Toon Boom
Harmony22 Premium

User 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 Premium User Guide

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

Disclaimer
The content of this document is the property of Toon Boom Animation Inc. and is copyrighted. Any
reproduction in 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. 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 Date
09-23-2022
Copyright © 2022 Toon Boom Animation Inc., a Corus Entertainment Inc. company. All rights reserved.

2

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Table of Contents

3

Introduction

44

Chapter 1: Project Creation

45

About Harmony Stand Alone

46

Starting Harmony in Stand Alone Mode

47

About the W elcome Screen

48

About Harmony Stand Alone Scenes

50

Creating Scenes in Harmony Stand Alone51

Creating Custom Resolutions in Harmony Stand Alone

53

Opening Scenes in Harmony Stand Alone

55

Setting the Scene Length in Harmony Stand Alone

57

About Scene Settings in Harmony Stand Alone58

About Saving in Harmony Stand Alone

59

Saving Scenes in Harmony Stand Alone

60

Saving Scenes as Copies in Harmony Stand Alone

61

Saving Scenes as New Versions in Harmony Stand Alone

62

Enabling Auto-Save in Harmony Stand Alone

63

About the File Structure in Harmony Stand Alone64

About Harmony Server

66

About the Database Structure in Harmony Server

67

About the Database File Structure in Harmony Server

69

About Scene Creation in Harmony Server

70

Starting Harmony in Server Mode71

Connecting to the Database in Harmony Server

72

About Scenes in Harmony Server

73

Opening a Scene in Harmony Server

74

About Scene Settings in Harmony Server

77

Setting the Scene Length in Harmony Server

78

About Saving and Scene Versions in Harmony Server

79

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Saving a Scene in Harmony Server

80

Saving a New Scene Version in Harmony Server

82

Deleting Scene Versions in Harmony Server

84

Merging Scene Versions in Harmony Server

86

Advanced Saving in Harmony Server

88

Enabling Auto-Save89

About the Scene File Structure in Harmony Server
About Global Lock in Harmony Server

90
91Acquiring Rights to Loaded Scenes in Harmony Server
About Draw ing Lock in Harmony Server

93
94

Locking & Unlocking Draw ings in Harmony Server
Verifying a Scene's Integrity

95
96

Chapter 2: User Interface

97

Changing the Theme Colours

98

Changing the User Interface Language

99

About Menus

101

About Toolbars

104

Adding and Removing Toolbars

105

Moving Toolbars

109

Customizing Toolbars

113

Enabling the Flat Toolbar

116

About View s

117

Adding View s

118

Closing View s

121Show ing and Hiding View s

122Moving View s

123

Resizing View s

124

About Preferences

125

About Keyboard Shortcuts

126

About W orkspaces

127

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Table of Contents

Loading W orkspaces

128

Creating W orkspaces

129

Renaming W orkspaces

131

Saving W orkspaces

132

Deleting W orkspaces

133

Show ing and Hiding W orkspaces

134

Reordering W orkspaces

135

Restoring the Default W orkspace

136

About Interface Navigation

137

About Documentation

141

Accessing the Documentation

142

Using the Integrated Help

143

Chapter 3: Layers and Columns

147

Layer and Column Types

148

Adding Layers and Columns

151

Adding Layers in the Timeline View

152

Adding Columns from the Xsheet View

154

Using the Advanced Add Column Dialog Box

155

Deleting Layers and Columns

157

Renaming Layers and Columns

159

Reordering Layers and Columns

161

Enabling and Disabling Layers

162

Enabling or Disabling Solo Mode on a Layer

163

Locking and Unlocking Layers

165

Navigating Layers and Columns

169

About Clone and Duplicate Layers

171

About Clone Layers

172

Cloning Layers

173

About Duplicate Layers

174

Duplicating Layers

175

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About Sync Layers

176

Syncing Tw o Layers

177

Syncing Multiple Layers

179

Creating Synced Layers

181

Selecting All Synced Layers

183

Unsyncing Layers

184

Editing Synced Layers

185

About Groups in the Timeline View

186

Grouping Layers

187

Ungrouping Layers

188

About Annotation Columns

189

Adding Annotation Columns

190

Draw ing in Annotation Columns

191

Typing in Annotation Columns

192

Erasing in Annotation Columns

193

Modifying Annotation Column Pen Options

194

Show ing and Hiding Annotation Column Tick Marks

195

Importing Annotation Files

197

Using Timing Columns

198

Setting Properties for Many Nodes or Layers

200

Displaying Layer and Column Properties

204

About Layer and Column Display

207

Expanding and Collapsing Layers and Columns

208Show ing and Hiding Layers and Columns

210Show ing and Hiding Columns

211Show ing Hidden Columns

212Show ing All Columns

213

Show ing and Hiding Column Types

214

Show ing and Hiding Function Columns

216

Customizing the Column Appearance

217

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Displaying Xsheet Thumbnails

219

Changing Layer and Column Colours

220

Using the Element Manager

222

Chapter 4: Timing

223

About Scene Length

224

Setting the Scene Length

225

Inserting Frames in a Scene

226

Removing Frames from a Scene

229

About Exposure

231

About Creating Exposure232

Typing Exposures

233

Setting the Exposure Hold235

Toggling Betw een Inserting and Overw riting Exposure

236

Filling a Selection w ith a Specific Exposure

237

Creating an Exposure Sequence239

Creating an Exposure Cycle

242

Filling a Selection w ith Random Exposure

243

Inserting Blank Cells

245

Filling Empty Cells

247

Toggling Extending Previous Draw ing Exposure

248

About Adjusting Exposure

250

Increasing Exposures

251

Decreasing Exposures

252

Extending Single Exposures

254

Setting the Exposure

256

Deleting Exposures

258

Moving Cells

259

Enabling or Disabling Overw riting Exposures and Keyframes During Drag and Drop

263

About Rippling and Overw riting the Exposure in the Timeline View

265

Changing Exposure and Rippling Draw ings in the Timeline View

266

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Changing Exposure and Overw riting Draw ings in the Timeline View
About Draw ings

268
270

Creating Empty Draw ings

271

Renaming Draw ings

272

Deleting Draw ings

274

Duplicating a Draw ing

275

Copying and Pasting Draw ings

276

Pasting Reversed

279

Pasting Cycles

281

Modifying Paste Presets

283

Merging Draw ings

285

Merging Selected Draw ings

286

Merging All Draw ings

288

About Frame Markers

290

Adding Frame Markers

291

Moving Frame Markers

292

Copying, Cutting and Pasting Frame Markers

293

Removing Frame Markers

295

About Scene Markers

296

Quickly Creating Scene Markers at the Current Frame

298

Creating a Scene Marker

299

Moving Scene Markers

301

Editing Scene Markers

303

Deleting Scene Markers

305

Scene Marker View & Marker List

306

Setting Tempo Markers

309

Printing the Xsheet

310

Skinning View

312

Chapter 5: Drawing

315

About Draw ing Tools

316

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About the Brush Tool

319

Draw ing w ith the Brush Tool

320

Creating a Solid Brush

324

Creating a Textured Brush

328

Configuring a Textured Brush Tip

329

Adding a Brush Tip

333

Renaming Brush Tips

335

Deleting Brush Tips

336

Exporting Brush Tips

337

Importing Brush Tips

339

Changing the Brush Tip Display

341

Configuring Smoothing for a Textured Brush342

Configuring Antialiasing and Transparency for a Textured Brush343

Configuring a Textured Brush w ith a Dual Tip

345

Configuring a Brush w ith a Paper Texture349

Adding a Paper Texture

352

Renaming a Paper Texture

354

Deleting Paper Textures

356

Exporting Paper Textures

358

Importing Paper Textures

360

Changing the Paper Texture Display

362

Setting the Textured Brush Resolution

363

About Brush Presets

366

Creating a Brush Preset

367

Creating a Stamp

368

Selecting a Brush Preset

370

Updating a Brush Preset

371

Renaming a Brush Preset

372

Deleting a Brush Preset

373

Exporting Brush Presets

374

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Importing Brush Presets

375

Changing the Brush Preset Display

376

Adjusting Texture Opacity

377

About the Pencil Tool

378

Draw ing w ith the Pencil Tool

380

Creating a Pencil

382

About Pencil Line Textures

385

Draw ing w ith Pencil Textures

386

Applying Texture to a Pencil Line

388

Editing a Pencil Line's Texture

391

Picking a Pencil Texture from Artw ork

393

Disabling Pencil Line Textures

394

Pencil Texture Palettes

396

Creating a Pencil Texture Palette

397

Adding a Pencil Line Texture

400

Renaming Pencil Line Textures

404

Deleting Pencil Line Textures

407

Replacing a Pencil Texture

410

Setting the Default Pencil Texture Palette

412

Recovering the Default Pencil Texture Palette

414

Converting a Colour Palette to a Pencil Texture Palette

415

About Pencil Presets

417

Creating Pencil Presets

418

Creating Pencil Thickness Presets

419

Selecting a Pencil Preset

420

Applying a Pencil Preset

421

Renaming Pencil Presets

422

Deleting Pencil Presets

423

Exporting Pencil Presets

424

Importing Pencil Presets

425

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Table of Contents

Changing the Pencil Preset Display

426

About Shape Tools

427

Creating Lines, Rectangles and Ellipses w ith the Shape Draw ing Tools

428

Draw ing Curved Lines w ith the Line Tool

430

Creating Vector Shapes w ith the Polyline Tool

433

About the Stamp Tool

434

Creating a Stamp

436

Creating a Multi-Draw ing Stamp

438

Configuring a Stamp

441

Updating a Stamp

447

Draw ing w ith the Stamp Tool

449

Renaming Stamps

451

Deleting Stamps

452

Exporting Stamps

453

Importing Stamps

454

Changing The W ay Stamps Are Displayed

455

Stamp Tool Modes

456

About the Stroke Tool

457

Creating Invisible Lines w ith the Stroke Tool

458

About the Eraser Tool

460

Erasing461

Creating a Solid Eraser

462

Creating a Textured Eraser

466

About Eraser Presets

468

Creating an Eraser Preset

469

Selecting an Eraser Preset

470

Updating a Brush Preset

471

Renaming an Eraser Preset

472

Deleting a Brush Preset

473

Exporting Eraser Presets

474

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Importing Eraser Presets

475

Changing the Brush Preset Display

476

Erasing Synced Draw ings

477

About the Select Tool

478

Selecting, Repositioning and Transforming Artw ork

479

Selecting Artw ork in Several Draw ings

482

Selecting Artw ork in Several Layers

484

Inverting a Selection

488

Repositioning the Selection Pivot

489

Arranging and Reordering Draw ing Strokes

490Grouping Draw ing Strokes

491

Selecting Artw ork by Colour or Texture

492

About the Repositioning All Draw ings Tool

493

Repositioning All Draw ings in a Layer

494

Repositioning All Draw ings in Synced Layers

496

About the Cutter Tool

498

Cutting Artw ork

499

Cutting Artw ork in Several Draw ings

503

Cutting Artw ork in Multiple Layers

505

About the Contour Editor Tool

509

Reshaping a Shape, Pencil Line or Stroke w ith the Contour Editor Tool
About the Centerline Editor

510
514

Reshaping Brush Strokes Using the Centerline Editor
About the Pencil Editor Tool

516
520

Tw eaking the Thickness of Pencil Lines w ith the Pencil Editor Tool

521

Editing a Pencil Line Texture w ith the Pencil Editor Tool

524

About the Smooth Editor Tool

526

Smoothing Artw ork Using the Smooth Editor

527

About the Perspective Tool

528

Deforming a Draw ing w ith the Perspective Tool

12

529

Table of Contents

About the Envelope Tool530

W arping a Draw ing w ith the Envelope Tool

531

About the Text Tool

534

Adding Text to Draw ings

535

Breaking Text Into Letters or Vector Shapes

537

About Tool Presets

538

Displaying the Tool Preset Toolbar

539

Creating Tool Presets

540

Selecting Tool Presets

542

Deleting Tool Presets

543

Updating Tool Presets

544

Exporting Tool Presets

545

Importing Tool Presets

546

About the Tool Colour Sw atches

547

Unlinking the Tool Colour Sw atches

548

Linking the Tool Colour Sw atches

550

Using Independent Bitmap Colour Sw atches

551

About Draw ing Space Management552

About the Zoom Tool

553

About the Hand Tool

554

About the Rotate View Tool

555

About Mirror View

557

Displaying the Current Draw ing on Top

560

About the Grid

561

Displaying the Grid

562

Modifying the Grid

563

Changing Pencil Line Opacity Display

564

About OpenGL Antialiasing

566

Setting the Full Scene Antialiasing Preference
About Pen Stabilization

567
568

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Using Draw ing Tool Stabilization

570

About Pen Pressure Curve Customization

572

Customizing the Pen Pressure Curve573

About Draw ing Guides

576

Adding Draw ing Guides

583

Selecting the Active Draw ing Guide

585

Renaming Draw ing Guides

587

Editing Draw ing Guides

589

Adjusting a Ruler Draw ing Guide

590

Adjusting a Square Grid Draw ing Guide

592

Adjusting an Isometric Perspective Draw ing Guide

594

Adjusting a 1-Point Perspective Draw ing Guide

597

Adjusting a 2-Points Perspective Draw ing Guide

599

Adjusting a 3-Points Perspective (Bird's-Eye View ) Draw ing Guide

601

Adjusting a 3-Points Perspective (W orm's Eye View ) Draw ing Guide

603

Adjusting a 3-Points Perspective (Horizontal Pan) Draw ing Guide

605

Adjusting the 3-Points Perspective (Vertical Pan) Draw ing Guide

607

Adjusting a 4-Points Continuous Perspective Draw ing Guide

609

Adjusting a 4-Points Perspective (Vertical Pan) Draw ing Guide

611

Adjusting a 5-Points Perspective (Fisheye) Draw ing Guide

614

Locking Guides to Prevent Editing Them

616

Draw ing w ith Draw ing Guides

617

Locking Draw ing Strokes to a Specific Axis

620

Draw ing Freehand Perspective w ith Draw ing Guides

621

View ing Draw ing Guide Reference Lines

622

Minimizing Guide Cursor Axes Display

623

Erasing Using Draw ing Guides

624

Enabling and Disabling Draw ing Guides

625

Reordering Draw ing Guide Lists

626

Cutting and Pasting Draw ing Guides

627

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Table of Contents

Copying & Pasting Draw ing Guides

628

Exporting and Importing Draw ing Guides

629

Deleting Draw ing Guides

630

About Draw ing Optimization

631

Flattening Draw ings

633

Smoothing Draw ings

634

Creating Contour Strokes

635

Removing Contour Strokes

636

Removing Extra Strokes

637

Optimizing Draw ings

638

Cropping Brush Textures

639

Reducing the Draw ing Texture Resolution

640

About Strokes Conversion

641

Converting Brush Strokes to Pencil Lines642

Converting Pencil Lines to Brush Strokes

643

Converting Strokes to Pencil Lines

644

About Vector and Bitmap Layers

645

Adding Bitmap Layers

647

Setting the Bitmap Resolution

648

Using Colours w ith Bitmap Layers

653

Painting w ith Gradients or Textures on Bitmap Layers

654

Manipulating Bitmap Artw ork

655

Changing Art Modes

656

Vectorizing Bitmap Artw ork

658

Setting the Default Art Mode for New Layers

660

Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

661

About Colour Sw atches

663

Locking and Unlocking the Colour List

664

Adding a Colour Sw atch

665

Adding a Gradient Colour Sw atch

669

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Adding a Texture Colour Sw atch

671

Copying and Pasting Colours

673

Deleting a Colour Sw atch

675

Modifying a Texture Colour Sw atch

677

Replacing Colours and Textures in Draw ings

678

Protecting Colours

680

Changing the Colour Display Mode

681

About Palettes

682

About Advanced Palette Management

684

Enabling the Advanced Palette Lists Mode

685

About Scene and Element Palette Lists

686

About Palette Storage Locations

687

About Exporting Palettes

689

About Backing Up and Recovering Palettes

690

About the Palette List

691

Show ing and Hiding the Palette List

694

Locking and Unlocking the Palette List

695

Displaying Colour and Pencil Texture Palettes

696

Creating a Palette

697

Linking a Colour Palette

700

Linking to an External Palette702

Importing a Colour Palette

705

Consolidating Used Colours Into a Single Palette

707

Renaming a Palette

710

Removing a Palette

711

Duplicating a Palette

713

Cloning a Palette

716

Tinting a Palette's Colour Sw atches

720

Reordering Palettes in the Palette List

722

Palette Operations

723

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Table of Contents

Opening the Palette Operations Dialog Box

724

Cloning a Palette in the Palette Operations Dialog Box

725

Renaming a Palette in the Palette Operations Dialog Box

727

Deleting a Palette in the Palette Operations Dialog Box

729

About Painting

730

About Colour Models

731

Loading Colour Models

732

Clearing Colour Models

736

Flipping Betw een Models

737

Copying Colour Models

738

About Dirt Cleanup

740

Removing Dirt

741

Removing Dirt Outside the Selection

742

Removing the Art Inside the Selection

743

Removing Hair

744

Painting Draw ings

745

Painting Several Draw ings Simultaneously

748

Painting Several Layers Simultaneously

751

Repainting

754

Repainting a Selection

756

Repainting Outside a Selection

758

Unpainting a Selection

760

Unpainting Outside a Selection

761

Selecting Strokes w ith the Current Colour

762

Creating Break Triangles

763

Closing Gaps

765

Picking a Colour w ith the Colour Eyedropper Tool

766

Inking Lines

767

Verifying Painted Zones

769

About the Edit Gradient and Texture Tool

772

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Using the Edit Gradient and Texture Tool

773

Storing the Gradient and Texture Settings

775

Pasting a Stored Gradient or Texture

776

Editing Pencil Line Textures w ith the Edit Gradient/Texture Tool

777

About Colour Space Management

780

About Colour Spaces

781

Setting the Colour Space of an Element Layer

785

Setting the W orking Colour Space for a Scene

788

Setting the Display Colour Space

790

Setting the Colour Space for Rendered Movies and Frames

794

Customizing Available Colour Spaces

797

Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

799

Creating a Rough Animation

800

Creating the Tie Dow n Animation

806

Cleaning Animation

811

Paperless Animation Tools

814

Displaying Draw ing Thumbnails in the Timeline View

815

About Marked Draw ings

818

Marking Key, Breakdow n and In-Betw een Draw ings

819

Creating Custom Draw ing Markers

824

About Onion Skin

828

Enabling the Onion Skin

829

Selecting Draw ings to Display in Onion Skin

831

Selecting Draw ings to Include in Onion Skin by Frames or by Draw ings

835

Displaying Only Key Draw ings, Breakdow ns or In-Betw eens in Onion Skin

837

About Displaying the Onion Skin in the Other Layers

840

Displaying the Onion Skin for Other Layers in the Camera View

841

Displaying the Onion Skin for Other Layers in the Draw ing View

843

About Advanced Onion Skin

846

Enabling Advanced Onion Skin

847

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Table of Contents

Selecting Draw ings to Display in Advanced Onion Skin

849

Adjusting the Opacity of Draw ings in Advanced Onion Skin

852

About the Draw ing Desk

857

Adding Draw ings to the Draw ing Desk

858

Modifying Thumbnails in the Draw ing Desk

860

About Shift and Trace

861

About the Shift and Trace Tool

862

Enabling the Shift and Trace Tool

863

Shifting Draw ings w ith the Shift and Trace Tool

864

Tracing Draw ings w ith the Shift and Trace Tool

872

Adding Cross Hairs w ith the Shift and Trace Tool

874

Removing Cross Hairs w ith the Shift and Trace Tool

876

Disabling and Clearing Shift and Trace Transformations

877

About Shift and Trace w ith the Draw ing Desk

880

Enabling Shift and Trace in the Draw ing Desk

881

Shifting Draw ings w ith the Draw ing Desk

882

Tracing Draw ings w ith the Draw ing Desk

886

Linking Draw ings in the Draw ing Desk

888

Enabling Onion Skin in the Draw ing Desk

890

About Art Layers

891

Enabling Overlay and Underlay Art Layers

895

Sw itching Betw een Art Layers

896

Creating Colour Art from Line Art

897

Generating a Matte

899

Flipping Animation

901

Preview ing and Playing Draw ings

903

Preview ing Animation w ith Mini Playback

904

Chapter 8: Scene Staging

907

About Layer Position

908

Disabling Animation Keyframe Creation W hen Transforming Elements

19

909

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Selecting Layers

910

Setting Bounding Box Styles

912

Centering on Selections

913

About the Transform Tool

914

Repositioning Temporary Pivots w ith the Transform Tool

916

Panning w ith the Transform Tool

917

Rotating w ith the Transform Tool

919

Scaling w ith the Transform Tool

921

Skew ing w ith the Transform Tool

923

Flipping w ith the Transform Tool

925

Manipulation w ith the Transform Tool

926

About Advanced Animation Tools

927

Repositioning Permanent Pivots

928

Using the Translate Tool

930

Using the Rotate Tool

931

Using the Scale Tool

932

Using the Skew Tool

933

Using the Capture Motion Tool

934

About the Layer Properties View

936

Displaying the Layer Properties View

938

Positioning Elements w ith the Layer Properties View

939

About Auto-Apply

941

Setting the Auto-Apply Option

942

Resetting Transformations

943

About Multiplane

945

Setting Up Multiplanes

948

Staging a 3D Space

951

Enabling the 3D Option

952

About 3D Parameters

954

About the 3D Scale Parameter

955

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Table of Contents

About the 3D Rotation Parameter

956

About the 3D Pivot Parameter

958

About 3D Tools

959

About the 3D Translate Tool

960

About the 3D Rotate Tool

961

About the 3D Scale Tool

962

About the 3D Transform Tool

963

About 3D Space Positioning

965

About Planning

966

About Maximizing Efficiency

968

Positioning Layers in 3D Space

969

Using the Depth View Mode

973

About 3D Input Output Options

975

About 3D Composite Nodes

977

Draw ing on 3D-Rotated Layers

979

About Alignment Guides

981

Adding Alignment Guides

982

Moving Alignment Guides

983

Snapping to Alignment Guides

984

Locking and Unlocking Alignment Guides

985

Hiding and Displaying Alignment Guides

986

Clearing Alignment Guides

987

Chapter 9: Digital Animation

989

About Pegs

990

Adding Pegs

992

Enabling Peg Selection Mode

995

Connecting Nodes to Pegs

996

About Draw ing Layers

997

Disabling Layer Animation

999

About Layer Parameters

1000

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Displaying Layer Parameters

1003

Setting Layer Parameters

1004

Enabling Constant Z

1005

About Keyframes

1006

About Keyframe Creation

1007

Creating Keyframes in the Timeline View

1008

Creating Keyframes in the Function View

1010

Creating Keyframes in the Xsheet View

1012

Automatically Creating Animation Keyframes W hen Transforming Elements

1014

Deleting Keyframes

1015

Animating w ith Keyframes

1016

Animating, Repositioning or Transforming an Element Over Several Frames

1019

Changing Keyframe Values

1024

Sw itching Betw een Motion and Stop-Motion Keyframes

1026

Jumping to Keyframes

1029

About Controls

1030

Displaying Controls

1033

Adding Control Points

1034

Toggling Point Types

1035

Adjusting Tension, Bias, and Continuity

1036

Converting Angled and Curved Corners

1038

Offsetting Trajectories

1039

About Functions

1041

Creating Functions

1044

Converting Functions

1046

Sharing Functions

1048

Linking Functions

1052

About Copying Motions

1055

Using Timeline Paste Modes

1056

Using Paste Special

1058

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Table of Contents

Cycling Animations

1059

Pasting Reverse Motions

1060

About Velocity

1061

Displaying Velocity Curves

1063

Adjusting Bezier Curve Velocity

1065

Adjusting Ease Curve Velocity

1066

Creating Stepped Velocity

1068

Adjusting Velocity in the Timeline View

1073

Setting Ease on Multiple Parameters

1074

About Expression Columns

1077

W riting Expressions

1082

About Animation Resources

1085

Creating Selection Presets

1086

Chapter 10: Morphing Animation

1089

About Source and Destination Draw ings

1090

About Morphing Rules

1091

About the Closest Similar Shape Rule1092

About the Pencil Line to Pencil Line Rule1093

About the Fill Shape to Fill Shape Rule1095

About the Same Colour Sw atch Rule1096

About the Vanishing and Appearing Rule1097

About the Colour Art and Line Art Rule

1098

Creating Morphing

1099

Deleting Morphing

1102

About Morphing Velocity and Timing

1103

Adjusting the Morphing Velocity

1104

Adjusting the Morphing Timing

1107

About Morphing Hints

1108

About Hint Types

1110

About Contour Hints

1111

23

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About Zone Hints

1112

About Pencil Hints

1113

About Vanishing Point Hints

1114

About Appearing Point Hints

1115

Adding and Deleting Morphing Hints

1116

Copying Hint Points

1119

About Morphing Layers

1122

Creating Morphing w ith Morphing Layers

1125

About Morphing Key Draw ings

1129

Inserting Morphing Key Draw ings

1130

About Transparency Morphs

1131

Morphing Transparencies

1132

About Morphing Quality

1134

Setting the Morphing Quality Level

1135

Converting Morphing Inbetw eens to Draw ings

1136

Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

1137

About Importing Bitmap Images

1138

Importing Bitmap Images As Original Bitmap

1139

Adjusting the Bitmap Image Display Quality

1145

Importing Bitmap Images As Toon BoomBitmap

1146

Vectorizing Images on Import

1151

Linking Layers to External Images

1154

About Importing a Multi-Layer PSD

1156

Importing Multi-layer PSD Files

1158

About Importing Vector Files

1163

Importing Adobe Illustrator (.ai) files and Portable Document Files (.pdf)

1164

Importing Flash Movies (.sw f)

1166

Distributing SW Fs to Layers

1169

About FLA Import

1170

Installing the Export to Harmony Option

1172

24

Table of Contents

Exporting FLA Files

1181

Displaying the Import Flash Scene Icon

1183

Importing FLA Files

1186

Flash Export and Import Guidelines

1188

Importing QuickTime Movies

1192

About Scanning

1193

Scanning Images

1194

Vectorizing Scanned Draw ings

1196

About Custom Vectorization Parameters

1199

Creating Vectorization Styles

1200

Configuring the VectOptions.conf File

1202

Overw riting Using Scanned Draw ings

1205

Importing PSD Layouts

1207

Chapter 12: the Node View

1211

About Nodes

1212

About Node Connections and Ports

1216

About Multiple Connections in the Node View

1220

Adding Nodes

1222

Search Filter in Node Library View

1227

Connecting Nodes

1228

Disconnecting Nodes

1231

Displaying Port Tooltips

1233

About Peg Nodes

1234

Adding and Connecting Peg Nodes

1235

About Composite Nodes

1238

Adding and Connecting Composite Nodes

1239

About Composite Modes

1243

Changing Composite Mode

1245

About Effect Nodes

1247

Enabling and Disabling Nodes

1248

25

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Moving Nodes

1250

Aligning and Organizing a Node System

1252

About Displays

1257

Adding Display Nodes

1260

Changing Global Displays

1261

Setting Advanced Display Options

1262

About Groups in the Node View

1263

Grouping Nodes

1265

Ungrouping Nodes

1266

Moving Nodes Betw een Groups

1267

Moving Nodes to Parent Group

1268

Adding a Node's Properties to a Group's Properties

1269

About Backdrops

1274

Adding Backdrops

1276

Removing Backdrops

1277

Customizing Backdrops

1278

Organizing Nodes in Backdrops

1280

Moving Backdrops

1281

Copying and Pasting Backdrops

1282

About W aypoints

1283

Adding W aypoints

1285

Connecting and Disconnecting W aypoints

1287

Moving W aypoints

1289

Disconnecting W aypoints

1291

Removing W aypoints

1293

Navigating the Node View

1294

Panning & Zooming the Node View

1295

Displaying All Nodes in the Node View

1297

Using the Magnifier in the Node View

1298

Using the Navigator in the Node View

1299

26

Table of Contents

Resizing the Node View Navigator

1301

Moving the Node View Navigator

1302

Hiding and Displaying the Node View Navigator

1303

Entering Groups

1304

Exiting Groups

1305

Navigating the Node View w ith the Keyboard

1306

Displaying Node Thumbnails

1311

Adjusting Node Thumbnails

1314

Changing Cable Styles

1316

About Node and Rig Caching

1317

About How Node Caching W orks and Its Caveats

1318

Enabling Cache on Individual Nodes

1322

Enabling Cache on Every Rig In a Scene

1325

Managing Cache Resolution and Size

1328

W orking w ith Node Caching

1330

Temporarily Disabling Cache on a Single Element or Rig

1332

Temporarily Disabling Cache on Multiple Elements or Rigs

1333

Re-Enabling Cache on All Cached Nodes and Rigs

1334

Disabling or Enabling Cache Globally

1335

Chapter 13: Camera Set- up and Animation

1337

Adding a Camera

1341

Setting the Camera Type1343

Selecting the Active Camera

1344

Positioning the Camera Frame

1345

Resetting the Camera Position

1349

Setting the Camera Clipping Planes

1350

Locking Draw ings to the Camera Angle

1351

Animating the Camera

1352

Creating 3D Camera Movements

1356

Enabling the 3D Playback Mode

1358

27

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Animating a Camera Shake Using the Quake Node1359

Animating the Line Thickness on Camera Move

1362

Chapter 14: Character Rigging

1365

About Rig Types

1366

About Simple Rigs

1367

About Draw ing Hierarchy Rigs

1368

About Peg Hierarchy Rigs

1370

About Scene Setup for Rigging

1371

About Models

1372

About Size Relation

1374

Setting Preferences for Rigging

1376

About Naming Conventions

1378

Naming Draw ing Layers

1379

Naming Draw ings Substitutions

1382

About Character Breakdow n1384

Tracing the Model

1387

About Cutting the Character into Pieces

1391

Breaking Dow n the Main Parts

1392

Breaking Dow n Secondary Parts

1395

Breaking Dow n Other View s1399

Completing Parts and Articulations

1402

Distributing to Layers

1405

About Articulations

1406

Creating Classical Articulations

1407

About Auto-Patch Articulations

1409

About Ordering Layers

1412

Ordering Layers in the Timeline View

1413

Ordering Layers in the Node View

1414

About Z Nudging

1416

Nudging Layers

1417

28

Table of Contents

About Pivots

1418

About Permanent Pivots

1419

Setting Permanent Pivots

1420

Setting Multiple Permanent Pivots

1421

About Draw ing Pivots

1422

Setting Multiple Draw ing Pivots

1423

About Symbol Pivot

1425

Setting Symbol Pivots

1426

Adding Pegs

1428

Disabling the Animation on Draw ing Layers

1431

Creating Hierarchies

1434

Adding the Master Peg

1438

Fine-Tuning the Rig

1440

Invert-Cutting

1441

Changing Composite Modes

1444

Adding Displays

1445

Grouping Rigs

1447

Creating Keyframes

1449

About Pose Copier

1450

Adding the Pose Copier Script to the Scripting Toolbar

1451

About Guide Layers

1452

Creating Guide Layers

1454

Creating a Pose Copier Template

1455

Pasting Poses Using the Pose Copier

1456

Chapter 15: Cut- out Animation

1459

About Animating w ith the Transform Tool

1460

Animating w ith the Transform Tool

1462

Resetting Transformations

1463

About Hierarchy Navigation

1465

Navigating Layers

1466

29

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Selecting Parent and Children

1467

Centering on Selections

1469

About Keyframes

1470

Creating Motion Keyframes

1471

Creating Stop-motion Keyframes

1473

About Sw apping Draw ings

1475

Sw apping Draw ings in the Draw ing Substitutions View

1479

Sw apping Draw ings in the Library View

1482

Sw apping Draw ings in the Timeline View

1485

About Sw apping Multiple Draw ings

1486

About Key Exposures

1487

Adding Key Exposures

1489

Removing Key Exposures

1490

Removing Duplicate Key Exposures

1491

Copying & Pasting Key Exposures

1492

About Eases

1495

Setting the Ease for Animation Keyframes

1496

Applying Ease Presets to Animations

1501

About Using Onion Skin in Cut-out Animation

1505

Using the Outline Mode

1511

Flipping Through Poses

1515

Flipping Parts

1516

Animating Lip-Sync

1517

Ordering in Z-Depth

1522

Creating Cycles

1524

About Inverse Kinematics

1528

About IK Hierarchy Chains

1531

About IK Setup

1533

Excluding Elements from IK Skeletons

1535

Orienting Bones

1536

30

Table of Contents

Setting Minimum and Maximum Angles

1537

About Nails

1538

Setting Nails

1539

Animating w ith Inverse Kinematics

1540

About IK Keyframes

1542

Setting IK Keyframe Constraints

1543

About Timeline View Modes

1545

Tagging Layers

1547

Hiding and Show ing Specific Layer Types in the Timeline View
Chapter 16: Deformations

1548
1549

About Deformation Types

1550

About Bone Deformations

1551

About Game Bone Deformations

1552

About Curve Deformations

1553

About Envelope Deformations

1554

About Free Form Deformations

1555

About Creating Deformations

1556

About Selecting Elements for Deformation

1557

Creating Bone Deformation Chains

1559

Creating Curve Deformation Chains

1561

Creating Envelope Deformation Rigs

1563

Creating a Free Form Deformation

1566

Creating a Split Deformation Chain

1568

Automatically Grouping Deformation Nodes

1570

Adding Deformation Nodes

1571

About the Envelope Creator

1

Automatically Generating a Deformation Envelope or Chain Based on Artw ork
About Editing Deformations

2
7

Editing the Resting Positions for Bone and Game Bone Deformations

8

Editing the Resting Positions for a Curve Deformation Chain

1231

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Editing the Resting Positions for an Envelope Deformation Chain

15

Editing the Resting Positions of a Free Form Deformation

17

About W eighted Deformations

19

Using the W eighted Deform

21

Creating a W eighted Deformation w ith Envelopes

22

Creating a W eighted Deformation w ith Pegs

27

Creating a Rigid Point Deform

30

Combining Deformation Chains and Free Deformation Points

35

Creating a Dynamic Deformation

44

Deforming Specific Areas in Backgrounds and Large Images

49

About Regions of Influence

53

Selecting Region of Influence Types

55

Setting Up Elliptic Regions of Influence

56

Setting Up Shaped Regions of Influence

59

Converting Elliptic Regions of Influence into Shapes

61

Modifying Influence Fade Radii

62

About Rigging Draw ings to Deformations

65

Rigging a Draw ing to a Deformation Point w ith the Kinematic Output Node67

About Rigging Draw ings to Deformations w ith the Point Kinematic Output Node71

Rigging w ith a Point Kinematic Output Node73

About Using Sampling Points w ith the Point Kinematic Output Node77

About Using Multiple Point Kinematic Output Nodes

80

About Using Deformations as Controllers

82

Displaying Selected Deformation Controls

83

Hiding Deformation Controls

84

About Deformation Animation

85

Animating Bone and Game Bone Deformers

86

Animating Curve Deformers

90

Animating Envelope Deformers

95

Animating a Free Form Deformation

99

32

Table of Contents

Animating Multiple Points

102

Resetting a Deformer to its Resting Position

108

Converting Deformer Animation to Draw ings

110

Disabling Deformations in the Camera View Preview

111

About Multi-pose Deformation Rigs (Transformation Chains)

112

About Character Preparation for a Multi-pose Deformation Rig

113

About Structure for Multi-pose Deformation Rigs

114
115

Renaming Draw ings for Multi-pose Deformation Rigs

116

Creating New Deformation Chains (Transformation Chains)

118

Creating Main Deformation Chains for Multi-pose Rigs

119

Reusing Deformation Groups for Multi-pose Rigs

121

Creating Additional Deformation Chains for Multi-pose Rigs

124

Renaming Transformation Chains on Multi-pose Rigs

125

Linking Draw ings to Transformation Chains

126

Converting Draw ings to New Deformation Chains

127

About Legacy Deformations

128

Transferring Curve Positions of Legacy Deformations

129

Converting Legacy Deformation Chains

131

About the Master Controller

133

About Master Controller W izards

136

About Rig Structure and Master Controllers

140

About the Slider W izard

142

About Preparing a Character's Poses for the Slider W izard

143

Using the Slider W izard

145

About the Grid W izard

150

About Preparing a Character's Poses for the Grid W izard

152

About the Centre Position and Cell Size of a Grid

154

Using the Grid W izard

158

About the Deformer On Deformer W izard

167

33

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Using the Deformer On Deformer W izard

170

Using the Deformer On Deformer

173

About the Master Controller Function W izard

178

Function W izard Example 1: Enabling and Disabling Node w ith the Checkbox W idget

180

Function W izard Example 2: Show ing and Hiding Node Controls w ith the Checkbox W idget

183

Function W izard Example 3: Show ing and Hiding Deformation Controls

186

Function W izard Example 4: Controlling Attributes w ith the Slider W idget

189

Function W izard Example 5: Creating a Master Controller Dashboard

192

Function W izard Example 6: Customizing the Function Code195

Creating a Master Controller Through Scripting

205

Creating a Master Controller

206

Creating Master Controller W idgets

209

Setting the Properties of a Master Controller W idget

211

Linking Attributes Betw een Different Master Controller W idgets

212

Updating a Node's Attribute w hen Manipulating a Master Controller W idget

213

Updating the Attributes of a Master Controller W idget

216

Applying the Coordinates of a Master Controller W idget to a Node218

Applying the Coordinates of a Master Controller W idget to a Deformation Node221

Connecting Master Controller W idgets to Nodes

226

Controlling Nodes Connected to a Master Controller

227

Referring to the Master Controller Node229

Linking the Master Controller to its Files for Template Creation

230

Displaying and Testing Master Controller W idgets

232

Manipulating a Master Controller W idget

237

Changing the Position of a Master Controller W idget

238

Chapter 18: Effects

242

Adding Effects Nodes

245

Connecting Effects

247

Adding a Matte Draw ing to an Effect249

Configuring an Effect

254

34

Table of Contents

Animating an Effect257

About Effects Preview

267

Preview ing Effects in Render Mode

268

Preview ing Effects in OpenGL Mode

269

Playing Back Effects

272

Changing the Preview Resolution

273

About Masking and Cutting Parts of Elements in your Scenes

274

Using the Matte Port of a Draw ing Layer

275

Using the Cutter Node277

About Opacity and Transparency

280

Setting the Layer Opacity

281

Overriding Colours and Textures

283

Overriding a Colour

284

Overriding a Colour W ith a Texture

285

Modifying a Texture Fill's Transformation

291

Overriding a Texture on a Pencil Line

294

Overriding a Colour w ith a Texture Sequence

300

Animating Textures Based on Action

302

Using the Exposure Fill Using Render Change to Animate a Texture Fill
About Fading Colours

303
306

Adding a Colour-Fade Effect307

Using the Colour Fade Effect to Fade Individual Colours

308

Using the Colour Fade Effect to Fade to a Different Palette309

Animating the Colour Fade Effect311

Adjusting Colour Curves

313

Connection314

Modifying Colour Curves

315

Adjusting Colour Levels

324

Examples of Effect Usage

335

Adding a Highlight to a Draw ing

336

35

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Adding a Shadow to a Draw ing

338

Creating a Drop Shadow

340

Adding a Radial Zoom Blur to a Scene

344

Applying a Greyscale Matte to a Scene

349

About the Animated Matte Generator

351

Adding an Animated Matte Generator Node353

About Matte Creation and Animation w ith the Animated Matte Generator

355

Displaying Animated Matte Generator Controls

356

Adding Points to an Animated Matte Generator

357

Removing Points from an Animated Matte Generator

359

Animating the Contour of an Animated Matte Generator Contour

361

About the Outer & Inner Contours of the Animated Matte Generator

365

Separating the Outer and Inner Contours of an Animated Matte Generator

367

Scaling the Contours of an Animated Matte Generator

370

Merging Outer & Inner Contours for an Animated Matte Generator

372

Animating Interpolated Contours w ith the Animated Matte Generator

374

About the Feathered Effect of the Animated Matte Generator
Creating a Feathered Effect w ith the Animated Matte Generator
About Snapping w ith the Animated Matte Generator

377
378
383

Connecting a Snapping Source Draw ing to an Animated Matte Generator

384

Making Matte Contours Snap to a Draw ing

385

About Particles

387

About the Particle System Structure

388

Accessing Default Particle Templates390

About Light Shading in Harmony

392

About Light Shading Nodes

396

Light Shading Setup

399

Adding and Carving Volumes

407

Animating the Light Source and Target

409

About Surface Shading

411

36

Table of Contents

Surface Shading

413

How to Rig w ith Surface Shading

420

Positioning the Light Source for Surface Shading

432

Creating a Cast Shadow Effect435

Preview ing the Surface Map

442

About Soft Shadow Options for Surface Shading

445

Adding Ambient Occlusion

448

Surface Light Options for the Light Shader and Tone Shader Effects

451

Light Fall-off

453

Surface Blending

454

Defining and Animating Elevation

457

Creating Animatable Height Shapes for Surface Shading

461

Using Shapes to Blend Joints in a Surface Shading System

469

About OpenFX

472

Installing an OpenFX Package

473

Using OpenFX Plugins

474

Using the Normal Map Converter

478

About Node Categories

481

Displaying All Nodes

482

Adding a Node Library View Category483

Removing a Node Library View Category

485

Renaming a Library View Category

486

Adding Nodes to Categories

487

Removing Nodes from Categories

488

Searching for Nodes, Categories, and Descriptions

489

Chapter 19: Sound

490

About the Sound Editor

491

Sound Layer

492

Importing Sound

494

Playing Sound

496

37

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Changing the Sound Display

498

Sound Scrubbing

500

About Analog Sound Scrubbing

501

Editing Sound

503

Cropping Sound

505

Trimming Sound

508

Looping Sound

509

Mixing the Sound Volume510

Setting the Playback Range

512

Adding an Empty Sound Layer

513

About Lip-sync

515

Generating a Lip-sync Detection

517

Mapping the Lip-Sync Detection

520

Modifying the Lip-sync Detection

522

Manual Lip-syncing

524

Exporting Sound

527

Chapter 20: 3D Integration

530

Creating 3D Models for Harmony

531

Exporting 3D Objects for Harmony

533

Importing 3D Objects in Harmony

540

Importing 3D Objects in a Scene

541

Importing a 3D Object as a Rendered 2D Image

544

Repositioning a 3D Model Rendered as a 2D Image
About the Scale Factor of 3D Objects

549
553

Setting the Scale Factor for a 3D Model

554

Determining the Scale Factor for a 3D model

556

Setting the Default Scale Factor for 3D Models

559

Using Animated 3D Models

560

Playing the Animation of a 3D Model in a Harmony Scene
3D Object Manipulation & Animation

561
564

38

Table of Contents

About 3D Objects in Different View s

565

About 3D Objects in the Perspective View

566

About 3D Objects in the Camera View

567

About 3D Objects in the Top and Side View s

568

About Translate Tool 3D Manipulation

569

About Rotate Tool 3D Manipulation

570

About Scale Tool 3D Manipulation

571

About Transform Tool 3D Manipulation

572

Manipulating and Animating 3D Object Subnodes

574

Disabling Subnodes

576

Enabling Subnodes

578

Animating Individual Parts of 3D Models

580

Adding the Subnodes to the Timeline View

584

Applying the Animation of a 3D Subnode to an Element587

3D Rendering in Harmony

590

Setting 3D Renderer Paths

592

Connecting the 3D Model to the Renderer

595

Copying your Maya Project to the Scene Directory

597

Selecting a Rendering Engine

599

Linking a Maya Batch Render Node to an External Maya Project602

Adjusting the Antialiasing of a Rendered 3D Model

605

Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

608

About Rendering W rite Nodes

609

Adding W rite Nodes

610

Exporting Image Sequences from the Node View

611

Exporting Movie Files from the Node View

614

About Multiple Renders

618

Adding Multiple W rite Nodes

619

Setting Up Scale-Output Nodes

622

Setting Up Crop Nodes

625

39

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Rendering from W rite Nodes

629

Exporting a Movie File

631

Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on W indow s

636

Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on macOS

640

Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime ProRes Movies

642

Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on GNU/Linux

645

Configuring Movie Settings for W indow s Media Video

648

Exporting an Animated GIF

650

Exporting Flash (SW F) Movies

653

Exporting OpenGL Frames

655

About PSD Layouts

660

Exporting a PSD Layout

661

Exporting Sound

663

Batch Rendering

665

Chapter 22: Library & Templates

668

About Structure

670

Creating Libraries

671

Opening Libraries

672

Closing Libraries

673

Creating Folders

674

Deleting Folders

675

Renaming Folders

676

Refreshing Libraries

677

Generating Thumbnails

678

Deleting Thumbnails

679

Searching in Libraries

680

About Templates

681

Creating Templates

683

Deleting Templates

686

Editing Templates

687

40

Table of Contents

Importing Templates

688

Opening Templates as Folders

692

About Symbols

693

Creating Symbols

694

Creating a Symbol from a Draw ing

697

Creating Empty Symbols

699

Deleting Symbols

700

Editing Symbols

701

Importing Symbols

704

Expanding Symbols

705

Converting Symbols to Templates

707

Importing Files in the Library

709

Using Paste Special

710

Chapter 23: Gaming in Harmony

712

About Game Asset Creation

716

Game Rigging Guidelines

717

Game Deformation Guidelines719

About Game Bone Deformations

720

Game Cutter Guidelines

721

Creating Metadata Notes

722

Game Animation Tips

724

Animating Multiple Sequences725

W orkflow 1: Separate Scenes

726

W orkflow 2: Separating Using Scene Markers

727

About the Orthographic Camera

728

Using the Harmony Game Preview er

729

About Exporting to Unity

732

Clearing Scripts

733

Setting Anchors and Props

734

Exporting Sprite Sheets

736

41

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Exporting to Easel JS

738

About W orking in Unity

740

About the Sample Unity Project

741

About the Unity Interface

742

Importing Harmony Files into Unity

744

About Game Objects

745

Using Empty Game Objects

746

Using Plane Game Objects

749

Attaching Props to Anchors in Unity

751

Placing Locators in Unity

753

Setting Up Collisions in Unity

755

About W orking w ith Audio in Unity

756

Harmony Unity SDK

757

Asset Manipulation

761

Harmony Preview er

765

Troubleshooting

768

Chapter 28: Scripting Guide

772

Creating Scripts

774

Editing a Script Packaged w ith Harmony

778

Checking Script Syntax

780

Testing a Script781

Debugging Scripts

783

Using the Scripting Sandbox

785

Importing Scripts

786

Deleting Scripts

788

Restoring a Harmony Script

789

Using an External Script Editor

790

Storing Scripts in a Custom Directory

792

Adding Scripts as Toolbar Buttons

797

Accessing Node Attribute Names for Scripting

799

42

Table of Contents

43Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Introduction
The Harmony core functionality are explained in this User guide. All the steps required to create and completea project are covered in the follow ing chapters w ith concept descriptions and detailed step-by-stepprocedures focused on the task at hand.
Detailed parameter descriptions for all buttons, commands, and functions are covered in the Reference guideand Preference guide. Some of them are explained here w here necessary to the understanding of a given
concept or procedure.

44

Chapter 1: Project Creation

Chapter 1: Project Creation
Once Harmony Premium is installed, you are ready to start the application and animate! In this chapter, you
w ill learn about starting the application, as w ell as creating, opening and saving scenes

45Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About Harmony Stand Alone
Harmony Stand Alone allow s you to create, open, save and manage scenes on your computer's file system.
Unlike Harmony Server, Harmony Stand Alone does not have a database system. Each scene you create is anindependent project, and you must organize your scenes yourself.
If you have a Harmony Server license, you can still choose to run Harmony in Stand Alone mode if you like.
How ever, if you have a Harmony Stand Alone license, you can only run Harmony in Stand Alone mode.

46

Chapter 1: Project Creation

Starting Harmony in Stand Alone Mode
T-HFND-001-002
You can run Harmony Premium from your operating system's desktop.

W ARNING
On macOS, Harmony and its other applications w ill not run on the first time unless you right-clickon the application, then select Open. You w ill be prompted to confirm a security exception, w hichw ill require administrative privileges.

How to start Harmony Stand Alone
1. Depending on your operating system, do one of the follow ing:l

W indows: Do one of the follow ing:l

On the desktop, double-click

Harmony PremiumlOpen the Start menu and, in the list of programs, select Harmony 22 Premium >Harmony Premium.

lmacOS: In Finder, proceed to Applications >Toon Boom Harmony 22 Premium anddouble-click Harmony Premium.
l

GNU/Linux: In the GNOME top menu, select Applications > Harmony 22 Premium >Harmony Premium.

The Harmony Premium application launches and displays a splash screen. After the splash screen:l

If you have a Harmony Stand Alone license, the W elcome Screen w ill appearl

If you have a Harmony Server license, the Log-In Screen w ill appear. You can proceed fromthe Log-In Screen to the W elcome Screen by selecting W ork Offline and clicking on the OK
button.

Once you are at the W elcome Screen, see About the W elcome Screen on page 48.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About the W elcome Screen
T-HFND-001-003
As soon as you launch Harmony, you are greeted w ith the W elcome screen, from w hich you can:lCreate sceneslChoose your new scene's resolutionlManage your scene resolution presetslQuickly open recently opened sceneslBrow se for and open a scene you already created.

l

W atch Harmony video tutorials on the w eb.

lAccess the support w eb page.

48

Chapter 1: Project Creation

NOTES
l

If you are using Harmony Server, you must use theControl Center application to create yourscenes before you can open them in Harmony. Harmony Server scenes cannot be createddirectly in Harmony.
l

You can disable the W elcome screen and make Harmony launch right to the main application
w indow by unchecking the Do not show this window at startup option at the bottom.

l

You can return to the W elcome screen from the main application w indow by selecting Help >Show W elcome Screen in the top menu. If you disabled the W elcome screen, you can reenable it again by returning to the W elcome screen and unchecking the Do not show thiswindow at startup option.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About Harmony Stand Alone Scenes
W hen w orking in production, it is important to keep your w ork organized. It is important to create a naming
convention chart and establish a file storage structure before starting the project. It is not only extremely
important that everyone follow s the criteria laid out in the naming convention chart and the file storage
structure, but also that they understand the organization and w here to find the files.
A w ell thought-out and logical naming convention w ill help keep your production structured and allow it torun smoothly by preventing the loss of files due to chaotic organization.
In this section, you w ill learn how to create, open, organize, and name the different components in youranimation project.

50

Chapter 1: Project Creation

Creating Scenes in Harmony Stand Alone
T-HFND-001-005
All scenes created via Harmony Stand Alone are independent and local to the computer. You can create oropen a scene using the W elcome screen or the File menu.
If you are using Harmony Server, you must use theControl Center application to create your scenes before

you can open them in Harmony. Harmony Server scenes cannot be created directly in Harmony.

How to create a scene from the W elcome screen
1. In the Name field, type the scene’s name.

NOTE
The scene name should not exceed 23 characters and cannot contain special
characters, such as *&^ %!.

2. To decide in w hich directory the scene w ill be created, click the Browse button next to the Location
field.

3. From the Camera Size menu, select a scene resolution.

4. Click on Create Scene.

51Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

A new scene is created. The main application w indow w ill appear w ith your new scene opened init.

How to create a new scene from the File menu
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select File > New.

l

In the File toolbar, click the NewlPress Ctrl + N (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + N (macOS).

button.

The New Scene dialog box opens.

2. In the Project Name field, type the scene's name.

3. Select a scene directory by clicking the Brow se button.

NOTE
The scene name cannot exceed 23 characters and cannot contain special characters, such as*&^ %!.

4. In the Resolution w indow , select the scene’s resolution and click Create.
A new scene is created.

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

Creating Custom Resolutions in Harmony Stand Alone
T-HFND-001-006
You can create your ow n custom resolution presets for your projects.

How to create a custom resolution
1. Create a new scene from the W elcome screen or from the File menu in Harmony.
2. Set the scene resolution by doing one of the follow ing:lSelect a scene resolution from the Camera sizes drop-dow n menu.

l

Set a custom resolution by changing the values in the W idth and Height fields. This
preset w ill not be saved.

NOTE
The different editions of Harmony support the follow ing maximum render
resolutions:llHarmony Essentials: 2K (2048x1556)lHarmony Advanced: 4K (4096x3112)

lHarmony Premium: Unlimited

Add a new resolution to the list by clicking the Add

button. You can delete a

custom resolution from the Resolution list by selecting it, and clicking the Delete
button.
3. In the New Resolution dialog box, fill in the follow ing fields and click Create.

lResolution Name: Name your new resolution.

l

Resolution: Set the w idth and height of the scene, in pixels.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Field of View: Select how the angle of the field of view should be determined.
lHorizontal Fit: The angle of the field of view is adjusted to the w idth of thescene.

lVertical Fit: The angle of the field of view is adjusted to the height of thescene.

ll

Custom Fov: Set the angle of the field of view to a custom value.

Frame Rate: The amount of frames to play each second. You can select one of thepreset frame rates in the Preset drop-dow n, or type in a custom frame rate in the
Frames per second field.

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

Opening Scenes in Harmony Stand Alone
T-HFND-001-007
You can open scenes from the W elcome Screen and the File menu. You can also open your recent scenes.

How to open a scene from the W elcome screen
1. In the Recent Scenes section, click Open.
The Open Scene brow ser opens.
2. Brow se and select an .xstage file.
3. Click Open.

How to open a scene from the File menu
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select File > Open.

l

In the File toolbar, click the Brow selPress Ctrl + O (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + O (macOS).

button.

The Open Scene brow ser opens.
2. Brow se and select the desired .xstagefile.
3. Click Open.

How to open a recent scene from the W elcome screen
1. In the Open a Scene section, select a scene from the list.

How to open a recent scene from the File menu
1. From the top menu, select File > Open Recent.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

2. Select a scene from the displayed list.

56

Chapter 1: Project Creation

Setting the Scene Length in Harmony Stand Alone
T-HFND-001-009
Once you have opened your scene, you can set its length.

How to set the scene length
1. Select Scene > Scene Length.
The Set Scene Length dialog box opens.

2. In the Number of Frames field, enter the number of frames needed.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About Scene Settings in Harmony Stand Alone
T-HFND-001-010
W hen you created your scene, you set up the resolution and the alignment. How ever, if you w ant to changethese settings later, you can do it using the Scene Settings dialog box. The different Scene Settings options
are separated into four tabs.

NOTE
Refer to the Scene Setting dialog box in the Reference guide to learn more about the individual
parameters of the Scene Settings dialog box.

How to access the Scene Settings dialog box
1. In the top menu, select Scene > Scene Settings.
The Scene Settings dialog box opens.

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

About Saving in Harmony Stand Alone
It is important to regularly save your scene. As you make changes to a scene, an asterisk (*) appears in the title
bar beside the scene name to indicate that the scene contains unsaved changes.
To save the current state of a scene as another scene, you can use the Save As command. The Save As
w indow prompts you to give a new name and choose a different location to this scene before saving it. Thisw ill create a complete scene directory for the new scene. The Save As command is not available in Harmony
Server.
It is quite frequent, w hen w orking on a scene, to try out different timings, effects, camera motions or
parameters to see w hich one w ill w ork best. Harmony allow s you to save several versions of the same scene.
You can also automatically save your w ork by enabling Auto-Save.

IMPORTANTW hen a scene has several versions, the draw ings and palettes are the same betw een all thedifferent scene versions. You can modify the timing, effects, parameters and camera motions in a
specific scene version, but if you make change to a draw ing or a palette, the change w ill affect all
scene versions.

59Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Saving Scenes in Harmony Stand Alone
T-HFND-001-011
You can save your scene, save a new copy or save a new version. Don't forget that saving a new version uses
the same draw ings in all versions.

How to save a scene
1. Do one of the follow ingl

In the top menu, select File > Save.

l

Press Ctrl + S (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + S (macOS).

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

Saving Scenes as Copies in Harmony Stand Alone
Saving a copy of your scene allow s you to choose a new file name and location for your scene.

How to save a scene as a copy
1. Select File > Save As.
2. In the Save As dialog box, brow se to the location of the new archive and give the copy of the scenea new name. The name cannot exceed 23 characters.
3. Click Save.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Saving Scenes as New Versions in Harmony Stand Alone
Saving a new version of your scene allow s you to save your scene at it's current location, under a new filename.

How to save a new version of a scene
1. Select File > Save As New Version.
The Save Version dialog box opens.
2. In the Save Version dialog box, type the new version name.
3. Click OK.

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

Enabling Auto- Save in Harmony Stand Alone
T-ANIMPA-001-001
You can allow the softw are to automatically save your scene, as w ell as decide on the interval of time
betw een auto-saves.

How to auto- save a scene
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

W indow s/Linux: Select Edit > Preferences.

lmacOS: Select Harmony Premium > Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + U (macOS).

2. Select the General tab.
3. In the Save section, set the Auto-Save parameters:lInterval (minutes): The frequency at w hich auto-save happens.

l

Inactivity Interval (seconds): W hen Auto-save is about to take place, it verifies if you
are draw ing or doing anything in the application. Auto-save w ill not happen until you
have stopped using the application for this amount of seconds.

l

Ask Before Saving: Before performing an auto-save, you are prompted w ith amessage to confirm if you w ant to save or not.

l

Enabled: This enables the Auto-save feature. If you do not w ant the system toautomatically save your w ork, uncheck this option. Auto-save is off by default.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About the File Structure in Harmony Stand Alone
T-HFND-001-008
A Harmony project is composed of several files. The draw ings and colour palettes are not embedded in the
project. They are separate linked files. Therefore, if you w ant to archive or share a project, you require all thefiles contained in the folder structure.
Here is an example of the file structure contained in a scene. As you w ork and use more features, different
folders may appear in your structure.

The Harmony scene folder contains the follow ing folders:
FolderContents

annotation

Contains the images and thumbnails created w hile draw ing in an Annotation
column in the Xsheet view .

audio

Contains all imported audio files.

elements

Contains all the draw ing files. The draw ings are organized by folders named likethe layers they are associated w ith.

environments

If the scene w as exported from a Harmony Server database, this directory w ill
contain the palettes and templates that w ere stored in the scene's environment.
Otherw ise, it is empty.

framesContains the final frames after a render if you are using the default settings of theW rite node in the Node view .

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

jobs

If the scene w as exported from a Harmony Server database, this directory w ill
contain the palettes and templates that w ere stored in the scene's job. Otherw ise,
it is empty.

palette-library

Contains scene palettes and scene palette list files.

timings

This folder is used w hen a user links external images to a scene and w ants tostore a backup copy in case the link breaks.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About Harmony Server

Harmony can be used in database mode (online) via the server connection (Harmony Server) or as astandalone application (offline).
Several animators can w ork simultaneously on the same project w hile the asset library provides users w itheasy access to up-to-date media assets. Harmony is scalable; more than 100 staging clients can shareanimation just as easily as a few can.
Harmony Server is the link betw een the client machines and the server. It lets you w ork on the different
projects stored in the central Harmony database.
At the heart of the Harmony solution is the server, w hich centralizes all the production assets in a repository.
The server is compatible w ith W indow s, GNU/Linux or macOS. To learn more, refer to the Control Center
Guide.
If you have a Harmony Server license, w hen you start Harmony, you can opt to either w ork offline in theapplication as a standalone softw are, or connect to the database to w ork on projects via the database.
W hen w orking w ith Harmony Server, the scenes and their data are stored directly on the server. No data is
saved or stored on the client machine. The client machines access the database and load the scenes anddraw ings directly from the server. Each time the user saves his scene, the data is updated directly on theserver. There are no upload or dow nload operations (check-in, check-out) done betw een the server and theclients.

NOTE
If you have a standalone license, you w ill not have access to the database. You w ill automaticallystart the application in standalone mode.

66

Chapter 1: Project Creation

About the Database Structure in Harmony Server
Harmony Server has a client-server configuration linked through a netw ork. Although the user is w orking on aclient machine, all of the data is saved on the server.
You can compare the Harmony Server structure to a filing cabinet. Every element is structured and follow s astrictly organized hierarchy.
The follow ing production structure hierarchy is used:l

Environment: Production, project, feature film, series—see Environment Structure on page 67lJob: Episode and sequence from each environmentl

Scene: Scene from each joblElement: Layers and columns from each scenelDrawing: Draw ings from each element

If you imagine the environment as a filing cabinet containing all the folders and information, then the follow ing
structure is used:l

The job is a draw er in the filing cabinet containing all the folders related to the draw er’s topic.

l

The scenes are the folders contained in that draw erl

The elements are the papers contained in the folderl

The draw ings are the information contained on the paper

A Harmony Server scene can only be saved inside the structure. This maintains structural organization so
nothing is lost. By adhering to this structure, every user w orking in the database alw ays know s w here to findthe scenes to w ork on.

Environment Structure
Before you create or save any elements in your production, you should decide upon a project name. Thisshould reflect the content or title. Use the name to create the project’s environment, w here you w ill store all of67

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

your production elements.
For example, the environment could be called adventure_movie. An environment can be used for movies,
series, commercials, student w ork database, etc.
For a series, you can create an environment w ith the same name as the series, such as smith_family. Then
you can create a job per episode: smep_001, smep_002, and so on. Here is w hat the letters and numbers
represent:lsm: The first tw o letters of the name smithlep: Episodel001: The number of the episode

For commercials, w hich are rather short, you can create an environment, such as commercials. Then you cancreate one job per commercial: toothpaste, soap, car, and so on. As commercials are short and do not require
splitting into episodes or sequences, you can group them all in the same environment.
For a database of student’s w ork, you can create an environment and name it w ith the class or group name,such as gr402a. Then you can create one job per student: smith_john, robertson_jane. And then store
the different student exercises in separate scenes under their job name.

68Chapter 1: Project Creation

About the Database File Structure in Harmony Server
ForHarmony Server, the scene files as w ell as user and configuration files are contained w ithin the databasestructure. If you w ant to share or archive a project, you w ill need to use Control Center to export your datafrom the database. If you receive a package from another user or studio, you w ill also need to use Control
Center to import it in your database. Refer to the Control Center User Guide to learn how .
All Harmony Server directories are located at the root of your file system by default. On W indow s, this is at
the root of the C:\ drive. On macOS and GNU/Linux, this is simply referred to as the root directory, or /.
The usa_db directory contains the file structure of the database server. This is/usa_db/usadata

w here all the information about the database structure is stored, including thehierarchy of environment, jobs and scenes, their various settings, user profiles
and the location of the scene data on the netw ork.

The usadata directory is w here all the scene data is actually stored. It isstored in a different directory than the database structure to allow using
different machines to store the database and to store the scene data. Theremay be several usadata folders, each follow ed by a number. This occurs
w hen the server is configured to store scene data on more than one dataserver, to expand its storage space.

Although the hierarchy of a database starts w ith environments, inside w hich are jobs and inside w hich arescenes, the environments and jobs in a Harmony Server database are stored in separate folders in /usa_db.
Hence, w hile brow sing /usa_db, you cannot navigate from an environment to one of its jobs. You must go
directly to the jobs directory to find its content.
Inside a job directory, you w ill find one folder for each scene contained in the job. This is actually a shortcut
that points to the actual scene data folder of the scene, w hich is located to one of the /usadata folder for the
database.

69Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About Scene Creation in Harmony Server
W hen w orking in Harmony Server, you can only open and edit scenes that w ere already created. To create
scenes, you must use the Control Center module.
For documentation on how to use Control Center to create scenes, refer to the Control Center User Guide.

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

Starting Harmony in Server Mode
T-HFND-001-002
You can run Harmony Premium from your operating system's desktop.

W ARNING
On macOS, Harmony and its other applications w ill not run on the first time unless you right-clickon the application, then select Open. You w ill be prompted to confirm a security exception, w hichw ill require administrative privileges.

How to start Harmony
1. Depending on your operating system, do one of the follow ing:l

W indows: Do one of the follow ing:l

On the desktop, double-click

Harmony PremiumlOpen the Start menu and, in the list of programs, select Harmony 22 Premium >Harmony Premium.

lmacOS: In Finder, proceed to Applications >Toon Boom Harmony 22 Premium anddouble-click Harmony Premium.
l

GNU/Linux: In the GNOME top menu, select Applications > Harmony 22 Premium >Harmony Premium.

The Harmony Premium application launches and displays a splash screen. After the splash screen,
the log-in dialog box appears—see Connecting to the Database in Harmony Server on page 72.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Connecting to the Database in Harmony Server
Before you can w ork in Harmony via Harmony Server, you must be connected to the Harmony database.

How to connect to the Harmony database
1. Start Harmony —see Starting Harmony in Server Mode.
2. In the log-in dialog, select the Connect to Database option.

3. In the User Name field, type in your Harmony username.

NOTE
This username should be provided to you by your project lead or system administrator.

4. Click on OK.
The Database Selector dialog box opens, displaying the environments available in Harmony
database.

You can now navigate to a scene and open it—see Opening a Scene in Harmony Server.

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

About Scenes in Harmony Server
In Harmony Server, you must use Control Center to create scenes. Then, you can open your scenes in Harmony
and configure them, set them up, create several versions and manage those versions.

73Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Opening a Scene in Harmony ServerOnce you are connected to the database in Harmony, you can open a scene in the database.

How to open a scene in Harmony Server
1. Connect to the database—see Connecting to the Database in Harmony Server on page 72.
The Database Selector appears w hen you log-in.

2. In the Environments column, select the scene's environment (project, movie, season).

3. In the Jobs column, select the scene's job (episode, sequence).

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

4. In the Scenes column, select the scene.

5. Get the permissions needed for this session by selecting one or several of the follow ing options:l

Get rights to modify the scene: Allow s you to modify the selected version of the scene as
w ell as to manage and overw rite other versions. Other users w ill not be able to open a
different version of the scene until you close the scene..

l

Get rights to modify the scene version: Allow s you to modify the currently selected scene
version only. Unless the Get rights to modify the scene option is also checked, you w ill not
be able to change other versions of the scene. This allow s other users to modify different
versions of the scene w hile you are w orking on the selected version.

l

Get rights to modify the scene assets: Automatically gets the rights to modify all of thescene's assets, locking other users from making changes to them until you close the scene.
This means that you w ill have the rights to modify all the scene's versions, draw ings,
palettes, its palette list, but not its library folder. If this option is unchecked, draw ings andpalettes w ill be locked unless you unlock them manually. This can allow another user tow ork on the scene's draw ings and palettes in Paint w hile you are w orking on the scene's
timing or staging in Harmony.

6. If this is a heavy scene, check the Cache scene assets locally option. If this option is checked
Harmony w ill dow nload draw ings to your computer before opening the scene and load thedraw ings from your computer instead of from the netw ork. Harmony w ill upload the updated
draw ings back to the netw ork w hen you save, so you do not have to w orry about uploading them
manually.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTE
If this option is checked, it may take a w hile to dow nload all of the scene's assets w hen
opening a particularly heavy scene.

7. Choose the version you w ant to open from the Version menu.

NOTE
The Saved By and Saved Date fields display the user w ho last saved the selected scene
and the date of the last save.

8. Click on Open.

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

About Scene Settings in Harmony Server
W hen you create a scene in Harmony Server, its settings such as the scene resolution and framerate are set todefault values. You can change your scene's resolution, framerate, alignment and other settings using theScene Settings dialog.

NOTE
Refer to the Scene Setting dialog box in the Reference guide to learn more about the individual
parameters of the Scene Settings dialog box.

How to access the Scene Settings dialog box
1. In the top menu, select Scene > Scene Settings.
The Scene Settings dialog box opens.

77Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Setting the Scene Length in Harmony Server
How to set the scene length
1. Select Scene > Scene Length.
The Set Scene Length dialog box opens.

2. In the Number of Frames field, enter the number of frames needed.

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

About Saving and Scene Versions in Harmony Server
W hen you use Harmony Server and w ork in a scene on the database, there are many choices and options
available w hen you save your w ork. Specifically, the Advanced Save dialog lets you do the follow ing:lSave the scene as the current version.

lSave different versions representing different stages of the production of your scene.

lSave different versions representing different scene setups.

lChoose specific assets that you w ant to save, such as draw ings or palettes.

W hen you open the scene from the database and select the version you w ant to edit, you can save thechanges you made in the current version or create a new version. The simplest w ay to save your w ork is to
update the current version.
You can delete any unnecessary versions using the Versions w indow .
W hen w orking w ith multiple versions, you may w ant to merge some of the changes from one version intoanother. You may have created a version w ith some suggestions that you submitted to the director w hile
continuing to w ork on the official version. If the director has approved some of the changes, you can go ahead
and import them into the official version.
You might w ant to save some specific aspects of your scene or save a new version. The Advance Save featureallow s you to do this. Once you have chosen the components to save, you w ill conclude the procedure byfollow ing the instructions in the section. All the specific components that are selected throughout the different
tabs of the Advanced Save dialog box w ill be saved.
You can also automatically save your w ork by enabling Auto-Save.

IMPORTANTW hen a scene has several versions, the draw ings and palettes are the same betw een all thedifferent scene versions. You can modify the timing, effects, parameters and camera motions in a
specific scene version, but if you make change to a draw ing or a palette, the change w ill affect all
scene versions.

