Toon Boom
Harmony24
Paint Application

TOON BOOM ANIMATION INC.

+1 514 278 8666

55 Mont-Royal Avenue West, Suite 1000
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
H2T 2S6

contact@toonboom.com
toonboom.com

Harmony 24 Paint Preferences GuideLegal Notices
Toon Boom Animation Inc.
55 avenue du Mont-Royal Ouest
Montréal Québec, Canada
H2T 2S6

Tel: +1 514 278 8666
Fax: +1 514 278 2666
toonboom.com

Disclaimer
The content of this document is the property of Toon Boom Animation Inc. and is copyrighted. Any
reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.
The content of this document is covered by a specific limited warranty and exclusions and limit of liability
under the applicable License Agreement as supplemented by the special terms and conditions forAdobe®Flash® File Format (SWF). For details, refer to the License Agreement and to those special terms andconditions.

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

Publication Date07-25-2024
Copyright © 2024 Toon Boom Animation Inc. All rights reserved.

1

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Table of Contents

2

About Harmony Preferences

3Accessing the Preferences Dialog

4Switching Between Preference Sets

5Exporting Preferences

8Importing Preferences

9Resetting Preferences

10Preferences File Location

11Preferences Dialog Reference

12General Preferences

13

Drawing Mode Preferences

15

OpenGL Preferences

172Harmony 24 Paint Preferences Guide

About Harmony Preferences
The Preferences dialog box allows you to adjust preferences to suit your workflow and your production'sneeds.

3

Accessing the Preferences Dialog

Accessing the Preferences Dialog
You can access the Preferences dialog from the Edit menu on Windows and GNU/Linux, or from the Harmony[Edition] menu on macOS.

How to open the Preferences dialog box
1. Do one of the following:llWindows or GNU/Linux:l

In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U.

macOS:l

In the top menu, select Harmony [Edition] > Preferences.

l

Press ⌘ + U.

4

Harmony 24 Paint Preferences GuideSwitching Between Preference Sets
Harmony comes preloaded with five different preference presets (referred to as preference sets), each tailored
for a different kind of task. By default, the Basic preference set is used. You can choose which preference set touse in Preferences dialog.
A large part of the default settings in the different preference sets are the same. The following table describes
which option is different depending in each preference set, and how:
Preference Set
Tab /Location

GeneralTimeline

Advanced

Preference
Basic

Compositing

CutoutAnimation

Paperless
Animation

Rigging

Focus on
Mouse Enter

Off

On

On

On

On

Default
Separate
Position forPegs

Off

Off

On

Off

On

Stop-Motion
Keyframes

Off

Off

On

Off

On

ReduceIndentation

Off

On

On

Off

On

Drawing
Substitution:
Create Key
Exposure

On

Off

Off

Off

On

SupportOverlay andUnderlay
Arts

OffOn

OnOffOnAdvancedPalette List

OffOn

On

On

On

Advanced
Element

OffOn

Off

Off

Off5Switching Between Preference Sets

Preference Set
Tab /Location

Preference
Basic

Compositing

CutoutAnimation

Paperless
Animation

Rigging

On

On

OffOn

OffOn

On

On

On

OffModeElement
Node
AnimateUsing
Animation
Tools
Pencil Tool
Properties

Auto Close
Gap

NOTES
l

When you customize a preference manually, it is not saved to the current preference set. It issaved as an override for all preference sets.

l

Switching between preference sets only affects preferences that you have not manuallycustomized yourself. This means, for example, that if you manually enable the Focus on MouseEnter preference, this preference will no longer be affected when you switch to a different
preference set.

l

To make all your preferences affected by the preference set you select again, you must reset
your preferences—see Resetting Preferences on page 10.

How to switch between preference presets
1. Do one of the following to open the Preferences dialog:lWindows or GNU/Linux:l

In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U.

6

Harmony 24 Paint Preferences Guidel

macOS:l

In the top menu, select Harmony [Edition] > Preferences.

l

Press ⌘ + U.

2. In the top-left corner of the Preferences dialog, open the Preference Set drop-down and select thepreset you want to use.
Preferences will be updated according to the table above, except for those that you manually set.
3. Click on OK.

