimation and draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as to selectw hich types of snapping are enabled.
If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up
menu in w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You can also
click on this button to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable all snapping
modes, and click on it again and toggle it on to re-enable the snapping
modes w hich w ere previously enabled.
Snapping

This tool supports the follow ing snapping modes:lSnap to Contour: W hen enabled, w hile you're draw ing, themouse cursor w ill snap to the nearby contours of the artw ork inyour draw ing.

lSnap to Alignment Guides: W hile draw ing, the draw ing tool
w ill snap against nearby alignment guides.

lSnap and Align: W hen enabled, w hile you're draw ing, themouse cursor w ill automatically align to the rectangularbounding boxes of other strokes and shapes in your draw ing.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

By default, w hen draw ing on a vector layer, each new stroke is createdas a separate draw ing object, w hich can be edited independently fromother parts of the artw ork. W hen enabled, the Auto-Flatten option
automatically merges strokes into existing artw ork.

Auto Flatten Mode

NOTE
Using the Select tool, you can use select and remove a segment offlattened pencil lines. Overlapping pencil lines draw n w ith theAuto-Flatten mode are essentially cut into segments by theoverlap and can be treated as individual lines.

Pencil Presets
These options allow you to select, create and manage pencil presets.
Icon

Property

Description

Presets list

Storyboard Pro provides a few pencil presets and also lets you createand save your ow n. It is a good idea to create and save pencils w ith
precise sizes and parameters w hen you draw for efficiency andconsistency.
You can export the pencil presets that you have created and importthose that others have created. This is a good w ay for you and project
collaborators to keep a consistent look for the project.

New Brush Preset

Creates a new preset based on the current tool properties.

Delete Brush Preset

Deletes the currently selected preset.

Open a menu that contains the follow ing options:
Brush Presets Menul

New Brush Preset: Creates a new preset based on the current
tool properties.

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Icon

Property

DescriptionlDelete Brush: Deletes the currently selected preset.

lRename Brush: Allow s you to rename the currently selected
preset.

lImport Brushes: Allow s you to import brush presets exported
from Storyboard Pro.

l

Export Brushes: Allow s you to export your brush presets into an.xml file.

l

Small Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of small thumbnails
w ith a preview of their tip.

lLarge Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of big thumbnails,
w ith their name and a preview of their tip.

lStroke View: Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and apreview of a stroke done w ith each preset.

Pencil Properties Dialog
The Rectangle tool draw s the same type of line as the Pencil tool. Hence, you can configure the Rectangle
tool's lines using the Pencil Properties dialog, w hich you can open by clicking on the arrow button right of thestroke display area in the Tool Properties view .

Size and Smoothness Tab
The Size and Smoothness tab allow s you to select your pencil's size, its smoothing parameters as w ell as theshape of its tips and corners.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

Description

Maximum Size

Defines the maximum size of the pencil line. If the tool is used w ith a pressure
sensitive pen tablet, the w idth of the stroke w ill vary betw een its maximum size andminimum size depending on the amount of pressure used. If used w ith a mouse, thew idth of the stroke w ill alw ays be its maximum size.

Minimum Size

Defines the minimum size of your stroke as a percentage of the maximum size. If you
do not have pressure sensitivity from a pen table, the minimum size value w ill beignored.

Centerline Smoothing

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the central lineof the pencil stroke. A higher setting w ill prevent your line from being shaky and w ill
reduce the amount of control points it has, making it easier to tw eak, but is liable toreduce draw ing precision and turn sharp angles into curves.

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the outer
contour of the pencil stroke.

Contour Smoothing

A pencil line is defined by its centreline and its variations in thickness, rather than its
apparent shape. W hen draw ing a pencil line w ith a mouse, its thickness is uniform.
Therefore, its outer contour does not have any control point, except at its extremities,
and no smoothing is required for its contour.
How ever, w hen draw ing a pencil line w ith a pressure sensitive tablet, its contour w ill
have control points and Bezier curves to define the line's variations in thickness, andthus smoothing must be performed on its contour. An increased contour smoothing
w ill reduce the amount of control points on the line's thickness and smoothen its
curves, but may affect the precision of the variations in line thickness.

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Property

Description

You can adjust the start, end, and join style of a pencil line.

Shape

l

Start: Lets you select the style of the start tip, w hich is the first tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lEnd: Lets you select the style of the end tip, w hich is the last tip you drew .
You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lJoin: Lets you select the joint style. The joints are w here the line curves
abruptly. You could also define the Join style as the corner style. You canchoose betw een Round, Mitre and Bevel style.

Texture Tab
In the Pencil Properties view , the Texture Tab allow s you to select a texture to apply to your pencil lines. You
can also add, remove or rename textures, save the current pencil texture palette as the default one, or import
the pencil texture palette into your scene.

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Icon

Property

New Texture

Description

Allow s you to import an image file into a new pencil texture sw atch inthe current pencil texture palette. The pencil texture's effect on yourpencil line w ill be based on the image's transparency channel, and w illfollow your pencil lines on its horizontal axis. This option is alsoavailable from the menu

Delete Texture

Rename Texture

button.

Deletes a pencil texture sw atch from the current pencil texture palette.
This option is also available from the menu

Renames the selected pencil texture sw atch in the current pencil
texture palette. This option is also available from the menu

This option is available from the menu
Use as Default Pencil
Texture Palette

Pencil Texture Display

button.

button.

button. Sets the currently

selected pencil texture palette as the default pencil texture palette inyour user preferences. The default pencil texture palette is added toevery scene you create in Storyboard Pro. The palette is copied in yourpreferences, so it w ill be added to your new scenes in the exact state it
is w hen you make it the default pencil texture palette.

Displays the pencil textures in the current pencil texture palette andallow s you to select one to use w ith the Pencil tool.

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Select Tool Properties
The Select tool lets you select strokes and apply basic transformations such as repositioning, rotating, scalingor skew ing, using the different handles of the bounding box.
If you have text or pencil lines selected w ith the Select tool, their properties w ill display in the Tool Properties
view , allow ing you to make changes to your selection.

How to access the Select tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either the Selecttool or the Select by Colour

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

NOTE
Selecting the Select by Colour

tool from the Tools toolbar activates the Select tool, w ith theSelect by Colour option enabled. Hence, this topic covers the tool properties for both the Selectand Select by Colour tools.

Tool Options
Icon

Property

Description

Allow s you to choose the method to visually select multiple
elements:lLasso: Allow s you to select multiple elements bydraw ing an irregular closed shape around them w ith yourmouse.

Selection ModelMarquee: Allow s you to select multiple elements bydraw ing a rectangle around them. This is faster, as you only
need to drag your mouse from one corner of the rectangle to459

Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

its opposite corner, but it may not be as precise as you w ant.

TIP
You can press and hold the Alt key to temporarily use theother selection mode.

Easy Drag

W hen enabled, you can drag the selection by clicking anyw here
inside its bounding box. By default, you must click on the artw ork inthe selection to be able to drag it.

Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all otheranimation and draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as toselect w hich types of snapping are enabled.
If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up
menu in w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You canalso click on this button to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable allsnapping modes, and click on it again and toggle it on to re-enable
the snapping modes w hich w ere previously enabled.
This tool supports the follow ing snapping modes:lSnap to Contour: W hile moving the selection or one of its
control points, it w ill snap against the nearby points andcontours of your artw ork, allow ing you to snap parts of yourartw ork together.

lSnap to Alignment Guides: W hile moving the selection or
one of its control points, it w ill snap against nearbyalignment guides.

lSnap and Align: W hile moving the selection, the rectangularbounding box of the selection w ill align w ith the rectangularbounding boxes of other strokes and shapes in your artw ork.
If you move one of your selection's control points, it w ill alsoalign w ith the bounding boxes of other strokes and shapes inyour artw ork.

Snapping

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Icon

Property

Description

W hen enabled, the w idth of pencil lines w ill be adjusted w hen
scaling them w ith the Select tool.
Scale Pencil Line
Thickness

TIP
You can quickly enable this mode by selecting the Scale
Pencil Line Thickness

tool, in the Selecttool'sproperties dialog.

W hen enabled, clicking on a coloured zone in your artw ork w ill
instantly select all the zones that are filled w ith the same colour.
Select by Colour

can also be accessed from the Tools toolbar.

Select by Colour

TIP
You can quickly enable this mode by selecting the Select by
Colourtool from the Tools toolbar, in the Selecttool's pop-up menu.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

Select All in Draw ings
Scene

Selects all the draw ings in the current scene.

Property

Description

Flip Horizontal

Flips the current selection horizontally.

Flip Vertical

Flips the current selection vertically.

Rotate 90 Degrees CW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees clockw ise.

Rotate 90 Degrees CCW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees counter-clockw ise.

Operations
Icon

Smooth out selected draw ing strokes and remove extra points.

SmoothMerges draw ing objects and brush strokes into a single layer. If you
draw new lines to fix a draw ing or line w ith many brush strokes, it
can be useful to flatten them all into a single shape. By default, lines
are draw n one on top of each other. If you intend to repaint the lines
or modify their shape, it w ill be easier if they are flattened.

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Icon

Property

Description

Offset X

Lets you enter a value to reposition the selection along the X-axis.

Offset Y

Lets you enter a value to reposition the selection along the Y-axis.

W idthLets you enter a value to resize the w idth of the selection.

HeightLets you enter a value to resize the height of the selection.

Lock

Locks or unlocks the ratio betw een the W idth and Height values.

Angle

Lets you enter specific values to rotate the selection. A positive value
rotates the selection counter clockw ise and a negative value rotates
the selection clockw ise.

Pencil Selection
If the selection contains pencil lines, the Pencil Selection section appears at the bottom of the Tool Properties
view , allow ing you to adjust the properties of those pencil lines.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

Maximum Size

Adjusts the size of the parts of the pencil lines that are the thickest.
Parts of the pencil lines that are betw een the minimum andmaximum sizes w ill be adjusted proportionally.

Minimum Size

Adjusts the size of the parts of the pencil lines that are the thinnest.
Parts of the pencil lines that are betw een the minimum andmaximum sizes w ill be adjusted proportionally.

You can adjust the start, end, and join style of a pencil line.

lStart: Lets you select the style of the start tip, w hich is thefirst tip you drew . You can choose betw een Round or Flatstyle.

lEnd: Lets you select the style of the end tip, w hich is the last
tip you drew . You can choose betw een Round or Flat style.

lJoin: Lets you select the joint style. The joints are w here theline curves abruptly. You could also define the Join style as
the corner style. You can choose betw een Round, Mitre andBevel style.

Pencil Line Shape

New Texture

Allow s you to import an image file into a new pencil texture sw atchin the current pencil texture palette. The pencil texture's effect on
your pencil line w ill be based on the image's transparency channel,
and w ill follow your pencil lines on its horizontal axis. This option is
also available from the menu

Delete Texture

button.

Deletes a pencil texture sw atch from the current pencil texture
palette. This option is also available from the menu

button.

Renames the selected pencil texture sw atch in the current pencil
Rename Texture

texture palette. This option is also available from the menu
button.

Use as Default Pencil
Texture PaletteThis option is available from the menu

button. Sets the currently

selected pencil texture palette as the default pencil texture palette inyour user preferences. The default pencil texture palette is added to464

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Icon

Property

Description

every scene you create in Storyboard Pro. The palette is copied inyour preferences, so it w ill be added to your new scenes in the exact
state it is w hen you make it the default pencil texture palette.

Pencil Texture Display

Displays the pencil textures in the current pencil texture palette andallow s you to select one to use w ith the Pencil tool.

Text Selection
If your selection include text boxes created w ith the Text tool, a Text Selection section w ill appear at thebottom of the Tool Properties view , allow ing you to adjust the formatting of the w hole text box.

TIP
You can also adjust the formatting of parts of the text in the text box using the Text tool—see Text
Tool Properties on page 498.

Icon

Property

Description

Lets you select the font in w hich to display the text.

Font

Makes the selected text bold.
Bold

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

Makes the selected text italic.
ItalicAligns the text in the selected text box to the left.

Align Left

Aligns the text in the selected text box to the centre.

Align Center

Aligns the text in the selected text box to the right.

Align Right

Makes the text in the selected text box take all the horizontal space byadjusting the spacing betw een each w ord. Text that use a single line
and text in the last line of a paragraph is aligned to the left.

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Icon

Property

Description

Allow s you to set the size of the selected text.
Size

Allow s you to increase or decrease the spacing betw een eachcharacter.

Kerning

Auto Kern

Sets the kerning automatically based on the font’s predefined
standard.

Allow s you to increase or decrease the indentation of the first line oftext in each paragraph.
IndentIncreases or decreases the space betw een each line of text.

Line Spacing

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Stamp Tool Properties
The Stamp tool allow s you to create and use stamps, w hich can contain one or several draw ings that can be
stamped individually or in sequence onto your artw ork.

How to access the Stamp tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Stamptool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Stamp Properties
The follow ing options allow you, among other things, to preview your stamp, to change the size of your stamp
as w ell as to flip it horizontally and vertically.
Property

Description

The Preview area lets you see a preview of w hat w ill appear if you draw a stroke w ith the
Stamp tool.
Preview Area

Stamp Properties
Dialog

The arrow button right of the preview area opens the Stamp Properties dialog.

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Property

Description

W hile the Tool Properties view only gives you access to a few of the stamp properties and alist of stamp presets, the Stamp Properties dialog gives you access to all the available options
for the w ay your stamp w ill be applied. For more information on the Stamp Properties dialog,
see the Stamp Properties Dialog on page 472 section below .

The tw o-ended arrow s to the left and over the Stamp thumbnail allow you to flip the stamp
horizontally or vertically.
Flip Horizontally/ Flip Vertically

The maximum scaling factor to apply to the stamp before stamping it onto the draw ing.
This setting is a percentage, w hich is relative to the size of the original draw ing that w as used
to create the stamp. This means that, at 100%, the draw ing w ill be stamped into your artw ork
in its original size.