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Saving a Scene in Harmony Server
The first time you save a scene in Harmony Server, you w ill be prompted to create a first scene version. Oncethe scene has at least one scene version, you can instantly save to that version every time you make changes
to your scene.

How to save the first version of a scene in Harmony Server
1. Make sure you have the necessary rights to save the current scene version. If you do not, you canacquire the rights by selecting File > Rights to Modify Scene Version or Rights to Modify Scene in
the top menu.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select File > Save.

l

In the File toolbar, click on thelPress Ctrl + S (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + S (macOS).

Save button.

W hen saving the scene for the first time, the Save dialog box opens, prompting you to name theversion.

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

3. In the This Version field, enter a relevant name for the current version.

4. In the Description field, if you w ant, you can enter a short description of the current version.

5. Click on Save.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Saving a New Scene Version in Harmony Server
You can save different versions of your scene and add descriptions to each version to keep track of thechanges made to a scene over time

How to save a new version of the scene in Harmony Server
1. Make sure that you have the necessary rights to save the current scene version. If you do not, you
can acquire the rights by selecting File > Rights to Modify Scene Version or Rights to Modify
Scene from the top menu.
2. From the top menu, select File > Advanced Save.
The Advanced Save dialog appears.

3. Make sure the Save option is checked.
4. Select the New Version option.
5. In the New Version field, enter a relevant name for the new version of your scene.

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Chapter 1: Project Creation

6. In the Description field, if you w ant, you can enter a short description of the current version.

7. If you w ant the new version to be marked as the current scene version, make sure the Mark as
Current option is checked. This w ill make the version you are creating the default version of thescene, w hen opening it.
8. Click on Save.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Deleting Scene Versions in Harmony Server
View a list of the different versions of your scene, along w ith their corresponding description. Use thisinformation to delete various versions.

How to delete versions
1. Make sure you have the necessary rights. If you do not, select File > Rights to Modify Scene.
2. Select File > Manage Versions.
The Versions w indow opens.

3. In the Existing Versions list, select the scene version you w ant to delete. W hen a version is
selected, information about it appears in the Description area.
4. Click Delete.
The Confirm Delete Versions dialog box opens, w arning you that the operation cannot be undone.

5. Click one of the follow ing:

84

Chapter 1: Project CreationlYes: Only if you are absolutely certain that the version can be deleted.

l

No: To cancel the operation and keep the version.

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Merging Scene Versions in Harmony Server
If you have tw o different versions of a scene that need to be brought together, you can merge them.

How to merge scene versions
1. From the top menu, select Edit > Open Merge Editor.
The Choose Scene Versions for Merge w indow opens.

2. In the Select Version to Merge Changes From list, select the scene version from w hich you w ant tomerge the changes from in your current open version.

In the Use Another Version for Reference section, you can select a different scene version to merge
the changes into, rather than your current version.
3. Click Load.
The Merge Editor opens.

86Chapter 1: Project Creation

4. From the right column, select the layers you w ant to merge the changes from into the reference
version.
5. In the Select Element Range section, set the Start Frame and End Frame fields to indicate fromw hat frame to w hat frame you w ant to take the changes from.
6. Click Merge Selected to complete the operation.

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Advanced Saving in Harmony Server
Use the Advanced Save dialog box to save specific draw ings, palettes and palette lists as a version of yourscene.

How to use the Advanced Save dialog box
1. Make sure that you have the necessary rights to save the current scene version. If you do not, you
can acquire the rights by selecting File > Rights to Modify Scene Version or Rights to Modify
Scene from the top menu.
2. From the top menu, select File > Advanced Save.
The Advanced Save dialog appears.

For information on the parameters in the Advanced Save Dialog Box, refer to the Advanced Save
Dialog Box topic of the Reference guide.

88Chapter 1: Project Creation

Enabling Auto- Save
You can allow the softw are to automatically save your scene, as w ell as decide on the interval of time
betw een auto-saves.

How to auto- save a scene
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

W indow s/Linux: Select Edit > Preferences.

lmacOS: Select Harmony Premium > Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + U (macOS).

2. Select the General tab.
3. In the Save section, set the Auto-Save parameters:lInterval (minutes): The frequency at w hich auto-save happens.

l

Inactivity Interval (seconds): W hen Auto-save is about to take place, it verifies if you
are draw ing or doing anything in the application. Auto-save w ill not happen until you
have stopped using the application for this amount of seconds.

l

Ask Before Saving: Before performing an auto-save, you are prompted w ith amessage to confirm if you w ant to save or not.

l

Enabled: This enables the Auto-save feature. If you do not w ant the system toautomatically save your w ork, uncheck this option. Auto-save is off by default.

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About the Scene File Structure in Harmony Server
A Harmony project is composed of several files. The draw ings and colour palettes are not embedded in the
project. They are separate linked files. Therefore, if you w ant to archive or share a project, you require all thefiles contained in the folder structure.
Here is an example of the file structure contained in a scene. As you w ork and use more features, different
folders may appear in your structure.

The Harmony scene folder contains the follow ing folders:
FolderContents

annotation

Contains the images and thumbnails created w hile draw ing in an Annotation
column in the Xsheet view .

audio

Contains all imported audio files.

database

This is no longer used for new projects. It remains for projects created w ith older
versions of the softw are.

elements

Contains all the draw ing files. The draw ings are organized by folders named likethe layers they are associated w ith.

framesContains the final frames after a render if you are using the default settings of theW rite node in the Node view .

palette-library

Contains scene palettes and scene palette list files.

stage

Contains one .stage file for each version of the scene.

timings

This folder is used w hen a user links external images to a scene and w ants tostore a backup copy in case the link breaks.

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About Global Lock in Harmony Server
Harmony Server has a lock system, referred to as Global Lock, for the different scenes and scene assets.
Because all the data on the server can be accessed directly and modified from any client machine by default,
the scenes are locked. You must obtain the rights to modify scenes in order to save your w ork on the server.
Only one user at a time can modify a scene. Once a scene is opened on a client machine, other users can only
open the scene in read-only mode. They w ill not be able to save any modifications.
If you w ork in standalone mode, you automatically have the rights to modify all draw ings and palettes.
Global Lock offers three levels w hich are available from the Database Selector w hen you log in to Harmony.
From there, you can select a scene and obtain the rights to modify it by selecting the desired lock option.

A Harmony project can be locked at various levels. Its timing, draw ings, version and palettes can be locked.
Locking means that you have the rights to modify a scene or its assets. Other users cannot modify locked
items. If someone tries to open a locked scene, it w ill be displayed as read-only.
Here are the different lock possibilities:
Lock

Description

Scene or Version LockControls the Xsheet timing, layers, nodes but not the draw ing, palettes, palettelists or templates.

Draw ing Lock

Only one user can edit and save a locked draw ing.

Palette Lock

Only one user can edit and save a locked palette.

Palette-list Lock

Only one user can edit and save a locked palette-list.

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Library Folder lock

Only one user can edit and save into that folder in the Library.

There are several different w ays to obtain the rights to modify the scenes. It can be done w hen the user loads
a scene from Harmony, inside the application once the scene is loaded, or w hen an environment, job or scene
is created using the Control Center module.

92Chapter 1: Project Creation

Acquiring Rights to Loaded Scenes in Harmony Server
If you opened a scene in read-only mode, but realize that you need to modify it, you can easily acquire thenecessary rights w ithout closing and reloading the scene.
Note that it is not possible to acquire the rights to modify the scene assets once the scene is loaded. This
process is done during the initial loading of the scene. To learn more about enabling the rights to modify w hile
creating environments, jobs and scenes, refer to the Control Center Guide.

How to set the scene's rights after the scene is loaded
1. In the top menu, select File and one of the follow ing:lRights to Modify Scene: Allow s you to modify the selected version of the scene as
w ell as to manage and overw rite other versions. Other users w ill not be able to open
a different version of the scene until you close the scene.

lRights to Modify Scene Version: Allows you to modify the currently selected scene
version only. Unless the Get rights to modify the scene option is also checked, youwill not be able to change other versions of the scene. This allows other users tomodify different versions of the scene while you are working on the selectedversion.

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About Drawing Lock in Harmony Server
The draw ings are stored on the server database providing access to them from every client machine. They arelocked to avoid different users from modifying the same draw ings simultaneously. Only one person at a time
can get the rights to modify them. The draw ing rights are independent from the scene rights because in a
production rush, tw o users may need to w ork on the same scene to finish painting the draw ings faster. One
user w ill get the rights for one set of draw ings, and the second user the rights to another set of draw ings. This
prevents w ork from being duplicated.

W hen enabled, the Edit Draw ings mode gives you the right to modify draw ings, as w ell as create newdraw ings by draw ing directly on an empty cell. This mode is enabled by default w hen you open a scene
version w ith the rights enabled.

NOTE
If you open the scene w ith full rights from the W elcome screen or Control Center, the Edit
Draw ing mode is not available.

W hen you disable the Edit Draw ing Mode, you can use the Get Rights to Modify Draw ings option on aselection of specific draw ings. This is useful w hen, for example, many users are w orking on the same scene
during the ink and paint process and they w ant to split the draw ings to paint betw een them.
Also, once you got the rights to modify draw ings, you can release these rights if necessary.
If your system crashes and the draw ings remain locked, you can force the release of the rights. You must use
this option carefully as data loss may occur if the scene is currently open and being edited by another person.
Verify that no one else is using the scene prior to forcing the release of the draw ing rights.
Since the draw ings are stored on the server, you might at times need to refresh the draw ings that are
displayed in your scene.

94Chapter 1: Project Creation

Locking & Unlocking Drawings in Harmony Server
You can acquire and release the rights to modify draw ings w hen w orking w ith Harmony Server.

How to enable the Edit Drawing Model

From the top menu, select Edit > Edit Drawing Mode.

How to get the rights on a selection of drawings
1. Make sure that the Edit Draw ing Mode is disabled.
2. In the Xsheet view , select the draw ings you w ant to edit.
3. Select Edit > Get Rights to Modify Drawings or press Alt + L.

How to release the rights on a selection of drawings
1. In the Xsheet view , select the draw ings you w ant to release.
2. Select Edit > Release Rights to Modify Drawings or press Alt + Shift + L.

How to force the release of the rights of locked drawings
1. In the Xsheet view , select the draw ings you w ant to release.
2. Select Edit > Force Release Rights to Modify Drawings.
A W arning dialog box opens.
lClick Yes if you w ant to continue to force the release.

l

Click No if you w ant to cancel the force release.

How to read changed drawingslSelect File > Read Changed Drawings.

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Verifying a Scene's Integrity
The Check Files commandVerifies the integrity of the draw ing and palette files in your project. Use the Check
Files dialog box to verify that the data is consistent, correct, and accessible.

How to open the Check Files dialog box
1. From the top menu, select Scene > Check Files.

2. Click Check Colours to open the Check Colours dialog box.
The Check Colours dialog box checks the palette integrity and displays the colour recovery
data.

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Chapter 2: User Interface

Chapter 2: User Interface
T-HFND-003-001
Know ing how to manage the Toon Boom Harmony Premium interface helps you to w ork efficiently andorganize your w orkspace conveniently. There are a series of view s and toolbars you can use as you performdifferent operations. Usually, each person has a specific w ay of w orking in the interface and prefer particular
view s and toolbars. In this chapter, you w ill learn about the main elements of the interface and how to manage
them.

NOTE
To learn more about each view 's properties, see the Reference guide.

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Changing the Theme Colours
The Harmony interface is set to a dark theme by default. You have the option of sw itching to a light theme.

How to change the interface theme
1. In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony Premium > Preferences(macOS) .
The Preferences dialog box opens.
2. In the General tab, in the Options section, uncheck the Use Dark StyleSheet (Requires Relaunch)check box.
3. Click OK.
4. Close and relaunch Harmony.

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Chapter 2: User Interface

Changing the User Interface Language
Harmony is available in English, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese.
By default, Harmony w ill automatically launch in your operating system language if it is one of the supported
languages. Otherw ise, it w ill launch in English.
There are tw o w ays of controlling the language in w hich Harmony launches:l

By changing the Language preference in the Preferences dialog.

l

By launching Harmony from a command line, w ith the -lang parameter follow ed by a tw o-letters
language code.

How to change the user interface language for Harmony
1. In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony Premium > Preferences(macOS) .
The Preferences dialog box opens.
1. In the General tab, in the Language section, open the Language (Requires Relaunch) drop-dow n
and select the desired user interface language.
2. Click OK.
3. Close and relaunch Harmony.

99Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

How to start Harmony in a specific user interface language from the command line
1. Open a Command Prompt or Terminal w indow .
2. Type in the follow ing command, including the quotation marks, but don't press Enter/Return yet.
l

W indows: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom
Harmony 22 Premium\win64\bin\HarmonyPremium.exe"lmacOS: "/Applications/Toon Boom Harmony 22 Premium/Harmony
Premium.app/Contents/MacOS/Harmony Premium"l

GNU/Linux: /usr/local/ToonBoomAnimation/harmonyPremium_22/lnx86_
64/bin/HarmonyPremium

3. Type a space, then type the follow ing parameter depending on w hich language you w ant to launch
Harmony in:lEnglish: -lang enlChinese: -lang zhlJapanese: -lang jalSpanish: -lang es

4. Press Enter/Return.
Harmony w ill launch in the specified language.

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Chapter 2: User Interface

About Menus
T-HFND-003-002
Harmony contains three types of menus from w hich you can access many commands and options:

Top Menu
The top menu contains most of the commands. Depending on the view you're w orking in and the element,
some commands are available and others are not. The top menu is alw ays located at the very top of theinterface.

The top menu contains the follow ing categories:
l

File

l

Edit

l

View

l

Play

l

Insert

l

Scene

l

Draw inglAnimationl

W indow slHelp

On macOS, there is also a Harmony Premium category that contains the follow ing commands:lPreferences

l

About

l

Quit

View Menu
A view menu contains commands specifically related to that view .
To access a view menu, click the Menu

button in the top-left corner of a view .

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A view menu is available in the follow ing view s:lCameralColourl

Draw inglFunctionl

Library

l

Model

l

Node Library

l

Node

l

PerspectivelScript Editor

l

Side

l

Timeline

l

Top

l

XsheetQuick Access Menu
A quick access menu lets you open a list of the commands you w ill use most often.
To access this menu, right-click anyw here in a view .

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Chapter 2: User Interface

103Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About Toolbars
T-HFND-003-003
The Harmony user interface contains various toolbars, such as the Tools toolbar and the Edit toolbar, to give
you quick access to various menu commands.
Toolbars are separated in tw o main categories:l

W orkspace toolbars are toolbars that have a general purpose. For example, the File, Edit, W orkspace,
Advanced Animation and Deformation toolbars at the top, as w ell as the Tools toolbar on the left, arew orkspace toolbars. Those toolbars can be placed at the top, bottom, left or right edge of theapplication w indow . They can also be placed at the edge of specific view s if preferred.

lView toolbars are toolbars that are useful for a specific view . For example, the Camera view has a
Camera toolbar at its top. View toolbars can only be displayed inside their respective view . They can beplaced at the top, bottom, left or right edge of their view .

You can display or hide toolbars using the W indows > Toolbars menu. This menu contains all the w orkspace
toolbars, as w ell as the view toolbar for all the view s that are currently displayed in your w orkspace.
For example, in the default w orkspace, you have the Camera and the Draw ing view s in the same area, and you
can sw itch betw een either view by clicking on the Camera or Draw ing tab. If the Camera view is the one being
displayed, then the Camera toolbar w ill be in the list. If the Draw ing view is displayed, then the Draw ing
toolbar w ill be in the list instead.
W orkspace toolbars can be added to either the general w orkspace or the inside of a view . For example, you
can add the Edit toolbar to the top of the area occupied by the Camera view instead of the top of theapplication w indow , w here it is by default. In the default w orkspace, the Tool Presets and Art Layer toolbars
are placed in the area w here the Camera and Draw ing view s are, even though they’re actually w orkspace
toolbars.
W hen a w orkspace toolbar is added to a view , and several view s are placed w here this view is, then all thoseview s w ill have this toolbar inside of them. For example, if you add the Edit toolbar to the Camera view , it w illalso be available in the Draw ing view , as both these view s share the same space. How ever, the Camera
toolbar w ill not be available in the Draw ing view as it is specific to the Camera view .
Some toolbars have buttons that are hidden by default to avoid cluttering. You can customize w hich buttons
are displayed in these toolbars, and in w hich order they’re displayed—see Customizing Toolbars.

TIP
Many toolbar buttons have a keyboard shortcut associated to them. You can check w hich keyboard
shortcut is associated to a button by leaving your mouse cursor over the button for a second. If the
button has a keyboard shortcut, it w ill be indicated in the tooltip that appears.

104Chapter 2: User Interface

Adding and Removing Toolbars
T-HFND-003-004
You can add toolbars to certain areas of your w orkspace. The w ay it w orks is as follow s:lA w orkspace toolbar can be added to any edge of the application w indow , or to the edge of a view inyour w orkspace.

lA view -specific toolbar can be added to the edge of its respective view only.

NOTE
W hen a w orkspace toolbar is added inside a view , and this view shares its area w ith other view s—
like the Camera and Draw ing view s do by default—the toolbar w ill remain visible even if you
sw itch to a different view in this area. For example, if you added the Alignment Guides toolbar to
the Camera view , this toolbar w ould also be visible in the Draw ing view .

How to add or remove a workspace toolbar to the general workspace
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars and in the sub-menu, select the toolbar you
w ant to add.

l

Right-click on any toolbar that is at the top or side of the w orkspace, or in the empty spacenext to these toolbars, and select the toolbar you w ant to add in the contextual menu.

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NOTE
In the list of toolbars in the top menu and in the contextual menu of the w orkspace, thetoolbars listed above the separator are w orkspace toolbars, and the ones below the
separator are view toolbars.

How to add a view toolbar to a view
1. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on the tab of the view for w hich you w ant to add a toolbar to set the focus on it. Then,in the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars and select the toolbar you w ant to add.

l

In the top area of the view to w hich you w ant to add a toolbar, to the left of its tab, right-click

106Chapter 2: User Interface

and select the toolbar you w ant to add in the contextual menu.

How to add or remove a workspace toolbar to a view
1. In the top area of the view to w hich you w ant to add a toolbar, left of its tab, right-click and selectthe toolbar you w ant to add in the contextual menu. You can also-right-click on a toolbar inside thisview , if there is any.

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NOTES
l

If the w orkspace toolbar w as present somew here else in your w orkspace, it w ill be
removed from its previous position and moved to the view w here you just added it.

l

In the list of toolbars in the contextual menu of a view , the toolbars listed above theseparator are w orkspace toolbars, and the ones below the separator are view
toolbars.

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Chapter 2: User Interface

Moving Toolbars
T-HFND-003-005, T-HFND-003-006
You can move toolbars around using drag & drop. This can be used to:lReorder toolbars w ithin the same toolbar area.

lMove a toolbar from one edge of the application w indow or view in w hich it is located to another edge.

lHide part of a toolbar w ith another toolbar.

The action you do depends on the gesture w ith w hich you drag the toolbar:l

If you drag the toolbar horizontally you are “sliding” the toolbar. This allow s you to move the toolbar
over another toolbar in the same row . W hen tw o toolbars share the same space, the toolbar on theright appears over the toolbar on the left, and the left toolbar’s rightmost buttons are hidden in a popup menu.

Likew ise, you can do this w ith a vertical toolbar by sliding it vertically, in w hich case the toolbar at thebottom appears over the toolbar at the top.
l

If you drag the toolbar vertically, you “pop” it out of its row . W hen a toolbar is popped out, you canreorder toolbars and move the toolbar to another row or to a different edge of the user interface.

Likew ise, you can do this w ith a vertical toolbar, such as the Tools toolbar at the left of the w orkspace,by moving it horizontally.

NOTE
You cannot move a toolbar from the edge of the application w indow to the inside of a view , or viceversa. If you w ant to do that, you must add the toolbar w here you w ant it to be located, and it w ill
automatically be removed from the area w here it is currently located. For example, if you w ant tomove the Edit toolbar from the top of the w orkspace to the Camera view , all you have to do is add
it to the Camera view —see Adding and Removing Toolbars.

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How to move a toolbar around
1. Click and hold the handle at the left of the toolbar you w ant to move.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

If the toolbar is horizontal, move it up or dow n to make it pop out of its row .

l

If the toolbar is vertical, move it left or right to make it pop out of its column.

3. Do one of the follow ing:l

To reorder toolbars, drag the toolbar w here you w ant it to be located and drop it.

The toolbar w ill move to its new position. Toolbars to the right (or to the bottom, if thetoolbar is vertical) w ill be offset to make space for it.

l

To move the toolbar to a new row or to a new column, simply move the toolbar w here the
new row or column should be created. For example, to create a new row of toolbars at the
top of the user interface, move it just below the existing toolbars at the top of the userinterface. A new row or column w ill appear, highlighted in cyan.

W hen you drop the toolbar, the new row w ill be created and the toolbar w ill be placed at
the left end of the row .

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Chapter 2: User Interface

Likew ise, to create a new column at the left of the user interface, move the toolbar just rightof the existing toolbars at the left of the user interface.
l

To move the toolbar to another edge of the user interface, drag it all the w ay to that edge ofthe user interface.

How to move a toolbar over another toolbar
1. Make sure both toolbars are in the same row or column. If they are not, move both toolbars to thesame row or column using the method previously described.
l

If the toolbars are horizontal, click and hold the handle at the left of the rightmost toolbar.
Then, w ithout going outside of the toolbar’s row , slide the toolbar tow ards the left.

l

If the toolbars are vertical, click and hold the handle at the top of the bottom toolbar. Then,w ithout going outside of the toolbar’s column, slide the toolbar up.

As you slide the toolbar over the other toolbar, the other toolbar’s buttons become hidden and a
pop-up menu button appear.

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2. To separate the toolbars again, simply slide the same toolbar in the opposite direction.
3. To expand a toolbar that is overlapped by another toolbar, click on the expand button at the rightof the overlapped toolbar.

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Chapter 2: User Interface

Customizing Toolbars
T-HFND-003-007
Some toolbars have buttons that are hidden by default to prevent clutter. You can customize w hich buttons
are displayed in these toolbars, as w ell as the order in w hich the buttons are displayed.

How to customize a toolbar
1. Right-click on the toolbar that you w ant to customize.
2. In the context menu, select Customize.
The Toolbar Manager dialog appears.

NOTES
l

If the Customize option is greyed out, this toolbar cannot be customized.

l

The Customize option is only available if the toolbar is in the space above theCamera View .

l

The Tools toolbar can only be customized in Flat Tools Toolbar mode—see
Enabling the Flat Toolbar.

3. To add a new toolbar button, select the button you w ant to add from the Available Tools list, thenclick on the

Add the selected tool into the toolbar button.

The button w ill be removed from the Available Tools list and added to the Toolbar list.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

4. To remove a button from the toolbar, select it in the Toolbar list, then click on the Remove theselected tool from the toolbar button.
The button w ill be removed from the Toolbar list and added to the Available Tools list.

5. To reorder the buttons in the toolbar, select a button in the Toolbar list, then use the Move the toolup and Move the tool dow n buttons to change the button’s order. The order of the tools in the
toolbar from left to right is the same as the order of the buttons in the Toolbar list from top tobottom.

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Chapter 2: User Interface

6. Click OK w hen you are done customizing the toolbar.

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Enabling the Flat Toolbar
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: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 Premium > Preferences.

l

Press ⌘ + U.

2. Select the General tab.
3. In the Options section, check the Flat Tool Toolbar option.
4. Click OK.
5. Close and relaunch Harmony.

NOTE
In 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.

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Chapter 2: User Interface

About Views
T-HFND-003-008
The Harmony interface is composed of different view s, each one designed for a specific purpose. You can
modify the location of the view s by adding a new view as a tab or as a w indow . You can also sw ap the locationof a view .
W hen a view is active, a red rectangle appears around the view . Keyboard shortcuts and top menu options areassociated w ith the active view . If a menu option is greyed out, it means it does not apply to the layer, draw ing
or other type of selection or the option does not apply to the active view .

W orkspace modifications are automatically saved w hen you exit the application, unless you disable theAutomatically Save W orkspace option in the Preferences dialog box.

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Adding Views
T-HFND-003-009
You can easily add view s through the top menu or each view .

How to add a view to your workspace as a tab
1. In the top-right corner of an existing view , click the

Add View button

2. Select the desired view from the list.
The view appears as a new tab, in the section of your w orkspace w here you added it.

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Chapter 2: User Interface

NOTE
Some view s, such as the Camera, Perspective, Library, Model and Node view s, can be opened
in multiple instances. For example, this can be useful if you w ant to have tw o instances of the
Camera view s open, each focused on different areas of your scene, to quickly sw itch betw een
w orking on these tw o areas.

How to add a view to your workspace as a window
1. Open the W indows menu.
2. In the W indow s menu, select the view you w ish to add.
The view w ill appear as a new w indow over Harmony's main application w indow .

How to dock a view window to your workspace
1. Click and drag the floating view by its tab and do one of the follow ing:lDrop the w indow over another tab to add it to that set of tabs.

lDrop the w indow above, below or beside an existing view . W hen you get close to theedge of a view , a cyan rectangle appears, indicating w here the view w ill be docked.

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NOTE
The view in w hich you are currently w orking w ill have a red square surrounding it, marking is as
your active view .

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Chapter 2: User Interface

Closing Views
T-HFND-003-010
You can close one or multiple view s by using their closing button.

How to close a view
1. Click the Close View

button.

If there are several tabs in the same view , press Shift and click the Close View
all tabs at the same time.

121

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Showing and Hiding Views
T-HFND-003-012
You can temporarily show and hide view s using the collapsing buttons.

How to temporarily hide a view
1. On the edge of the w indow you w ant to hide, click the Collapse/Expand button.
The view is compressed and only the Collapse/Expand button is visible.
2. Click the Collapse/Expand button again to redisplay the view .

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Chapter 2: User Interface

Moving Views
T-HFND-003-011
You can move view s by dragging their name tab to a new location.

How to move views
1. Select the view 's tab and drag it onto one of the view ’s separators, top area or onto another view ’stab.
2. W hen a blue rectangle outline appears show ing an available location for the view , release the tab
to drop the view into position. One of three things w ill happen:l

The view becomes a tabbed view .

l

The view becomes a floating w indow .

l

The view becomes a new docked view .

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Resizing Views
T-HFND-003-013
You can resize a view by sliding its edges.

How to resize a view
1. Place the pointer on the edge of the view to resize.
2. W hen you see the Resizing

icon, drag the side of the view to the desired size.

124Chapter 2: User Interface

About Preferences
An important feature of Toon Boom Harmony Premium is the Preferences dialog box. From here you cancustomize the behaviour of various user interface elements, as w ell as draw ing and animation tools, andenable or disable advanced features.

NOTE
For a list of all the preferences as w ell as their functionality, refer to the Preferences guide.

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 Premium > Preferences.

l

Press ⌘ + U.

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About Keyboard Shortcuts
Harmony uses keyboard shortcuts to allow you to quickly use commands you are familiar w ith w ithout having
to brow se through menus and toolbars. Learning the keyboard shortcuts for the commands you use the mostoften can be a great w ay to increase your productivity w ith Harmony.
Using the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog, you can: check w hich keyboard shortcuts are assigned to w hichcommands, you can customize existing keyboard shortcuts, and you can assign keyboard shortcuts tocommands that don't have any.

NOTE
For more information on how to configure keyboard shortcuts as w ell as a list of commands andtheir default keyboard shortcuts, refer to the Keyboard Shortcuts guide.

How to open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

W indows or GNU/Linux: In the top menu, select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.

lmacOS: In the top menu, select Harmony Premium > Keyboard Shortcuts.

126Chapter 2: User Interface

About W orkspaces
T-HFND-003-014
The Harmony interface is composed of several view s. You can 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.
The first time you open Harmony, the default w orkspace is loaded. Other w orkspaces are available such as theHand-Draw n Animation and Compositing w orkspaces. These display different view s and toolbars. You canaccess these w orkspaces, and any others you create, from the W indow s menu and the W orkspace toolbar.
By default, w hen you modify the look of a w orkspace, it is automatically saved. If you prefer to keep yourw orkspaces as they are and only save the modifications w hen you really w ant to, you must disable theAutomatically Save W orkspace option.
The W orkspace Manager allow s you to modify, create, delete, rename and reorder you w orkspaces. You cansave your w orkspace as a new version to avoid over-w riting the current one. If you do not w ant to modify thecurrent w orkspace, use the W orkspace Manager to create another one and then modify that one.
Your customized preferences are stored in the follow ing location and you can save them to either share w ith
someone else, copy to a second computer or simply back them up.
W hen w orking w ith Harmony Stand Alone, your custom w orkspaces are stored in:l

W indows: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom
Harmony Premium\2000-layouts-xmllmacOS: /Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom
Harmony Premium/2000-layouts-xmll

GNU/Linux: /home/[username]/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom Harmony
Premium/2000-layouts-xml

W hen w orking w ith Harmony Server, you w orkspaces are stored in:/USA_DB/users/Harmony Premium/2000-layouts-xml

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Loading W orkspaces
T-HFND-003-015
You can load an existing w orkspace from the drop-dow n menu.

How to load a workspace
1. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect W indows > W orkspace > W orkspace.

lSelect a w orkspace from the W orkspace toolbar.

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Chapter 2: User Interface

Creating W orkspaces
T-HFND-003-016
You can create new w orkspaces through the W orkspace Manager dialog box.

How to create a new workspace
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the W orkspace toolbar, click the

button.

l

From the top menu, select W indows > W orkspace > W orkspace Manager.

2. In the Available W orkspaces list, select an existing w orkspace.

3. At the bottom of the Available W orkspaces list, click the Add

button to add a w orkspace.

4. Select the new w orkspace that w as created. Click Rename and give it a new name.

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5. Select the new w orkspace and click the Right Arrow
toolbar.

6. Click OK.

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button to move it to the W orkspaceChapter 2: User Interface

Renaming W orkspaces
You can rename a w orkspace through the W orkspace Manager dialog box.

How to rename a workspace
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the W orkspace toolbar, click the

button.

l

From the top menu, select W indows > W orkspace > W orkspace Manager.

2. Choose the w orkspace to be renamed from the list.
3. Double-click on the w orkspace to be renamed or click the Rename button. This allow s you to edit
the name.

4. Type in the new name of the w orkspace.
5. Press the Enter/Return key to validate the name.
6. Click OK.

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Saving W orkspaces
T-HFND-003-017
You can either save your w orkspaces automatically or manually.

How to save your workspace as a new version
1. From the top menu, select W indows > W orkspace > Save W orkspace As.
The Save W orkspace As dialog box opens.
2. Type in a w orkspace name and click OK.

How to disable the Automatically Save W orkspace preference
1. From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony Premium >Preferences (macOS) to open the Preferences dialog box.
2. Select the General tab.
3. In the Options section, deselect the Automatically Save W orkspace option.
4. Click OK.
The Save W orkspacebutton appears in the W orkspace toolbar.

How to save a workspace manually
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the W orkspace toolbar, click the Save W orkspacel

You can also select W indows > W orkspace > Save W orkspace.

132

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Chapter 2: User Interface

Deleting W orkspaces
You can delete a w orkspace through the W orkspace Manager dialog box.

How to delete a workspace
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the W orkspace toolbar, click the

button.

l

From the top menu, select W indows > W orkspace > W orkspace Manager.

2. In the W orkspace Manager, select the w orkspace to be deleted and click the Left Arrowbuttonto move it to the Available W orkspaces list.

3. Select the w orkspace from the Available W orkspaces list, then click the Delete
the w orkspace.
4. Click OK.

133

button to delete

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Showing and Hiding W orkspaces
You can show and hide w orkspaces from your drop-dow n list through the W orkspace Manager dialog box.

How to show a workspace
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the W orkspace toolbar, click the

button.

l

From the top menu, select W indows > W orkspace > W orkspace Manager.

2. In the Available W orkspaces list, select the w orkspace to be displayed and click the Right Arrowbutton to move it to the W orkspace toolbar.
3. Click OK.

How to hide a workspace
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the W orkspace toolbar, click the

button.

l

From the top menu, select W indows > W orkspace > W orkspace Manager.

2. In the W orkspace Manager, select the w orkspace to be hidden and click the Left Arrowto move it to the Available W orkspaces list.
3. Click OK.

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Reordering W orkspaces
You can reorder w orkspaces in your drop-dow n list through the W orkspace Manager dialog box.

How to reorder workspaces
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the W orkspace toolbar, click the

button.

l

From the top menu, select W indows > W orkspace > W orkspace Manager.

2. In the W orkspace toolbar, select the w orkspace to be reordered and on the Up
buttons to move it up or dow n.

3. Click OK.

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Restoring the Default W orkspace
T-HFND-003-018
You can restore modified w orkspaces to their original layout.

How to restore the default workspaceslSelect W indows > Restore Default W orkspace.

136Chapter 2: User Interface

About Interface Navigation
W ith the help of menu commands and keyboard shortcuts, some view s let you navigate their content byzooming in, zooming out, panning and rotating them. You can also reset the zoom level, pan and rotation angleof these view s as needed.
The navigation commands in the table below can be used in the follow ing view s, w ith some exceptions:lCameralDraw inglPerspectivelTimelinel

XsheetlNode Viewl

FunctionlSide and Top

l

Model

TIP
Keyboard shortcuts can be customized. You can view , search for and change keyboard shortcutsfor Harmony in the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog. To access 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 Premium > Keyboard Shortcuts.

Command

ActionAccess Methods

View > Zoom In
Zoom In

Zooms in the view .

Press 2
Roll the mouse w heel up (except in the Timeline and Xsheet
view s)View > Zoom Out
Zoom Out

Zooms out the view .

Press 1
Roll the mouse w heel dow n (except in the Timeline and Xsheet
view s)Zoom In or Out

Zooms in or out of theRoll the middle mouse button up or dow n.

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Command

ActionAccess Methods

view .

Hold dow n the Spacebar and the middle mouse button w hile
dragging the mouse up or dow n.

PanMoves the viewhorizontally or
vertically.

Hold dow n the Spacebar and drag in the direction you w ant to
pan the view .

Reset Pan

Resets the view ’s pan
to its default position.

View > Reset Pan
Press Shift + N

View > Reset View
Reset View

Resets the view to its
default position.

Press Shift + M
TheReset Rotation

Resets the view ’s
rotation to its default
position.

Reset View button at the bottom of the Camera view .

View > Reset Rotation
Press Shift + X

Reset Zoom

Resets the view ’s zoom
to its default position.

View > Reset Zoom

Rotate View

Rotates the view left or
right.

W hile holding Ctrl + Alt (W indow s/Linux) or Ctrl + ⌘ (macOS),
click and drag the rotating disc to rotate it clockw ise orcounterclockw ise.

3D Rotate View

Rotates the view in any
direction. This is only
available in the
Perspective view .

W hile holding Ctrl + Shift (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift(macOS), click and drag the stage to rotate it in any direction.

Rotate 30 CW

Rotates the Camera
view 30 degrees
clockw ise, like ananimation table.

View > Rotate View CW

Rotate 30 CCW

Rotates the Camera
view 30 degrees
counter-clockw ise, likean animation table.

View > Rotate View CCW

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Chapter 2: User Interface

Command

ActionMirror View

Temporarily flips the
Camera or Draw ing
view horizontally,
allow ing you to viewand edit your artw ork
as if it w as being
mirrored.

Toggle Quick
Close-up

Access Methods

Instantly multiplies theview 's Zoom Factor by
4. For example, if the
Camera View 's Zoom
Factor is at 100%, thisw ill make it toggle
betw een 400% and100%.

View > Mirror View
In the Camera or Draw ing toolbar, click on the
button.

Shift + Z

Cycles through thefollow ing display
modes:l

Normal FullScreen: The
mainapplication
w indow
becomes fullscreen.

l

Toggle Full
ScreenlView FullScreen: The
selected view
becomes fullscreen and allother view s arecollapsed.

View > Toggle Full Screen
Press Ctrl + F (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + F (macOS)

Normal: The
mainapplication
w indow isrestored to its
original size andcollapsed view s
are expanded.

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Using the Play Menu to Navigate
From the top menu, you can select any of the follow ing commands from the Play menu to navigate around theinterface.
Command

Description

Start Frame

Lets you set the frame on w hich playback w ill start.

End FrameLets you set the frame on w hich playback w ill end.

First Frame

Jump to the first frame. You can also press <.

Previous Frame

Jumps to the frame before the frame currently selected in the Timeline view . You
can also press the comma (,) key.

Next Frame

Jumps to the frame after the currently selected frame in the Timeline view . You
can also press the period (.) key.

Last Frame

Jumps to the last frame. You can also press >.

Opens the Go to Frame w indow in w hich you can enter the number of the frame
you w ant to display.
Go to Frame

You can also use the Go button, w hich you can add to the Timeline toolbar
through the Toolbar Manager. Open the Go to Frame dialog box and enter theframe number to jump to.

Enable Playback

Plays back your animation from the Top, Side, or Perspective view s.

140Chapter 2: User Interface

About Documentation
The documentation is a w ay to help you find answ ers to your questions about how things w ork in Harmony.
The documentation of features and procedures exists online, but you can access it through the softw are.
A simple, but fast w ay to find a description of certain menu items and preferences is through the Integrated
Help.

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Accessing the Documentation
T-HFND-001-004
The Harmony documentation can be accessed from the Help menu.

How to access the Harmony Premium documentation
1. From the top menu, select Help > Online Help.

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Chapter 2: User Interface

Using the Integrated Help
If you are unsure about w hat a certain menu item is in the Top menu or the function of a specific preference in
the Preferences panel, use the Integrated Help.
If you keep the Integrated Help w indow open for the entire duration of your w ork session, then you can use theforw ard and backw ard arrow s to scroll through a history of the help information that you called up during yoursession.

How to use the Integrated Help with Menu Items
1. In the top menu, go to Help > Show W hat's This or press F1 on W indow s/Linux or ⌘ + / onmacOS.
The Integrated Help w indow appears.

2. In the top menu, click on a menu heading to display its contents.
3. Use your mouse to hover over a menu item.

4. Press F1 on W indow s/Linux or ⌘ + / on macOS.
In the Integrated Help w indow , a description of the menu item appears.

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How to use the Integrated Help with Preferences
1. In the top menu, go to Help > Show W hat's This or press F1 on W indow s/Linux or ⌘ + / onmacOS.
The Integrated Help w indow appears.

2. In the top menu, go to Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony > Preferences (macOS).
The Preferences w indow appears.
3. In the Preferences w indow , use your mouse to hover over a preference.

4. Press F1 on W indow s/Linux or ⌘ + / on macOS.
In the Integrated Help w indow , a description of the preference appears.

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Chapter 2: User Interface

How to scroll through the bank of searched itemsl

In the Integrated Help w indow , click on the forw ard or backw ard arrow buttons.

NOTE
The moment you close the Integrated Help w indow all searched items w ill be erased from thememory bank. In order to keep an on-going record of all the search requests made, you must keep
the w indow open.

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Chapter 3: Layers and Columns

Chapter 3: Layers and Columns
T-RIG-009-003
Before filling in any values or setting any timing or exposure, you need to create draw ing elements. Eachdraw ing element is represented as a vertical column in the Xsheet view and a horizontal layer in the Timelineview .
In Harmony, w hether you w ork in the Timeline or Xsheet view , any modification you do to one view w ill beapplied to both.You can also see your layers displayed in the Node view as nodes.
W hen you add a draw ing element to your scene, a folder is added to the scene directory. This folder is named
the same w ay as the draw ing element and is in fact, linked to the draw ing element. Its purpose is to contain all
the draw ings related to this element (layer, column). For example, in cut-out animation, a character can have
many heads available. All of the head draw ings w ill be contained in this folder, even if they are not exposed in
the Timeline or the Xsheet view .
Draw ings are exposed in cells/frames and linked to the draw ings saved in the layer's directory. W hen you
remove a draw ing from a cell/frame, it is not displayed, but still exists in the directory.
W hen you create a draw ing cycle, all of the repeated draw ings are linked to the original files. This means thatw hen you modify, repaint, or correct a draw ing named “1,” all exposures of draw ing “1” are updated
simultaneously. In order to modify a draw ing independently from its other exposures, you must duplicate thedraw ing.

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

You can add draw ing elements from the Timeline view , Xsheet view , and the Scene menu.

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

Drawing Layer
The most common layer type is the draw ing layer.

Any time you need to create a vector draw ing or import a symbol or image, you can use a draw ing layer. You
can also create bitmap artw ork on a draw ing layer.

NOTE
Bitmap images are contained in bitmap layers.

Bitmap Layer
If you import a bitmap images (as original bitmap) in your project, they are inserted in a Bitmap layer. If you
choose to vectorize your image w hen you import, the vectorized object w ill be placed on a Draw ing layer.

W hen importing a bitmap image, you have the option of encapsulating the image in a symbol. If you place abitmap into a symbol, you w ill be able to mix vector draw ings w ith it on the same layer.

Camera Layer
You can only have one Camera layer at a time in the Timeline view . By default, there is no Camera layer w hen
you create a scene. You need to add a Camera layer w hen you w ant to create a camera motion.

The Camera layer is not visible in the Xsheet view .

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Chapter 3: Layers and Columns

NOTE
If you w ant to have several cameras w ith different settings, you can keep adding Camera layers inyour Timeline view (how ever, only one w ill ever be visible at a time as you can only have one
camera at a time in your timeline). To sw itch to a different camera, select Scene > Camera andselect another camera layer.

Effect Layer
To enhance the look of your scene, you can add effect layers and attach your draw ings to them.

In Harmony, there is a series of effect nodes in the Node Library view .
W hen you select the Effect layer in the Timeline view , the effect’s parameter columns are displayed in the
Functions section of the Xsheet view .

Colour- Card Layer
The Colour-Card layer is used to add a plain colour background to a scene. By default, your scene has nobackground colour and if you render it as a QuickTime movie or image sequence, it w ill have a black
background.

This layer is not visible in the Xsheet view .

Group Layer
A Group layer can be used to organize both the Timeline and Node view s.

You can drag and drop other layers onto a Group layer and then collapse the Group layer to hide these otherlayers from view .

Peg Layer
A Peg layer is a trajectory or motion path layer that does not contain draw ings. It can be attached to any
draw ing layer, cut-out puppet, or other peg layers; they w ill all follow the trajectory you set in the Peg layer.

W hen you select the Peg layer in the Timeline view , the peg’s function columns are displayed in the Functions
section of the Xsheet view .

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Quadmap Layer
A Quadmap layer can be described as a deformation transformation layer that does not contain draw ings. Thiscan be attached to any draw ing layer, cut-out puppet, or even other Peg layers. They w ill all follow the
deformation you set in the Quadmap layer.

W hen you select the Quadmap layer in the Timeline view , the Quadmap’s function columns are displayed in
the Functions section of the Xsheet view .

Sound Layer
You can import sound files to add dialog and sound effects to your project. The sound layer w ill be added toyour Timeline and Xsheet view w hen you import a sound file in your scene.

In the Xsheet view , the Sound layer is a dark grey colour.

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

Timing•

3D Path•

3D Rotation•

Bezier Curve•

Ease Curve•

Expression•

Annotation

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Chapter 3: Layers and Columns

Adding Layers and Columns
T-HFND-005-002
There are different w ays to add a draw ing elements (layers and columns) to your project. By default, w hen
you create a new scene there is one Draw ing column in the Xsheet view and one corresponding Draw ing layer
in the Timeline view .
W hen you add an element, it w ill appear as a column in the Xsheet view or as, a layer in the Timeline view ,and a node in the Node view .

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Adding Layers in the Timeline View
T-LAY-001-007
Draw ing elements are more commonly know n as layers in the Timeline view . Create them using the follow ing
procedure:

How to add a drawing element from the Timeline view
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , click theAdd Draw ing Layer button.

l

In the top menu, select Insert > Drawing.

l

Press Ctrl + R (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + R (macOS).

The Add Draw ing Layer dialog appears.

2. In the Name field, type in the name for your new layer.
3. Select:l

Vector or Bitmap for the Line Art layer.

lVector or Bitmap for the Colour Art layer

4. Select Extend Exposure for Scene Duration checkbox to automatically create an empty draw ing
exposure on each layer and expose them for the duration of the scene.
Do one of the follow ing:lClick Add to create this layer, but leave the dialog open so you can create more layers.

lClick Add and Close to create this layer and close the dialog.

A new draw ing layer is added to the Timeline view .

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Adding Columns from the Xsheet View
Draw ing elements in the Xsheet view are more commonly know n as columns. You can add columns using thefollow ing procedure:

How to add a drawing element from the Xsheet view
Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Xsheet menu, right-click a column and select Add Columns.

lClick the Add Columns

lPress Shift + C.

button.

The Add Column dialog box opens.

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

2. In the Type field, select Drawing.

3. To complete the operation:lClick Add and Close to add your new layers and close the dialog box.

lClick Add to add your new layers and keep the dialog box open to add column.

lClick Close to cancel the operation.

The new draw ing element appears in the Timeline, Xsheet and Node view s—see Layer andColumn Types on page 148.

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Using the Advanced Add Column Dialog Box
How to create a column using the advanced Add Column dialog box
You can use the advanced Add Column dialog box to make more file format and field size options
available w hen you insert a column.
1. From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony Premium >Preferences (macOS) and select the Advanced tab.
2. In the Advanced Options section, select the Advanced Element Mode option to access theadvanced Add Column dialog box.

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

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5. In the Name field, type the new column’s name.
6. In the Type menu, select the Draw ing type.
7. In the Element section, select one of the follow ing:lCreate New Element: Creates an independent column w ith its ow n draw ing folder.

lReuse Existing Folder: Links your column to an existing folder w ithin the Element
folder of your scene. If you select this option, in the Folder menu, select the folder tow hich you w ant to link your new column.

l

Use Existing Element: Uses draw ings from an existing column in the new column.
Both columns w ill be attached to the same set of draw ings, but their timing w ill
remain independent from one another. If you modify one of the draw ings, it w ill be
modified in both columns. This is the same principle as the Clone column.

In the Name menu, select the column to w hich you w ant to link your new column.

8. If you selected the Create New Element option:lDeselect the Vector option if you w ant your layer to contain bitmap images or enable
it if you w ant the layer to contain vector draw ings. Most of the time, the Vector option
w ill be enabled.

l

If you deselected the Vector option, from the Bitmap Format list, select w hich type ofbitmap image you w ant to insert in the column. Select the SCAN type if you areplanning to scan draw ings using the Toon Boom Harmony Premium Scan module.

l

If you deselected the Vector option and you chose the SCAN type, from the Scan
Type menu, select w hat kind of scanning you w ant to achieve.

l

In the Field Chart field, w hen importing traditional animation, indicate the size of
paper on w hich the animation or background w as draw n. If you are not using
perforated animation paper, leave the 12 field default value as is.

9. Do one of the follow ing:lClick OK to create the new column and close the dialog box.

lClick Apply to create the new column but keep the dialog box opened to create othernew columns.

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Deleting Layers and Columns
T-HFND-005-004
You can delete an element in the Timeline view or Xsheet view .

How to delete layers in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the layers to delete.

NOTE
You can select several contiguous layers by holding dow n the Shift key, clicking on thefirst layer you w ant to select, then on the last layer you w ant to select. You can also
select several layers by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key andclicking on each layer you w ant to select.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline’s Layer toolbar, click the

Delete Layers button.

l

Right-click on the selection and select Delete.

The selected layers are removed from the Timeline view .

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

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2. Do one of the follow inglRight-click on the selection and select Delete Columns.

l

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Delete Columns

lPress Del.

button.

The Confirm Delete dialog box opens.

lSelect the Delete Drawing Files and Element Folder option if you w ant to delete thedraw ings and folders linked to the selected column.

3. To complete the operation:lClick OK to delete the selected layers.

lClick Cancel to cancel the operation.

The W arning dialog box may open.

4. Do one of the follow ing:lClick Yes to delete all the frames from your scene.

lClick No to keep the frames in your scene.

l

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

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Chapter 3: Layers and Columns

Renaming Layers and Columns
T-LAY-001-008
Once you add layers and columns to your project, you can modify their names.

How to rename a layer in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , double-click on the name of the layer to rename.

A text-input field appears over the name.

2. Type in the new name for your layer and press Enter/Return.
The layer now has the new name.

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

3. Click Close.

How to rename a column
1. In the Xsheet view , double-click on a column name. Do not click on the draw ing folder name thatthe column is linked to (this also appears in the column header just below the column name).
The Draw ing dialog box opens.

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2. In the Name field, rename the column.
3. Click OK.

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Chapter 3: Layers and Columns

Reordering Layers and Columns
You can change the order of your elements in the Timeline view and Xsheet view . W hen you change the orderof your elements in one view , the other one is updated.

How to reorder layers in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the layers to move.

2. Click and drag the selection, then do one of the follow ing:lDrop the selection betw een tw o layers to move it betw een those layers. A cyan line w ill
appear betw een the layers w here the selection w ill be moved.

lDrop the selection onto a layer to rig the selected layers as children over that layer.

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

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Enabling and Disabling Layers
T-HFND-005-010
You can disable layers so that they do not appear in the rendered image or in the Camera view . This can have
many purposes:l

If you used a layer to sketch rough animation or draw ings, ideas or designs, you can disable the layer
permanently once you're done using it as a reference, w ithout deleting the layer.

l

If a specific layer, such as an overlay, character or prop, is in the w ay of the layer you're w orking on, you
can disable it temporarily to de-clutter the Camera view .

Disabling a layer also hides it from the rendered image. Hence, if you w ant to hide a layer temporarily, youmust re-enable it before rendering your scene.
Likew ise, it is also possible to disable peg layers, w hich makes the peg's child layers unaffected by the peg'stransformations. You can also disable effect layers to disable their effect.

How to show or hide all layers
1. In the layers toolbar, click on the

Enable/Disable All button to enable or disable all layers.

How to show or hide individual layers
1. Do one of the follow ing:lClick the layer's

Enable/Disable button to show or hide that layer.

lPress A to show selected layers or D to hide selected layers.

lRight-click on the selected layer and select Enable > Enable/Disable.

How to enable the selected layer and disable all others
1. Right click on the selected layer and select Enable > Disable All Others.

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Enabling or Disabling Solo Mode on a Layer
Solo Mode allow s you to instantly and temporarily hide all layers except for the layer or layers you're currently
w orking on. Solo Mode can be enabled on one or several layers, and w orks w ith the follow ing logic:l

If Solo Mode is not enabled on any layer, then all enabled layers are visible.

l

If Solo Mode is enabled on a single layer, then only this layer is visible and all others are hidden.

l

If Solo Mode is enabled on several layers, then only these layers are visible and all others are hidden.

W hile disabling a layer makes it invisible in the rendered image, enabling Solo Mode only affects the preview
image in the Camera view .

NOTES
l

If Solo Mode is enabled on a disabled layer, this layer w ill not be visible in the Camera view .

l

If a draw ing layer is connected to an inverted Cutter effect, you must enable Solo Mode on both
the draw ing layer and the Cutter effect for them to be visible.

How to enable or disable Solo Mode on a layer
1. In the Timeline view , click on the

Solo Mode button left of each layer that you w ant to makevisible in the Camera view .
2. To disable Solo Mode on a layer, click on its

Solo Mode button again.

If you have Solo Mode enabled on many layers and you w ant to quickly go back to only seeing one layer, you
can quickly disable Solo Mode on all but one layers, and enable Solo Mode on that layer.

How to enable Solo Mode on a layer and disable it on all other layers
1. W hile holding the Alt key, click on the

Solo Mode button of the only layer that you w ant tomake visible in the Camera view .
If you w ant to quickly turn off Solo Mode for all layers it has been enabled on, you can do so by clicking on the
Toggle solo mode on or off button in the Layers toolbar of the Timeline View .

How to toggle Solo Mode off for all layers
1. In the Layers toolbar of the Timeline view , click on the

Toggle solo mode on or off button todisable Solo Mode on all layers.
2. W hen you w ant to enable Solo Mode again, you can do one of the follow ing:

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To instantly enable Solo Mode again on all the layers on w hich it w as previously enabled,click on thelToggle solo mode on or off button again.

To only enable Solo Mode again on a single specific layer, click on thefor that layer.

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Solo Mode button

Chapter 3: Layers and Columns

Locking and Unlocking Layers
You can prevent modifications to a layer by locking in it. W hile a layer is locked, you cannot select it,
manipulate it, draw in it, or change its timing in the Timeline view .
You can Lock/Unlock an audio layer by using the Lock/Unlock button lets you prevent the editing of a layer.
Locking a layer is especially useful if you w ant to avoid selecting it in the Camera view . Clicking on a locked
draw ing w ith the Transform tool in the Camera view w ill select w hichever draw ing is behind it, if there is any.
This can help ensure that backgrounds and, more importantly, foreground elements, remain in place once they
have been properly positioned.

NOTE
W hen a layer is locked, you can still make changes to its timing in the Xsheet view .

How to lock a layer or a selection of layers
1. In the Timeline view , select one or more layers.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Lock > Lock.

l

Click one of the selected layer’s Lockl

Press Ctrl + Alt + L (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Alt + L (macOS).

icon.

All selected layers are locked.

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How to unlock a locked layer or a selection of locked layers
1. In the Timeline view , select one or more locked layers.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Lock > Unlock.

l

Click a selected layer’s Lockl

Press Ctrl + Shift + K (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + K (macOS).

icon.

All selected layers are unlocked.

How to lock all layers
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Lock > Lock All.

l

In the Timeline view , select all layers and click Lockl

Press Ctrl + Shift + L (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + L (macOS).

All layers are locked.

166

icon of a selected layer.

Chapter 3: Layers and Columns

How to unlock all layers
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Lock > Unlock All.

l

In the Timeline view , select all layers (locked) and click Lockicon of a selected

layer.
l

Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + L (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Alt + Shift + L (macOS).

All layers are unlocked.

How to lock all other layers
1. In the Timeline view , select the layers you do not w ant to lock.

2. Do one of the follow ing:

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From the top menu, select Animation > Lock > Lock All Others.

lPress Ctrl + Alt + Shift + O (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Alt + Shift + O (macOS).

All layers are locked except the selected ones.

How to lock/unlock an audio layer
1. In the Timeline view , select one or more layers.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Lock > Lock.

l

Click one of the selected layer’s Lockl

Press Ctrl + Alt + L (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Alt + L (macOS)

icon.

All selected layers are locked.

W hen a layer is locked, its name is displayed in red. Click the Lockicon again to unlock the layer.

How to display locked drawings as outline
1. In the Camera View bottom toolbar, enabled the Outline Locked Draw ings

option.

2. You can also set this option as a permanent preference. From the top menu, select Edit >Preferences (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony Premium > Preferences (macOS).
3. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Camera tab.
4. In the Tools section, select the Show Locked Drawings As Outlines option.

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Navigating Layers and Columns
Once a cell is selected in the Timeline or Xsheet view , you can navigate betw een the draw ings, frames, andlayers. Displays the previous draw ing, next draw ing, previous layer or next layer. using keyboard shortcutsthat w ork in the Camera, Draw ing, Xsheet and Timeline view s.
You can navigate through:•Draw ings•

Frames•Columns

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

2. Once the cell is selected, you can navigate betw een:lPrevious and next layers: From the top menu, select Drawing > Previous Layer and
Next Layer or press H and J.

169Harmony 22 Premium User GuidelPrevious and next drawings: From the top menu, select Drawing > Previous
Drawing and Next Drawing or press F and G..

lPrevious and next frames: From the top menu, select Play > Previous Frame andNext Frame or press comma (,) and period (.).

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About Clone and Duplicate Layers
At times, you w ill need to create a large group of characters such as a crow d, school of fish or flock of birds.
You can do this by cloning or duplicating a layer. The difference betw een cloning and duplicating is that aclone uses the same draw ings for all layers. A duplicated layer is simply an independent copy.
If you w ant to maintain the ability to modify draw ings and propagate the changes through all layers, you
should clone your layer. If you simply w ant to copy your layers and be able to modify your draw ings w ithout
affecting the original layer, use the duplicate option.

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About Clone Layers
A cloned layer is linked to the original element directory. If a draw ing is modified in the original or cloned layer,
both w ill be updated. How ever, cloned layers can have different timings.

In the Timeline view , the left part of the layer is a node, same as in the Node view . These nodes are linked tocolumns. The right part of the Timeline view corresponds to the Xsheet column. These columns can containdraw ing exposures or value keyframes. One node can be linked to several columns; one draw ing column andseveral parameter columns (rotation, position, scale, pivot, etc.).

W hen cloning layers, you have the ability to clone the draw ings and the corresponding columns (timing) or
only the draw ings. If you choose to clone the draw ings and timing, your node w ill be linked to the sameelement folder, as w ell as the same draw ing and function columns. Therefore, if you change the draw ing
exposure or keyframe on one layer, all cloned layers w ill be updated.
You may w ant to create a large group of characters reusing the same animation, but w ant to slightly offset thetiming so they're not dancing or w alking quite on the same beat. For example, if you create a w alk-cycle for asoldier and w ant to use it for an entire army, you may w ant to have 50 layers w ith 50 different draw ing
exposures to produce a slight difference in the timing. If you copy your layers and draw ings 50 times over, it
w ill create a heavier scene. It is better to clone the 50 layers w ith only their draw ings w ithout linking to thesame timing (function and exposure columns).

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Cloning Layers
You can clone layers in several w ays. Cloned layers use the same draw ings.

How to clone a layer
1. In the Timeline, Xsheet or Netw ork view , select a layer to clone. You can select multiple layers.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Xsheet menu, select Columns > Clone Selected Columns: Drawings Onlyor Columns > Clone Selected Columns: Drawings and Timing.

l

From the top menu, select Edit > Clone Drawings Only or Edit > Clone Drawings
and Timing.

l

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

l

In the Timeline view , right-click on the layers and select Clone Selected Layers:
Drawings Only or Clone Selected Layers: Drawings and Timing.

l

In the Node menu, select Nodes > Clone Selected Layers: Drawings Only or Nodes> Clone Selected Layers: Drawings and Timing. W hen you clone a node, it does not
automatically connect itself to the Composite node of your scene.

The cloned layer appears.

NOTE
By default, w hen you select a node in the Node view and perform a copy/paste using Ctrl + C
and Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C and ⌘ + V (macOS), this creates a CLONE not a
duplicate. Nodes w ill be linked to the same draw ings. Pegs w ill be linked to the same function
columns.
To duplicate a layer in the Node view using keyboard shortcuts, press Ctrl + C(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C (macOS) and Ctrl + B (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + B (macOS) for
Paste Special, and in the Advanced tab, select Nodes: Create New Columns.

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About Duplicate Layers
T-HFND-006-013
You can duplicate a layer to have a copy of the draw ings that are independent from the original ones, as w ell
as an independent timing (exposure). W hen you need the draw ings to be modified independently, you w ill
w ant to duplicate the layer instead of cloning it.

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Duplicating Layers
T-HFND-006-014
You can easily duplicate layers. Once duplicated, the layers are completely independent. Draw ings are also
duplicated.

How to duplicate a layer
1. In the Timeline, Xsheet or Node view , select one or more layers.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

l

In the Timeline view , right-click on the layers and select Duplicate Selected Layers.

l

In the Node menu, select Nodes > Duplicate Selected Nodes. W hen you duplicate anode, it does not automatically connect itself to the Composite node of your scene.

l

From the Xsheet menu, select Columns > Duplicate Selected Layers.

l

From the top menu, select Edit > Duplicate.

The duplicated layer appears.

NOTE
By default, w hen you select a node in the Node view and perform a copy/paste using Ctrl + C
and Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C and ⌘ + V (macOS), this creates a CLONE not a
duplicate. Nodes w ill be linked to the same draw ings. Pegs w ill be linked to the same function
columns.
To duplicate a layer in the Node view using keyboard shortcuts, press Ctrl + C(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C (macOS) and Ctrl + B (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + B (macOS) for
Paste Special, and in the Advanced tab, select Nodes: Create New Columns.

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About Sync Layers
Use the Sync Layer feature w hen you need draw ings to be separated on different layers, but to have the sametiming, such as w ith the front and back of a shirt collar. The draw ing exposures of synced layers not only
update automatically, but their draw ing substitutions correspond as w ell, as long as the draw ings are labeledproperly.

W hen using certain draw ing tools, such at the Select, Cutter and Reposition All Draw ings tools, you canenable the Apply to Synced Draw ings option w hile you w ork. To learn more about this option—see theReference .

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Syncing Two Layers
The Sync Layer feature allow s for draw ings to be separated on different layers, but to have the same timing.

How to sync two layers
1. In the Timeline view , right-click on the draw ing layer you w ould like to sync w ith another layer.

2. From the right-click menu, select Sync Layer W ith.
The Convert to Synced Draw ing Layer dialog box opens.

3. From the drop-dow n list, select a parent draw ing layer to sync w ith the currently selected layer.
4. Click OK.
In the Timeline view , w hen you click on either of the tw o synced layers, the other w ill display thelink icon.

In the Node view , w hen you click on either of the tw o synced nodes, the other w ill display the link
icon.

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In the right side of the Timeline view , the child layer w ill update to the parent layer's timing.

5. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , change the draw ing exposure or substitute draw ings in either of thetw o layers.
The other synced layer immediately updates to the same timing.

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Syncing Multiple Layers
You may w ant to sync more than tw o layers. How ever, once a layer is synced, the Sync Layers menu option
becomes disabled for that layer. In order to sync a layer to a layer that has already been synced, you need touse the Sync Layers command on the yet unsynced layer.

How to sync multiple layers
1. In the Timeline view , right-click on the draw ing layer you w ould like to sync w ith an already syncedpair.

2. From the right-click menu, select Sync Layers W ith.
The Convert to Synced Draw ing Layer dialog box opens.

3. From the drop-dow n list, select the parent draw ing layer you w ould like to sync w ith the currently
selected layer. This should be a draw ing layer already synced w ith another draw ing layer. You canselect either the parent or the child from that linked pair; they both appear in the drop-dow n list.
4. Click OK.
In the Timeline view , w hen you click on any of the synced layers, the others w ill display the link
icon.

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In the Node view , w hen you click on any of the synced nodes, the others w ill display the link icon.

In the right side of the Timeline view , the child layer w ill update to the parent layer's timing.

5. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , change the draw ing exposure or substitute draw ings in any of thesynced layers.
The other synced layers immediately update to the same timing.

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Creating Synced Layers
Create a new draw ing layer to be synced immediately w ith an existing draw ing layer.

How to create a new synced layer
1. In the Timeline view , right-click on the draw ing layer you w ould like to sync w ith another layer.

2. From the right-click menu, select Add Synced Drawing Layer.
The Add Synced Draw ing Layer dialog box opens.

3. In the Add Synced Draw ing Layer dialog box, add a single or multiple draw ing layers.
4. W hen you are finished, click Close.
In the Timeline view , w hen you click on any of the synced layers, the others w ill display the linkicon.

In the Node view , w hen you click on any of the synced nodes, the others w ill display the link icon.

In the right side of the Timeline view , the child layer w ill update to the parent layer's timing.

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Chapter 3: Layers and Columns

Selecting All Synced Layers
You can select all the draw ing layers that are linked to the selected draw ing layer, in the Timeline or Nodeview .

How to select all synced layers
1. In the Timeline view , select a layer that is synced to at least one or more layer or in the Node view ,select a node that is synced to one or more node.
2. In the view menu

, select Edit > Select Synced Layers.

In the Timeline view , all the layers synced to the selected layer become highlighted.

In the Node view , all the nodes synced to the selected layer become highlighted.

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Unsyncing Layers
Once layers have been synced, they can just as easily be unsynced.

How to unsync layers
1. In the Timeline view , right-click on the child layer of a synced pairing.
2. From the right-click menu, select Unsync Layer.
The parent layer is unsynced and the link icons disappears.

NOTE
If this menu item is disabled, then the selected layer is either the parent layer or a layer that isalready unsynced.

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Editing Synced Layers
Since synced layers are often used to sync together tw o smaller parts of the same part of a rig, the artw ork inlayers that are synced together is often intertw ined. Hence, it can be useful to edit the artw ork in tw o or morelayers that are synced together simultaneously.
Several of the draw ing tools in the Tools toolbar have a mode specifically made for that purpose, the Apply to
Synced Draw ing Layers mode, w hich can be enabled in the Tool Properties view . W hen this mode is enabled,
your draw ing tool w ill have affect the currently selected layer as w ell as any layer that is synced to it.
This mode is available for the follow ing tools: The
Draw ings tool, thePencil Editor tool, theSelect tool, theCutter tool, theEdit Gradient/Texture tool, theReposition All

Eraser tool and the

Paint tool.

How to edit synced layers
1. Make sure you are using the Camera view and not the Draw ing view .
2. In the tools toolbar, select either the
Draw ings tool, thetheSelect tool, thePencil Editor tool, theCutter tool, theReposition All

Edit Gradient/Texture tool, theEraser tool orPaint tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , there w ill either be an
Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers button:l

If there is an
up menu, selectl

If there is an

Apply to Visible Draw ing Layers button or an

Apply to Visible Draw ing Layers button, click and hold on it and, in the popApply to Synced Drawing Layers.
Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers button, click on it to toggle it on.

4. In the Camera view , your can start using your draw ing tool. It w ill affect both the current layer andits synced layers.

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About Groups in the Timeline View
W hen w orking w ith complex rigs, you may w ant to group layers together to avoid cluttering the Timeline viewand keep your layers organized.

W hen grouping layers, you can choose to create a simple group, or a group w ith a composite. A simple groupw ill simply help you organize your Timeline view , w hereas a group w ith a composite w ill connect all the nodes
in your group to the same composite, allow ing you to apply the same effect to all of its layers at once. For
example, if transparency is applied to each individual layer making a character rig, the seams betw een its bodyparts w ill become visible. Instead, if you put all of the rig's layers together into a group w ith composite, thenadd a Transparency effect to the group, Harmony w ill compose the layers inside the group into a single image
before applying the effect.

NOTE
You can also group nodes in the Node view —see About Groups in the Node View on page 1263

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Grouping Layers
You can group layers to keep your Timeline view organized.

NOTE
For grouping layers in the Node view , see Grouping Nodes on page 1265

How to group layers in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the elements you w ant to group.

NOTE
Any layer betw een the selected layers w ill be grouped w ith the selected layers.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the highlighted layers and select Group Selection.

l

Right-click on the highlighted layers and select Group Selection W ith Composite.

lPress Ctrl +Shift + G (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + G (macOS) to instantly group theselection w ith a Composite.

A new Group layer is added to the Timeline view .

If you click on the

Expand Group button, you w ill find the grouped layers rigged as children of

the group layer.

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Ungrouping Layers
If needed you can ungroup layers you have previously grouped together.

NOTE
For ungrouping layers in the Node view , see Ungrouping Nodes on page 1266

How to ungroup layers in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the group you w ant to ungroup.
2. Right-click on the group and select Ungroup.
All the group's layers w ill be placed outside of the group, and the group w ill be removed.

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About Annotation Columns
T-ANIMPA-005-001
The annotation columns are useful for marking actions, corrections or other information related to youranimation that you w ant to draw or w rite. This w ay, you can print your Xsheet, take it back to your animationtable and w ork w ith the annotations.
Before you can draw in the Annotation column, you must first activate the Enable Draw ing option to activate
the Draw ing mode. Pen tablet pressure sensitivity is not supported in the annotation column.

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Adding Annotation Columns
T-ANIMPA-005-002
Add annotation columns to mark actions, corrections or other information related to your animation.

How to add an annotation column
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Xsheet menu, right-click a column and select Add Columns.

lClick the Add Columns

lPress Shift + C.

button.

The Add Column dialog box opens.

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

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Drawing in Annotation Columns
T-ANIMPA-005-003
In the annotation column, you can draw sketches and ideas that w ill be useful in producing your animation.

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

In the Xsheet menu, select Annotation > Enable Drawing.

‣

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

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

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Typing in Annotation Columns
T-ANIMPA-005-004
In the annotation column, you can type in your notes and relevant information that w ill be useful in producing
your animation.
Typing in an annotation column is independent from the Draw ing mode. You can be in either mode and thetyping w ill w ork. To learn about typing values in the Xsheet view , see Typing Exposures on page 233.

How to type in an annotation column
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

If the Brush icon

or Eraser icon

is selected, Press Ctrl + click (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ + click (macOS) to select a cell.
l

If the cursor icon is selected, hold dow n+ Shift + click (macOS) to select a cell.

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

192

Ctrl + Shift + click (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘

Chapter 3: Layers and Columns

Erasing in Annotation Columns
T-ANIMPA-005-005
You can erase part or all of the annotation column’s text and draw n annotations. Annotations that you type incannot be erased using this method.

How to erase part of a drawn annotation using Erasing mode
1. In the annotation column header, click the icon in the upper-right corner to cycle through the icons
until the Eraser

icon is displayed.

2. In the column, click and drag the cursor on top of the draw n annotation to erase parts of it.

NOTE
W hen using a pen on a tablet, you MUST flip your pen to the eraser side for theeraser to w ork.

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Modifying Annotation Column Pen Options
T-ANIMPA-005-006
You can change the pen size and colour w hen you draw in the annotation column.