7

Exporting Preferences

Exporting Preferences
You can export your current preferences to an XML file. You can reimport this file later to restore yourpreferences, or share it with project collaborators so that you all use the same preferences.
NOTE
When you export your preferences, only the preferences for the currently selected preference set
are exported.

How to export your preferences configuration
1. Do one of the following to open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog:llWindows or GNU/Linux:l

In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U.

macOS:l

In the top menu, select Harmony [Edition] > Preferences.

l

Press ⌘ + U.

2. Near the top of the dialog, right of the Preference Set: drop-down, click on the Export... button.
An export dialog appears.
3. Browse to the location where you want to save your preference file.
4. Type in the desired name for your preference file.
5. Click on Save.
Your current preference settings have been exported as an XML file, in the selected location withthe file name you gave it.

8Harmony 24 Paint Preferences GuideImporting Preferences
You can import a preference file exported from Harmony.
NOTESl

To export preferences into a file, see Exporting Preferences on page 8.

lWhen you import a preference file, it will override all your preferences for the currently
selected preference set.

How to import a keyboard shortcut configuration file
1. Do one of the following to open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog:llWindows or GNU/Linux:l

In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U.

macOS:l

In the top menu, select Harmony [Edition] > Preferences.

lPress ⌘ + U.

2. At the right of the Preference Set: drop-down, click on the Import... button.
An import dialog appears.
3. Browse to the directory where your preference file is located.
4. Select the preference file you want to import.
5. Click on Open.
The settings in the selected preference file are loaded into the Preferences dialog, overwriting yourcurrent preferences.

9Resetting Preferences

Resetting Preferences
You can reset the preferences in Harmony to their default settings.
IMPORTANTThis will permanently undo all the changes you made to your Harmony preferences.

How to reset your keyboard shortcuts configuration
1. Do one of the following to open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog:lWindows or GNU/Linux: In the top menu, select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.

lmacOS: In the top menu, select Harmony [Edition] > Keyboard Shortcuts.

2. In the bottom-left corner of the Preferences dialog, click on Restore All Defaults.
A confirmation prompt appears.
3. If you are sure you want to restore the default preferences for Harmony, click on Yes.
All the preferences in the Preferences dialog are now set to their default setting.

10Harmony 24 Paint Preferences GuidePreferences File Location
T-HFND-002-002
After the first time you have launched Harmony, your preferences, along with numerous other options andswitches in the user interface, are stored in a hidden directory on your computer. If you are using Harmony
Server, they are stored in a directory for your user on the database server.
Depending on your operating system, and whether or not you are using Harmony Stand Alone or Harmony
Server, you can find your preference files in the following location:lWindows: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony[Edition]\full-2401-pref
NOTE
On Windows, the AppData folder is hidden. To display it in Explorer, in the top menu, open
the View pane and check the Hidden Items checkbox.

lmacOS: /Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom Harmony[Edition]/full-2401-pref
NOTE
On macOS, the Library folder is hidden. To display it in Finder, hold down the Alt key.

l

GNU/Linux: /home/[username]/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom Harmony [Edition]/full-2401-pref/

When using Harmony Server, preferences are stored in your Harmony Server account's user space on thedatabase server, in the following path:l/USA_DB/users/[user_name]/Harmony/full-2401-pref
TIP
You can set a preferred path using the environment variable HARMONY_PREFERENCE_PATH tospecify a location where Harmony can read and write your preferences.

11Preferences Dialog Reference

Preferences Dialog Reference
The following section contains a an article for each tab in the Preferences dialog. Each article contains a list of
all the preferences in its tab, as well as a description of the preference. Refer to this section if you want toknow more about what a specific preference does or if you want to get familiarized with all of the preferencesin Harmony.
General Preferences

13

Drawing Mode Preferences

15

OpenGL Preferences

1712

Harmony 24 Paint Preferences GuideGeneral Preferences

To customize your interface, you will use some of the preferences located in the General tab as well as theCamera tab.
Parameter

Description
Save Palette Lists: Saves all palette lists you have modified when the Savecommand is activated. When this option is deselected, the Save command
will not save the palette lists and you must use the Save command to savethem.