Maximum Scale

NOTE
If the tool is used w ith a pressure sensitive tablet, the scale of the stamp can be made to
be relative to the amount of pressure you put on your pen. To do this, you must reducing
the Minimum Scale property of your stamp in the Stamp Properties dialog. If the
Minimum Scale setting is left at its default value, w hich is 100%, the size of the stamp
w ill not vary.

W hen using a multi-draw ing stamp, this is the number of the draw ing in the series that w ill
be stamped on the next time you use the Stamp tool. For example, if your stamp has 3
draw ings and this is set to 2, the next draw ing that w ill be stamped on is the second draw ing
in the series.
Stamp

If your stamp's Cycle setting is set to Hold, then you have to use this slider to select w hichdraw ing to stamp w ith the Stamp tool.
If your stamp's Reset Cycle for Each Stroke option is enabled, then you can use this slider toselect w hich draw ing to start each stroke w ith.
Otherw ise, w hen you draw a stroke w ith the Stamp tool, the Stamp slider w ill automatically
update to the next draw ing in the sequence.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

Description

TIP
You can also cycle through the draw ings in your stamp by using the Left Arrow and Right
Arrow keys.

NOTE
The Cycle and Reset Cycle for Each Strokee options are available in the Stamp
Properties dialog.

Stamp Presets
These options allow you to select, create and manage stamp presets.
Contrary to the Brush and Pencil tools, creating a Stamp preset is required to use the Stamp tool, as thispreset w ill contain the draw ings to stamp onto your artw ork. A Stamp preset is created by selecting one orseveral layers, then adding a preset to the Stamp Presets list. If several layers are selected, the Stamp w ill
contain a series of draw ings, w hich it w ill stamp onto your artw ork in a sequence as you draw strokes w ith the
Stamp tool.
Icon

Property

Description

Presets list

The list of Stamp presets. Click on one of the presets to select it anduse it in your draw ing.

Creates a new Stamp preset based on the selected artw ork. The
artw ork can either be a selection made w ith the Selecttool, or by

selecting a layer.
New Brush Preset

If several layers are selected, this w ill create a multi-draw ing Stamp.
As you draw a stroke w ith the Stamp tool using a multi-draw ing
stamp, each draw ing in the stamp w ill be applied onto your artw ork,
one after the other.

Delete Brush

Deletes the currently selected preset.

Open a menu that contains all of the previous options, along w ith allof the follow ing options:
Brush Presets Menul

New Brush Preset: Creates a new stamp based on theselected artw ork.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guidel

Rename Preset:Allow s you to rename the currently selected
preset.

lImport Brushes:Allow s you to import brush presets exported
from Storyboard Pro.

l

Export Brushes:Allow s you to export your brush presets into
an .xml file.

l

Small Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of small
thumbnails w ith a preview of their tip.

lLarge Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of big thumbnails,
w ith their name and a preview of their tip.

lStroke View: Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and apreview of a stroke done w ith each preset.

Drawing Options
These options affect the w ay your draw ing strokes are added to your artw ork
Icon

Property

Description

W hen enabled, your brush strokes w ill appear behind the existingartw ork.

Draw Behind

NOTEYour brush stroke w ill temporarily appear over your artw ork as
you draw it, until you release the mouse cursor or tablet pen. If
you w ant a live preview of your stroke, activate the Realistic
Preview option by selecting View > Realistic Preview from the
top menu.

Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all otheranimation and draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as to selectw hich types of snapping are enabled.
Snapping
If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up
menu in w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You can also
click on this button to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable all snapping

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

modes, and click on it again and toggle it on to re-enable the snapping
modes w hich w ere previously enabled.
This tool supports the follow ing snapping mode:lSnap to Alignment Guides: W hile draw ing, the draw ing tool
w ill snap against nearby alignment guides.

Stamp Properties Dialog
The Stamp Properties dialog allow s you to set more specific settings for your stamp, such as pressure
sensitivity, spacing, angle, randomness and, for multi-draw ing stamps, how to cycle through each draw ing inthe stamp. To open the Stamp Properties dialog, click on the arrow button right of the stroke display area.

Property

Description

The maximum scaling factor to apply to the stamp before stamping it onto the draw ing.
Maximum Scale

Minimum Scale

This setting is a percentage, w hich is relative to the size of the original draw ing that w as
used to create the stamp. This means that, at 100%, the draw ing w ill be stamped into yourartw ork in its original size.

The minimum scaling factor to apply to the stamp before stamping it onto your draw ing.
W hen using the Stamp tool w ith a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, the size of the stamps

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Property

Description

applied onto your artw ork w ill vary betw een its Minimum Scale and Maximum Scale
properties, relative to the amount of pressure you apply to the pen.
This setting is relative to the Maximum Scale property. This means that if the Maximum
Scale is set to 50% and the Minimum Scale is set to 50%, the actual scaling factor applied tothe stamp w ill vary betw een 25% and 50%.
This setting is also used w ith the Random Size setting.

The tw o-ended arrow s to the left and over the Stamp thumbnail allow you to flip the stamp
horizontally or vertically.
Flip Horizontally /Flip Vertically

The Roundness and Angle parameters allow you to change the shape and orientation of thestamp.
lRoundness: The vertical scaling to apply to the stamp. Reducing this setting
squashes the stamp vertically, allow ing you to turn round or square stamps into flatstamps.

lRoundness &Angle

Angle: The angle at w hich to rotate the brush tip, counterclockw ise.

NOTE
The squashing is not relative to the angle—if the stamp is rotated, the squashing w ill
still be done relative to the stamp's original orientation.

Spacing

Defines the amount of space betw een each stamp that is applied onto the artw ork. The
larger the value, the greater the space betw een each stamp.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

Description

The percentage of randomness to apply to the size of the stamp. This makes the size of thestamp randomly vary betw een its Maximum Scale and Minimum Scale settings each time itis applied to your artw ork.

Random Size
The greater the value of the Random Size property, the closer to its Minimum Scale the sizeof each stamp can get. For example, if the Random Size setting is set to 50% and the
Minimum Scale is set to 50%, the size of the stamp w ill randomly vary betw een 75% and100% of its Maximum Scale.

The maximum value of randomness to apply to the angle of the stamp. This makes theRandom Angle

Random Spacing

angle of the stamp randomly vary w ithin the range of degrees in this setting, in either
direction, each time it is applied to your artw ork. For example, if the stamp's Angle is set to0°, and the Random Angle is set to 180°, each instance of the stamp w ill be at a random
angle varying betw een -90° and 90°.

The maximum amount of randomness to apply to the spacing of the stamp. Increasing thissetting makes the distance betw een each instance of the stamp vary randomly as you draw
a stroke. At 100%, this makes the distance betw een each stroke vary betw een 0% and200% of its Spacing property.

For multi-draw ing stamps, this decides the logic w ith w hich to cycle through the sequenceof draw ings in the stamp as you draw a stroke.
Cycle

l

Forward: Starts by applying the first draw ing in the sequence, then the next one,and so on until it reaches the last draw ing in the sequence, then cycles back to thefirst one.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Property

DescriptionlReverse: Starts by applying the last draw ing in the sequence, then the previous one,and so on until it reaches the first draw ing in the sequence, then cycles back to thelast one.

l

Forward- >Reverse: Starts by cycling forw ard through the sequence until it reaches
the last draw ing, then cycles backw ard to the first draw ing, and so on.

lReverse- >Forward: Starts by cycling backw ard through the sequence until itreaches the first draw ing, then cycles back to the last draw ing, and so on.

lRandom: Applies a random draw ing in the sequence each time the stamp is applied.

lHold: Applies a single one of the draw ings in the sequence over and over again.

TIP
W hen this option is set to Hold, you can select w hich one of the draw ings is stamped onby changing the Stamp setting in the Tool Properties view .

For multi-draw ing stamps. This makes it so each stroke you draw w ith the stamp too alw ays
starts w ith the first draw ing in the cycle, w hich is decided by the Stamp option in the Tool
Properties view .
Reset Cycle for
Each Stroke

W hen disabled, the Stamp tool keeps track of w hich draw ing it w as going to stamp next
w hen you finish draw ing a stroke by storing the number of that draw ing in the Stampsetting. W hen this option is enabled, it simply stops updating the Stamp setting. Hence,
your strokes alw ays start at the draw ing selected w ith that setting. Likew ise, you canmanually decide w hich draw ing to start your strokes w ith by adjusting the Stamp setting.

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Stencil Brush Tool Properties
The Stencil Brush tool allow s you to paint over existing artw ork w ithin the boundaries of that artw ork or theboundaries set by selecting the artw ork of different layers.

How to access the Stencil Brush tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, click and hold on the Brush
Stencil Brush

tool to display the menu beneath and select thetool, or use the keyboard shortcut Alt + X.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Brush Properties
The follow ing properties affect the brush's size, smoothing and other properties for the draw ing style of yourbrush. Those properties can be saved into brush presets for later use.

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Property

Description

The Preview area lets you see a preview of the stroke your draw ing tool w ill make.
Preview Area

The arrow button right of the preview area opens the Brush Properties dialog.

Brush Properties Dialog
W hile the Tool Properties view only gives you access to a few of the brushproperties, a list of brush presets and other draw ing options, the Brush Properties
dialog gives you access to all the available options for your brush's tip and texture.
For more information on the Brush Properties dialog, see the Brush Properties Dialog
section below .

Defines the maximum w idth of brush strokes.
Maximum Size

If the tool is used w ith a pressure sensitive pen tablet, the w idth of the stroke w illvary betw een its maximum size and minimum size depending on the amount ofpressure used. If used w ith a mouse, the w idth of the stroke w ill alw ays be its
maximum size.

Flow

Allow s you to set the opacity for each instance of the brush tip that gets printed into
your canvas. Contrary to the Opacity parameter, the flow parameter has a cumulative
effect. This means that a low er flow w ill make your brush strokes more transparent
tow ards its extremities and more opaque in its center. Your stroke's flow w ill also
accumulate if you draw over it. By default, your brush's flow varies w ith the amountof pressure you put on your tablet pen.

NOTE
This option is only displayed in the Tool Properties view w hen draw ing on abitmap layer.

Opacity

The Opacity parameter are w here Lets you set the opacity of your brush strokes.
Contrary to the Flow parameter, the Opacity parameter is non-cumulative. Yourw hole brush stroke's opacity w ill not exceed the Opacity parameter. By default, theOpacity parameter varies depending on the amount of pressure you put on yourtablet pen.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

Description

NOTE
This option is only displayed in the Tool Properties view w hen draw ing on abitmap layer.

Brush Presets
These options allow you to select, create and manage brush presets.
Icon

Property

Description

By default, Storyboard Pro has preloaded brush presets. You can also
create your ow n brush presets by configuring your brush, then saving
its properties into a new preset. It is also possible to export andimport brush presets.

Presets list

New Brush Preset

Creates a new preset based on the current tool properties.

Delete Brush

Deletes the currently selected preset.

Open a menu that contains the follow ing options:

Brush Presets Menul

New Brush Preset: Creates a new preset based on the current
tool properties.

lDelete Brush: Deletes the currently selected preset.

lRename Brush: Allow s you to rename the currently selected
preset.

lImport Brushes: Allow s you to import brush presets exported

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

from Storyboard Pro.
l

Export Brushes: Allow s you to export your brush presets into
an .xml file.

l

Small Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of small
thumbnails w ith a preview of their tip.

lLarge Thumbnail: Displays presets in a grid of big thumbnails,
w ith their name and a preview of their tip.

lStroke View: Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and apreview of a stroke done w ith each preset.

Drawing Options
These options affect the w ay brush strokes are added to your artw ork.
Icon

Property

Description

In this mode, existing artwork form the boundaries of a mask by
having their layers selected. Drawing or painting over existingartwork results in these strokes being cut by the boundaries of themask. These strokes are not flattened with the existing artwork andremain editable. This can be useful to quickly add shadows toOverlaydrawings.

NOTE
Only available if a vector layer is selected.

In this mode, existing artwork is repainted, ignoring empty zones.

Repaint

NOTE
Only available if a vector layer is selected.

W hen enabled, a closed shaped automatically fills w ith its stroke colour.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Allow s you to enable or disable snapping for this tool and all otheranimation and draw ing tools that support snapping, as w ell as to selectw hich types of snapping are enabled.

Snapping

If you double-click or long-click on this button, it w ill open a pop-up
menu in w hich you can toggle different snapping modes. You can also
click on this button to toggle it off, w hich w ill disable all snapping
modes, and click on it again and toggle it on to re-enable the snapping
modes w hich w ere previously enabled.
This tool supports the follow ing snapping mode:lSnap to Alignment Guides: W hile draw ing, the draw ing tool
w ill snap against nearby alignment guides.

Brush Properties Dialog
Brushes have an extensive set of options and properties that are not displayed in the Tool Properties view , butrather, in a dialog you can access from it. To open the Brush Properties dialog, click on the arrow button rightof the stroke display area.

The Brush Properties dialog has five different tabs, minus the Smoothing tab if you are w orking on a bitmap
layers. Below is detailed information about the options available in each tab:l

Tip Tab on page 480lSmoothing Tab on page 488

lTransparency Tab on page 489l

Dual Tip Tab on page 492lPaper Texture Tab on page 495

Tip TabThe Tip tab allow s you to configure the shape, size, hardness and spacing of your brush tip.

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Property

Description

Allow s you to select betw een one of the follow ing brush types:lSolid Vector Brush: Creates vector shapes filled w ith a solid colour.
Makes artw ork lightw eight, scalable and easy to tw eak. Since this kind ofbrush can only create solid colour shapes, solid vector brushes have alimited set of options including size, roundness, angle, centerline
smoothing and contour smoothing.

l

Textured Vector Brush: Creates vector shapes filled w ith a texture. This
gives you access to bitmap brush tips, paper textures, transparency andseveral other options.

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NOTE
This option is not available w hen w orking on a bitmap layer. W ith bitmap
layers, brushes are alw ays textured, and textured brush options are alw ays
available.