How to modify the pen width
1. Click the Xsheet menu

or right-click a cell in the Annotation column

2. Select Annotation > Pen W idth, and do one of the follow ing:lSelect a pen w idth preset.

lSelect Change Current to display the Pen W idth dialog box. In the Pen W idth field,
type the number of pixels for the pen size and click OK.

How to modify the pen colour
1. Click the Xsheet menu

or right-click a cell in the Annotation column

2. Select Annotation > Change Pen Colour.
The Select Colour dialog box opens.

3. Choose a new colour.
4. Click OK.

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Showing and Hiding Annotation Column Tick Marks
T-ANIMPA-005-007
W hen w orking w ith the annotation columns, it is useful to display tick marks on odd-numbered frames.

To display the tick marks, you must run a short script.

How to display tick marks
1. From the top menu, select W indows > Script Editor.
2. From the Script Editor menu, select File > New Script.
3. Type in a name for your script and click OK.
4. In the File list, select the script you created.
5. On the right side of the view , type the follow ing script:
function display_tick_marks(){
preferences.setBool("XSHEET_ANNOTATION_FRAME_MARKER", true);MessageLog.trace( preferences.getBool("XSHEET_ANNOTATION_FRAME_MARKER", false));}
6. Click Verify.
The script is verified.
7. From the Script Editor menu, select Play/Debug > Run.

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A dialog box opens w ith your script selected in the Files column.
8. In the Functions column, select display_tick_marks and click OK.
Tick marks appear on odd frames in the Annotation column. If you do not see tick marks, close andrestart Harmony.

How to turn off the display of tick marks
1. Follow steps 1 to 5 of How to display tick marks and use the follow ing script:{
preferences.setBool("XSHEET_ANNOTATION_FRAME_MARKER", false);
MessageLog.trace( preferences.getBool("XSHEET_ANNOTATION_FRAME_MARKER", false));}
2. Follow steps 6 to 8.
All tick marks are removed from the Annotation column.

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Importing Annotation Files
T-ANIMPA-005-008
If you scanned your paper exposure sheet’s annotations or if you need to place some pictures or draw ings in
the Annotation columns, you can easily import them.

How to import annotation files
1. In the Xsheet view , select the first cell in the Annotation column w here you w ant the imported
image to start.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the cell and select Annotation > Import File.

lFrom the Xsheet menu, select Annotation > Import File.

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

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

IMPORTANT
If the project file is moved, or if the folder that the column is linked to is moved, then dynamic
linking is broken and the images that w ere in that folder w ill disappear in Toon Boom Harmony
Premium.

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

button.

2. In the Add Column dialog box, type in the name of the new column, then from the Type menu,
select Timing.
3. Do one of the follow ing:lClick OK if you are finished.

lClick Apply if you w ant to continue adding more columns and column types.

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

4. In the Node view , add a new node.
5. Open the Layer Properties editor by clicking the yellow square of the node.
6. In the Draw ing tab, select the Timing Columns option.
7. In the Name field, enter the path of the folder you w ant to access. If you use the Brow se button tolocate a folder, you must select a file in the folder you w ant and then delete the dash and the suffix(for example, background-01 should be renamed to background) from the file name in the field.

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If you leave the full file name selected, Harmony w ill display that file for the entire duration of thescene, regardless of the contents of the Timing Column field.

NOTEThis means that all the images in the folder that you are linking to are named using thenaming convention described above. If for some reason you are unable to access a certain
directory, type the directory extension directly in the path extension field at the top of thebrow ser w indow .

8. In the Timing Column field, click the Arrow button to create a new timing column, or select thename of the column from the list. If you have an element directory selected in the Name field, theTiming Column w ill indicate w hich files are called from that element directory. Remember that thefile displayed at each frame is based on the element name, cell label, and extension. If the element
is toto, the timing column is labeled 1, 2, and 3, and the extension is TVG, Harmony w ill display
draw ings totobody-1.tvg, totobody-2.tvg, and totobody-3.tvg at the selected frames.

In the Xsheet, the <unused> header changes to the name of the node in the Node view .
9. From the Extension list, select the file format of the files you w ant to display.
10. Click OK.
11. In the Xsheet view , in the Timing column, type the number that corresponds to the suffix of thedraw ing file that you w ant to expose to make it appear in the Camera view .

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Setting Properties for Many Nodes or Layers
W hen w orking w ith several nodes/layers, you may need to change certain properties for a lot of nodes at once.
For example, you may w ant to:lMake all your Draw ing nodes to use 3D Path type position functions.

l

Make all your Peg nodes to use Separate type position functions.

l

Make all your Draw ing nodes to apply their embedded pivot on their parent pegs.

lDisable animation on all your Draw ing nodes.

l

Set the mode of all your Composite nodes to Pass Through.

lDisable specific art layers on several Draw ing nodes.

This is common for cut-out productions that need a lot of layers in their character rigs to have a specificconfiguration.
The Set Properties for Many Layers dialog allow s you to select several nodes and to change the follow ing
properties for all the nodes in your selection:l

3D Path or Separate model

Use Embedded PivotlOverlay On/OfflLine Art On/OfflColour Art On/Offl

Underlay On/OfflAnimate Using Animation ToolslComposite Mode

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How to change properties for several nodes
1. In the Timeline or Node view , select all the layers/nodes for w hich you w ant to change properties.

2. In the Node View toolbar, click on

Set Properties on Many Layers button.

The Set Properties on Many Layers dialog appears.

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3. Select the value of each property you w ant to change for all the selected nodes:l

3D path or Separate Mode: W hether you w ant the Position parameter of the selected Peg
and Draw ing nodes to use a 3D Path type function or a Separate function for their positionon the x, y and z axes.

l

Use Embedded Pivot: W hether you w ant the selected Draw ing nodes to apply theirembedded pivot on themselves (Drawing), on their parent peg (Parent Peg) or not at all (DoNot Use)lOverlay: W hether to enable the Overlay layer for the selected Draw ing nodes.

lLine Art: W hether to enable the Line Art layer for the selected Draw ing nodes.

lColor Art: W hether to enable the Color Art layer for the selected Draw ing nodes.

lUnderlay: W hether to enable the Underlay layer for the selected Draw ing nodes.

lAnimate Using Animation Tools: W hether to allow users to manipulate and animate theselected Draw ing nodes w ith the animation tools. Setting this to off w ill make animation
tools w ork on the Draw ing node's parent peg instead.

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NOTE
This option only affects Draw ing nodes, and not Peg nodes.

lComposite Mode: W hether the selected Composite nodes should have their mode set to As
Bitmap or to Pass Through.

NOTE
Composite nodes are only available in Harmony Premium.

For each property that you do not w ant to change for the selected nodes, leave As Is selected.
4. Click on the OK button.

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Displaying Layer and Column Properties
Each element has its ow n set of properties that you can modify, including effect and peg layers.
If you w ant to modify an element’s properties, you can display the properties of a selected layer in theTimeline view or selected node in the Node view . If you're w orking w ith the Xsheet, you can display its
properties as w ell. You can display a layer's properties as a w indow or as a view of its ow n.
The Layer Properties editor allow s you to:lRename the layerlEnable or disable the layerlLock the layerlChange the track colourlActivate the onion skin previewlAdjust the positioning and animation parameterslAdjust many other advanced parameters

The Column Properties editor allow s you to:lRename the layerlEnable or disable the layer

How to display a layer's properties
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Layer Properties view is not part of your w orkspace, from the top menu, selectW indows > Layer Properties. In the Timeline view , select a layerl

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

lPress Shift + E.

l

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

The properties display—see Element/Draw ing Node in the Reference guide .

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How to display a column's properties in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet view , do one of the follow ing:lDouble-click on a column header.

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

The properties for the column are displayed.

2. (Optional) To view additional properties, select Edit > Preferences from the top menu.

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3. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Advanced tab, then select the Advanced Element Mode
option.

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

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About Layer and Column Display
You can change the w ay a column in the Xsheet view displays. You can change the w ay a layer in the Timelineview or a column in the Xsheet view displays. You can stay organized w ithout changing the content ofelements or your animation output.

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Expanding and Collapsing Layers and Columns
To simplify the look of the Timeline or Xsheet view , you can expand and collapse some of the layers andcolumns. If layers are parented to other ones, you can collapse the parent layer to hide its children.

How to collapse or expand selected layers in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the layer(s) to collapse or expand.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the selection and select Collapse/Expand > Collapse/Expand.

l

Click the Expand Children

button on the parent layer.

lClick the Collapse/Expand

button (you may have to customize the toolbar todisplay it).
lPress Ctrl + I (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + I (macOS).

How to collapse or expand all layers in the Timeline view
1. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the layers and select Collapse/Expand > Expand All or Collapse All.

l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Collapse All

or Expand All

buttons (you may

have to customize the toolbar to display them).
lPress 0 and 9.

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

button to display the Functions list.

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

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Chapter 3: Layers and ColumnslRight-click on the column’s header and select Expand/Collapse > Collapse Selection
or Expand Selection.

l

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Collapse Selection

or Expand Selection

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

How to collapse or expand all 3D path and 3D rotation columns in the Xsheet view
Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on any column’s header and select Expand/Collapse > Collapse All or Expand All.

l

Press 0 and 9.

l

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Collapse All

or Expand All

customize the toolbar to display it).

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Showing and Hiding Layers and Columns
As you w ork in the Draw ing, Camera or Xsheet view , some layers or columns may be in the w ay, such as thosethat w ere used as references. You can hide these layers to make your w ork area less cluttered and easier tonavigate.

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Showing and Hiding Columns
The Xsheet view has a Column List section that displays all the columns contained in the exposure sheet. It
can be used to hide individual columns.
If you need to see a column after it has been hidden, you can display it directly from the Xsheet view w ithout
using the Column List section.
You can also hide a column type, such as Draw ing or Sound. W hen you do this, its corresponding layer isdisabled in the Timeline view .

How to show and hide columns in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Show Column List

button.

2. On the right side of the Functions section, click the Expand

button to display the Column List

section.
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

l

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

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Showing Hidden Columns
In order to save visual space in the Xsheet view , columns can be hidden from view . The hidden layer's
presence is indicated by a thicker grey line betw een columns.

How to show hidden columns in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet view , do one of the follow ing:lClick the thick grey line that represents a hidden column.

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

lPress Alt + Shift + H.

The Show Hidden Columns dialog box opens.

2. In the Show column, select the hidden columns you w ant to display in the Xsheet view .
lClick Check to select all the selected columns.

lClick Uncheck to deselect all selected columns.

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Showing All Columns
In order to save visual space in the Xsheet view , columns can be hidden from view . You can bring all thehidden columns back into view all at once.

How to show all columnslIn the Xsheet menu, select View > Unhide All Columns.

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Showing and Hiding Column Types
You can hide specific column types from view , in order to w ork more easily w ith one aspect of your project. For
example, you could hide all the Draw ing columns in the Xsheet, so that you could w ork more easily w ith your
3D Path Columns.

How to show and hide column types using the Column List
1. In the Column List section, click the button corresponding to the column type you w ant to show or
hide.

Column Type

ActionShow /Hide All Columns

Show /Hide Draw ing Columns

Show /Hide Function Columns

Show /Hide 3D Path Columns

Show /Hide 3D Rotation Columns

Show /Hide Sound Columns

Show /Hide Annotation Columns

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

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2. Select the types of columns you w ant to display and disable the ones you w ant to hide.
Click Set As Default if you w ant to make these new settings the default ones used each time you start
Harmony.
Click Restore Default if you w ant to return the settings to their defaults.

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Showing and Hiding Function Columns
Function columns (columns that house translation, rotation, scale, etc. information) that are associated w ith
another column type, for example a Draw ing column, are often hidden from view . You can bring these columns
into the forefront, in order to w ork w ith them or view their information.

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

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Customizing the Column Appearance
In Harmony, you can customize the w ay the column displays draw ings, empty cells and the column w idth.
You can modify the follow ing elements:lEmpty cellsl

Row unitslHeld exposurelColumn w idth

How to change the appearance of an empty cell
1. From the Xsheet menu, select View > Empty Cells > W ith an “X” or Blank.

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

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

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

3. In the Column W idth field, enter the desired w idth in pixels.
4. Do one of the follow ing:lClick OK to validate and close the dialog box.

lClick Apply to validate the operation and keep the dialog box opened to adjust thenext column’s w idth.

l

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

l

Click Close to cancel the operation.

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

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Displaying Xsheet Thumbnails
W hen there are a large number of columns in the exposure sheet, it's not easy to quickly identify a particularcolumn. Displaying the column thumbnails makes this easier. This option displays a small thumbnail picture of
the current frame below the column header.

NOTE
To display thumbnails in the Timeline view , see Displaying Draw ing Thumbnails in the Timeline
View .

How to display the thumbnails
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Show Thumbnails

button.

l

In the Xsheet menu, select View > Show Thumbnails.

The thumbnails row appear appear underneath the column names.

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Changing Layer and Column Colours
To easily identify elements in the Timeline or Xsheet view , you can change the colour of layers and columns.
The colours you choose w ill be reflected in the Node view .

How to change the layer’s colour in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , click the Change Track Colour

button of the layer you w ant to modify.

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

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

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

220

button (you may have to customize theChapter 3: Layers and Columns

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

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

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

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Using the Element Manager
The Element Manager w indow lets you Opens the Element Manager w indow w here you can add, delete or
modify elements (draw ing folders) in your scene. If you have draw ing folders that are not linked to a column inyour scene, use the Element Manager to delete them if needed. See xref Reference > W indow s > Element
Manager.

How to use the Element Managerl

From the top menu, select Scene > Element Manager.—see the Reference guide .

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Chapter 4: Timing

Chapter 4: Timing
W hen you create hand-draw n animation traditionally or in a paperless environment, it's important to know
how to set and modify the timing of your draw ings.

In a traditional w orkflow , the person in charge of the digital exposure sheet reproduces the paper exposure
sheet created by the animator. In a paperless w orkflow , the animator creates and manages their ow n
exposure sheet directly in Harmony w ithout the need for reproduction.
If you're more of a traditional animator, you w ill probably w ork w ith an exposure sheet. If you're a digital
animator, you may prefer to w ork w ith a timeline to visualize your timing. Harmony offers both.
The Xsheet view displays the digital reproduction of a traditional paper exposure sheet used in hand-draw n
animation. You can set the animation sequence's exposure and name the draw ings.
The Timeline view is also used to visualize timing, and represents elements and groups of elements as layers.
You can adjust timing in both view s; your choice depends on w hich technique you're accustomed to using.
Depending on your w orking style, some actions may seem preferable to do in one view instead of another.
Many of the actions you perform in the Xsheet can also be accomplished in the Timeline. This chapter w ill
often show both techniques. You can choose w hich one you prefer.
In this chapter, you w ill learn how to w ork on your draw ing’s exposure and length. The exposure andanimation paths for symbols are covered in separate chapters.

NOTE
The exposure sheet is not mandatory for cut-out animation. It can be useful for creating charactersand parts, but is not really needed for animation and timing. If you plan to w ork w ith cut-out
animation, you can still learn useful tips by review ing the section on exposure sheets.

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About Scene Length
In Harmony, the length of each scene is determined by the amount of frames it contains. You can calculate theamount of frames your scene requires based on the amount of time it should span over w ith the formula, inw hich l is the scene's length, s is the amount of seconds your scene requires, and fps is the scene's framerate.
l = s × fps
Likew ise, a scene's length in seconds can be calculated w ith the reverse formula:s = l ÷ fps
By default, scenes created in Harmony are 60 frames in length. At 24 frames per second, this makes a scene of
2½ seconds in length. You should set your scene's length based on how much time you plan for it to require
after creating your scene so you can plan your animation based on the scene's length. How ever, it is possible
to adjust your scene's length at any time. You can also insert or remove frames at any point in your scene.

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Chapter 4: Timing

Setting the Scene Length
T-HFND-007-007
You can set the scene length by entering its exact amount of frames or by adjusting its length using the scene
length bracket in the Timeline view .

How to set the scene's length in frames
1. Select Scene > Scene Length.
The Set Scene Length dialog box opens.

2. In the Number of Frames field, enter the number of frames needed.

How to modify the scene length in the Timeline view
1. In the ruler of the Timeline view , click and drag the red scene length bracket and move it to theleft to shorten the scene or to the right to extend the scene.

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Inserting Frames in a Scene
You can add frames to your scene before or after the currently selected frame(s). All of your scene's animation
before or after the selection w ill be offset by the amount of frames you added.

How to add frames at the start of a scene
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select Scene > Frames > Add Frames at Start.

l

Right-click in the Xsheet view and, in the context menu, select Frames > Add Frames at
Start.

The Add Frames dialog box appears.

2. In the Number of frames to add field, enter the number of frames you w ant to add at the beginningof the scene.
3. If your scene contains scene markers, check Ripple Scene Markers if you w ant them to be offset
along w ith the keyframes and draw ings. If you w ant them to remain in place, uncheck this option.
4. Click OK.

How to add frames to the middle of a scene
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the frame w here you w ant to insert frames.

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Chapter 4: Timing

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

l

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

l

In the Xsheet view toolbar, click the

Add Frames button to add frames after yourselection.
lPress Ctrl + G (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + G (macOS) to add frames before the selection, orCtrl + H to add frames after the selection.

The Add Frames dialog box appears.

3. In the Number of Frames to Add field, enter the amount of frames to add to the scene.
4. If your scene contains scene markers, check Ripple Scene Markers if you w ant the scene markers
after the insertion point to be offset along w ith the keyframes and draw ings. If you w ant them toremain in place, uncheck this option.
5. If you w ant the draw ings exposed just before the insertion point to be exposed throughout the newframes, check Extend Drawing Exposure. If you w ant the new frames to be empty, uncheck thisoption.
6. Click OK.
New frames are inserted before or after the selected frames, depending on w hich command you
selected.

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How to add frames at the end of a scene
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select Scene > Frames > Add Frames at End.

l

Right-click in the Xsheet view and, in the context menu, select Frames > Add Frames at
End.

The Add Frames dialog box appears.

2. In the Number of Frames to Add field, enter the number of frames to add at the end of the scene.
3. If you w ant the draw ings exposed at the end of the scene to be exposed throughout the newframes, check Extend Drawing Exposure. If you w ant the new frames to be empty, uncheck thisoption.
4. Click OK.

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Chapter 4: Timing

Removing Frames from a Scene
It is possible to remove frames from your scene. Your scene w ill be shortened by the amount of selected
frames, and all the animation after the removed frames w ill move back to close the gap.

How to remove a frame or a range of frames from your scene
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a frame or a range of frames to remove.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

lRight-click in the Xsheet view and, in the context menu, select Frame > Remove Selected
Frames.

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TIP
If you selected frames in the Xsheet view by clicking and dragging on the frame
numbers like in the screenshot above, or if you selected frames in all the columns in the
Xsheet view , you can also press the Del key. You w ill be prompted to confirm w hether
you w ant to delete the frames, or just clear the exposure in the selection. To delete theframes, click Yes.

The Remove Frames dialog box appears.

3. If your scene contains scene markers, check Ripple Scene Markers if you w ant the scene markers
after the selected frames to be offset backw ards along w ith the keyframes and draw ings. If you
w ant them to remain in place, uncheck this option.

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Chapter 4: Timing

About Exposure
T-HFND-006-006
In Harmony, exposure is the term used for the link betw een a cell, w hich is a single frame in a draw ing layer,
and a draw ing.
This concept comes from traditional animation. W hen draw ings w ere finished and ready to be added to theanimation, they w ould be placed under a camera, and taking one snapshot of the draw ing w ould equate to
one exposure. Hence, exposure is an important concept for planning out the draw ings required for your action,
as w ell as the timing in w hich they w ill be displayed as your scene plays out. It is especially important w hen
draw ings are used several times in a scene, w hich is a common practice to save on production time and costs,
as you can re-use a draw ing by exposing it over multiple frames.
In traditional animation, it is typical to plan a scene by filling the exposure sheet w ith the exposure before
creating the animation. An exposure sheet is made of cells, w hich represent frames, spread across columns,
representing draw ing layers, and the exposure is planned by filling each cell w ith the identification numbers
for the draw ings you plan your scene's action to require. This allow s animators to figure out the timing of theirscene's actions and to allocate the amount of draw ings each action w ill require before they start draw ing,
removing decision making from the animation process.
In Harmony, you can achieve this process by using the Xsheet view , w hich is very similar to a traditional
animation exposure sheet. You can fill each cell in your scene's draw ing layers w ith the number of thedraw ings you plan to create, at the frames at w hich you intend to expose them, and set the exposure of eachdraw ing to the amount of frames you intend them to take.

Filling a cell w ith a draw ing identifier allow s Harmony to keep track of w hich frames should display w hichdraw ings. For example, if you fill cell 1 and 2 of the draw ing layer A w ith the number 5, then start draw ing incell 1 or 2, Harmony w ill create the draw ing A-5, w hich w ill display in layer A w hen at frame 1 or 2 of yourscene. Otherw ise, if you start draw ing inside an empty cell, Harmony w ill automatically create a draw ing andassign it an available draw ing number.

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About Creating Exposure
In traditional and paperless animation, it is useful to plan your scene by creating its exposure before creating
the draw ings. The most basic method of creating a scene's exposure is by manually entering the name(typically a number) of each draw ing in each cell of each column in your scene using the Xsheet view .
How ever, Harmony has many tools allow ing you to streamline the exposure filling process. If you plan toanimate on tw os or threes, Harmony can automatically expose each draw ing added to your exposure sheetover the preferred amount of frames. You can also fill a range of cells w ith the same draw ing, a number
sequence, a cycle, or even random draw ing numbers.

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Typing Exposures
T-HFND-006-007
To fill in your exposure, you can type the values directly in the Xsheet view .
If you w ant to type an exact draw ing name or value in the Timeline view , you must use the Parameters sectionof the Timeline.

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

How to type a value in the Timeline view
1. In the Draw ing Substitution field, double-click to edit the field and type the name of the draw ing
you w ant to create.

2. Press Enter/Return to validate the value.

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

2. Type a value or draw ing name in the cell.

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

4. Press Esc to exit the typing mode.

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Chapter 4: Timing

Setting the Exposure Hold
Draw ings in an animation project are often exposed for more than one frame to save on production costs. In
w estern animation, each draw ing is usually exposed on tw o frames, and in Japanese animation, each draw ing
is usually exposed on three frames. In both cases, exceptions can be made for quick or detailed actions that
require precise timing.
In the industry, this type of exposure is know n as animation in double or triple frames, or animation on tw os oron threes.
To save time w hen creating your scene's exposure, you can configure the Xsheet to hold the exposure. Thisw ill make every new exposure you type into the Xsheet exposed for the preferred amount of frames. After you
enter the exposure for a cell, the selected cell w ill be after this exposure's hold, allow ing you to quickly fill acolumn w ith exposure w hile respecting the selected hold.

How to hold an exposure
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Xsheet menu, select Exposure > Hold Exposure > Hold the desired amount of cells.

lFrom the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Hold Exposure > Hold the desired amountof cells.

lRight-click on the Xsheet and select Exposure > Hold Exposure > Hold the desired amountof cells.

2. Type a value or draw ing name in the cell.
3. Type a value or draw ing name in the cell.
lPress Enter/Return to move on to the next cell.

lPress Esc to quit the typing mode.

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Toggling Between Inserting and Overwriting Exposure
T-HFND-006-007
In the Xsheet view , you can fill columns using tw o different filling modes: Overw rite or Insert. These modes
control the filling behaviour. The Timeline view only uses the Overw rite mode.
By default, the Xsheet view is set to Overw rite mode. Adding a new value or a new value sequence overw rites
existing ones. The existing timing sequence remains in the same place and is not pushed dow n the column.

The Insert mode is the opposite of the Overw rite mode. W hen you add a new value or a new value sequence
over existing ones, the new values are inserted betw een the old ones. The existing timing sequence is pushed
dow n the column.

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

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

‣

Press I.

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Filling a Selection with a Specific Exposure
You can fill a selection w ith the same draw ing using the Fill Selection dialog box. You can fill a selection of asingle draw ing, several draw ings or even several columns.

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

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

l

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Fill Selection

button. Note that you may have to add thisbutton to your toolbar by right-clicking on it and selecting Customize.
lPress Ctrl + T (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + T (macOS)).

The Fill Selection dialog box opens.

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

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Creating an Exposure Sequence
You can quickly create a sequence w ith a gesture by holding the Shift key w hile extending an exposure, or use
the Sequence Fill dialog box to create a custom sequence w ithin your selection. W hile the former is faster, thelatter allow s you to determine your sequence's hold and increment, to create a backw ard sequence or toconfigure it in multiple other w ays.

How to extend an exposure to create a sequence
1. In the Xsheet view , select a cell containing a number.
2. In the selected cell, click the red arrowon the cell’s right side. Make sure to see the drag dow ncursor.

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

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

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

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

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

l

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

l

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Sequence Fillbutton (you may have to customize

the toolbar to display it).
lPress Ctrl + M (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + M (macOS)).

The Sequence Fill dialog box opens.

3. In the Starting Value field, type the first number in the sequence.
4. In the Increment field, type the number by w hich the draw ing number w ill increase from frame toframe. For example, an increment of 1 gives you: 1-2-3-4; an increment of 2 gives you: 1-3-5-7;
and -2 gives you this: 8-6-4-2.

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Creating an Exposure Cycle
T-HFND-006-008
Once you have entered a series of draw ings and exposures, you can create cycles out of them in several w ays.
This can be useful for example if you w ant to make or use a looping character's w alking animation, referred toas a w alk cycle.
W hen you create cycle, each instance of each cycled draw ing is linked to the same draw ing file. This meansthat if you change a draw ing for the first instance of the cycle, it w ill update for every other instance of thecycle.

NOTE
You can also copy and paste draw ings and keyframes into cycles—see Pasting Cycles on page281.

How to create a cycle
1. In the Timeline view , select the cell range to loop.

2. In the Timeline toolbar, click the Create Cycle

button (you may have to customize the toolbar todisplay it).
The Create Cycle dialog box opens.

3. Enter the number of cycles you w ant, including the current selection.

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Filling a Selection with Random Exposure
You can Lets you fill in random values over a selection. You can give a maximum and a minimum value andcreate a range for Harmony to choose the random values from. The selection can be over one cell or a cellrange in one column or more or an entire column or many entire columns.

How to fill cells randomly
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a cell range.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect Animation > Cell > Fill Cells Randomly.

lRight-click on the selection and select Exposure > Fill Cells Randomly.

lIn the Xsheet view , click the Fill Cells Randomly

button. Note that you may have to add

this button to your toolbar by right-clicking on it and selecting Customize.
The Fill Cells Randomly dialog box opens.

3. In the Minimum Value field, enter the low est acceptable value.
4. In the Maximum Value field, enter the highest acceptable value.
5. In the Hold field, choose an exposure holding value.
6. If you are applying this option to a draw ing column, select the W hole Numbers option to avoid
decimal points.

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7. Click OK.

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Inserting Blank Cells
You can place an empty cell betw een other cells.

NOTE
Inserting a blank cell never overw rites existing cells, even if the Xsheet view is set to Overw rite
mode. This is because overw riting existing cells w ith blank cells w ould replicate the behavior ofdeleting exposure.

How to insert a blank cell
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell in w hich you w ant to insert a blank cell.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

l

Right-click and select Exposure > Insert Blank Cell.

l

In the Timeline or Xsheet toolbar, click the Insert Blank Cellbutton. Note that you may

have to add this button to your toolbar by right-clicking on it and selecting Customize.
lPress Shift + J.

A blank cell is inserted.

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Filling Empty Cells
T-LAY-002-005
You can automatically fill gaps betw een exposures using the Fill Empty Cells command. This w ill extend theexposure of cell exposed right before the gap until the end of the gap.

How to fill empty cells
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a cell range.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click and select Exposure > Fill Empty Cells.

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

l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Fill Empty Cells

button.

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

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Toggling Extending Previous Drawing Exposure
T-HFND-006-005
W ith the Extend Exposure of Previous Draw ing preference enabled, you can configure Harmony toautomatically extend a previous draw ing's exposure w hen creating a new draw ing, automatically filling thegaps as you create draw ings.

This preference is enabled by default. If you disable it, gaps betw een previous draw ings and new draw ing w ill
not be automatically filled:

How to enable or disable the Extend Exposure of Previous Drawing preference
1. Open the Preferences dialog box by doing one of the follow ing:lSelect Edit > Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + U (macOS).

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

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3. In the Draw ing Creation section, check or uncheck the Extend Exposure of Previous Drawing
option.

4. Click OK.

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About Adjusting Exposure
The exposure of draw ings in a scene often needs to be adjusted as you flesh out your animation and yourscene's action starts taking form. Your scene's action may require more or less draw ings than initially planned,
or some draw ings may need to be exposed for longer or shorter times than expected. There are many w ays toadjust your scene's exposure, giving you the flexibility to quickly make changes and test them so you can finetune your animation.

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Increasing Exposures
T-ANIMPA-006-005
Increasing the exposure Adds one more exposure to a selected cell; repeating this action adds an extra celleach time. This is an efficient w ay to extend a draw ing's exposure and is alw ays set in Insert mode. Increasing
an exposure pushes the existing exposure forw ard.

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

2. Do one of the follow ing:lPress +.

l

At the bottom-right corner of the Xsheet view , set the number of cells over w hich thedraw ing w ill be exposed.

l

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Increase ExposurelRight-click and select Exposure > Increase Exposure.

l

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

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Decreasing Exposures
T-ANIMPA-006-006
Decreasing the exposure removes one exposure from a selected cell and pulls any cells follow ing it to thebeginning of selection. You can do this for one cell or a range.

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

2. Do one of the follow ing:lPress -.

l

At the bottom-right corner of the Xsheet view , set the number of cells over w hich the draw ing w ill
be exposed.

l

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Decrease ExposurelRight-click and select Exposure > Decrease Exposure.

l

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

How to decrease a range of exposures
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a range of cells.

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2. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

l

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

l

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Clear Exposure and Pull

The exposure is reduced by the selected number of cells.

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Extending Single Exposures
T-HFND-007-008
Extending the exposure lets you select a cell and extend it to the desired frame.

How to extend an exposure in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the cell you w ant to extend.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click and select Extend Exposure.

l

In the Timeline View menu, select Exposure > Extend Exposure.

l

Select Animation > Cell > Extend Exposure.

lPress F5.

3. In the Extend Exposure dialog box, enter the frame number to extend your cell to.
4. Indicate if you w ant to insert the new frames before the follow ing exposure or overw rite it. If you
select insert, any follow ing exposure w ill be moved dow n. If you select Overw rite, the follow ing
exposure w ill be erased and replaced by the draw ing being extended.

NOTE
You can also select the last cell w here you w ant to extend your draw ing to (suchas the last cell of the layer), right-click and select Extend Exposure. You w ill not
be prompted the dialog box.

How to extend an exposure gesturally
1. In the Xsheet view , select the red arrowcursor.

in the cell’s right side. Make sure you see the drag dow n

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2. Pull dow n the selected cell to the desired frame.

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

How to extend an exposure from the top menu
1. Select a cell and do one of the follow ing:l

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

lPress F5.

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

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Setting the Exposure
T-HFND-006-009
You can easily increase or decrease the exposure for a selected cell range.

How to set the exposure
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell range on w hich you w ant to set the exposure.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect Animation > Cell > Set Exposure to > Set Exposure to 1, 2, 3, or Set
Exposure.

l

In the Timeline toolbar, click one of the Set Exposure

buttons. Note thatyou may have to add this button to your toolbar by right-clicking on it and selecting
Customize.
l

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

3. If you chose the Set Exposure option, the Set Exposure dialog box opens. Enter the number offrames you w ant the draw ings to display and click OK.

The new timing is displayed in the Xsheet view .

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Deleting Exposures
You can delete a draw ing’s exposure in several w ays. W hen you delete a draw ing’s exposure from theTimeline or Xsheet view , you are not deleting the actual draw ing file. You can alw ays retrieve it by typing its
name again in a cell.
You can delete the exposure in a selected cell range or delete the entire exposure of a draw ing exposed over
several cells. Note that you can also delete the exposure for draw ings inside a collapsed group.

How to delete selected exposures
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the exposure you w ant to delete.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lPress Del.

l

Right-click and select Delete.

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

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

l

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

l

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

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Moving Cells
T-ANIMPA-006-007
To readjust your timing, you can drag one or more cells to a new location. You can drag a cell to any otherframe in the same column or into another column.
You can turn off the Gestural Drag mode for the Xsheet view to prevent draw ings from being dragged fromone location to another. This feature does not apply to Annotation columns.

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

2. Drag the cells to the new location.

3. Drop the selection by doing one of the follow ing:lDrop by simply releasing the mouse or pen.

l

Hold Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) w hile dropping the selection to copy thecells. The original cells w ill not be moved.

lPress Shift w hile dropping the selection to insert them betw een existing frames.

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

2. In the Xsheet view , position the pointer over the small dotted areaon the left side of the selected

cells.

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

4. Do one of the follow ing:‣

Drop the selection to overw rite the existing cells.

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Chapter 4: TiminglHold dow n Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) w hile dropping the selection to copy
the cells. The original selection w ill not be moved.

lPress Shift w hile dropping the selection to insert it betw een existing frames.

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

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

‣

From the Xsheet menu, select Edit > Gestural Drag Mode

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In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Toggle Gestural Drag Modebutton (you may have tocustomize the toolbar to display it).

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

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Enabling or Disabling Overwriting Exposures and Keyframes During
Drag and Drop
You can change the w ay the Timeline behaves w hen you drag and drop a selection of keyframes or draw ings
w ith the Overw rite Exposure and Keyframes during Drag and Drop preference. W hen this preference isenabled, dragging and dropping draw ings and keyframes in the Timeline view w ill overw rite the draw ings andkeyframes betw een the selection and the destination, as if the selection "w iped" everything on the w ay to thedestination. This behavior is more similar to the one observed w hen manipulating keyframes in Adobe
Animate. If disabled, dragging and dropping a selection in the timeline w ill simply remove the keyframes anddraw ings from the source, and overw rite the destination w ith them, leaving anything else unaffected.
You can set this mode in tw o places: the Timeline toolbar and the Preferences dialog box.

How to enable or disable overwriting exposure and keyframes in the Preferences
dialog
1. From the top menu, open the Edit (W indows/Linux) or Harmony Premium (macOS) menu andselect Preferences. In the Timeline tab, check or uncheck the Overwrite Exposures andKeyframes During Drag and Drop option, then click OK.
2. Open the Timeline tab.
3. In the Paste / Drag & Drop panel, check or uncheck the Overwrite Exposures and Keyframes
During Drag and Drop option.

4. Click OK.

How to enable or disable overwriting exposure and keyframes in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline toolbar, click the Toggle Override Exposure and Keyframe During Drag and Dropbutton. Note that you may have to add this button to your toolbar by right-clicking on it and263

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selecting Customize.

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About Rippling and Overwriting the Exposure in the Timeline View
T-ANIMPA-006-004
By default, you can only use your mouse to drag and drop frames in the Timeline view . How ever, if you zoom
in sufficiently, you are able to tw eak the exposure of each draw ing by clicking and dragging the junction
betw een tw o draw ings.
Just like in some video editing softw are, w hen tw eaking the duration of a draw ing by dragging its side, you candecide w hether to ripple or overw rite subsequent frames. This is determined by w hether you grab the edge ofthe draw ing by the left or the right side of said edge.

Although not required, this functionality is especially useful w hen displaying thumbnails in the Timeline view ,as you can preview the exposed draw ings as you modify their exposure. As a reference, tw eaking exposure in
the timeline is only possible w hen you zoom in on the timeline at least close enough to fully view the
thumbnails of draw ings exposed on tw o frames. For more information, see Displaying Draw ing Thumbnails in
the Timeline View on page 815.

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Changing Exposure and Rippling Drawings in the Timeline View
If you zoom in on the Timeline view , you can change the exposure of individual draw ings by grabbing theirright edge w ith the mouse cursor. If your mouse cursor is just left of the draw ing's right edge, a yellow
highlight w ill appear. This means dragging the draw ing's edge w ill adjust its exposure and ripple the ensuing
draw ings.

How to extend a drawing's exposure and ripple ensuing drawings in the Timelineview
1. In the Timeline view , enable thumbnails display for your draw ing layer by doing one of thefollow ing:lLeft of the layer's name in the Layers list, click on the Show ThumbnailslSelect the draw ing layer and press T.

lLeft of the Layers list header, click on the Show All Thumbnails

icon.

icon.

NOTE
Displaying thumbnails is not required for tw eaking exposure in the Timeline view , but it
is very useful.

2. Zoom in on the Timeline view at least enough to fully display the thumbnails of draw ings exposedon tw os, by doing one of the follow ing:lDrag the Timeline Zoom

slider to the right.

lClick on the Timeline view 's tab, then press 2 repeatedly.

lMove the mouse cursor in the Timeline view , then hold Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS)
and roll the mouse w heel up.

3. Move the mouse cursor just left of the right edge of the draw ing of w hich you w ant to change theexposure.

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4. Click and drag the right edge of the draw ing to change its exposure.
If you move the edge to the right, the draw ing's exposure is extended, and all the draw ings
exposed after this draw ing are moved forw ard.

If you move the edge to the left, the draw ing's exposure is reduced, and all the draw ings exposed
after this draw ing are moved backw ard.

NOTE
You can drag the edge further left and completely remove the draw ing, making subsequentdraw ings overw rite it.

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Changing Exposure and Overwriting Drawings in the Timeline View
If you zoom in on the Timeline view , you can change the exposure of individual draw ings by grabbing theirright edge w ith the mouse cursor. If your mouse cursor is just right of the draw ing's right edge, a red highlight
w ill appear. This means dragging the draw ing's edge w ill adjust its exposure and overw rite ensuing draw ings.

How to extend a drawing's exposure and ripple ensuing drawings in the Timelineview
1. In the Timeline view , enable thumbnails display for your draw ing layer by doing one of thefollow ing:lLeft of the layer's name in the Layers list, click on the Show ThumbnailslSelect the draw ing layer and press T.

lLeft of the Layers list header, click on the Show All Thumbnails

icon.

icon.

NOTE
Displaying thumbnails is not required for tw eaking exposure in the Timeline view , but it
is very useful.

2. Zoom in on the Timeline view at least enough to fully display the thumbnails of draw ings exposedon tw os, by doing one of the follow ing:lDrag the Timeline Zoom

slider to the right.

lClick on the Timeline view 's tab, then press 2 repeatedly.

lMove the mouse cursor in the Timeline view , then hold Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS)
and roll the mouse w heel up.

3. Move the mouse cursor just left of the right edge of the draw ing of w hich you w ant to change theexposure.

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4. Click and drag the right edge of the draw ing to change its exposure.
If you move the edge to the right, the draw ing's exposure is extended, and all the draw ing rightafter is overw ritten.

If you move the edge to the left, the draw ing's exposure is reduced, and all the draw ing right afteris exposed over it.

NOTE
You can drag the edge further left and completely remove the draw ing, making the draw ing
right after overw rite it.

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About Drawings
Draw ings that are created in Toon Boom Harmony Premium are not stored in their cells. They are actual files
stored in the project’s folder. If you w ant to rename a draw ing or delete a draw ing from your project, you needto edit the file and not the cells.

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Creating Empty Drawings
T-LAY-003-003
The Create Empty Draw ing command automatically Creates a draw ing in the selected cell, replacing any
draw ing that may already be exposed in that cell and the follow ing ones until it meets another draw ing, key
exposure or a blank cell.

How to create an empty drawing
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell in w hich you w ant to create an empty draw ing.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select Drawing > Create Empty Drawing.

l

In the Xsheet view menu, select Drawings > Create Empty Drawing.

l

In the Xsheet view toolbar, click the Create Empty Draw ingl

In the Timeline view toolbar, click the Create Empty Draw ing

lPress Alt + Shift + R.

The new draw ing is created in the Xsheet and Timeline view .

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Renaming Drawings
T-HFND-005-003
To rename a draw ing, you need to select the draw ing cell and use the Rename Draw ing command.
You can also rename a series of draw ings relative to their frame position, w hich is useful in hand-draw n
animation.

How to rename a drawing
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ing to rename.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click and select Drawings > Rename Drawing.

l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Rename Draw ing

button (you may have tocustomize the toolbar to display it).
lPress Ctrl + D (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + D (macOS).

The Rename Draw ing dialog box opens.

3. In the New Name field, type in the new draw ing name.

How to rename a drawing sequence with a prefix
You can rename a draw ing sequence w ith a prefix, w hich can be quite useful for cut-out puppet
breakdow n and deformation animation.
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a draw ing sequence. Note that you can only select a draw ing
range in one column or layer at a time.
2. Right-click and select Drawings > Rename Drawing with Prefix.

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The Rename Draw ing w ith Prefix dialog box opens.

3. In the Prefix to Add field, type the prefix to add before the draw ing name.

How to rename drawings by their frame position
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ing sequence to rename.

2. Select Drawing > Rename by Frame.

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Deleting Drawings
You can permanently delete a draw ing file from a project's folder.

NOTE
Deleting a draw ing file is an operation that cannot be undone.

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

2. Do one of the follow ing:‣

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

‣

Right-click and select Drawings > Delete Selected Drawings.

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Duplicating a Drawing
T-LAY-003-004
If you w ant to modify a draw ing that already exists, but keep the original draw ing intact, you can duplicate thedraw ing and w ork on the copy. W hen duplicating a draw ing, the exposure at the selected cell is replaced w ith
the new draw ing, up until the next key exposure.
W ith Toon Boom Harmony Premium, you can create a keyframe at the same time as you duplicate yourdraw ing. This w ay, you can modify and reposition draw ings w ithout affecting the original draw ing.

How to duplicate a drawing
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ing to duplicate.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Duplicate Drawings.

lRight-click and select Drawings > Duplicate Drawings.

l

In the Xsheet toolbar, click the Duplicate Draw ing

lPress Alt + Shift + D.

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Copying and Pasting Drawings
W hen you copy and paste a selection in the Timeline or Xsheet view , you are not copying and pasting theactual draw ings, you are pasting the exposure. Exposure is a property; it is the length of time that a draw ing isvisible over a series of frames. In Harmony, exposure is independent of keyframes. That is, keyframes are notlinked to draw ings. Keyframes can be moved independently from the draw ing exposure.
If you w ant to copy and paste selected draw ings into a different layer or paste the selection in the same layer
to duplicate the draw ings, you must use the Paste Special feature.
There are four different w ays to paste your selected draw ings w ith the Paste Special dialog box:
W hen adding exposures to a draw ing layer, draw ing files w ill not be created.
Only create drawing files when they do not exist: W hen adding exposures to a draw ing layer,
new draw ings w ill be created only w hen draw ings w ith the same name do not already exist in
the destination.
Replace existing drawings. Create drawing files when they do not exist: Replace draw ings
w ith the same names to update a scene w ith new modified draw ings and preserve theanimation.
Tip: If you don't w ant to lose the existing animation w hen pasting a template, suchas w hen placing new draw ings after the animation, then delete the template's
animation. It w ill still have updated the draw ings but not override the existing
animation.
Always create drawing files: W hen adding exposures to a draw ing layer, new draw ings w ill
alw ays be created. If draw ing files w ith the same name already exist, Harmony w ill create a newname for the draw ing.
If you w ant to perform another Paste Special operation using the same settings you used previously, you can
use the Paste Special Again command instead. You can paste your selection using the same settings as in themost recent Paste Special operation, w ithout opening the Paste Special dialog box.

How to paste drawings with the Paste Special command
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ings to copy and press Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or⌘ + C (macOS).

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2. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell w here you w ant your pasted selection to start.

3. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click and select Paste Special.

l

From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Special.

l

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

lPress Ctrl + B (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + B (macOS).

The Paste Special dialog box opens.

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4. Select the Basic tab.
5. In the Draw ings section, select the Always Create Drawings or Only Create Drawings W hen
They Do Not Exist option.

How to paste new drawings with the previous Paste Special settings
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

lRight-click and select Paste Special Againl

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

lPress Ctrl + Shift + B (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + B (macOS).

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button (you may

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Pasting Reversed
Once you've copied an animated sequence, you can paste back its draw ings in the reverse order.

NOTE
You can perform the same operation using the Paste Special dialog box. To open the Paste Special
dialog box, select Edit > Paste Special or press Ctrl + B (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + B (macOS).

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

2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Cell from Timeline or Xsheet or press Ctrl + C(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C (macOS).
3. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell w here you w ant your cycles to start.

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Reverse.

lRight-click and select Paste Reverse.

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Press Ctrl + . (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + . (macOS).

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Pasting Cycles
Once you have created a cycle from an animated sequence, you can paste it anyw here, for as many times as
you like and in any direction that you choose.

How to paste a cycle
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell range to loop.

2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Cell from Timeline or Xsheet or press Ctrl + C(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C (macOS).
3. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell w here you w ant your cycles to start.

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Cycle.

lRight-click and select Paste Cycle.

lPress Ctrl + / (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + / (macOS).

The Paste Cycle dialog box opens.

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5. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

lIncrease or decrease the number of cycles you w ant to paste.

6. In the Cycle Type menu, select the type of cycle you w ant to paste.

l

Normal (forward): Pastes cycles as for all cycles, starting w ith the first cell of yourselection and ending w ith the last.

l

Reverse: Pastes cycles in the reverse order of the original selection, starting w ith thelast cell of your selection and ending w ith the first one.

l

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

l

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

7. Click OK.

NOTEYou can also paste cycles using the Paste Special dialog instead of the Paste Cycle dialog. The
Paste Special dialog gives you access to the same options along w ith many other options. To
access the Paste Special dialog, do one of the follow ing:lPress Ctrl + B (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + B (macOS).

l

Right-click on the destination and select Paste Special.

l

From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Special.

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Modifying Paste Presets
W hen pasting key frames and exposures, you can modify the existing presets to your liking. There are threepresets you can modify: the default presets for both key frames and exposures, key frames only and exposures
only.

How to modify paste presets
1. From the Timeline view menu, select Edit > Modify Paste Presets and one of the follow ing
options:l

All to edit the default paste preset settings.

l

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

lExposure to edit the preset settings for pasting exposures.

The Edit Paste Presets dialog box opens.

2. Refer to the follow ing table and edit the presets as desired.
Parameter

Description

Draw ings

Add/Remove
Exposure

Never create drawing files: W hen adding exposures to a draw ing layer,draw ing files w ill not be created.

Only create drawing files when they do not exist: W hen adding exposures
to a draw ing layer, new draw ings w ill be created only w hen draw ings w ith
the same name do not already exist in the destination.

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Always create drawing files: W hen adding exposures to a draw ing layer,
new draw ings w ill alw ays be created. If draw ing files w ith the same namealready exist, Harmony w ill create a new name for the draw ing.

Enforce Key Exposure

Fill Gap w ith Previous
Draw ing

Fill to Next Key
Exposure

If there are key exposures that exist on copied draw ings, they are preserved
w hen pasting. No key exposures are added. This is the default behavior
w hen pasting.

Fills selected area in the Xsheet or Timeline view w ith the previous draw ing.

Fills selected area till the next key exposure.

Keyframes

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

Velocity: Copies the properties of the selected velocity keyframe to the newframe.

Rotation: Copies the properties of the selected rotation keyframe to the newframe.
Add/Remove
Keyframes
Scale: Copies the properties of the selected scale keyframe to the newframe.

Skew: Copies the properties of the selected skew keyframe to the newframe.

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

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Merging Drawings
There are tw o methods of merging draw ings.
l

You can merge selected draw ings in adjacent elements. The columns and layers w ill be left intact, andeach new merged draw ing w ill reside in the frames of the left-most column or low er layer.

l

You can merge elements. All draw ings w ill be merged. Unused columns and layers w ill be deleted, but
the original draw ing files are still accessible.

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Merging Selected Drawings
You can merge draw ings from adjacent layers or columns. The merged draw ings w ill appear in the low er layeror left-most column of the tw o layers or columns selected.

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

2. Do one of the follow ing:‣

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

‣

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

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3. Do one of the follow ing:‣

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

‣

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

In the Xsheet view , the right-most column w ill contain the merged draw ings and the remaining columns
w ill be left blank at the corresponding frames. In the Timeline view , the bottom timeline layer w ill containthe merged draw ings from all layers and the other layers w ill be left blank at the corresponding frames.
Draw ings are not deleted and are still accessible.

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Merging All Drawings
You can merge all the draw ings in tw o layers or columns.

How to merge all the drawings in two layers or columns
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

In the Timeline view , select the layers you w ant to merge.

‣

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

‣

In the top menu, select Edit > Merge.

‣

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

‣

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

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In the Xsheet view , the right-most column w ill contain the merged draw ings and the other columns
w ill be deleted. In the Timeline view , the bottom timeline layer w ill contain the merged draw ings
from all layers and the other layers w ill be deleted. Draw ings are not deleted and are still
accessible.

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About Frame Markers
Frame markers are simple colour markers that you can add in the Timeline view . They can be added to any
frame, regardless of w hether or not it contains a draw ing. They can help you organize your scene by marking
important frames in your scene.
Contrary to scene markers, frame markers are placed on a specific frame in a specific layer. They can only be
added to a single frame, and not to a span of frames.
Frame markers also distinguish themselves from draw ing markers in that they do not mark draw ings, butframes. They can even be added to frames that do not contain any draw ing. They are also only visible in theTimeline view .

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Adding Frame Markers
You can add frame markers to any frame in your scene, either by right-clicking on a frame in the Timeline view ,or by using the Timeline view menu.

How to add a frame marker
1. In the Timeline view , select the frame you w ant to mark.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the frame and, in the context menu, select Mark Frame, then the colour you
w ant to mark the frame w ith.

l

In the top-left corner of the Timeline view , open the

View menu, and select Motion >Mark Frame, then the colour you w ant to mark the frame w ith.
A little square w ill appear over the marked frame, in the colour your selected.

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Moving Frame Markers
You can move frame markers by dragging and dropping them, just like you w ould w ith draw ings andkeyframes.

NOTE
If you drag and drop frames containing frame markers, they w ill be moved along w ith the frames
regardless of w hich paste preset is currently selected.

How to move frame markers
1. In the Timeline view , select the frame containing the frame marker you w ant to move.

TIP
If you w ant to move several frame markers simultaneously, you can select all the frame
containing the frame markers you w ant to move.

2. Click and drag on the selection, and drop it w here you w ant the frame marker to be moved.

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Copying, Cutting and Pasting Frame Markers
You can copy and paste, or cut and paste frame markers just like you w ould w ith draw ings and keyframes.

NOTE
If you copy and paste or cut and paste frames containing frame markers, the frame markers w ill beaffected regardless of w hich paste preset is currently selected.

How to copy and paste frame markers
1. In the Timeline view , select the frame containing the frame marker you w ant to copy.

TIP
If you w ant to copy several frame markers simultaneously, you can select all the frame
containing the frame markers you w ant to copy.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the selection and select Copy cells from Timeline.

l

In the top menu, select Edit > Copy cells from Timeline.

lPress Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C (macOS).

l

In the top-left corner of the Timeline view , open the

View menu and select Edit > Copy

cells from Timeline.
3. In the Timeline view , select the frame w here you w ant to paste the copied frame marker.
4. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the selection and select Paste cells in Timeline.

l

In the top menu, select Edit > Paste cells in Timeline.

lPress Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS).

l

In the top-left corner of the Timeline view , open thecells in Timeline.

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How to cut and paste frame markers
1. In the Timeline view , select the frame containing the frame marker you w ant to cut and paste.

TIP
If you w ant to cut several frame markers simultaneously, you can select all the frame
containing the frame markers you w ant to cut.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the selection and select Cut cells from Timeline.

l

In the top menu, select Edit > Cut cells from Timeline.

lPress Ctrl + X (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + X (macOS).

l

In the top-left corner of the Timeline view , open the

View menu and select Edit > Cut

cells from Timeline.
3. In the Timeline view , select the frame w here you w ant to paste the copied frame marker.
4. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the selection and select Paste cells in Timeline.

l

In the top menu, select Edit > Paste cells in Timeline.

lPress Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS).

l

In the top-left corner of the Timeline view , open thecells in Timeline.

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Removing Frame Markers
You can remove frame markers from the same menu from w hich you can add frame markers.

How to add a frame marker
1. In the Timeline view , select the frame containing the frame marker you w ant to remove.

TIP
If you w ant to remove several frame markers, select all the frames containing the frame
markers you w ant to remove.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the frame and, in the context menu, select Mark Frame > Remove Frame
Marker.

l

In the top-left corner of the Timeline view , open theMark Frame > Remove Frame Marker.

The frame marker w ill be removed.

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About Scene Markers
T-ANIMPA-005-010
Scene markers are visual indicators displayed in the frame ruler at the top of the Timeline view .

You can use scene markers to highlight, sort and label parts of your scene. For example, you can indicate theframes you w ant to clean up, a change in action, an impact, or w here you intend to apply an effect.

Scene markers have a colour, a name, a start frame, a length and a description. Then can mark a single frameor span over any amount of frames. If you hold the mouse cursor over a scene marker, its name, starting frame,
duration and note w ill be displayed in the tool tip box.

Scene markers are also visible in Xsheet view .

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Quickly Creating Scene Markers at the Current Frame
You can quickly mark a single frame using the Mark Current Frame command. This creates a scene marker at
the current frame, w ith no name, description and w hich does not span over several frames.
W hen you mark the current frame, the scene marker is created in the same color as the last scene marker you
created or edited, or in black if you haven’t created any scene marker yet. Hence, to select in w hich colour you
mark the current frame, you can start by creating a scene marker w ith a specific colour or editing an existing
scene marker w ith a specific colour—see Creating a Scene Marker and Editing Scene Markers.

How to mark the current frame
1. In the Timeline view , make sure the playhead is set on the frame you w ant to mark.

NOTE
Even if you right-click on a different frame, the scene marker w ill be created at theframe on w hich the playhead is positioned.

2. Right-click in the timeline ruler and select Scene Markers > Mark Current Frame.
A scene marker is created at the current frame.

TIP
The colour of the new scene marker is the last colour you selected for a scene marker. If this is
the first scene marker you create, then it w ill be black. Hence, to quickly mark several frames
w ith a specific colour, simply edit your new scene marker to the colour you w ant, and all otherscene markers you create afterw ards w ill have that colour by default—see Editing Scene
Markers on page 303.

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Creating a Scene Marker
T-ANIMPA-005-011
Using the Marker dialog, you can create a scene marker on a single frame or a range of frames, and give it aname, a description and a specific colour if you w ant.

How to create a scene marker on a frame range
1. In the timeline view , do one of the follow ing:l

To create a marker on a single frame, either move the timeline playhad to that frame, or
select that frame on any layer.

l

To create a marker on a range of frames, select that range of frames on any layer.

2. Right-click on the timeline ruler and select Scene Markers > Create Scene Marker.
The Marker dialog appears.

3. If you w ant the scene marker to have a name, type it in the Name field.
4. To create the scene marker at a different frame than the one you selected, edit the starting frame
number in the Time field.

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5. To change the length in frames for this scene marker, edit the length in the Duration field.
6. Open the Colour drop-dow n and select a colour for the new scene marker.
7. To add a description or note to the scene marker, type it in the Note field.
8. Click OK.
In the Timeline view , the scene marker is displayed over the selected frame counters.

TIP
Move the mouse cursor over the scene marker and w ait 1 second to display the scene
marker’s name, time, duration and note in a tool tip box.

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Moving Scene Markers
You can quickly offset a scene marker by clicking and dragging it. You can also select several scene markers
and offset them together.

How to move scene markers
1. In the timeline ruler, click and drag on the scene marker you w ant to move.

There are tw o things to note w hen moving scene markers:l

Tw o markers cannot have the same start time. Dragging a marker to share the start time ofanother marker w ill be blocked.

l

You may drag scene markers to overlap w ith others. The selected scene marker w ill appear
on top.
In Xsheet, the scene marker behind the overlapping marker w ill not be visible.

How to move several scene markers
1. In the timeline ruler, click on the first scene marker you w ant to move.
2. W hile holding the Shift key, click on every other scene marker you w ant to move to add them to theselection.

NOTE
W hen a scene marker is selected, its outline w ill turn cyan, and other scene markers
w ill become slightly darker.

3. Click and drag on one of the selected scene markers.

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Editing Scene Markers
You can modify the colour of a scene marker or edit the note attached to it.

How to edit a scene marker
1. In the timeline ruler, click on the scene marker to select it.

NOTE
W hen a scene marker is selected, its outline w ill turn cyan, and other scene markers
w ill become slightly darker.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lDouble-click on the scene marker.

lRight-click on the timeline ruler and, in the context menu, select Scene Markers > Edit
Scene Marker.

The Marker dialog box appears.

l

To edit the scene marker’s name, type it in the Name field.

l

To change the starting frame of the scene marker, edit the value in the Time field.

l

To change the length in frames for this scene marker, edit the value in the Duration field.

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To change the colour of the scene marker, open the Colour drop-dow n and select a new colour.

l

To edit the note for the scene marker, type it in the Note field.

3. Click OK.

TIP
Move the mouse cursor over the scene marker and w ait 1 second to display the scene
marker’s name, time, duration and note in a tool tip box.

How to activate ripple marker when inserting or removing frames
1. Select a frame or range of frames.
2. In Xsheet view , click View Menu

in the upper-left corner of the view . A drop-dow n menu w ill

appear.
3. In the drop-dow n menu, select Frames. A drop-dow n menu appears displaying the follow ing
options:l

Add Frames at Start... - Adds frames at the start of the timelinel

Add Frames at End... -Adds frames at the end of the timelinel

Add Frames Before Selection...- Adds frames before the selected framel

Add Frames After Selection... -Adds frames before the selected framelRemove Selected Frames - Removes the selected frame

4. Check Ripple Scene Markers.
5. Click OK.

W hen frames shift after inserting or deleting a frame, the marker w ill extend w ith it.

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Deleting Scene Markers
You can delete unused scene markers.

How to delete scene markers
1. In the timeline ruler, click on the scene marker you w ant to delete.

NOTE
W hen a scene marker is selected, its outline w ill turn cyan, and other scene markers
w ill become slightly darker.

2. If you w ant to delete several scene markers, hold the Shift key and click on every other scene
marker you w ant to delete to add them to the selection.

3. Right-click on the timeline ruler and, in the context menu, select Scene Markers > Delete Scene
Marker.

NOTE
Do not attempt to delete scene markers by pressing the Del key, as that w ill delete thecurrently selected element in your scene instead.

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Scene Marker View & Marker List
The Scene Marker view allow s you to manage all your scene markers easily inside a View . It lets you select,modify, create and delete a marker.
You can also search for the markers from the list of markers you have created. You can move the specificmarkers from the Timeline to the desired marker location.
The exporter uses scene markers to separate each animation in gaming.

How to access scene marker in Timeline
1. In the Timeline, click

Parameterand select Scene Markers to enable.

Description

Allow s you to modify the scene marker colour on several markers at the sametime.
Change Colour

NOTE
This option is only available w hen a marker is selected.

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Allow s to add or remove Prefix or Suffix to the name of the marker.

NOTE

Prefix & Suffix

This option is only available w hen a marker is selected.

Add Frame to Marker

Add frames to the selected marker in the Timeline.

Remove Frame to

Remove frames to the selected marker in the Timeline.

MarkerAdd Scene Marker

Create a new scene marker.

Delete selected scene markers.

Delete Scene Marker

NOTE
This option is only available w hen a marker is selected.

Search in Notes

Allow s you to search a marker inside Notes, w hen this option is selected.

How to select markers from the list
Inside the list you can select one or several markers
1. Select a marker from the list.
2. Once the marker is selected, Timeline w ill move on to that marker automatically.
3. It w ill mark the start and end frames to the playback.

NOTE
It w ill start w ith the low est frame in your selection and ends w ith the farthest frame selected.

How to modify markers
You can modify different columns of the markers as per your need such as Colour, Name, Note, Start, End,
Duration.

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1. Double click on any column and it w ill open the entire cell for you to modify.

NOTE
To modify Colour, click only once on the colour column, and a colour selector w ill appear.

How to search markers
You can search any marker by using the search bar at the bottom.
1. Type in the name of the marker you w ant to search inside Name section.
2. Select "Search in Notes" option at the bottom in order to search for the marker inside Notes section.

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

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

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

Starting Frame: Enter the number of the frame w here you w ant the tempo markers to begin.

‣

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

‣

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

3. Click OK.

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Printing the Xsheet
Once you have marked all the information, corrections, and timing you w ant in the Xsheet view , you can print
your exposure sheet. Printing the Xsheet allow s you to take it w ith you to your animation table or give a copy
to the animator. You can also use it to create your Xsheet skeleton directly in Harmony.

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

2. To set up your print:l

W indows: In the Select Printer section, select your printer and adjust the rest of theprinting settings.

l

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

lmacOS: In the Printer section, select your printer and adjust the rest of the settings byclicking on the Parameters

button. You can also click PDF and select an option

from the menu if you w ant to save a PDF version of your exposure sheet.

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

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3. Do one of the follow ing:l

W indows and macOS: Click Print.

l

GNU/Linux: Click OK.

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Skinning View
The Skinning view allow s you to create skins on your assets. It allow s you to change or modify your Timeline
interactively based on w hich skin you are w orking on. For example, to change different costumes on acharacter w hile still keeping the animations.
To create a skin, you first need to define Skin Nodes and then change their exposure based on w hich Skin you
expose.
You can also create groups " Group Skin and Global Skin" to gather and change specific skin nodes.

How to access skinning in Timeline
1. In the Timeline, click

and select Skinning to enable.

Parameter

Description

Skin Nodes

This column show s you w hich draw ing layers are defined as Skin Nodes andw hich group they are assigned to.

Path

This column refers to the node path in the Node View and Timeline.

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Skin

This column show s w hich skin is applied to the group.

Types of Manipulators
The Skinning view gives you access to the follow ing manipulators.
lGlobal Manipulators: Changes/Actions w ill be applied globally.

Parameter

Toggle Skin Nodes

Toggle if a selected draw ing layer is defined as a Skin Node.

Save Skin

Save the skins on the Skin Nodes.

Drop-dow n ListlDescription

Use the list to change the Global Skin to a different skin or to an empty one.

Add Global Skin

Create a new Global Skin that w ill be applied to every Skin Node.

Rename Global Skin

Rename the selected Global Skin.

Delete Global Skin

Delete a Global Skin.

Group Manipulators: Changes/Actions w ill only be applied inside a specific group.

Group Manipulators available w hen at least one group is selected in the Skin Node List.

Parameter

Description

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Add Group Skin

Create a new Group Skin that w ill be applied to the Skin Nodes of theselected groups.

Remove a Skin from the Skin Nodes of the selected group

NOTE

Remove Group Skin

This w ill delete the w hole skin if there are no Skin Nodes applied tothat skin in the scene.

Drop-dow n List

Rename Group

Use the list to change the selected Group’s Skin to a different skin or to an
empty one.

Rename the selected groups.

Delete the groups.

Delete GroupNOTE
The Skin Nodes associated to the groups w ill be ungrouped.

lSkin Nodes Manipulators: Changes/Actions w ill only be applied to selected nodes.

Group Manipulators available w hen a Skin Node is selected in the List.

Parameter

Description

Move Skin Nodes

Group/Ungroup Skin Nodes to an existing group.

Create New Group

Create a new group and group the selected Skin Nodes to the new ly createdgroup.

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Chapter 5: Drawing
Harmony has many pow erful tools, view s, and features for sketching, draw ing and animating w ith ease. This
chapter describes the main assets needed w hen draw ing , as w ell as tips on how to start and use these tools
efficiently.

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About Drawing Tools
Harmony has a w ide array of draw ing tools and draw ing features to allow flexible design, w ork methods andstyles.
Here are the draw ing tools available in Harmony, follow ed by the types of layer on w hich they are supported.
If you are editing a vector layer, then all of the tools are available to you. If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer,some tools are not available. W hen tools are not available, they are grayed out in the Tools toolbar.

Icon

Tool Name

Vector Layer

Bitmap
Layer✓✓

Cutter✓✓Reposition All Draw ings✓

Select✓Contour Editor

Centerline Editor✓

Pencil Editor✓

Smooth Editor✓

Perspective✓

Envelope✓

Edit Gradient/Texture

✓

Brush

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Icon

Tool Name

Vector Layer

BitmapLayer

Pencil✓Eraser

✓

✓

Text

✓

✓

Line

✓

✓

Rectangle✓✓

Ellipse✓✓Polyline

✓

✓

Paint

Ink

✓

Paint Unpainted✓

Repaint✓

Unpaint✓

Stroke

✓

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Icon

Tool Name

Vector Layer

Close Gap✓

Colour Eyedropper✓

BitmapLayer✓✓

Pencil Texture Eyedropper

Each draw ing tool has a series of options to customize its behaviour and draw ing style. W hen you select atool, the Tool Properties view displays the properties of the currently selected tool, w here you can configure
your draw ing tool's behavior and style, if applicable.

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About the Brush Tool
T-HFND-004-003
The Brush tool is pressure sensitive and lets you create a contour shape w ith a thick and thin line effect, as if it
w as created w ith a paint brush.
W ith the Brush tool, you can draw solid vector strokes or textured bitmap strokes, depending on your brushproperties. Solid vector brush strokes are made of a vector shape filled w ith a solid colour, making themlimited in terms of art style, but lightw eight and easy to manage. Textured brush strokes can have a bitmap
brush tip, a bitmap paper texture, and various settings such as hardness, randomness, antialiasing andtransparency. Hence, they can be used to draw in various art styles, add natural-looking details to yourdraw ing and reproduce the feel of a real brush stroke.
W hen draw ing on vector layers, you can use the Select Tool, Contour Editor, Smooth Editor, Perspective andEnvelope tool to scale your brush strokes or to tw eak their shape. If your strokes contain a bitmap texture,
Harmony w ill scale or deform the texture to fit the new shape of your brush. If your brush is scaled up or
deformed in a w ay that takes more volume, Harmony w ill automatically generate new pixels for the textures,w hich might cause them to lose quality.
On vector layers, textured vector brush strokes are composed of a greyscale bitmap mask applied to theircolour. Hence, their colour can be repainted or updated as easily as w ith solid vector brush strokes. Changing
the colour used to paint a textured vector brush stroke from the colour palette w ill update the colour intextured vector brush stroke, as it w ould w ith solid vector brush strokes, all the w hile preserving its texture.
You can also create dynamic brushes, w hich allow you to use artw ork created in Harmony as if it w as a brushtip or a stamp.

NOTE
To learn more about the options of the Brush tool, see the Reference Guide.

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Drawing with the Brush Tool
T-HFND-004-003A
In the Camera or Draw ing view , you can draw on any draw ing layer type w ith the Brush tool.

How to draw with the Brush tool on a vector layer
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to draw .
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

3. In the Tool Properties view , set the Maximum Size to the desired brush size.

NOTE
If you are draw ing w ith a mouse, your strokes w ill alw ays be at their maximum size. If you areusing a pressure-sensitive tablet, your strokes w ill vary in size depending on the pressure ofyour pen, ranging betw een 25% to 100% of the maximum size.

4. In the Colour view , click a colour sw atch to select a colour.

5. In the Draw ing or Camera view , start draw ing.

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TIPSl

You can quickly adjust the size of the selected draw ing tool by pressing and holding the O
key, then clicking and dragging in the draw ing space. If you are using a tablet pen, doing
this w ith the eraser tip of your pen w ill adjust the size of the Eraser tool, regardless of
w hich draw ing tool is selected.

l

If you press and hold the Shift key before or w hile draw ing, you w ill draw a straight line.

l

If you press and hold the Spacebar key w hile draw ing a straight line, the angle of your line
w ill lock. If you are using a pressure-sensitive tablet, you can draw over your line to adjust
its thickness.

l

If you press and hold the Shift and Alt keys before or w hile draw ing, you w ill draw astraight horizontal or vertical line.

l

If you press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key w hile draw ing, yourdraw ing stroke w ill turn into a closed shape.

l

If you press and hold Alt before draw ing a stroke, and start draw ing near existing artw ork,
the start of your draw ing stroke w ill connect to that artw ork.

l

If you press and hold Alt w hile draw ing a stroke, and end your draw ing stroke near
existing artw ork, the end of that draw ing stroke w ill connect to that artw ork.

How to draw with the Brush tool on a bitmap layer
1. In the Timeline view , add a bitmap draw ing layer.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

3. In the Tool Properties view , set the Maximum Size to the desired brush size. If you are draw ing w ith
a mouse, your strokes w ill alw ays be at their maximum size. If you are using a pressure-sensitive
tablet, your strokes w ill vary in size depending on the pressure of your pen, ranging betw een 25%
to 100% of the maximum size by default.
4. In the Colour view , select a colour.

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5. If you w ould prefer using Red/Green/Blue sliders, you can sw itch betw een HSV and RGB sliders by
doing one of the follow ing:lSelect Colour > Bitmap Colour Sliders > HSV Sliders or RGB Sliders.

lRight-click on the colour sliders and select RGB Sliders or HSV Sliders.

NOTE
Although you can use colours from your colour palette to paint on a bitmap layer,
colours used in a bitmap draw ing layer are not linked to their colour sw atch in thepalette. This means that, contrary to vector draw ing, updating the colours in yourcolour palette w ill not update your bitmap draw ings w ith the new colours.