SaveSave Palettes: Saves palettes you modified when the Save command isactivated. When this option is deselected, the Save command will not savethe modified palettes and you must use the Save command to save them.
Save Drawings: Saves all drawings you have modified when the Savecommand is activated. When this option is deselected, the Save command
will not save the modified drawings and you must use the Save command tosave them.

Colours

Current View Border: Sets the colour of the frame around the workspaceview you are currently using, also known as focus. By default, the colour isred. Click on the red colour swatch to select a new colour in the Colour
Picker window.
Edit Colours: The Edit Colours button opens the Colours dialog, whichallows you to set the colour for dozens of visual elements in the userinterface.
Edit Palette Mode: Default value for Edit Palette Mode.

Options/Settings

Edit Palette List Mode: Default value for Edit Palette List Mode.
Cycle Exposure: Make navigation in the Xsheet View wrap-around from13

Preferences Dialog Reference

the last frame or the last column to the first.
HTML Browser for Unix: This option is used to view the online help onLinux machines. Enter the command to launch the browser, including thepath if necessary.
Levels of Undo: Determines the number of actions retained by the Undo
list. By default, 50 actions are stored in the list. You can alter the number if
you want to.
Interactive Colour Recovery: If a colour palette required to display adrawing is not found because it was moved or deleted from its location, youwill be asked if you wish to recover the missing colours into a newtemporary palette. If this option is disabled, the colour recovery will happenautomatically without your confirmation.

Colour Management

Colour Recovery: By default, if a colour palette required to display adrawing is missing because it has been moved or deleted, Harmony
recovers the missing colours into a new temporary palette. If this option isdisabled, Harmony will skip this step and display the zones painted withmissing colours with the Replacement Colour, which is solid red by default.
Advanced Palette List: When enabled, palettes can be linked to specificelements instead of to the scene, and can be stored in an directory specificto an element, the scene, the scene's job or the scene's environment.
Replacement Colour: If certain colours are no longer available, Harmony
will display the replacement colour in the zones painted with missingcolours.

14Harmony 24 Paint Preferences Guide

Drawing Mode Preferences

Parameter

Description
Render Style:Onion Skin•

Original Colours: Drawings displayed in the Onion Skin are renderedusing their real colours.

•Coloured:Drawings displayed in the Onion Skin are displayed in solid red
if they are before the current frame, or in solid green if they are after thecurrent frame.

•Coloured Outlines: Drawings displayed in the Onion Skin are displayed inred outlines if they are before the current frame and in green outlines ifthey are after the current frame.

Maximum Wash Value (0,0-1,0): The maximum washed-out value for onion
skinned drawings.
Minimum Wash Value (0,0-1,0): The minimum washed-out value for onion
skinned drawings.
Grid On By Default: When opening the Drawing view, the grid displays
automatically.

Options

Default Multiwheel Colour Picker: Displays the Multiwheel Colour Picker
window instead of the regular Colour Picker.
Brush Size Cursor: When this option is enabled, the brush tool displays the brushsize as a circle around the cursor.
Sticky Eye Dropper: Keeps the Colour Picker’s Dropper tool active until it isreleased by clicking the Dropper icon again.

Settings

Auto Gap Closing: The values for automatic gap closing while painting drawings
are: 0 = Disabled, 1=Small, 2=Medium, 3=Big15

Preferences Dialog Reference

Light Table: Enable Shade: When enabled, the drawings appearing in the Light
Table are displayed in washed out colours in the Drawing view. When this option
is disabled, the drawings appearing in the Light Table are displayed using normal
colours. This option is for the Drawing view only.

16Harmony 24 Paint Preferences Guide

OpenGL Preferences

Parameter

Description
Conservative Texture Management: Turns on and off conservative memory
management for bitmap texture files. Performance will improve when this isenabled. If disabled, you will have a better on-screen rendering of bitmap files atthe expense of slower performance.
Smooth Textures: Smooths out the pixels of bitmap images when zooming in;this improves bitmap image quality.