Brush Tip LibraryThis is w here you select the shape of the brush tip. By default it is round. Notethat some tips are designed to have semitransparent areas, even w hen the
maximum brush opacity is set to 100%.
To create a custom brush tip, you must prepare the file ahead of time, either inStoryboard Pro or in a third-party softw are, such as Adobe Photoshop. Colour is
not supported and transparency is not supported in the traditional sense. Black
appears as 100% opaque, w hite appears as 100% transparent and all the
shades of grey in betw een appear as varying degrees of semitransparency. A
range of file formats are supported—.jpeg, .png, .tif, .psd, .tga to name a few .
Alpha channels are disregarded on import. It is recommended that your file bebetw een 100 x 100 pixels and 400 x 400 pixels.
You can also import brush tips that you exported from Storyboard Pro, so you
can share them w ith colleagues.

The minimum and maximum sizes of your draw ing tool produce the thick andthin effect on your stroke. This w orks w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.
l

Maximum Size: Defines the maximum w idth of the stroke.

l

Minimum Size: Defines the minimum w idth of the stroke in relation toand as a percentage of the maximum size.

Minimum and Maximum Size
You can control the size properties by clicking on the arrow button on right andthe dialog box w ill appear as show n below .

483

Chapter 5: Tool PropertieslPressure: Allow s you to apply more pressure and increases the size ofthe brush. You can check the box to invert this behaviour.

l

Tilt: Allow s you to tilt the pen closer to tablet for a bigger stroke. You cancheck the box to invert this behaviour.

l

Speed: Allow s you to reduce the size of the stroke by draw ing at a fast
speed. You can check the box to invert this behaviour.

l

Speed Sensitivity: A slider is used to control how fast must the stroke bedraw n to reach the minimum value.

lTaper: Allow s you to reduce the value of a property at the start or theend of each stroke. The value can be expressed using tw o options:Distance and Percentage. Distance is selected by default. For example:
A taper of 200 w ill be the same length as the w idth (diameter) of a strokethat has its size set at 200.

You can enable Start and End Tapering option individually.
lStart Taper: W hen distance is selected as a Taper value, the effect ofstart taper can be visualized as the stroke is draw n.

l

End Taper: W hen distance or percentage is selected as a Taper value,
the effect of end taper can be visualized once the stroke is complete andvectorized as the length is unknow n until the stroke is complete.

l

Fade Distance: Allow s you to fade the value of property over a given
distance. It uses the same units as the size and is applied as the stroke isdraw n.

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NOTE
Setting the Minimum Size value to 100% eliminates the possibility ofcreating w idth variation on your stroke. In other w ords, you w ould be
forcing a uniform line w idth using the Maximum Size value.

The Roundness and Angle parameters allow you to change the shape andorientation of the tip.
lRoundness: The vertical scaling to apply to the tip. Reducing this setting
squashes the tip vertically, allow ing you to turn round or square tips into
flat tips.

lRoundness and Angle

Angle: The angle at w hich to rotate the brush tip, counterclockw ise.

NOTE
The squashing is not relative to the angle—if the tip is rotated, thesquashing w ill still be done relative to the tip's original orientation.

If your pen and tablet support tilt sensitivity, this option allow s you to set
w hether your brush takes your pen's tilt angle into account, and how much.
W hen your pen is fully tilted, your brush tip w ill be stretched by the percentage
you set in this parameter, in the angle in w hich you tilt it. For example, if you set
the Pen Tilt Sensitivity to 50%, and you tilt your pen all the w ay up or dow n, yourbrush tip w ill be stretched vertically by 50%. W ith the same setting, if you tilt
your pen all the w ay left or right, your brush tip w ill be stretched horizontally by
50%.
Pen Tilt Sensitivity

Use Pen Rotation

If enabled, and if your pen and tablet support tip rotation, your brush tip w ill

485Chapter 5: Tool Properties

rotate w ith the angle of your pen tip.

The hardness value corresponds to the softness of the brush tip's edges. The
low er the value, the softer the tip edge. The higher the value, the sharper the tipedge. Be aw are that some brush tips are not 100% opaque, so they w ill alw ays
appear somew hat soft, even at 100% hardness.
HardnessDefines the amount of space betw een each stamp of the brush. A value of 100%
sets the stamp marks edge to edge, if there is no w hite space around the shape.
The larger the value, the greater the space betw een marks. A really large value
can make the brush stroke appear as a string of individual marks. Conversely, asmall spacing value w ill give the appearance of a fluid brush stroke.
Spacing is only evident w hen making a continuous stroke.
Spacing

Random Size

You can create variation betw een the thick and thin of your brush stroke just by
setting the Maximum and Minimum Size values. If you add randomness to themix, pressure sensitivity from your draw ing tablet w ill still be applied. Lightpressure w ill create random values around the minimum, w hile heavy pressure
w ill create random values closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, thelarger the range of random variation.

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NOTE
Setting the Minimum Size to 100% eliminates the possibility of creating
w idth variation on your stroke, w hether you are applying randomness ornot. Therefore, you w ould be forcing a uniform line w idth using theMaximum Size value.

Sets the range for random rotation around the set Angle value. For example, if
the Angle is set to 45° and the Random Angle set to 10°, the softw are w illchoose values betw een 40°–50° (plus or minus 5 degrees, equaling a total of 10
degrees).

Random Angle

Random Spacing

Sets the range for random spacing around the set Spacing value. For example, if
the Spacing is set to 50% and the Random Spacing is set to 10%, thenStoryboard Pro w ill choose values betw een 45%–55% (plus or minus 5 percent,equaling a total of 10 percent).

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Smoothing Tab
The Smoothing tab contains options to configure how Storyboard Pro should automatically smooth your brushstrokes as you paint.

NOTE
The Smoothing tab is only available w hen w orking on a vector layer, as bitmap layers do notsupport smoothing.

Property

Description

Centerline Smoothing

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the central lineof the brush stroke. A higher setting w ill prevent your line from being shaky, but isliable to reduce draw ing precision and turn sharp angles into curves.

Contour Smoothing

Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the outer
contour of the brush stroke. A higher setting w ill round sharp corners and reduce the488

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guideamount of control points for the resulting vector shape.

Transparency Tab
The Transparency tab allow s you to decide if your brush has antialiasing as w ell as to set its flow and opacity
settings.

NOTE
The Transparency tab's options are only available on vector layers if the Brush Type option of the
Tip tab is set to Textured Vector Brush. On bitmap layers, those options are alw ays available.

Property

Description

Enabled by default. This option causes the contours of the brush strokes to blend
w ith the surrounding colours, to create an illusion of smoothness otherw ise notpossible due to the picture resolution.

Antialiasing

If antialiasing is disabled, the brush's texture w ill only render fully transparent or
fully opaque pixels. Disabling this option can be useful if you need your outlines
to be very crisp, if you w ant to make pixel art or if you need your brush strokes torender in solid colors w ith no variation, w hich makes them easier to repaint orprocess in third party softw are.

NOTE
W hen disabled, all other options in the Transparency tab are disabled.

Maximum and Minimum Flow

The Maximum and Minimum Flow parameters let you set the range for the rate

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at w hich paint flow s from your brush. The analogy w orks better w ith a pen. The
greater the flow , the more ink comes out, hence the more consistent the colour
and texture of the line. If the flow is light, then the colour and texture of the line
may look spotty. This feature w orks w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.
l

Maximum Flow: Sets the maximum rate at w hich colour and texture areapplied as you create a fluid stroke.

l

Minimum Flow: Sets the minimum rate at w hich colour and texture areapplied as you create a fluid stroke. It is defined as a percentage of theMaximum Flow value. If the Minimum Flow value is set to 100%, thentablet pressure sensitivity w ill no longer be applicable. The flow w ill be
set to the constant rate of the Maximum Flow value.

The Maximum and Minimum Opacity parameters are w here you set the opacity
range for a brush mark. This w orks w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.

Maximum Opacity and
Minimum Opacityl

Maximum Opacity: Sets the transparency limit of the brush mark w hen
the pressure is heavy.

lMinimum Opacity: Sets the transparency limit of the brush mark w hen
the pressure is very light. It is defined as a percentage of the Maximum
Opacity value. If the Minimum Opacity value is set to 100%, then tablet
pressure sensitivity w ill no longer be applicable. The opacity w ill be set
to the constant rate of the Maximum Opacity value.

RandomnessTh Randomness parameter lets you set the range for the randomness of the flow
and opacity. This w orks w ith the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.

Randomness Flow

You can create variation in the flow of your brush stroke just by setting the490

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Maximum and Minimum Flow values. If you add randomness to the mix, pressure
sensitivity from your draw ing tablet w ill still be applied. Light pressure w illcreate random values around the minimum, w hile heavy pressure w ill create
random values closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, the larger therange of random variation.

NOTE
Setting the Minimum Flow value to 100% eliminates the possibility ofcreating flow variation on your stroke, w hether you are applying
randomness or not. That is, you w ould be forcing a uniform flow using theMaximum Flow value.

You can create variation in the opacity of your brush stroke just by setting theMaximum and Minimum Opacity values. If you add randomness to the mix,pressure sensitivity from your draw ing tablet w ill still be applied. Light pressure
w ill create random values around the minimum, w hile heavy pressure w ill create
random values closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, the larger therange of random variation.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

NOTE
Setting the Minimum Opacity value to 100% eliminates the possibility ofcreating opacity variation on your stroke, w hether you are applying
randomness or not. That is, you w ould be forcing a uniform opacity using
the Maximum Opacity value.

Dual Tip Tab
The Dual Tip tab lets you set the parameters for creating a dual tip brush. The primary bitmap brush tip andthe dual tip alw ays w ork together. You can set the parameters for the primary tip in the Tip tab and those forthe dual tip in the Dual Tip tab. The Blend mode you select determines how the tips are combined.
By default, the Blend Mode is set to Multiply and the Random Angle to 360°.

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NOTE
To use a Dual Tip, you must enable option by checking the checkbox inside the Dual Tip tab.
Additionally, if you are w orking on a vector layer, the Brush Type option of the Tip tab must be set
to Textured Vector Brush.

Property

Description

The checkbox inside the tab allow s you to decide w hether or not your brush uses a
Enable/Disable

dual tip. If this checkbox is unchecked, the options in the Dual Tip tab w ill bedisabled.

Blend Mode

The Blend modes let you decide how the primary tip and the dual tip are combined.

This is the default blend mode. W hen the tw o brush tips are combined in this mode,
they essentially cut each other out in overlapping areas, w here one or both tips havean area of 100% transparency. The less opaque the brush tips are, the lighter their
combination.

Multiply

Colour Dodge

In this mode, the primary tip cuts out the shape of the dual tip. W here the tip shapes
overlap, w ithin the boundaries of the primary shape, the colour and opacity appear
darker.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Property

CombineDescription

This mode treats the tw o tips as tw o different and separate brushes that have thesame colour and follow the same path.

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Property

Description

Paper Texture Tab
The Paper Texture tab lets you configure a paper-like texture for your brush. You can also add textures byimporting image files, or import paper textures that w ere previously exported from Storyboard Pro.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

NOTE
To use a Paper Texture, you must enable option by checking the checkbox inside the Paper
Texture tab. Additionally, if you are w orking on a vector layer, the Brush Type option of the Tip
tab must be set to Textured Vector Brush.

Property

Description

Enable/Disable

The checkbox inside the tab allow s you to decide w hether or not your brush uses apaper texture. If this checkbox is unchecked, the options in the Paper Texture tab w ill
be disabled.

Texture Scale

Increase or decreases the size of the paper texture.

Additive

This option layers the texture on top of itself as you scribble overlapping lines in one
continuous stroke. If this option is turned off, areas of overlapping lines from a single,
continuous stroke w ill appear the same, in terms of darkness and texture, as non-496

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Property

Description

overlapping areas.

This option defines the w ay separate, overlapping strokes behave. If this option isenabled, the paper texture's position does not change w ith each sw eep of the brush.
If this option is disabled, each sw eep of the brush produces a different texture
position. The texture orientation alw ays stays the same.

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Text Tool Properties
The Text tool lets you add text fields to your project, in w hich you can type text, then adjust its formatting
using various fonts and text attributes.
W ith the Text tool selected, you can select text w ithin text boxes you created and change the formatting of
the selection. You can also select and manipulate text boxes using the Select tool, and change the formattingof the entire text box in the Select tool properties.

How to access the Text tool propertiesl

In the Tools toolbar, select the Text

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Icon

Property

Description

Lets you select the font in w hich to display the text.

Font

Makes the selected text bold.
Bold

Makes the selected text italic.
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Icon

Property

Description

Aligns the text in the selected text box to the left.

Align Left

Aligns the text in the selected text box to the centre.

Align Center

Aligns the text in the selected text box to the right.

Align Right

Makes the text in the selected text box take all the horizontal space byadjusting the spacing betw een each w ord. Text that use a single line
and text in the last line of a paragraph is aligned to the left.

Justify

Allow s you to set the size of the selected text.
Size

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Chapter 5: Tool Properties

Icon

Property

Description

Allow s you to increase or decrease the spacing betw een eachcharacter.

Kerning

Auto Kern

Sets the kerning automatically based on the font’s predefined
standard.

Allow s you to increase or decrease the indentation of the first line oftext in each paragraph.
IndentIncreases or decreases the space betw een each line of text.

Line Spacing

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Zoom Tool Properties
The Zoom tool lets you zoom in and out of the Stage, Camera, Side and Top view s. You can also use it to reset
the zoom level.

How to access the Zoom tool properties
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Zoom

tool.

The tool's properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Tool Options
Icon

Parameter

Description

Zoom In ModeUse the mouse cursor to zoom in to the Camera or Draw ing view .

Zoom Out ModeUse the mouse cursor to zoom out of the Camera or Draw ing view .

Operations
Icon

Parameter

Description

Zoom in the Camera or Draw ing view .
Perform Zoom In
The keyboard shortcut is 2.

Perform Zoom
Out

Zoom out the Camera or Draw ing view .

Reset Zoom

Restores the current zoom level to 100%.

Reset View

Restores the original display by resetting any pan, rotation or zoom actions.

The keyboard shortcut is 1.