6. In the Camera or Draw ing view , start draw ing.

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TIPSl

You can quickly adjust the size of the selected draw ing tool by pressing and holding the O
key, then clicking and dragging in the draw ing space. If you are using a tablet pen, doing
this w ith the eraser tip of your pen w ill adjust the size of the Eraser tool, regardless of
w hich draw ing tool is selected.

l

If you press and hold the Shift key before or w hile draw ing, you w ill draw a straight line.

l

If you press and hold the Spacebar key w hile draw ing a straight line, the angle of your line
w ill lock. If you are using a pressure-sensitive tablet, you can draw over your line to adjust
its thickness.

l

If you press and hold the Shift and Alt keys before or w hile draw ing, you w ill draw astraight horizontal or vertical line.

l

If you press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key w hile draw ing, yourdraw ing stroke w ill turn into a closed shape.

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Creating a Solid Brush
T-ANIMPA-002-001A
W hen draw ing w ith the Brush tool on a vector layer, you can use either solid vector brushes or textured vector
brushes. By default, your brush w ill be a solid vector brush. A solid vector brush creates a vector shape andsimply fills it w ith the selected colour, making lightw eight, simple crisp strokes.
A solid vector brush's tip can be shaped like a circle, a diamond or a square, and can be configured to have a
specific size, aspect ratio and angle. Also, solid vector brushes can be automatically smoothed by Harmony as
you draw .
If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer, you can only use textured brushes. You can create a textured brush thatmakes solid looking strokes, but they can not be automatically smoothed by Harmony, nor can they tw eaked
w ith vector tools such as the Contour Editor. For more information, see About Vector and Bitmap Layers on
page 645.

You can now control the Size properties w ith input options such as Pressure, Tilt and Speed. You can use acombination of multiple inputs to control a single property. Also, you can control the Angle Function by
selecting any one option from the drop dow n list.

How to create a solid vector brush
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushor Erasertool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the arrow button to open the Brush/Eraser Properties dialog.

The Brush Properties dialog opens.

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1. In the Brush Type dropdow n list, select Solid Vector.
2. In the brush tip list, select either Circle, Diamond or Square.
3. Use the Maximum Size slider to set the maximum size of your brush tip.

4.

NOTE
W hen draw ing w ith a mouse, your brush is alw ays at its maximum size. W hen draw ing
w ith a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, your brush's size w ill range betw een its minimum
and maximum size, depending on the amount of pressure you put on the pen w hen
draw ing.

5. You can control the size properties by clicking on the arrow button on right and the Size Properties
dialog box w ill appear.

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6.

NOTE
Please see Brush Properties Dialog and to learn more about Brush Tool options, see
Brush Tool Properties.

7. If you are using a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, use the Minimum Size slider to set the size of yourbrush w hen using your pen w ith very little pressure. The minimum size is set to a percentage ofyour brush tip's maximum size, w hich is 25% by default. If you don't w ant the pressure on your pen
to affect the brush size, set this parameter to 100%.
8. If you w ant your brush to keep the same size relative to the camera frame w hen the camera zooms
in on or zooms out of the scene, check the Proportional to Camera option.

9.

NOTE
The "Size Proportional to Camera" option has been moved to the new Size Properties
w indow .

10. If you w ant your brush tip to have uneven dimensions, use the Roundness slider to shrink the brushtip vertically all the w hile preserving its horizontal size.
11. If you w ant your brush tip to be at an angle, use the Angle slider to rotate your brush tip.
12. If you w ant your brush tip to stretch w hen you tilt your pen, use the Pen Tilt Sensitivity slider to
set how much the tip should stretch. The tip w ill stretch by the percentage you set, in the direction
in w hich you tilt the pen.

NOTE
This option only w orks if your tablet and your pen support tilt sensitivity.

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13. If you w ant your brush tip to rotate w ith the angle of your pen tip use the Angle Function. You canselect 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 strokeis 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.

14. Click on the Smoothing tab.

15. Use the Centerline Smoothing slider to set the amount of smoothing Harmony should perform on
your stroke's direction, curves and corners. A higher setting w ill prevent your line from being shaky,but is liable to reduce your draw ing precision and to round sharp corners into curves.
16. Use the Contour Smoothing slider to set the amount of smoothing Harmony should perform on
your stroke's contour. A higher setting w ill round sharp corners and reduce the amount of control
points for the resulting vector shape.
17. Either close or set aside the Brush Properties dialog.
18. In the Camera or Draw ing view , start draw ing to test your brush settings.

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Creating a Textured Brush
T-LAY-001-004
Using textured brushes, you can create an infinite range of fuzzy, textured and w atercolour lines. You can use
bitmap brush tips, adjust your line's hardness and opacity, combine tw o tips and apply a paper texture to yourbrush strokes so as to adapt the Brush tool to a variety of art styles and create natural-looking brush strokes.
W hen draw ing on a vector layer, brushes are solid vector brushes by default. You can how ever create atextured vector brush w hich combines both Harmony's vector and bitmap draw ing capabilities. You can tw eak
textured vector brush strokes using various vector editing tools such as the Contour Editor, the Smooth Editor,
the Perspective tool and the Envelope tool, and Harmony w ill resample the textures inside your brush strokes
w ith each modification.
If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer, your brush is alw ays textured. You can configure a textured brush to lookcrisp and solid if desired, but brush strokes on bitmap layers cannot be tw eaked or smoothed.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Configuring a Textured Brush Tip
T-ANIMPA-002-002
The Brush tool supports tw o types of brush tips: Solid and Textured. Solid brush tips are plain shapes that canbe used to draw vector shapes filled w ith a solid color, w hereas textured brush tips are bitmap images w ith
various shapes and opacity levels that can be used to create natural-looking brush strokes.

Solid brush tips are not customizable. The selection is limited to either a circle, diamond or square-shaped
brush tip, the proportions and angle of w hich can be adjusted. W hile Harmony also comes bundled w ith
preset textured brush tips, it is also possible to create and use your ow n textured brush tips.

How to configure a textured brush tip
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the Arrow button to open the Brush Properties view .

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector to enable the textured
brush options. If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer, the textured brush options are alw ays enabled.

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4. In the Brush Tip list, select the desired brush tip. If you w ant to create your ow n brush tip, see
Adding a Brush Tip on page 333.
5. Use the Maximum Size slider to set the maximum size of your brush tip.

6.

NOTE
W hen draw ing w ith a mouse, your brush is alw ays at its maximum size. W hen draw ing
w ith a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, your brush's size w ill range betw een its minimum
and maximum size, depending on the amount of pressure you put on the pen w hen
draw ing.

7. You can control the size properties by clicking on the arrow button on right and the Size Properties
dialog box w ill appear.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

8.

NOTE
Please see Brush Properties Dialog and to learn more about Brush Tool options, see
Brush Tool Properties.

9. If you are using a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, use the Minimum Size slider to set the size of yourbrush w hen using your pen w ith very little pressure. The minimum size is set to a percentage ofyour brush tip's maximum size, w hich is 25% by default. If you don't w ant the pressure on your pen
to affect the brush size, set this parameter to 100%.
10. If you w ant your brush to keep the same size relative to the camera frame w hen the camera zooms
in on or zooms out of the scene, check the Proportional to Camera option.

11.

NOTE
The "Size Proportional to Camera" option has been moved to the new Size Properties
w indow .

12. If you w ant your brush tip to have uneven dimensions, use the Roundness slider to shrink the brushtip vertically all the w hile preserving its horizontal size.
13. If you w ant your brush tip to be at an angle, use the Angle slider to rotate your brush tip.
14. If you w ant your brush tip to stretch w hen you tilt your pen, use the Pen Tilt Sensitivity slider to
set how much the tip should stretch. The tip w ill stretch by the percentage you set, in the direction
in w hich you tilt the pen.

NOTE
This option only w orks if your tablet and your pen support tilt sensitivity.

15. If you w ant your brush tip to rotate w ith the angle of your pen tip use the Angle Function. You canselect one of the follow ing options:331Harmony 22 Premium User GuidelConstant: 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 strokeis 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.

16. Use the Hardness slider to set how much of the outer part of your brush tip should fade totransparency. If you set it to 100 %, the brush w ill be completely solid. If you set it to 0 %, thebrush w ill only be opaque in its center, and w ill gradually become transparent tow ards its edges.
17. Use the Spacing slider to set how much distance you must drag your brush before Harmony prints
the brush tip onto your canvas, relative to your brush's size. The default setting is 7%, w hichproduces a relatively realistic brush stroke-like result. If this setting is too low , your brush strokes
might feel too thick and opaque. If this setting is too high, your strokes w ill look like the brush tip
has been stamped repeatedly over your canvas instead of dragged on it.
18. If you w ant the size of your brush tip to vary each time it's printed on your canvas, set the Random
Size setting to any value above 0 %.
19. If you w ant the angle of your brush tip to be random each time the tip is printed on your canvas, set
the Random Angle setting to any value above 0 °.
20. If you w ant the spacing betw een each instance of the brush tip to be random, set the Random
Spacing setting to any value above 0 %.
21. If you w ant the spacing betw een each instance of the brush tip to be random, set the Random
Spacing setting to any value above 0 %.
22. In the Camera or Draw ing view , start draw ing to test your brush settings.

NOTE
It is also possible to use textures w hen draw ing w ith the Pencil tool. Those textures follow theangle of your pencil lines, w hich may create more interesting results depending on your desired
draw ing style. For more information, see About Pencil Line Textures on page 385.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adding a Brush Tip
In the Brush or Eraser Properties dialog, you w ill find a set of default brush tips w hich are bundled w ith
Harmony, but you can also create your ow n brush tips, then export your collection or import an existing set.
To make your ow n brush tip, you must first create an image file containing the brush tip, either in Harmony orin a third party softw are, like Adobe Photoshop, then import it into Harmony. A brush tip must be a greyscale
image. Colors in brush tips are not acknow ledged by Harmony, as brush tips only use the colour you are
painting w ith in Harmony. Your brush tip should also not contain transparency, as Harmony determines thebrush tip's transparency based on its black, w hite and grey levels. Its black parts w ill appear 100% opaque, its
w hite parts w ill appear 100% transparent, and its grey parts w ill appear semitransparent.
You can import brush tips in any image format supported by Harmony. It is recommended to create brush tips
in a resolution ranging from 100 x 100 pixels to 400 x 400 pixels.
Brush tips are shared betw een the brush tool and the eraser tool. Like paper textures and brush presets, paper
textures are saved in your preferences. You can also export your brush tips into an .xml file, and import themon a different w orkstation, allow ing you to share your brush tips betw een the different people collaborating
on your project.

How to add a brush tip
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushor Erasertool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the arrow button to open the Brush/Eraser Properties dialog.

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector if you are using thebrush tool or the Eraser Type to Textured Eraser or Textured, Preserve Vector if you are using theeraser tool.
4. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on the Paper Texture menu iconlClick the Add Paper Texture button.

and select Add.

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5. In the file brow ser w indow , navigate to the location of your texture image file and select it.
6. Click Open to import the file into the Paper Texture library.
By default, an imported texture is given the name of the image file.

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Renaming Brush Tips
You can rename your bitmap brush tips to keep your list organized.

How to rename a brush tip
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushor Erasertool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the arrow button to open the Brush/Eraser Properties dialog.

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector if you are using thebrush tool or the Eraser Type to Textured Eraser or Textured, Preserve Vector if you are using theeraser tool.
4. Select the brush tip you w ish to rename.
5. Click on the Paper Texture menu icon

and select Rename.

6. In the Rename dialog box that appears, type in the new name of the brush tip.
7. Click OK.

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Deleting Brush Tips
You can delete unnecessary brush tips to keep your list organized.

How to delete a brush tip
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushor Erasertool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the arrow button to open the Brush/Eraser Properties dialog.

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector if you are using thebrush tool or the Eraser Type to Textured Eraser or Textured, Preserve Vector if you are using theeraser tool.
4. Select the brush tip you w ish to delete.
5. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on the Paper Texture menu iconlClick the Delete

and select Delete.

button.

NOTE
You can delete any brush tip in the Paper Texture library, including the default paper textures,
except for the three solid brush tips: Circle, Diamond and Square. Also, brush tips w ill not get
deleted if they are used in a brush preset.

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Exporting Brush Tips
You can export brush tips to share, backup or install on a new computer.

How to export brush tips
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushor Erasertool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the arrow button to open the Brush/Eraser Properties dialog.

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector if you are using thebrush tool or the Eraser Type to Textured Eraser or Textured, Preserve Vector if you are using theeraser tool.
4. Click on the Paper Texture menu icon

and select Export.

The Export Tips and Textures dialog opens. This dialog allow s you to export both your textured
brush tips and your paper textures.

5. By default, both your brush tips and your paper textures are selected for export. If you only w ish toexport your brush tips, uncheck the Select Paper Textures option.
6. Click Export.

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7. In the Export Textures w indow that appears, brow se to a location w here you w ant save the .xml
file and give it a name.
8. Click Save.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Importing Brush Tips
You can import Harmony brush tips you previously exported.

How to import brush tips
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushor Erasertool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the arrow button to open the Brush/Eraser Properties dialog.

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector if you are using thebrush tool or the Eraser Type to Textured Eraser or Textured, Preserve Vector if you are using theeraser tool.
4. Click on the Paper Texture menu icon

and select Import.

5. In the brow ser w indow that appears, navigate to and select the .xml file in w hich you exported
your brush tips.
6. Click Open.
In the Import Tips and Textures dialog box appears.

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7. If the selected .xml file also contains paper textures, they w ill be selected for import along w ith
the brush tips by default. If you w ish to only import the paper textures, uncheck the Select Paper
Textures option.
8. Click Import.
The imported brush tips appear in the Brush Tips Library.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Changing the Brush Tip Display
You can display your preset list as thumbnails or a list.

How to change the Brush Tips thumbnail display
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushor Erasertool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the arrow button to open the Brush/Eraser Properties dialog.

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector if you are using thebrush tool or the Eraser Type to Textured Eraser or Textured, Preserve Vector if you are using theeraser tool.
1. Click on the Brush Tips menu icon.

2. Select one of the follow ing options:lSmall Thumbnail: Displays brush tips in a grid of small thumbnails.

lLarge Thumbnail: Displays brush tips in a grid of large thumbnails w ith their name.
The default view setting.

l

List View: Displays brush tips in a list, w ith their name on the left and their texture on
the right of each row .

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Configuring Smoothing for a Textured Brush
T-ANIMPA-002-003
If you are draw ing on a vector layer, the Brush Properties dialog w ill have a Smoothing tab, w hich allow s toconfigure how Harmony automatically smooths your brush strokes. If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer, this
topic is not applicable, as bitmap layers do not support automatic smoothing.

How to configure a textured brush's smoothing
1. In the Brush Properties dialog, open the Smoothing tab.

2. Use the Centerline Smoothing slider to set the amount of smoothing Harmony should perform on
your stroke's direction, curves and corners. A higher setting w ill prevent your line from being shaky,but is liable to reduce your draw ing precision and to round sharp corners into curves.
3. Use the Contour Smoothing slider to set the amount of smoothing Harmony should perform on
your stroke's contour. A higher setting w ill round sharp corners and reduce the amount of control
points for the resulting vector shape.
4. In the Camera or Draw ing view , start draw ing to test your brush settings.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Configuring Antialiasing and Transparency for a Textured Brush
A textured brush can be either antialiased or not antialiased. W ithout antialiasing, your brush strokes w ill only
create fully opaque artw ork. W ith antialiasing enabled, you also have the option to set the flow and opacity ofyour brush, allow ing you to simulate the effect of inks and paints w ith various consistencies.
You can now control the Flow /Opacity properties w ith input options such as Pressure, Tilt and Speed. You can
use a combination of multiple inputs to control a single property.

NOTE
If you are w orking on a vector layer, make sure the Brush Type option in the Tip tab is set to
Textured Vector Brush to enable the textured brush options.

How to configure a brush's antialiasing and transparency settings
1. In the Brush Properties dialog, open the Transparency tab.

2. If you w ant your brush to have antialiasing or transparency, enable the Antialiasing option.

NOTE
If the Antialiasing option is disabled, all Transparency settings w ill be disabled, andyour brush w ill only create fully opaque artw ork.

3. Use the Maximum Flow slider to set the consistency of your brush strokes. A low er flow w ill makeyour stroke more transparent tow ards the extremities and more opaque in its center, w hereas ahigher flow w ill make your stroke consistently opaque.

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4. If you are using a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, use the Minimum Flow slider to set the percentageof the maximum flow that you w ant your brush to use w hen using your pen w ith very little
pressure. If you don't w ant the pressure on your pen to affect the flow , set this parameter to 100%.
5. Use the Maximum Opacity slider to set the maximum opacity of your brush strokes.
6. If you are using a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, use the Minimum Opacity slider to set thepercentage of the maximum opacity that you w ant your brush to use w hen using your pen w ithvery little pressure. If you don't w ant the pressure on your pen to affect the opacity, set thisparameter to 100%.

NOTE
You can control the Flow /Opacity properties by clicking on the arrow button on theright and Flow /Opacity Properties Dialog box w ill appear.

NOTE
Please see Brush Properties Dialog and to learn more about Brush Tool option, see
Brush Tool Properties.

7. If you w ant the Flow of your brush to be randomized, set the Random Flow setting to any value
over 0 %.
8. If you w ant the Opacity of your brush to be randomized, set the Random Opacity setting to any
value over 0 %.
9. In the Camera or Draw ing view , start draw ing to test your brush settings.

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Configuring a Textured Brush with a Dual Tip
Textured brushes can also have a dual tip. A dual tip is a secondary tip that can be blended into your primary
tip in various blend modes, w ith its ow n full set of tip settings.

NOTE
If you are w orking on a vector layer, make sure the Brush Type option in the Tip tab is set to
Textured Vector Brush to enable the textured brush options.

How to configure a brush with a dual tip
1. In the Brush Properties dialog, click on the Dual Tip tab.
2. Check the check box in the Dual Tip tab to enable the Dual Tip functionality.

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3. In the Brush Tip list, select the desired brush tip. If you w ant to create your ow n brush tip, see
Adding a Brush Tip on page 333.
4. In the Blend Mode drop-dow n list, select the algorithm w ith w hich you w ant your secondary tip toblend into your primary tip:lMultiply w ill draw the least opaque pixel of either brush tip, making more spaced out,
inconsistent strokes.

lColor Dodge w ill add the opacity of the pixels in both brush tips, making moreopaque strokes.

lCombine w ill draw the most opaque pixel of either brush tip, combining the tip
shapes w ithout increasing their opacity.

5. Use the Maximum Size slider to set the maximum size of your brush tip.

6.

NOTE
W hen draw ing w ith a mouse, your brush is alw ays at its maximum size. W hen draw ing
w ith a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, your brush's size w ill range betw een its minimum
and maximum size, depending on the amount of pressure you put on the pen w hen
draw ing.

7. You can control the size properties by clicking on the arrow button on right and the Size Properties
dialog box w ill appear.

8.

NOTE
Please see Brush Properties Dialog and to learn more about Brush Tool options, see
Brush Tool Properties.

9. If you are using a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, use the Minimum Size slider to set the size of yourbrush w hen using your pen w ith very little pressure. The minimum size is set to a percentage ofyour brush tip's maximum size, w hich is 25% by default. If you don't w ant the pressure on your pen
to affect the brush size, set this parameter to 100%.
10. If you w ant your brush to keep the same size relative to the camera frame w hen the camera zooms
in on or zooms out of the scene, check the Proportional to Camera option.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

NOTE

11.

The "Size Proportional to Camera" option has been moved to the new Size Properties
w indow .

12. If you w ant your brush tip to have uneven dimensions, use the Roundness slider to shrink the brushtip vertically all the w hile preserving its horizontal size.
13. If you w ant your brush tip to be at an angle, use the Angle slider to rotate your brush tip.
14. If you w ant your brush tip to stretch w hen you tilt your pen, use the Pen Tilt Sensitivity slider to
set how much the tip should stretch. The tip w ill stretch by the percentage you set, in the direction
in w hich you tilt the pen.

NOTE
This option only w orks if your tablet and your pen support tilt sensitivity.

15. If you w ant your brush tip to rotate w ith the angle of your pen tip use the Angle Function. You canselect 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 strokeis 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.

16. Use the Hardness slider to set how much of the outer part of your brush tip should fade totransparency. If you set it to 100 %, the brush w ill be completely solid. If you set it to 0 %, thebrush w ill only be opaque in its center, and w ill gradually become transparent tow ards its edges.

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17. Use the Spacing slider to set how much distance you must drag your brush before Harmony prints
the brush tip onto your canvas, relative to your brush's size. The default setting is 7%, w hichproduces a relatively realistic brush stroke-like result. If this setting is too low , your brush strokes
might feel too thick and opaque. If this setting is too high, your strokes w ill look like the brush tip
has been stamped repeatedly over your canvas instead of dragged on it.
18. If you w ant the size of your brush tip to vary each time it's printed on your canvas, set the Random
Size setting to any value above 0 %.
19. If you w ant the angle of your brush tip to be random each time the tip is printed on your canvas, set
the Random Angle setting to any value above 0 °.
20. If you w ant the spacing betw een each instance of the brush tip to be random, set the Random
Spacing setting to any value above 0 %.
21. If you w ant the spacing betw een each instance of the brush tip to be random, set the Random
Spacing setting to any value above 0 %.
22. In the Camera or Draw ing view , start draw ing to test your brush settings.

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Configuring a Brush with a Paper Texture
T-ANIMPA-002-004
Paper textures are bitmap textures that you can apply to your brush strokes as you draw . They act astransparency filters that are tiled over your brush strokes to make them look grainy, as if you w ere draw ing on
a rough paper surface. W hile Harmony comes bundled w ith preset paper textures, it is also possible to create
and use your ow n paper textures.

How to configure a brush with a paper texture
1. In the Brush Properties dialog, click on the Paper Texture tab.
2. Check the check box in the Paper Texture tab to enable paper textures.

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3. In the paper texture list, select the desired paper texture. If you w ish to create your ow n paper
texture, see Adding a Paper Texture on page 352.
4. Using the Texture Scale slider, select the scaling factor at w hich to scale the paper texture w hen
applying it to your brush strokes.
5. If you w ant your brush strokes to get more opaque as you drag your brush or w hen you draw overthem, enable the Additive option.
6. If you w ant the paper texture to alw ays be aligned to the same grid regardless of w here you draw
your strokes, enable the Aligned option. Otherw ise, your paper textures w ill be positioned relative
to w here you start your draw ing stroke, and if you draw tw o strokes one over the other, their paper
textures w ill clash w ith each other.
7. In the Camera or Draw ing view , start draw ing to test your brush settings.

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NOTE
It is also possible to use textures w hen draw ing w ith the Pencil tool. How ever, those textures
follow the shape of the line instead of tiling over your strokes. For more information, see About
Pencil Line Textures on page 385.

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Adding a Paper Texture
In the Brush Properties dialog, you w ill find a set of default paper textures w hich are bundled w ith Harmony,
but you can also create your ow n paper textures, then export your collection or import an existing set.
To make your ow n paper texture, you must first create an image file containing the texture, either in Harmony
or in a third party softw are, like Adobe Photoshop, then import it into Harmony. A paper texture must be agreyscale image. Colors in paper textures are not acknow ledged by Harmony, as paper textures are applied
onto the colour you are painting w ith in Harmony. Your texture should also not contain transparency, asHarmony determines the texture's transparency based on its black, w hite and grey levels. W hen draw ing w ith
a paper texture, its black parts w ill appear 100% opaque, its w hite parts w ill appear 100% transparents, andits grey parts w ill appear semitransparent.
You can import brush tips in any image format supported by Harmony. It is recommended to create paper
textures in a resolution ranging from 100 x 100 pixels to 400 x 400 pixels.
Like brush tips and brush presets, paper textures are saved in your preferences. You can also export yourpaper textures into an .xml file, and import them on a different w orkstation, allow ing you to share yourtextures betw een the different people collaborating on your project.

How to add a paper texture
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the Arrow button to open the Brush Properties view .

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector to enable the textured
brush options. If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer, the textured brush options are alw ays enabled.
4. Click on the Paper Texture tab.
5. Check the check box in the Paper Texture tab to enable paper textures.

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1. In the Brush Properties dialog, do one of the follow ing:l

From the Paper Texture menu, select Add.

l

Click the Add Paper Texture button.

2. In the brow ser w indow that appears, navigate to w here you saved your texture file.
3. Click Open to import the file into the Paper Texture library.
By default, an imported texture is given the name of the image file.

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Renaming a Paper Texture
You can rename your paper textures to keep your list organized.

How to rename a paper texture
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the Arrow button to open the Brush Properties view .

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector to enable the textured
brush options. If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer, the textured brush options are alw ays enabled.
4. Click on the Paper Texture tab.
5. Check the check box in the Paper Texture tab to enable paper textures.

6. Select the texture you w ant to rename.
7. Click on the Paper Texture menu icon

and select Rename.

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8. In the Rename Texture dialog box that appears, type in the new name for the texture.

9. Click OK.

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Deleting Paper Textures
You can delete unnecessary paper textures from your preset list.

How to delete a paper texture
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the Arrow button to open the Brush Properties view .

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector to enable the textured
brush options. If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer, the textured brush options are alw ays enabled.
4. Click on the Paper Texture tab.
5. Check the check box in the Paper Texture tab to enable paper textures.

1. Select the texture you w ant to delete.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on the Paper Texture menu iconlClick the Delete

and select Delete.

button.

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NOTE
You can delete any paper texture in the Paper Texture library, including thedefault paper textures, as long as no brush preset is using that paper texture.

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Exporting Paper Textures
You can export paper textures into an .xml file w hich w ill contain their name and bitmap texture. This can be
useful if you w ish to back up or share your paper textures.

How to export paper textures
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the Arrow button to open the Brush Properties view .

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector to enable the textured
brush options. If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer, the textured brush options are alw ays enabled.
4. Click on the Paper Texture tab.
5. Check the check box in the Paper Texture tab to enable paper textures.

6. Click on the Paper Texture menu icon

and select Export.

The Export Tips and Textures dialog opens. This dialog allow s you to export both your textured
brush tips and your paper textures.

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7. By default, both your brush tips and your paper textures are selected for export. If you only w ish toexport your paper textures, uncheck the Select Brush Tips option.
8. Click on the Export button.
9. In the Export Textures dialog that appears, brow se to a location w here you w ould like to save the.xml file, then type in the desired file name.
10. Click Save.

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Importing Paper Textures
You can import paper texture presets you previously exported from Harmony.

How to import paper textures
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the Arrow button to open the Brush Properties view .

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector to enable the textured
brush options. If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer, the textured brush options are alw ays enabled.
4. Click on the Paper Texture tab.
5. Check the check box in the Paper Texture tab to enable paper textures.

6. Click on the Paper Texture menu icon

and select Import.

7. In the brow ser w indow that appears, navigate to and select the .xml file in w hich you exported
your paper textures.
8. Click Open.
In the Import Tips and Textures dialog box appears.

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9. If the selected .xml file also contains brush tips, they w ill be selected for import along w ith thepaper textures by default. If you only w ish to import the paper textures, uncheck the Select Brush
Tips option.
10. Click Import.
The imported paper textures w ill appear in the Paper Texture Library.

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Changing the Paper Texture Display
You can change the w ay the paper textures are displayed in the paper textures list of the Brush Properties
dialog.

How to change the Paper Texture thumbnail display
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the Arrow button to open the Brush Properties view .

3. If you are draw ing on a vector layer, set the Brush Type to Textured Vector to enable the textured
brush options. If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer, the textured brush options are alw ays enabled.
4. Click on the Paper Texture tab.
5. Check the check box in the Paper Texture tab to enable paper textures.

1. Click on the Paper Texture menu icon.

2. Select one of the follow ing options:lSmall Thumbnail: Displays paper textures in a grid of small thumbnails.

lLarge Thumbnail: Displays paper textures in a grid of large thumbnails w ith theirnames. The default view setting.

l

List View: Displays paper textures in a list, w ith their name on the left and their
texture on the right of each row .

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Setting the Textured Brush Resolution
An important thing to take in consideration w hen draw ing w ith textured brushes is that, contrary to solid
vector brushes, textured brushes store their texture in bitmap data, w hich is stored in individual pixels. Thisimplies that, w here solid vector artw ork can be scaled and zoomed in w ithout issue, textured brush strokes areresolution dependent, and are liable to lose quality and appear pixelated if they are enlarged or zoomed in.
By default, textured brush strokes have a pixel density of 100%. At this density, w hen your scene is notzoomed in and your artw ork is not scaled up, each pixel in the textured brush strokes corresponds to one pixelin the rendered image. Scaling it up or zooming in w ill require Harmony to render several pixels using thesame pixel from the brush stroke's texture, making the artw ork lose quality.
Hence, before you start draw ing using textured brushes, it is important to consider if you w ill need to zoom
onto or scale up your artw ork, and set the pixel density accordingly. For example, if you intend to scale yourbitmap artw ork up to 300%, or if you intend to zoom in from 12 fields to 4 fields, you should make sure thepixel density for your textured brush strokes is of at least 300% before you start draw ing.
You can specify the pixel density for textured brushes at the scene level or at the draw ing level:lSetting the pixel density at the scene level w ill make new ly created draw ings have the specified pixel
density, but it w ill not change the pixel density of existing textured artw ork.

lSetting the pixel density at the draw ing level w ill allow you to change the pixel density of existingdraw ings, but w ill not affect the pixel density of draw ings created afterw ard.

NOTE
If you are draw ing on a bitmap layer, you must set the pixel density and canvas size for bitmap
artw ork instead—see Setting the Bitmap Resolution on page 648.

How to set the pixel density for textured brush strokes for a scene
1. From the top menu, select Scene > Scene Settings.
The Scene Settings dialog box opens.
2. Select the Bitmap Resolution tab.

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3. In the Pixel Density field of the Default Texture Pixel Density for Vector Drawings section, enter
the desired percentage of pixel density. If you intend to scale or zoom in on your artw ork, make sure
your pixel density is set to be at least the factor by w hich your artw ork w ill scaled or zoomed on.
For example, if you intend to scale your artw ork by 300%, you need to set the pixel density to atleast 300%. If you intend to zoom in on your artw ork from 12 fields to 6 fields, you need to set the
pixel density to at least 200%. If you intend to do both, you need to set the pixel density to at least
600%, as the camera zoom and scaling factor w ill have a multiplying effect on the apparent scalingof your artw ork.
4. Click OK.
From now on, new draw ings created in your scene w ill have the selected pixel density for textured
brush strokes.
Since changing the bitmap resolution settings for your scene w ill only affect new ly created draw ings, you may
also w ant to change the pixel density for existing draw ings. This is possible. How ever, if you choose to change
the pixel density of textures in existing artw ork, it w ill be resampled. If you increase the pixel density ofexisting artw ork, Harmony w ill have to generate extra pixels for the texture, w hich w ill cause the artw ork tolose quality. Hence, it is important to calculate and set the proper pixel density for your textured artw ork
before you start draw ing.

How to change the pixel density for textured brushes strokes in existing drawings
1. In the Timeline, Node or Camera view , select the draw ing for w hich you w ant to change thetextured brush stroke resolution.
2. From the top menu, select Drawing > Change Vector Drawing Brush Resolution.
The Change Vector Draw ing Brush Textures Resolution dialog opens.

3. In the Pixel Density field, enter the desired percentage of pixel density. If you intend to scale orzoom in on your artw ork, make sure your pixel density is set to be at least the factor by w hich yourartw ork w ill scaled or zoomed on. For example, if you intend to scale your artw ork by 300%, youneed to set the pixel density to at least 300%. If you intend to zoom in on your artw ork from 12fields to 6 fields, you need to set the pixel density to at least 200%. If you intend to do both, you364

Chapter 5: Draw ing

need to set the pixel density to at least 600%, as the camera zoom and scaling factor w ill have amultiplying effect on the apparent scaling of your artw ork.
4. If you w ant the specified pixel density to be applied on the existing textured brush strokes in thedraw ing, check the Apply to Existing Strokes option.
5. If you w ant the specified pixel density to be applied to all the draw ing's art layers (ie: Line Art,
Colour Art and, if enabled, Overlay Art and Underlay Art), check the Apply to All Art Layers
option. Otherw ise, only the currently active art layer w ill be affected.
6. If you w ant the specified pixel density to be applied to all draw ings in the active layer, check the
Apply to All Drawings option. Otherw ise, only the current draw ing w ill be affected.
7. Click OK.
From now on, new brush strokes w ill be in the selected draw ing w ill be in the specified pixel
density.

NOTEThis does not change the default pixel density for the scene. New draw ings w ill still becreated w ith the scene's default pixel density.

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About Brush Presets
Setting up your brush to perfectly reproduce the desired art style can require a lot of tw eaking as w ell as trial
and error. Once you have found the correct settings for your brush, you w ill w ant to reuse it throughout yourproject for consistency. You can do that by creating and using brush presets.

Harmony comes preloaded w ith many brush presets w hich you can select from the Tool Properties view . It isalso possible to create your ow n brush presets by configuring your brush, then saving it as a preset.
Like brush tips and paper textures, brush presets are saved in your preferences. You can also export yourbrush presets into an .xml file, and import them on a different w orkstation, allow ing you to share your brush
presets betw een the different people collaborating on your project.

NOTES
l

Brush presets are not to be confused w ith brush tips and paper textures. A brush tip is one ofthe properties of a brush. A brush preset contains all of the properties for a given brush.
How ever, both can be exported, imported and managed similarly.

l

Brush presets for vector layers and for bitmap layers are separate. A brush preset createdw hile w orking on a vector layer cannot be used w hen w orking on a bitmap layer, and viceversa.

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Creating a Brush Preset
You can create your ow n custom brush presets by configuring your brush, then adding it as a preset.

How to create a brush preset
1. Make sure the current draw ing layer is vector if you w ish to create a vector brush preset, or bitmap
if you w ish to create a bitmap brush preset—see About Vector and Bitmap Layers.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

3. Click on the Arrow button to open the Brush Properties dialog.

4. Configure your brush to be exactly how you w ish to use it in the future—see Creating a Solid Brushor Creating a Textured Brush.
5. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Brush Properties dialog, click on the New Brush Preset

button in the top-right corner.
l

In the Tool Properties view , click the New Brush Presetl

In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Presets menu

button.
and select New Brush

Preset.
6. In the New Preset w indow , type a name for your new brush preset.
Your new brush preset is added to the end of the list of brush presets.

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Creating a Stamp
You can create a stamp by draw ing the artw ork for your stamp, then selecting it and creating a stamp preset.

How to create a stamp
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select an empty cell in a vector draw ing layer.

2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw the artw ork w ith w hich you w ant to create a stamp.

3. Do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to create a stamp w ith all the artw ork in the draw ing, select this draw ing in theTimeline or Xsheet view .

l

If you w ant to create a stamp w ith part of the artw ork in the draw ing, select the Selecttool in the Tools toolbar, then select the artw ork that you w ant to use to create a stamp—
see—Selecting, Repositioning and Transforming Artw ork on page 479.

4. In the Tools toolbar, select the Stamptool.

5. In the Tool Properties view , click on the New Preset

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6. In the New Preset dialog, type the desired name for your new stamp.
7. Click OK.
A stamp containing the selected artw ork is added to the Presets list for the Stamp tool. You can
now draw w ith the Stamp tool using this stamp.

NOTE
Once your stamp has been created, you can delete the artw ork you used to create it from yourproject. The artw ork in your stamps w ill be saved in your preferences.

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Selecting a Brush Preset
Harmony provides you w ith default brush presets available in the Tool Properties view .

How to select a brush preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

2. In the Tool Properties view , select a brush preset from the Presets list.

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Updating a Brush Preset
If you w ant to modify the settings of an existing custom preset, you can do so by adjusting the parameters in
the Tool Properties view , then updating your preset w ith your brush current's parameters.

How to update a brush preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

1. In the Tool Properties view , select the Brush Preset you w ish to update.
2. Click on the Arrow button to open the Brush Properties view .

3. Configure your brush to be exactly how you w ish to use it in the future—see Creating a Solid Brushor Creating a Textured Brush.
4. Click on the Update Brush Preset

button in the upper-right corner of the Brush Properties

dialog.

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Renaming a Brush Preset
To keep your list comprehensive and organized, you can name your custom brush presets.

How to rename a brush preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

2. In the Tool Properties view , select a brush preset to rename.
3. Open the Brush Preset menu

and select Rename Brush.

4. Type in a new name for the brush and click OK.

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Deleting a Brush Preset
You can keep your preset list clean by deleting unw anted custom presets.

How to delete a brush preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

2. In the Tool Properties view , select the brush preset you w ant to delete.
3. Do one of the follow ing:lClick the Delete Brushbutton.

lOpen the Brush Preset menu

and select Delete Brush.

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Exporting Brush Presets
You can export brush presets into an .xml file w hich w ill contain all of your brush's settings. This can be
useful if you w ish to back up or share your brush presets.

How to export pencils, brushes and erasers
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either the Brush, Pencil

2. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Preset menu

or Erasertool.

and select Export Brushes.

The Export Brushes dialog opens. This dialog allow s you to export brush presets for the Brush,
Pencil and Eraser tools.

3. By default, the presets for all your tools w ill be selected for export. If you only w ish to export
presets for specific tools, uncheck Select/Deselect All and select the tools for w hich you w ant toexport the presets.
4. Click Export.
5. In the Export Presets dialog that appears, brow se to the location w here you w ant to save the .xml
file and enter its file name.
6. Click Save.

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Importing Brush Presets
You can import brush presets that you previously exported from Harmony.

How to import pencils, brushes and erasers
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either the Brush, Pencil

2. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Preset menu

or Erasertool.

and select Import Brushes.

3. In the brow ser w indow that appears, navigate to and select the .xml file in w hich you exported
your brush presets.
4. Click Open.
The Import Brushes dialog box opens.

5. By default, the presets for any tools included in the file w ill be selected for import. If you only w ish
to import presets for specific tools, uncheck Select/Deselect All and select the tools for w hich you
w ant to export the presets
6. Click Import.
The imported brush, eraser and pencil styles w ill appear in the Presets list.

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Changing the Brush Preset Display
You can display your preset list as thumbnails or a list.

How to change the way presets are previewed in the Tool Properties view
1. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Presetsmenu.

2. Select one of the follow ing options:lSmall 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 apreview of their tip.

lStroke View: Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and a preview of a stroke
done w ith each preset.

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Adjusting Texture Opacity
An advantage of using textured vector brushes on vector layers is that you can adjust their opacity afterw ard.
Using the Adjust Line Texture Opacity dialog, you can adjust the opacity levels betw een the most opaque andthe most transparent pixels in your textures.

How to adjust the line texture opacity
1. If you are in Camera view , select the Current Drawing on Top option—see Displaying the Current
Draw ing on Top on page 560.
2. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ing that contains the opacity you w ant to adjust.
3. In the Camera or Draw ing view menu, select Drawing > Adjust Line Texture Opacity.
The Adjust Line Texture Opacity dialog box opens.

4. Do one of the follow ing:lDrag the upper slider tow ards the right to increase the transparency of the moretransparent pixels.

lDrag the low er slider tow ards the left to increase the opacity of the more opaque
pixels.

5. If you w ant to apply the changes to all draw ings exposed on the layer, enable the Apply to All
Drawings option.
6. Click OK.

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About the Pencil Tool
T-HFND-004-004
The Pencil tool is for draw ing the final images, such as character nodes, cut-out puppet and clean animation.
The pencil creates a central vector shape. Pencil lines support pressure sensitivity and texture.

The Brush and Pencil tools are used for draw ing and sketching. Both tools support pressure sensitivity,
allow ing you to create lines w ith variable thickness. The Brush tool produces contour vector lines. The Pencil
and shape tools produce central vector lines. This means that a pencil line’s control points (used to deform its
shape) are located along the length of the central spine, w hile the Brush line’s control points are located along
the contour.

l

If you draw w ith the Brush tool and w ant to modify the thickness variation, use the Contour Editor tool.

l

If you draw w ith the Pencil tool and w ant to modify the thickness variation, use the Pencil Editor tool.

l

You can also convert a brush zone into a pencil line w ith the Brush Stroke to Pencil Line option.

If you sketch a draw ing using a semitransparent colour to get a paper-like feel, you should use the Brush tool,
as it produces a more realistic and natural feel. Transparent pencil lines may not display the w ay you w ant
w hen they overlap:

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The pencil line is more appropriate for the final line of your clean draw ings. Also, if you're draw ing for digital
animation and intend to use the Auto-Patch effect to connect the parts of your character model, you should
use pencil lines for the Auto-Patch effect to w ork as expected.

NOTE
To learn more about the Pencil tool options, see the Reference Guide.

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Drawing with the Pencil Tool
T-HFND-004-004A
Using the Pencil tool, you can draw vector pencil lines w hich can be easily tw eaked and reshaped as needed.

How to draw with the Pencil tool
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to draw .
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

tool or press Alt + /.

3. In the Colour view , click a colour sw atch to select a colour.

4. In the Draw ing or Camera view , start draw ing.

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TIPSl

You can quickly adjust the size of the selected draw ing tool by pressing and holding the O
key, then clicking and dragging in the draw ing space. If you are using a tablet pen, doing
this w ith the eraser tip of your pen w ill adjust the size of the Eraser tool, regardless of
w hich draw ing tool is selected.

l

If you press and hold the Shift key before or w hile draw ing, you w ill draw a straight line.

l

If you press and hold the Spacebar key w hile draw ing a straight line, the angle of your line
w ill lock. If you are using a pressure-sensitive tablet, you can draw over your line to adjust
its thickness.

l

If you press and hold the Shift and Alt keys before or w hile draw ing, you w ill draw astraight horizontal or vertical line.

l

If you press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key w hile draw ing, yourdraw ing stroke w ill turn into a closed shape.

l

If you press and hold Alt before draw ing a stroke, and start draw ing near existing artw ork,
the start of your draw ing stroke w ill connect to that artw ork.

l

If you press and hold Alt w hile draw ing a stroke, and end your draw ing stroke near
existing artw ork, the end of that draw ing stroke w ill connect to that artw ork.

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Creating a Pencil
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You can configure a pencil's size, how much Harmony should automatically smooth your pencil lines w hen
draw ing, the shape of the tips and corners of your pencil line as w ell as its texture.

How to modify the pencil settings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

tool or press Alt + /.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click on the arrow button next to the stroke preview area to open the
Pencil Properties dialog.

The Pencil Properties dialog opens.

3. Use the Maximum Size slider to set the maximum size of your pencil line.
4. If you are using a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, use the Minimum Size slider to set the size of yourpencil w hen using your pen w ith very little pressure. The minimum size is set to a percentage ofyour pencil's maximum size, w hich is 20% by default. If you don't w ant the pressure on your pen toaffect the pencil size, set this parameter to 100%.
5. If you w ant your pencil to keep the same size relative to the camera frame w hen the camera zooms
in on or zooms out of the scene, check the Proportional to Camera option.
6. Use the Centerline Smoothing slider to set the amount of smoothing Harmony should perform on
your pencil stroke's centreline. A higher setting w ill prevent your line from being shaky, but is liable
to reduce your draw ing precision and to round sharp corners into curves.

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7. If you are using a pressure-sensitive tablet, use the Contour Smoothing slider to set the amount ofsmoothing Harmony should perform on your pencil stroke's contour. A higher setting w illsmoothen the variations in your pencil line's thickness and reduce its amount of control points, but
may affect the precision of the variations in line thickness.

NOTE
This parameter is only useful if you are draw ing w ith a pressure-sensitive tablet, as it
only affects the control points for the thickness of your pencil line. W hen draw ing w ith
a mouse, the pencil line has a uniform thickness, and hence its contour only has control
points at its extremiities.

8. Click on the Shape pop-up buttons to select w hether you w ant the Start and End of your pencil
lines to be Round or Flat, and w hether you w ant the points and corners w here pencil lines Join to
be Round, Mitre-shaped or Beveled.

9. Click on the Texture tab.

10. If you w ant your pencil line to have a texture, select the desired pencil line texture from the pencil
line texture library. Otherw ise, select None. For more information on pencil line textures, see About
Pencil Line Textures on page 385.

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11. Either close or set aside the Pencil Properties dialog.
12. In the Camera or Draw ing view , start draw ing to test your pencil settings.

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About Pencil Line Textures
Just like the Brush tool, the Pencil tool also supports textures. How ever, there are important differences
betw een the w ay brush textures and pencil textures w ork.
For one thing, a pencil line texture is applied w ith regard to the w idth and direction of the pencil lines. For
example, if you draw a spiral w ith a dash texture, the dashes w ill follow the curves of the spiral, and if you
draw a thicker line w ith the same texture, the dashes w ill be both longer and thicker.

Like colours, pencil textures are stored in special palettes in your scene. W hile brush textures are stored inyour artw ork as bitmap data, pencil textures are stored in your artw ork by linking the pencil line w ith its pencil
texture in the palette. This means that if you scale or tw eak your pencil line, the pencil texture w ill be updated
based on the new line's shape and the original texture. This also means that you are able to change the pencil
texture of an existing pencil line or to apply a texture to a pencil line that does not already have one.

Pencil line textures can also be used w ith the Line, Rectangle, Ellipse and Polyline tools, as those tools also
draw pencil lines.

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Drawing with Pencil Textures
You can draw a textured pencil line by selecting the pencil texture, then draw ing.
There are tw o w ays to select a pencil texture. In the Colour view , you can select a pencil texture palette, thenone of its pencil texture sw atches, as you w ould do to select a colour, or you can select a pencil texture fromthe current pencil texture palette in the Pencil Properties dialog.
Your pencil texture w ill be combined w ith the selected colour to make a textured colour line.

NOTE
You can also draw w ith textured pencil lines w ith the Line, Rectangle and Ellipse tools.

How to draw with a textured pencil line using the Colour view
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

tool or press Alt + /.

2. In the Colour view , select the colour w ith w hich you w ish to draw .
3. In the Colour view , click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes

button to display your pencil

texture palettes.

4. In the palette list, select the pencil texture palette containing the desired pencil texture.

5. In the sw atch list, select the pencil texture you w ant to use.

6. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw a pencil line.

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How to draw with a textured pencil line using the Pencil Properties dialog
1. In the Colour view , select the colour w ith w hich you w ish to draw .
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

tool or press Alt + /.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click on the arrow button next to the stroke preview area to open the
Pencil Properties dialog.

4. In the Pencil Properties dialog, click on the Texture tab.

NOTE
The texture library in the Texture tab lists the same pencil textures as the ones in thecurrently selected pencil texture palette in the Colour view .

5. In the Texture library, select a texture for the pencil.
6. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw a pencil line.

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Applying Texture to a Pencil LineYou can apply a pencil texture to an existing pencil line. You can also change a textured pencil line's texture byfollow ing the same steps.

NOTE
You can also apply pencil line textures on artw ork created w ith the Line, Rectangle, Ellipse andPolyline tools.

How to apply a pencil line texture to an existing pencil line using the Colour view
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

2. In the Draw ing or Camera view , select a pencil line.

3. In the Colour view , click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes

button to display your pencil

texture palettes.

4. In the palette list, select the pencil texture palette containing the desired pencil texture.

5. In the sw atch list, select the pencil texture you w ant to apply to your pencil line.

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6. The selected pencil line now uses the selected pencil line texture.

How to apply a pencil line texture to an existing pencil line using the Tool Properties
view
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

2. In the Draw ing or Camera view , select a pencil line.

3. In the Tool Properties view , scroll dow n to the pencil texture library panel.

NOTE
The texture library in the Tool Properties view lists the same pencil textures as theones in the currently selected pencil texture palette in the Colour view .

4. Select the pencil texture you w ish to apply.

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5. The selected pencil line now uses the selected pencil line texture.

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Editing a Pencil Line's Texture
There are tw o kinds of modification you can make to a pencil line's texture. Using the Edit Gradient/Texture
tool, you can scale the texture by its length and thickness, as w ell as offset its starting position. Using thePencil Editor tool, you can change the texture's symmetry relative to the line's center.

How to scale the length or thickness of a pencil line texture.
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Edit Gradient/Texture

tool or press Shift + F3.

2. Click on the pencil line you w ant to edit.

3. Drag one of the square-shaped handles to scale the texture's length, thickness, or both
simultaneously.

How to offset a pencil line's texture.
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Edit Gradient/Texture
2. Click on the pencil line you w ant to edit.

3. Drag the triangle-shaped handle to offset the texture.

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How to change a pencil line's symmetry
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil Editor

tool or press 8.

2. Click on the pencil line you w ant to edit.

3. Drag one of the line's control points closer or further aw ay from the center line to change the size of
its half of the texture.

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Picking a Pencil Texture from Artwork
Just like you can pick a colour from your artw ork using the

Colour Eyedropper tool, you can pick a pencil

texture from your artw ork and make it the current pencil texture using thePencil Texture Eyedropper tool.

How to pick a pencil texture from your artwork
1. In the Tools toolbar, double-click or long-click on the
pop-up menu, selectColour Eyedropper button. Then, in the

Pencil Texture Eyedropper.

2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , click on a pencil line that uses the pencil texture you w ant to select.
The pencil texture used by that line w ill become the active pencil texture, and pencil lines you draw
from that point w ill use that texture.

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Disabling Pencil Line Textures
After you selected a pencil line texture, if you w ish to resume draw ing solid pencil lines again, you can do sousing either the Colour view or the Pencil Properties dialog.

How to resume drawing with a solid pencil line using the Colour view
1. Click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes

button to display your pencil texture palettes.

2. Over the sw atch list, click on the No Texture button.

From now on, the pencil lines you draw w ill not have a texture.

How to resume drawing with a solid pencil line Pencil Properties dialog
1. In the Colour view , select the colour w ith w hich you w ish to draw .
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

tool or press Alt + /.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click on the arrow button next to the stroke preview area to open the
Pencil Properties dialog.

4. In the Pencil Properties dialog, click on the Texture tab.
5. In the pencil textures library, select None.

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From now on, the pencil lines you draw w ill not have a texture.

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Pencil Texture Palettes
Just like colours used by your draw ings, pencil textures are stored in pencil texture sw atches, w hich are stored
in pencil texture palettes. Because pencil lines draw n w ith pencil textures are linked to the pencil texture in
their pencil texture palette, pencil textures can be shared and updated just as easily as colours in yourHarmony project.
For example, you can create the texture palette for your character in your character model's scene, then makescenes that include this character link to that character's pencil texture palette, as you can w ith their colour
palette, to make sure both their colour and line textures are the same throughout your project. For more
information, see About Advanced Palette Management on page 684.
Just as w ith colour palettes, you can update a sw atch in a pencil texture palette w ith a different texture, andthe pencil lines that are draw n w ith this texture w ill update w ith the new texture. This means your pencil
textures can alw ays be subjected to revisions. It is also possible to override a pencil texture w ith another one
using the Colour-Override effect, and to clone a pencil texture palette, change the textures in its sw atches,and decide if the draw ings in a scene w ill use the original or cloned texture palette—see Overriding a Texture
on a Pencil Line on page 294 and Cloning a Palette on page 716.
W hen you create a new scene, your palette list w ill be preloaded w ith a default colour palette and a default
texture palette, the latter w hich is contains some sample pencil textures. If you w ish, you can use thesetextures for your project, you can build on this palette and add new textures as needed, or you can create yourow n texture palette, loaded w ith only your custom textures, to use across your project. You can configure
Harmony to create new scenes w ith your ow n custom pencil texture palette.

NOTE
The follow ing topics w ill introduce you to the basics of creating and using pencil texture palettes.
For more information on creating and managing sw atches and palettes, see About Colour
Sw atches on page 663 and About Palettes on page 682.

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Creating a Pencil Texture Palette
Creating a pencil texture palette allow s you to manage your ow n pencil textures as you w ish. You can create
separate pencil texture palettes for different characters, props and backgrounds as needed, and share themamong the people collaborating on your project like you w ould w ith colour palettes.
Creating a pencil texture palette is as simple as creating a colour palette. W hen creating a palette, you havethe option to create it as a colour or a pencil texture palette.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the palette list by doing
one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, open the Edit menu and ensure the Edit Palette List Mode option ischeckedlRight-click on the palette list and select Get Rights to Modify Palette List.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette List

How to create a pencil texture palette (Basic palette list mode)
1. In the Colour view , click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes

button to display your pencil

texture palettes.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour View , click the New Palettebutton over the palette list.

lFrom the Colour view menu, select Palettes > New

The Create Palette dialog box opens.
3. In the Create Palette dialog, enter the new palette's name. Make sure your palette name contains
information to be easy to identify, such as the name of the character and information about the typeof setting for this palette, if any.

4. In the Palette Type drop-dow n, select Pencil Texture.
5. Click OK.
The palette appears in the draw ing element’s palette list.

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How to create a pencil texture palette (Advanced palette list mode)
1. In the Colour view , click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes

button to display your pencil

texture palettes.
2. If you w ant to add the palette to an element's palette list, select a draw ing from the element forw hich you w ant to create a palette in the Timeline, Xsheet or Camera view .
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour View , click the New Palettebutton over the palette list.

lFrom the Colour view menu, select Palettes > NewThe Palette Brow ser dialog box opens.

4. In the Palette Location panel, select the location w here you w ant to store the palette file. If you areusing Harmony Server, you can store the palette in any environment, job, scene or element on yourdatabase. In Harmony Stand Alone, you can store the palette in the scene, inside one of its element,
or inside its provisional job or environment. For more information, see About Palette Storage
Locations on page 687.
5. In the New Palette Name field, enter the name for the new palette. The palette list above this fieldlists the palettes that already exist in the selected location. Make sure you enter a name that is notalready used by another palette.
6. In the Palette Type drop-dow n, select Pencil Texture.

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7. In the Palette List panel, select w hether you w ant the palette to be added to the Scene Palette
List, or to the Element Palette List of the currently selected element. Note that in the latter case,the palette w ill only be usable by the element. For more information, see About Scene and Element
Palette Lists on page 686.

8. Click OK.
The new palette appears in the palette list.

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Adding a Pencil Line Texture
You can create your ow n pencil textures by first creating an image file containing the texture, either inHarmony or in a third party softw are, then importing it to your pencil texture palette.
A pencil texture must be created w ith transparency, as Harmony w ill only use the image's transparency
channel to determine how to apply the texture to your pencil lines. Hence, pencil textures can be in image
format that are supported by Harmony and w hich supports transparency: .png, .tga, .tif, .psd, .psb and.sgi.
A pencil texture can be of any size, but the bigger the image resolution, the thicker the lines you can draw w ith
it w ithout seeing pixels. The pencil texture w ill follow your pencil lines on their horizontal axis, like so:

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

How to add a pencil line texture using the Colour view
1. In the Colour view , click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes

button to display your pencil

texture palettes.

2. In the palette list, select the pencil texture palette containing the desired pencil texture.

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3. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on the Add Texture

button.

l

Right-click on the sw atch list and select New Texture.

lOpen the Colour view menu

and select Colours > New Texture.

4. In the file brow ser dialog, navigate to the location of your texture image file and select it.
5. Click Open.
The texture is added to your pencil texture palette.

You can start draw ing w ith your new pencil texture.

How to add a pencil line texture using the Pencil Properties dialog
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

tool or press Alt + /.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click on the arrow button next to the stroke preview area to open the
Pencil Properties dialog.

3. In the Pencil Properties dialog, click on the Texture tab.

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NOTE
The texture library in the Texture tab lists the same pencil textures as the ones in thecurrently selected pencil texture palette in the Colour view .

4. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on the New TexturelOpen the Brush menu

button over the pencil textures list.
and select New Texture.

5. In the file brow ser dialog, navigate to the location of your texture image file and select it.
6. Click Open.
The texture is added to your pencil texture palette.

7. In the pencil texture library, select the new pencil texture.

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You can start draw ing w ith your new pencil texture.

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Renaming Pencil Line Textures
You can rename pencil textures from the Colour view or from the Pencil Properties dialog box.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

How to rename a pencil line texture using the Colour view
1. In the Colour view , click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes

button to display your pencil

texture palettes.

2. In the palette list, select the pencil texture palette containing the desired pencil texture.

3. In the sw atch list, double-click on the name of the texture you w ish to rename.

4. Enter the texture's name, then click outside of the text input field to confirm the new name.

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How to rename a pencil line texture using the Pencil Properties dialog
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

tool or press Alt + /.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click on the arrow button next to the stroke preview area to open the
Pencil Properties dialog.

3. In the Pencil Properties dialog, click on the Texture tab.

NOTE
The texture library in the Texture tab lists the same pencil textures as the ones in thecurrently selected pencil texture palette in the Colour view .

4. In the pencil texture library, select the texture you w ish to rename.

5. Open the Brush menu

and select Rename Texture.

The Rename Texture dialog box opens.

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6. In the Name field, type in the desired name for your texture
7. Click OK.
You can start draw ing w ith your new pencil texture.

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Deleting Pencil Line Textures
You can delete pencil texture palettes that you do not need.

NOTE
You should not delete any pencil texture that is used in your project, as pencil lines using a deleted
pencil texture w ill become solid pencil lines.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

How to rename a pencil line texture using the Colour view
1. In the Colour view , click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes

button to display your pencil

texture palettes.

2. In the palette list, select the pencil texture palette containing the desired pencil texture.

3. In the sw atch list, select the pencil texture you w ish to delete.

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4. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on the Remove Colour button.

l

Right-click on the pencil texture and select Delete.

lOpen the Colour view menu and select Colours > Delete.

lPress Del (W indow s/Linux) or Backspace (macOS).

The selected pencil texture is removed from the pencil texture palette.

How to rename a pencil line texture using the Pencil Properties dialog
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

tool or press Alt + /.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click on the arrow button next to the stroke preview area to open the
Pencil Properties dialog.

3. In the Pencil Properties dialog, click on the Texture tab.

NOTE
The texture library in the Texture tab lists the same pencil textures as the ones in thecurrently selected pencil texture palette in the Colour view .

4. In the pencil texture library, select the texture you w ish to delete.

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5. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on the Delete TexturelOpen the Brush menu

button.

and select Delete Texture.

The selected pencil texture is removed from the pencil texture palette.

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Replacing a Pencil Texture
Just like you can edit a colour sw atch and simultaneously update all the draw ings using the colour sw atchw ith this new colour, you can replace an existing pencil texture w ith a different texture, and update all pencil
lines that use this texture w ith the new texture.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

How to replace an existing pencil line texture
1. In the Colour view , click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes

button to display your pencil

texture palettes.

2. In the palette list, select the pencil texture palette containing the desired pencil texture.

3. In the sw atch list, select the pencil texture that you w ant to replace.

4. Do one of the follow ing:

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Chapter 5: Draw inglRight-click on the pencil texture and select Edit Texture.

lOpen the Colour view menu and select Colours > Edit Texture.

5. In the file brow ser dialog, navigate to the location of your new texture image file and select it.
6. Click Open.
The selected texture is replaced w ith the new texture file. It is also renamed based on the new
texture's file name.

Any pencil line that w as draw n w ith the older pencil texture w ill now be draw n w ith the new
pencil texture.

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Setting the Default Pencil Texture Palette
You can make a pencil texture palette into the default texture palette w hich is added to every new scene you
create. This w ill be saved in your user preferences.

How to add a texture to your preferences
1. In the Colour view , click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes

button to display your pencil

texture palettes.

2. In the palette list, select the pencil texture palette containing the desired pencil texture.

3. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

tool or press Alt + /.

4. In the Tool Properties view , click on the arrow button next to the stroke preview area to open the
Pencil Properties dialog.

5. In the Pencil Properties dialog, click on the Texture tab.

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NOTE
The texture library in the Texture tab lists the same pencil textures as the ones in thecurrently selected pencil texture palette in the Colour view .

6. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on the Use as Default Texture PalettelOpen the Brush menu

button.

and select Use as Default Texture Palette.

From now on, new scenes created in Harmony w ill have the selected pencil texture palette as theirdefault pencil texture palette.

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Recovering the Default Pencil Texture Palette
If you have made modifications on the default pencil texture palette in your scene that you w ish to undo, you
can easily re-import the default pencil texture palette back into your scene as a new pencil texture palette.

How to recover the default pencil texture palette into your scene
1. Click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

button to display your pencil texture palettes.

tool or press Alt + /.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click on the arrow button next to the stroke preview area to open the
Pencil Properties dialog.

4. In the Pencil Properties dialog, click on the Texture tab.

NOTE
The texture library in the Texture tab lists the same pencil textures as the ones in thecurrently selected pencil texture palette in the Colour view .

5. Click on the Reload Default Texture Palettebutton.

A copy of the default pencil texture palette is added to the scene's pencil texture palette list.

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Converting a Colour Palette to a Pencil Texture Palette
As of Harmony 15, each palette is set to either be a colour palette, or a texture palette, and both palette types
are kept in separate lists. How ever, in Harmony 14 and prior versions, pencil texture palettes w ere just regularpalettes, w hich you had to temporarily set at your pencil texture palette in order to use it for pencil line
textures.
Because of this, if you open a scene created in Harmony 14 or prior, and w hich contains pencil texture palettes,
Harmony 15 w ill not be able to tell w hich palettes are colour palettes and w hich ones are pencil texture
palettes. Hence, you must manually move your pencil texture palettes to the pencil texture palette list before
you can use them for pencil line textures.
The only exception to this is if a scene created in a prior version of Harmony has a pencil texture palette named
penstyle_opacity. Because this w as the default name for pencil texture palettes in older versions ofHarmony, Harmony 15 w ill automatically convert those palettes to pencil texture palettes.

NOTE
Converting a colour palette to a pencil texture palette is permanent. You cannot convert a pencil
texture palette to a colour palette. How ever, you w ill be prompted to confirm before making theconversion, and the conversion can be undone w ith the Undo command.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

How to convert a colour palette to a pencil texture palette
1. In the palette list of the Colour view , select the palette you w ant to convert to a pencil texture
palette.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the palette and select Change to Pencil Texture.

lOpen the Colour view menu

and select Palettes > Change to Pencil Texture.

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The palette w ill be moved from the colour palette list to the pencil texture palette list. To
see it, click on the Show Pencil Texture Palettes
button.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

About Pencil Presets
Setting up your pencil to perfectly reproduce the desired art style can require a lot of tw eaking as w ell as trial
and error. Once you have found the correct settings for your pencil, you w ill w ant to reuse it throughout yourproject for consistency. You can do that by creating and using pencil presets.

Harmony comes preloaded w ith a few pencil presets w hich you can select from the Tool Properties view . It isalso possible to create your ow n pencil presets by configuring your pencil, then saving it as a preset.
Pencil presets are saved in your preferences. You can also export your brush presets into an .xml file, andimport them on a different w orkstation, allow ing you to share your brush presets betw een the different people
collaborating on your project.

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Creating Pencil Presets
T-LAY-002-002
You can create your ow n custom pencil presets.
Regular pencil presets allow you to set the size and smoothing of the line or shape. As you draw , the thicknessof the line varies according the amount of pressure you apply w ith a pen and tablet.

NOTE
To learn more about the Pencil tool options, see the Reference guide .

How to create a pencil preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil, Line, Ellipse, or Rectangle

tool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click on the arrow button next to the stroke preview area to open the
Pencil Properties dialog.

3. Configure your brush to be exactly how you w ish to use it in the future—see Creating a Pencil on
page 382.
4. In the Tool Properties view , click the New Brushbutton.

The New Preset dialog box opens.

5. Type in a name for your new pencil thickness stencil and click OK.
6. Start draw ing in the Draw ing or Camera view .

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Creating Pencil Thickness Presets
T-LAY-002-003
Thickness stencils that are indicated w ith thisicon are also set w ith specific properties, but disregards thepressure of your pen and tablet. The line thickness varies. You can access thickness stencils from the list ofpresets on the Tool Properties view or create your ow n.

How to create a pencil thickness stencil
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool.

2. In the Camera view , select the pencil line or shape from w hich you w ant to take the style.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click the New Thickness Stencil

button.

A new thickness stencil is added to the end of the list in the Presets menu.
4. In the Presets menu, select a new thickness stencil and click on a line or shape in the Draw ing or
Camera view to apply the thickness stencil you created.

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Selecting a Pencil Preset
T-ANIMPA-010-001
A pencil preset is a pencil w ith specific properties. You can w ork w ith regular pencil presets and thickness
stencils.

How to select a pencil preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil, Line, Ellipse, or Rectangle

2. In the Tool Properties view , use the Presets menu to select a pencil preset.

3. In the Draw ing or Camera view , draw your pencil line or shape.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Applying a Pencil Preset
T-ANIMPA-010-004
You can apply a pencil preset on already draw n pencil lines using the Select tool.

How to apply a thickness stencil to a pencil line or shape
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool.

2. In the Draw ing or Camera view , select the pencil line or shape on w hich you w ant to apply a style.

3. In the Tool Properties view , select the style you w ant to apply from the Presets list.

The style you selected is applied to your selection.

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Renaming Pencil Presets
You can rename your pencil presets to keep your list organized.

How to rename a pencil preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil, Line, Ellipse, or Rectangle

tool.

2. In the Presets menu, select the thickness stencil or preset you w ant to rename.
3. From the Brush menu

, select Rename Brush.

The Rename Preset dialog box opens.

4. In the Name field, type in the new name.
5. Click OK.

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Deleting Pencil Presets
You can delete unnecessary presets from your list.

How to delete a thickness stencil or pencil preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil

tool.

2. In the Presets menu, select the thickness stencil or preset to delete.
3. Click the Delete Preset

button.

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Exporting Pencil Presets
T-ANIMPA-010-005
You can export your pencil presets to either backup, share or install on a different computer.

How to export pencils, brushes and erasers
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either the Brush, Pencil

2. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Preset menu

or Erasertool.

and select Export Brushes.

The Export Brushes dialog opens. This dialog allow s you to export brush presets for the Brush,
Pencil and Eraser tools.

3. By default, the presets for all your tools w ill be selected for export. If you only w ish to export
presets for specific tools, uncheck Select/Deselect All and select the tools for w hich you w ant toexport the presets.
4. Click Export.
5. In the Export Presets dialog that appears, brow se to the location w here you w ant to save the .xml
file and enter its file name.
6. Click Save.

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Importing Pencil Presets
T-ANIMPA-010-006
You can import Harmony pencil presets that you previously exported.

How to import pencils, brushes and erasers
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either the Brush, Pencil

2. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Preset menu

or Erasertool.

and select Import Brushes.

3. In the brow ser w indow that appears, navigate to and select the .xml file in w hich you exported
your brush presets.
4. Click Open.
The Import Brushes dialog box opens.

5. By default, the presets for any tools included in the file w ill be selected for import. If you only w ish
to import presets for specific tools, uncheck Select/Deselect All and select the tools for w hich you
w ant to export the presets
6. Click Import.
The imported brush, eraser and pencil styles w ill appear in the Presets list.

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Changing the Pencil Preset Display
You can display your preset list as thumbnails or a list.

How to change the way presets are previewed in the Tool Properties view
1. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Presetsmenu.

2. Select one of the follow ing options:lSmall 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 apreview of their tip.

lStroke View: Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and a preview of a stroke
done w ith each preset.

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About Shape Tools
T-HFND-004-006
In Harmony, you can use the shape tools to draw circles, lines and rectangles. You can also easily reshape asquare or circle into a much more complex draw ing—see About the Contour Editor Tool on page 509 andAbout the Pencil Editor Tool on page 520.
The available shape tools are:lLine tooll

Rectangle toollEllipse tooll

Polyline tool

NOTES
l

The shape tools use the same pencil presets as the Pencil tool. To learn how to create, delete,rename, import and export presets, see About the Pencil Tool on page 378.

l

To learn more about the shape tool parameters, see the Reference guide .

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Creating Lines, Rectangles and Ellipses with the Shape Drawing Tools
T-HFND-004-006A
You can use the Line, Rectangle, or Ellipse tool to draw shape w ithout having to trace them. You can also use
these tools to draw perfect circles and squares.

How to draw with the Line tool
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to draw .
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Linetool.

3. In the Camera view , click and hold w here you w ant the line to start, then move the mouse cursor
w here you w ant the line to end.

l

If you w ant to snap the angle of your line to the nearest 15° angle, hold the Shift key.

l

If you w ant to snap the end of your line to the nearest shape, hold the Alt key.

l

If you w ant to draw a curved line, hold Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS). The line w ill
end w here your mouse cursor currently is, and moving the mouse cursor w ill pull the line's
curve tow ards it.

TIP
You can use the Contour Editor

tool to tw eak the shape of your line—see About theContour Editor Tool on page 509.

How to draw with the Rectangle or Ellipse tool
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to draw .
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Rectangle

or Ellipsetool.

3. To automatically fill the shape, in the Tool Properties view , enable the Auto Fill428

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

4. In the Camera view , click and hold w here you w ant one of the corners of your shape to be, thenmove the mouse cursor w here you w ant the opposing corner of the shape to be.

TIPSl

To draw a perfect square or circle (w ith equal w idth and height), hold the Shift key.
You can also enable theDraw Square or

Draw Circle option in the Tool

Properties view .
lTo draw the rectangle or ellipse from its centre instead of its corner, hold the Alt
key.