SettingsAlternate Gradient and Cutter: This is an alternative way to disable write in theOpenGL Backbuffer, required for some video cards (i.e. GeForce FX5200). Do notenable this option unless you are experiencing problems with gradients andcutters in OpenGL.
Maximum Texture Size: The size that the bitmap file will be reduced to whenusing the Conservative Texture Management.
Texture Memory: The amount of temporary memory used to store bitmap texture
files.
The following options allow you to configure the way drawings are previewed inHarmony.

Full Scene Antialiasing

Enable : By default, drawings displayed in Harmony have no antialiasing anddisplay hard pixels at the edge of strokes and lines. If this preference is enabled,antialiasing will be done through the graphic card to enhance the quality ofdrawings and make a preview that resemble the final render more closely. This
may impact application performance negatively.
Number of samples: The amount of times the OpenGL preview is scaled up
before processing it for antialiasing. The higher this value is, the better the17Preferences Dialog Reference

antialiasing quality will be but the heavier it will be on the machine's resources.

NOTESlll

It may be necessary to restart the application to see the effects after
changing either of these settings.
These settings may be overriden by the 3D antialiasing settings of thedriver for your graphics card. If changing these settings and restarting
the application seems to have no effect, make sure your graphics card
supports antialiasing, that antialiasing is enabled and that it isconfigured to let applications control their antialiasing.
These settings only affect the way drawings are previewed in OpenGL.
They have no effect on the final rendered image, or on the way theimage looks when setting the Camera view in Render Preview mode.

Enable AA on 2D/3D Interactions: Defines whether 3D content is specificallyanti-aliased when interacting with 2D content.
When enabled, 3D content will have extra anti-aliasing applied. The result will
be smoother edges in the 2D and 3D content rendered in that pass.

Playback Images

Enable Playback Caching: Enable the caching of OpenGL previews for quick
playback.
Playback Cache Size (in Mb): The maximum size of the cache used to store
cached playback images.
Enable Textures in Pencil Lines: Controls whether textures applied on pencil
lines are rendered for the OpenGL preview.

Drawings

Enable Variable Line Thickness: Controls whether lines with a variable width are
rendered with their variable width or with a constant width in the OpenGL
preview.
Enable Tone and Highlight: Controls whether Tone and Highlight effects arerendered in the OpenGL preview.

Effects

Enable Cutter: Controls whether Cutter effects are processed for the OpenGL
preview.
Enable Colour Override: Controls whether Colour-Override effects are renderedin the OpenGL preview.

Rendering Caching

Enable Rendering Caching of Composite Nodes: Controls whether nonpassthrough Composite nodes cache their composited image when Harmony
generates an OpenGL preview. This is useful when the image generated by acomposite is used several times in a scene, for example because a composite's
output port is connected to several other nodes. If this preference is disabled, the18Harmony 24 Paint Preferences Guidecomposite will regenerate the preview for its node system for each of its outgoingconnections. When enabled, the composite will generate the preview for its node
system once, cache it, and output the cached image to its other outgoingconnections.
Composite Cache Capacity (MB): The maximum amount of cache available tostore images cached by Composite nodes. This cache is stored in the graphic
card's video memory. If your machine has a lot of video memory, increasing thissetting could enhance the performance of Harmony when working with heavy
scenes.
Enable Interactive Camera View Cache (Beta): When enabled, Harmony keeps acache of the current preview image in the Camera view. This cache is used toregenerate parts of the preview image when moving the mouse cursor around orwhen manipulating drawing and animation controls in the Camera view.
Otherwise, Harmony will regenerate these parts of the preview image, which may
impact performance when working on a complex scene.
Enable Rendering Caching of CacheLock Nodes: Controls whether OpenGL
Cache Lock nodes are used to generate the OpenGL preview. Disabling thispreference has the same effect as disabling all OpenGL Cache Lock nodes in thescene.
CacheLock Cache Capacity (MB): The maximum amount of cache available tostore preview images cached by OpenGL Cache Lock nodes. This cache is stored
in the graphic card's video memory. If your machine has a lot of video memory,increasing this setting could enhance the performance of Harmony when working
with heavy scenes.

19