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Chapter 6: View s

Chapter 6: Views
The Storyboard Pro user interface is comprised of different view s, each one designed for a specific purpose.
You can modify the location and accessibility of the view s by adding a new view as a tab or as a w indow . You
can also sw ap the view locations around, as w ell as do the follow ing:
Here is a complete list of the view s available in Storyboard Pro.
3D Graph View

503

Camera View

505

Colour View

511

Effect Stack View

512

Function Editor View

518

Guides View

525

Layers View

529

Library View

532

Message Log View

534

Reference View

535

Panel View

538

Pitch Mode View

542

Playback View

543

Project Management View

545

Script Editor View

548

Stage View

552

Storyboard View

559

Thumbnails View

561

Timeline View

563

Tool Properties View

570

Top and Side View s

571

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3D Graph View
The 3D Graph view lets you view the sub-objects that make up your 3D model.

How to access the 3D Graph view
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select W indows > 3D Graph.

l

From any of the other view s, click the Add View

button and select 3D Graph.

SectionDescription

3D Graph menu

Access commands through this menu.

3D model sub-object display area

Displays the parts (sub-objects) of the selected 3D model.

Selected sub-object hierarchy path

Displays the selected sub-object's parent hierarchy chain w ithin the 3Dmodel.

Search bar

Use this field to search for a specific sub-object w ithin the 3D model.

Sub- Object Icon

Type

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Chapter 6: View s

In the 3D model sub-object display area, sub-objects w ith geometry
are preceded by this icon. Geometry sub-objects have a transformation.

In the 3D model sub-object display area, sub-objects w ith atransformation are preceded by this icon.

Sub- Object Text ColourState

W hiteThe sub-object shape is visible and the sub-object is enabled.

Red

The sub-object and its children are disabled.

Yellow

The sub-object shape is hidden.

Disabled

One of the sub-object parents is disabled.

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Camera View
Like the Stage view , the Camera view allow s you to see and position elements in your scene. How ever,contrary to the Stage view , the Camera view alw ays displays elements from the point of view of the camera
lens.
The difference is only visible w hen w orking on a 3D scene. If your scene contains 3D models or elements thatare positioned at different depths in the stage, panning, zooming and rotating the Stage view w ill makeelements appear in different positions relative to each other, w hereas the Camera view w ill alw ays display
elements in the position and proportions they are meant to appear from the camera's point of view , and hence,
the w ay they're mean to appear in the storyboard. This remains true even if you pan, zoom or rotate theCamera view . Furthermore, w hile the Stage view can be rotated on all axes, allow ing you see your stage inperspective, the Camera view can only be rotated in 2D.
Hence, if you w ork in 2D, the Camera view is not useful. How ever, if you w ork in 3D, it is important to become
familiar w ith the difference betw een both view s and to use the Stage view w hen you w ant to position
elements or the camera relative to each other in the 3D space, and the Camera view w hen you need to seeelements in your stage as they w ill appear in the exported storyboard, or to position elements relative to thecamera's point of view .

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Chapter 6: View s

NOTE
A status bar is located at the bottom of the Stage and Camera view s, w hich contain toggle buttons
to hide and display different kind of indicators as w ell as to adjust the zoom level of the view .

How to access the Camera viewl

In a view area, click the Add View

Tool Name

Iconbutton and select Camera.

Description

Displays a grid in the Stage and Camera view s. The default size is
the standard 12-field (4:3) animation grid, but you can choose
another.

Grid

You can also select View > Grid > Show Grid or press Ctrl + G(W indow s) or ⌘ + G (macOS).

16 Field Grid

Displays a 16x16 field grid. Each cell in the grid has an aspectratio of 4:3. This makes overall aspect ratio of the grid 4:3.

16x12 Field Grid

Displays a 16x12 field grid. Each cell in the grid has an aspectratio of 4:3. This makes overall aspect ratio of the grid 16:9.

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Tool Name

Icon

Description

SquareDisplays a standard square grid.

W orld Grid

Displays a reference grid that remains the same size w hen you
scale objects. This is useful w hen creating elements in yourdraw ing and you need a reference point.

Displays the Title Safe Area frame inside the camera frame. Bydefault, this area is 20% smaller than the camera frame. It is used
as a guideline of the area that CRT displays might crop out of thepicture. Visual elements such as text and logos should be placed
w ithin this area.
Action Safe Area

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of
the Preferences dialog.

Displays a semi-transparent black mask covering the area
betw een the camera frame and the Title Safe Area frame.
Action Safe Area
Mask

NOTE
You can select the Action Safe Area Mask option byclicking and holding the Action Safe Area

button andselecting it from the pop-up menu.

Displays the Action Safe Area frame inside the camera frame. Bydefault, this area is 10% smaller than the camera frame. It is used
as a guideline of the area that CRT displays might crop out of thepicture. Characters and action should be placed w ithin this area.
Title Safe Area

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of
the Preferences dialog.

Title Safe Area
Mask

Displays a semi-transparent black mask covering the area
betw een the camera frame and the Action Safe Area.

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Chapter 6: View s

Tool Name

Icon

Description

NOTE
You can select the Title Safe Area Mask option by clicking
and holding the Title Safe Area

button and selecting itfrom the pop-up menu.

4:3 Safe Area

Show s or hides the TV safety zone and the centre of the camera
frame for a regular 4:3 resolution. If you are w orking on aw idescreen project, for example, you can easily plan in advancethe conversion of your project to a TV format. This w ay, you cancreate your project to fit both resolutions.
You can also select View > Extras > Show 4:3 Safe Area.

4:3 AreaShow s or hides the 4:3 resolution zone w ithout the centre of thecamera frame and TV safety zone.
You can also select View > Extras > Show 4:3 Area.

Show s or hides a black mask around the scene’s frame to avoid
seeing anything outside the Camera frame. This is handy w hen
Camera Mask

you are setting up the scene as it allow s you to see the scene’s
composition better.
You can also select View > Extras > Camera Mask.

Show s or hides the proportion grid, w hich divides the stage inequal sections horizontally and vertically so as to help you w ith
the composition of your scene.
You can also select View > Extras > Show Proportion Grid.

NOTE

Proportion Grid

By default, the proportion grid is divided in 3 horizontallyand vertically so as to help you follow the rule of thirds incomposition. The number of vertical and horizontal
divisions in the proportion grid can be customized in the
Camera tab of the Preferences dialog.

You can also select View > Extras > Show Proportion Grid.

Show Alignment Guides

W hen enabled, alignment guides w ill be visible in the Stage
View and the Camera View .

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Tool Name

Icon

Description

This is enabled by default. Disabling this option w ill hide anddisable alignment guides, meaning that animation and draw ing
tools w ill not snap to them, even if theSnap to Alignment

Guides option is enabled in the Tool Properties view .

Displays information about the current frame and panel in theStage and Camera view s, over the artw ork.
By default, this displays the timecode of the current frame, as
w ell as the name of the current scene and of the current panel.
You can configure w hat to display in the overlays by double-

Show Overlays

clicking or long-clicking on this button and selecting

Overlay

Settings in the pop-up menu—see Overlay Settings Dialog Box
on page 163.

Resets any panning, zooming or rotation done in the Stage viewand returns the display to its initial settings.
You can also select View > Reset View or press Shift + M.
Reset View

NOTE
This option w orks w ith the Camera View on page 505.

Resets any rotation done in the Stage or Camera view andreturns the display to its initial rotation settings.

Reset Rotation

You can also select View > Reset Rotation or press Shift + X.

Zoom Factor-

Lets you enlarge or reduce the Stage or Camera view display. If
you w ant the camera frame size to alw ays match the size of yourStage view , select the Fit to View option.

Layer Name-

Displays the name of the selected layer of the current panel.

Tool Name-

Displays the name of the selected tool. If you override a tool
using an overriding keyboard shortcut, the tool’s name turns red.

Colour Picker

Displays the currently selected colour in the Colour View . You
can click the colour sw atch to open the Colour view and select a
new colour.

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Chapter 6: View s

Tool Name

Icon

Description

The Layer panel is w here a scene’s layers are superposed to form
the final image.

Layer Panel-

W hen you import an image or draw in a panel, you are actuallyadding artw ork to one of its layers. By default, each panel has
tw o layers; a background layer (BG) and a foreground layer (A).
As you add layers, they are automatically assigned subsequent
letters in alphabetical order, but you can rename them. They arealso placed on top of the selected layer or at the very top of otherlayers if there is no layer selected in the panel.

Add Vector Layer

Adds a vector layer to the Layers list.

Add Bitmap Layer

Adds a bitmap layer to the Layers list.

Duplicate Selected
Layers

Duplicates selected layers so you can quickly copy and paste in
one operation. Unlike copying a layer, you cannot paste multiple
copies of a layer on other panels. Duplicating layers is only
available w ithin one panel. Duplicated layers retain their names
and are appended w ith a number.

Group Selected Layers

Groups selected layers. The grouped layer is named Group andappended w ith an underscore and a number. For example,
Group_1. Each time you creat a group, the number isincremented.

Delete Selected Layers

Deletes the selected layers.

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Colour View
The Colour view is w here you create colours; it is also necessary for draw ing and painting.

How to access the Colour view‣

In the Panel view , click the Add View

Icon

Current colour

button and select Colour.

Tool Name

Description--

Displays the currently selected colour sw atch.

Display Mode menu

Lets you change the display mode to HSV or RGB.

Delete Colour

The Delete Colour button lets you delete a selectedcolour sw atch from the Colour view .

Add Colour

Lets you create a new colour sw atch from the current
colour. The new colour sw atch is added at the end of
the colour sw atches.

Colour view menu

Lets you create new colours and textures, delete
colours, sw itch the display mode from sw atch to list,
import and export colours and save palettes.

Colour sw atches

Displays the currently available colours. W hen you
create new colour sw atches, they are added to theend of the list.

--

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Chapter 6: View s

Effect Stack View
The Effect Stack view is used to edit a sound clip by layering effects onto the clip. The parameters of theseeffects can be adjusted to fine tune the desired result.

How to access the Effect Stack view
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Top menu, Select W indows > Effect Stack.

l

In any view , click the Add View

button and select Effect Stack.

Sound Clip

W here the selected sound clip name is displayed. This includes the file name, fileformat and w hether the file is mono or stereo (indicated in square brackets). The
sound clip name is follow ed by the current time location of the playhead in theTimeline view .

Effects StackW here effects are displayed. These effects can be disabled, enabled, have theirparameter values modified or be deleted from the list.

Effects Parameters

The values for each effect

Play Selected Audio

Click the Play Selected Audio button to playback the selected sound clip directly in

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the Effect Stack view .

Playback Time

Indicates the playback time location.

Add Effect

Click on the Add Effect button to display a list of sound effects that can be applied tothe selected sound clip. Selecting an item from the list w ill add this effect to thebottom of the Effect Stack.

Clear Selected Effect

After selecting an effect from the Effect Stack, click on this button to delete the effectfrom the stack.

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Effects
EffectDescription

Gain

A default effect in the Effect Stack w ith a decibel (dB) value of 0. Controls how
loud the selected sound clip is before it goes through any processing (othereffects are added). The gain value (loudness) can affect the tone of the sound clip
as it goes through processing.

Balance

Applies volume independently to the left or right channel. Only w orks on clips
w ith stereo sound. Mono audio clips w ill duplicate the audio in each channel andthen apply the volume.

Left Volume

Sets the distribution of volume being applied to the left channel in decibels (dB).

Right Volume

Sets the distribution of volume being applied to the right channel in decibels (dB).

High Pass Filter

Frequency Cutoff

Low Pass Filter

Frequency Cutoff

Pitch Shift

Passes frequencies higher than the Frequency Cutoff and mutes frequencies
low er than the Frequency Cutoff. W ill cut out all the bass of the audio clip andsounds tinnier.

Set point for passing frequencies below this value, w hile muting those above thispoint. Minimum = 0 hz (no frequencies pass), maximum = 22050 Hz (allfrequencies pass).

Passes frequencies low er than the Frequency Cutoff and mutes frequencies
higher than the Frequency Cutoff.

Set point for passing frequencies above this value, w hile muting those below thispoint. Minimum = 0 hz (all frequencies pass), maximum = 22050 Hz (nofrequencies pass)

Allow s the pitch to be raised or low ered by a defined octave value.

Sets the value in octaves by w hich to shift the pitch, w here 0 octaves w ill result inthe original audio. A positive value w ill increase the pitch, w hile a negative value
w ill decrease the pitch.
Pitch
Octaves are on a logarithmic scale. This means that shifting the pitch up by one
octave (+1) doubles the sound's frequency, w hile shifting the pitch dow n by one
octave (-1) puts the sound at half its original frequency.

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EffectDescription

ReverbCreates a reverberation effect that mimics the w ay sound bounces w ithin an
enclosed space.

Mix

The percentage volume of the reverberation effect, as it is mixed w ith the original
source audio. A value of 100% w ill only play the effect, w hereas a value of 0%
w ill only play the source audio.

Decay

The time decay in seconds (s) for the length that an audio source reverberates
w ithin a space. A higher decay time sustains the reverberation for longer andproduces more internal reverbs. A low er decay time results in a sharper
reverberation.

The amount as a percentage (%) that the reverberating audio is absorbed on eachsample pass
Absorb

A low er absorption percentage allow s the audio to endure for longer. A highabsorption value muffles the reverberation faster. A 100% absorb value w ill
result in no reverberation.

Determines w hether the Reverb effect stifles frequencies outside a certain range.
Use Frequency Filter

W hen this option is checked, the High Pass and Low Pass filters affect the soundclip's audio frequencies by their selected values. W ithout this option checked,
frequencies w ill reverberate consistently.

Low Pass

W hen the Use Frequency Filter option is enabled, this value defines w hat
frequencies can pass on each reverberation. Frequencies below this value w ill be
audible, but frequencies above it w ill be muted. This parameter can be adjusted tocreate hollow er sounding rooms and larger spaces.