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Drawing Curved Lines with the Line Tool
The Line tool allow s you to draw curved lines very quickly by draw ing a straight line, then defining its curveright after.
There are three w ays to do this:l

In Straight Line Mode, the default mode of the Line tool, you can press and hold the Ctrl
(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key w hile draw ing a line to define a simple curve for it.

l

In Curved Line Mode, after draw ing a line, you are prompted to move the mouse cursor or tablet pen
and click once to define the line’s curve.

l

In S Curve Line Mode, after draw ing a line, you are prompted to click once to position the line’s first
Bezier handle, and then once more to position its second Bezier handle.

NOTE
You can also define the curve of an existing line using the Contour Editor tool—see About theContour Editor Tool on page 509.

How to draw a curved line in Straight Line Mode
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the
2. In the Tool Properties view , click

Line tool.
Straight Line Mode.

3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , click and drag to draw a line, but don’t release the mouse button ortablet pen.

4. W hile holding the mouse button or tablet pen dow n, press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or⌘ (macOS) key.
5. Move the mouse or pen in the general direction of the desired curve.

6. W hen the curve looks as intended, release the mouse button or pen to preserve it.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

How to draw a curved line in Curve Line Mode
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the
2. In the Tool Properties view , click

Line tool.
Curve Line Mode.

3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , click and drag to draw a line, then release the mouse button ortablet pen.

4. Move the mouse or pen in the general direction of the desired curve.

5. W hen the curve looks as intended, click to preserve it.

How to draw a curved line in S Curve Line Mode
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the
2. In the Tool Properties view , click

Line tool.
Curve Line Mode.

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3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , click and drag to draw a line, then release the mouse button ortablet pen.

4. Move the mouse cursor or pen w here you w ant the curve’s first Bezier handle (from the start of theline) to be positioned, then click.

5. Move the mouse cursor or pen w here you w ant the curve’s second Bezier handle (from the end of
the line) to be positioned, then click.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Creating Vector Shapes with the Polyline Tool
You can use the Polyline tool to draw complex segmented lines or curved lines by creating each point
constituting the line.

How to draw with the Polyline tool
1. In the Timeline view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to draw .
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Polyline

tool or press Alt + _.

3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , do one of the follow ing:lClick to create a point w ith no Bezier handles.

lClick and drag to create a point and its Bezier handles in the same stroke.

TIP
W hile dragging to create a Bezier handle, you can:lHold the Alt key to only change the angle of the outer handle, and leave the innerhandle at its current angle.

lHold the Shift key to lock the angle of the handle at every 15 degrees.

4. Click or click and drag somew here else to create the second point in your line. A line w ill be draw n
betw een the first point and the second point.

5. Repeat the previous step until your line is complete.
6. W hile holding Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS), click anyw here in the draw ing space to release
the Polyline tool from the line you've been building. You can then start building a new line.
7. If you w ant to make adjustments to the line you created, you can use the Contour Editor
see Reshaping a Shape, Pencil Line or Stroke w ith the Contour Editor Tool on page 510.

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About the Stamp Tool
The Stamp tool allow s you to create stamps out of draw ings in your projects, then stamp those draw ings overyour artw ork. You can click on your artw ork to apply your stamp once, or draw a stroke w ith the Stamp tool, as
you w ould w ith the Brush or Pencil tool, to apply the stamp repeatedly along the stroke.

A stamp can contain one or several draw ings. W hen a stamp is made of multiple draw ings, it w ill cycle
through each one of its draw ings each time it is stamped onto your artw ork. Hence, w hen you draw a stroke
w ith a multi-draw ing stamp, you w ill see the stamp tool cycle through the sequence of draw ings as you draw
the stroke. The w ay the draw ings in a multi-draw ing stamp are cycled through can even be customized.
Among other settings, you can make it cycle backw ard, stamp random draw ings or even stamp only a specificdraw ing in the sequence.

Other than being able to easily re-use draw ings, The Stamp tool can be used to streamline draw ing if you
need to draw something that requires a lot of repetitive detail, such as starry skies, grass, w eather conditions
or particle-type effects. For example, a stamp made of a few different draw ings of a blade of grass can beused to draw a grass line by draw ing a few strokes of that stamp over the same horizontal line. The ability torandomize the size, angle and distance of the stamping can give the result of using this procedure a morenatural look.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

NOTES
l

To learn more about the Stamp tool properties, see the Reference Guidel

The Stamp tool replaces the Dynamic Brush option of the Brush tool in Harmony 15.0 andearlier.

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Creating a Stamp
You can create a stamp by draw ing the artw ork for your stamp, then selecting it and creating a stamp preset.

How to create a stamp
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select an empty cell in a vector draw ing layer.

2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw the artw ork w ith w hich you w ant to create a stamp.

3. Do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to create a stamp w ith all the artw ork in the draw ing, select this draw ing in theTimeline or Xsheet view .

l

If you w ant to create a stamp w ith part of the artw ork in the draw ing, select the Selecttool in the Tools toolbar, then select the artw ork that you w ant to use to create a stamp—
see—Selecting, Repositioning and Transforming Artw ork on page 479.

4. In the Tools toolbar, select the Stamptool.

5. In the Tool Properties view , click on the New Preset

436

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

6. In the New Preset dialog, type the desired name for your new stamp.
7. Click OK.
A stamp containing the selected artw ork is added to the Presets list for the Stamp tool. You can
now draw w ith the Stamp tool using this stamp.

NOTE
Once your stamp has been created, you can delete the artw ork you used to create it from yourproject. The artw ork in your stamps w ill be saved in your preferences.

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Creating a Multi- Drawing Stamp
You can create a stamp containing a series of draw ings. All you need to do is create each draw ing you w ant to
add to your stamp in a separate draw ing cell, then create a stamp w ith those draw ings selected. The resulting
stamp w ill cycle through each one of those draw ings as you use it.
In order to create a stamp using multiple draw ings, your draw ings must either be in a single contiguous
horizontal or vertical sequence.

How to create a multi- drawing stamp
1. In the Timeline view , select an empty cell.

2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , create the first draw ing you w ant to have in the draw ing sequenceof your stamp.

3. In the Timeline view , select the cell right after the current cell.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

4. In the Camera or Draw ing view , create the second draw ing you w ant to have in the draw ing
sequence of your stamp.

5. Repeat these previous steps until you have all the draw ings you w ant to have in your stamp, in one
continuous sequence of draw ings, in the same layer.

NOTE
You can also create a stamp using draw ings in a sequence of layers, provided thatthose draw ings are all in the same frame and that those layers are adjacent to eachother. The draw ings in the stamp w ill be ordered from top to bottom.

6. In the Timeline view , select all the cells containing the draw ings you w ant to add to your stamp.

TIPSl

You can click and drag over a sequence of draw ing cells to select them.

l

You can also select multiple cells by clicking on the first cell you w ant to select,
holding shift, then clicking on the last cell you w ant to select.

7. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Stamp tool.

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8. In the Tool Properties view , click on

New Preset.

The New Preset dialog appears.
9. In the New Preset dialog, type the desired name for your new stamp.
10. Click OK.
A multi-draw ing stamp containing the artw ork in all the selected layers is added to the Presets list.

NOTE
Once your stamp has been created, you can delete the artw ork you used to create it from yourproject. The artw ork in your stamps w ill be saved in your preferences.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Configuring a Stamp
W hen draw ing a stroke w ith the stamp tool, the w ay the stamp is applied in terms of size, angle, spacing canbe customized.

How to configure the size, pressure sensitivity, roundness, angle and spacing of astamp
1. In the Presets list of the Tool Properties view , select the stamp that you w ant to configure.
2. In the Tool Properties view , just right of the stroke preview area, click on the Show Extended
Properties

button.

The Stamp Properties dialog opens.

3. If you w ant to adjust the size of the stamp, change the Maximum Scale setting until you obtain thedesired size.

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NOTE
The Scale of a stamp is relative to the original size of the draw ing used to create thestamp. At 100% scale, the stamp added to your artw ork w ill be the same size as its
original draw ing.

4. If you're using a pressure-sensitive pen tablet and w ant the size of the stamp to depend on theamount of pressure you put on your pen, reduce the Minimum Scale setting.
5. If you w ould like to flip the stamp horizontally, click on the tw o-ended horizontal arrow over thestamp thumbnail. If you w ould like to flip the stamp vertically, click on the tw o-ended verticalarrow left of the stamp thumbnails.

6. If your stamp is round or square, and you w ould like it to appear flat or squished, reduce theRoundness parameter. This w ill scale dow n the stamp vertically.

7. If you w ant your stamp to be added to your artw ork at an angle, change the Angle parameter. Thissetting rotates the stamp counterclockw ise, on a 360 degrees scale.

8. If you w ant to change the amount of space betw een each stamp w hen you draw a stroke w ith the
Stamp tool, adjust the Spacing parameter.

9. If you w ant the current settings to be saved to your stamp preset, click on the Update Brush Preset
button at the top-right corner of the Stamp Properties dialog.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

NOTE
You can use the Stamp tool w ith the currently selected settings w ithout updating yourpreset.

You can randomize the size, angle and spacing of the stamp. This w ill make the Stamp tool apply a randomly
picked value to these parameters every time it applies a stamp to your artw ork.

How to randomize the size, angle and spacing of a stamp
1. In the Presets list of the Tool Properties view , select the stamp that you w ant to configure.
2. In the Tool Properties view , just right of the stroke preview area, click on the Show Extended
Properties

button.

The Stamp Properties dialog opens.

3. If you w ant the size of the stamp to be randomized every time the stamp is added to your artw ork,decrease the Minimum Scale setting, then increase the Random Size setting.

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NOTE
The Random Size setting makes the size of each stamp vary randomly betw een its
Minimum Scale and Maximum Scale. The higher the Random Size is, the closer to its
Minimum Scale the random size can be.

4. If you w ant the angle of your stamp to be randomized every time the stamp is added to yourartw ork, increase the Random Angle setting.

5. If you w ant the spacing of your stamp to be randomized every time the stamp is added to yourartw ork, increase the Random Spacing setting.

6. If you w ant the current settings to be saved to your stamp preset, click on the Update Brush Preset
button at the top-right corner of the Stamp Properties dialog.

NOTE
You can use the Stamp tool w ith the currently selected settings w ithout updating yourpreset.

You can make a multi-draw ing stamp cycle through its sequence of draw ings in several different w ays. You
can also randomize the cycle, or disable it so that it only stamps the draw ing of your choice.

How to change the way a multi- drawing stamp cycles through its drawings
1. In the Presets list of the Tool Properties view , select the stamp that you w ant to configure.
2. In the Tool Properties view , just right of the stroke preview area, click on the Show Extended
Properties

button.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

The Stamp Properties dialog opens.

1. In the Cycle drop-dow n, select the desired cycling method:lForward: 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 the first one.

l

Reverse: Starts by applying the last draw ing in the sequence, then the previous one, and soon until it reaches the first draw ing in the sequence, then cycles back to the last one.

l

Forward- >Reverse: Starts by cycling forw ard through the sequence until it reaches the lastdraw ing, then cycles backw ard to the first draw ing, and so on.

lReverse- >Forward: Starts by cycling backw ard through the sequence until it reaches thefirst draw ing, then cycles back to the last draw ing, and so on.

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Random: 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.

2. If you selected the Hold option, select w hich one of the stamps in the sequence you w ish to stamp
onto your artw ork by changing the Stamp setting in the Tool Properties view . For example, if you
only w ant to stamp the second draw ing in the sequence, set the Stamp setting to 2.
3. If you w ant the cycle to restart at the beginning of each one of your draw ing strokes, enable theReset Cycle for Each Stroke option.
4. If you w ant the current settings to be saved to your stamp preset, click on the Update Brush Preset
button at the top-right corner of the Stamp Properties dialog.

NOTE
You can use the Stamp tool w ith the currently selected settings w ithout updating yourpreset.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Updating a StampA stamp in your Presets list does not only contain its draw ings, but also its properties. If you have made anychanges to the properties of your stamp, and w ish for those properties to be set automatically w henever you
use that stamp, you can update the stamp. This w ill save the current properties of the stamp into its preset.
Once that is done, the current properties of the stamp w ill be loaded the next time you select it from the
Presets list, even after you close and reopen the project.

NOTE
You cannot update the draw ings in a stamp. You can only update its parameters. If you need to use
different draw ings for your stamp, you must create a new stamp—see Creating a Stamp on page
436 and Creating a Multi-Draw ing Stamp on page 438.

How to update a stamp
1. In the Presets list of the Tool Properties view , select the stamp that you w ant to configure.
2. In the Tool Properties view , just right of the stroke preview area, click on the Show Extended
Properties

button.

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The Stamp Properties dialog opens.

3. In the Stamp Properties dialog, adjust the settings of your stamp as desired—see Configuring a
Stamp on page 441.
4. In the top-right corner of the Stamp Properties dialog, click on the Update Preset

button.

The selected stamp properties w ill be loaded w henever you select this stamp, even after you closeand reopen your project.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Drawing with the Stamp Tool
Once you have created a stamp, you can start draw ing w ith it. You can either stamp it into your artw ork once ata time, or draw strokes w ith the tool, making it apply the stamp repeatedly onto your artw ork along yourstrokes.

How to draw with the Stamp tool
1. In the Layer panel of the Stage or Camera view or the Layers view , select the layer on w hich you
w ant to apply the stamp.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Stamp tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , select a stamp from the Presets list—see Creating a Stamp on page
436 and Creating a Multi-Draw ing Stamp on page 438.

4. Move the mouse cursor over the Stage or Camera view . You w ill see the stamp under your mouse
cursor as it w ill be applied into your artw ork. If you w ant to adjust the size in w hich it w ill beapplied, adjust the Maximum Scale setting in the Tool Properties view .
5. By default, your stamp w ill be applied at an even size, angle and distance. Also, if your stamp is amulti-draw ing stamp, it w ill cycle through its draw ings in their original order. If you w ant yourstamp to be applied w ith different parameters, see Configuring a Stamp.
6. In the Camera or Draw ing view , do one of the follow ing:l

To apply the stamp once, simply click w here you w ant to apply it.

l

To draw a stroke along w hich the stamp is applied multiple times, simply draw a stroke w ith
the tool as you w ould w ith the Brush or Pencil tool.

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TIPSl

If your stamp has multiple draw ings in it, you can select w hich draw ings to stamp by using
the Stamp slider in the Tool Properties view . You can also cycle through the stamp's
draw ings by pressing the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys.

l

You can quickly adjust the size of the selected draw ing tool by pressing and holding the O
key, then clicking and dragging in the draw ing space. If you are using a tablet pen, doing
this w ith the eraser tip of your pen w ill adjust the size of the Eraser tool, regardless of
w hich draw ing tool is selected.

l

If you press and hold the Shift key before or w hile draw ing, you w ill draw a straight line.

l

If you press and hold the Spacebar key w hile draw ing a straight line, the angle of your line
w ill lock. If you are using a pressure-sensitive tablet, you can draw over your line to adjust
its thickness.

l

If you press and hold the Shift and Alt keys before or w hile draw ing, you w ill draw astraight horizontal or vertical line.

l

If you press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key w hile draw ing, yourdraw ing stroke w ill turn into a closed shape.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Renaming Stamps
You can rename stamps you have created to make them easier to identify in the Presets list.

How to rename a stamp.
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Stamptool.

2. In the Presets list of the Tool Properties view , select the stamp you w ant to rename.
3. Open the Brush Presets

menu, then select Rename Brush.

4. In the Rename Brush dialog, enter the new name for your stamp.
5. Click OK.
The stamp's new name updates in the Presets list.

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Deleting Stamps
You can delete stamps you no longer need from the Presets list.

How to delete a stamp.
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Stamptool.

2. In the Presets list of the Tool Properties view , select the stamp you w ant to delete.
3. Click on the Delete Brushbutton just above the Presets list.

The stamp is removed from the Presets list.

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Exporting Stamps
You can export stamps you have created to keep a backup of them, or to import them for use in anotherproject.

How to export stamps
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Stamptool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Preset

menu and select Export Brushes.

The Export Brushes dialog opens. This dialog allow s you to export brush presets for the Brush,
Pencil, Eraser and Stamp tools.

3. By default, the presets for all your tools w ill be selected for export. If you only w ish to export yourstamps, uncheck Select/Deselect All, then check Stamp.
4. Click on Export.
A save dialog appears.
5. Brow se to the location w here you w ant to save the .xml file that w ill contain your presets.
6. Enter the desired file name for your presets file.
7. Click on Save.

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Importing Stamps
You can import stamps you have exported from another project into your current project, allow ing you to reuse
them betw een projects or to restore backups of your stamps.

How to import stamps
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Stamptool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Preset menu

and select Import Brushes.

An Open File dialog appears.
3. In the brow ser w indow that appears, navigate to and select the .xml file in w hich you exported
your stamps
4. Click Open.
The Import Brushes dialog box opens.

5. By default, the presets for any tools included in the file w ill be selected for import. If you only w ish
to import the stamps from this file, uncheck Select/Deselect All and check Stamps.
6. Click on Import.
The imported stamps w ill be added to the Presets list in the Tool Properties view .

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Changing The W ay Stamps Are Displayed
By default, your stamps are listed in the Tool Properties dialog as strokes. You can also preview them as big
thumbnails if you w ant to be able to pick them w ithout scrolling, or as small thumbnails if you have a lot.

How to change the way presets are previewed in the Tool Properties view
1. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Presetsmenu.

2. Select one of the follow ing options:lSmall 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 apreview of their tip.

lStroke View: Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and a preview of a stroke
done w ith each preset.

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Stamp Tool Modes
W hen you select the Stamp tool, its properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view .

Draw Behind Mode
W hen enabled, your draw ing strokes w ill be added underneath the existing artw ork instead of over it.

NOTEYour stroke w ill appear over your artw ork as you draw it, until you release the mouse cursor ortablet pen.

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About the Stroke Tool
T-HFND-004-013
There are tw o different w ays to draw invisible lines, using the Pencil tool or Stroke tool.
Using the Pencil tool, you can draw as strokes only, meaning that the line w ill be invisible. This can be usefulfor draw ing tones and highlights directly on the character.

The Stroke tool draw s invisible lines only. You cannot add thickness to the line. Unlike the Close Gap tool thatcreates a short, straight line betw een tw o points, the stroke line w ill stay exactly w here you draw it. This tool
can be useful for closing a zone in a particular w ay or creating some hard shadow s or highlight areas.
Sometimes, it may be difficult to see strokes, especially if your colours are similar to the blue stroke colour. In
Harmony, you can display the strokes in w ashed-out colours so the invisible lines stand out.

NOTE
To learn more about the Stroke tool parameters, see the Reference guide .

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Creating Invisible Lines with the Stroke Tool
T-HFND-004-013A
You can draw invisible lines w ith the Stroke tool. These lines can be used to delimit or close off colour areas
w hen you colour draw ing w ith the Paint tool.

How to draw invisible lines with the Stroke tool
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to draw .
2. Make sure strokes are visible in your draw ing space by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select View > Show > Show StrokeslPress K.

3. Select the Stroke tool by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, double-click on Paint. In its drop-dow n menu, select thelPress Alt + V.

Stroke tool

4. In the Camera or Draw ing view , start draw ing.

TIPSl

If you press and hold the Shift key before or w hile you are draw ing, your stroke w ill
be a straight line until you stop draw ing or release the Shift key.

l

If you press and hold the Shift and the Alt keys before draw ing, your stroke w ill be astraight line in an angle that is a multiple of 15 degrees.

l

If you press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key w hile draw ing,
your stroke w ill be a closed shape.

l

If you press and hold Alt before draw ing a stroke, and you start your stroke nearanother stroke, the start of your stroke w ill connect to the other stroke. Likew ise, if
you press and hold the Alt key and end your stroke near another stroke, the end of
the stroke w ill connect to that stroke.

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NOTE
If the Show Strokes option is not enabled, the follow ing message w ill appear after you
draw a stroke. To remedy this, refer to step 2.

Authors
Marie-Eve Chartrand
Christopher Diazchrisdiazart.com

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About the Eraser Tool
T-HFND-004-010
Using the Eraser tool, you can erase portions of your draw ing by draw ing strokes over it.
Just like the Brush tool, the Eraser tool is pressure-sensitive, allow ing you to erase w ith more precision if you
are using a pen tablet.

It is a good idea to create and save erasers w ith precise sizes and parameters in order to save time w hen
draw ing and designing. Harmony provides you w ith a variety of default eraser styles and allow s you to createand save your ow n eraser presets.
Just like the Brush tool, you can use the Eraser tool on both vector and bitmap layers, and you can configure aneraser to have a solid or textured tip, to have automatic smoothing, a dual tip and a paper texture.

NOTE
To learn more about each individual parameter of the Eraser tool, see the Reference Guide.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Erasing
T-HFND-004-010A
Using the Eraser tool, you can erase portions of your draw ing by draw ing strokes over it.

How to erase with the Eraser tool
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell that contains objects you w ant to erase.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Eraser

tool or press Alt + E.

3. In the Presets list of the Tool Properties view , select a brush preset to use.

NOTE
To learn how to create an Eraser preset, see Creating a Solid Eraser on page 462 andCreating a Textured Eraser on page 466.

4. Set the Maximum Size to the desired Eraser size.

NOTE
If you are draw ing w ith a mouse, your strokes w ill alw ays be at their maximum size. If
you are using a pressure-sensitive tablet, your strokes w ill vary in size depending on
the pressure of your pen, ranging betw een 25% to 100% of the maximum size.

5. In the Camera or Draw inga view , start erasing.

TIPSl

You can quickly adjust the size of the selected draw ing tool by pressing and holding the O
key, then clicking and dragging in the draw ing space. If you are using a tablet pen, doing
this w ith the eraser tip of your pen w ill adjust the size of the Eraser tool, regardless of
w hich draw ing tool is selected.

l

If you press and hold the Shift key before or w hile draw ing, you w ill draw a straight line.

l

If you press and hold the Spacebar key w hile draw ing a straight line, the angle of your line
w ill lock. If you are using a pressure-sensitive tablet, you can draw over your line to adjust
its thickness.

l

If you press and hold the Shift and Alt keys before or w hile draw ing, you w ill draw astraight horizontal or vertical line.

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Creating a Solid Eraser
W hen using the Eraser tool on a vector layer, you can use either solid vector erasers or textured vector erasers.
By default, your eraser w ill be a solid vector eraser. A solid vector eraser cuts out the shape of its stroke fromyour vector artw ork.
A solid vector eraser's tip can be shaped like a circle, a diamond or a square, and can be configured to have a
specific size, aspect ratio and angle. Also, solid vector erasers can be automatically smoothed by Harmony as
you draw .
If you are erasing on a bitmap layer, you can only use textured erasers, although you can configured a textured
eraser to appear solid.

How to create a solid vector eraser
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Eraser

tool or press Alt + B.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the arrow button to open the Eraser Properties view .

The Eraser Properties dialog opens.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

3. In the Eraser Type dropdow n list, select Solid Vector.
4. In the brush tip list, select either Circle, Diamond or Square.
5. Use the Maximum Size slider to set the maximum size of your eraser tip, in pixels.

NOTE
W hen draw ing w ith a mouse, your eraser is alw ays at its maximum size. W hen
draw ing w ith a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, your eraser's size w ill range betw een its
minimum and maximum size, depending on the amount of pressure you put on the pen
w hen draw ing.

6. If you are using a pressure-sensitive pen tablet, use the Minimum Size slider to set the percentageof your eraser tip's maximum size your eraser should be w hen you use your pen w ith very little
pressure. If you don't w ant the pressure on your pen to affect the eraser size, set this parameter to
100%.

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7. If you w ant your eraser tip to have uneven dimensions, use the Roundness slider to shrink theeraser tip vertically all the w hile preserving its horizontal size.
8. If you w ant your eraser tip to be at an angle, use the Angle slider to rotate your brush tip.
9. If you w ant your eraser tip to stretch w hen you tilt your pen, use the Pen Tilt Sensitivity slider to
set how much the tip should stretch. The tip w ill stretch by the percentage you set, in the direction
in w hich you tilt the pen.

NOTE
This option only w orks if your tablet and your pen support tilt sensitivity.

10. If you w ant your eraser ip to rotate w hen you rotate your pen, check the Use Pen Rotation check
box.

NOTE
This option only w orks if your tablet and your pen support pen rotation.

11. Click on the Smoothing tab.

12. Use the Centerline Smoothing slider to set the amount of smoothing Harmony should perform on
your stroke's direction, curves and corners. A higher setting w ill prevent your line from being shaky,but is liable to reduce your draw ing precision and to round sharp corners into curves.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

13. Use the Contour Smoothing slider to set the amount of smoothing Harmony should perform on
your stroke's contour. A higher setting w ill round sharp corners and reduce the amount of control
points for the resulting vector shape.
14. Either close or set aside the Eraser Properties dialog.
15. In the Camera or Draw ing view , start erasing to test your eraser settings.

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Creating a Textured Eraser
A textured eraser can have the same settings as a textured brush: It can have a bitmap tip of any shape, can be
hard or soft, semi-transparent, combine tw o tips and be applied w ith a paper texture effect.
W hen w orking on a bitmap layer, the eraser tool is alw ays textured, w hereas w hen w orking on vector layers,erasers are solid vector by default. A solid vector eraser merely cuts out the shape of the eraser stroke fromthe vector artw ork, w hereas a textured vector eraser makes the artw ork's bitmap texture more opaque or fully
invisible, depending on its intensity, then cuts out some of the vector artw ork that the eraser made fully
invisible.
A textured eraser w orks like a reverse textured brush: It makes the pixels in a brush stroke's texture more—orcompletely—transparent, depending on the eraser's intensity. This effect can only be obtained by using a
textured eraser on a textured brush stroke. If you use a textured eraser on solid vector shapes or on pencil
lines, the eraser w ill act like a solid vector eraser, that is, it w ill merely cut out the shape of the stroke from theartw ork. This is because solid vector shapes and pencil lines don't have a bitmap texture, and therefore thetextured eraser cannot w ork on the opacity of their individual pixels. Hence, w hen w orking on vector layers, it
is better to use a textured eraser only if all your artw ork is composed of textured brush strokes, or it mightw ield strange-looking results.

This outlines one of the advantages of w orking w ith bitmap layers. On bitmap layers, your brushes anderasers alw ays w ork as textured brushes and erasers.
Another issue you might encounter w hen erasing textured vector artw ork is that textured vector brush strokes
are not flattened together, w hereas on bitmap layers, your artw ork is alw ays flattened. This implies that if you
use a semi-transparent eraser on textured vector artw ork, and the artw ork has overlapping strokes, all the
strokes you erase w ill become semi-transparent, the resulting image w ill be a composite of the overlapping
strokes. On a bitmap layer, this w ould simply result in a single layer of semi-transparent artw ork.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

There are tw o different types of textured vector erasers: Textured and Textured, Preserve Vector. A simple
textured eraser w ill do tw o things: First, it w ill make textured brush strokes more or completely transparent
w here you erased, and second, it w ill cut out from the brush stroke's vector shape w here it made its texture
completely transparent. In contrast, a Textured, Preserve Vector-type eraser w ill only make the texture brushstrokes more or fully transparent, but w ill leave its vector shape intact.

Creating a textured eraser w orks exactly like creating a textured brush. Therefore, you can follow the steps in
the Creating a Textured Brush section to learn how to create a textured eraser.

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About Eraser Presets
Once you have found the correct settings for your eraser, you might w ant to reuse it throughout your projectfor consistency. You can do that by creating and using eraser presets.
Harmony comes preloaded w ith a few eraser presets w hich you can select from the Tool Properties view . It isalso possible to create your ow n eraser presets by configuring your eraser then saving it as a preset.
Like eraser tips and paper textures, eraser presets are saved in your preferences. You can also export youreraser presets into an .xml file, and import them on a different w orkstation, allow ing you to share your eraser
presets betw een the different people collaborating on your project.

NOTES
l

Eraser presets are not to be confused w ith eraser tips and paper textures. Eraser tips and paper
textures are one of the many properties of an eraser, w hereas an eraser preset contains all theproperties of a brush.

lEraser presets for vector layers and for bitmap layers are separate. An eraser preset createdw hile w orking on a vector layer cannot be used w hen w orking on a bitmap layer, and viceversa.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Creating an Eraser Preset
You can create your ow n custom eraser preset by configuring your eraser, then adding it as a preset.

How to create an eraser preset
1. Make sure the current draw ing layer is vector if you w ish to create a vector eraser preset, or bitmap
if you w ish to create a bitmap eraser preset—see About Vector and Bitmap Layers .
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Eraser

tool or press Alt + E.

3. Click on the Arrow button to open the Eraser Properties dialog.

4. In the Eraser Properties dialog, configure your eraser—see Creating a Solid Eraser and Creating a
Textured Eraser.
5. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Eraser Properties dialog, click on the New Brush Preset

button in the top-right corner.
l

In the Tool Properties view , click the New Brush Presetl

In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Presets menu

button.
and select New Brush

Preset.
6. In the New Preset w indow , type a name for your new eraser preset.
Your new eraser preset is added to the end of the list of eraser presets.

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Selecting an Eraser Preset
Harmony provides you w ith default eraser presets available in the Tool Properties view .

How to select a brush preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Eraser

tool or press Alt + E.

2. In the Tool Properties view , select an eraser preset from the Presets list.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Updating a Brush Preset
If you w ant to modify the settings of an existing custom preset, you can do so by adjusting the parameters in
the Tool Properties view , then updating your preset w ith your brush current's parameters.

How to update a brush preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush

tool or press Alt + B.

1. In the Tool Properties view , select the Brush Preset you w ish to update.
2. Click on the Arrow button to open the Brush Properties view .

3. Configure your brush to be exactly how you w ish to use it in the future—see Creating a Solid Brushor Creating a Textured Brush.
4. Click on the Update Brush Preset

button in the upper-right corner of the Brush Properties

dialog.

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Renaming an Eraser Preset
To keep your list comprehensive and organized, you can name your custom brush presets.

How to rename a brush preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Eraser

tool or press Alt + E.

2. In the Tool Properties view , select an eraser preset to rename.
3. Open the Brush Preset menu

and select Rename Brush.

4. Type in a new name for the brush and click OK.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Deleting a Brush Preset
You can keep your preset list clean by deleting unw anted custom presets.

How to delete a brush preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Eraser

tool or press Alt + E.

2. In the Tool Properties view , select the eraser preset you w ant to delete.
3. Do one of the follow ing:lClick the Delete Brushbutton.

lOpen the Brush Preset menu

and select Delete Brush.

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Exporting Eraser Presets
You can export eraser presets into an .xml file w hich w ill contain all of your eraser's settings. This can be
useful if you w ish to back up or share your eraser presets.

How to export pencils, brushes and erasers
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either the Brush, Pencil

2. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Preset menu

or Erasertool.

and select Export Brushes.

The Export Brushes dialog opens. This dialog allow s you to export brush presets for the Brush,
Pencil and Eraser tools.

3. By default, the presets for all your tools w ill be selected for export. If you only w ish to export
presets for specific tools, uncheck Select/Deselect All and select the tools for w hich you w ant toexport the presets.
4. Click Export.
5. In the Export Presets dialog that appears, brow se to the location w here you w ant to save the .xml
file and enter its file name.
6. Click Save.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Importing Eraser Presets
You can import eraser presets that you previously exported from Harmony.

How to import pencils, brushes and erasers
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either the Brush, Pencil

2. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Preset menu

or Erasertool.

and select Import Brushes.

3. In the brow ser w indow that appears, navigate to and select the .xml file in w hich you exported
your brush presets.
4. Click Open.
The Import Brushes dialog box opens.

5. By default, the presets for any tools included in the file w ill be selected for import. If you only w ish
to import presets for specific tools, uncheck Select/Deselect All and select the tools for w hich you
w ant to export the presets
6. Click Import.
The imported brush, eraser and pencil styles w ill appear in the Presets list.

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Changing the Brush Preset Display
You can display your preset list as thumbnails or a list.

How to change the way presets are previewed in the Tool Properties view
1. In the Tool Properties view , open the Brush Presetsmenu.

2. Select one of the follow ing options:lSmall 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 apreview of their tip.

lStroke View: Displays presets in a list, w ith their name and a preview of a stroke
done w ith each preset.

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Erasing Synced Drawings
Normally in the Camera view , the only draw ings and lines that can be erased are those on the selected layer.
The Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers

option allow s for the inclusion of draw ings on layers synced to theselected draw ing layer.
Layers are synced w hen draw ings need to be separated on different layers, but need to have the same timing.

How to erase synced drawings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Erase

tool.

2. In the Timeline view , select a synced draw ing layer. W hen you click on a synced layer, the otherlayers that it is synced w ith w ill display the link icon.

3. In the Tool Properties panel, enable the Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers option.

4. In the Camera view , start to erase.
Notice that only the selected draw ing and its corresponding synced draw ings have been erased.

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About the Select Tool
T-HFND-004-005
The Select tool allow s you to select draw ing strokes and draw ing objects. W hen selected, you can use theSelect tool to scale, translate, rotate, resize, flip and delete them.

NOTES
l

The Select tool can only be used to select, reposition and transform w hole draw ing strokes. If
you need to cut out part of your artw ork to reposition or transform it, you must use the Cutter
tool—see About the Cutter Tool.

l

To learn more about the Select tool options, see the Reference Guide .

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Selecting, Repositioning and Transforming Artwork
T-HFND-004-005A
Using the Select tool, you can select draw ing strokes and groups, then reposition, rotate, scale and skew them.

NOTE
The select tool can only select w hole draw ing strokes. If you need to cut out part of your artw ork,
use the Cutter tool instead—see About the Cutter Tool on page 498.

How to select artwork
1. In the Timeline view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to select draw ing objects.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the artw ork you w ant to edit by doing one of the follow ing:lClick on a draw ing stroke to select it.

lDraw a lasso around draw ing strokes to select them simultaneously.

TIPSl

To add more draw ing strokes to the selection, press and hold the Shift key andeither click or draw a lasso around the strokes you w ant to select.

lPress SHIFT+ALT to unselect all the strokes you have selected previously. You canalso unselect strokes on multiple layers in the Timeline by pressing SHIFT+ALT+CTRL.

l

By default, you can only select artw ork in the currently selected layer. You canselect artw ork from any visible layer by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘(macOS) key.

l

If you prefer draw ing a rectangle rather than a lasso to select artw ork, click on the
Lasso button in the Tool Properties view and selectMarquee.

l

You can select all the draw ing strokes in the draw ing by select Edit > Select Allfrom the top menu or by press ing Ctrl + A (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + A (macOS).

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4. Do one of the follow ing to edit your selection:l

To reposition the selected artw ork, click on it and drag w here you w ant to position it.

NOTE
You can also nudge your selection using the arrow keys, and fast-nudge yourselection by holding Shift and pressing the arrow keys.

l

To rotate the selected artw ork, click and grab just outside one of the handles at the cornersof the control box and rotate it.

l

To scale the selected artw ork, click and drag on one of the control points at the corners or
the middle of the edges of the control box.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

TIP
W hile scaling artw ork, you can preserve its proportions by pressing and holding
the Shift key.

l

To skew , drag sidew ays or up and dow n the sides or top and bottom segments, betw een thecontrol points.

l

To delete, press Del (W indow s/Linux) or Backspace (macOS).

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Selecting Artwork in Several Drawings
You can use the Select tool to select and manipulate artw ork in several draw ings in the same layer at the sametime. There are tw o approaches to doing this, both of w hich are options available in the Tool Properties view :lApply to All Frames: W hen you draw a lasso or marquee in the Camera or Draw ing view s, it w ill
select strokes in that area in all of the exposed draw ings in the current layer.

lApply to Onion Skin Range: W hen you draw a lasso or marquee in the Camera or Draw ing view s, it
w ill select strokes in that area in all of the draw ings currently displayed in the Onion Skin. This method
allow s you to select and manipulate artw ork in a specific range of draw ings, and allow s you to see theartw ork you selected in the Camera or Draw ing view .

How to select artwork in a specific range of drawings
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a draw ing somew here in the middle of the range of draw ings
you w ant to edit.
2. In the Tools toolbar, click on theOnion Skin button to enable Onion Skin.

3. Adjust the range of the Onion Skin so that it covers every draw ing you w ant to edit:l

In the Timeline view , click and drag on the red onion skin marker to make it include theprevious draw ings you w ant to display in the onion skin, then click and drag on the green
onion skin marker to make it include the next draw ings you w ant to display in the onion skin.

l

Use the buttons in the toolbar above the draw ing space to adjust how many previous andnext draw ings are included in the Onion Skin:l

To increase the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

Add Previous

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

RemovePrevious Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To increase the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Add Next

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Remove Next

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
The draw ings included in the Onion Skin range w ill appear in red and green in the Camera or
Draw ing view .
4. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Select tool.

5. In the Tool Properties view , click and hold on themenu, selectApply to Onion Skin Range.

482

Apply to All Frames button and, in the pop-up

Chapter 5: Draw ing

NOTE
If this button is already set to

Apply to Onion Skin Range, simply click on it to toggle

it on.

6. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw a lasso or marquee around the artw ork you w ant to select.
Strokes in the current draw ing and in the draw ings displayed in the Onion Skin that fit inside thelasso or marquee you drew w ill be selected.

How to select artwork in all exposed drawings in a layer
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select any of the draw ings in the layer that you w ant to edit.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Select tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click on the

Apply to All Frames button to enable the Apply to All

Frames mode.

NOTE
If this button is currently set to

Apply to Onion Skin Range mode, click and hold on

the button to open its pop-up menu and selectApply to All Frames.

4. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw a lasso or marquee around the artw ork you w ant to select.
Strokes in the current draw ing as w ell as in all other draw ings exposed in the current layer that fit
inside the lasso or marquee you drew w ill be selected.

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Selecting Artwork in Several Layers
You can use the Select tool to select artw ork in several layers simultaneously. There are three w ays to do this:l

By selection: If you select several layers in the Timeline, Node or Xsheet view , you w ill be able to selectand manipulate artw ork in all of the selected layers.

l

Apply to All Visible Layers mode: By enabling this mode, you w ill be able to select artw ork in all of
the layers that are visible in the Camera view simultaneously.

lApply to Synced Drawing Layers mode: By enabling this mode, you w ill be able to select artw ork
in the current layer as w ell as in any layer that is synced to that layer simultaneously.

NOTE
You can only select artw ork in several layers simultaneously in the Camera view .

How to select artwork in several specific layers simultaneously
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , move the red Timeline playhead to the frame w here all the draw ings
you w ant to edit are exposed.

l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select one of the draw ings you w ant to edit.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Select tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , make sure the

Apply to All Visible Layers or

Apply to Synced

Draw ing Layers button is toggled off.
4. In the Timeline, Node or Xsheet view , select all the layers you w ant to edit simultaneously.

TIPSl

To select multiple layers or nodes, press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘(macOS) key, then click on each layer or node you w ant to select.

l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , you can select a contiguous series of layers byclicking on the first layer you w ant to select, then, w hile holding Shift, clicking on
the last layer you w ant to select. Every layer in-betw een w ill also be selected.

NOTE
If

Light Table is enabled, the selected layers w ill appear fully opaque. This indicatesthat the currently selected tool can w ork on all selected layers simultaneously.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

At this point, you can select artw ork in all of the selected layers.
5. In the Camera view , do one of the follow ing:lDraw a lasso or marquee around all the draw ing strokes that you w ant to select.

l

W hile holding Shift, click on each draw ing stroke that you w ant to select.

How to select artwork in all visible layers simultaneously
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , move the red Timeline playhead to the frame w here all the draw ings
you w ant to edit are exposed.

l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select one of the draw ings you w ant to edit.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Select tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click on the

Apply to All Visible Layers button to toggle it on.

NOTES
l

If this button is currently set to

Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers mode, click andhold on the button to open its pop-up menu and selectApply to All Visible

Layers.
l

IfLight Table is enabled, all the visible layers w ill appear fully opaque. This

indicates that the currently selected tool can w ork on all visible layers
simultaneously.

TIP
You can also select artw ork from all visible layers by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ (macOS) key w hile using the Select tool.

4. In the Camera view , do one of the follow ing:lDraw a lasso or marquee around all the draw ing strokes that you w ant to select.

l

W hile holding Shift, click on each draw ing stroke that you w ant to select.

485Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

How to select artwork in a layer and all of its synced layers simultaneously
1. In the Timeline view , select a draw ing in one of the synced layers that you w ant to edit.

NOTE
W hen you select a synced layer, that layer and the other layers that are synced w ith it
display a

Link icon.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Select tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click and hold on the
pop-up menu, then selectApply to All Visible Layers button to open its

Apply to Synced Drawing Layers.

NOTES
l

If this button is already set to

Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers mode, simply

click on it to toggle it on.
l

If

Light Table is enabled, the currently selected layer and all of its synced layers

w ill appear fully opaque. This indicates that the currently selected tool can w ork on
all of these layers simultaneously.

At this point, you can select artw ork in the selected layer and all of its synced layers.
4. In the Camera view , do one of the follow ing:lDraw a lasso or marquee around all the draw ing strokes that you w ant to select.

l

W hile holding Shift, click on each draw ing stroke that you w ant to select.

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Inverting a Selection
You can invert your selection to select everything else in your draw ing that w as not previously selected.

How to invert a selection
1. From the top menu, select Edit > Invert Selection or press Ctrl + Shift + I (W indow s/Linux) or Shift+ ⌘ + I (macOS).
You can also find the Invert Selection option in the Camera or Draw ing View menu by selecting Edit
> Invert Selection.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Repositioning the Selection Pivot
You can temporarily reposition the selection's pivot position to rotate, scale, or skew from a different point.

How to temporarily reposition the pivot point
1. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the draw ing object you w ant to transform.
The pivot point appears in the middle of your selection.

2. Click the pivot point and drag it to a new position.
This becomes the new position of the pivot point for the current transformation and w ill remain
there until you make a new selection.

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Arranging and Reordering Drawing Strokes
The different Arrange options let you reorder draw ing objects and strokes inside a single layer in the Draw ing
or Camera view .

How to arrange drawing strokes
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the strokes to be reordered.
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Arrange > Bring to Front—Moves the selected
art to the front (on top). Press Ctrl + Shift + PgUp (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift +PgUp (macOS).

l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Arrange > Bring Forward—Moves theselected art one level forw ard (closer to the front). Press Ctrl + PgUp
(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + PgUp (macOS).

l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Arrange > Send Backward—Moves theselected art one level low er (behind). Press Ctrl + PgDow n (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ +PgDow n (macOS).

l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Arrange > Send to Back—Moves the selectedart behind everything (bottom / back). Press Ctrl + Shift + PgDow n (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ + Shift + PgDow n (macOS).

4. In the Draw ing View and Camera View toolbars, you can also add the follow ing buttons—see
Customizing Toolbars on page 113.
lBring to Frontbuttonl

Bring Forw ard

buttonl

Send Backw ard

buttonl

Send to Backbutton490

Chapter 5: Draw ing

Grouping Drawing Strokes
Use the grouping options to group and ungroup selected draw ing objects and strokes. This can help in theselection, repositioning, re-scaling and other transformations to be applied to multiple objects of a draw ing.
Grouping does not flatten your objects. You can ungroup your selection at any time. You can also group
groups.

How to group strokes
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the strokes to be grouped.
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Edit > Group > Group.

l

From the Camera or Draw ing view menu, select Edit > Group > Group.

lPress Ctrl + G (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + G (macOS).

How to ungroup strokes
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the groups to be ungrouped.
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Edit > Group > Ungroup.

l

From the Camera or Draw ing view menu, select Edit > Group > Ungroup.

lPress Ctrl + Shift + G (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + G (macOS).

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Selecting Artwork by Colour or Texture
You can select all the shapes in your artw ork that are painted w ith a specific colour or texture. You can also
select all the pencil lines that use a specific pencil texture.

How to select all the artwork painted with the same colour as your selection
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Select tool.

2. In the Tools toolbar or Tool Properties view , toggle on

Select by Colour.

3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , click on a shape filled w ith the colour you w ant to select.
All the shapes in the draw ing that are painted w ith the same colour as the shape you clicked on
w ill be selected.

How to select all the artwork filled with a specific colour or texture
1. In the Colour view , click

Show Colour Palettes.

2. In the upper list, select the palette containing the colour or texture you w ant to select
3. In the low er list, select the colour or texture you w ant to select.
4. In the top-left corner of the Camera or Draw ing view , open theview menu and select Edit >Select Strokes with Current Colour.

How to select all the pencil lines using a specific pencil texture
1. In the Colour view , selectShow Pencil Texture Palettes.

2. In the upper list, select the palette containing the pencil texture you w ant to select.
3. In the low er list, select the pencil texture you w ant to select.
4. In the top-left corner of the Camera or Draw ing view , open the
Select Strokes with Current Pencil Texture.

492

view menu and select Edit >Chapter 5: Draw ing

About the Repositioning All Drawings Tool
T-ANIMPA-010-008
The Reposition All Draw ings tool is used to reposition, scale, rotate or skew all draw ing strokes on every
draw ing included in a layer.

If your hand-draw n animation requires to be repositioned in the grid, as soon as your select the Reposition All
Draw ings tool, all the strokes in all the draw ings exposed on the current layer are selected. You can use thecontrols the same w as as the Select tool—see About the Select Tool on page 478.
You can use the Draw ing Desk feature to select specific draw ings and avoid repositioning all the draw ings—
see About the Draw ing Desk on page 857.

NOTE
To learn more about the Reposition All Draw ings tool options, see the Reference guide .

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Repositioning All Drawings in a Layer
T-ANIMPA-010-009
Use the Reposition All Draw ings tool to reposition all the draw ing strokes on all draw ings exposed in thecurrent layer.

How to reposition all drawings
1. From the Tools toolbar, select the Reposition All Draw ings

tool. This also automatically selects

every stroke in your draw ing in the Draw ing and Camera view .
2. Do any of the follow ing:l

To reposition, click and drag your selection to a new area.

l

To rotate, rotate the selection box handle.

l

To scale, pull or push on the top, side, bottom or corner control points. Hold dow n
Shift to maintain the selection’s ratio.

494Chapter 5: Draw ingl

To skew , drag the sides or top and bottom segments, betw een the control points.

3. W hen you release your cursor, every draw ing in the draw ing layer you repositioned, scaled, rotatedor skew ed w ill follow the same transformation.
4. You can also adjust the position by modifying the settings and using the operation buttons in the
Tool Properties view .

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Repositioning All Drawings in Synced Layers
Normally in the Camera view , the only draw ings that can be repositioned are those from the selected layer.
The Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers option allow s for the inclusion of draw ings on layers synced to theselected draw ing layer.
Layers are synced w hen draw ings need to be separated on different layers, but need to have the same timing.

How to reposition all synced drawings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Reposition All Draw ings

tool.

2. In the Timeline view , select a synced draw ing layer. W hen you click on a synced layer, the otherlayers that it is synced w ith w ill display the link icon.

3. In the Tool Properties panel, enable the Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers

option—see theReference guide .

4. In the Camera view , click and drag the draw ings highlighted by a bounding box to a new location.
Notice that only draw ings from the selected layer and its corresponding synced draw ings havebeen selected.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

5. Delete, move, scale, skew or rotate the cut selection.

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About the Cutter Tool
T-HFND-004-007
The Cutter tool lets you cut out part of a draw ing so that you can transform it, copy it or delete it. You can use it
to scale or reposition the portion of a flattened or bitmap draw ing. You can also use it to trim strokes using asingle gesture.

NOTE
To learn more about the Cutter tool options, see the Reference guide .

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Cutting Artwork
T-HFND-004-007A
Use the Cutter tool to trim and cut your artw ork.
You can also use the Cutter tool to trim the ends of overshot lines. Line ends can be trimmed up to the point
w here they intersect w ith another line. This technique can be used to clean sketches much faster. Enable theSingle Line Cutting Gesture mode for precision or the Multiple Line Cutting Gesture mode for speed.

How to cut drawings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Cutter

tool or press Alt + T.

2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw a lasso around the artw ork you w ant to cut aw ay.

The artw ork inside the lasso you drew w ill be cut from the rest of the artw ork and w ill be selected.

TIPSl

You can add another part of your artw ork to the selection by holding Shift anddraw ing another lasso.

l

By default, the Cutter tool w ill only w ork on the current layer. You can cut artw ork
from all visible layers by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key.

3. Once you've cut out artw ork, you can manipulate it like w ith the Select tool. For example:l

To move the selected artw ork, click and drag it.

l

To delete the selected area, press Del.

l

To scale, rotate or skew the selection, use the controls around the selection's bounding box.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

How to trim a single line
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Cutter

tool or press Alt + T.

2. In the Tool Properties view , under the Cutter Tool Options, select the Lasso.

The Line Cutter Gesture modes are enabled.
3. Select the Single Line Cutting Gesture Mode.

4. In the Stage or Camera view , sw eep the Cutter tool across the end of a line you w ish to trim.
The line end disappears.
BeforeAfter

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

NOTE
Even if your mouse gesture touches other lines, only the first line that the Cutter tool makes
contact w ith disappears.

How to trim multiple lines
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Cutter

tool or press Alt + T.

2. In the Tool Properties view , under the Cutter Tool Options, select the Lasso.

The Line Cutter Gesture modes are enabled.
3. In the Tool Properties view , select the Multiple Lines Cutting Gesture Mode.

4. In the Stage or Camera view , sw eep the Cutter tool across the end of a lines you w ish to trim.
The line ends disappear.
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After

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Cutting Artwork in Several Drawings
You can use the Cutter tool to cut out and manipulate artw ork in several draw ings in the same layer at thesame time. There are tw o approaches to doing this, both of w hich are options available in the Tool Properties
view :l

Apply to All Frames: W hen you draw a lasso or marquee in the Camera or Draw ing view s, it w ill
cut out artw ork in that area in all of the exposed draw ings in the current layer.

lApply to Onion Skin Range: W hen you draw a lasso or marquee in the Camera or Draw ing view s, it
w ill cut out artw ork in that area in all of the draw ings currently displayed in the Onion Skin. Thismethod allow s you to cut out and manipulate artw ork in a specific range of draw ings, and allow s you to
see the artw ork you cut out in the Camera or Draw ing view .

How to select artwork in a specific range of drawings
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a draw ing somew here in the middle of the range of draw ings
you w ant to edit.
2. In the Tools toolbar, click on theOnion Skin button to enable Onion Skin.

3. Adjust the range of the Onion Skin so that it covers every draw ing you w ant to edit:l

In the Timeline view , click and drag on the red onion skin marker to make it include theprevious draw ings you w ant to display in the onion skin, then click and drag on the green
onion skin marker to make it include the next draw ings you w ant to display in the onion skin.

l

Use the buttons in the toolbar above the draw ing space to adjust how many previous andnext draw ings are included in the Onion Skin:l

To increase the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

Add Previous

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

RemovePrevious Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To increase the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Add Next

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Remove Next

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
The draw ings included in the Onion Skin range w ill appear in red and green in the Camera or
Draw ing view .
4. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Cutter tool.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

5. In the Tool Properties view , click and hold on themenu, selectApply to All Frames button and, in the pop-up

Apply to Onion Skin Range.

NOTE
If this button is already set to

Apply to Onion Skin Range, simply click on it to toggle

it on.

6. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw a lasso or marquee around the artw ork you w ant to select.
The artw ork in the current draw ing and in the draw ings displayed in the Onion Skin w ill be cut out
by the lasso or marquee you drew and w ill become selected.

How to select artwork in all exposed drawings in a layer
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select any of the draw ings in the layer that you w ant to edit.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Cutter tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click on the

Apply to All Frames button to enable the Apply to All

Frames mode.

NOTE
If this button is currently set to

Apply to Onion Skin Range mode, click and hold on

the button to open its pop-up menu and selectApply to All Frames.

4. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw a lasso or marquee around the artw ork you w ant to select.
The artw ork in all the draw ings in the current layer w ill be cut out by the lasso or marquee you
drew and w ill become selected.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Cutting Artwork in Multiple Layers
You can use the Cutter tool to cut out artw ork in several layers simultaneously. There are three w ays to do
this:l

By selection: If you select several layers in the Timeline, Node or Xsheet view , you w ill be able to cut
out and manipulate artw ork in all of the selected layers.

l

Apply to All Visible Layers mode: By enabling this mode, you w ill be able to cut out artw ork in allof the layers that are visible in the Camera view simultaneously.

lApply to Synced Drawing Layers mode: By enabling this mode, you w ill be able to cut out artw ork
in the current layer as w ell as in any layer that is synced to that layer simultaneously.

NOTE
You can only cut artw ork in several layers simultaneously in the Camera view .

How to cut out artwork in several specific layers simultaneously
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , move the red Timeline playhead to the frame w here all the draw ings
you w ant to edit are exposed.

l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select one of the draw ings you w ant to edit.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Cutter tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , make sure the

Apply to All Visible Layers or

Apply to Synced

Draw ing Layers button is toggled off.
4. In the Timeline, Node or Xsheet view , select all the layers you w ant to edit simultaneously.

TIPSl

To select multiple layers or nodes, press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘(macOS) key, then click on each layer or node you w ant to select.

l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , you can select a contiguous series of layers byclicking on the first layer you w ant to select, then, w hile holding Shift, clicking on
the last layer you w ant to select. Every layer in-betw een w ill also be selected.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTE
If

Light Table is enabled, the selected layers w ill appear fully opaque. This indicatesthat the currently selected tool can w ork on all selected layers simultaneously.

At this point, you can cut artw ork in all of the selected layers.
5. In the Camera view , draw a lasso or marquee around the artw ork that you w ant to cut out. Notethat only artw ork in the selected layers w ill be cut out and selected.

How to select artwork in all visible layers simultaneously
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , move the red Timeline playhead to the frame w here all the draw ings
you w ant to edit are exposed.

l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select one of the draw ings you w ant to edit.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Cutter tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click on the

Apply to All Visible Layers button to toggle it on.

NOTES
l

If this button is currently set to

Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers mode, click andhold on the button to open its pop-up menu and selectApply to All Visible

Layers.
l

IfLight Table is enabled, all the visible layers w ill appear fully opaque. This

indicates that the currently selected tool can w ork on all visible layers
simultaneously.

TIP
You can also cut artw ork from all visible layers by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or⌘ (macOS) key w hile using the Cutter tool.

4. In the Camera view , draw a lasso or marquee around the artw ork that you w ant to cut out.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

How to select artwork in a layer and all of its synced layers simultaneously
1. In the Timeline view , select a draw ing in one of the synced layers that you w ant to edit.

NOTE
W hen you select a synced layer, that layer and the other layers that are synced w ith it
display a

Link icon.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Cutter tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click and hold on the
pop-up menu, then selectApply to All Visible Layers button to open its

Apply to Synced Drawing Layers.

NOTES
l

If this button is already set to

Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers mode, simply

click on it to toggle it on.
l

If

Light Table is enabled, the currently selected layer and all of its synced layers

w ill appear fully opaque. This indicates that the currently selected tool can w ork on
all of these layers simultaneously.

At this point, you can cut artw ork in the selected layer and all of its synced layers.
4. In the Camera view , draw a lasso or marquee around the artw ork that you w ant to cut out. Notethat only the artw ork in the synced layers w ill be cut out and selected.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

About the Contour Editor Tool
T-HFND-004-008
The Contour Editor lets you reshape vector shapes, brush strokes and lines in your draw ings.
Artw ork in Harmony is made of vector shapes. Vector shapes are defined by points, the lines joining the points
together (contours) and the curve vectors, represented by Bezier handles, w hich make the curve of said lines.

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.
Since pencil lines are defined by a single line w ith a line w idth, you can use the Contour Editor to easily modify
the shape of pencil lines. In contrast, brush strokes are full vector shapes, so the Contour Editor can be used tomodify their shape.

The Contour Editor can be used to tw eak vector artw ork in all sorts of w ays. It can be used to perfect a pencil
line, correct shapes, or create complex shapes out of a basic ellipse or rectangle.

NOTE
To learn more about the Contour Editor tool options, see the Reference Guide.

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Reshaping a Shape, Pencil Line or Stroke with the Contour Editor Tool
T-HFND-004-008A
You can use the Contour Editor tool to tw eak the contours of vector shapes and brush strokes in yourdraw ings, as w ell as reshape pencil lines and strokes.

How to reshape drawings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Contour Editor

tool or press Alt + Q.

2. In the Draw ing or Camera view , click the shape, contour or pencil line you w ant to edit near thearea you w ish to change.
The shape or line's control points appear.

3. Click on one of the points to select it.
The point's Bezier handles appears, as w ell as Bezier handles for the surrounding points.

TIP
You can select several points by draw ing a lasso around the points, or by holding Shiftw hile clicking on points to add them to your selection. You can use the Contour Editor
to scale and rotate a selection of multiple points by enabling the
Editor Control option in the Tool Properties view .

510

Show Contour

Chapter 5: Draw ing

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

To move a point or a selection of multiple points, click and drag it.

l

To change the curve on both sides of a point, drag one of its Bezier handles.

l

To change the curve on only one side of a point, press and hold the Alt key, then drag one ofits Bezier handles.

l

To deform the contour, drag a part of the contour betw een tw o points.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

To deform the curve betw een tw o points, hold the Shift key and drag the contour betw een
tw o points.

l

To remove a point's Bezier handles and make the lines it is connected to straight, press andhold the Alt key and click on the point.

lStraight lines have no Bezier handles at their points by default. To create Bezier handles forthese points and make their lines curved, pres and hold the Alt key, then click and hold thepoint and drag the mouse cursor aw ay from it. A new Bezier handle w ill follow your mouse
cursor until you release the mouse button.

l

To add a control point, press Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and click on the contour
w here you w ant the new point to be created.

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Chapter 5: Draw ingl

To remove a control point, select the control point and press Del (W indow s/Linux) or
Backspace (macOS).

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About the Centerline Editor
T-HFND-004-009B
The Centerline Editor allow s you to tw eak and reshape a brush stroke by manipulating its centre line rather
than its contour (you can manipulate its contour using the Contour Editor tool). This gives a flexibility similar tomanipulating a pencil line w ith the Contour Editor tool.

Keep in mind that brush strokes are vector shapes w ith a fill. As such, the Centerline Editor must do guess
w ork to figure out the centreline of your brush strokes, and apply deformations on its shape as you tw eak its
control points. The Centerline Editor w ill not be able to make a accurate centreline out of brush strokes thatmerge together, that look scrambled or that otherw ise do not have a clear direction.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

NOTE
If you use the Centerline Editor on a textured brush stroke, it w ill deform the texture to make it fit
the new shape of the stroke.

NOTE
If you use the Centerline Editor to deform a closed brush stroke w ith a fill inside it, the fill w ill not
be reshaped to fit the new shape of the brush stroke.

NOTE
To learn more about the Centerline Editor tool options, see the Reference Guide.

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Reshaping Brush Strokes Using the Centerline Editor
T-HFND-004-009C
You can use the Centerline Editor tool to reshape brush strokes from their centreline rather than their contour,
like you w ould reshape pencil lines using the Contour Editor.

How to reshape brush strokes
1. In the Tools toolbar, double-click on the Contour Editor
tool, or press Alt + W .

button and select the Centerline Editor

2. In the Draw ing or Camera view , click the contour or pencil line you w ant to edit near the area you
w ish to change.
The Centerline Editor creates a centreline manipulator based on the outline's shape, w ith control
points.

3. In the Tool Properties view , use the Centerline Smoothness slider to adjust the amount of control
points on the centreline as needed:l

If you find that the generated centreline has too many control points to be easily
manipulated, reduce the Centerline Smoothness parameter.

l

If you need more control points to make precise manipulations, increase the Centerline
Smoothness parameter.

4. Click on one of the points to select it.
The point's Bezier handles appears, as w ell as Bezier handles for the surrounding points.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

TIP
You can select several points by draw ing a lasso around the points, or by holding Shiftw hile clicking on points to add them to your selection. You can use the Contour Editor
to scale and rotate a selection of multiple points by enabling the Show Centerline
Editor Control

option in the Tool Properties view .

5. Do one of the follow ing:l

To move a point or a selection of multiple points, click and drag it.

l

To change the curve on both sides of a point, drag one of its Bezier handles.

l

To change the curve on only one side of a point, press and hold the Alt key, then drag one ofits Bezier handles.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

To deform the contour, drag a part of the contour betw een tw o points.

l

To deform the curve betw een tw o points, hold the Shift key and drag the contour betw een
tw o points.

l

To remove a point's Bezier handles and make the lines it is connected to straight, press andhold the Alt key and click on the point.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

lStraight lines have no Bezier handles at their points by default. To create Bezier handles forthese points and make their lines curved, pres and hold the Alt key, then click and hold thepoint and drag the mouse cursor aw ay from it. A new Bezier handle w ill follow your mouse
cursor until you release the mouse button.

l

To add a control point, press Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and click on the contour
w here you w ant the new point to be created.

l

To delete the control point, select it and press Del.

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About the Pencil Editor Tool
T-HFND-004-009
A pencil line is a central vector shape. Control points are located along the central spine allow ing you to adjust
the stroke curve and position. Using the Pencil Editor tool, you can adjust the thick and thin areas of pencil
lines. Using the Contour Editor tool, you can reposition the spine of the stroke.

NOTE
To learn more about the Pencil Editor tool options, see the Reference guide .

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Tweaking the Thickness of Pencil Lines with the Pencil Editor Tool
T-HFND-004-009A
You can use the Pencil Editor tool to reshape the pencil line thickness.

How to reshape pencil lines
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil Editor

tool.

2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select a pencil line and click to reshape it.

3. Select one or several points by clicking them or circling around.

4. Press Del to delete a selected point.
5. Press Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and click the central spine to add a set of points toadjust the contour.
6. To modify the shape, you can:lMove the selected points to a new area. If you select matching points on each side ofthe line, holding the Shift key w ill move them both. This w ay you can thicken or thin a521

Harmony 22 Premium User Guideline from both sides at the same time.

lPull on the Bezier handle to move both points’ handles as one.

l

Hold dow n Alt and pull on one of the Bezier handles. It moves the handle
independently from the other one.

l

Pull directly on the line betw een tw o points. No selection is necessary. Holding dow n
the Shift key w ill limit the contour modification to the curve betw een the tw o firstpoints.

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Chapter 5: Draw ingl

If an anchor point has no visible Bezier handle, hold dow n Alt to display them.

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Editing a Pencil Line Texture with the Pencil Editor Tool
W hen w orking w ith textured pencil lines, the Pencil Editor w ill deform the textures starting from the centre
lines.

How to use Pencil Editor tool to edit the texture or gradient on a pencil line
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil Editor

tool.

l

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

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

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

Expanding the w idth of the envelope parallel to the pencil line’s central vector w ill cause the tiled
texture to be stretched. Conversely, reducing the envelope’s w idth w ill cause the tiled texture tolook squashed.
Reducing the contour’s w idth perpendicular to the pencil line’s central vector w ill reduce thenumber of tiles, w hile expanding it w ill increase the number of tiled images.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

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About the Smooth Editor Tool
T-ANIMPA-010-010
W hen draw ing in a digital application, it is not like draw ing on a sheet of paper. Sometimes the lines you draw
may look as if they w ere draw n w ith an unsteady hand. W hen this occurs, you may need to correct the look ofyour lines.

Harmony has a very pow erful tool you can use to optimize contours and reduce the number of points on thelines, the Smooth Editor tool.

NOTE
To learn more about the Smooth Editor tool options, see the Reference guide .

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Smoothing Artwork Using the Smooth Editor
T-ANIMPA-010-011
You can use the Smooth Editor to smooth out specific areas of your draw ing strokes.

How to optimize lines with the Smooth Editor tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Smooth Editor

tool or select Drawing > Tools > Smooth Editor.

2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , place your pointer over the lines to smooth. You may need to passover the same line several times to remove more points and make the line smoother. Note that bydefault, the Smooth Editor tool colour is yellow , it w as changed to orange for screen grab clarity—
see the Reference guide to learn about the various settings available.

TIPSl

You can quickly adjust the size of the selected draw ing tool by pressing and holding the O
key, then clicking and dragging in the draw ing space. If you are using a tablet pen, doing
this w ith the eraser tip of your pen w ill adjust the size of the Eraser tool, regardless of
w hich draw ing tool is selected.

l

If you press and hold the Shift key before or w hile draw ing, you w ill draw a straight line.

l

If you press and hold the Spacebar key w hile draw ing a straight line, the angle of your line
w ill lock. If you are using a pressure-sensitive tablet, you can draw over your line to adjust
its thickness.

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About the Perspective Tool
The Perspective tool lets you deform a draw ing selection and alter its perspective. You can use the corner andedge anchor points to w arp the shape.

NOTE
If you use the Perspective tool on a textured brush stroke, it is w ill deform its texture to fit the newshape of the brush stroke. Keep in mind that this w ill resample the texture, w hich is liable to makeit lose quality.

NOTES
To learn more about the Perspective tool options, see the Reference guide .

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Deforming a Drawing with the Perspective Tool
Use the Perspective tool to distort a draw ing's bounding box and simulate a perspective effect.

How to deform a drawing with the Perspective tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Perspective

tool from the Contour Editor drop-dow n menu orpress Alt + 0.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the artw ork you w ant to deform by doing one of thefollow ing:lClick on a draw ing stroke to select it.

lDraw a lasso around draw ing strokes to select them simultaneously.

TIPSl

To add more draw ing strokes to the selection, press and hold the Shift key andeither click or draw a lasso around the strokes you w ant to select.

lPress SHIFT+ALT to unselect all the strokes you have selected previously. You canalso unselect strokes on multiple layers in the Timeline by pressing SHIFT+ALT+CTRL.

l

By default, you can only select artw ork in the currently selected layer. You canselect artw ork from any visible layer by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘(macOS) key.

l

If you prefer draw ing a rectangle rather than a lasso to select artw ork, click on the
Lasso button in the Tool Properties view and selectMarquee.

l

You can select all the draw ing strokes in the draw ing by select Edit > Select Allfrom the top menu or by press ing Ctrl + A (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + A (macOS).

3. Click and drag the different anchor points to deform the shape.

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About the Envelope Tool
The Envelope tool lets you deform and w arp part of a draw ing using a grid envelope and Bezier handles. You
can w arp images to make them look like they are reflected in w ater or in a deformable mirror.

NOTE
If you use the Envelope tool on a textured brush stroke, it is w ill deform its texture to fit the newshape of the brush stroke. Keep in mind that this w ill resample the texture, w hich is liable to makeit lose quality.

NOTE
You can also apply an animatable Envelope-like deformation on draw ings or other elements inyour scene using the Mesh W arp node. For more information on the Mesh W arp Node, see theReference Guide.

NOTE
To learn more about the Envelope tool options, see the Reference guide .

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

W arping a Drawing with the Envelope Tool
You can w arp your draw ings using the Envelope tool.

How to warp a drawing with the Envelope tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Envelope

tool from the Contour Editor drop-dow n menu.

2. In the Timeline view , select a draw ing to deform.
3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the artw ork you w ant to deform by doing one of thefollow ing:lClick on a draw ing stroke to select it.

lDraw a lasso around draw ing strokes to select them simultaneously.

TIPSl

To add more draw ing strokes to the selection, press and hold the Shift key andeither click or draw a lasso around the strokes you w ant to select.

lPress SHIFT+ALT to unselect all the strokes you have selected previously. You canalso unselect strokes on multiple layers in the Timeline by pressing SHIFT+ALT+CTRL.

l

By default, you can only select artw ork in the currently selected layer. You canselect artw ork from any visible layer by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘(macOS) key.

l

If you prefer draw ing a rectangle rather than a lasso to select artw ork, click on the
Lasso button in the Tool Properties view and selectMarquee.

l

You can select all the draw ing strokes in the draw ing by select Edit > Select Allfrom the top menu or by press ing Ctrl + A (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + A (macOS).

A rectangle appears around the selected artw ork. Bezier handles stem from each corner of therectangle, w hich can be manipulated to make the sides of the rectangle into curves.

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4. Click and drag the different anchor points and handles to deform the image.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

TIPSl

In the Tool Properties view , you can enable theShow Advanced Controls option tocontrol the w arp points inside the control box.
l

You can also divide the control box into several sections by increasing the value in the
W idth and Height fields of the Tool Properties view .

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About the Text Tool
W ith the Text tool, you can add text in your project using various fonts and texts attributes.

Text objects are draw ing objects in the same w as as brush strokes and draw ing groups are, so they can be
manipulated w ith the select tool. After you have w ritten and formatted your text, you can break the string
apart to convert the letters into draw ing objects that can than be individually modified w ith tools such as
Select, Perspective, Contour Editor, Smooth Editor.

NOTE
To learn more about the Text tool options, see the Reference guide .

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adding Text to Drawings
You can use the Text tool to add text to your draw ings.

How to add text to drawings
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, select the Text

tool.

l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Tools > Text.

lPress Alt + 9.

2. In the Timeline view , select the cell containing the draw ing on w hich you w ant to add text.
3. In the Draw ing or Camera view , click on the location you w ant the text to begin.

4. You can use the Tool Properties view to select the font, font size and format of the text you w ill
type—see the Reference guide .
5. Type in the desired text.

