Toon Boom
Harmony22
Paint Application
Preferences Guide

TOON BOOM ANIMATION INC.

+1 514 278 8666

4200 St.Laurent Blvd, Suite 1020
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
H2W 2R2

contact@toonboom.com
toonboom.com

Harmony 22 Paint Preferences 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 forAdobe® 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. Harmony™ and the Toon Boom logo are trademarks of Toon Boom
Animation Inc. All other trademarks of the property of their respective ow ners.

Publication Date09-23-2022
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

About Harmony Preferences

3

Accessing the Preferences Dialog

4

Switching Between Preference Sets

5

Exporting Preferences

8

Importing Preferences

9Resetting Preferences

10Preferences File Location

11Preferences Dialog Reference

12General Preferences

13

Draw ing Mode Preferences

15

OpenGL Preferences

172Harmony 22 Paint Preferences Guide

About Harmony Preferences
The Preferences dialog box allow s you to adjust preferences to suit your w orkflow and your production'sneeds.

3

Accessing the Preferences Dialog

Accessing the Preferences DialogYou can access the Preferences dialog from the Edit menu on W indow s and GNU/Linux, or from the Harmony[Edition] menu on macOS.

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

W indows 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 22 Paint Preferences GuideSwitching Between Preference Sets
Harmony comes preloaded w ith 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 w hich preference set touse in Preferences dialog.
A large part of the default settings in the different preference sets are the same. The follow ing table describes
w hich 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 EnterOffOn

On

On

On

Default
Separate
Position forPegs

OffOffOn

OffOn

Stop- Motion
Keyframes

OffOffOn

OffOn

ReduceIndentation

OffOn

OnOffOn

Drawing
Substitution:
Create Key
Exposure

On

Off

Off

Off

On

SupportOverlay andUnderlay
Arts

OffOn

On

OffOn

Advanced
Palette List

OffOn

On

On

OnAdvanced
Element

OffOn

Off

OffOff5Sw itching Betw een 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

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

l

Sw itching betw een 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 w ill no longer be affected w hen you sw itch 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 follow ing to open the Preferences dialog:l

W indows or GNU/Linux:l

In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U.

6

Harmony 22 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-dow n and select thepreset you w ant to use.
Preferences w ill 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 w ith project collaborators so that you all use the same preferences.

NOTEW hen 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 follow ing to open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog:ll

W indows 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-dow n, click on the Save... button.
A save dialog appears.
3. Brow se to the location w here you w ant 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 w ith
the file name you gave it.

8Harmony 22 Paint Preferences Guide

Importing Preferences
You can import a preference file exported from Harmony.

NOTES
l

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

l

W hen you import a preference file, it w ill override all your preferences for the currently
selected preference set.

How to import a keyboard shortcut configuration file
1. Do one of the follow ing to open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog:ll

W indows 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. At the right of the Preference Set: drop-dow n, click on the Load... button.
An open dialog appears.
3. Brow se to the directory w here your preference file is located.
4. Select the preference file you w ant to import.
5. Click on Open.
The settings in the selected preference file are loaded into the Preferences dialog, overw riting yourcurrent preferences.

9Resetting Preferences

Resetting Preferences
You can reset the preferences in Harmony to their default settings.

IMPORTANTThis w ill permanently undo all the changes you made to your Harmony preferences.

How to reset your keyboard shortcuts configuration
1. Do one of the follow ing to open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog:l

W indows 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 w ant 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 22 Paint Preferences GuidePreferences File Location
T-HFND-002-002
After the first time you have launched Harmony, your preferences, along w ith numerous other options andsw itches 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 w hether or not you are using Harmony Stand Alone or Harmony
Server, you can find your preference files in the follow ing location:l

W indows: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony[Edition]\full-2000-pref

NOTE
On W indow s, 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-2000-pref

NOTE
On macOS, the Library folder is hidden. To display it in Finder, hold dow n the Alt key.

l

GNU/Linux: /home/[username]/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom Harmony [Edition]/full-2000-pref/

W hen using Harmony Server, preferences are stored in your Harmony Server account's user space on thedatabase server, in the follow ing path:l/USA_DB/users/[user_name]/Harmony/full-2000-pref

11Preferences Dialog Reference

Preferences Dialog Reference
The follow ing section contains a an article for each tab in the Preferences dialog. Each article contains a list ofall the preferences in its tab, as w ell as a description of the preference. Refer to this section if you w ant toknow more about w hat a specific preference does or if you w ant to get familiarized w ith all of the preferencesin Harmony.
General Preferences

13Draw ing Mode Preferences

15OpenGL Preferences

1712

Harmony 22 Paint Preferences GuideGeneral Preferences

To customize your interface, you w ill use some of the preferences located in the General tab as w ell as theCamera tab.
Parameter

Description

Save Palette Lists: Saves all palette lists you have modified w hen the Savecommand is activated. W hen this option is deselected, the Save command
w ill not save the palette lists and you must use the Save command to savethem.

Save

Save Palettes: Saves palettes you modified w hen the Save command isactivated. W hen this option is deselected, the Save command w ill not savethe modified palettes and you must use the Save command to save them.
Save Drawings: Saves all draw ings you have modified w hen the Savecommand is activated. W hen this option is deselected, the Save command
w ill not save the modified draw ings and you must use the Save command tosave them.