High Pass

W hen the Use Frequency Filter option is enabled, this value defines w hat
frequencies can pass on each reverberation. Frequencies above this value w ill be
audible, but frequencies below it w ill be muted. This parameter can be adjusted
to create bouncier sounding rooms w ith harder w alls.

VolumeControls how loud the sound clip is after it has been processed.

VolumeIncrease the decibel (dB) value to a number greater than 0 to increase theloudness of the selected sound clip or to a value less than 0 to decrease loudness,w here 0 is the starting value. Unlike gain, the volume's loudness w ill not affectthe tone of the sound. The Volume range is -96 dB to +6 dB.

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EffectDescription

Delay

Mix

The percentage volume of the echo effect, as it is mixed w ith the original source
audio. A value of 100% w ill only play the effect, w hereas a value of 0% w ill only
play the source audio.

Defines the delay betw een the original source audio and the initial echo
Delay

Decay

reverberation, as w ell as betw een each subsequent reverberation. This value is in
milliseconds (ms).

Defines the point at w hich the echoing source can no longer be heard. This value
is in seconds (s). If there is more than one echo, each subsequent echo w ill get
quieter and quieter over the length of the decay.
Given a delay of 500 ms and a decay of 2 seconds (2000 ms), the listener w ill
hear a total of 4 individual echos (2000 ms decay / 500 ms delay).

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Function Editor View
T-SBANIM-003-008
The Function Editor view lets you edit function curves and parameters. It contains a visual graph for adding,removing, and editing keyframes, as w ell as adjusting the velocity. The Function Editor view allow s you todisplay multiple functions in the background as a reference.
A motion path is easy to manipulate. One important concept to understand is that a trajectory contains both
keyframes and control points. Both can be used to shape a path; each have their ow n behaviour, how ever only
keyframes appear in the Timeline view .
lKeyframes have a transformation value and a position in space at a given frame. Keyframes are lockedin time.

lControl points have a position but no fixed frame or timing. It is mainly used to deform a trajectory.
There are no velocity handles available on a control point. The velocity segments are set betw een
keyframes only, making curves and trajectories much smoother. Control points can only be added on a
3D path.

NOTE
The Function Editor can be used w ith animated layers, groups, the camera and 3D objects, butdoes not w ork w ith animated video clips.

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You can manipulate the curve of any of functions in the Function Editor view by clicking on a keyframe andadjusting its Bezier handles.

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NOTE
Ease circles can appear in the Function Editor view if an earlier version of a Storyboard Pro project
file is opened in Storyboard Pro 20 or later. If a project file later than Storyboard Pro 20 is openedin Storyboard Pro 7 or earlier, velocity curves w ill still appear as Bezier. How ever, if the easing
values are modified in the Ease in Ease out boxes, the Bezier editing system changes to the Ease
circles customary to earlier versions of Storyboard Pro.

How to access the Function Editor view
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

In a view area, click the Add View‣

Select W indows > Function Editor.

button and select Function Editor .

The Function Editor displays and is blank.
2. From the Stage or Camera view , select a layer that contains functions.

Parameter

Description

Function List
W hen selecting a layer, all the corresponding functions are displayed. Select all
the functions you w ant to see and edit; hide the ones you do not w ant to see nor
edit.
To display a function, select its check-box. To hide a function, deselect its checkbox.

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You can change the color of the function by double-clicking the color box, andchoosing another color from the dialog box that displays.

Displays the current scene frame.

Displays the value of the selected keyframe.

Display Toolbar

Show Current
Frame

Allow s you to modify how the editing area is displayed. You can hide the grid,disable the synchronization w ith the current frame, reset the zoom level andnormalize the function display by stacking them one over the other to comparethem regardless of their value range.

Displays the frame currently selected.

Toggle Grid

Diplays/hides the grid.

Reset View

Optimizes the horizontal and vertical view of your keyframes, for better view ing.

Reset View
Vertically

Optimizes the vertical view of your keyframes for better view ing.

Clicking the arrow gives access to various parameters enabling you to modify thelayer animation by adjusting the curve around the selected keyframe.

Right Angle

In Bezier function, this is the angle value of the handle on the right side of theselected keyframe.

Left Angle

In Bezier function, this is the angle value of the handle on the left side of theselected keyframe.

Right Length

Available w hen paths other than velocity are selected. The length value of the
Bezier handle on the right side of the selected keyframe.

Left Length

Available w hen paths other than velocity are selected. The length value of the
Bezier handle on the left side of the selected keyframe.

TensionAvailable w hen a velocity path is selected. Controls how sharply the path bends
as it passes through a control point or keyframe. The higher the value, the more521

Chapter 6: View sdrastic the curve. The low er the value, the more gradual the curve.

Available w hen a velocity path is selected. Controls the smoothness of atransition betw een the segments joined by a point.

Continuity

Available w hen a velocity path is selected. Controls the slope of the path so it
flow s tow ards one side of the motion point or the other.

Bias

Keyframe, Velocity andInterpolation Options

Add KeyframeThis toolbar lets you add and delete keyframes, adjust the velocity curve, adjust
the segments to motion or stop-motion keyframes and set the velocity to create
steps instead of a constant progression.

Adds a keyframe at the current frame.

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RemoveKeyframe

Hold Value Editor

Reshape to Stop
Motion Keyframe

Lock in Time

Apply Velocity

Deletes selected keyframes.

Creates a stepped curve to hold the same value over a selected number offrames. This w orks w ell w hen you are animating draw ings on 2s, for example,
and you w ant to hold the same value for a function over those tw o frames.

Converts a motion keyframe into a stop-motion keyframe.

Converts a keyframe into a control point, or a control point into a keyframe. Morespecifically, indicates w hether the point is locked to a specific frame (keyframe) or
only locked to a specific position and the curve can flow through it freely as otherpoints are being added, moved, or adjusted (control point).

Gives access to the Velocity Editor dialog box. You can apply velocity on the x, y,or z axes, independently.

EditorDefines the ease-in ease-out type for your animation. Click the dow n arrow toaccess velocity pre-set choices.

Gives access to various Bezier handle manipulation options. Click the dow n arrow
to choose a pre-defined option.

Enables you to enter a value for the tension on velocity movement. The higher thevalue, the more tension on the velocity curve.

Stop-Motion
Keyframe

Function List Filters

Converts a motion keyframe into a stop-motion keyframe. The same value isapplied to all frames until the next keyframe. Motion changes to the next
keyframe's position, w hen the next keyframe is reached.

Enables you to quickly select or deselect all functions w ithin a category.

Show Motion

Displays the functions related to motion.

Show Rotation

Displays the functions related to rotation.

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Show Scale

Displays the functions related to scale.

Show Other

Displays other parameters not included in the Show Motion, Show Rotation andShow Scale filters.

Lets you display the Camera functions, add other editable functions and convert
to Bezier.

OperationsShow Camera
Functions

Add Editable
Functions

Convert to Bezier
Functions

Displays the functions related to the camera.

Enables you to view the functions of a layer that has no keyframes.

Enables you to sw itch from Ease function to Bezier function. Bezier curves
enables you adjust the ease in and ease out of each keyframe. The more thehandle is pulled out horizontally, the slow er the animation w ill be. The more thehandle is pulled out vertically, the faster the animation w ill be.

Value Scale

Displays the value range for the displayed editing area. It can be referenced toknow the value of a keyframe.

Selected Keyframe

The selected keyframe is displayed in red. W hen selected, the keyframe values
are displayed in the corresponding fields.

Function Curve

The thin line going from keyframe to keyframe is the actual curve. The section of acurve located betw een tw o keyframes is called a segment.

Frame Scale

The Frame Scale displays the frame range for the displayed editing area. It can bereferenced to know the current frame of a keyframe.

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Guides View
The Guides view allow s you to add draw ing guides to the current panel, to select w hich guide to use, tomanage existing guides, to export and import guides and to enable or disable draw ing guides as w ell as theirvarious options.

NOTE
For more information on each type of guide and how to use them, refer to the User Guide.

Icon

Name

Description

Enable Guide

Enables or disables draw ing guides. W hen guides are disabled, they are
not visible and you cannot edit them or use them w ith draw ing tools.

Options

W hen enabled, w hen draw ing w ith the

Align w ith Guide

Brush,

Pencil andLinetools tool, the cursor is automatically locked against the axis of thecurrently selected guide that most closely matches the angle of yourstroke, as if you w ere draw ing against a rule.
W hen disabled, the draw ing tools are not constrained by the axes of theguide, allow ing you to draw freely. The guide's axes act as a visual aids
only.

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Icon

Name

Description

Lock Guide

W hen enabled, you cannot do modifications on the currently selected
guide. This prevents making unw anted modifications to the guide w hen
draw ing.

Enable Guide w ith
EraserAllow s you to use the Eraser tool w ith draw ing guides.

W hen enabled, the guide's axes that go through the mouse cursor in thedraw ing space go throughout the entire draw ing space and display evenw hen you're draw ing.
Full Cursor Display
W hen disabled, the guide's axes that go through the mouse cursor only
display over a short distance from the mouse cursor. Also, the guide's axes
disappear w hen draw ing a stroke.

Show ReferenceLines

W hen enabled, semi-transparent reference lines for each of the currently
selected guide's axes appear all over your draw ing space.

Adjusts the amount of reference lines to display in your draw ing space.
Number of Lines

Guides List

Allow s you to add a guide to the panel's guides list. You can add a guide ofone of the follow ing types:

New Guide

l

Ruler

l

Square Gridl

Isometric Perspectivel

1-Point Perspectivel2-Point Perspectivel3-Point Perspective (Bird’s-Eye View )l3-Point Perspective (W orm’s-Eye View )l3-Point Perspective (Horizontal Pan)l3-Point Perspective (Vertical Pan)l4-Point Continuous Perspective

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Icon

Name

Descriptionl4-Point Perspective (Vertical Pan)l5-Point Perspective (Fisheye)

NOTE
For more information on each type of guide and how to use them,refer to the User Guide.

Delete Guide

Deletes the selected draw ing guides from the panel's guides list.

Guides View Menu

Opens a menu w ith the follow ing commands:

RenameGuide

Renames the selected draw ing guide.

Cut

Cuts the selected draw ing guides from the list and adds them to the
clipboard.

Copy

Copies the selected draw ing guides to the clipboard.

Paste

Pastes draw ing guides from the clipboard to the current panel's guides
list. Pasted guides are inserted under the selected guide.

ImportGuidesImports draw ing guides that w ere previously exported to a file and inserts
them at the bottom of the panel's guides list. Duplicate guides are filteredout to avoid cluttering the list.

ExportSelected
GuidesExports the selected draw ing guides into a file.

Draw ing Guides List

Displays the panel's list of guides and allow s you to select w hich guide todisplay, edit and use.

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Icon

Name

Description

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Layers View
The Layers view is w here a scene’s layers are superimposed to form the final image.
W hen you import an image or draw in a panel, you are actually adding artw ork to one of its layers. By default,
each panel has tw o layers; a background layer (BG) and a foreground layer (A). As you add layers, they areautomatically assigned subsequent letters in alphabetical order, but you can rename them. They are also
placed on top of the selected layer or at the very top of other layers if there is no layer selected in the panel.

How to access the Layers view‣

Icon

In the Panel view , click the Add View

Tool Namebutton and select Layers.

Description

Selected Layer

Opacity

Allow s you to adjust the opacity of the layer, to make it opaque orsemi-transparent.

Allow s you to select how the layer is aligned w ith the camera:
Layer Alignmentl

No Alignment: The layer is independent of the camera.

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Icon

Tool Name

Description

NOTE
If you change the alignment of a layer from Pin to
Camera to No Alignment, its animation w ill bediscarded and it w ill be in the position it is at thecurrent frame throughout the panel.

lFace Camera: The layer is oriented to face the camera, so it
rotates around its pivot point to alw ays face the camera, butdoes not move w ith the camera.

NOTES

l

l

If you change the alignment of a layer from No
Alignment to Face Camera, its offset and scaletransformations and animations w ill be preserved,
but not its rotation angle transformations andanimations.

l

If you change the alignment of a layer from Pin to
Camera to Face Camera, its animation w ill bediscarded and it w ill be in the position it is at thecurrent frame throughout the panel.

Pin to Camera: The layer is oriented to the camera's
perspective. Essentially the layer alw ays moves w ith thecamera.

NOTE
W hen changing the alignment of a layer to Pin to
Camera, all its transformations and animation are
discarded.

.

The follow ing options allow you to control w hether the selected layer
appear in one of the three main export mediums for Storyboard Pro
projects:l

PDF: If enabled, the selected layer w ill show up in theexported document w hen you export your storyboard in
Photoshop Document (.pdf) format.

lMovie: If enabled, the selected layer w ill appear in theexported image w hen you export your animatic as a movie oras an image sequence.

Export To

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Icon

Tool Name

DescriptionlHarmony: If enabled, the selected layer w ill appear in theexported scenes w hen you export your animatic as Harmony
scenes.

LayersThe list of layers in the current panel.

Add Vector Layer

Adds a vector layer to the Layers list.

Add Bitmap Layer

Adds a bitmap layer to the Layers list.

Duplicate Selected
Layers

Duplicates selected layers so you can quickly copy and paste in one
operation. Unlike copying a layer, you cannot paste multiple copies ofa layer on other panels. Duplicating layers is only available w ithin one
panel. Duplicated layers retain their names and are appended w ith anumber.

Group Selected Layers

Groups selected layers. The grouped layer is named Group andappended w ith an underscore and a number. For example, Group_1.
Each time you creat a group, the number is incremented.

Delete Selected Layers

Deletes the selected layers.

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Library View
The Library view is used to create and manage templates, as w ell as the folders containing them.

The Preview w indow of the Library view lets you preview the contents of the selected template. Audio files
cannot be preview ed in the Preview w indow of the Library view .

The Library List is used to navigate through the different libraries and subfolders. You can also open, close andcreate new libraries from here.