6. Click outside the text box to exit the typing mode.
If you w ant to create another text object, click outside the currently active text box. You can alw ays
return to edit the text by selecting the Text

tool and clicking in the text.

7. You can resize the text box by selecting your text box w ith the Text

tool and moving the anchor

point right or left. Using the Select tool w ill distort and scale your text itself rather than changing
the w idth and height of your text box.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Breaking Text Into Letters or Vector Shapes
Text contained in a text field is treated as a single draw ing object. You can easily separate the text so eachcharacter becomes an individual draw ing object that you can select and modify independently.

How to break a text object
1. In the Tools toolbar, click the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

2. In the Draw ing or Camera view , select the text object you w ant to break.

3. From the top menu, select Drawing > Convert > Break ApartText Layers.
l

From the Draw ing or Camera view menu, select Drawing > Convert > BreakApartText Layers.

Each character is surrounded by a bounding box that you can modify; they remain text objects thatyou can edit.
4. If you w ant to convert your independent letter to a complete vector object that you can deform, use
the Select tool to select the letters to convert.
5. From the top menu, select Drawing > Convert > Break Apart Text Layers to break the selection
into a regular draw ing object, w ith no more text attributes.
l

From the Draw ing or Camera view menu, select Drawing > Convert > Break Apart
Text Layers to break the selection into a regular draw ing object, w ith no more text
attributes.

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About Tool Presets
T-ANIMPA-002-008
Tool presets let you save a variety of settings and are very efficient for accessing the tools you use most often.
That w ay, the tool is already set w ith the desired properties, such as colour, line thickness, w hether to enable
Draw Behind or Auto Flatten mode, and so on. You can create presets for these tools and many more: Brush,
Pencil, Eraser, Rectangle, Ellipse, and Line.
The difference betw een a tool preset and a brush preset is that w hen you save a tool preset, you have theoption of saving the colour and assigning a shortcut, w hich you cannot do w ith brush presets.
The Tool Presets toolbar lets you create new tool presets and manage them.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Displaying the Tool Preset Toolbar
Use the Tool Preset toolbar to create, manage and select your custom tool presets. You can display the toolbar
in the Draw ing and Camera view s as w ell as the top area.

How to display the Tool Presets toolbar
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Tool Presets.

l

Right-click an empty area below the top menu and select Tool Presets.

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Creating Tool Presets
T-ANIMPA-002-009
You can create your custom tool presets to quickly access brushes and pencils settings and colours you use
frequently.

How to create a tool preset
1. In the Tools toolbar, select a tool, for example the Brush tool.
2. Use the Tool Properties view to customize the tool.
3. To set a specific colour for your preset, in the Colour view , select the colour sw atch to link to the
tool.

NOTE
W hen using a tool preset in a scene that is not using the assigned colour sw atch,a colour recovery dialog box appears prompting you to add the colour to thescene.

4. In the Tool Presets toolbar, click the New Tool Preset button.
5. In the New Preset dialog box, in the Name field, type a name for your new preset.

6. From the icon list, select an icon to quickly identify your preset or upload your ow n by clicking theFilebutton.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

7. (Optional) From the Shortcut menu, set a keyboard shortcut to quickly access your preset. By
default, the shortcuts are unassigned. To assign a keyboard shortcut, select Edit > Preferences >Shortcuts > Tool Presets (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony Premium > Preferences > Shortcuts >Tool Presets (macOS).
8. W hen you select an option, it w ill take effect w hen you use the tool preset. If an option isdeselected, then using a tool preset w ill not override your current settings.
lColour: Saves the current colour into the tool preset.

9. Click OK.

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Selecting Tool Presets
You can select tool presets in the Tool Presets toolbar.

How to select a tool presetl

In the Tool Presets toolbar, click the tool preset

icon you assigned w hen creating the preset.

Note that w hen using this preset in a new scene not using the assigned colour sw atch, a colour
recovery dialog box appears prompting you to add the colour to the scene.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Deleting Tool Presets
You can delete unnecessary tool presets to keep your list organized.

How to delete a tool preset
1. In the Tool Presets toolbar, click the Manage Tool Presets

button.

2. From the list of tool presets on the left, select a preset to delete and click the Trash icon.

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Updating Tool Presets
T-ANIMPA-002-010
You can update existing tool presets through the Manage Tool Presets dialog box.

How to update a tool preset
1. In the Tool Properties view , update the tool settings.
2. In the Tool Presets toolbar, click the Manage Tool Presets

button.

3. In the Manage Tool Presets dialog box, select the tool preset from the list.
4. Update the additional parameters such as the icon, Colour, Layer and Draw Behind options.
5. Click Update.
6. Click OK.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Exporting Tool Presets
You can export tool presets for backup, sharing, or installing on a different computer.

How to export a tool preset
1. In the Tool Presets toolbar, click the Manage Tool Presets
The Manage Tool Presets dialog box opens.
2. Click Export.
3. In the Export Brush Presets w indow that opens, click Export.
4. Select a folder and click Select Folder.

545

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Importing Tool Presets
You can import Harmony tool presets you previously exported.

How to import a tool preset
1. In the Tool Presets toolbar, click the Manage Tool Presets

button.

The Manage Tool Presets dialog box opens.
2. Click Import.
3. In the Select Folder w indow that opens, locate and select the preset(s) to import and click SelectFolder.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

About the Tool Colour Swatches
T-ANIMPA-010-018
W hile draw ing and painting, you can let Harmony retain the last colour you selected for each one of thefollow ing tool types:
l

Brush

l

Paint

l

Pencil, Ellipse, Line, Rectangle, Polyline

The Colour view has three sw atches w here you can set a colour for the Brush , Paint, and Pencil tools.

You can also link or unlink the colour sw atch used betw een vector and bitmap layers.

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Unlinking the Tool Colour Swatches
T-ANIMPA-010-019
You can unlink the tool colour sw atches and use separated colours for the Brush, Paint, and pencil line tools.
If you prefer to have Harmony use the same colour sw atches regardless of the selected tool, you can link thethree sw atches together.

How to unlink the tool colour swatches
1. In the Colour view , if the storage sw atches are linked, click the Link

2. Click on the Brushstorage sw atch.

3. In the Colour list, select the desired colour.
4. Click the Pencil

storage sw atch.

5. In the Colour list, select a colour.
6. Click the Paint

storage sw atch.

7. In the Colour list, select a colour.

548

button to unlink them.

Chapter 5: Draw ing

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Linking the Tool Colour Swatches
You can link the tool colour sw atches so all the tools use the same colour sw atch.

How to link the storage swatches
1. In the Tools toolbar, select one of the follow ing tools:
l

Brush

l

Paint

l

Pencill

Polyline

l

Line

l

Ellipsel

Rectangle

2. In the Colour view , if the storage sw atches are unlinked, click the Link

button to link them.

Each time you select a new colour for your current tool, all the storage sw atches are updated.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Using Independent Bitmap Colour Swatches
W hen w orking in the Colour view , by default the current colour is active for both vector and bitmap layers. You
can how ever, use different reference colours for each layer.
Although you can use colours from your colour palette to paint on a bitmap layer, colours used in a bitmap
draw ing layer are not linked to their colour sw atch in the palette. This means that, contrary to vector draw ing,
updating the colours in your colour palette w ill not update your bitmap draw ings w ith the new colours.

How to use independent colourslFrom the Colour view menu, select Colours > Independent Bitmap Colour.
W hichever colour you choose as the reference color is retained for that layer type.

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About Drawing Space Management
W hen you are draw ing in the Camera or Draw ing view , you can zoom, pan and rotate the view to make iteasier to determine w here to place objects, determine the scale of objects, and w hen zooming out, get an
overall view of the panel and its contents. You can also use the grid to help you determine the size andplacement of objects as you draw .
If you like draw ing in the Camera view , but don't w ant overlays to cover the draw ing you're w orking on, you
can enable the Current Draw ing on Top option.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

About the Zoom Tool
The Zoom tool in the Tools toolbar lets you zoom in and zoom out of the Camera or Draw ing view .

NOTE
To learn more about the Zoom tool options, see the Reference guide .

How to use the Zoom tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Zoom

tool available in the Hand tool drop-dow n menu.

2. Click in the Camera or Draw ing view .
3. In the Tools Properties view , do the follow ing:lEnable the Zoom In

mode to zoom in mode w hen you click in the Camera or

Draw ing view . W hen you're in Zoom In mode, hold as you click to zoom out.
lEnable the Zoom Out

mode to zoom out w hen you click in the Camera or Draw ing

view .
l

Click on the Zoom InlClick on the Zoom Out

button to immediately zoom in. You can also press 2.
button to immediately zoom out. You can also press 1.

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About the Hand Tool
You can use the Hand tool to pan through the Draw ing or Camera view . W hen you are zoomed in yourw orkspace, you may need to pan to a different area of your image. You can do so w ith the Hand tool or theSpacebar keyboard shortcut.
The Hand tool has no options in the Tool Properties view .

How to use the Hand tool
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, select the Hand

tool, click in the Draw ing or Camera view and

drag.
l

You can also Hold dow n the Spacebar, click in the Draw ing or Camera view and moveyour mouse in the direction you w ant to pan the view .

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

About the Rotate View Tool
T-LAY-001-005
The Rotate View tool lets you rotate the Draw ing or Camera view , the same w ay as you w ould do w ith a realanimation disc for increased flexibility. This tool can also be used in the Perspective view .

The Rotate View tool has no options in the Tool Properties view .

How to use the Rotate View tool
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Tools > Rotate View.

l

In the Tools toolbar, select the Rotate View tool in the Hand tool menu.

l

In the Draw ing or Camera view , right-click and select Drawing Tools > Rotate View.

l

Hold dow n Ctrl + Alt (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Alt (macOS).

The rotation disc appears.

2. In the Draw ing or Camera view , click and drag to rotate the space.

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3. Release the keyboard shortcut or sw itch to a new draw ing tool.
4. Reset the view rotation using View > Reset Rotation or press Shift + X to reset the rotation.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

About Mirror View
A recurring challenge for artists is to draw characters and objects w ith their elements properly aligned andw ith respect to their proportions and shapes. W hile draw ing, the eye tends to get used to the imperfections inthe shapes and proportions in your artw ork, making it hard to spot and correct them. A common trick to avoid
this pitfall is to flip your artw ork horizontally. This allow s you to look at your artw ork as if you w ere looking at
it for the first time, making all the mistakes in shapes, positioning and proportion obvious to your eye.
Using the Mirror View command, you can temporarily flip the draw ing space horizontally, w hether in the
Camera or Draw ing view . This w ill allow you to see your artw ork and your animation as if your w hole stage
w as flipped, and you can even use the draw ing and animation tools on the flipped artw ork. Once you are done,
you can disable Mirror View to instantly undo it and resume w orking w ith your artw ork in its originalorientation.

NOTE
Just like panning, rotating and zooming in or out of the Camera and Draw ing view s, Mirror view isstrictly a temporary visual effect. It does not affect the rendered image nor does it have any
permanent effect on your artw ork, your layers or your scene's layout.

How to temporarily flip the Cameraor Drawing view horizontally
1. Click anyw here on the Camera or Draw ing view to set the focus on the view you're draw ing in.

TIP
You can click on a view 's tab to set the focus on it w ithout clicking on anything inside it.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera or Draw ing toolbar, click on the

Mirror View button.

l

In the top menu, open the View menu and select Mirror View.

Everything in the Camera or Draw ing view w ill now appear flipped horizontally. A small overlay
w ith the text Mirror View appears in the top-left corner of the draw ing space to help you rememberthat you are w orking in Mirror View .

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TIP
You can add a button to enable and disable Mirror View to your Camera or Draw ing view
toolbar. To customize a toolbar's buttons, right-click on the toolbar and select Customize.

NOTE
The Customize option w ill only appear if you click the upper part of the toolbar.
For the upper part of the toolbar to appear, select one of the follow ing toolbars:l

Alignment GuideslClips and TrackslKeyframes and Control Pointsl

Pen SettingslScripting

The Customize option w ill only appear if you click the area above the toolbar

How to unflip the Camera or Drawing view
1. Click anyw here on the Camera or Draw ing view to set the focus on the view you're using to draw .

TIP
You can click on a view 's tab to set the focus on it w ithout clicking on anything inside it.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

2. In the top menu, open the View menu and select Mirror View .
Everything in the Camera or Draw ing view w ill be unflipped. The "Mirror View " overlay w ill
disappear.

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Displaying the Current Drawing on Top
T-ANIMPA-010-020
In the Camera view , w hen you draw on a layer, the artw ork is displayed in the correct order. For example, if thelayer on w hich you are draw ing is located behind an object on another layer, the lines you draw w ill be hidden
behind that object.

You can display a selected draw ing on top of everything w hile you draw . Then, each time you select a draw ing
tool, the draw ing is displayed in front of everything in the Camera view . The Timeline and Node view ordering
remain unchanged.

How to display the drawing on top
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select View > Show > Current Drawing on Top.

l

In the Camera bottom toolbar, click the Current Draw ing on Top

button.

NOTE
The Current Draw ing on Top status is retained w hen you exit Harmony. W hen
you restart the application, the last status w ill be used.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select a draw ing tool. You only need to enable this option once, it is notnecessary to do it each time you select a draw ing tool.
3. In the Camera view , start draw ing.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

About the Grid
Harmony is equipped w ith a traditional animation grid. You can use it as a reference w hile draw ing to fit agiven layout field chart, align elements, or simply see the center of your draw ing. You can draw beyond thegrid boundaries as it is only a visual reference.
In the Camera view , the Grid is visible w hen you select a draw ing tool.

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Displaying the Grid
You can display the grid and it w ill be visible in the Draw ing view . It w ill be visible in the Camera view w hen
you select a draw ing tool.
Use the Show Grid option to display a grid in the Draw ing or Camera view s.

How to display the grid
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Draw ing View toolbar, press the Show Gridbutton.

l

In the Camera View toolbar, press the Show Gridbutton.

l

Select View > Grid > Show Grid.

lPress Ctrl + ' (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + ' (macOS).

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Modifying the Grid
You can modify the look of the grid to be either square, 12-field, 16-field, outline, and so on.

How to modify the grid display
1. Select View > Grid > Show Grid to display the grid.
2. To modify the grid, select one of the follow ing:lView > Grid > Grid Outline Only—Displays the outline of the grid only.

lView > Grid > Square—Displays a standard square grid.

lView > Grid > 12 Field Grid—Displays a 12-field size grid.

lView > Grid > 16 Field Grid—Displays a 16-field size grid.

lView > Grid > Underlay—Displays the grid under the draw ing elements.

lView > Grid > Overlay—Displays the grid over the draw ing elements.

3. In the Draw ing View and Camera View toolbars, you can also add the follow ing buttons—see
Customizing Toolbars on page 113.
l

Grid Outline Only

buttonl

Squarel

12 Field Gridbuttonl

16 Field Gridbuttonl

UnderlaybuttonlOverlay

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Changing Pencil Line Opacity Display
The pencil, ellipsis, rectangle and line tools create pencil lines. Pencil lines are defined by a central vector line
to w hich Harmony adds thickness.
Pencil lines tend to obscure the actual edges of the shape they are around. Sometimes, know ing the actualedge of shapes surrounded by pencil lines can be useful. To w ork around this problem, it is possible totemporarily adjust the opacity of pencil lines in the Camera view .

NOTES
l

This w ill only affect the w ay your pencil lines are displayed in the OpenGL preview of the
Camera view . The rendered image w ill not be affected.

lOutlines created w ith the Brush tool are not pencil lines. They are fully defined vector shapes.
Hence, this feature w ill not w ork on brush strokes.

How to adjust the opacity of pencil lines in the preview image
1. In either the Draw ing view or Camera view toolbar, click on the Top Light icon. The Pencil Lines
Opacity feature can also be accessed through the Preferences panel.

The Onion Skin and Light Table Transparency dialog opens.
2. In the Onion Skin and Light Table Transparency dialog box, use the Pencil Lines Opacity slider to
globally increase or decrease the opacity of central vector lines. Sliding the slider all the w ay to theright equals 100% opacity. Sliding the slider all the w ay to the left equals 0% opacity.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

3. Click OK.

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About OpenGL Antialiasing
T-ANIMPA-010-016
Everything you draw in Harmony is vector-based, unless you purposely elected to draw as bitmap. W hen you
draw in the Draw ing or Camera view , notice that your lines may appear jagged. This is caused by the fast realtime display called OpenGL. If you prefer to see smooth lines as you draw , you can enable the antialiasing
preference.

Full scene antialiasing is generated by your computer’s graphics card. This antialiasing w ill not only antialias
your draw ings, but all your different view s in the interface. Full scene antialiasing is an option you can turn on
or off; by default, it is disabled.
There is no need to modify your graphic card settings.

NOTE
Full Scene Antialiasing parameters are only valid w hile you w ork in your scene. The scene w ill berendered to 100% of its resolution regardless of your preference settings or graphic card panel.

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Setting the Full Scene Antialiasing Preference
T-ANIMPA-010-017
You can enable the Full Scene Antialiasing preference to smooth out the OpenGL artw ork.

NOTE
You must restart Harmony after you change the parameters.

How to customize the full scene antialiasing parameters
1. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony Premium > Preferences(macOS).

l

Press Ctrl + U (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + U (macOS).

The Preferences dialog box opens.
2. In the OpenGL tab, select the Enable option in the Full Scene Antialiasing section.

3. Number or samples: Enter the number of samples you w ant to be used for the antialiasing process.
The number of samples is basically equivalent to the amount of times a pixel w ill be enlarged to
calculate the antialiasing. This technique is called supersampling. The higher the number ofsamples, the better the antialiasing quality w ill be, but the heavier it w ill be on performance.
4. Restart Harmony.

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About Pen Stabilization
By default, w hen draw ing w ith freehand draw ing tools such as the brush, pencil or eraser tools, Harmonysmoothens each draw ing stroke you create right after creating it. It does this by generating the vector shape ofyour draw ing stroke, then simplifying its structure of points and curves, to remove w hat appears to be jittering.
How ever, this can cause your precisely executed strokes to lose in precision and quality.
W hen draw ing w ith minutia and precision, you can use Harmony's pen stabilizer instead. The pen stabilizer
allow s you to easily draw curved lines w ith precision w ithout having to apply smoothing to them after you
have draw n them.
Harmony's pen stabilizer w orks by letting you draw a stroke of a certain length w ithout generating artw ork
right aw ay. Once your stroke reaches this length, Harmony starts generating an actual draw ing stroke that
trails behind your mouse cursor or tablet pen. It determines the direction the draw ing stroke takes using one of
the tw o follow ing methods, depending on w hich one you select:lAverage: Harmony calculates the average direction of all of your mouse or pen gestures betw een theend 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 and rounding sharp turns.

lPulled String: W hen you start draw ing a stroke, Harmony positions the draw ing tool w here your stroke
starts. As you move the mouse 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 toolin the direction of your mouse cursor or tablet pen.

NOTE
The distance betw een your mouse cursor or tablet pen and the stroke can be adjusted. For
the purpose of demonstration, these images w ere done using the largest supported
distance.

Both methods allow you to cancel out the jittering and the small mistakes in your draw ing strokes as you
make them, rather than afterw ards. But the tw o methods feel different:568

Chapter 5: Draw ingl

The Average method takes into account all your draw ing gestures. Therefore, if you jitter a lot w hiledraw ing, your strokes may jitter a little. It is also tricky to create sharp corners w ith this method.
How ever, this method tends to create very consistently smooth draw ing curves. Also, since it actuallyfollow s the gesture of your mouse or tablet pen, you might find that this method feels more naturalthan the Pulled String method.

l

The Pulled String method gives you more precise control, and can be used to make sharp corners w ith
the right technique, but may be harder to learn and to master. Your draw ing tool does not follow yourdraw ing strokes, it just gets pulled in the direction of your mouse cursor or tablet pen, w hich means thew ay your draw ing gestures translate into draw ing strokes is different than w hat you're used to.

You may need to do some trial and error to determine w hich method fits your draw ing style the best. You canalso customize the distance by w hich your draw ing stroke trails behind your mouse cursor or tablet pen. A
shorter distance w ill feel more natural, but a longer distance w ill stabilize your draw ing strokes more.
The Pen Stabilizer w orks w ith thew ork w ith theBrush,

Pencil,Eraser tool.

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Stamp and

Stroke tools. Optionally, it can alsoHarmony 22 Premium User Guide

Using Drawing Tool Stabilization
You can enable and configure pen stabilization using the Pen Settings toolbar. You may have to do some trial
and error to find the settings that w ork for you and to get used to draw ing w ith the stabilizer.

NOTE
For more information on the Pen Settings toolbar,refer to the Reference Guide.

How to configure drawing tool stabilization
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 drop-dow n to the left of the toolbar, select one of the follow ing Pen Stabilizer modes:lAverage: Harmony calculates the average direction of all of your mouse 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.

lPulled String: W hen you start draw ing a stroke, Harmony positions the draw ing tool w here
your stroke starts. As you move the mouse 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 thedraw ing tool in the direction of your mouse cursor or tablet pen.

3. In the field just right of the drop-dow n, select the stabilizer distance you w ant to use. You can entera number betw een 0 and 100. You can also click and drag on the570

left-right button right of theChapter 5: Draw ing

text field to adjust its value.

NOTES
l

This sets the distance by w hich your draw ing tool trails behind your mouse cursor ortablet pen. The higher the distance, the more stabilized your draw ing motions w illbe, but the harder it w ill be to draw sharp corners and precise shapes.

l

For casual draw ing, it is recommended to try values ranging betw een 5 and 20 at
first. Higher values are more useful for draw ing w ith a lot of minutia.

4. Click on thelStabilizer Settings button and:If you selected the Average method and you w ant your draw ing strokes to catch up w ith
your tablet pen w hen you hold the pen tip against your tablet w ithout moving it, make sure
the Catch Up option is checked. Otherw ise, uncheck it.

NOTEStabilization makes your draw ing stroke trail behind as you move your mouse
cursor or tablet pen tip. This option makes your stroke catch up to your tablet
pen w hen you hold it against the tablet w ithout moving. This option only w orks
w hen draw ing w ith a tablet pen.

l

If you selected the Pulled String method and you w ant the virtual string betw een yourmouse cursor or pen tip and your draw ing tool to display, make sure the Show String option
is checked. Otherw ise, uncheck it.

l

If you w ant to use the pen stabilizer w ith the Eraser tool, make sure the Eraser option ischecked. Otherw ise, uncheck it.

5. Try to draw in the Camera or Draw ing view to test how your settings w ork out, and makeadjustments as needed until you have the configuration that w orks best for you.
6. W hen you w ant to disable pen stabilization, open the stabilization drop-dow n in the Pen Settings
toolbar and select Stabilizer Off.

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About Pen Pressure Curve Customization
W hen you use a pressure-sensitive tablet w ith the Brush, Eraser, Pencil and Stamp tools, Harmony takes theamount of pressure you put on your tablet pen in account as you draw . It uses this information to determine
the thickness of your draw ing stroke. For example, w hile using the Brush tool, the harder you press on you
tablet pen, the bigger your brush strokes w ill be, and vice versa.
To determine the thickness of your draw ing strokes, it uses your draw ing tool's Minimum Size and Maximum
Size parameters, w hich can be set in the Tool Properties view . The thickness of your draw ing stroke is alw ays
going to vary betw een those tw o parameters, based on how much pressure you put on your tablet pen.
By default, the size of your draw ing strokes is directly proportional to the amount of pressure you put on yourpen. It is calculated using this simple formula:This means that if you apply 25% of the pressure your tablet pen can detect, the thickness of your draw ing
strokes w ill be 25% of the w ay betw een your tool's minimum size and its maximum size. Likew ise, if you apply
75% of the pressure your tablet pen can detect, the thickness of your draw ing stroke w ill be 75% of the w ay
betw een your tool's minimum size and its maximum size.
Harmony allow s you to customize the w ay it processes the pressure you put on your tablet pen into thethickness of your draw ing strokes. You can do this by tw eaking the pressure curve in the Pen Pressure Feeldialog.

Depending on how you hold and use your tablet pen, this may allow you to have better control over the
thickness of your draw ing strokes. For example, if you tend to put a lot of pressure on your pen, you may w ant
Harmony to let you draw thinner lines unless you apply even more pressure than you usually do. Likew ise, if
you tend to put very little pressure on your pen, you may w ant Harmony to generate thicker lines unless you
apply even less pressure than you usually do.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Customizing the Pen Pressure Curve
You can make adjustments to the curve used by Harmony to process the pressure from your tablet pen via thePen Pressure Feel dialog, w hich can be accessed from the Pen Settings toolbar.

NOTE
For more information on the Pen Pressure Feel dialog,refer to the Reference Guide.

How to customize the curve by which tablet pen pressure is applied to the size of yourdrawing tool
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.

3. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush or the

Pencil tool.

NOTE
The pressure curve affects all tools that supports pressure-sensitivity, such as theBrush tool, thePencil tool, theshould use theBrush orEraser tool and theStamp tool. How ever, you

Pencil tool to test out your pressure settings.

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4. Make sure that the minimum size of your draw ing tool is low enough and that its maximum size ishigh enough that you can clearly see how the pen pressure affects the thickness of your lines.

TIP
To do this, in the Tool Properties view , click on theShow Extended Properties button

to open the Brush or Pencil Properties dialog. Then, adjust the value of the Minimum
Size and the Maximum Size sliders.

5. If you w ant to be able to lightly brush the tip of your tablet pen against your tablet w ithout actually
draw ing, increase the value in the Min Pressure field.
6. If you don't w ant to have to press your tablet pen all the w ay dow n to draw in your draw ing tool's
maximum size, decrease the value in the Max Pressure field.
7. To try a curve preset select one in the Curve Preset field. This w ill instantly change the shape ofyour pressure curve.
8. To adjust the shape of the curve manually:l

Click and drag on theleftmost Bezier handle to change the shape of the curve from theleftmost point.
lClick and drag on therightmost Bezier handle to change the shape of the curve from therightmost point.
The follow ing is a list of examples of how you can adjust the curve, depending on the w ay you use
your tablet pen:l

If you make an ease-in 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, unless you apply a lot of pressure on
your tablet pen.

l

If you make an ease-out curve like the one below , the size of your draw ing strokes w ill tend
to be closer to the maximum size of your draw ing tool, unless you apply very little pressure574

Chapter 5: Draw ing

on your tablet pen.

l

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 lightpressure, and to be closer to the maximum size of your draw ing tool w hen applying morepressure, 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 of your draw ing
tool, unless you apply very little or a lot of pressure on your tablet pen.

9. Test out how your new settings feel by draw ing strokes in the Camera or Draw ing view , and makeadjustments as needed until you have the configuration that w orks best for you.

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About Drawing Guides
T-LAY-001A-001
Draw ing guides are draw ing aids that you can add to your scene to help you draw backgrounds and objects
w ith straight lines, square angles and graphic projection effects such as isometric projection, straightperspective or curvilinear perspective. In traditional art, this is often done w ith tools such as rulers, T-squares,
set squares and vanishing points. Guides allow you to simulate the use of such tools in combination w ith thedraw ing tools in Harmony.
Harmony supports different types of draw ing guides, each designed for a different kind of draw ing task. Mostof Harmony's draw ing guides w ork by adding a horizon line and vanishing points to your draw ing space.
W hile using a draw ing guide, dotted guide lines appear through your mouse cursor. These guide lines areeither parallel or perpendicular to the horizon line, or are going from one of the guide's vanishing points toyour mouse cursor. W hen you start draw ing a stroke, your draw ing tool instantly becomes locked to one of theguide's axes, as if you w ere draw ing against a ruler. Optionally, you can use draw ing guides as mere visualreferences, w ithout locking your draw ing tool against their axes.
Harmony supports the follow ing types of draw ing guides:l

The Ruler allow s you to position and rotate a simple axis, then draw a line along that axis, like a regularruler.

l

The Square Grid helps you draw lines that are either parallel or perpendicular to a horizon line.

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Chapter 5: Draw ingl

The Isometric Perspective guide helps you draw lines that are parallel to one of three axes: The x-axis,
the y-axis and the z-axis. The angle of each axis can be customized as needed.
This type of pseudo-perspective, also referred to as parallel projection, is often used in 2D games,
computer graphics and schematics to depict 3D objects and environments w ithout using any actual
perspective, foreshortening or 3D rendering. In 2D animation, it is often used to draw long panningbackgrounds from a low or high angle.

l

The 1- Point Perspective guide helps you draw lines coming from a single vanishing point in the middleof the horizon. It also helps you draw lines that are either parallel or perpendicular to the horizon line.
This is useful for draw ing cuboid structures that are facing the camera.

l

The 2- Point Perspective guide helps you draw lines coming from one of tw o vanishing points, w hichare placed on the horizon line outside the camera field. It also helps you draw lines that areperpendicular to the horizon line.
This is useful for draw ing cuboid structures from a specific horizontal angle.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

The 3- Point Perspective (Bird's Eye View) guide helps you draw lines coming from one of threevanishing points. Like w ith the 2-Point Perspective guide, tw o vanishing points are placed on thehorizon line, w hich are used to draw horizontal lines on either the x-axis or the z-axis. The othervanishing point is placed below the horizon line to help draw lines on the y-axis.
This is useful for draw ing cuboid structures from an elevated point of view .

l

The 3- Point Perspective (W orm's Eye View) guide helps you draw lines coming from one of threevanishing points. Like w ith the 2-Point Perspective guide, tw o vanishing points are placed on thehorizon line, w hich are used to draw horizontal lines on either the x-axis or the z-axis. The othervanishing point is placed above the horizon line to help draw lines on the y-axis.
This is useful for draw ing cuboid structures from a low point of view .

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Chapter 5: Draw ingl

The 3- Point Perspective (Horizontal Pan) guide helps you draw horizontally panoramic backgrounds,
w ith curvilinear horizontal lines. A vanishing point is placed in the middle of the horizon line, to help
draw lines on the z-axis, and tw o vanishing points are placed on the horizon line outside of the camera
field, to define the curve of the horizontal lines. Vertical lines are made perpendicular to the horizon line.
This is useful for draw ing backgrounds meant to be panned over horizontally. Panning the camera
horizontally over a background draw n w ith a 3-Point Perspective (Horizontal Pan) guide w ill simulate arotation of the camera on the y-axis.

l

The 3- Point Perspective (Vertical Pan) guide helps you draw vertically panoramic backgrounds, w ith
curvilinear vertical lines. A vanishing point is placed in the middle of the horizon line, to help draw lines
on the z-axis, and tw o vanishing points are placed above and below the horizon line, outside of thecamera field, to define the curve of the vertical lines. Horizontal lines are made parallel to the horizon
line.
This is useful for draw ing background meant to be panned over vertically. Panning the camera verticallyover a background draw n w ith a 3-Point Perspective (Vertical Pan) guide w ill simulate a verticalrotation of the camera on the x-axis.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

The 4- Point Continuous Perspective guide is very similar to the 3 Point Perspective (Horizontal Pan)
guide, except that it is designed to help draw full 360° panoramic backgrounds.
This guide uses 5 vanishing points. W hen draw ing a horizontal line, it is curved by arching over one ofthe vanishing points and reaching dow n to the tw o surrounding vanishing points. This creates aperspective effect w here each vanishing point represents one of the cardinal points, except that theleftmost and the rightmost points represent the same cardinal point, effectively creating a looping
background. Backgrounds made w ith the 4-Point Continuous Perspective guide can be looped
horizontally to simulate a full rotation of the camera on the y-axis.

l

The 4- Point Perspective (Vertical Pan) is a lot like the 2-Point Perspective guide, except that its
vertical lines are curvilinear, so it can be used to make vertically panning backgrounds. Tw o vanishingpoints are on the horizon line, outside of the camera field, to help draw lines on the x-axis and the zaxis, and tw o vanishing points are placed above and below the camera field to define the curve of thevertical lines.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

This is useful for draw ing backgrounds meant to be panned over vertically, in w hich cuboid objects areseen from an angle.

l

The 5- Point Perspective (Fish Eye) guide helps you draw backgrounds that are curvilinear on both thex-axis and the y-axis. It has one central vanishing point on the horizon line, from w hich lines on the zaxis are draw n, tw o vanishing points at the extremities of its horizon line, to define the curve of thehorizontal lines, and tw o vanishing points above and below the horizon line, to define the curve of thevertical lines.
This guide can be used to draw backgrounds w ith a fisheye-style w ide angle lens effect. It can also be
used to draw backgrounds that are meant to be panned in various directions.

Guides are made to w ork w ith the follow ing tools. To avoid cluttering your draw ing space, they are only
visible w hen one of these tools is selected:

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l

Brush

l

Pencill

Strokel

Line

To use a guide, you must add the Guides view to your w orkspace. Then, you can add the guide you w ish to use
to your scene's guides list. A new ly added guide w ill have its horizon line and vanishing points in preset
positions. You can rotate and reposition the horizon line as w ell as reposition the vanishing points to fit yourscene's needs. W hen using curvilinear perspective guides, you can also adjust the Beziers of the curves tomake them narrow er or w ider.
The Guides view allow s you to have as many guides as you w ant, and each one w ill preserve the adjustments
you make to it. In the Guides view , you can also select w hich guide you w ish to use, rename, delete andreorder guides as needed, as w ell as cut, copy, paste, export and import guides betw een different scenes.

NOTES
l

The guide list, its guides and their individual parameters are saved w ith your scene. Hence, you
can create a configure a guide specifically for the backgrounds and objects in your scene in one
Harmony session, then reuse them exactly as you configured them in a later Harmony session.

lChanges made to a guide or to the guide list can be undone w ith the Undo command.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adding Drawing Guides
T-LAY-001A-002
The first step in using draw ing guides is to add a guide to the scene's guides list.

How to add a drawing guide to your scene
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. Add the Guide view to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top-right corner of any view in your w orkspace, click on the

Add View button andselect Guides.
l

In the top menu, select W indows > Guides.

3. In the Guides view , click on the

New Guide button and choose one of the follow ing types ofguides:
l

Ruler

l

Square Gridl

Isometric Perspectivel

1-Point Perspectivel2-Point Perspective583

Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

3-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 Perspectivel

4-Point Perspective (Vertical Pan)l5-Point Perspective (Fisheye)

NOTE
For information on each kind of guide in the list, see About Draw ing Guides on page576

The new guide appears in the guides list.

NOTES
l

Adding a guide automatically toggles thetoggles the

Enable Guides option on, and automatically

Lock Guides option off, so that you can immediately view and adjust yournew guide.
lYour new guide w ill come in a preset position w ith preset parameters. To makeadjustments to your guide, see Editing Draw ing Guides on page 589.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Selecting the Active Drawing Guide
A Harmony scene can have several guides in its guides list, but you can only see, edit and use one guide at atime. You can decide w hich guide you're w orking w ith by selecting it from the guides list. The selected guidew ill display in your draw ing space.
W hen a guide is active, its horizon line, vanishing points and other visual elements w ill display in your draw ing
space. Also, dotted lines w ill follow your mouse cursor w hen you move it inside your draw ing space. Each ofthese lines represents one of the axes of your draw ing guide.

NOTE
Although you can select the active guide at any time, a guide w ill only be visible, editable andusable if either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool is selected.

How to select the active guide from the guides list
1. In the Guides view , click on the desired guide in the guides list

The selected guide w ill become active in the Camera and Draw ing view s.

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NOTE
If guides are disabled, clicking on a guide in the guides list w ill enable them.

How to quickly switch between guides using keyboard shortcuts
1. Click on the tab for the Camera or Draw ing view to set the focus on that view .
2. Press the Up Arrow or Dow n Arrow key to select the previous or next guide in the list.

NOTE
Using the Up Arrow or Dow n Arrow to select a guide w ill only w ork if guides are alreadyenabled.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Renaming Drawing Guides
W hen adding a guide, it is automatically named after its guide type. Since you can have several guides of thesame type in the same guides list, you might need to rename your guides to be able to easily differentiate
them.

NOTE
It is not required to give a unique name to each guide in the guides list.

How to rename a guide using the Guide Menu
1. In the Guides view , select a guide from the list.

2. Click on the

Menu button and select Rename Guide.

The Rename Guide dialog box appears.

3. In the Rename Guide: field, type in a new name for the selected guide.
4. Click on OK.

How to rename a guide using the Guide List
1. In the Guides view , double-click on a guide displayed in the list.
The guide's name turns into a text input field.

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2. In the text field, type in the new name for the guide.
3. Press Enter/Return.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Editing Drawing Guides
T-LAY-001A-005
After a guide is added, it is configured w ith a preset position and angle for its horizon line, a preset position for
its vanishing points, a preset size and, if applicable, preset Bezier curves. In many cases, you have to makeadjustments to your guide so that you can use it to draw backgrounds and objects from the right point of view .
Different guides can be customized in different w ays. This sections provides steps on how to customize eachtype of guide.

NOTES
l

You can view a guide and make changes to it directly in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen the
Brush,
Pencil,Stroke orLine tool is selected.

l

W hen you make a change to a guide, you can undo that change w ith the Undo command.

l

Changes made to guides are saved to your scene.

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Adjusting a Ruler Drawing Guide
The Ruler guide is simply a ruler. It has a single axis that you can position and rotate. You can draw along thisaxis as if you w ere draw ing against a ruler.

NOTE
To add a Ruler guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing Guides.

How to adjust a Ruler guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

Ruler guide that you w ish to make adjustments to.

The guide appears in the Camera or Draw ing view .

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

To reposition the guide w ithout rotating it, click and drag on its offset handle.

TIP
You can press and hold the Shift key to only move the guide horizontally or
vertically relative to the camera angle.

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Chapter 5: Draw ingl

To rotate the guide, click and drag on one of its rotation handles . It w ill rotate around the
opposite rotation handle.

TIPSl

You can press and hold the Shift key to make the angle of the ruler snap to
the nearest multiple of 15°.

l

You can press and hold the Alt key to make the guide rotate around its
centre.

l

W hen rotating a guide, its angle displays in the top-left corner of the Camera
or Draw ing view .

5. Once you are done making adjustments to the guide, you can click on the

Lock Guides button in

the Guides view so as to avoid accidentally modifying your guide w hile draw ing.

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Adjusting a Square Grid Drawing Guide
The Square Grid guide helps you draw lines that are either parallel or perpendicular to the horizon line. You
can customize it by repositioning and rotating its horizon line.

NOTE
To add a Square Grid guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing Guides.

How to adjust a Square Grid guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

Square Grid guide that you w ish to make adjustments to.

The selected guide appears in the Camera or Draw ing view .

TIP
To see the parallel and perpendicular reference lines, click on theShow ReferenceLines option button in the Guides view .

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

To reposition the guide w ithout rotating it, click and drag on its offset handle .

l

To rotate the guide, click and drag on its horizon line.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

TIPSl

W hen the mouse is positioned over the horizon line, the mouse cursor w illchange tolto indicate that you are about to rotate the guide.

W hen rotating a guide, its angle displays in the top-left corner of the Camera
or Draw ing view .

5. Once you are done making adjustments to the guide, you can click on the

Lock Guides button in

the Guides view so as to avoid accidentally modifying your guide w hile draw ing.

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Adjusting an Isometric Perspective Drawing Guide
The Isometric Perspective guide helps you draw lines that are parallel to one of three axes: the x-axis, the yaxis and the z-axis. By default, the z-axis is at 26.565° from the horizon, the x-axis is at 153.435° from thehorizon, and the y-axis is at 90° from the horizon.

These specific angles are commonly used in video games and computer generated graphics, as lines in theseangles do not require antialiasing to be properly rendered in pixels. The angle of all three of these axes can be
adjusted independently as needed. For example:l

You can achieve "true" isometric perspective, w here the angle betw een each axis is equal, by setting theangle of the x-axis to -150° and the angle of the z-axis to -30°.

l

You can achieve cabinet-type oblique projection by setting the angle of the x-axis to -180°.

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Chapter 5: Draw ingl

You can achieve military-type oblique projection by setting the angle of the x-axis to -135° and theangle of the z-axis to -45°.

NOTE
To add a Isometric Perspective guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing Guides.

How to adjust an Isometric Perspective guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

Isometric Perspective guide that you w ish to make adjustments to.

The selected guide appears in the Camera or Draw ing view .

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

TIP
To display the reference lines for the guide, click on theShow Reference Lines

option button on in the Guides view .

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

To reposition the guide, click and drag on the offset handle.

l

To adjust the angle of one of the axes, click and drag on the rotation handle

for that axis.

TIPSl

The angle of the axis you are adjusting w ill appear in the top-left corner of
the Camera or Draw ing view as you adjust it.

l

You can hold the Shift key w hile rotating one of the axes to make it snap to
the nearest angle that is a multiple of 5°. The x-axis and z-axis w ill also snap
to 26.565° and 153.435°, w hich are their default angles.

l

To adjust the angle of both horizontal axes, press and hold the Alt key, then click and dragon the rotation handle of either the x-axis or the z-axis.

TIP
This w ill set the angle of both the x-axis and the z-axis to the same value,
making your guide symmetrical.

l

To rotate the entire guide, press and hold the Alt key, then click and drag on the rotation
handle of the y-axis.

596

Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adjusting a 1- Point Perspective Drawing Guide
The 1-Point Perspective guide can help you draw backgrounds and objects w ith front-facing perspective. It
provides a horizon line and a single vanishing point. The height and angle of the horizon line as w ell as the
position of the vanishing point on the horizon line can be adjusted as needed.

NOTE
To add a 1-Point Perspective guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing Guides.

How to adjust a 1- Point Perspective guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

1- Point Perspective guide that you w ish to make adjustments to.

The selected guide appears in the Camera or Draw ing view .

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

To reposition the guide w ithout rotating it, click and drag on its vanishing point .

l

To rotate the guide, click and drag on its horizon line.

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TIPSl

W hen the mouse is positioned over the horizon line, the mouse cursor w illchange tolto indicate that you are about to rotate the guide.

W hen rotating a guide, its angle displays in the top-left corner of the Camera
or Draw ing view .

5. Once you are done making adjustments to the guide, you can click on the

Lock Guides button in

the Guides view so as to avoid accidentally modifying your guide w hile draw ing.

598

Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adjusting a 2- Points Perspective Drawing Guide
The 2-Points Perspective guide can help you draw backgrounds and objects seen from the ground, but at anangle. It provides a horizon line and tw o vanishing points, w hich are located outside of the camera field bydefault. The height and angle of the horizon line as w ell as the position of both vanishing points can be
adjusted as needed.

NOTE
To add a 2-Points Perspective guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing Guides.

How to adjust a 2- Points Perspective guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

2- Points Perspective guide that you w ish to make adjustments to.

The selected guide appears in the Camera or Draw ing view .

NOTE
The vanishing points for this guide are far outside of the camera field by default. You
may need to zoom out in order to be able to see them.

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4. Do one of the follow ing:l

To move the horizon line along w ith the tw o vanishing points that are on it, click and drag on
the horizon line.

l

To rotate the horizon line, click and drag on one of the tw o vanishing points

and move it up

or dow n. This w ill rotate the horizon line around the opposite vanishing point.

TIPSl

You can press and hold the Shift key to make the angle of the horizon line
snap to the nearest multiple of 15°.

l

You can press and hold the Alt key to make the guide rotate around thecentre of its horizon line.

l

W hen rotating a guide, its angle displays in the top-left corner of the Camera
or Draw ing view .

lTo reposition one of the vanishing points on the horizon line, click and drag on that vanishingpoint

and move it left or right.

TIP
You can press and hold the Alt key to make both points move simultaneously, sothat they are both at the same distance from the centre of the horizon line.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adjusting a 3- Points Perspective (Bird's- Eye View) Drawing Guide
The 3-Points Perspective (Bird's-Eye View ) guide can help you draw backgrounds and objects w ith
perspective from an elevated point of view . It provides a horizon line, w hich is located just underneath thecamera field, and on w hich there are tw o vanishing points: one for draw ing lines on the x-axis and one fordraw ing lines on the z-axis. Another vanishing point, used to draw lines on the y-axis, is located far above thecamera field.
The height and angle of the horizon line, the position of its tw o vanishing points as w ell as the position of theupper vanishing point can be adjusted as needed.

NOTE
To add a 3-Points Perspective (Bird's-Eye View ) guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing Guides.

How to adjust a 3- Points Perspective (Bird's- Eye View) guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

3- Points Perspective (Bird's- Eye View) guide that you w ish to

make adjustments to.
The selected guide appears in the Camera or Draw ing view .

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NOTE
The horizon line and vanishing points for this guide are far outside of the camera fieldby default. You may need to zoom out in order to be able to see them.

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

To move the horizon line along w ith the tw o vanishing points that are on it, click and drag on
the horizon line.

l

To rotate the horizon line, click and drag on one of the tw o vanishing points

on the horizon

line and move it up or dow n. This w ill rotate the horizon line around the opposite vanishingpoint.

TIPSl

You can press and hold the Shift key to make the angle of the horizon line
snap to the nearest multiple of 15°.

l

You can press and hold the Alt key to make the guide rotate around thecentre of its horizon line.

l

W hen rotating a guide, its angle displays in the top-left corner of the Camera
or Draw ing view .

lTo reposition one of the vanishing points on the horizon line, click and drag on that vanishingpoint

and move it left or right.

TIP
You can press and hold the Alt key to make both points move simultaneously, sothat they are both at the same distance from the centre of the horizon line.

l

To reposition the bottom vanishing point, click and drag on that vanishing point .

TIPSl

You can press and hold the Alt key to position the point on the axis that isperpendicular to the horizon line and in the middle of its tw o vanishingpoints.

l

You can press and hold the Shift key to make the point only movehorizontally or vertically relative to the camera angle.

602

Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adjusting a 3- Points Perspective (W orm's Eye View) Drawing Guide
The 3-Points Perspective (W orm's-Eye View ) guide can help you draw backgrounds and objects w ith
perspective from an low point of view . It provides a horizon line, w hich is located just below the camera field,
and on w hich there are tw o vanishing points: one for draw ing lines on the x-axis and one for draw ing lines on
the z-axis. Another vanishing point, used to draw lines on the y-axis, is located far above the camera field.
The height and angle of the horizon line, the position of its tw o vanishing points as w ell as the position of thelow er vanishing point can be adjusted as needed.

NOTE
To add a 3-Points Perspective (W orm's-Eye View ) guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing
Guides.

How to adjust a 3- Points Perspective (W orm's- Eye View) guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

3- Points Perspective (W orm's- Eye View) guide that you w ish to

make adjustments to.
The selected guide appears in the Camera or Draw ing view .

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTE
The horizon line and vanishing points for this guide are far outside of the camera fieldby default. You may need to zoom out in order to be able to see them.

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

To move the horizon line along w ith the tw o vanishing points that are on it, click and drag on
the horizon line.

l

To rotate the horizon line, click and drag on one of the tw o vanishing points

on the horizon

line and move it up or dow n. This w ill rotate the horizon line around the opposite vanishingpoint.

TIPSl

You can press and hold the Shift key to make the angle of the horizon line
snap to the nearest multiple of 15°.

l

You can press and hold the Alt key to make the guide rotate around thecentre of its horizon line.

l

W hen rotating a guide, its angle displays in the top-left corner of the Camera
or Draw ing view .

lTo reposition one of the vanishing points on the horizon line, click and drag on that vanishingpoint

and move it left or right.

TIP
You can press and hold the Alt key to make both points move simultaneously, sothat they are both at the same distance from the centre of the horizon line.

l

To reposition the top vanishing point, click and drag on that vanishing point .

TIPSl

You can press and hold the Alt key to position the point on the axis that isperpendicular to the horizon line and in the middle of its tw o vanishingpoints.

l

You can press and hold the Shift key to make the point only movehorizontally or vertically relative to the camera angle.

604

Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adjusting a 3- Points Perspective (Horizontal Pan) Drawing Guide
The 3-Points Perspective (Horizontal Guide) helps you draw backgrounds and objects w ith front-facing
perspective and curvilinear horizontal lines. It provides a horizon line, a central vanishing point, used to drawlines on the z-axis, and tw o vanishing points at the extremities of the horizon line, used to draw curvilinear
horizontal lines.
The position and size of the guide, the height and angle of the horizon line, the distance of the outer vanishingpoints from the central vanishing point as w ell as the shape of the curves can be adjusted as needed.

NOTE
To add a 3-Points Perspective (Horizontal Pan) guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing Guides.

How to adjust a 3- Points Perspective (Horizontal Pan) guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

3- Point Perspective (Horizontal Pan) guide that you w ish to makeadjustments to.
4. In the Guides view , make sure theShow Reference Lines option button is toggled on. This w ill

allow you to see how the adjustments you make to your guide affect its curves.

605Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

5. Do one of the follow ing:l

To reposition the guide, click and drag on its central vanishing point .

l

To rotate the guide, click and drag on its horizon line.

TIPSl

W hen the mouse is positioned over the horizon line, the mouse cursor w illchange tolto indicate that you are about to rotate the guide.

W hen rotating a guide, its angle displays in the top-left corner of the Camera
or Draw ing view .

lTo adjust the distance betw een the left and right vanishing points, click and drag on either
one of these points .

NOTES
l

The vanishing point at the other end w ill also move so as to keep both points
at the same distance from the central vanishing point.

lThis w ill stretch or squash the guide horizontally and make its curves w ideror narrow er.

l

To scale up the guide, press and hold Shift, then click and drag on either the left or rightvanishing points .

NOTE
If you previously adjusted the position of outer vanishing points relative to thecentral vanishing point, doing this w ill reset their position.

l

To skew the curves of the guide, click and drag on one of the green dotsin the top-rightcorner of the guide.

NOTE
These dots act as the Bezier handles of the outermost top-right curve, and affect
all the curves of the guide.

6. Once you are done making adjustments to the guide, you can click on the

Lock Guides button in

the Guides view so as to avoid accidentally modifying your guide w hile draw ing.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adjusting the 3- Points Perspective (Vertical Pan) Drawing Guide
The 3-Points Perspective (Vertical Pan) Guide helps you draw backgrounds and objects w ith front facing
perspective and curvilinear vertical lines. It provides a horizon line, a central vanishing point, used to draw lines
on the z-axis, and tw o vanishing points above and below the horizon line, used to draw curvilinear verticallines.
The position and size of the guide, the height and angle of the horizon line, the distance of the outer vanishingpoints from the horizon line as w ell as the shape the curves can be adjusted as needed.

NOTE
To add a 3-Points Perspective (Vertical Pan) guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing Guides.

How to adjust a 3- Points Perspective (Vertical Pan) guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

3- Point Perspective (Vertical Pan) guide that you w ish to makeadjustments to.
4. In the Guides view , make sure theShow Reference Lines option button is toggled on. This w ill

allow you to see how the adjustments you make to your guide affect its curves.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

5. Do one of the follow ing:l

To reposition the guide, click and drag on its central vanishing point .

l

To rotate the guide, click and drag on its horizon line.

TIPSl

W hen the mouse is positioned over the horizon line, the mouse cursor w illchange tolto indicate that you are about to rotate the guide.

W hen rotating a guide, its angle displays in the top-left corner of the Camera
or Draw ing view .

lTo adjust the distance betw een the top and bottom vanishing points, click and drag on either
one of these points .

NOTES
l

The vanishing point at the other end w ill also move so as to keep both points
at the same distance from the central vanishing point.

lThis w ill stretch or squash the guide vertically and make its curves w ider or
narrow er.

l

To scale up the guide, press and hold Shift, then click and drag on either the top or bottom
vanishing points .

NOTE
If you previously adjusted the position of outer vanishing points relative to thecentral vanishing point, doing this w ill reset their position.

l

To skew the curves of the guide, click and drag on one of the red dotsin the bottom-rightcorner of the guide.

NOTE
These dots act as the Bezier handles of the outermost bottom-right curve, andaffect all the curves of the guide.

6. Once you are done making adjustments to the guide, you can click on the

Lock Guides button in

the Guides view so as to avoid accidentally modifying your guide w hile draw ing.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adjusting a 4- Points Continuous Perspective Drawing Guide
The 4-Points Continuous Perspective helps you draw backgrounds w ith perspective and curvilinear horizontal
lines that span over up to four cardinal points, so as to make backgrounds that can be panned in a loop to
simulate a 360° camera rotation. It provides a horizon line w ith five vanishing points spread evenly along it.
Each vanishing point represents one cardinal point, except for the tw o vanishing points at the extremities,
w hich represent the same cardinal point, adding up to four cardinal points.
The size and position of the guide, the height and angle of the horizon line, the distance betw een the vanishingpoints as w ell as the shape of the curves can be adjusted as needed.

NOTE
To add a 4-Points Continuous Perspective guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing Guides.

How to adjust a 4- Points Continuous Perspective guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

4- Point Continuous Perspective guide that you w ish to makeadjustments to.
4. In the Guides view , make sure theShow Reference Lines option button is toggled on. This w ill

allow you to see how the adjustments you make to your guide affect its curves.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

5. Do one of the follow ing:l

To reposition the guide, click and drag on its central vanishing point .

l

To rotate the guide, click and drag on its horizon line.

TIPSl

W hen the mouse is positioned over the horizon line, the mouse cursor w illchange tolto indicate that you are about to rotate the guide.

W hen rotating a guide, its angle displays in the top-left corner of the Camera
or Draw ing view .

lTo adjust the distance betw een the vanishing points, click and drag on one of the tw o points
located left and right of the central vanishing point.

NOTES
l

All of the vanishing points on the horizon line w ill move so that they are at
the same distance from each other.

lThis w ill stretch or squash the guide horizontally and make its curves w ideror narrow er.

l

To scale up the guide, press and hold Shift, then click and drag on one of the tw o points
located left and right of the central vanishing point.

NOTE
If you previously adjusted the position of outer vanishing points relative to thecentral vanishing point, doing this w ill reset their position.

l

To skew the curves of the guide, click and drag on one of the green dotsin the top-rightcorner of the central part of the guide.

NOTE
These dots act as the Bezier handles of the outermost top-right curve, and affect
all the curves of the guide.

6. Once you are done making adjustments to the guide, you can click on the

Lock Guides button in

the Guides view so as to avoid accidentally modifying your guide w hile draw ing.

610

Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adjusting a 4- Points Perspective (Vertical Pan) Drawing Guide
The 4-Points Perspective (Vertical Pan) guide helps you draw backgrounds and objects w ith perspective froman angle w ith curvilinear vertical lines. It provides a horizon line on w hich there are tw o vanishing points, one
for draw ing lines on the x-axis and the other for draw ing lines on the z-axis. There are tw o more vanishingpoints above and below the horizon line, used to draw curvilinear vertical lines.
The position and size of the guide, the height and angle of the horizon line, the position of the tw o vanishingpoints on the horizon line, the distance of the top and bottom vanishing points from the horizon line as w ell as
the shape of the curves can be adjusted as needed.

NOTE
To add a 4-Points Perspective (Vertical Pan) guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing Guides.

How to adjust a 4- Points Perspective (Vertical Pan) guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

4- Point Perspective (Vertical Pan) guide that you w ish to makeadjustments to.
4. In the Guides view , make sure theShow Reference Lines option button is toggled on. This w ill

allow you to see how the adjustments you make to your guide affect its curves.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTE
The vanishing points for this guide are far outside of the camera field by default. You
may need to zoom out in order to be able to see them.

5. Do one of the follow ing:l

To reposition the guide, click and drag on its central vanishing point .

l

To rotate the guide, click and drag on its horizon line.

TIPSl

W hen the mouse is positioned over the horizon line, the mouse cursor w illchange tolto indicate that you are about to rotate the guide.

W hen rotating a guide, its angle displays in the top-left corner of the Camera
or Draw ing view .

lTo adjust the distance betw een either one of the left and right vanishing points and thecentral vanishing point, click and drag on one of these points .

TIP
You can press and hold the Alt key w hile dragging one of the outer vanishingpointsto make both vanishing points move and keep both points at the same

distance from the central vanishing point.

lTo adjust the distance betw een the top and bottom vanishing points, click and drag on either
one of these points .

NOTES
l

The vanishing point at the other end w ill also move so as to keep both points
at the same distance from the central vanishing point.

llThis w ill stretch or squash the guide and make its curves w ider or narrow er.

To scale up the guide, press and hold Shift, then click and drag on one of the four outervanishing points .

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

NOTE
If you previously adjusted the position of outer vanishing points relative to thecentral vanishing point, doing this w ill reset their position.

l

To skew the curves of the guide, click and drag on one of the red dotsin the bottom-rightcorner of the guide.

NOTE
These dots act as the Bezier handles of the outermost bottom-right curve, andaffect all the curves of the guide.

6. Once you are done making adjustments to the guide, you can click on the

Lock Guides button in

the Guides view so as to avoid accidentally modifying your guide w hile draw ing.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Adjusting a 5- Points Perspective (Fisheye) Drawing Guide
The 5-Points Perspective (Fisheye) guide helps you draw backgrounds and objects w ith both horizontal andvertical curvilinear perspective. It provides a horizon line, a central vanishing point, used to draw lines on the zaxis, tw o vanishing points at the horizontal extremities, used to draw curvilinear horizontal lines, and tw ovanishing points at the vertical extremities, used to draw vertical lines.
The position, angle and size of the guide can be adjusted as needed.

NOTE
To add a 5-Points Perspective (Fisheye) guide to your scene, see Adding Draw ing Guides.

How to adjust a 5- Points Perspective (Fisheye) guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

2. In the Guides view , make sure that the
3. In the guides list, select the

Enable Guides option button is toggled on.

5- Point Perspective (Fisheye) guide that you w ish to makeadjustments to.
4. In the Guides view , make sure theShow Reference Lines option button is toggled on. This w ill

allow you to see how the adjustments you make to your guide affect its curves.

5. Do one of the follow ing:l

To reposition the guide, click and drag on its central vanishing point .

l

To rotate the guide, click and drag on its horizon line.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

TIPSl

W hen the mouse is positioned over the horizon line, the mouse cursor w illchange tolto indicate that you are about to rotate the guide.

W hen rotating a guide, its angle displays in the top-left corner of the Camera
or Draw ing view .

lTo scale up the guide, click and drag on one of the four outer vanishing points .

6. Once you are done making adjustments to the guide, you can click on the

Lock Guides button in

the Guides view so as to avoid accidentally modifying your guide w hile draw ing.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Locking Guides to Prevent Editing Them
T-LAY-001A-008
W hen using a draw ing tool w ith a guide, you are also able to edit the guide's horizon line, vanishing points andother parameters by manipulating them in the Camera or Draw ing view . Hence, it is possible to make changes
to your guide by accident w hen draw ing too close to one of its visual elements. Once you are done making
adjustments to a guide, it is recommended to lock guides to be able to draw freely w ithout having to w orry
about making accidental changes to your guides.

How to prevent editing of Drawing Guides while drawing
1. In the Guides view , click on the

Lock Guide button.

NOTES
l

The Lock Guide option prevents editing all guides, not just the selected one.

l

W hen adding a new guide, the Lock Guide option is automatically toggled off to allow the
new guide to be edited immediately.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Drawing with Drawing Guides
T-LAY-001A-006
W hen guides are enabled and a guide is selected, you can use this guide to assist you in draw ing w ith
precision or perspective. The guide w ill display dotted lines going through your mouse cursor as you move it
inside the draw ing space. Each of these lines represents one of the axes of the selected guide.

W hen you start draw ing a stroke, your draw ing tool w ill automatically lock against the axis that most closely
matches the angle of your stroke, forcing you to draw a straight line along that axis, as if you w ere using aruler or a set square.

NOTES
l

Guides can only be used w ith thelIf theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

Align w ith Guide option in the Guides view is toggled off, your mouse cursor w ill not

lock against the axes in your guide.

How to draw using guides
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a draw ing, or select an empty cell and create a new draw ing
by doing one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the cell and select Drawing > Create Empty Drawing.

l

Press Alt + Shift + R

2. In the Tools toolbar, select either theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke orLine tool.

NOTE
Draw ing guides are only visible in the Camera or Draw ing view w hen one of thesetools is selected.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

3. In the Guides view , select the guide you w ish to use.
4. To avoid editing your guide by accident w hile draw ing, make sure theLock Guides option is

toggled on—see Locking Guides to Prevent Editing Them on page 616.
5. If you w ant your draw ing strokes to be locked against the axes of your guide, make sure the
Align w ith Guide option of the Guides view if toggled on. Otherw ise, toggle it off to be able to draw
freely and only use the guides as references—see Draw ing Freehand Perspective w ith Draw ing
Guides on page 621.
6. Move the mouse cursor around the draw ing space. Observe that guide lines are going through yourmouse cursor, one for each of the axes of the draw ing guide.

7. Start draw ing a stroke roughly at the same angle as one of the axes.
If theAlign w ith Guide option is enabled, the draw ing stroke aligns to the axis that is the closest

to its angle, as if you w ere draw ing against a ruler.

618

Chapter 5: Draw ing

TIPSl

You can also manually select w hich axis to lock onto—see Locking Draw ing Strokes to aSpecific Axis.

l

W hether you're draw ing or not, you can lock the position and angle of the guide lines bypressing and holding the Alt key. The guide lines w ill stop follow ing the mouse cursor,
allow ing you to keep them at a specific angle and position. This can be used to draw overthe same line several times over so as to adjust its length and thickness.

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Locking Drawing Strokes to a Specific Axis
T-LAY-001A-010
W hen using a draw ing guide w ith the

Align w ith Guide option enabled, your draw ing tool w ill

automatically lock against one of the axes of your guide. W hich axis it locks onto is the one that is the closest
to the angle of your stroke as you start draw ing.
If you w ant, you can manually select w hich axis to lock your draw ing tool against, so as to avoid accidentally
locking against the w rong axis.

How to lock your drawing tool to a specific axis
1. Set the focus to the Camera or Draw ing view , for example, by clicking on the view 's tab.
2. Press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key repeatedly to cycle through your guide's axes. The
selected axis w ill be displayed in bold across your mouse cursor.

All your draw ing strokes w ill lock onto the selected axis.

How to re- enable using all axes
1. Press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key repeatedly to cycle through your guide's axes, until noneof them are displayed in bold across your mouse cursor.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Drawing Freehand Perspective with Drawing Guides
By default, w hen draw ing w ith a draw ing guide active, your mouse cursor w ill lock against one of your guide's
axes, forcing it to draw along the axis as if you w ere draw ing against a ruler.
If you w ant, you can disable this behaviour by turning off the

Align w ith Guide option, and only use yourdraw ing guide as a visual reference. This can be useful if you w ant to draw w ith less rigid draw ing style.
W hen the Align w ith Guide option is disabled:lYour draw ing tool w ill allow you to draw in any direction.

l

The guide w ill still be visible, but w ill only serve as a visual aid.

l

W hile draw ing, the dotted line representing the axis you are draw ing along w ill lock into place insteadof follow ing your mouse cursor, so that you can follow it as you draw .

How to draw freehand perspective
1. In the Guides view , click on the Align w ith Guide
2. Start draw ing.

621

button to toggle it off

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Viewing Drawing Guide Reference Lines
T-LAY-001A-007
By default, a guide w ill only display its horizon line and its vanishing points, as w ell as dotted lines going
through your mouse cursor to represent its axes.
To help you lay out objects in your draw ing, you can also enable reference lines. Reference lines are semitransparent lines displaying all over your draw ing space, representing your guide's axes at different angles or
distances.
W hen using reference lines, you can decide the amount of lines that display in your draw ing space. If you havetoo many reference lines, they w ill be very close to each other and your draw ing space might feel cluttered,but if you have too few , you might not alw ays have a reference line close enough to the stroke you w ish to
draw to help serve as a reference.

How to view Drawing Guide Reference lines
1. In the Guides view , click on theShow Reference Lines button to toggle it on.

The reference lines appear as a semi-transparent overlay all over your draw ing space.

2. In the Guides view , click and drag on the Number of Lines slider to adjust the amount of referencelines displayed in your draw ing space.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Minimizing Guide Cursor Axes Display
By default, the guide axes that are draw n across your mouse cursor extend throughout your entire draw ing
space. You may w ant those axes to only extend to a short distance around your cursor, so that they can stillserve as guides w ithout obstructing your draw ing space or draw ing your eye aw ay from your mouse cursor.
You can do this by disabling theFull Cursor Display option, w hich is enabled by default.

W hen the Full Cursor Display option is disabled:l

The axis lines displaying across your mouse cursor only span on a short distance from your mouse
cursor.

l

W hen draw ing a stroke, all axis lines disappear until you finish draw ing the stroke. By default, only theaxis you are draw ing on disappears.

l

The actual axes used to lock your draw ing tool still extend across the entire draw ing space. This isstrictly a visual option.

How to minimize the Drawing Guide's cursor axes display
1. In the Guides view , toggle the Full Cursor Display

button off.

The guide axes now only span over a short distance from your mouse cursor.

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Erasing Using Drawing Guides
By default, draw ing guides have no effect w hen using the Eraser tool. If you w ant, you can enable using theEraser tool w ith guides.

How to erase using a Drawing Guide
1. In the Guides view , click on the
The

Enable Guide w ith Eraser button to toggle it on.

Eraser tool w ill now w ork w ith the currently selected guide, just like thePencil,Stroke andBrush,

Line tools.

2. Start erasing.

NOTE
W hen this option is enabled, it is also possible to make adjustments to your guide w hile theEraser too is selected.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Enabling and Disabling Drawing Guides
T-LAY-001A-009
Once you are done w orking w ith guides, you can disable them. W hen draw ing guides are disabled, they are
not displayed in your draw ing space and do not affect the behaviour of your draw ing tools.

How to enable and disable drawing guides
1. To enable or disable Draw ing Guides, do one of the follow ing:l

In the Guides view , click on the Enable Guidel

Press Shift + G.

button.

NOTESlGuides are automatically enabled w hen you add a new guide or w hen you select a guide in
the guides list.

l

The guide that w as selected w hen you disabled guides w ill be selected again w hen you
re-enable guides.

lDraw ing guides only w ork w ith theBrush,

Pencil,Stroke andLine tools

tools. If any other tool is selected, draw ing guides w ill behave as if they are disabled.

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Reordering Drawing Guide Lists
The draw ing guides in your guides list can be reordered.

How to reorder a Drawing Guide list
1. In the Guides view , select one or multiple guides from the list.

TIPSl

You can select multiple guides by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS)
key and clicking on each guide you w ant to select.

l

You can select a series of guide by holding the Shift key, clicking on the first guide
you w ant to select, then clicking on the last guide you w ant to select. Every guidein-betw een w ill also be selected.

2. Drag and drop the selected guides to their desired position in the list.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Cutting and Pasting Drawing Guides
You can cut a draw ing guide from your guides list and paste it into the guides list of another scene.

How to cut and paste drawing guides
1. In the Guides view , select one or multiple guides from the list.

TIPSl

You can select multiple guides by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS)
key and clicking on each guide you w ant to select.

l

You can select a series of guide by holding the Shift key, clicking on the first guide
you w ant to select, then clicking on the last guide you w ant to select. Every guidein-betw een w ill also be selected.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Guides view , click on the

Menu button and select Cut.

l

Press Ctrl + X (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + X (macOS).

The selected guides are deleted from the list and stored in the clipboard.
3. In the top menu, select File > Open and open a different Harmony scene.
4. In the Guides view , click on the guides list to set the focus on it. If the guides list already contains
guides, select the guide that w ill act as an insertion point.
5. Do one of the folliow ing:l

In the Guides view , click on the

Menu button and select Paste.

lPress Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS).

Draw ing Guides that w ere cut from the previous guides list are pasted in the current guides list.

NOTE
If you w ant to use the Cut, Copy and Paste keyboard shortcuts on guides, make sure the focus
is on the Guides view .

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Copying & Pasting Drawing Guides
T-LAY-001A-004
You can copy draw ing guides from your guides list and paste them into the guides list of another scene.

How to copy and paste drawing guides
1. In the Guides view , select one or multiple guides from the list.

TIPSl

You can select multiple guides by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS)
key and clicking on each guide you w ant to select.

l

You can select a series of guide by holding the Shift key, clicking on the first guide
you w ant to select, then clicking on the last guide you w ant to select. Every guidein-betw een w ill also be selected.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Guides view , click on the

Menu button and select Copy.

l

Press Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C (macOS).

3. In the top menu, select File > Open and open a different Harmony scene.
4. In the Guides view , click on the guides list to set the focus on it. If the guides list already contains
guide, select a guide that w ill act as an insertion point.
5. Do one of the folliow ing:l

In the Guides view , click on the

Menu button and select Paste.

lPress Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS).

Draw ing Guides that w ere copied from the previous guides list are pasted in the current guides list.

NOTE
If you w ant to use the Cut, Copy and Paste keyboard shortcuts on guides, make sure the focus
is on the Guides view .

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Exporting and Importing Drawing Guides
You can export draw ing guides from the current scene into a file, then and import them into another scene.

How to export drawing guides to a file
1. In the Guides view , select one or multiple guides from the list.

TIPSl

You can select multiple guides by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS)
key and clicking on each guide you w ant to select.

l

You can select a series of guide by holding the Shift key, clicking on the first guide
you w ant to select, then clicking on the last guide you w ant to select. Every guidein-betw een w ill also be selected.

2. In the Guides view , click on the

Menu button and select Export Selected Guides.