Colours

Current View Border: Sets the colour of the frame around the w orkspaceview you are currently using, also know n as focus. By default, the colour isred. Click on the red colour sw atch to select a new colour in the Colour
Picker w indow .
Edit Colours: The Edit Colours button opens the Colours dialog, w hichallow s 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 w rap-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 on
Linux machines. Enter the command to launch the brow ser, 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 w ant to.

Interactive Colour Recovery: If a colour palette required to display adraw ing is not found because it w as moved or deleted from its location, youw ill be asked if you w ish to recover the missing colours into a newtemporary palette. If this option is disabled, the colour recovery w ill happen
automatically w ithout your confirmation.

Colour Management

Colour Recovery: By default, if a colour palette required to display adraw ing is missing because it has been moved or deleted, Harmony
recovers the missing colours into a new temporary palette. If this option isdisabled, Harmony w ill skip this step and display the zones painted w ith
missing colours w ith the Replacement Colour, w hich is solid red by default.
Advanced Palette List: W hen 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
w ill display the replacement colour in the zones painted w ith missing
colours.

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Harmony 22 Paint Preferences Guide

Drawing Mode Preferences

Parameter

Description

Render Style:Onion Skin•

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

•Coloured:Draw ings 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: Draw ings 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 W ash Value (0,0- 1,0): The maximum w ashed-out value for onion
skinned draw ings.
Minimum W ash Value (0,0- 1,0): The minimum w ashed-out value for onion
skinned draw ings.

Grid On By Default: W hen opening the Draw ing view , the grid displays
automatically.
Default Multiwheel Colour Picker: Displays the Multiw heel Colour Picker
w indow instead of the regular Colour Picker.
Options
Brush Size Cursor: W hen 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 w hile painting draw ings
are: 0 = Disabled, 1=Small, 2=Medium, 3=Big

15

Preferences Dialog Reference

Light Table: Enable Shade: W hen enabled, the draw ings appearing in the Light
Table are displayed in w ashed out colours in the Draw ing view . W hen this option
is disabled, the draw ings appearing in the Light Table are displayed using normalcolours. This option is for the Draw ing view only.

16Harmony 22 Paint Preferences Guide

OpenGL Preferences

Parameter

DescriptionConservative Texture Management: Turns on and off conservative memory
management for bitmap texture files. Performance w ill improve w hen this isenabled. If disabled, you w ill have a better on-screen rendering of bitmap files atthe expense of slow er performance.
Smooth Textures: Smooths out the pixels of bitmap images w hen zooming in;this improves bitmap image quality.
Settings

Alternate Gradient and Cutter: This is an alternative w ay to disable w rite in theOpenGL Backbuffer, required for some video cards (i.e. GeForce FX5200). Do notenable this option unless you are experiencing problems w ith gradients andcutters in OpenGL.
Maximum Texture Size: The size that the bitmap file w ill be reduced to w hen
using the Conservative Texture Management.
Texture Memory: The amount of temporary memory used to store bitmap texture
files.

The follow ing options allow you to configure the w ay draw ings are preview ed inHarmony.

Full Scene Antialiasing

Enable : By default, draw ings displayed in Harmony have no antialiasing anddisplay hard pixels at the edge of strokes and lines. If this preference is enabled,
antialiasing w ill be done through the graphic card to enhance the quality ofdraw ings and make a preview that resemble the final render more closely. Thismay 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 w ill be but the heavier it w ill be on the machine's resources.

NOTESlIt may be necessary to restart the application to see the effects afterchanging either of these settings.

lThese 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.

lThese settings only affect the w ay draw ings are preview ed in OpenGL.
They have no effect on the final rendered image, or on the w ay theimage looks w hen setting the Camera view in Render Preview mode.

Enable Playback Caching: Enable the caching of OpenGL preview s for quickplayback.
Playback Images
Playback Cache Size (in Mb): The maximum size of the cache used to store
cached playback images.

Enable Textures in Pencil Lines: Controls w hether textures applied on pencil
lines are rendered for the OpenGL preview .
Draw ings

Enable Variable Line Thickness: Controls w hether lines w ith a variable w idth arerendered w ith their variable w idth or w ith a constant w idth in the OpenGL
preview .

Enable Tone and Highlight: Controls w hether Tone and Highlight effects arerendered in the OpenGL preview .
Effects

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

Rendering Caching

Enable Rendering Caching of Composite Nodes: Controls w hether nonpassthrough Composite nodes cache their composited image w hen Harmony
generates an OpenGL preview . This is useful w hen the image generated by acomposite is used several times in a scene, for example because a composite'soutput port is connected to several other nodes. If this preference is disabled, thecomposite w ill regenerate the preview for its node system for each of its outgoingconnections. W hen enabled, the composite w ill 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 to18

Harmony 22 Paint Preferences Guide

store 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 w hen w orking w ith heavyscenes.
Enable Interactive Camera View Cache (Beta): W hen enabled, Harmony keeps acache of the current preview image in the Camera view . This cache is used toregenerate parts of the preview image w hen moving the mouse cursor around orw hen manipulating draw ing and animation controls in the Camera view .
Otherw ise, Harmony w ill regenerate these parts of the preview image, w hich may
impact performance w hen w orking on a complex scene.
Enable Rendering Caching of CacheLock Nodes: Controls w hether 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 w hen w orkingw ith heavy scenes.

19