The Library view has tw o default Library folders:532

Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guidel

Global: This is an empty folder you can use to organize your templates. This library is automaticallyshared betw een different projects. You can organize this library folder using subfolders. W hen you saveitems in the Global library, it is saved by default to a location in your Documents folder on yourmachine.

lTemplates: This folder contains default templates provided w ith Storyboard Pro and is stored on yourhard drive. The content of this Library is automatically shared betw een the different projects.

NOTE
To verify the path w here files are being stored, hover your cursor over the folder to display thepath

The templates contained in the selected Library list can be displayed on the right side of the Library view asthumbnails, in a list or as details.
In the Library view ’s right side, right-click and select View > List, Thumbnails or Details.

How to access the Library view‣

In the Panel view , click the Add View

button and select Library.

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Message Log View
The Message log view displays information gathered during a render task, such as w hich frames and at w hattime they w ere each rendered. The view also contains a list of the colour recovery operations.

How to access the Message Log viewlSelect W indows > Message Log.

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Reference View
Once you have a fully painted draw ing, you can use it as a colour model and load it in the Reference view . Thisdraw ing can be used and loaded in any of your Storyboard Pro scenes.
Once a draw ing is loaded in the Reference view , you can use the Colour Eyedropper

tool to select a colour

from the model and use it to paint in the Camera or Draw ing view w ithout having to pick the colour from thecolour palette.

How to open the Reference view
Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select W indows > Reference View.

l

From any of the other view s, click the Add View

Icon

Tool/Command

button and select Reference View.

Description

View Menu

Previous

Show s the previous model loaded in the
Reference view .

NextShow s the next model loaded in the Reference
view .

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Chapter 6: View sImport References

Imports a TVG draw ing as a model in the
Reference view .

Use Current Draw ing as
Reference

Loads the currently selected draw ing in thescene as a model in the Reference view .

Load Default References

Loads TVG draw ings placed in a custom
models folder located in the scene folder.

Unload Current

Unloads the image from the Reference View .

Delete Current

Deletes the image in the Reference view .

Zoom In

Zooms in the view .

Zoom Out

Zooms out the view .

Reset Zoom

Resets the view ’s zoom to its default position.

Reset Pan

Resets the view ’s pan to its default position.

Reset View

Resets the view to its default position.

Rotate View CW

Rotates the Camera view 30 degrees
clockw ise, like an animation table.

Rotate View CCW

Rotates the Camera view 30 degrees counterclockw ise, like an animation table.

Reset Rotation

Resets the view ’s rotation to its default
position.

SelectActivates the Select tool. This tools is alsoavailable on the Tools toolbar.

Cutter Selection

Allow s to cut a section of the model to paste itin your scene.

Colour Eyedropper

Activates the Colour Eyedropper tool. This
tools is also available on the Tools toolbar.

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Activates the Zoom tool. This tools is alsoavailable on the Tools toolbar.

Zoom

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Panel View
The Panel view displays the basic information about the currently selected panel. It also allow s to view andedit captions in the current panel, as w ell as to add sketches or voice annotations to the panel.

How to access the Panel view
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top-right corner of a view , click the

Add View button and select Panel.

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Panel.

Icon

Tool Name

Description--

Current panel
information

This section of the Panel view is w here information, such as the duration of
the current panel, name of the current panel and name of the scene in w hich itis part of is displayed. It is possible to edit some of the field.

--

Selection
information

This collapsible section of the Panel view is w here the information, such as
the number of selected panels, the in and out of the current selection, as w ellas the duration of the selected panels. These fields are for reference only;
they cannot be edited.
Click the Collapse

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button to hide the section and leave more room for theStoryboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Script caption field. Once it is collapsed, you can click the Expand
to display the entire section again.

--

button

Voice Annotations
toolbar

It is possible to add voice annotations to a panel. This collapsible section isused to control and edit these annotations.

Text Formatting

Displays the Text Formatting toolbar for formatting the text in the Script
caption area.

ResizeW hen there are tw o or more panels present, resizes the panel in threedifferent sizes: opens panel fully, opens mid-sized panel or collapses thepanel.
See

Caption Menu

Lets you access commands for adding, importing, deleting and renaming
captions. You can also import scripts created in Final Draft.

Captions are text fields in w hich you can store information for each panel inyour project. The types of captions for your project are fully customizable. Bydefault, a new project w ill have the follow ing type of captions:lDialogue: The lines of dialogue spoken by the characters in thecurrent panel.

--lAction Notes: The actions performed by the characters in the current
panel.

l

Slugging: Notes regarding the timing of dialogues and actions in thecurrent panel. These can be added w hile creating the storyboard to
give instructions on how to create the animatic.

l

Notes: Any relevent information about the current panel or the current
scene, such as the scene heading, the characters and props, ambient
sounds, background and foreground actions, continuity notes or, if
w orking on a live action project, the cast, crew , props or material
required to complete the shot.

Caption fields

The caption fields are named by default, you can easily change the name ofthese fields by clicking the Caption Menu

button and selecting theRename Caption option. Once you have changed the names of the captions
and you are certain that you w ant to keep these names throughout the
project, you can set the new names as default by selecting Caption > Save
Captions Layout as Default from the top menu.

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How to display the Text Formatting toolbar
1. Click the

Text Formatting button.

The Text Formatting toolbar displays.

2. Format the text in the panel.

How to resize a panel
1. W hen there are tw o or more panels present, do one of the follow ing:lClick on the Collapse / Expand

button.

The panel toggles betw een fully expanded, expanded and collapsed.

l

Hover over a bar betw een tw o panels. W hen the bar turns cyan and the resize cursor
appears, click and drag to resize the panel.

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Pitch Mode View
The Pitch Mode view is optimized for pitching your storyboard. W hen using the Pitch Mode view , the tools andfunctions that cannot be used are dimmed. You w ill no longer have access to your draw ing layers. To return tothe normal mode, you must close the Pitch Mode view .
There is also a Pitch Mode w orkspace w hich is similar the Pitch Mode view . This w orkspace occupies the entire
screen and provides access only to a certain number of tools—see Pitch Mode W orkspace on page 576.

How to access the Pitch Mode view
1. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect W indows > Pitch Mode View.

l

In the Panel view , click the Add View

button and select Pitch Mode View.

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Playback View
You can view a high quality playback of your animatic in the Playback view . By default, this view does notappear in the softw are. You must enable this option in the Preferences and relaunch the softw are to make thisoption available.
The Playback view pre-renders frames (composites camera moves, effects, transitions, etc.) and saves them ina cache, then uses this cache for playback. The result is an accurate real-time preview .
The Playback view allow s for the display of information pertaining to the current frame. This can include
captions and dialog, the project timecode and the current scene and panel. Consult the Preferences Guide >Playback tab for more details.
You can now define the playback range and select the playback range options. You can also redefine thew orking range by setting the Start and Stop frames.

How to make the Playback view available
1. In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (W indow s) or Storyboard Pro > Preferences (macOS).
The Preferences w indow opens.
2. In the Preferences w indow , click on the Playback tab.

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Chapter 6: View s

3. In the Playback tab, in the Cached Playback section, click on the Playback Mode drop-dow n menu
and select Playback View.
4. Click OK to confirm the changes and to close the Preferences w indow .
5. Close Storyboard Pro by either clicking on the red square w ith an X, located at the top corner of thesoftw are, or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Q (W indow s) or ⌘ + Q (macOS).
6. Relaunch Storyboard Pro.
The Playback view and its options are now available in the softw are.

How to access the Playback view
Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select W indows > Playback.

l

From any of the other view s, click the Add View

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Project Management View
W hen you extract smaller Storyboard Pro projects from your main project to allow other project collaborators
to w ork on the storyboard and animatic together, the Project Management view allow s you to keep a list of thesmaller projects that w ere extracted from your main project, to see if those smaller projects have been
updated and to quickly import their changes into the main project.
Likew ise, if you are w orking on a smaller project that w as extracted from a bigger project, the ProjectManagement view allow s you to check if the bigger project w as changed and to import its changes into yoursmaller project.

How to access the Project Management view
1. Do one of the follow ing:

Icon

l

In the top-right corner of any view , click on

Add View and select Project Management.

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Project Management.

Name

Description

Merge Modified
Panels from Selected

Analyzes the project that is selected in the linked projects list forchanges, and imports the changes into the current project.

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Icon

Name

Description

Project

Merge Settings

Edit Project Location

Opens the Merge Settings dialog. W hen you merge the modified panelsfrom a project in the list, it w ill use the settings selected in this dialog todetermine how to select and import the changes in the selected project.

If a project in the list is no longer in its original location, select it and clickon this button to brow se for it and specify its new location.

Add Project to List

Allow s you to brow se for a project and add it to the list of linked project.

Remove Project from
List

Removes the selected project from the list of linked project.

Project Management
Menu

Opens a menu from w hich you can split your project, extract childprojects, merge projects into the current project or insert projects into thecurrent project.

Split

Opens the Split Storyboard dialog, in w hich you can divide the current
Storyboard Pro project into tw o smaller project so that tw o different
project collaborators can w ork on each half simultaneously. The projectw ill be split at the currently selected panel, so you should select thepanel w here you w ant to divide your project before opening this dialog.

Extract

Opens the Extract Storyboard dialog, in w hich you can extract different
parts of the current project into several smaller projects, so that several
project collaborators can w ork on different parts of your project at thesame time.

Merge

Opens the Merge Storyboard dialog, w hich allow s you to combine
several small projects into the current project. You can insert each projectin a specific order, before or after the scenes in your current project.

InsertAllow s you to brow se for an insert another Storyboard Pro project into
the current project. The selected project w ill be inserted after thecurrently selected scene.

Merge andReplace

Opens the Advanced Merge Storyboard dialog. This dialog allow s you toselect one or several projects that w ere extracted from the current

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Icon

Name

Description

project, then modified by project collaborators, and scenes in the current
project w ith their corresponding scenes in these extracted projects. You
can manually select w hich scenes to import from the extracted projects.

Merge
Modified
PanelsOpens the Merge Modified Panels dialog. This dialog allow s you to selecta project that w as extracted from the current project, then modified by aproject collaborator, and to quickly import the changes that w ere made tothis project into the current project. It automatically selects w hich panels
to import, either by the time and date of their last modification, or basedon w hether or not they are marked as tracked.

Indicates the status of the project using a colour code:

Project Status
IndicatorlGray: The project does not have any modifications to merge.

lOrange: The project has modifications to merge.

lRed: The project cannot be found in the location indicated in
the Path column.

Selected projectstatusAutomatic refresh
settings

Indicates the status of the currently selected project.

By default, the status of linked projects is not automatically updated. You
can check the checkbox in this area to make the Project Management
view automatically update the status of each project in the list at a
specific interval.
The interval can be specified in minutes in the field to the right. By
default, w hen this is checked, the status of each project is updated every
10 minutes.

Refresh Project Status

Instantly updates the status of every project in the list of linked projects.

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Chapter 6: View s

Script Editor View
The Scripting view allow s you to edit scripts to run in Storyboard Pro directly from the application. It displays alist of available scripts, from w hich you can select an existing script, edit it, test it and save it. The Script Editor
w ill highlight the syntax of your script for easy reading.

How to access the Script Editor view
Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select W indows > Script Editor.

l

From any of the other view s, click the Add View

button and select Script Editor.

Parameter

Description

Script Editor
menu

The menu for this view —see Script Editor View Menu on page 300.

Script Editor
toolbar

The toolbar for this view —see Script Editor Toolbar on page 325.

The list of script files available as w ell as their location and their read and w rite permissions.
Selecting a script in this list w ill open it in the editor.
Script list

NOTE
The << Sandbox >> item at the top of the list does not correspond to an actual script file. It
is a temporary container to type and test code, and its content cannot be saved.

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The file list has three columns: File, Location and Permissions.
l

The File column indicates the filename of each script.

NOTE
The << Sandbox >> item at the top of the list does not correspond to an actual
script file. It is a temporary container to type and test code, and its content cannot
be saved.

l

The Location of the script can be one of the follow ing:lApplication Folder: Scripts that are packaged and installed w ith Storyboard
Pro. By default, you cannot edit these scripts until you select them and click on
Make Editable, at w hich point you are prompted to copy the script to a locationfrom w hich you can edit them.
Scripts in the Application Resources folder are in the follow ing location:ll

W indows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom
Animation\Toon Boom Storyboard Pro
22\resources\scriptslmacOS: /Applications/Toon Boom Storyboard Pro
22/Storyboard Pro
22.app/Contents/tba/resources/scripts

User: Scripts that are saved in your user preferences. Those scripts can beedited and executed from any scene, provided that you are logged in as thesame user.
Scripts in the User folder are in the follow ing location:l

W indows: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Toon Boom
Animation\Toon Boom Storyboard Pro\20100-scriptslmacOS: /Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Toon Boom
Animation/Toon Boom Storyboard Pro/20100-scriptslScene: Scripts in the scripts sub-folder of the currently open scene. These
scripts can only be edited and executed w hen the current scene is open.

lSystem Variable: Scripts inside the directory set in the TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION environment variable, if this variable is set. These scripts
can be edited and executed by anyone on your w orkstation.

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Chapter 6: View s

NOTE
W hen tw o or more scripts w ith the same file name exist in different locations,
Storyboard Pro w ill give priority to a single one of these scripts. The script given
priority w ill be the one listed in the Script Editor and the one executed if it isassociated to a toolbar button.
W hich script is prioritized is determined by the order of priority of script locations.
From highest priority to low est priority, the order goes as follow s:User > Scene > System Variable > Application Resources
An exception to this rule is if you have a script w ith the same name in both thescene folder and your user preferences. In this case, both versions of the script w ill
be listed and you w ill be able to edit both.

l

The Permissions of the script can be one of the follow ing:lRead Only: You cannot edit the script in the Script Editor and save yourchanges.

NOTES

l

l

If the script's location is the Application Resources folder, it w ill
alw ays be Read Only to prevent you from making changes to scripts
packaged w ith Storyboard Pro. How ever, you can click on the Make
Editable button below the script editor to make a copy of the script inyour user preferences folder, after w hich you can make changes tothis copy.

l

If the script is in any other location and is Read Only, then it is likelythat a netw ork administrator made the script or the folder containing
the script read-only to prevent other users from making unw antedchanges to it.