3. In the Export Guides dialog box that appears, choose a destination folder, type in the name of thefile you w ant to export, then click on Save.
The selected guides are exported to the destination file. A confirmation dialog box displays theamount of guides that w ere exported.

How to import drawing guides
1. In the Timeline or Thumbnail view , select the destination panel.
2. In the Guides view , click on the

Menu button and select Import Guides.

3. In the Import Guides dialog box that appears, brow se to the folder in w hich you exported yourguides, select the file in w hich you exported your guides and click on Open.
The guides that w ere stored in the file are inserted at the bottom of the guides list. A confirmation
dialog box displays the amount of guides that w ere imported.

NOTE
W hen importing a list of guides, duplicate guides are filtered out to avoid cluttering the list.
The confirmation dialog box w ill specify if duplicates w ere detected and filtered out.

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Deleting Drawing Guides
T-LAY-001A-003
You can delete draw ing guides from the guides list.

How to delete a Drawing Guide
1. In the Guides view , select one or multiple guides from the list.

TIPSl

You can select multiple guides by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS)
key and clicking on each guide you w ant to select.

l

You can select a series of guide by holding the Shift key, clicking on the first guide
you w ant to select, then clicking on the last guide you w ant to select. Every guidein-betw een w ill also be selected.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Guides view , click on the

Delete Guide buttonlPress Del (W indow s/Linux) or Backspace (macOS).

The selected guided are deleted from the list.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

About Drawing Optimization
As you w ork, you draw ing can get complex and contain multiple strokes. You may w ant to optimize thosedraw ings to reduce the number of brush strokes, pencil lines, and invisible strokes. You may also w ant toflatten your artw ork or optimize your brush stroke textures.
The Optimize command reduces the number of layers, such as overlapping brush strokes, in the selecteddraw ing objects. Draw ing objects w ill only be flattened and optimized if the selected objects do not change
the appearance of the final image w hen they are merged.
For example, if you have selected a number of partially transparent objects, w hich you layered to create an
additive colour effect, the selected transparent draw ing objects w ill not be merged. This is because merging
the transparent draw ing objects w ill cause them to lose the effect of the layered transparent colours.

You could also w ant to add invisible contour strokes so that if you unpaint lines, the vector container remains
to be repainted later.

The Crop Brush Textures option is used to crop an unnecessarily large texture bitmap that lies unseen beneaththe vector contour of a textured line. This often occurs w hen you cut and paste textured lines from one
draw ing into another. If you cut a portion from a textured line and paste it into a different draw ing, Harmony
pastes the entire unseen texture bitmap from the source draw ing into the new one, even if you only took asmall portion of the source draw ing. Using the Crop Brush Texture command w ill crop aw ay extraneous
texture that does not touch the vector area. If there are many textured lines in your scene, this w ill greatly
reduce the file size.

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In the example show n above, a textured line is cut from a draw ing and pasted into a new draw ing. At first, it
appears as if only a cropped section of the underlying texture bitmap w as cut and pasted as w ell. How ever,using the Contour Editor tool to expand the vector envelope of the textured line, it is revealed that moretexture bitmap exists beyond the cropped boundary. If you use the Crop Brush Texture command, the bitmap
texture is cropped to the boundaries of the textured line’s vector contour (as seen in the fourth image w here
the vector envelope has been pulled out to reveal empty space).

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Flattening Drawings
T-ANIMPA-002-006
The Flatten operation is used to merge draw ing objects and brush strokes into a single layer. If you draw newlines to fix a draw ing or line w ith many brush strokes, it can be useful to flatten them all into a single shape. Bydefault, 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.

How to flatten drawings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the draw ing strokes you w ant to flatten.
3. Select Drawing > Optimize > Flatten or press Alt + Shift + F. You can also press the Flatten
button in the Tool Properties view .

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Smoothing Drawings
The Smooth operation is used to reduce the number of contour points on a brush stroke and center points on a
pencil line. It also smooths out the shape.

How to smooth drawings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the draw ing strokes you w ant to smooth out.
3. Select Drawing > Optimize > Smooth or press Alt + Shift + S. You can also press the Smoothbutton in the Tool Properties view .

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Creating Contour Strokes
The Create Contour Stroke option is used to add a permanent invisible line around a shape that w as draw n
directly in Harmony. This allow s you to unpaint your lines w ith the Paint tool but maintain the shape of thelines, should you need to repaint later.

This command is useful w hen inking and painting and using the Apply to All Draw ings in Layer option.

How to create contour strokes
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , use the Select tool to select the draw ing objects you w ant to create
contour strokes for.
3. From the top menu, select Drawing> Optimize > Create Contour Strokes.

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Removing Contour Strokes
The Remove Contour Stroke option is used to remove any permanently invisible lines that w ere created w hilescanning and vectorizing draw ings or manually adding contour strokes. This is useful if you w ant to remove
the intersection triangles created during vectorization.

How to remove contour strokes
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , use the Select tool to select the draw ing objects you w ant toremove contour strokes for.
3. From the top menu, select Drawing> Optimize > Remove Contour Strokes.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Removing Extra Strokes
The Remove Extra Strokes command allow s you to instantly remove invisible lines that are adjacent to theartw ork in your selection.

NOTE
This w ill only remove invisible lines that are adjacent to visible artw ork. Invisible lines that are notconnected to any visible shape or line w ill not be removed.

How to remove extra strokes
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool.

2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , use the Select tool to select the artw ork from w hich you w ant toremove extra strokes.
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select Drawing > Optimize > Remove Extra Strokes.

l

In the Camera or Draw ing view , open the View Menu
Remove Extra Strokes.

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Optimizing Drawings
You can use the Optimize feature to flatten your draw ing strokes w ithout changing the aspect of yourdraw ings. This mainly means that transparencies w ill not be flattened.

How to optimize a drawing
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the draw ing strokes you w ant to optimize.
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Optimize > Optimize.

lFrom the Camera or Draw ing view menu, select Drawing > Optimize > Optimize.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Cropping Brush Textures
The Crop Brush Textures option is used to crop an unnecessarily large texture bitmap that lies unseen beneaththe vector contour of a textured line

How to crop the brush texture
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ing w hose texture you w ant to crop.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Optimize > Crop Brush Textures.

l

From the Camera View or Draw ing View menu, select Drawing > Optimize > Crop
Brush Textures.

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Reducing the Drawing Texture Resolution
W hen you import and vectorize as texture (colour) a high resolution image, the size of your draw ing can beheavy. You can reduce the size and resolution of the textures in a draw ing.

How to reduce the drawing texture resolution
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , use the Select tool to select the draw ing objects w hose texture
resolution you w an to reduce.
3. From the top menu, select Drawing > Optimize > Reduce Drawing Texture Resolution.
l

From the Camera or Draw ing view menu, select Drawing > Optimize > Reduce
Drawing Texture Resolution.

4. In the dialog box, drag the slider tow ard the left to reduce the texture resolution.
5. Enable the Apply to All Drawings option if you w ant the modification to be applied to all thedraw ings in your layer.
6. Click OK.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

About Strokes Conversion
You may have draw ing stroke using the Pencil tool w hen you w anted to use the Brush tool. You may also havedraw ing your image using the Polyline tool and now you w ant to convert your strokes to brush strokes. For
many reasons, you may w ant to sw itch your stroke types to another type to use the various advantage set they
offer.
There are three types of strokes:lBrush strokes (contour vector)l

Pencil strokes (central vector)lInvisible strokes (central vector w ith a thickness value of 0)

Harmony lets you convert pencil lines to brush strokes, brush strokes to pencil lines, and invisible strokes(strokes) to pencil lines.
You can also break text objects apart—see Breaking Text Into Letters or Vector Shapes on page 537.

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Converting Brush Strokes to Pencil Lines
The Brushes Strokes to Pencil Lines operation converts selected contour strokes into centreline pencil strokes.
The brush stroke thickness w ill be lost.

How to convert brush strokes to pencil lines
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the strokes you w ant to convert.
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Convert > Brush Strokes to Pencil Lines orpress ^ .

l

Right-click on the selection, select Convert >Brush Strokes to Pencil Lines or press ^642

Chapter 5: Draw ing

Converting Pencil Lines to Brush Strokes
The Pencil Lines to Brush Strokes operation converts the selected centreline pencil strokes into contour
strokes brush lines. This feature w orks for both solid and textured pencil lines.

How to convert pencil lines to brush strokes
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool.

2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the strokes you w ant to convert.
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Convert > Pencil Lines to Brush Strokes .

lRight-click on the selection, select Convert > Pencil Lines to Brush Strokes.

l

In the Tool Properties view , press the Pencil Lines to Brush Strokes

643

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Converting Strokes to Pencil Lines
The Strokes to Pencil Lines operation converts the selected invisible line to a pencil line.

How to convert strokes to pencil lines
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the strokes you w ant to convert.
3. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect Drawing > Convert > Strokes to Pencil Lines or press Shift + F12(W indow s/Linux only).

lRight-click on the selection, select Convert > Strokes to Pencil Lines or press Shift +F12 (W indow s/Linux only)644

Chapter 5: Draw ing

About Vector and Bitmap Layers
T-LAY-001-002
W ith Harmony, you have the choice to use vector or bitmap draw ing tools. Vector draw ing tools allow you tomake draw ings that can be scaled w ithout losing quality, to easily tw eak and fine tune your draw ings and touse the w hole suite of draw ing tools available in Harmony, w hereas bitmap draw ing tools allow you to lay on
brush strokes to make more traditional-looking artw ork, and to tw eak your draw ing by the pixel rather than by
their strokes and contours.

W hen draw ing, w hether you can use vector or bitmap draw ing tools is determined by w hether the art layer
you are draw ing on is a vector or a bitmap layer. By default, each draw ing layer has tw o art layers: Line Art
and Colour Art, and each of these art layers can be a vector or a bitmap layer. This can be useful if, forexample, you w ish your line art to be done using bitmap draw ing tools, and then to paint your draw ings using
vector draw ing tools, or vice versa.

NOTE
Optionally, draw ing layers can have tw o extra art layers, the Overlay Art layer, w hich appears over
the other art layers, and the Underlay Art layers, w hich appears underneath. For more information,
see Enabling Overlay and Underlay Art Layers on page 895.

Using bitmap layers may be preferable if you find that vector draw ings are too limiting for the desired art style,or if your vector draw ings are so complex that they affect softw are performance. How ever, bitmap layers havethe follow ing limitations w hich you should carefully consider before using them:lIn vector draw ings, each stroke is a separate draw ing object by default, and each of these draw ing
objects, as w ell as each of their points, curves and outlines, can be manipulated independently. It is notpossible to do that w ith bitmap layers, as they are alw ays a single draw ing object. They can be draw n,
filled or erased over, and manipulated as a w hole, but its individual elements cannot be manipulated
independently.

l

By default, bitmap layers are created at the same pixel density as your scene's camera w hen it is in its
default position. This means that your artw ork w ill lose picture quality if you zoom in on it or scale it up.

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If you need bitmap draw ings to be scaled up or zoomed on, you must set your bitmap artw ork's pixel
density higher before you start draw ing.
l

Bitmap draw ings may require more storage space than vector draw ings. Note that this depends a lot on
the amount of space in your draw ing that is covered by artw ork. Harmony does not store bitmap data
for empty areas of your draw ings.

W hen draw ing on a bitmap layer, the follow ing tools are unavailable, as they exploit the vector draw ing
capabilities of Harmony:l

PencillContour EditorlPencil EditorlSmooth EditorlPerspectivelEnvelope

l

Ink

l

Strokel

Close Gapl

Polyline

646Chapter 5: Draw ing

Adding Bitmap Layers
T-ANIMPA-002-013
By default, new scenes created in Harmony w ill have a single vector layer. You can choose w hether a draw ing
layer w ill be a vector or a bitmap layer at its creation. Therefore, if you w ant to use a bitmap layer, you cansimply create one.
Each draw ing layer in your scene has tw o sub-layers, referred to as Line Art and Colour Art, each w hich can beeither Vector or Bitmap. W hen creating a new layer, you can choose w hether each of these art layers w ill be
vector or bitmap art layers.

How to add a bitmap layer
1. In the Timeline view , click the Add Draw ing Layerbutton,The Add Draw ing Layer w indow opens.

By default, draw ing layers have tw o art layers: Line Art and Colour Art. If your Support Overlay andUnderlay Arts preference is enabled, your draw ing layers w ill have four art layers: Overlay Art, Line
Art, Colour Art and Underlay Art. For more information, see Enabling Overlay and Underlay Art
Layers on page 895.

2. If you w ant a fully bitmap layer, select Bitmap for all the art layers. If you w ant parts of yourdraw ing to use bitmap draw ing tools and other parts of your draw ings to use vector draw ing tools,
set the corresponding art layers to Bitmap or Vector, depending on your needs.

3. Click OK.

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Setting the Bitmap Resolution
W hen draw ing in bitmap, it is important to understand that, contrary to vector artw ork, bitmap artw ork isstored in pixels. This implies that, w here vector artw ork can be scaled and zoomed in w ithout issue, bitmap
artw ork is resolution dependent, and is liable to drop in picture quality and appear pixelated if it is enlarged orzoomed in.
By default, bitmap layers created in Harmony have a pixel density of 100%. At this density, w hen your scene is
not zoomed in and your artw ork is not scaled up, each pixel in your artw ork corresponds to one pixel in therendered image. Scaling it up or zooming in w ill require Harmony to render several pixels using the same
bitmap pixel, making the artw ork lose quality.
Hence, before you start draw ing on your bitmap layer, it is important to consider if you w ill need to zoom ontoor scale up your artw ork, and set the pixel density accordingly. For example, if you intend to scale your bitmap
artw ork up to 300%, or if you intend to zoom in from 12 fields to 4 fields, you should make sure your bitmap
artw ork's pixel density is of at least 300% before you start draw ing.
The pixel density of a bitmap layer affects the amount of pixels it contains, but not its apparent size in thescene. For example, if your scene resolution is set to 1920 x 1080 and your bitmap artw ork's pixel density is300%, its resolution w ill be 5760 x 3240. How ever, it w ill be scaled dow n to 1920 x 1080, and the extra
pixels w ill be used to preserve the image quality if the artw ork is zoomed on or scaled up.

Bitmap layers are also limited by a canvas. By default, this canvas is set to be 200% of the scene's w idth andheight. This means that your artw ork can bleed outside any edge of the camera frame by 50% of its size. If you
need your bitmap artw ork to have a larger canvas, it is possible to change its canvas size. This can be usefulfor example if you w ant to create a panning background in a bitmap layer. If you w ant a background to pan
horizontally over three times the w idth of the camera frame, you w ould need to set its canvas w idth to at least
300%, but it is recommended to make your canvas bigger than w hat you plan to use so as to avoid
accidentally including the edges of your artw ork in the picture.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

You can specify the pixel density and canvas size at the scene level or at the draw ing level:lSetting the pixel density and canvas size at the scene level w ill make it new ly created bitmap draw ings
have the specified settings, but it w ill not change the pixel density and canvas size of existing bitmap
draw ings.

lSetting the pixel density and canvas size at the draw ing level w ill allow you to change the pixel density
and canvas size of existing draw ings in a bitmap layer, but w ill not affect the pixel density and canvas
size of draw ings created afterw ard.

NOTE
If you are using textured brushes on a vector draw ing layer, you must set the pixel density forvector draw ing brush textures instead—see Setting the Textured Brush Resolution on page 363.

How to set the canvas size and pixel density of bitmap layers for a scene
1. From the top menu, select Scene > Scene Settings.
The Scene Settings dialog box opens.
2. Select the Bitmap Resolution tab.

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1. In the Default Canvas Size & Pixel Density for Bitmap Drawings section, do the follow ing:
a. In the W idth and Height fields, enter the percentage of your scene's resolution that you
w ant the canvas of your bitmap layer to occupy. By default, both values w ill be set to 200%,
w hich means the w idth and height of your bitmap canvas w ill be tw ice the w idth and heightof your scene's resolution. W hen the camera is in its default position, this leaves extra spacearound the camera frame to draw on your bitmap layer.
b. In the Pixel Density field, enter the desired percentage of pixel density. If you intend to scaleor zoom in on your artw ork, make sure your pixel density is set to be at least the factor by
w hich your artw ork w ill scaled or zoomed on. For example, if you intend to scale yourartw ork by 300%, you need to set the pixel density to at least 300%. If you intend to zoom inon your artw ork from 12 fields to 6 fields, you need to set the pixel density to at least 200%.
If you intend to do both, you need to set the pixel density to at least 600%, as the camera
zoom and scaling factor w ill have a multiplying effect on the apparent scaling of yourartw ork.
2. Click OK.
From now on, new bitmap draw ings created in your scene w ill have the selected canvas size andpixel density.
Since changing the bitmap resolution settings for your scene w ill only affect new ly created bitmap draw ings,
you may also w ant to change the bitmap resolution settings for existing bitmap draw ings. This is possible.
How ever, if your bitmap layer already contains artw ork, it w ill be resampled.
This is not necessarily a problem if you w ant to low er your bitmap layer's pixel density, w hich you might w ant
to do to save on disk space and help Harmony's performance. How ever, if you w ant to increase your bitmap
layer's pixel density, Harmony w ill have to generate extra pixels for your bitmap draw ing, w hich w ill cause theimage to lose quality. Hence, it is important to calculate and set the proper pixel density for your bitmap
draw ings before you start draw ing.

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How to change the canvas size and pixel density of existing bitmap drawings
1. In the Timeline, Node or Camera view , select the bitmap draw ing for w hich you w ant to change thecanvas size or pixel density.
2. From the top menu, select Drawing > Change Bitmap Drawing Resolution.
The Change Bitmap Draw ing Resolution dialog opens.

3. In the W idth and Height fields, enter the percentage of your scene's resolution that you w ant thecanvas of your bitmap layer to occupy. By default, both values w ill be set to 200%, w hich means
the w idth and height of your bitmap canvas w ill be tw ice the w idth and height of your scene's
resolution. W hen the camera is in its default position, this leaves extra space around the camera
frame to draw on your bitmap layer.
4. In the Pixel Density field, enter the desired percentage of pixel density. If you intend to scale orzoom in on your artw ork, make sure your pixel density is set to be at least the factor by w hich yourartw ork w ill scaled or zoomed on. For example, if you intend to scale your artw ork by 300%, youneed to set the pixel density to at least 300%. If you intend to zoom in on your artw ork from 12fields to 6 fields, you need to set the pixel density to at least 200%. If you intend to do both, youneed to set the pixel density to at least 600%, as the camera zoom and scaling factor w ill have amultiplying effect on the apparent scaling of your artw ork.
5. Enable the Resample Bitmap option if you w ant your draw ings to preserve their apparent size inthe scene.
6. If you w ant the specified settings to be applied to all of the draw ing's art layers, i.e., Line Art,
Colour Art and, if enabled, Overlay Art and Underlay Art, check the Apply to All Art Layers option.
Otherw ise, only the currently active art layer w ill be affected.
7. If you w ant the specified settings to be applied to all draw ings in the active layer, check the Apply
to All Drawings option. Otherw ise, only the current draw ing w ill be affected.
8. Click OK.
The selected draw ing's canvas size and pixel density is set to the specified settings.

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NOTE
This does not change the default canvas size and pixel density for the scene. New draw ings
w ill still be created w ith the scene's default canvas size and pixel density.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Using Colours with Bitmap Layers
Contrary to vector layers, colours used in bitmap layers are not linked to their sw atch in your scene's palette.
Therefore, if you update a colour in your palette, this new colour w ill be updated in the draw ings in your vector
layers, but your bitmap layers w ill remain intact. Hence, it is important to know exactly the colours you w ish touse before your start painting on a bitmap layer.
Because bitmap layers are not linked to your colour palettes, this adds extra flexibility w hen painting on abitmap layer. Although you are still able to use the colour sw atches from your colour palette, you can also pick
any other colour and paint right aw ay w ith it, w ithout having to create a colour sw atch for it in your palette.
Hence, w hen a bitmap layer is selected, the Colour view lists your palettes and their sw atches, but it also
features an extra panel, Bitmap Colour, w hich allow s you to create a colour on the go.

NOTE
The Bitmap Colour panel only allow s you to create solid or semi-transparent colours. If you w ish
to use a gradient or bitmap texture in a bitmap draw ing, you must still create a colour sw atch for it
in one of your scene's palettes.

By default, the bitmap colour sliders allow you to pick a colour by choosing its Hue, Saturation and Value.
These sliders are referred to as the HSV Sliders. If you prefer, you can also pick your bitmap colour bychoosing its Red, Green and Blue values, by sw itching to the RGB sliders .

How to change between HSV and RGB sliders
1. Do one of the follow ing:lRight click on the Bitmap Colour panel and select either HSV Sliders or RGB Sliders.

lOpen the Colour View menu

and select Colour > Bitmap Colour Sliders > HSV

Sliders or RGB Sliders.

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Painting with Gradients or Textures on Bitmap Layers
W hen draw ing on a vector layer, each stroke is its ow n vector draw ing object, and can be manipulated
independently at any time unless you flatten or group your strokes together. W hen draw ing on a bitmap layer,
most modifications are immediately merged into the artw ork, making it a single bitmap draw ing that can only
be draw n on, painted on or erased. One exception to this rule is w hen you paint a zone w ith a gradient or
texture.
W hen using the Paint tool to fill a zone in a bitmap layer w ith a gradient or texture, a temporary vector object
in the shape of the fill is created, and contains the fill. This allow s you to use the Edit Gradient/Texture tool on
this vector shape to tw eak your gradient or texture so that it has the intended position, angle and scale. Then,the next modification you make to your bitmap layer—be it w ith a draw ing tool, or by pasting artw ork—w illcause the gradient/texture to merge w ith your artw ork, making it no longer possible to tw eak it w ith the Edit
Gradient/Texture tool from that point on. Hence, it is important to make sure your gradients or textures lookexactly as you intend them to before continuing to w ork on your draw ing.

NOTE
Certain tools, such as the Text or Cutter tool, w ill not cause your gradient/texture to merge w ith
your artw ork.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Manipulating Bitmap Artwork
T-ANIMPA-002-014
Since bitmap artw ork is stored as colour information for each pixel, scaling your artw ork requires Harmony toresample it. This means that if you scale up your artw ork, it is liable to lose picture quality. Furthermore, sinceToon Boom bitmaps are embedded in a rectangular canvas, you cannot select a part of your bitmap w ith theSelect tool to transform it. W ith Toon Boom bitmaps, the Select tool is only able to select the entire canvas. If
you w ant to transform a part of your bitmap draw ing, you must use the Cutter tool to cut out the part you w ish
to manipulate.
How ever, artw ork that you manipulate is not immediately resampled. This is to make sure you can manipulate
your artw ork in multiple steps before it is merged into your artw ork again, allow ing to preserve as much of its
quality as possible. W hile manipulating your artw ork, it temporarily becomes an object that is separate fromyour bitmap canvas. Then, it is merged back into your canvas and resampled to match its pixel density w hen
you perform your next draw ing operation on it.
In the follow ing example, a circle is scaled dow n. Then, w hen zooming in on it, it appears to have preserved allits precision. Right after draw ing a short stroke on the draw ing, it is sampled dow n to match the layer's pixel
density:

Likew ise, if bitmap artw ork is scaled up, it w ill be resampled after a draw ing operation is performed on it. In
this example, the artw ork is scaled up and looks pixelated. Once a stroke is draw n on it, Harmony resamples it,
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Changing Art Modes
W hether a layer is a bitmap or a vector layer is decided w hen creating it. How ever, it is also possible to change
the art mode for an existing layer.
If you convert a vector layer to a bitmap layer, the artw ork w ill not be immediately converted, but it w ill be
automatically flattened and rasterized into a single bitmap image if you make any modifications to yourartw ork using draw ing tools.
If you convert a bitmap layer into a vector layer, the existing bitmap artw ork w ill become a single draw ing
object, w hich you w ill be able to manipulate w ith the select tool or cutter tool, but w hich you w on't be able todraw over, erase or repaint. How ever, you can convert it to a vector rectangle w ith its artw ork as its texture
using the Convert Draw ings to Match Layer Type command. It w ill still not be possible to edit the actual
artw ork, but you w ill be able to draw or erase over it, as w ell as tw eak the contour of its canvas.
If you w ant to actually vectorize a bitmap layer's artw ork into vector outlines, see Vectorizing Bitmap Artw ork.

How to change the art mode
1. Open the Layer Properties view .
2. In the Timeline view , select the layer you w ant to edit.
3. In the Layer Properties view , select the Drawing tab.
4. In the Art Layers section, select the w hether the art mode should be Vector or Bitmap for each art
layer.

By default, draw ing layers have tw o art layers: Line Art and Colour Art. If your Support Overlay andUnderlay Arts preference is enabled, your draw ing layers w ill have four art layers: Overlay Art, Line
Art, Colour Art and Underlay Art. For more information, see Enabling Overlay and Underlay Art
Layers on page 895.

5. In the Timeline view , right-click on the layer and select Convert Drawings to Match Layer Type.

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A message box appears informing you of how many draw ings w ere converted.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Vectorizing Bitmap Artwork
It is possible to convert artw ork in a bitmap layer into vector outlines, w hich you can then edit and paint using
Harmony's vector draw ing tools. This procedure takes the bitmap draw ing in the layer's line art layer, thenconverts it to vector outlines and inserts them into a vector draw ing layer, w hich you must create as yourdestination layer for the vectorization.

NOTE
To do this, your bitmap draw ing you should be line art only, and it should be in your draw ing
layer's line art layer.

How to vectorize a bitmap drawing
1. In the Timeline view , create a new vector draw ing layer, and make sure it is listed right below yourbitmap draw ing layer. If it is not, drag and drop the vector draw ing layer below the bitmap draw ing
layer to reorder it.

2. On the right side of the Timeline view , select all the bitmap draw ings you vectorize, along w ith theframes in the vector layer w hich should serve as a destination for the vectorized images.

3. Right-click on the selected frames, then select Drawings > Vectorize Line Art in Selected
Drawing.
The Convert to Vector Draw ing dialog box opens.

4. In the Vectorization section, select a vectorization preset. Among the default presets, you can selectBlack and W hite if you w ish to make crisp, vector only outlines, or Grey if you w ish to preserve
your line art's texture. You can customize your ow n preset using the Add or Edit buttons.
5. Click OK.

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Chapter 5: Draw ing

Your bitmap draw ing layer's line art is vectorized and inserted into your vector draw ing layer.
6. Click on the Enable/Disable Layer

icon next to your bitmap draw ing layer to hide your bitmap

line art and see your vectorized line art.

NOTE
For this functionality to w ork, your selection must absolutely have frames from a bitmap
draw ing layer on top, and frames from a vector draw ing layer in the bottom, and nothing else.
Otherw ise, an error message indicating how to use this feature w ill appear.

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Setting the Default Art Mode for New Layers
You can configure Harmony to create draw ing layers w ith specific art modes for each art layer using thePreferences dialog.

How to adjust the art mode settings in the Preferences dialog box
1. From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences ( W indow s/Linux ) or Harmony Premium >Preferences ( macOS ).
2. Select the Node View tab.

By default, draw ing layers have tw o art layers: Line Art and Colour Art. If your Support Overlay andUnderlay Arts preference is enabled, your draw ing layers w ill have four art layers: Overlay Art, Line
Art, Colour Art and Underlay Art. For more information, see Enabling Overlay and Underlay Art
Layers on page 895.

3. In the Layer Draw ing Options section, set the art layers to the desired art mode. Once this option isenabled, all new layers w ill follow these settings. It w ill not affect any existing layers.
4. Click OK.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Chapter 6: Painting and Colours
T-ANIMFX-003-001
Toon Boom Harmony Premium has some very pow erful painting features to add colour to your draw ings.
W hereas some other softw are only allow users to w ork w ith one colour sw atch at a time, painting in Harmony
is done by using palettes containing multiple colour sw atches that can be saved and reused as needed.

In the Colour view , you choose a different colour sw atch for each colour you w ant to paint in your draw ing. You
can add as many sw atches as you w ant. You can also rename them and modify existing ones.

W hen you modify the colour of an existing sw atch, it automatically updates all the zones painted w ith thissw atch throughout the entire scene. The colour sw atch has a unique ID number that associates it w ith thepainted zones. This w ay, you can change the look of your character at any time w ithout having to repaint it!
Another advantage of this system is that you can create complete palettes for different lighting situations. For
instance, in addition to the regular palette for a character, you could have one for that character in the rain

661

Harmony 22 Premium User Guideusing colours that are duller and less vibrant than the dry daytime colours, or yet another for using in a night
scene. Using palettes linked to your character in this w ay allow s you to instantly change its colouring to suitthe mood and atmosphere of the scene w ithout having to repaint each element.
It is also possible to use colour sw atches from palettes in bitmap draw ings, although changing the colours in
the palettes w ill not automatically update colours used in bitmap layers. Likew ise, it is possible to createdraw ing layers w ith bitmap line art and vector colour art, all w ith the same palettes —see About Art Layers on
page 891 and Creating Colour Art from Line Art on page 897.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

About Colour Swatches
T-HFND-006-017
You can use several different types of colour sw atches, including solid colour, gradient colour and bitmap
texture sw atches.

A colour palette is an actual file on the hard drive.
In Harmony Server, these palette files can be stored in a different location on the server. They can be stored in
the Environment, Job, Scene, or Element folder and linked to any palette list. This means that if the original
palette file is modified, it w ill update in every draw ing element the palette is linked to.
In Harmony Server, to avoid accidentally modifying the palette, the palette files can be locked. If a palettemust be modified, you must get the rights to modify them before doing so.
In Toon Boom Harmony Premium, w hen you add a sw atch, it is created using the colour of the currently
selected sw atch from your palette. How ever, you can set a default colour to be used every time you create a
new colour in your colour palette. This is useful for creating different shades of the same basic colour.
The default colour is also the colour used w hen you choose to vectorize images you're scanning into yourscene, how ever you add the Default colour sw atch to your palette in a different w ay, so it's unique. It has aunique ID number that makes it easily recognizable from all the other colours in your colour palettes. Being
able to change this colour allow s you to change the basic colour of all scanned draw ings. This can be useful on
more than just an aesthetic level as sometimes w hen you go to NTSC or PAL, pure colours, such as pure black,can create problems.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Locking and Unlocking the Colour List
In Harmony Server, you can lock and unlock the colour list to avoid modifying or modify the colour sw atches.

How to lock and unlock the colour list
1. In the Colour view , click the Edit Palette Modebutton.

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

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Adding a Colour Swatch
T-HFND-006-017A
You can add as many colour sw atches as you w ant in your palette.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

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

button.

2. Do one of the follow ing to edit the colour sw atch:l

From the Colour view menu, select Colours > Edit.

l

Double-click on the colour sw atch.

The Colour Picker w indow opens.

3. To set your colour, do one of the follow ing:lSelect either Red, Green, Blue, Hue, Saturarion of Value to change the colour w heel's
spectrum, then click on the desired colour in the colour w heel.

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Harmony 22 Premium User GuidelEnter the hue, saturation, value, red, green and blue values manually into theircorresponding fields. All values range from 0 to 255.

l

Click the Dropper

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

You can also click Multi W heel Mode to open the Multiw heel Colour w indow . This displays all the
picking area styles together and also contains a picking undo list. To return to the regular Colour
Picker w indow , click Single W heel Mode.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

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

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

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

7. Rename the colour sw atch in the Colour Picker w indow or directly in the colour list by doubleclicking on its name.

By default, w hen you create a new colour sw atch, its colour w ill be the same as the currently selected colour
sw atch, or black if no colour sw atch is selected. You can make Harmony create new colour sw atches w ith a
specific default colour instead.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

How to change the default swatch colour for all your colour palettes
1. Select Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony Premium > Preferences (macOS).
2. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Drawing tab.
3. In the New Colour Pots section, select the Create New Colour Pots Using the Default Colour
option. You can also click the colour sw atch beside the option to change the default colour.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Adding a Gradient Colour Swatch
T-HFND-006-017B
You can transform any colour sw atch into a linear or radial gradient.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

How to create a gradient colour swatch
1. In the Colour view , select a colour to modify .
2. Do one of the follow ing:lClick the new colour and from the Colour View menu, select Colours > New.

l

Double-click on the colour sw atch.

The Colour Picker w indow opens.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

3. Select the Gradient option.
4. Select the Linear or Radial option.
5. In the Gradient slider, create your gradient:l

To change one of the colours of your gradient, select a key colour from the gradient slider,then pick its colour in the colour picker.

l

To add a key colours to your gradient, click anyw here on the colour slider, betw een theexisting key colour.

l

To delete a key colour, use the mouse to pull dow n on it.

l

To move a key colour's position in the gradient, use the mouse to drag it left or right.

NOTE
To learn how to reposition the gradient zones in your draw ings, see About the Edit Gradientand Texture Tool on page 772.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Adding a Texture Colour Swatch
T-HFND-006-017C
You can add bitmap texture colour sw atches to your palette. This allow s you to fill zones in your artw ork w ith
custom patterns and textures.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

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

button.

The Brow ser w indow opens.
2. Brow se for a PSD or TGA bitmap file created w ith a third party softw are and click Open.
The texture is added to the colour list.

You can also replace a texture once it is painted. If you decide to make the character’s shirt w ool
instead of plaid, just update the texture file in the sw atch and the entire project updates. Anytransformation previously applied to the texture’s position in your draw ings w ill be kept.

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NOTE
To learn how to reposition the textured zones in your draw ings, see About the Edit Gradientand Texture Tool on page 772.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Copying and Pasting Colours
There are three w ays to copy and paste colour sw atches:lPaste as New Colours: This create a new colour sw atch w ith the same colour value, but w ith a different
colour ID as the original sw atch.

lPaste as Clones: This creates a new colour sw atch w ith the same colour value and the same colour ID
as the original sw atch.

lPaste Colour Values: This replaces the colour values in the selected colour sw atch w ith the colour
values from the copied sw atch.

Pasting a colour as a clone is useful if you’ve created a clone of a palette, then added a new sw atch in theoriginal palette, and need to add a sw atch w ith the same colour ID in the clone palette.

NOTE
A palette cannot have tw o sw atches w ith the same colour ID. Hence, you can only paste colours
as clones in a different palette than the ones the colours w ere copied from.

If, for any reason, you need to obtain the colour ID of your colour sw atches, w hether to make a reference tableof them, or to compare the colour IDs of tw o sw atches, you can copy the colour ID of a colour sw atch to the
clipboard. You cannot paste a colour ID anyw here on a colour sw atch, but you can paste it in a text editor or a
spreadsheet application for your ow n purposes.
A colour ID is a string of 16 hexadecimal digits, i.e.: 075cf5b552401130.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

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

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

2. In the Colour View menu, select Colours > Copy or press Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C(macOS).
3. In the Palette list, select the palette in w hich you w ant to paste the colours.

4. From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Paste as New Colours or press Ctrl + V(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS).
l

To paste the colour values of the copied sw atch over an existing colour sw atch, selectColours > Paste Colour Values.

How to clone a colour swatch
1. In the Colour view , select the colour sw atch you w ant to clone.
2. From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Copy or press Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C(macOS).
3. In the Colour view , select the colour palette you w ant to paste the clone into or create a newpalette.
4. From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Paste as Clone.
The cloned colour sw atch appears in the palette.

How to copy a colour ID
1. In the Colour view , select the colour sw atch from w hich you w ant to copy the ID.
2. From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Copy Colour ID or press Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ + C (macOS).
3. Paste the copied colour ID in a document.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Deleting a Colour Swatch
T-ANIMPA-003-007
You can delete unnecessary colour sw atches from your palette. If painted zones are using this colour, they w ill
be displayed in red and the system w ill try to recover them the next time you load the scene.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

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

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Delete.

lClick the Delete ColourlRight-click and select Delete.

lPress Del.

button.

If the colour sw atch is used in a draw ing, the Delete Colour dialog box opens.

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

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

If you delete colour sw atches already in use, the zones painted w ith them turn red so you can easily
identify them.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Modifying a Texture Colour Swatch
You can replace a texture colour sw atch and all zones already painted w ith it w ill update.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

How to replace a texture swatch
1. In the Colour view , select the texture sw atch that contains the bitmap texture you w ant to replace.

2. From the Colour View menu, select Colours > Edit Texture or double-click on the sw atch.
The Brow ser w indow opens.
3. Brow se for the new PSD or TGA bitmap file created in a third party softw are.

4. Click Open to update the colour sw atch.

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Replacing Colours and Textures in Drawings
T-H15NEW -004-001
Although it is alw ays possible to change colours and textures in existing draw ings by updating the sw atch inthe palette, there may be situations w here you w ant to replace a colour or texture in your draw ings w ith adifferent colour or texture sw atch, w ithout updating the existing sw atch. For example, you may w ant to only
replace a colour w ith a different colour in specific draw ings, but not in all the draw ings that use the original
colour, or you may w ant to replace a colour w ith a colour from a different palette w ithout changing yourpalettes.
Using the Recolour Draw ing dialog, you can replace all instances of a colour or texture used in your draw ings
w ith a different colour or texture sw atch. This w ill actually change the colours or textures from w ithin thedraw ings, w ithout making any changes to your palette. You can perform this operation on the currently
selected draw ing, on all draw ings in the current layer or in all draw ings in your scene.

How to recolour drawings
1. First, make sure one of the palettes in your scene already has a sw atch containing the colour or
texture you w ant to replace the original colour w ith—see About Colour Sw atches on page 663,
About the Edit Gradient and Texture Tool, Adding a Texture Colour Sw atch on page 671 andAdding a Pencil Line Texture on page 400.
2. In the Timeline, Xsheet or Node view , select the draw ing or draw ing layers you w ish to recolour.

NOTE
You can select multiple layers if needed.

NOTE
You can skip this step if you intend to recolour all the draw ings in your scene.

3. In the Colour view , click on Show Colour Palettes
texture, or on Show Pencil Texture Palettes
click on Show All Palettes

if you w ant to replace a colour, gradient or

if you w ant to replace a pencil texture. You can also.

4. In the Colour view , select the colour or texture sw atch you w ant to replace by doing one of thefollow ing:lSelect the palette in w hich the colour or texture sw atch is located, then select the sw atch
you w ish to replace.

l

If the draw ing in the Camera or Draw ing view contains the colour or texture you w ant toreplace, select the Colour Eyedropper

tool in the Tools toolbar, then click on that colour

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or texture in the draw ing. The Colour view w ill automatically select that colour or texture's
palette as w ell as that colour or texture's sw atch.
5. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the sw atches list, then select Recolour Drawings.

lOpen the Colour view menu

, then select Colours > Recolour Drawings.

The Recolour Draw ings dialog appears.

6. In the Replace Colour In panel, select w hether you w ant to replace the selected colour in the
Current Drawing, in All drawings in the selected layers or in All drawings in the scene.
7. In the palette list in the Replacement Colour panel, select the palette that contains the colour or
texture sw atch you w ant to replace the original colour or texture w ith.
8. In the sw atches list, select the colour or texture sw atch you w ant to replace the original colour or
texture w ith.
9. Click OK.
A dialog displays show ing the progress of the recolour operation. W hen finished, the original
colour or texture is replaced w ith the replacement colour or texture in your draw ing.

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Protecting Colours
T-ANIMPA-011-006
W hen you are finished inking one colour, you can lock it so if you ever paint over it accidentally, the w ork
already done w ill not be affected. You can also use the Protect Colour feature to block the filling colours if you
painted all of the animation in Line Art and you plan to repaint the lines.
W hen painting, the Respect Protected Colour option is enabled by default. In the Colour view , you can protect
In the Colour view , you can protect a colour sw atch to avoid repainting or unpainting the zones linked to thatsw atch. If you using the Paint tool and this option is deselected, you w ill repaint or unpaint the protectedcolours on your draw ings until you enable the option again.

How to protect colours
1. In the Colour view , select the colour to be protected.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click and select Protect Colour.

lFrom the Colour view menu, select Colours > Protect Colour.

A red bar appears beside the colour to indicate that it is locked.

How to enable the Respect Protected Colours option
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Paint tool properties, click the Respect Protected ColourlFrom the top menu, select Drawing> Colour Protection > Respect Colour
Protection.

lPress Shift + S.

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Changing the Colour Display Mode
The Colour view has tw o display modes:
l

List

l

Sw atchYou can also display the RGB values and names of your solid colour sw atches instead of only the name. This
option is not available w hen displaying the colours in Sw atch mode.

How to switch between the display modes
1. From the Colour View menu, and do one of the follow ing:lSelect Colours > Swatch Mode to display the sw atches.

lDeselect Colours > Swatch Mode to display the colour list.

How to display the swatch colour valueslFrom the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Display Colour Values.
The solid colour sw atches’ RGB values are displayed betw een the colour sw atch and its name. The
gradient colour sw atches w ill be identified as (gradient).

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About Palettes
T-ANIMPA-003-001
In animation, specific colours are used to paint each part of each character. In order to maintain absoluteconsistency, a base colour palette should be created for each character, prop and effect in the production. Thisis referred to as a master palette.
Master palettes contain a colour sw atch for each area to colour. Each sw atch stores a colour in precise levelsof red, green, blue and opacity (the latter w hich is referred to as alpha).
Using a master colour palette has many benefits, including:lEach character consistently retains their dedicated colours.

l

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

lStandardization and colour consistency throughout the production.

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

Harmony uses palettes to hold all the colours needed to paint your elements, allow ing complete control andconsistency in the painting process.
A palette is created by assigning a set of colours to each character, prop or effect. You w ill create a newpalette and add a new colour, know n as a colour sw atch, for each zone of the character, such as the skin, hair,
tongue, shirt, pants, and so on.
W hen you modify the colour of an existing sw atch, it automatically updates all the zones painted w ith thissw atch throughout the entire scene. The colour sw atch has a unique ID number that associates it w ith thepainted zones. This w ay, you can change the look of your character at any time w ithout having to repaint it!
Another advantage of this system is that you can create complete palettes for different lighting situations. For
instance, in addition to the regular palette for a character, you could have one for that character in the rainusing colours that are duller and less vibrant than the dry daytime colours, or yet another for using in a night
scene. Using palettes linked to your character in this w ay allow s you to instantly change its colouring to suitthe mood and atmosphere of the scene w ithout having to repaint each element.

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About Advanced Palette Management
In Harmony, palettes are individual *.plt files that can be copied, transferred and stored. W hen a palette is
created in Harmony,it is stored in your scene's palette-library subfolder by default, and linked to yourscene's palette list. How ever, Harmony has advanced palette management features that allow you to store
and manage your palettes in manners that may better serve your production's needs. This is called Advanced
Palette Lists mode. To enable these features, you must enable the Advanced Palette Lists preference.
The Advanced Palette Lists mode unlocks tw o features that can be very useful, especially for a big production:l

Palette location: W hile palette files are stored in a scene's palette library directory by default, you canchoose to store palettes in different locations, allow ing you to easily share palettes betw een different
scenes in a Harmony Server database.

l

Palette list type: W hereas palettes are usually added to a scene's palette list, making them available
to all the elements in your scene, you can also choose to add palettes to the palette list of individual
elements (layers) in your scene.

W hen the Advanced Palette Lists mode is enabled, Harmony open a dialog called the Palette Brow ser
w henever you w ant to create, import, clone, duplicate or link to a palette, w hich allow s you to decide yourpalette's location and palette list type.

To use advanced palette lists, it is important to understand the difference betw een a palette's location and apalette list's level. For example, it is possible to add a palette file stored in a scene's palette library folder to anelement's palette list. This can be useful if you w ish to have the same palette file used by several specificelements in your scene, w ithout copying it in the palette library folder of each element that uses it. The reverse
is possible: You can add a palette file stored in an element's palette library folder to a scene's palette list,
making the palette usable for all the elements in the scene, even if it is stored inside a single element's folder.

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Enabling the Advanced Palette Lists Mode
Advanced Palette Lists mode is disabled by default to avoid cluttering a basic w orkflow w ith too many
options, but it enables palette management capabilities that are very useful for big productions. Mainly, thispreference allow s you to:lCreate palettes inside a scene's environment, job or element palette-library directory, instead of thescene's palette-library directory. Storing a palette at the environment or job level can be especially
useful if you w ant to use the same palette in several scenes w ithout creating dependencies betw een
animation scenes and colour model scenes.

lCreate palettes for specific elements instead of the entire scene. You can do this by adding, importing or
linking to a palette in an element's palette list. A palette in an element's palette list can only be used bythat element.

You can set up the Advanced Palette Lists option in the Preferences panel.

How to set the Advanced Palette Lists mode
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony
Premium > Preferences (macOS).

l

Press Ctrl + U (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + U (macOS).

2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. In the Advanced Options section, select the Advanced Palette Lists option.
4. Click OK.

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About Scene and Element Palette Lists
By default, you can only add palettes to a scene's palette list. W ith the Advanced Palette Lists preference
enabled, you can choose to store add palettes to the palette list of individual elements if you choose. Here isan explanation of the tw o different levels of palette lists:l

Scene palette list: This palette list and its palettes are available for and can be used in all of the scene's
elements. Hence, it is the most simple and least restrictive approach, and is the type of palette used by
Harmony w hen Advanced Palette Lists mode is disabled. It is most recommended to add your palettes
to your scene's palette list if you are doing digital animation, w here character models can be made ofmany different elements that must use the same palette.

lElement palette list: A palette list associated w ith a single element in your scene. An element is thecontainer for the draw ings used by a draw ing layer. Hence, w hen an element has a palette list w ith its
ow n palettes, only the draw ings in that element can use the colours in these palettes, and the palettes
in this element's palette list w ill only be show n in the Colour view w hen a draw ing from this element isselected.

Using element palette lists as certain advantages, depending on your type of production:l

In paperless and traditional animation projects, characters are usually draw n on single elements.
Hence, you can use this to associate characters in a scene to their colour palette.

l

If a scene requires a lot of palettes, linking those palettes only to elements that need them rather than
to the w hole scene can help declutter your palette list.

l

W hen a palette and its clone are in the scene's palette list, Harmony w ill only use w hichever palette ishighest in the list. If you w ant one element to use the original palette and another element to use thecloned palette, you can do so by adding the right palette to each element's palette list.

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About Palette Storage Locations
Palettes can also be stored in four different locations. The best location to store palettes depends on the typeof production, the purpose of the palette, your pipeline and your backup plan. Here is an introduction to eachtype of palette location and their purpose:lElement: The palette-library folder inside an element's folder in the scene. This is the recommended
location if you are adding palettes to the palette lists of individual elements.

lScene: The palette-library folder inside the scene's folder. This is the default location w hen creating apalette in the scene's palette list, and is the location chosen by Harmony w hen creating a palette w ith
the Advanced palette Lists preference disabled. This is a suitable location to store the palettes ofcharacters, props and backgrounds used in a single scene, a small project, or any production that uses
Harmony Stand Alone.

lJob: For Harmony Server, this is the palette-library folder inside the job's folder on the database server.
This is the recommended location if you w ant to share the same palette betw een several scenes in thesame job, like for characters, props and backgrounds that are used in across entire episodes or smallerscale projects.

lEnvironment: For Harmony Server, this is the palette-library folder inside the environment's folder on
the database server. This is the recommended location if you w ant to share the same palette betw een
several scenes in the same environment, like for characters, props and backgrounds that are used
across an entire series or movie.

It is actually possible, but not recommended, to use palettes that are from a different job or environment. For
example, if you w ish to store a colour model's palette in the colour model's scene, you can make animation
scenes that user this character link to the palette in the colour model's scene. How ever, this means your scene
w ill depend on the colour model's scene and its palette being available at this location to render its colours. If
the colour model's scene is moved or deleted, or if you export the animation scene and import it in anotherdatabase, it w ill not be able to retrieve the palette. Hence, you w ould have to export the colour model along
w ith the animated scene, and import it into the other database. If you w ere to store the colour model's palettein its element folder, this w ould have the same restriction, w ith the added risk of breaking links to the original
palette if the character model's element is renamed. How ever, if you are sure that the structure of yourHarmony database w ill remain static and available at all time and at all steps of your production, then you canstore your palettes in w hichever job or environment you see fit.
Another reason w hy it is better to store shared palettes in a scene's job or environment is because, w hen you
export a Harmony scene, you can choose to export the palettes in the scene's job or environment palette
libraries along w ith it. These palettes are then stored w ith the exported scene and, w hen importing the scene
back into the database, you can choose to import the job and environment palettes that w ere exported w ith itback into the scene's job and environment.
Even in Harmony Stand Alone, you can store palettes at the job or environment level, even though Harmony
Stand Alone scenes do not have a job or an environment. W hen you do this, palettes are stored inside a
provisional jobs or environments directory inside the scene directory. If you import your scene to a Harmony
Server database, you can choose to import the files located in that scene's provisional job and environment

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into the scene's job and environment. Hence, w hen using Harmony Stand Alone, you should only store
palettes at the job or environment level if you intend to import your scene in a database later.
If you w ish, you can also link a palette from any location on your machine or netw ork to a palette list. This canbe useful if you have are doing a project in Harmony Stand Alone, and w ant all your scenes to source theirpalettes from the same location. How ever, it is not recommended to do this w ith Harmony Server projects, as
opening a scene linked to an external palette on a different w orkstation w ill require that palette to be in thesame file path as on the w orkstation w here the palette w as linked.

NOTE
In Harmony Server, even if you store palettes in a job or environment, they w ill not become
immediately accessible to the scenes inside that job or environment. You must still add them to thescene's palette list, or to the palette list of one of its elements, before you can use the palette.

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About Exporting Palettes
It is important to understand w hat is happening to a palette file w hen the scene is exported.
Because of the Harmony client-server configuration, all of the data can be shared through all of the scenes inthe database. This also includes the palette files, even if they are stored at the Element, Scene, Job, Draw ing orEnvironment level. The palette files can be accessed from any scene of any project.
W hen you export scenes from Harmony to either archive or send them to other users or studios, you canchoose to export it w ith palettes stored in the scene's ow n job or environment, but if your scene uses palettes
stored in other jobs, environments, or in any other location, those palettes will not be exported. Hence, if you
w ish to use the same palette for several scenes, it is recommended to store that palette at the environment or
job level to avoid ever facing a situation w here a scene no longer has access to its palette.
For example, in the follow ing chart, if you export Scene 2 from Job 1, the package w ill carry the palettes from
Scene 2, Job 1 and Environment. It W ILL NOT carry the palettes from Element 3 in Scene 1, Scene 1 and Job 2.
If Scene 2 w as linked to any of these, the system w ill create a recovery palette the next time Scene 2 is opened
in another Harmony system.

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About Backing Up and Recovering Palettes
Although Harmony Server opens palettes in read-only mode by default, there is alw ays the possibility of
palettes that are shared betw een scenes getting modified or their sw atches getting deleted by accident. Thatis w hy it is a good idea to copy and back up your palette libraries, your master palette directories and yourcolour models.
If you open a scene and a palette file happens to be missing, it w ill still appear in the palette list for that scene
or element, w ith a strike through across its name.

W hen Harmony attempts to load a draw ing that uses colours from a missing palette, or colours that w ere
removed from their palette, it w ill display the zones painted w ith the missing colours in red. Then, it w ill
prompt you to recover the missing colours into a recovery palette. A recovery palette is based on the colour
information w hich Harmony stores in each draw ing as a backup mechanism. This palette is stored at the scenelevel, and is not shared or sourced externally.
W hether you choose to perform colour recovery or not, your artw ork w ill preserve the colour IDs w hichHarmony uses to associate brush strokes, pencil lines and filled zones w ith the colour sw atches in yourpalettes. Hence, if you recover your original palette, you can just import or link it back to your scene—andremove the recovery palette, if you have one—and Harmony w ill automatically associate your artw ork w ith
the original palette again. You w ill not have to repaint your draw ings.
You can backup your palettes by copying them manually using your operating system's shell, or by cloning
them using the Palette Operations dialog. In both cases, the palette preserves the colour IDs, making it easy toreplace a missing palette w ith its backup. For more information on the Palette Operations, see PaletteOperations on page 723.

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About the Palette List
T-ANIMPA-003-006
A palette list is a file containing all of the links to the palette files. Each scene created has its ow n palette list.
How ever, it is also possible to assign palette lists to individual layers in a scene. To be able to do that, youmust first enable Advanced Palette Lists mode—see Enabling the Advanced Palette Lists Mode on page 685.
l

Scene Palette List
The scene palette list is simple to understand and convenient. Every element in your scene can use
colours from a palette in your scene's palette list. This is especially useful for digital animation, as a cutout character model w ill often be divided into dozens of different layers w hich w ill all use the same
palette.

The scene palette list is stored inside the scene's directory in a file named PALETTE_LIST, and its
palettes are usually located in the scene's palette-library subfolder.
lElement Palette List

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An element palette list is a list of palettes that is associated to an individual layer (element) in yourscene. Only the draw ings inside that element are able to use the colours in the palettes of its element
palette list. The palettes in an element palette list w ill only be visible in the colour view w hen adraw ing from that element is selected. This can be useful if you are doing traditional animation in w hichcharacters are usually draw n on a single layer, so you can assign each character to their individual
palette.

An element's palette list is stored in a file named PALETTE_LIST, inside the element's directory in thescene's elements subdirectory. An element's palettes can be stored in palette-library
subdirectory of the element's directory.
If you have the Advanced Palette List preference enabled, then you can build a palette list by creating palettes
in different locations, or linking to palettes from different locations. You might notice that the icon left of each
palette in the list looks different depending on w here the palette is sourced from. The follow ing is a table
explaining the meaning of each icon in the list.
Icon

Description

Indicates that the palette is stored at the same level as its palette list. For example, a palette that isstored in the scene's palette library and w hich is listed in the scene's palette list, or a palette that isstored in an element's palette library and w hich is listed in that same element's palette list.

Indicates that the palette file is stored in an external location, such as a different scene, an element in
a different scene, a job other than the scene's job, an environment other than the scene's environment,
or a custom location on your file system or netw ork. This means the palette is liable to be missing if it
is moved from its original location, or if the scene is exported from the database into an offline sceneor to a different database.

This indicates that the palette is stored at a higher level than its palette list, making it a shared
palette. For example, a palette in your scene's palette list that is stored in the palette library of thescene's job or environment, or a palette in an element's palette list that is stored in the palette library692

Chapter 6: Painting and Coloursof the scene.

Indicates a potentially dangerous situation. For example, a palette file that is stored in one of thescene's element folders, but w hich is added to your scene's palette list. The w hole scene can use thepalette, but since it's stored inside an element, deleting that element w ill make your w hole scene lose
access to that palette.

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Showing and Hiding the Palette List
By default, the palette list is enabled. If you w ant to only use one palette for all of your scenes, you can disable
the palette list simply by collapsing it, w hich w ill give more vertical space to your colour sw atch list:

How to show or hide the palette list
1. In the Colour view , right over the palettes list, click on the expand/collapse arrow to expand or
collapse the palettes list.

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Locking and Unlocking the Palette List
In Harmony Server, palette lists are open in read only mode w hen loading a scene. This is to prevent users
from accidently removing palettes. To create, link to, reorder or remove palettes, you must first unlock yourscene's palette list.

How to lock and unlock to the palette list
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, open the Edit menu and ensure the Edit Palette List Mode option
is checkedlRight-click on the palette list and select Get Rights to Modify Palette List.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette List

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

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Displaying Colour and Pencil Texture Palettes
Besides regular colour palettes, Harmony also supports pencil texture palettes. A pencil texture can be
combined w ith a colour to create pencil lines of various styles, ranging from styles reproducing traditional
draw ing tools such as chalk or felt to simple patterns like dots and circles. For more information, see About
Pencil Line Textures on page 385.
By default, the Colour view only lists colour palettes in its palette list. You can make the Colour view list only
pencil texture palettes, or all types of palettes.

How to change the palette list's filter to show colour palettes, pencil texture palettes,
or both
1. In the Colour view , do one of the follow ing:l

If you only w ant to only see colour palettes, press the Show Colour Palettes
button.

l

If you only w ant to see texture palettes, press the Show Texture Palettesl

If you w ant to see both types of palettes, press the Show All Palettes

button.
button.

NOTE
If you open the Link Palette dialog, it w ill only list either colour palettes or pencil texture palettes,
depending on w hich filter is currently applied to the palette list. If the palette list is set to display
all palettes, the dialog w ill list the type of palettes of the last palette list filter that w as used.

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Creating a Palette
T-ANIMPA-003-002
You can create a palette in either Basic or Advanced mode.
By default, Toon Boom Harmony Premium is set to the Basic mode. For simple productions, it is recommended
to use the Basic mode. This setting stores the palettes automatically for you and saves them at the Scene
level. W hen you use the Advanced Palette Lists mode, you can decide at w hich level you w ant to store yourpalettes: Environment, Job, Scene, or Element.To enable Advanced Palette Lists, see Enabling the Advanced
Palette Lists Mode on page 685.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the palette list by doing
one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, open the Edit menu and ensure the Edit Palette List Mode option ischeckedlRight-click on the palette list and select Get Rights to Modify Palette List.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette List

How to create a new palette (Basic palette list mode)
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour View , click the New Palettebutton over the palette list.

lFrom the Colour view menu, select Palettes > New

The Create Palette dialog box opens.
2. In the Create Palette dialog, enter the new palette's name. Make sure your palette name contains
information to be easy to identify, such as the name of the character and information about the typeof setting for this palette, if any.

3. Set the Palette Type to Colour if you w ant to create a colour palette, or to Pencil Texture if you
w ant to create a pencil texture palette—see About Pencil Line Textures.
4. Click OK.
The palette appears in the draw ing element’s palette list.

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How to create a palette (Advanced palette list mode)
1. If you w ant to add the palette to an element's palette list, select a draw ing from the element forw hich you w ant to create a palette in the Timeline, Xsheet or Camera view .
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour View , click the New Palettebutton over the palette list.

lFrom the Colour view menu, select Palettes > NewThe Palette Brow ser dialog box opens.

3. In the Palette Location panel, select the location w here you w ant to store the palette file. If you areusing Harmony Server, you can store the palette in any environment, job, scene or element on yourdatabase. In Harmony Stand Alone, you can store the palette in the scene, inside one of its element,
or inside its provisional job or environment. For more information, see About Palette Storage
Locations on page 687.

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4. In the New Palette Name field, enter the name for the new palette. The palette list above this fieldlists the palettes that already exist in the selected location. Make sure you enter a name that is notalready used by another palette.
5. Set the Palette Type to Colour if you w ant to create a colour palette, or to Pencil Texture if you
w ant to create a pencil texture palette—see About Pencil Line Textures.
6. In the Palette List panel, select w hether you w ant the palette to be added to the Scene Palette
List, or to the Element Palette List of the currently selected element. Note that in the latter case,the palette w ill only be usable by the element. For more information, see About Scene and Element
Palette Lists on page 686.

7. Click OK.
The new palette appears in the palette list.

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Linking a Colour Palette
T-ANIMPA-003-004
Linking a palette means adding a palette to your scene's palette list, or to an element's palette list, w ithout
making a local copy of that palette in your scene's palette library. This means your scene w ill depend in thispalette remaining in its location in order to render its colours, but it allow s you to reuse the same palette files
for several scenes, making sure that recurring characters and objects keep their original colours across a
production and that any late change done to their colour scheme can be quickly reflected across all yourscenes.
In Harmony Server, environments, jobs, scenes and elements can all have their ow n palette library, and you
can link to a palette from the palette library of any environment, job, scene or element in your database.
How ever, to make it easier to ensure scenes do not lose access to their palettes, it is recommended to only linkto palettes from w ithin the scene's ow n environment, job, scene or elements. The most important reason forthis is that if you export a scene that uses palettes from other jobs, environments, scenes or elements, thesepalettes w ill not be exported. Hence, they w ill be missing if you import them in a different database. How ever,you can export a scene w ith all of its assets along w ith the assets contained in its ow n job and environment.
You can also link to palettes from any location on your machine or netw ork, but this is not a recommended
approach for Harmony Server projects, as your scene w ill require the palette to be in the same file path if you
open it on a different w orkstation—see Linking to an External Palette on page 702.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the palette list by doing
one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, open the Edit menu and ensure the Edit Palette List Mode option ischeckedlRight-click on the palette list and select Get Rights to Modify Palette List.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette List

How to link a colour palette
1. If you w ant to add the palette to an element's palette list, select a draw ing from the element forw hich you w ant to create a palette in the Timeline, Xsheet or Camera view .
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Link.

l

Right-click and select Link.

l

Click the Link Palettebutton.

The Palette Brow ser: Link Palette dialog box opens.

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3. In the Palette Location panel, brow se to the location of the palette you w ant to link to.
4. In the Palette list, select the palette you w ant to link to.
5. In the Palette List panel, select w hether you w ant the palette to be added to the Scene Palette
List, or to the Element Palette List of the currently selected element. Note that in the latter case,the palette w ill only be usable by the element. For more information, see About Scene and Element
Palette Lists on page 686.
The palette appears in the Colour view .

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Linking to an External Palette
You can link to a palette from anyw here on your machine or netw ork from w ithin a palette list. This can be
useful if you are w orking on a Harmony Stand Alone project on a single w orkstation, and w ish to source
palettes that w ill be used in several scenes from the same location.

NOTE
Linking to an external palette w ill cause your scene dependent on that palette being located in thesame location it w as linked from originally. This means that your scene w ill be missing colors if
your palette has been renamed, moved or deleted, or if you try to open the scene on a different
machine w ithout first copying the palette in the same location. Hence, this is not a recommended
w orkflow for large scale productions or for Harmony Server scenes.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the palette list by doing
one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, open the Edit menu and ensure the Edit Palette List Mode option ischeckedlRight-click on the palette list and select Get Rights to Modify Palette List.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette List

How to link to an external palette
1. In the Colour view , click on the Create Palettebutton to create a palette to be used as external.

2. Save your scene by selecting File > Save from the top menu or by clicking the Save

button orpress Ctrl + S (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + S (macOS).
3. On your computer or server, create a master directory. Ideally, this should be created in your Rootfolder to keep it w ithin the project directory. You could also place it inside your Colour Model’s
subdirectory.

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4. Name the folder appropriately, for example: Joe_master_palette.
5. From your operating system, brow se to your Toon Boom Harmony Premium scene and open thepalette-library folder.

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

7. Create a new Toon Boom Harmony Premium scene, or open the scene in w hich you w ant to link thepalette.
8. If you w ant to add the palette to an element's palette list, select a draw ing from the element forw hich you w ant to create a palette in the Timeline, Xsheet or Camera view .
9. From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Link to External.
The Link to External Palette dialog box opens.

10. Click Browse to search for your master palettes folder and select the palette *.plt file you w ant
to link.

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11. In the Palette List panel, select w hether you w ant the palette to be added to the Scene Palette
List, or to the Element Palette List of the currently selected element. Note that in the latter case,the palette w ill only be usable by the element. For more information, see About Scene and Element
Palette Lists on page 686.
12. Click OK.
The linked palette appears in the Colour view , w ith the External
is located outside of your scene's structure.

704

icon next to it to indicate that itChapter 6: Painting and Colours

Importing a Colour Palette
T-ANIMPA-003-005
You can import an existing palette from your file system or netw ork into your scene. This w ill create a copy ofthe palette file and add it to your palette list.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the palette list by doing
one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, open the Edit menu and ensure the Edit Palette List Mode option ischeckedlRight-click on the palette list and select Get Rights to Modify Palette List.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette List

How to import a palette into your project (Basic palette list mode)
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Colour menu

, select Palettes > Import.

lRight-click on the palette list and select Import.

The Brow ser w indow opens.
2. Brow se for a palette file located (*.plt) on your hard drive. You can usually find a scene's palettesby brow sing to the palette-library sub-folder of the scene's folder.
3. Click Open.
The Import Palette dialog box appears.

4. In the New Palette Name field, enter the name for the imported palette.
The palette is copied to your project and added to your scene's palette list.

How to import a palette into your project (Advanced palette list mode)
1. If you w ant to add the palette to an element's palette list, select a draw ing from the element forw hich you w ant to create a palette in the Timeline, Xsheet or Camera view .

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2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Colour menu

, select Palettes > Import.

lRight-click on the palette list and select Import.

The Brow ser w indow opens.
3. Brow se for a palette file located (*.plt) on your hard drive. You can usually find a scene's palettesby brow sing to the palette-library sub-folder of the scene's folder.
4. Click Open.
The Palette Brow ser dialog box appears.

5. In the Palette Location panel, select the location w here you w ant to store the palette file. If you areusing Harmony Server, you can store the palette in any environment, job, scene or element on yourdatabase. In Harmony Stand Alone, you can store the palette in the scene, inside one of its element,
or inside its provisional job or environment. For more information, see About Palette Storage
Locations on page 687.
6. In the Palette List panel, select w hether you w ant the palette to be added to the Scene Palette
List, or to the Element Palette List of the currently selected element. Note that in the latter case,the palette w ill only be usable by the element. For more information, see About Scene and Element
Palette Lists on page 686.
7. In the New Palette Name field, name the imported palette.
The palette is copied to your project and added to your scene's palette list.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Consolidating Used Colours Into a Single PaletteUsing the Create Palette from Selection dialog, you can instantly generate a single palette that contains all thecolours used in your artw ork, and no other colours. This can be useful if you have used colours from several
different palettes to design the colours for a character, background or prop, and w ant this asset to have its
ow n dedicated palette.

NOTE
The Create Palette from Selection dialog uses the colours in all the draw ings in the selected
layers, even draw ings that are not exposed.

How to create a single palette with the colours used by one or several drawings
1. In the Timeline, Camera, Xsheet or Node view , select all the layers for w hich you w ant to create asingle colour palette.

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TIPSl

To select multiple layers or nodes, press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘(macOS) key, then click on each layer or node you w ant to select.

l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , you can select a contiguous series of layers byclicking on the first layer you w ant to select, then, w hile holding Shift, clicking on
the last layer you w ant to select. Every layer in-betw een w ill also be selected.

l

If your scene has a complex layer hierarchy, you can expand all the layers in theTimeline view by pressing 9 before selecting all the layers in your scene.

l

To select all layers in your scene, select Edit > Select All in the top menu or press
Ctrl + A (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + A (macOS).

l

To select all but a few specific layers, select the layers you w ant to exclude, thenselect Edit > Invert Selection in the top menu or press Ctrl + Shift + I(W indow s/Linux) or Shift + ⌘ + I (macOS).

2. In the top-left corner of the Colour view , open the

View Menu and select Palettes > New

Palette from Selected Drawings.The Create Palette from Selection dialog appears.

NOTE
If the Advanced Palette Lists preference is enabled, the dialog w ill also have a palettebrow ser to allow you to select w here to store the palette and w hether to associate thepalette to the scene or to an element. For information on how to create a palette inAdvanced Palette Lists mode, see Creating a Palette.

3. In the Name field, type in the name for the palette to create.
4. In the Palette Type drop-dow n, select Colour if you w ant to create a palette containing all thecolours, gradients and bitmap textures in the selected layers, or select Pencil Texture if you w ant
to create a palette containing all the pencil textures in the selected layers.
5. If you w ant the sw atches in the new colour palette to have different colour IDs than the ones
currently used by the selected draw ings, check the Generate New Colour IDs and Recolour
Selected Drawings option.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

NOTES
l

This option creates a palette w ith new colour IDs, and replaces the old colour IDs inyour artw ork w ith the new ones. This w ill typically not cause any visible change,
and it w ill prevent your new palette from using the same colour IDs as the palettes
that are currently in your scene. This is important because, w hen tw o colour
sw atches in tw o different palettes have the same colour ID, the zones filled w iththat colour ID w ill appear in the colour in the top-most palette. If you w ant toprevent this, it is recommended to check this option.

l

If there are any Colour-Override in the selection, they w ill not be updated to use the
new colour IDs, w hich w ill cause them to no longer w ork w ith your artw ork unless
you reconfigure them manually. Using this option is not recommended in this case.

6. Click on OK.
A new palette is generated containing all the colours used in all the draw ings in the selected layers
and is added to the palette list.

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Renaming a Palette
T-ANIMPA-003-003
You can rename a colour palette to keep your list organized.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the palette list by doing
one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, open the Edit menu and ensure the Edit Palette List Mode option ischeckedlRight-click on the palette list and select Get Rights to Modify Palette List.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette List

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

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

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click and select Rename.

l

From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Rename.

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

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Removing a Palette
You can remove palettes from your Palette list if they're not needed in your scene. The actual palette file w ill
not be deleted, so you can add it back to your palette list later if you need it.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the palette list by doing
one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, open the Edit menu and ensure the Edit Palette List Mode option ischeckedlRight-click on the palette list and select Get Rights to Modify Palette List.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette List

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

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Remove.

l

Right-click on the selected palette and select Remove.

l

Click the Remove Palettebutton located above the Palette list.

If the palette w as used in your scene, the zones painted w ith its colours turn red.