Read/W rite: You can edit the script in the Script Editor and save your changes.

A text field in w hich you can edit the selected script.

EditorNOTE
If the selected script is in the Application Resources folder, you w ill not be able to edit it
until you click on the Make Editable button.

Search toolbar

Allow s you to type in a keyw ord and search for this keyw ord w ithin the script. You can use the
Next button to go to the next instance of the keyw ord and thePrevious button to go to
the previous instance.

CancelIf you have made any changes to your script that you have not yet saved, this discards thosechanges and reloads the saved version.

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If the selected script is a script that w as packaged w ith Storyboard Pro, and w hich you copied
to your User folder, to the Scene folder or to the Job, Environment or Global folder to makechanges to it, you can click on this button to delete this copy of this script and resume using theoriginal version of the script that is packaged w ith Storyboard Pro instead.
Restore to
Default

IMPORTANTThis w ill permanently delete your version of the script and any changes you have made toit.

VerifyVerifies that the script has no syntax error.

If the currently selected script is in the Application Resources folder, you cannot edit it. By
clicking on this button, the script can be copied to a location w here you can edit it.
W hen you click on this button, you are prompted to choose w hether to copy in either of theselocations:lUser: Saves the script to a directory in your user preferences directory. You w ill be able
to run and edit the script from any scene as long as you are logged in as the same user.

l

Scene: Save the script to the project's scripts sub-folder. Anyone w ill be able to edit
and run the script w hen w orking on this specific project.

l

System Variable: Save the script to the directory in the TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_

Make Editable

LOCATION environment variable. This option is only available if this environment
variable is set.

NOTE
This button w ill be greyed out if the script is in any location other than Application
Resources and is read only.

Saves the modifications you made to the script.
Save

This button replaces the Make Editable button after you have used the Make Editable button tocopy the script to a location from w hich you can edit it.

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Chapter 6: View sStage View
The Stage view can be used to position elements as w ell as the camera w ithin the stage for each of yourscene.
W hen w orking on 2D scenes, the Stage view has the same functionality as the Camera view . How ever, if you
are w orking on a 3D scene, the Stage view allow s you to view the stage from any point of view in the 3D
space, w hereas the Camera view alw ays displays the stage from the point of view of the Camera lens. For
more information, see Camera View .

NOTE
A status bar is located at the bottom of the Stage and Camera view s, w hich contain toggle buttons
to hide and display different kind of indicators as w ell as to adjust the zoom level of the view .

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TIP
You can hide the status bar in the Stage view by opening the Preferences dialog, selecting the
Camera tab and disabling the Show Status Bar option.

How to access the Stage viewl

In a view area, click the Add View

Tool Name

ThumbnailIconbutton and select Stage.

Description

Displays the thumbnail of a selected panel.

Displays a grid in the Stage and Camera view s. The default size is thestandard 12-field (4:3) animation grid, but you can choose another.
Grid (12 Field Grid)
You can also select View > Grid > Show Grid or press Ctrl + G (W indow s)or ⌘ + G (macOS).

16 Field
Grid

Displays a 16x16 field grid. Each cell in the grid has an aspect ratio of 4:3.
This makes overall aspect ratio of the grid 4:3.

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Chapter 6: View s

Tool Name

Icon

Description

16x12 Field
Grid

Displays a 16x12 field grid. Each cell in the grid has an aspect ratio of 4:3.
This makes overall aspect ratio of the grid 16:9.

SquareDisplays a standard square grid.

Displays a reference grid that remains the same size w hen you scale objects.
W orld Grid

This is useful w hen creating elements in your draw ing and you need areference point.

Displays the Title Safe Area frame inside the camera frame. By default, thisarea is 20% smaller than the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of thearea that CRT displays might crop out of the picture. Visual elements suchas text and logos should be placed w ithin this area.
Action Safe Area

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of thePreferences dialog.

Displays a semi-transparent black mask covering the area betw een thecamera frame and the Title Safe Area frame.
Action Safe
Area Mask

NOTE
You can select the Action Safe Area Mask option by clicking andholding the Action Safe Area

button and selecting it from the

pop-up menu.

Displays the Action Safe Area frame inside the camera frame. By default,
this area is 10% smaller than the camera frame. It is used as a guideline of
the area that CRT displays might crop out of the picture. Characters andaction should be placed w ithin this area.
Title Safe Area

NOTE
The size of this area can be changed in the Camera tab of thePreferences dialog.

Title Safe
Area Mask

Displays a semi-transparent black mask covering the area betw een thecamera frame and the Action Safe Area.

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Tool Name

Icon

Description

Displays a semi-transparent black mask covering the area betw een thecamera frame and the Action Safe Area.

NOTE
You can select the Title Safe Area Mask option by clicking and holding
the Title Safe Area

4:3 Safe Area

button and selecting it from the pop-up menu.

Show s or hides the TV safety zone and the centre of the camera frame for aregular 4:3 resolution. If you are w orking on a w idescreen project, forexample, you can easily plan in advance the conversion of your project to a
TV format. This w ay, you can create your project to fit both resolutions.
You can also select View > Extras > Show 4:3 Safe Area.

4:3 AreaShow s or hides the 4:3 resolution zone w ithout the centre of the camera
frame and TV safety zone.
You can also select View > Extras > Show 4:3 Area.

Show s or hides a black mask around the scene’s frame to avoid seeing
Camera Mask

anything outside the Camera frame. This is handy w hen you are setting up
the scene as it allow s you to see the scene’s composition better.
You can also select View > Extras > Camera Mask.

Show s or hides the proportion grid, w hich divides the stage in equal
sections horizontally and vertically so as to help you w ith the composition ofyour scene.
You can also select View > Extras > Show Proportion Grid.
Proportion Grid

NOTE
By default, the proportion grid is divided in 3 horizontally andvertically so as to help you follow the rule of thirds in composition.
The number of vertical and horizontal divisions in the proportion gridcan be customized in the Camera tab of the Preferences dialog.

Show Alignment
GuidesW hen enabled, alignment guides w ill be visible in the Stage View and the
Camera View .
This is enabled by default. Disabling this option w ill hide and disablealignment guides, meaning that animation and draw ing tools w ill not snap555

Chapter 6: View s

Tool Name

Icon

Description

to them, even if theTool Properties view .

Snap to Alignment Guides option is enabled in the

Displays information about the current frame and panel in the Stage andCamera view s, over the artw ork.
Show Overlays

By default, this displays the timecode of the current frame, as w ell as thename of the current scene and of the current panel. You can configure w hat
to display in the overlays by double-clicking or long-clicking on this buttonand selecting

Overlay Settings in the pop-up menu—see Overlay

Settings Dialog Box on page 163.

Camera LabelShow s or hides the IN and OUT indications in the top-left corner of thecamera frames, on the start and end position of a camera move for thecurrent panel. W hen the Camera tool is selected, the labels sw itch toalphabetical labels that clearly show the different camera keyframes.

Displays all the related camera keyframes and paths in a scene. W hen thisbutton is deactivated, the Stage view displays only keyframes that arecontained in a panel.
Complete Camera
Path

You can also access this feature by selecting View > Show Complete
Camera Path.

NOTE
This option is not available in Camera by Panel Compatability mode.

Resets any panning, zooming or rotation done in the Stage view and returns
the display to its initial settings.
You can also select View > Reset View or press Shift + M.
Reset View

NOTE
This option w orks w ith the Stage View on page 552.

Reset Rotation

Resets any rotation done in the Stage or Camera view and returns thedisplay to its initial rotation settings.
You can also select View > Reset Rotation or press Shift + X.

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Tool Name

Icon

Description

W hen rotating 2D layers in 3D space, you may find that the Stage view is nolonger perpendicular to a draw ing layer, making it impossible to draw on it.
This option makes the Stage view perpendicular to a selected draw ing layer,allow ing you to draw on it.

Look At Selected(3D Only)

NOTE
This option is used w hen w orking in 3D space.

Point of View-

The Point of View menu lets you determine the level at w hich the current
position of the Stage view (zoom, pan and rotation) is remembered w hen
you flip through the panels. The current Point of View mode w ill also affectthe different Reset View commands’ behaviour as they w ill reset according
to the Point of View mode.—see Point of View Menu on page 299.

Zoom Factor-

Lets you enlarge or reduce the Stage or Camera view display. If you w ant
the camera frame size to alw ays match the size of your Stage view , selectthe Fit to View option.

Layer Name-

Displays the name of the selected layer of the current panel.

Tool Name-

Displays the name of the selected tool. If you override a tool using anoverriding keyboard shortcut, the tool’s name turns red.

Displays the currently selected colour in the Colour View . You can click thecolour sw atch to open the Colour view and select a new colour.

Colour Picker

The Layer panel is w here a scene’s layers are superposed to form the final
image.

Layer Panel-

W hen you import an image or draw in a panel, you are actually adding
artw ork to one of its layers. By default, each panel has tw o layers; abackground layer (BG) and a foreground layer (A). As you add layers, they
are automatically assigned subsequent letters in alphabetical order, but you
can rename them. They are also placed on top of the selected layer or at thevery top of other layers if there is no layer selected in the panel.

Add Vector Layer

Adds a vector layer to the Layers list.

Add Bitmap Layer

Adds a bitmap layer to the Layers list.

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Tool Name

Duplicate Selected
LayersGroup Selected
LayersDelete Selected
Layers

Icon

Description

Duplicates selected layers so you can quickly copy and paste in one
operation. Unlike copying a layer, you cannot paste multiple copies of alayer on other panels. Duplicating layers is only available w ithin one panel.
Duplicated layers retain their names and are appended w ith a number.

Groups selected layers. The grouped layer is named Group and appended
w ith an underscore and a number. For example, Group_1. Each time you
creat a group, the number is incremented.

Deletes the selected layers.

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Storyboard View
The Storyboard view displays basic information about your project. It also allow s you to w rite, import, viewand edit the script for your storyboard.

How to access the Storyboard view
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

In a view area, click the Add View‣

Select W indows > Storyboard.

button and select Storyboard.

Icon

Tool Name

Description--

Project Information

A collapsible section that displays the follow ing
information: duration, number of acts, sequences,
scenes, panels, and transitions.

Text Formatting

Displays the Text Formatting toolbar for formatting
the text in the Script caption area.

ResizeW hen there are tw o or more panels present, resizes
the panel in three different sizes: opens panel fully,

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Chapter 6: View s

opens mid-sized panel or collapses the panel.

Lets you access commands for adding, importing,deleting and renaming captions. You can also importscripts created in Final Draft.

Caption Menu--

Like panel captions, storyboard captions are fully
customizable. The difference is that the information
you store here is relevant for the entire storyboard,

Script Caption

rather than for a specific panel. This default caption
field is specifically there for your script.

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Thumbnails View

The Thumbnails View displays all the panels of your project in chronological order. You can use this view tonavigate through your storyboard, rearrange panels and scenes, and select the panel to display in the Stageview .
By default, it is not possible to draw in the Thumbnails view and there are no brow sing buttons. But you canchange these settings in the Preferences dialog box.

How to access the Thumbnails view
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

In a view area, click the Add View‣

Select W indows > Thumbnails.

button and select Thumbnails View.

How to enable drawing in the Thumbnails view
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

Select Edit File > Preferences (W indow s) or Storyboard Pro > Preferences (macOS).

‣

Press Ctrl + U (W indow s) or ⌘ + , (macOS).

2. In the Preferences dialog box, select the General tab.
3. In the General section, deselect the Forbid drawing on panel thumbnails option.

How to display the next and previous thumbnails
1. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Global UI tab.

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Chapter 6: View s

2. In the Thumbnails View section, select the Display Next and Previous Buttons option.
Tw o buttons appear on the Thumbnails view to let you display the next and previous thumbnails.

How to keep the current panel centered
1. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Global UI tab.
2. In the Thumbnail View section, select the Keep Current Panel Centred option.

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Timeline View
In Storyboard Pro, you can create an animatic from your storyboard by using the Timeline view . The Timelineview is very much like the timeline in a video editing softw are. Among other things, it allow s you to visually
adjust the timing of each panel, to import, cue and clip sound and video clips, to animate camera movements,
to animate layers and to add transitions betw een scenes. Hence, it w ill accompany you in each step tow ards
making your animatic.

How to access the Timeline view
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top-right corner of a view , click on the Add Viewl

Select W indows > Timeline.#

button and select Timeline.

Icon

Functionality

Description--

Current timecode

The timecode of at w hich the timeline cursor is. You can click and drag thetimecode to move the timeline cursor.

--

Length of project

The total length of the animatic.

Video & storyboard tracks

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Chapter 6: View s

Icon

Functionality

Description

Video tracks can be added below or above the Storyboard track to show
images or videos in overlay or underlay.
Each video track has the follow ing toggle buttons:lVisible /Hidden: If the video track is hidden, its video clips

w ill not be visible in the Stage View and the Camera View .
lSolo Mode Off /Solo Mode On: W hen Solo Mode is enabled

for a video track, only its video clips w ill be visible in the Stage View
and the Camera View .
l--Unlocked /Locked: W hen a video track is locked, it is notpossible to add, remove or edit clips inside it, nor to manipulate its
clips in the Stage View and Camera View .

Video trackl

Synced /Unsynced: W hen Sync is enabled for a video track,

w hen moving or offsetting a panel, any video clip that is cued during
this panel w ill move along w ith it, to remain synchronized w ith theaction.

TIP
If you hold the Alt key and click on a toggle button for a video track, it
w ill turn on the sw itch for that video track, and toggle it on or off forevery other video track.

For scenes w here the camera is animated, this allow s you to see andmanipulate the keyframes of the camera movements. A dark grey bar
displays betw een camera keyframes to indicate that the camera moves.

--

Camera animation
track

l

Previous Keyframe: Moves the timeline playhead to the previous
keyframe on the trackl

Add Keyframe /Remove Keyframe: If no keyframe is at thecurrent frame, this adds a keyframe. If a keyframe is at the current
frame, this deletes the keyframe.

l

Next Keyframe: Moves the timeline playhead to the next keyframeon the track.

The track containing the panels and scenes of your storyboard.
--

Storyboard track

Contrary to the Thumbnails view , the w idth of each panel and scene isrelative to their length in the animatic.

--

Current sequence

The number of the sequence in w hich the timeline cursor is.

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Storyboard Pro 22 Reference Guide

Icon

Functionality

Description--

Current scene

The number of the scene in w hich the timeline cursor is.

--

Current panel

The number of the panel in w hich the timeline cursor is.

If the currently selected layer is animated, this allow s you to see andmanipulate the keyframes of the layer. A dark grey bar displays betw een
layer keyframes to indicate that the layer is animated.

--lPrevious Keyframe: Moves the timeline playhead to the previous
keyframe on the trackl

Add Keyframe /Remove Keyframe: If no keyframe is at thecurrent frame, this adds a keyframe. If a keyframe is at the current
frame, this deletes the keyframe.

l

Next Keyframe: Moves the timeline playhead to the next keyframeon the track.

Layer animation
track

NOTE
The name of the currently selected layer is displayed in the layer
animation track, just right of L:.

Audio tracks section

W here you can put sound clips to play sound along w ith your animatic. Your
project can have several audio tracks.
Each audio track has the follow ing toggle buttons:lMute Off /Mute On: If an audio track is muted, you w ill nothear its sound clips during playback or w hile scrubbing.
l--Solo Mode Off /Solo Mode On: W hen Solo Mode is enabledon an audio track, you w ill only hear this track's sound clip during
playback or w hile scrubbing.

Audio tracksl

Unlocked /Locked: W hen an audio track is locked, it is notpossible to add, remove or edit clips inside it.
lSynced /Unsynced: W hen Sync is enabled for an audio track,

w hen moving or offsetting a panel, any sound clip that is cued during
this panel w ill move along w ith it, to remain synchronized w ith theaction.

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Chapter 6: View s

Icon

Functionality

Description

TIP
If you hold the Alt key and click on a toggle button for an audio track, it
w ill turn on the sw itch for that audio track, and toggle it on or off forevery other audio track.

W hen enabled, the part of the soundtrack that is at the current frame w ill
Audio Scrubbing

play every time you move the timeline cursor, allow ing you to navigate thetimeline of your animatic by sound. This makes it easier to synchronize theaction and the audio in your animatic.

Snapping

Enable this option to make sound clips align w ith the beginning and end ofpanels in the animatic w hen you move or resize them.

Overw rite Sound
Clips

Enable this option to be able to move a video or sound clip over another video
or sound clip. The part of the target clip that meshes w ith the clip being
moved w ill be cut out.

By default, every change you make in the lengths of your scenes and panels
w ill result in subsequent scenes and panels to ripple backw ard or forw ard, so
as to make sure there is no hole in the timeline.
W hen Animatic Editing Mode is enabled, you can reposition the in-point andout-point of each panel w ithout affecting anything else in your your animatic.
This means that, in this mode, shortening or deleting a panel creates a hole in
the timeline in w hich another panel can be extended, moved or created. You
can also delete panels or scenes and leave holes behind instead of rippling
subsequent panels backw ard.
Animatic Editing
Mode

Then, in the gaps you created in your animatic, you can move existing panels,
create new panels or resize a panel next to the gap to fill it.

In this w ay, Animatic Editing Mode makes the w orkflow in Storyboard Pro
more similar to that of a typical video editing softw are, w hich may makeediting easier for users w ho are familiar w ith this kind of application.

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Icon

Functionality

Description

TIP
You can also temporarily toggle Animatic Editing Mode by pressing andholding Ctrl (W indow s) or ⌘ (macOS).

Opens a menu containing the follow ing options:--lShow Camera Track: Show or hide the Camera movement track
above the Storyboard track.

lShow Layer Track: Show or hide the Layer animation track beneaththe Storyboard track.

lShow W aveform: Displays a w aveform inside the audio clip,
allow ing you to see w here the audio peaks so you can sync the action
w ith it.

lShow Volume: Displays a volume envelope throughout the soundclip. By default, this envelope is a straight line in the middle of theclip, indicating that the volume of the clip is neutral all throughout.
You can add keyframes to the envelope, and move them up or dow n
to modulate the volume of the sound clip as it plays.

lShow Sound Clip Names: Displays the name of the audio file insideeach sound clip.

lOverwrite Clips: Enable this option to be able to move a video orsound clip over another video or sound clip. The part of the target clipthat meshes w ith the clip being moved w ill be cut out.

lChange Frame W hen Clicking on Tracks: Enable this toautomatically move the timeline cursor to the position of the mouse
cursor w hen you click on a video or audio track. By default, thetimeline cursor only moves w hen you click on the timeline ruler or on
the camera, storyboard or layer track.

lSnapping: Enable this option to make sound clips align w ith the
beginning and end of panels in the animatic w hen you move or resize
them.

Timeline menu

If acts are enabled, these markers indicate w hen a new act starts as w ell as
the number of this act.
--

New act

NOTE
Acts are disabled by default, and can be enabled in the General tab of
the Preferences dialog.

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Chapter 6: View s

Icon

--

Functionality

Description

Video clip

A video clip can contain a still image or a video. Each video clip is defined by ateal rectangle in a video track. You can change the duration of still images
and clip videos by clicking and dragging the left or right edge of video clips.
You can also click and drag video clips to move them backw ard or forw ard intime, or to move them from one video track to another.

This indicates transitions betw een tw o scenes. The transition w ill have a
specific appearance depending on the type of transition used:

Preview

Transition Type

Dissolve--

Transition

Edge W ipe

Clock W ipe

Slide

Allow s you to select a point in your timeline to w ork on your animatic.
Dragging the timeline cursor displays the animatic at the precise point in time
w here the cursor is in the Stage and Camera view s, allow ing you to scrub
through your animatic. It w ill also automatically set the current panel to thepanel the cursor is over, allow ing you to edit that panel.

--

Timeline cursor

--

Scene

Scenes are defined by rounded rectangles w ith their upper and low er edges
visible above and below their panels.

--

Cameramovement

Each keyframe in the Camera animation track defines a position for thecamera. If tw o or more camera keyframes are in the same scene, the camera

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Icon

Functionality

Description

w ill be animated from each keyframe to the next keyframe, creating a camera
movement.

--

New sequence

If your project contains sequence, each sequence is defined in the Timelineview by a purple bar above the scenes the sequence contains. A new
sequence is indicated by a break in the purple bar.

--

Reset zoom

Sets the zoom level of the Timeline view to its default value.

Timeline zoom
sliderAllow s you to change the zoom level of the Timeline view . The Timeline view
only zooms horizontally, meaning zooming in w ill make panels, animations
and sound clips span over more horizontal space, but they w ill take the sameamount of vertical space.

--

Layer animation

Each keyframe in the Layer animation track defines a position for thecurrently selected layer. If tw o or more layer keyframes are in the same
panel, the layer w ill be animated from each keyframe to the next keyframe,
creating a layer animation.

--

Panel

Each panel displays a thumbnail and is separated by a black vertical bar in
the storyboard track. You can change the length of each panel by clicking anddragging its right edge.

--

Each sound clip is defined by a teal rectangle in an audio track. You can clip
sound clips by clicking and dragging their left or right edge. You can also click
and drag sound clips to move them backw ard or forw ard in time, or to movethem from one audio track to another.

TIP--

Sound clip

You can enable the Show W aveform option to get a visual idea of thecontent of sound clips, w hich can help you synchronize the action w ith
the audio. You can also enable the Show Volume option to display a
volume envelope on each sound clip, to w hich you can add keyframes
and modulate the volume of sound clips as they play. These options areavailable in the Sound top menu, in the right-click menu of audio tracks
and in the Timeline menu

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at the bottom left of the Timeline view .

Chapter 6: View s

Tool Properties View
The Tool Properties view contains the options and operations available for the currently selected tool. W hen
you select a tool in the Tools toolbar, the Tool Properties view updates to display its available options.

For information on specific tools, see Tool Properties on page 344.

How to access the Tool Properties view
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

In a view area, click the Add View‣

Select W indows > Tool Properties.

button and select Tool Properties View.

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Top and Side Views
W hen w orking in 3D, you can use the Stage view to look at your stage from any point of view and any angle,
allow ing you to see how objects are positioned in space, and you can use the Camera view to look at yourstage from the point of view of the camera. How ever, you may often need to have precise control over how
objects and layers are positioned on the z-axis.
The Top and Side view s allow you to view the stage from its top and from its side, respectively. Because theseview s do not apply perspective to the stage, they can be used to position elements w ith more precision. Using
the Side view , you can view and position layers and objects on the front-back (z) axis , as w ell as on the northsouth (y) axis. Using the Top view , you can view and position layers and objects on the front-back (z) as w ellas the east-w est (x) axis. Hence, both view s combined can help you position objects on the z-axis w ithout
losing sight of their position on the other axes.

Status Bar
The status bar is located at the bottom of the Top and Side view s and contains tools for helping you view 3D
objects, identify the layer name, the current tool and access the Colour Picker tool.

Axes
The Top and Side view s provide you w ith the follow ing information:

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Chapter 6: View sl

Top View: Displays the position of layers and objects on the Front-Back (Z) axis, as w ell as on the EastW est (X) axis.

lSide View: Displays the position of layers and objects on the Front-Back (Z) axis, as w ell as on the
North-South (Y) axis.

How to access the Top and Side views
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

In a view area, click the Add View‣

Select W indows > Top View or Side View.

button and select Top View or Side View.

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Chapter 7: W orkspaces

Chapter 7: W orkspaces
The Storyboard Pro w orkspace is comprised of several view s. You can customize your w orkspace to suit yourw ork style, save it as a new w orkspace, and load it from the W orkspace toolbar.
The first time you open Storyboard Pro, the default Draw ing w orkspace is loaded. There are a total of eight
ready-made w orkspaces.
W orkspace

Icon

Description

Draw ing

This w orkspace is designed to enable you to draw your storyboard efficiently.
The main space is the large Stage view and the Thumbnails view is at thebottom. This w orkspace also gives you quick and easy access to all your tools,
as w ell as the Panel and Storyboard view s.

Timeline

This w orkspace is designed w ith the process of animatic creation in mind. The
main space is the large Stage view and the Timeline view is at the bottom,
w here you can easily edit the timing of panels, transitions and sounds. Thisw orkspace also gives you quick and easy access to all your tools, as w ell as the
Panel and Storyboard view s.

Overview

This w orkspace is designed to provide an organized overview of your project.
The main space is the Thumbnails view w here you can efficiently reorganize
the order of your panels.

Horizontal

This w orkspace displays your project as a classic horizontal paper storyboard
layout. The main space displays three panels at a time, w ith the panel
information show n below each one.

VerticalThis w orkspace displays your project as a classic vertical paper storyboard
layout. The main space displays tw o panels at a time, w ith the panel
information show n at the side of each.

Pitch Mode

This w orkspace displays your project w ith a different set of view s than theother w orkspaces. Access is only given to a certain number of features. Thismaximizes the view ing space to focus solely on the story being pitched.
The Pitch Mode w orkspace occupies the entire display screen. There are no
toolbars or top menu available.

PDF View

This w orkspace displays your project w ith the view s required to quickly set up
your PDF export.

3D View

This w orkspace displays your project w ith the view s appropriate for w orking

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W orkspace

Icon

Description

w ith 3D objects, including the Camera, Top, Timeline, and Layers view s.

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Chapter 7: W orkspaces

Pitch Mode W orkspace
The Pitch Mode w orkspace contains a different set of view s than the other w orkspaces, and occupies theentire display screen. Access is only given to a certain number of features. This maximizes the view ing spaceby removing any unnecessary distractions such as toolbars and buttons, allow ing your audience to focus
solely on the story being pitched. It also has an easy comment feature that is not available in the otherw orkspaces. The view s in this w orkspace do not have tabs or names. You cannot add or remove view s.
How ever, you can hide the side view s temporarily to maximize the Camera view .
There is also a Pitch Mode view that behaves in almost the same w ay as the Pitch Mode w orkspace, but
provides access to the other view s and menus.

How to access the Pitch Mode workspace
Do one of the follow ing:l

In the View toolbar, click on the Pitch Modebutton.

l

From the W orkspace toolbar, select Pitch Mode .

l

In the top menu, select W indows > W orkspace > W orkspace > Pitch Mode.

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How to exit the Pitch Mode workspacel

In the Control Panel view , click the Exit Pitch Modebutton.

NOTE
To exit the w orkspace, you can also sw itch to another w orkspace using the top menu.

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Chapter 7: W orkspaces

Thumbnails View
The Thumbnails view is very similar to the Thumbnails view found in the other w orkspaces and the View
menu. It allow s you to see the scenes, panels, and transitions in your storyboard. The main difference is thatyou cannot see the draw ing layers included in the panel, only the composited image of all your layers—see
Thumbnails View on page 561.
You can easily navigate through the thumbnails w ithout clicking on them by using the default keyboard
shortcuts A and F.

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Control Panel
The Control Panel view is w here you play back the storyboard, see the dialogue or selected caption for thecurrent panel, and access the comments settings and tools

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Playing Back the Storyboard
The Playback toolbar lets you play back your storyboard. W hen you create an animatic w ith transitions andsound, you can play it back in real time to check the timin.

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Navigating the Camera View
If you w ant to zoom in and out or pan in the Camera view , you can use the View tools in the Control Panelview .

‣ To navigate in the Camera view , deselect the Camera Mode
Iconbutton in the Control Panel view .

Tool Name

Keyboard Shortcut

Zoom In2

Zoom Out

1

Pan

Spacebar

2 for zoom in
1 for zoom out

Zoom Tool

W hen the Zoom tool is selected, hold Alt as you click
to zoom out.

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Chapter 7: W orkspaces

Panel View

The Panel view displays the captions related to the current panel. You can see the dialogue, action notes or
any other caption available in your storyboard. You can also add, remove or edit Comments captions.

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