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NOTE
If you w ish to delete the palette file, you can select the Remove and Delete From Disk option
from the same menu. You w ill be prompt to confirm the deletion. Note that the palette w ill bedeleted from your file system, and there w ill be no w ay to recover it.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Duplicating a Palette
A duplicated palette is a simple copy of the original palette. W hen you duplicate a palette, the duplicatedpalette w ill have the same colour names and values, but w ill have different colour IDs so that Harmony does
not mix it up w ith its original palette. This is useful w hen you w ant to create different palettes for similar
models, but w ant to avoid having to create the palette and its colours all over again. You can just start w ith
your duplicate palette, tw eak the colours and add and remove colours as needed.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the palette list by doing
one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, open the Edit menu and ensure the Edit Palette List Mode option ischeckedlRight-click on the palette list and select Get Rights to Modify Palette List.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette List

How to duplicate a palette (Basic palette list mode)
1. In the Colour view , select a palette to duplicate.

2. Do one of the follow ing: From the Colour menu, select Palettes > Duplicateor right-click and selectDuplicate.
l

Right-click on the palette and select Duplicate.

lOpen the Colour menu

, then select select Palettes > Duplicate.

The Duplicate palette dialog box opens

3. In the New Palette Name field, enter the name for the new palette. By default, the palette's nameis based on the original palette name follow ed by "-copy". The palette list above this field lists thepalettes that already exist in the selected location. Make sure you enter a name that is not alreadyused by another palette.

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4. Click OK.
The duplicated palette appears in the palette list.

How to duplicate a palette (Advanced palette list mode)
1. In the Colour view , select a palette to duplicate.

2. Do one of the follow ing: From the Colour menu, select Palettes > Duplicate or right-click andselect Duplicate.
l

Right-click on the palette and select Duplicate.

lOpen the Colour menu

, then select select Palettes > Duplicate.

The Palette Brow ser dialog box opens.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

3. In the Palette Location panel, select the location w here you w ant to store the palette file. If you areusing Harmony Server, you can store the palette in any environment, job, scene or element on yourdatabase. In Harmony Stand Alone, you can store the palette in the scene, inside one of its element,
or inside its provisional job or environment. For more information, see About Palette Storage
Locations on page 687.
4. In the New Palette Name field, enter the name for the new palette. By default, the palette's nameis based on the original palette name follow ed by "-copy". The palette list above this field lists thepalettes that already exist in the selected location. Make sure you enter a name that is not alreadyused by another palette.
5. In the Palette List panel, select w hether you w ant the palette to be added to the Scene Palette
List, or to the Element Palette List of the currently selected element. Note that in the latter case,the palette w ill only be usable by the element. For more information, see About Scene and Element
Palette Lists on page 686.

6. Click OK.
The duplicated palette appears in the palette list.

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Cloning a Palette
Cloning a palette creates an exact copy of the palette, w here each colour sw atch has the same colour ID as in
the original palette, but w hich you can modify independently afterw ard. Since painted zones in draw ings areassociated to their colour by their colour ID, this means that any draw ing colored w ith the original palette canhave its colours replaced w ith the cloned palette's colours just by sw itching the palette in the scene w ith thecloned palette.
A good example of how this can be useful is w hen you w ant to make variants of a character's palette. A
character usually has only one master palette, although there are times w hen the characters are placed indifferent lighting conditions and require a different colour shading. The night palette is a popular choice w hen
a scene or sequence changes from day to night. Instead of creating a different palette for the character andrepainting all of its zones w ith the night palette, you can just clone the character's master palette, tw eak its
colours, and the character w ill have its original colours or its night colours depending on w hich one of thepalettes is in the palette list, w ithout having to repaint your draw ings.

W hen a palette and its clone are present in the same scene, Harmony uses the palette that is highest in thelist. If one palette clone is present in the scene's palette list and another clone is present in the element's
palette list, the element w ill use the palette in its ow n palette list.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the palette list by doing
one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, open the Edit menu and ensure the Edit Palette List Mode option ischeckedlRight-click on the palette list and select Get Rights to Modify Palette List.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette List

How to clone a palette (Basic palette list mode)
1. In the Colour view , select a palette to clone.

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2. Do one of the follow ing: From the Colour menu, select Palettes > Clone or right-click and selectClone.
l

Right-click on the palette and select Clone.

lOpen the Colour menu

, then select select Palettes > Clone.

The Clone palette dialog box opens

3. In the New Palette Name field, enter the name for the new palette. By default, the palette's nameis based on the original palette name follow ed by "-clone". The palette list above this field lists thepalettes that already exist in the selected location. Make sure you enter a name that is not alreadyused by another palette.
4. Click OK.
The cloned palette appears in the palette list.

How to clone a palette (Advanced palette list mode)
1. In the Colour view , select a palette to clone.

2. Do one of the follow ing: From the Colour menu, select Palettes > Clone or right-click and selectClone.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Right-click on the palette and select Clone.

lOpen the Colour menu

, then select select Palettes > Clone.

The Palette Brow ser dialog box opens.

3. In the Palette Location panel, select the location w here you w ant to store the palette file. If you areusing Harmony Server, you can store the palette in any environment, job, scene or element on yourdatabase. In Harmony Stand Alone, you can store the palette in the scene, inside one of its element,
or inside its provisional job or environment. For more information, see About Palette Storage
Locations on page 687.
4. In the New Palette Name field, enter the name for the new palette. By default, the palette's nameis based on the original palette name follow ed by "-clone". The palette list above this field lists thepalettes that already exist in the selected location. Make sure you enter a name that is not alreadyused by another palette.
5. In the Palette List panel, select w hether you w ant the palette to be added to the Scene Palette
List, or to the Element Palette List of the currently selected element. Note that in the latter case,the palette w ill only be usable by the element. For more information, see About Scene and Element
Palette Lists on page 686.

6. Click OK.
The cloned palette appears in the palette list.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

NOTE
You can modify your cloned palette by changing its colour sw atches individually, or you can use
the Tint Panel to change all of the palette's colour sw atches simultaneously—see Tinting a
Palette's Colour Sw atches on page 720.

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Tinting a Palette's Colour Swatches
You can use the Tint Panel dialog to offset, blend or mix all the different colour sw atches in a palettesimultaneously. This can be useful if you w ant to give a cloned palette a different tint, for example to make anight-themed version of a character's master palette.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the selected palette bydoing one of the follow ing:l

In the Colour view , make sure the Edit Palette Mode

toggle button is pressed in.

l

In the palette list of the Colour view , right-click on the selected palette and select either Get
Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights to Modify All Palettes.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette or Get Rights

to Modify All Palettes.

How to tint a palette
1. In the Palette list, select the palette you w ant to tint.
2. From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Tint Panel or right-click and select Tint Panel.
The Blend/Offset Tint panel opens.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

3. Select one or more colours to modify. You can select all your colours by pressing Ctrl + A(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + A (macOS).
4. Offset, blend, or mix the colours using the sliders and increasing the Amount value.

5. Select the Preview option to see a preview of the colours w hile you adjust them.

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Reordering Palettes in the Palette List
You may w ant your palettes to be listed in a specific order. In a lot of cases, this is strictly a matter ofconvenience. How ever, if your palette list contains palettes that have been cloned off each other, Harmony
w ill use the palette that is located the highest in the list to determine the colours to use in the draw ings.
Hence, if you are using cloned palettes, you must mind the order of your palettes in the palette list. For more
information, see Cloning a Palette on page 716.

NOTE
If a palette in the scene's palette list has been cloned into an element's palette list, Harmony w ill
use the palette in the element's palette list for this element.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, make sure you have the rights to modify the palette list by doing
one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, open the Edit menu and ensure the Edit Palette List Mode option ischeckedlRight-click on the palette list and select Get Rights to Modify Palette List.

l

From the Colour view menu

, select Palettes > Get Rights to Modify Palette List

How to reorder palettes in the palette list
1. Select the palette you w ish to reorder.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Palette list toolbar, click the Up

or Dow nl

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

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Palette Operations
W hen you start Toon Boom Harmony Premium connected to the database, you can access the PaletteOperations dialog box w hich lets you clone, rename, or delete palettes in your database, w ithout having toopen a scene or brow se the database's file system in your operating system's shell.

NOTE
The Palette Operations dialog box never makes any change to any palette list in your database. All
it allow s you to do is manipulate palettes files. You should be careful not to rename or delete
palettes that are required by some of your existing scenes, or Harmony w ill be unable to locate
those palettes w hen you open one of those scenes.

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Opening the Palette Operations Dialog Box
You can open the Palette Operations dialog box in Harmony Server.

How to open the Palette Operations dialog box
1. Start Harmony and log in.
2. Close the Database Selector dialog box.
3. From the top menu, select Tools > Palette Operations.

The Palette Operations dialog box opens.

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Cloning a Palette in the Palette Operations Dialog Box
From the Palette Operations w indow , you can clone palettes in Harmony Server.

How to clone a palette in the Palette Operations dialog box
1. Select the palette you w ant to clone at the location and level in w hich it w as stored.

2. Click Clone.
A W arning dialog box opens.

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

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6. In the New Palette Name field, enter the name of your palette.
7. Click OK.

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Renaming a Palette in the Palette Operations Dialog Box
You can rename palettes in the Palette Operations dialog box in Harmony Server.

How to rename a palette in the Palette Operation dialog box
1. Select the palette you w ant to rename at the location and level in w hich it w as stored.

2. Click Rename.
A W arning dialog box opens.

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

5. Type in a name for the palette.

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6. Click OK.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Deleting a Palette in the Palette Operations Dialog Box
You can delete palette files from the Palette Operations dialog box in Harmony Server.

How to delete a palette in the Palette Operation dialog box
1. Select the palette you w ant to delete at the location and level in w hich it w as stored.

2. Click Delete.
A W arning dialog box opens.

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

NOTE
It is not recommended to disable the w arning message as deleting a palettecannot be undone.

4. Click Yes.

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About Painting
Harmony is optimized to ink and paint draw ings efficiently. Since most of the draw ings are vector-based, thecolour zones are completely filled and there are no scattered spots left blank. Also, there are some actions
that can be applied on an entire animation sequence at once, like dirt removal, some colour filling, line
repainting, and so on.
W hen traditional animation is traced, cleaned up, scanned in and properly exposed, it's time for the ink andpaint process. This consists of cleaning all dirt and hair (for example, dust that w as in the scanner, dots that do
not belong in the draw ing, extra floating artw ork around the draw ing that must be removed), painting thelines and filling the colours in the empty zones on an entire animation sequence.

For paperless animation, the draw ings are cleaned up directly in Harmony, so there is generally no dirt toclean, only painting and inking.
Harmony uses palettes to hold all the colours you need to paint your elements. A palette is created byassigning a set of colours to each character, prop or effect. The colour styling artist w ill create a new paletteand add a new colour for each zone of the character, such as the skin, hair, tongue, shirt, pants, and so on. Eachcolour is know n as a colour sw atch—see About Palettes on page 682.

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About Colour Models
Once you have a fully painted draw ing, you can use it as a colour model and load it in the Reference view . That
draw ing can be used and loaded in any of your Harmony scenes—see Painting Draw ings on page 745.

Once a draw ing is loaded in the Reference view , you can use the Reference view ’s

Colour Eyedropper tool

to select a colour from the model and use it to paint in your Camera or Draw ing view w ithout having to pickthe colour from the colour palette.
You can do more than just copy colours from a colour model. Harmony gives you the ability to copy parts of thecharacter directly from its colour model and paste these elements into the Draw ing or Camera view s.

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Loading Colour Models
T-ANIMPA-004-005
You can load any TVG draw ings in your Model view . To avoid brow sing for models every single time you w ork
on your scene, you can store default models in your scene and load those.

How to load a colour model from the Timeline or Xsheet view
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a draw ing (*.tvg).

2. Bring the model into the Model view by doing one of the follow ing:l

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

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

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

l

In the Model View toolbar, click Current Draw ing

button.

The model appears in the Model view .

How to browse for a colour model drawing on your hard drive
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Reference View toolbar, click the Import Referencesl

From the Reference View menu, select Import References.

l

Select File > Import > To Reference View.

button.

2. In the Brow ser w indow , brow se for any *.tvg draw ing file on your hard drive or in the database for
Harmony Server.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

3. Click Open.
The model appears in the Reference view .

How to load the default models
1. In your scene ’s folder, create a new folder and name it models.
2. On your hard drive, copy the *.tvg draw ing files you w ant to use as colour models in your scene.
3. Paste the copied models in the models folder you created.
4. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Reference View menu, select Load Default Referencess.

l

In the Reference View toolbar, click the Load Default References

button.

NOTE
The Load Default References button is not part of the default Reference View
toolbar. To add the Load Default References button to the Reference View
toolbar, right-click in the Reference view toolbar and select Customize. Drag theLoad Default References

button from the Available Tools column and moveit to the right (Toolbar) column. Click OK.

How to load a single drawing from the Library view
1. In the Library view , click the template containing the draw ing to import in the Reference view .
2. Right-click on the template and select Open As Folder.
3. In the Library view ’s left side, select the template’s folder and continuing expanding its subfolders
until *.tvg files appear on the right side.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

4. In the Library view ’s right side, select the TVG draw ing to import and drag it into the Model view .

How to load a template with multiple drawings from the Library view
1. In the Library view , find the template you w ant to import in the Reference view .
2. In the Library view ’s right side, drag the template (*.tpl file) and drop it directly in the Reference
view .
3. Use the Previous

and Next

buttons in the Reference View toolbar to view all the draw ings

contained in the template. This can often be the front, profile, and 3/4 view s of a character.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

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

3. Use the Previous

and Next

buttons in the Reference View toolbar to view all the draw ings

contained in the template. This can often be the front, profile, and 3/4 view s of a character.

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Clearing Colour Models
You can remove colour models from the Reference view .

How to clear a colour modell

In the Reference View menu, select Clear Model or press Del.

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Flipping Between Models
T-LAY-002-001
Once your models are loaded in the Reference view , you can flip through them using a keyboard shortcut or
toolbar buttons.

How to flip between models
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Reference View toolbar, click the Next

or Previousl

From the Reference View menu, select Next or Previous.

lPress F and G.

The previous or next model appears in the Reference view .

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Copying Colour Models
You can copy pieces or the entire colour model to paste in your scene,

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

2. In the Reference view , select your model.

3. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Drawing Object or pressCtrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C(macOS).
4. In the Timeline view , make sure you have the correct layer and frame selected.
5. Select the Draw ing or Camera view , then go to the top menu and select Edit > Paste Drawing
Object, or select the Timeline view and from the top menu, select Edit > Paste cells in theTimeline or press Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS).
The model appears in the selected view .

How to copy part of the model from the Reference view
1. In the Reference View toolbar, select the Cutter

tool or press Alt + T.

2. In the Reference view , use the Cutter tool to create a selection around the part of your model thatyou w ant to copy.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

3. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Drawing Object or pressCtrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C(macOS).
4. In the Timeline view , make sure you have the correct layer and frame selected.
5. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect the Draw ing or Camera view and select Edit > Paste Drawing Object.

l

Select the Timeline view and select Edit > Paste cells in the Timeline or press Ctrl +V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS).

The model appears in the selected view .

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About Dirt Cleanup
T-INK-002-001
W hen paper draw ings are passed through a scanner, there can be some hair and dirt scattered across them.
These lines and dots need to be cleaned. Harmony provides different tools to help get rid of them quickly.

If there are some marks that cannot be removed w ith the automated tools, you can erase them w ith the Eraser
tool or select them w ith the Select tool and then delete them. It's alw ays safer to select and delete them thanto erase them, so you do not overlook anything.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Removing Dirt
T-INK-002-002
The Remove Dirt tool selects small dots and hairs on the draw ing.
Raising the Remove Dirt level w ill select bigger dots. W hen selecting larger dots, be careful not to lose small
details like pupils and nostrils. Once you have chosen the level, you can apply it to the current draw ing or theentire animation sequence. This is a quick w ay to get rid of most dirt and dust.
During this process, the dirt that w ill be removed is highlighted in red.

How to use the Remove Dirt tool
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

l

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

l

Press Shift + D.

2. Increase the Remove Dirt value by moving the slider to the right.
3. Select the Apply to All Drawings option if you w ant to apply the operation to all draw ings in thelayer.

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Removing Dirt Outside the Selection
T-INK-002-003
The Remove Art Outside Selection option lets you remove any art existing outside a selection. It is
recommended that you clean your Colour Art level as w ell. If you have a stroke accumulation in your Colour
Art, it can result in large output files, especially if you w ork in high-definition resolutions.

How to clean dirt with Remove Art Outside Selection
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool.

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

button.

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

4. In the Camera or Draw ing View menu, select Drawings > Clean Up and one of the follow ing
options:lRemove Art Outside Selection to delete artw ork outside your selection on a single
draw ing.

lRemove Art Outside Selection on All Drawings to delete artw ork outside yourselection on all the draw ings.

The art outside the selection is removed.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Removing the Art Inside the Selection
T-INK-002-004
You can delete any art inside a selection w ith the Remove Art Inside Selection option. W e recommend that you
clean your Colour Art level as w ell. If you have a stroke accumulation in your Colour Art, it can result in large
output files, especially if you w ork in high definition resolutions.
You can simultaneously apply this operation to all your draw ings in the layer by using the Remove Art Inside
Selection on All Draw ings command.

How to clean dirt with Remove Art Inside Selection
1. In the Tools toolbar, click the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

2. To apply the action to your entire animation, click the Permanent Selection

button in the Tool

Properties view .
3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw a selection around the animation. Make sure the area is large
enough to include all the zones to be cleaned up on all draw ings.
4. From the top menu, select Drawing > Clean Up > Remove Art Inside Selection to delete artw ork
inside your selection on one single draw ing. You can also press Delete.
5. To apply the action on all your draw ings in the layer, select Drawing > Clean Up > Remove Art
Inside Selection on All Drawings to delete artw ork inside your selection on all the draw ings.

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Removing Hair
T-INK-002-005
The Remove Hair command lets you remove any small strokes created in the Colour Art layer from very thicklines or filled zones. Increasing the Remove Hair level value w ill select larger strokes for removal from thedraw ing.

How to use the Remove Hair tool
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ing containing the draw ing to clean.
2. From the top menu, select View > Show > Show Strokes to display the invisible lines or press K.
3. In the top menu, select Drawing > Clean Up > Remove Hair.
The Remove Hair dialog box opens.

4. Move the slider to the right to increase the number and length of hairs to be selected.
5. Select the Apply to All Drawings option if you w ant to apply the operation to all the draw ings in
the layer.

6. Click OK.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Painting Drawings
T-HFND-004-011
The main tool you w ill use to paint your draw ings w ith is the Paint tool. The Paint tool can be used in several
different modes, w hich can be customized in the Tool Properties view .
The Paint tool paints closed zones, including brush strokes and pencil lines. If there are gaps in the lines
defining a zone, you must close them using the Brush, Pencil, or Close Gap tools or the Automatic Close Gap
option.

NOTE
To learn more about the Paint tool options, see the Reference guide .

How to paint drawings
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to paint.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, click the Paintl

Press Alt + I.

tool.

In the Tool Properties view or Tools toolbar, you can select additional painting modes.
l

The Paintmode paints everything it touches, including empty and filled zones.

l

The Paint Unpainted

mode paints only empty zones. Any line or filled zone w ill

remain unchanged.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

The Repaintmode paints everything it touches except empty zones. Any zone thatis not painted w ill remain intact.

l

The Unpaintmode unpaints everything it touches, including empty and filledzones.

3. In the Colour view , select a colour.

4. In the Draw ing or Camera view , start painting. Click on a zone or pencil line to paint it, or trace alasso or marquee selection to paint several zones or pencil lines at the same time.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

NOTE
The last colour you select w hile using the Paint tool w ill be used the next time
you select the Paint tool if you're using the unlocked painting tools in the Colour
view .

Authors
Marie-Eve Chartrand
Christopher Diazchrisdiazart.com

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Painting Several Drawings Simultaneously
You can use the Paint tool on several draw ings in the same layer at the same time. W hen you set up the Paint
tool to w ork on several draw ings, if you click on a colour zone in the current draw ing to fill it, it w ill fill any
colour zone located w here you clicked in other draw ings as w ell. This can be useful if you have several
draw ings w ith colour zones that mostly overlap each other, such as in a typical w alk cycle, or in any animation
w here the character mostly stays in place:

There are tw o approaches to painting several draw ings at the same time. Both are options available in the
Tool Properties view :lApply to All Frames: W hen you click on a colour zone in the Camera or Draw ing view , it w ill fill thearea you clicked on in every exposed draw ing in the current layer.

lApply to Onion Skin Range: W hen you click on a colour zone in the Camera or Draw ing view , it w ill
fill the area you clicked on in every draw ing that is displayed in the Onion Skin. This method allow s you
to only fill a specific range of draw ings, and allow s you to see those draw ings in the Camera or Draw ing
view as you fill them.

How to paint a specific range of drawings simultaneously
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a draw ing somew here in the middle of the range of draw ings
you w ant to paint.
2. In the Tools toolbar, click on theOnion Skin button to enable Onion Skin.

3. Adjust the range of the Onion Skin so that it covers every draw ing you w ant to paint:l

In the Timeline view , click and drag on the red onion skin marker to make it include theprevious draw ings you w ant to display in the onion skin, then click and drag on the green
onion skin marker to make it include the next draw ings you w ant to display in the onion skin.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Coloursl

Use the buttons in the toolbar above the draw ing space to adjust how many previous andnext draw ings are included in the Onion Skin:l

To increase the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

Add Previous

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

RemovePrevious Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To increase the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Add Next

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Remove Next

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
The draw ings included in the Onion Skin range w ill appear in red and green in the Camera or
Draw ing view .
4. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Paint tool.

5. In the Tool Properties view , click and hold on themenu, selectApply to All Frames button and, in the pop-up

Apply to Onion Skin Range.

NOTE
If this button is already set to

Apply to Onion Skin Range, simply click on it to toggle

it on.

6. In the Camera or Draw ing view , click in an area w here the colour zones for all the draw ings in theOnion Skin overlap each other to fill them all simultaneously.

How to paint all exposed drawings in a layer simultaneously
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select any of the draw ings in the layer that you w ant to paint.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Paint tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click on the

Apply to All Frames button to enable the Apply to All

Frames mode.

NOTE
If this button is currently set to

Apply to Onion Skin Range mode, click and hold on

the button to open its pop-up menu and select749

Apply to All Frames.

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4. In the Camera or Draw ing view , click in an area w here the colour zones for most or all of yourdraw ings overlap each other to fill them all simultaneously.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Painting Several Layers Simultaneously
You can use the Paint tool to fill draw ings in several layers simultaneously. W hen you set up the Paint tool tow ork on several layers, if you click on a colour zone in the current draw ing to fill it, it w ill fill any colour zone
located w here you clicked in the draw ings in the other layers as w ell.
There are three w ays to paint several layers at the same time:l

By selection: If you select several layers in the Timeline, Node or Xsheet view , you w ill be able to painton all the selected layers simultaneously.

lApply to All Visible Layers mode: By enabling this mode, you w ill be able to paint in all the layersthat are visible in the Camera view simultaneously.

lApply to Synced Drawing Layers mode: By enabling this mode, you w ill be able to paint in thecurrent layer as w ell as in any layer that is synced to that layer simultaneously. This can be very useful
if the artw ork in the synced layers must be filled w ith the same colours.

NOTE
You can only paint several layers simultaneously in the Camera view .

How to paint a drawing in several specific layers simultaneously
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , move the red Timeline playhead to the frame w here all the draw ings
you w ant to paint are exposed.

l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select one of the draw ings you w ant to paint.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Paint tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , make sure the

Apply to All Visible Layers or

Apply to Synced

Draw ing Layers button is toggled off.
4. In the Timeline, Node or Xsheet view , select all the layers you w ant to paint simultaneously.

TIPSl

To select multiple layers or nodes, press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘(macOS) key, then click on each layer or node you w ant to select.

l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , you can select a contiguous series of layers byclicking on the first layer you w ant to select, then, w hile holding Shift, clicking on
the last layer you w ant to select. Every layer in-betw een w ill also be selected.

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NOTE
If

Light Table is enabled, the selected layers w ill appear fully opaque. This indicatesthat the currently selected tool can w ork on all selected layers simultaneously.

At this point, you can paint artw ork in all of the selected layers.
5. In the Camera view , click in an area w here the colour zones for the draw ings in the selected layers
overlap each other to fill them simultaneously.

How to paint a drawing in all visible layers simultaneously
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , move the red Timeline playhead to the frame w here all the draw ings
you w ant to paint are exposed.

l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select one of the draw ings you w ant to paint.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Paint tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click on the

Apply to All Visible Layers button to toggle it on.

NOTES
l

If this button is currently set to

Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers mode, click andhold on the button to open its pop-up menu and selectApply to All Visible

Layers.
l

IfLight Table is enabled, all the visible layers w ill appear fully opaque. This

indicates that the currently selected tool can w ork on all visible layers
simultaneously.

4. In the Camera view , click in an area w here the colour zones for the draw ings in most or all of thevisible layers overlap each other to fill them simultaneously.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

How to paint a drawing in a layer and all of its synced layers simultaneously
1. In the Timeline view , select a draw ing in one of the synced layers that you w ant to paint.

NOTE
W hen you select a synced layer, that layer and the other layers that are synced w ith it
display a

Link icon.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Paint tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , click and hold on the
pop-up menu, then selectApply to All Visible Layers button to open its

Apply to Synced Drawing Layers.

NOTES
l

If this button is already set to

Apply to Synced Draw ing Layers mode, simply

click on it to toggle it on.
l

If

Light Table is enabled, the currently selected layer and all of its synced layers

w ill appear fully opaque. This indicates that the currently selected tool can w ork on
all of these layers simultaneously.

At this point, you can paint artw ork in the selected layer and all of its synced layers.
4. In the Camera view , click in an area w here the colour zones for the draw ings in the synced layers
overlap to fill them simultaneously.

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Repainting
T-ANIMPA-011-004
You can use the Paint tool to click on the zones to repaint. If you click in an empty zone, it w ill fill the area.
You can repaint lines, zones, and brush strokes using the Repaint tool. The repaint pencil lines more efficiently,
see Inking Lines on page 767. The Repaint tool does not fill empty zones, even if they are closed.
If you imported and vectorized draw ings, during the vectorization process on traditional scanned draw ings,
triangles are added on the lines' intersections to break the artw ork in segments. This w ay, w hen you paint a
line, it w ill not repaint the entire draw ing, only the relevant segment—see Creating Break Triangles on page763.

The Brush tool can be used to repaint specific segments. The Brush tool's Repaint Brush mode is used to painta section by manually painting over the lines. This is useful w hen the vectorization triangles are not placed as
you w ould like or you simply need to repaint a section of a segment. It is also useful for paperless animation,
w here there are no triangles. So, the Repaint Brush is used to paint a certain area. It acts like the Brush tool,
but w ill only show on painted areas that are already painted.
Unlike the Brush tool's regular mode, the Repaint Brush mode flattens automatically. The brush strokes are
not added one on top of each other.

NOTE
To avoid repainting specific colours, see Protecting Colours

How to access the Repaint Tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Repainttool. You can also find the option in the Tool Properties

view w hen the Paint tool is selected.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , click on the zones to repaint. You can also make a lasso or marqueeselection around several zones.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

How to enable the Repaint Brush mode
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushtool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the Repaint Brushbutton.

3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw on the zones to repaint.

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Repainting a Selection
The Repaint Selection command is used to repaint any art inside a selection. You must first draw a selection
using the Select tool in order for this command to be available. You can also click on the colour sw atch in thecolour palette to automatically repaint your selection.

The Repaint Selection On All Draw ings command is used to repaint any art inside a selection on all thedraw ings contained w ithin the same layer. You must enable the Permanent Selection option in the Select tool
Tool Properties view and then select an area of your draw ing using the Select tool in order for this command
to be available. The Permanent Selection option lets you maintain the same selection throughout the draw ings
of a same layer.

NOTE
To avoid repainting specific colours, see Protecting Colours

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

How to repaint a selection
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the zones to repaint.
3. To repaint the selection on all draw ings, enable the Permanent Selection

option in the Selecttool Tool Properties view .
4. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, Camera or Draw ing view menu, select Drawing > Paint >Repaint Selection or Repaint Selection on All Drawings.

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Repainting Outside a Selection
The Repaint Outside Selection command is used to repaint any art outside a selection. If no selection has beendraw n using the Select tool, the entire draw ing w ill be repainted.

The Repaint Outside Selection On All Draw ings command is used to repaint any art outside a selection on all
the draw ings contained w ithin the same layer. You must enable the Permanent Selection option in the Selecttool Tool Properties view and then select an area of your draw ing using the Select tool in order for thiscommand to be available. The Permanent Selection option lets you maintain the same selection throughout
the draw ings of a same layer.

NOTE
To avoid repainting specific colours, see Protecting Colours

How to repaint outside a selection
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the zones you do not w ant to repaint.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

3. To repaint outside the selection on all draw ings, enable the Permanent Selection
Select tool Tool Properties view .
4. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, Camera or Draw ing view menu, select Drawing > Paint >Repaint Outside Selection or Repaint Outside Selection on All Drawings.

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option in theHarmony 22 Premium User Guide

Unpainting a Selection
The Unpaint Selection command is used to unpaint any art existing inside a selection. You must first draw aselection using the Select tool in order for this command to be available.

The Unpaint Selection on All Draw ings command is used to unpaint all art contained inside a selection on all
the draw ings w ithin the same layer.
You must enable the Permanent Selection option in the Select tool Tool Properties view and then select anarea of your draw ing using the Select tool in order for this command to be available. The Permanent Selection
option lets you maintain the same selection throughout the draw ings of a same layer.

How to unpaint a selection
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the zones to unpaint.
3. To unpaint the selection on all draw ings, enable the Permanent Selection

option in the Selecttool Tool Properties view .
4. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, Camera or Draw ing view menu, select Drawing > Paint >Unpaint Selection or Unpaint Selection on All Drawings.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Unpainting Outside a Selection
The Unpaint Outside Selection command is used to unpaint any art existing outside a selection. If no selection
have been draw n using the Select tool, the entire draw ing w ill be unpainted.

The Unpaint Outside Selection on All Draw ings command is used to unpaint all art outside a selection on all
the draw ings w ithin the same layer. You must enable the Permanent Selection option in the Select tool Tool
Properties view and then select an area of your draw ing using the Select tool in order for this command to beavailable. The Permanent Selection option lets you maintain the same selection throughout the draw ings of asame layer.

How to unpaint outside a selection
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the zones you don't w ant to unpaint.
3. To unpaint the selection on all draw ings, enable the Permanent Selection

option in the Selecttool Tool Properties view .
4. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, Camera or Draw ing view menu, select Drawing > Paint >Unpaint Selection or Unpaint Selection on All Drawings.

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Selecting Strokes with the Current Colour
You can select zones painted w ith a specific colour sw atch.

How to select the zones painted with the current colour
1. In the Colour view , select the colour from w hich you w ant to select the corresponding zones.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect Drawing > Select Strokes W ith Current Colour.

lPress Ctrl + Shift + A (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + A (macOS).

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Creating Break Triangles
T-ANIMPA-011-005
The Brush tool is often the most intuitive and rapid tool for creating rough sketches and clean lines. A single
colour, such as black, is often used w hen tracing a clean version of a rough sketch. How ever, w hen it comestime to soft trace the lines in different colours, the flattened or unflattened clean brush strokes can suddenly
become time consuming to ink.
Toon Boom Harmony Premium lets you create triangular breaks at line intersections. These intersections are
the probable locations w here colour line breaks naturally occur, such as w here a sleeve meets a hand.

How to create breaking triangles on a drawing
1. In the Draw ing or Camera view , use the Selecttool to select part or all of the draw ing to bebroken.

2. Select Drawing > Create Breaking Triangles. If your brush strokes are not flattened, they w ill be
flattened automatically before the breaking occurs.

3. Use the Repaint tool

to paint the outline of different colour zones w ith different colours.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Closing Gaps
T-HFND-004-014
W hen painting, you may notice that some draw ing areas are not closed. To close the zone, you can draw themissing line w ith the Brush or Pencil tool, or close the gap w ith an invisible line using the Close Gap tool.
The Close Gap tool allow s you to close small gaps in a draw ing by creating small, invisible strokes betw een
the tw o closest points to close the colour zone. You do not need to trace directly over the gap. You can draw it
a few millimeters aw ay. The tw o closest points automatically close the gap.

How to close gaps
1. Select View > Show > Show Strokes or press K to see a preview of the result.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Close Gaps

tool.

3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , trace a line near the gap to be closed. Your strokes w ill be invisible.

4. Enable the Auto-Flatten

option in the Tool Properties view if you w ant your strokes to be

flattened w ith your artw ork. They w ill cut overlapping draw ing strokes in tw o pieces.
The gap automatically closes.

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Picking a Colour with the Colour Eyedropper Tool
T-ANIMPA-011-002
W hile w orking in the Camera or Draw ing view , you can use the Colour Eyedropper tool to pick a colour fromyour draw ing w ithout going to the Colour view .

NOTE
To learn more about the Colour Eyedropper tool options, see the Reference guide .

How to use the Colour Eyedropper tool
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, select the

Colour Eyedropper tool.

l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Drawing Tools > Colour Eyedropper.

lPress Alt + D.

2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , click on the desired colour.

TIP
If you're using another draw ing tool such as the Paint tool, you can temporarily hold dow n the
D key and click in your draw ing before releasing the key to pick a colour. W hen you release
the key, you w ill return to your previous tool.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Inking Lines
T-HFND-004-012
The Ink tool allow s you to paint separate segments of pencil lines.
Although pencil lines can be painted in much the same w ay as closed zones, you can use the Paint, Repaint,
Repaint Brush, and Ink tools to make painting segmented lines easier. Normally w hen you have a draw ing,such as the one below , and you use the Paint tool to paint one of the lines, the entire line is painted.

How ever, if you select the Ink tool instead and click on the same pencil line, only the segment that you clicked
on betw een tw o intersections w ill be painted.

Painting and inking can be used in combination depending on w hat you need to paint. If you need to ink acharacter’s outline in black, it might be easier to use the Paint tool. If you need to paint the outline of acharacter’s neck w ith a tan colour and its shirt outline blue and both the neck and shirt belong to the same
continuous outline, then the Ink tool might prove more useful.

NOTES
l

To avoid repainting specific colours, see Protecting Coloursl

To learn more about the Ink tool options, refer to the Reference Guide.

How to use the Ink tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Inktool located in the Paint tool drop-dow n menu.

2. In the Draw ing or Camera view , click on the pencil lines to repaint.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

The new ly inked segment is alw ays moved on top of all other pencil strokes, even if it
w as behind all other pencil strokes before it w as inked. To reverse that behaviour,disable the Raiseloption in the Tool Properties view .

Hold dow n Alt w hile clicking a segment to do the opposite option from the Raise
mode current state. The inked segment w ill be sent to the back or forw ard, even if it
w as in front or behind all other segments to begin w ith.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Verifying Painted Zones
T-ANIMPA-011-008
W hen the ink and paint process is completed, it's alw ays a good idea to verify that every zone w as painted
properly.
The first step to check your ink and paint is to go through all your draw ings and verify that there are no colour
mistakes. You can use the F and G keyboard shortcuts or the Preview option available in the Xsheet.
The backlight produces Produces a silhouette effect by changing the draw ing’s coloured areas into a single
dark, solid colour. Use this to verify the completeness of the ink and paint process. Any unpainted zones can beseen as the light show s through the unpainted areas of the silhouetted draw ing.

How to preview drawings from the Xsheet
1. First, save your scene.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select File> Save.

l

Click the Savel

Press Ctrl + S (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + S (macOS).

button.

3. In the Xsheet view , select the range of draw ings or the w hole column to preview .

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4. In the Xsheet View menu, select View > Preview Selected Drawings or press Alt + P.
The Play w indow opens.

5. Play your draw ings.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

6. Select the Preroll option to see blank frames at the beginning and end of the animation sequencew hile looping the playback.

How to use the backlight

NOTE
This feature is only available in the Draw ing view .

1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select View > Backlight.

lPress Alt + Shift + B.

2. Verify the draw ings in the Colour Art to make sure that all the areas are painted. From the Camera
or Draw ing View menu , select View > Switch to Colour Art or press L.
3. In the Art Layer toolbar, click the Preview All Art Layers

button to see the colour zones w ithlines to ensure that you did not forget any spots betw een the colour filling and lines.

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About the Edit Gradient and Texture Tool
T-HFND-006-019
If you paint a zone w ith a gradient or texture colour, you can use the Edit Gradient/Texture tool to modify its
position in the zone. You can move, scale, rotate and skew . If you w ant to match the colour to the animation,
set the first texture position and copy the Edit Gradient/Texture position. W hen moving to the next draw ing,
you can select the next texture and paste the previous position to continue the modifications.
If you are painting a hand-draw n animation or if you w ant the Brush and Paint tool to use your gradient’s
position, angle and scale settings instead of the default ones, you can store your ow n settings and reuse themafterw ard.
This w ay of editing a texture using the Edit Gradient/Texture tool also w orks w ith pencil lines draw n w ith
textured “brushes”. If you then paint your textured pencil line w ith a gradient, you can do so and then edit bothelements independently at the same time.

NOTE
For information on the Edit Gradient/Texture tool properties, see the Reference Guide

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Using the Edit Gradient and Texture Tool
T-HFND-006-019A
You can use the Edit Gradient/Texture tool to reposition a texture or gradient w ithin a painted zone.

How to use Edit Gradient/Texture tool
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, click the Edit Texture

tool.

l

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

lPress Shift + F3.

2. Click the gradient or texture colour to modify.

A blue selection frame surrounds the selected gradient or texture.

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3. Edit the gradient or texture by adjusting the control handles around the selection frame.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Storing the Gradient and Texture Settings
You can store the position, scale, and angle of a selected gradient or texture to reuse it in other painting zones.

How to store gradient and texture settings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

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

3. In the Tool Properties view , click the Store Colour Gradient775

button.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Pasting a Stored Gradient or Texture
You can apply the gradient and texture settings previously stored to paint zones w ith the same gradient or
texture, in the same position, scale and angle.

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

tool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the Use Stored Colour Gradient
3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw and paint.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Editing Pencil Line Textures with the Edit Gradient/Texture Tool
You can use the Edit Gradient/Texture tool to tw eak the w ay a texture or gradient is applied onto a pencil line.

How to use Edit Gradient/Texture tool to edit the texture or gradient on a pencil line
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

In the Tools toolbar, select the Edit Gradient/Texture‣

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

‣

Press Shift + F3.

tool.

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

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

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

4. Drag the editor control perpendicular to the stroke. You w ill feel it glide along the strokes central
vector line. This is another w ay to resize the texture tile. Instead of stretching or shrinking it
vertically, this motion stretches or shrinks it vertically. As gradients are parallel to the pencil line’s
central vector, stretching them vertically gives no visual result.

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

In the Tools toolbar, select the Edit Gradient/Texture‣

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

‣

Press Shift + F3.

tool.

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

3. Use the top editor controls edit the gradient.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

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

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About Colour Space Management780

Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

About Colour Spaces
Colour spaces are profiles defining the rules used by a display device, such as a monitor or a projector, toconvert numerical colour values into colours.
In computing, as a general rule, colours are defined by three numerical values: one for red, one for green and
one for blue, w hich are the primaries used for additive colour mixing. Each of these values vary betw een 0 and
255. Those primary values result in actual red, green and blue light, at an intensity proportional to said value.
By mixing different primary colours, different hues such as cyan, yellow and magenta can be obtained, andmixing all three primaries results in w hite.
W here colour spaces come into play is how each primary value is used to determine the intensity of theirrespective colour signal. For example, let’s say you have a blue value of 127, w hich is halfw ay betw een 0 and
255. The resulting blue light w ill not be exactly halfw ay betw een black and the lightest possible blue light thedisplay can generate, because monitors don’t convert colour values to colour signals on a linear scale, butrather, on a curvilinear scale that is a lot like an exponential function. This is because the human eye canperceive differences betw een low er light intensities better than betw een higher light intensities. Hence, to get
the most nuances out of the 255 possible values of a primary, the differences betw een low er values must be
smaller than the differences betw een higher values. The point is that, to the human eye, incrementing a colour
value by 1 results in the same perceived intensity difference regardless of the colour value.
The curvilinear function used to convert colour values to colour intensities is referred to as the gamma
conversion curve, and each colour space has its ow n gamma conversion curve. The most commonly usedcolour space in computing, sRGB, has a gamma conversion curve that is designed to reproduce that of CRT
displays. How ever, the most commonly used colour space in HD television, Rec. 709, has a gamma conversion
curve that is considered better than that of sRGB.
Another aspect of colour spaces is the range of colours they can display. Commonly used colour spaces such
as sRGB, Rec. 709 and Display P3 can display the same limited subset of the colours that can be perceived by
the human eye. This subset is especially limited in the range of greens it can display. In contrast, the colour
space Rec. 2020 is know n for supporting a much w ider range of colours, especially in terms of greens, thanthose colour spaces. Rec. 2020 is hence preferred for high end productions, but displays that support Rec.
2020 are currently very expensive, and hence producing in Rec. 2020 comes at a cost in hardw arecompatibility.
Because of this, productions typically use a specific colour space that is different than that of the standard
sRGB. This also incurs common production problems such as:lMaterials such as character models and backgrounds may have been created in a specific colour spacethat is different than the one intended for production.

lProject collaborators may be using displays that do not use the colour space intended for the project’s
delivery.

lCompositing artists may also prefer using a specific colour space for compositing, as special effects may
w ield different results w ith a colour space that uses linear values than w ith a colour space that uses acurvilinear gamma curve.

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Colour Spaces in Harmony
To ensure the integrity of colours across your production, Harmony uses sRGB colour space for Toon Boomdraw ings—see Setting the W orking Colour Space for a Scene on page 788. It allow s you to specify the colour
space of your inputs (bitmap images), of your outputs (rendered frames, movies) as w ell as the colour spaceused internally for compositing your scene. More specifically, you can specify different colour spaces for:lEach imported bitmap imagel

The scenel

The preview image in the Camera viewl

The rendered images and movies

The w ay it w orks, w hen rendering a frame in your scene, is as follow s:
1. Harmony converts the colours of each draw ing layer from sRGB colour space to the scene’s w orking
colour space.
2. Harmony converts the colours in each bitmap image from their respective colour space to the scene’s
w orking colour space.
3. All visual elements and effects in your scene are composited together into a single image, all in yourscene’s w orking colour space.
4. The image is converted to the colour space selected for the Camera view or for rendering, depending on
w hether the frame is a preview image or a final frame.
The follow ing graph illustrates this process:782

Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

NOTE
If “Read Toon Boom Draw ings Using sRGB Colour Space” option is disabled—see Setting theW orking Colour Space for a Scene on page 788, in the Camera view the colour spaces of draw ing
layers are used in the Render View mode w hen converting their respective colour space to thescene’s w orking colour space. In OpenGL View mode, the colour spaces of draw ing layers are
ignored, and the colours of bitmap images are converted directly from their respective colour
space to the preview colour space, skipping the scene’s colour space.

Hence, in order to properly manage the colours in your production, you must make sure that:l

The colour space of each bitmap image layer is set to the colour space, used in the imported images—
see Setting the Colour Space of an Element Layer on page 785.

l

The colour space for your scene is the optimal colour space chosen for composition—see Setting theW orking Colour Space for a Scene on page 788.

l

The colour space for your Camera view is set to the colour space supported by your monitor and,preferably, the one intended for delivery—see Setting the Display Colour Space on page 790.

l

The colour space used w hen rendering frames or w hen exporting a movie is the one intended fordelivery or for post-production—see Setting the Colour Space for Rendered Movies and Frames on
page 794.

By default, Harmony supports the follow ing colour spaces: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 and the same gamma transfer curve as sRGB.

l

Display P3 Linear: The same as Display P3, except w ith no gamma transfer curve. This colour space isuseful 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 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 that cover more of the human-perceivable colour space than other colour spaces,
especially in the area of human-perceivable greens.

783

Harmony 22 Premium User GuidelRec. 2020 2.4: The same colour space as Rec. 2020, except w ith a simple 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 andw hite point as Rec. 709, but has a different gamma transfer curve.

Those colour spaces are defined using the OpenColourIO specification, w hich is a text based-technology fordefining colour spaces and how to convert betw een them. Hence, it is possible to configure Harmony tosupport different colour spaces as needed. Furthermore, if other softw are in your pipeline use a specific
OpenColourIO configuration file to define its colour spaces, Harmony is able to use that file as w ell for its
colour space definitions. For more information, see Customizing Available Colour Spaces on page 797.

NOTE
Any scene created in Harmony 17 or earlier has colour space management disabled by default. To
enable colour space management on a scene created in older versions of Harmony, see Setting theW orking Colour Space for a Scene on page 788.

NOTE
Any scene created in Harmony 20 has “Read Toon Boom Draw ings Using sRGB Colour Space”
option disabled, see Setting the W orking Colour Space for a Scene on page 788.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Setting the Colour Space of an Element Layer
You can set the colour space of each bitmap image layer in your scene individually. For Toon Boom vector andbitmap draw ings by default, Harmony uses sRGB colour space.
W hen rendering your scene, the colours of each bitmap image layer w ill be converted from their respective
colour space to the scene’s colour space before they are composited together w ith your scene’s effects. The
colours of the bitmap draw ing layers and vector draw ing layers w ill be converted from sRGB colour space tothe scene’s colour space, ignoring the colour space selection of the draw ing layers.

NOTE
In OpenGL View mode, bitmap images are converted from their colour space to the colour space
selected in the Display Colour Space preference in the Camera tab of the Preferences dialog, andthe colour space of draw ing layers is ignored.

NOTE
If “Read Toon Boom Draw ings Using sRGB Colour Space” option is disabled—see Setting theW orking Colour Space for a Scene on page 788.
l

In Render View mode the colours of the original bitmap images, bitmap draw ing layers andvector draw ing layers are converted from their respective colour space to the scene’s colour
space before they are composited together.

l

In OpenGL View mode bitmap images are converted from their colour space to the colour space
selected in the Display Colour Space preference in the Camera tab of the Preferences dialog,
and the colour space of draw ing layers is ignored.

W hen adding a new element layer, by default sRGB is used as the layer’s colour space.

How to set the colour space of an element layer
1. Open the Layer Properties for the element layer for w hich you w ant to select a colour space by
doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , double-click on the element layer but outside of its name (such as ontheicon).

l

In the Timeline view , right-click on the element layer and select Layer Properties.

l

In the Node View , locate the element node and click on itsl

In the Node View , right-click on the element layer and select Layer Properties.

785

Layer Properties icon.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Add the Layer Properties view to your w orkspace, then select the element layer in theTimeline or Node view .

2. In the element’s layer properties, select the Drawing tab.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

3. At the bottom, in the Colour Space drop-dow n, select the colour space for the element layer.

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Setting the W orking Colour Space for a Scene
You can select the w orking colour space for your scene in the scene settings dialog.
The w orking colour space is the colour space to w hich each layer in your scene is converted before all
elements in your scene are composited together along w ith your scene’s effects. Then, the image is converted
from your scene’s w orking colour space to the intended colour space for rendering. Hence, the scene’s w orking
colour space is the intermediary colour space in w hich the compositing is done internally.

TIP
For optimal compositing, it is recommended to set your scene’s w orking colour space to the linear
version of the colour space used by your production. That w ay, the calculations done for the visual
effects in your scene are not affected by the gamma curve of your production’s colour space.

How to set the working colour space for a scene
1. In the top menu, select Scene > Scene Settings.
The Scene Settings dialog appears.

2. Select the Colour Space tab.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

3. In the W orking Colour Space list, select the desired w orking colour space for your scene.
4. Click OK.

NOTE
Any scene created in Harmony 20 has “Read Toon Boom Draw ings Using sRGB Colour Space”
option disabled. In this case the colour space information of each draw ing layer w ill be used w hen
converting to the scene’s w orking colour space in the Camera view > Render View mode, but
ignored in OpenGL View mode—see Setting the Colour Space of an Element Layer on page 785.
Moreover, display colour space in OpenGL View mode is limited—see Setting the Display Colour
Space on page 790

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Setting the Display Colour SpaceYou can set the colour space in w hich to display the preview image in the Camera view .
The generation of the preview image w orks exactly the same as w hen you’re rendering your scene. You canselect the colour space in w hich to display the preview image using the drop-dow n menu at the bottom of the
Camera view . Furthermore, if you have several monitors and w ant to preview your scene in the respective
colour space of each monitor, you can do so by adding several Camera view s to your w orkspace, moving each
Camera view to its ow n monitor and setting the colour space of each Camera view to its monitor’s colour
space. The different Camera view s w ill display in their ow n colour space.
If “Read Toon Boom Draw ings Using sRGB Colour Space” option is disabled—see Setting the W orking Colour
Space for a Scene on page 788.
In OpenGL View mode, colour management is much more limited, in the follow ing w ays:l

The colour space used for the preview image cannot be selected individually for each Camera view .
Hence, instead of using the drop-dow n at the bottom of the Camera view , it is selected in the Display
Colour Space preference in the Camera tab of the Preferences dialog.

l

The colours in the bitmap images in your scene are converted directly from their ow n colour space tothe preview colour space, w ithout getting converted to your scene’s w orking colour space first, and thecolours in the draw ing layers in your scene are not processed at all. Hence, in OpenGL View mode, thecolours in the preview image are not faithful to those of the final rendered image.

How to set the display colour space for the Render View mode of the Camera view
1. At the bottom of the Camera view , select
2. In the drop-dow n right of theRender View .

Render View button, select the colour space in w hich you w ant

the render preview to be.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

How to have an extra camera view displaying on a different monitor and a different
colour space
1. In the top menu, select W indows > Camera.
A floating Camera view appears over the Harmony user interface.
2. Drag the floating Camera view to the monitor w here you w ant it to display.
3. At the bottom of the Camera view , select
4. In the drop-dow n right of theRender View .

Render View button, select the colour space in w hich you w ant

the render preview to be.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

How to set the display colour space for the OpenGL View mode of the Camera view
when “Read Toon Boom Drawings Using sRGB Colour Space” option is disabled
1. Do one of the follow ing to open the Preferences 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 Premium > Preferences.

l

Press ⌘ + U.

2. Select the Camera tab.
3. In the Colour Space section, open the Display Colour Space drop-dow n and select the colour
space in w hich you w ant the OpenGL preview to be.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

4. Click OK.

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Setting the Colour Space for Rendered Movies and Frames
You can select the colour space in w hich to render your scene in the layer properties of your scene’s W rite
nodes, as w ell as in the Export Movie dialog if you’re exporting a movie.
W hen rendering a scene, the individual layers are converted from their respective colour space to the scene’s
w orking colour space, then they are composited together along w ith your scene’s visual effects, and theresulting image is converted to the rendering colour space.

About Tagging Exported Files
Some but not all files exported from Harmony can be tagged w ith their colour space. Tagging is w hen theinformation for an image or movie file’s colour space is embedded in the file itself, w hich allow s some
softw are to automatically load its colour space information instead of requiring you to provide it manually.
Tagging images and movies w ith their colour space is not necessary, especially if you intend to load the files ina video editing or compositing softw are that allow s you to specify their colour space manually, but it can beconvenient if your post-production softw are supports reading the colour space information of your source
files.
Movies exported from Harmony are only tagged w ith their colour space information w hen exported in formats
below :l

QuickTime ProRes Movie (*.mov): W hen rendering a movie in QuickTime Prores Movie (*mov) format,
the movie colour space ‘nclc’ tag w ill be only set as:ll

HD (1-1-1) if using “Rec. 709” colour spacelBT.2020 (9-1-9) if using “Rec. 2020” colour spacel

P3 D65 (12-1-1) if using “Display P3” colour space

QuickTime Movie (*.mov) on macOS. The movie in this format w ill not be tagged w ith their colour space
information if exported on W indow s or GNU/Linux. W hen rendering a movie in QuickTime Movie(*.mov) format on macOS in a specific colour space, the movie buffer data w ill be tagged w ith thecorresponding ICC colour profile.

As for exported images, colour space tagging is supported in the follow ing formats:lPortable Netw ork Graphic (.png)lPhotoshop Document (.psd)l

OpenEXR (.exr)

NOTE
OpenEXR files are only tagged w ith the coordinates for their w hite point and primaries.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

How to set the colour space in your scene’s W rite node
1. In the Node view , locate your scene’s W rite node.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on theLayer Properties icon of the W rite node.

l

Right-click on the W rite node and select Layer Properties.

l

Add the Layer Properties view to your w orkspace, then select the W rite node.

3. In the Colour Space field, select the colour space in w hich you w ant the exported frames or movie
to be rendered.

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How to set the colour space when exporting your scene as a movie
1. In the top menu, select File > Export > Movie.

2. In the Colour Space field, select the colour space in w hich you w ant your movie to be rendered.

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Chapter 6: Painting and Colours

Customizing Available Colour Spaces
By default, Harmony supports a handful of commonly used colour spaces. If your production uses a colour
space that is not supported by Harmony out of the box, it is possible to customize the colour spaces supported
by Harmony to suit your production’s needs.
The colour spaces supported by Harmony are stored in files in the follow ing location:l

W indows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony 22
Premium\etc\colourmanagementlmacOS: /Applications/Toon Boom Harmony 22 Premium/Harmony
Premium.app/Contents/tba/etc/colourmanagementl

GNU/Linux: /usr/local/ToonBoomAnimation/harmonyPremium_22/etc/colourmanagement

In this directory, you w ill find the follow ing contents:
Name

Type

Purposeconfig.ocio

OpenColorIO
configuration file

The configuration file that contains the colour profile definitions
used by Harmony.

luts

Directory

A directory containing some dependency files used by the colour
profiles defined in config.ocio.

icc

Directory

A directory containing ICC profiles matching the colour spaces
defined in config.ocio.

Just like many other softw are that support colour space management, Harmony uses the OpenColorIO colour
management technology to define its supported colour spaces. If the other softw are used by your production
also uses OpenColorIO, this means you can easily use the OpenColourIO configuration you use w ith your othersoftw are w ith Harmony so as to use the same colour space definitions across your production.
You can customize the colour space definitions used by Harmony by setting the OCIO environment variable foryour operating system to the full path of your ow n, custom config.ocio file. This allow s you to use thesame .ocio file for multiple softw are if needed.

NOTE
Harmony uses sRGB colour space for Toon Boom draw ings—see Setting the W orking Colour
Space for a Scene on page 788). If a customized config.ocio file does not contain colour space
definition named sRGB, a colour space of default view displayed in config.ocio file is used.

You might notice that, along w ith the OpenColorIO configuration files, there is a directory containing ICC
colour profiles. The ICC colour profiles are only used to tag exported images w hen supported and movies

797Harmony 22 Premium User Guidew hen using QuickTime Movie (*.mov) format on macOS, and are not required for any other part of the colour
management in Harmony.
Hence, if you decide to customize the colour space definitions used by Harmony, you can include the ICC
colour profiles for your colour space definitions if you w ant. If you don’t, Harmony w ill still render your images
and movies in the appropriate colour spaces w ith the appropriate colour values, but w ill not be able to tag
your exported images and movies w ith their colour space information.
For Harmony to be able to use an ICC colour profile to tag exported images and movies, the follow ing
conditions must be met:l

The ICC colour profiles must be located in an icc sub-directory, in the same directory as
config.ocio.

l

The file name of the ICC colour profile must match the name of the colour space as defined inconfig.ocio.

For example, if your config.ocio file contains a colour space definition named sRGBf, for Harmony to beable to tag exported movies (on macOS) and images w ith this colour space, then the directory containing yourconfig.ocio file should also contain a directory named icc, w hich w ould in turn contain a corresponding
colour profile for sRGBf named sRGBf.icc.

NOTES
l

W hen rendering a movie in a specific colour space in QuickTime Movie (*.mov) format on
macOS, the movie buffer data w ill be tagged w ith the corresponding ICC colour profile.

l

W hen rendering a movie in a specific colour space in QuickTime Prores Movie (*mov) format,
the movie colour space ‘nclc’ tag w ill be only set as:ll

HD (1-1-1) if using “Rec. 709” colour spacelBT.2020 (9-1-9) if using “Rec. 2020” colour spacel

P3 D65 (12-1-1) if using “Display P3” colour space

W hen rendering frames in a specific colour space, the follow ing file formats w ill be tagged
w ith their colour space information:lPortable Netw ork Graphic (.png)lPhotoshop Document (.psd)l

OpenEXR (.exr)

OpenEXR files are only tagged w ith the coordinates for their w hite point and primaries.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Chapter 7: Paperless Animation
T-HFND-006-001
Toon Boom Harmony Premium is a pow erful paperless animation softw are that incorporates animation anddraw ing tools to make your w ork easier and more efficient.
Although it is a digital process, paperless animation is still hand-draw n and the fundamental principles ofanimation still apply.

One of the advantages of w orking w ith paperless animation is that you do not lose time scanning elements inand testing them because everything is already digital. You can simply draw your animation and play backyour line test right aw ay. This also saves the substantial amount of paper required by traditional animation.
Another practical advantage is the ability to undo and redo some actions that are often difficult on paper, suchas erasing brush strokes.

NOTE
W hen you draw on an empty cell, Harmony automatically creates a draw ing that spans over a
single frame in that cell. You can adjust that draw ing's timing as needed afterw ard. How ever, it ispossible to create, name and set the timing of each draw ing before creating your animation, w hichcan help organize your w orkflow . For more information, see Timing on page 223.

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Creating a Rough Animation
T-LAY-003-005
The first step to create paperless animation is the rough construction, w hich is the skeleton of your animation.
You w ould usually start by animating the most important part of a character's action. For example, to animatea w alk cycle, you w ill start w ith the torso motion and the legs. Secondary animation such as the head, arms
and clothes can be added afterw ard.

For a satisfactory animation, start by animating the main action w ith quick, rough sketches, then add thedetails w hen you're satisfied w ith the movement. If you start animating all the details right aw ay, you w ill losea lot of time if you have to make corrections, and your animation is likely to look rigid.

How to create a rough animation
1. In the top row of the Timeline view , click on

Show All Thumbnails to enable Thumbnail mode.

2. Press Ctrl + U (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + U (macOS) to open the Preferences dialog box.
3. Select the Exposure Sheet tab.
4. Select the Use Current Frame as Drawing Name option. W hen this preference is enabled, eachnew draw ing w ill be named by the frame number they are created on.
5. In the Tools toolbar, select theBrush tool or press Alt + B.

6. In the Colour view , select a colour for the brush. It is a good idea to choose a light colour for yourrough animation. This w ill make the clean up process easier as your clean dark lines w ill contrast
w ith your light sketch lines.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

7. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell w here you w ant your first draw ing to appear.
8. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw the first key draw ing.

As soon as you draw your first draw ing stroke, a draw ing is automatically created in the cell you
selected.

9. Increase the Timeline view 's zoom level until you see the thumbnails inside the cells by doing oneof the follow ing:lDrag the Timeline Zoom

slider to the right.

lClick on the Timeline view 's tab, then press 2 repeatedly.

lMove the mouse cursor in the Timeline view , then hold Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS)
and roll the mouse w heel up.

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10. W ith your first cell still selected, do one of the follow ing to mark your draw ing as a key draw ing.
This w ill help you stay organized.
lEnable the Mark Draw ing toolbar by selecting W indows > Toolbar > Mark Drawing
from the top menu, then click on thelMark Selected Draw ings as Key button.

Enable the Xsheet toolbar by focusing on the Xsheet, then selecting W indows >Toolbar > Xsheet from the top menu. Then, click on the Mark as Key Draw ing
button.

l

In the Timeline view menu, select Drawings > Mark Drawing As > Key Drawing.

11. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell w here your next key draw ing w ill appear.

12. In the Tools toolbar, click theOnion Skin button. This w ill display the previous and next

draw ings in a light colour in the Camera or Draw ing view , behind your current draw ing, so that you
can use them as references to draw new draw ings w ith accuracy. This can be useful to draw
breakdow n poses betw een tw o key poses, or to add an in-betw een draw ing betw een tw o otherdraw ings.

13. Ensure the onion skin displays your first key draw ing, so that you can base your second key
draw ing on it. To do this, do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , click and drag on the red onion skin marker to make it include
the previous draw ings you w ant to display in the onion skin, then click and drag on

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

the green onion skin marker to make it include the next draw ings you w ant to display
in the onion skin.

l

Use the buttons in the toolbar above the draw ing space to adjust how many previous
and next draw ings are included in the Onion Skin:l

To increase the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on theAddPrevious Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the
Remove Previous Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.

l

To increase the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Add Next

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

RemoveNext Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.

NOTE
W hen in the Draw ing view , you can use the Onion Skin toolbar to make onion
skin display only specific types of draw ings, such as key draw ings or
breakdow ns. Keep in mind that this does not w ork in the Camera view .

14. Create a new empty draw ing by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline or Xsheet toolbar, click on thelPress Alt + Shift + R.

Create Empty Draw ing button.

15. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw your second key draw ing.

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16. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , identify the draw ing as a key draw ing.

17. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a cell betw een the tw o key draw ings.

18. Using the onion skin markers, ensure the onion skin covers both your first and last draw ings.

19. Create a new empty draw ing by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline or Xsheet toolbar, click on thelPress Alt + Shift + R.

20. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw your new pose.

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Create Empty Draw ing button.

Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

21. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a new cell and repeat the previous steps for each new
draw ing.

NOTE
W hen w orking w ith overlay layers in the Camera view , you can enable theCurrent

Draw ing on Top option in the status bar below the Camera view to make the layer you're
w orking on appear over other layers.

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Creating the Tie Down Animation
Once your rough animation is correct, you can start adding extra details, such as arms, clothes or hair. You can
add the extra details on the same layer w ith the same colour or you can also create a new colour so that you
can alw ays see your original sketch.

If your primary and secondary animation w ere done as a rough draw ing, it is now time to put your draw ing on
model, also know n as tie dow n. This means that you have to review your animation and ensure that every
single detail is on model and there is no volume distortion. You can do this directly on the original sketch layeror on a new layer.

If you w ant to keep your rough animation as it is to avoid any mistakes, you can add an extra draw ing element
and use the Light Table feature to draw over the first draw ing element. This technique can also be used if you
w ant to reuse your rough animation for other characters. For example, if you have a rough w alk-cycle, you canreuse it for another character and add its personal features in a new layer. This w ay, you only need to animate
the secondary animation instead of the w hole body again.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

How to create secondary animation on the same layer
1. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the cell in w hich you w ant to add new details.
2. In the Colour view , create a new colour (give it the same name and add the prefix _2 or _sec, forexample) or select the same rough colour as before.
3. In the Draw ing Tools toolbar, select your draw ing tool.
4. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw the secondary animation.

5. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the next cell in w hich you w ant to draw .

lPress F and G to navigate betw een your draw ings.

6. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect View > Onion Skin > Show Onion Skin.

l

In the Timeline view menu, select Onion Skin > Show Onion Skin.

l

Press Alt + O.

7. Extend the onion skin.
8. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw the secondary animation.

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9. Use the Flip and Easy Flipping toolbars to review your animation—see the Flip and Easy Flipping
toolbars in the Reference guide.

10. You can also use the Playback toolbar to play the animation in real time.

How to create your secondary animation on an extra layer
1. Add a new draw ing layer and name it secondary_animation.
2. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the rough layer's timing.
3. Copy the timing and in the top menu, select Edit > Paste Special or Ctrl + B (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘+ B (macOS).
4. Choose Never create drawing files from the options to paste the timing but not the draw ing files.

5. If you are w orking in the Draw ing view , in the Draw ing View toolbar, enable the Light Table.
6. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the cell w here you w ant to add the new details.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

7. In the Colour view , create a new colour (give it the same name and add the prefix _2 or _sec, forexample) or select the same rough colour as before.
8. In the Tools toolbar, select your draw ing tool.
9. In the Draw ing or Camera view , draw the secondary animation on top of your rough draw ing.

10. Do one of the follow ing:‣

In the Xsheet View , select the next cell in w hich you w ant to draw .

‣In the Camera, Draw ing or Xsheet view , press F and G to navigate betw een your draw ings.

11. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top, Draw ing View or Camera View menu, select View > Onion Skin > Show
Onion Skin.

l

In the Timeline view menu, select Onion Skin > Show Onion Skin.

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Press Alt + O.

12. Extend the onion skin.
13. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw the next secondary animation.
14. Use the Flip and Easy Flipping toolbars to review your animation—see the Reference guide .

15. You can also use the Playback toolbar to play the animation in real time.

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Cleaning Animation
T-HFND-006-010
W hen your rough animation is ready, it is time to clean it up and ink it. The clean-up is also called tracing. It
consists of tracing solid and clean lines over the rough animation to get closed zones. This is the final
paperless animation step before the ink and paint step.

You w ill need to add a new draw ing layer to create your clean draw ing. This is the equivalent of adding asheet of paper and tracing the rough using the animation disk. This allow s you to keep the roughs and thecleans intact. You only need to lock the rough layer to prevent it from appearing in the scene.
If you plan on tracing your animation in the Draw ing view , use the light table to display all the layers in yourproject.

How to trace animation in a new layer
1. In the Layer toolbar, click the Add Draw ing Layer
2. In the Timeline view , click the Lockbutton and add a new layer.

button of the layer containing your rough animation to avoid

selecting the layer in the Camera view .

3. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , in the new layer, select the cell corresponding to the first key
draw ing of your rough animation.
4. In the Tools toolbar, select the draw ing tool of your choice. The Pencil

tool is recommended.

5. In the Colour view , select a colour for tracing your animation. A dark bold colour, such as black,w ould ensure that it contrasts w ell w ith the light colour of your rough animation.
6. In the Camera or Draw ing view , start tracing the first key draw ing.

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7. If you have some other layers in the w ay, you can disable them temporarily from the Timeline viewso that only the rough animation and clean-up layer are displayed in the Camera view .
8. In the Tools toolbar, click the Onion Skinbutton and pull on the blue onion skin handles in theTimeline view to extend the number of frames you can see.
9. Use the buttons in the toolbar above the draw ing space to adjust how many previous and next
draw ings are included in the Onion Skin:l

To increase the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

Add Previous

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

Remove Previous

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To increase the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Add Next Draw ing

button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Remove Next Draw ing

button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
10. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the next cell corresponding to a rough draw ing.
11. In the Draw ing or Camera view , trace your next draw ing.

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12. Repeat the previous steps for each draw ing.

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Paperless Animation Tools
To understand paperless animation, you must first discover the tools available. There are, of course, draw ing
tools, but also practical features such as setting a draw ing as a key, breakdow n or in-betw een.
W hen you create hand-draw n animation digitally, there are certain tools you require in order to w ork
efficiently, as you w ould w ith an animation table, paper and pencils.
The onion skin and light table are used to preview previous and next draw ings, cells, elements and frames.
W hen designing or animating, it is very useful to see your previous draw ings. Just as if you w ere building a
cut-out puppet, you w ant to view other draw ing elements to know w here to draw the new element.
Harmony has many useful advanced features such as the Flipping toolbar, enhanced onion skin, extra draw ing
layers, and automated matte generation.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Displaying Drawing Thumbnails in the Timeline View
T-ANIMPA-006-003
In the Timeline view , it is possible to preview the draw ings in your scene by enabling the display of thumbnails
for your draw ing layers. You can display the thumbnail for all draw ing layers or for individual draw ing layers.
This allow s you to preview the draw ing in the current frame as w ell as draw ings exposed in every frame ofyour scene, w hich can be useful for managing your draw ings and for adjusting their timing.

You can enable Thumbnails for all draw ing layers simultaneously or for individual draw ing layers. W hen
thumbnails are displayed for a layer, the Timeline view also displays the name of each draw ing as w ell as theamount of frames on w hich each draw ing is exposed for that layer. Enabling thumbnails on a layer also gives
access to that layer's Opacity parameter in the left panel of the Timeline view .

How to display or hide thumbnails for all drawing layers
1. In the Layers toolbar of the Timeline view , click on the Show /Hide All Thumbnails

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How to display or hide thumbnails for a specific drawing layer
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , left of the layer's name, click on the Show /Hide Thumbnailsl

In the Timeline view , select the layer and press T.

button.

Even w hen thumbnails are displayed for a layer, it is likely that you w on't be able to see the full thumbnails forindividual draw ings that are exposed over 1 or 2 frames because, by default, frames are not large enough todisplay their thumbnails. To make the frames larger so that thumbnails have enough horizontal space to be
displayed, you must zoom in on the Timeline view .

How to zoom in on the Timeline view.
1. Set the focus on the Timeline view , for example by clicking on the Timeline view tab.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lDrag the Timeline Zoom

slider to the right.

lClick on the Timeline view 's tab, then press 2 repeatedly.

lMove the mouse cursor in the Timeline view , then hold Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS)
and roll the mouse w heel up.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

TIP
If you animate mostly on tw os or threes, you can adjust the Timeline zoom to fully display the
thumbnails of draw ings exposed over tw o or three frames, or you can zoom in enough todisplay the thumbnails of draw ings exposed over a single frame, depending on yourpreference.

TIP
To reset the Timeline Zoom to its default zoom level, click on the Reset Zoom

icon left of

the Timeline Zoom slider.

NOTE
W hen zoomed in on the Timeline view , you can tw eak the exposure of your draw ing by dragging
the edges of the draw ings w ith your mouse cursor. This is especially useful w hen displaying
thumbnails as you can visually adjust the timing of your animation. For more information, see
About Rippling and Overw riting the Exposure in the Timeline View .

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About Marked Drawings
T-HFND-006-004
W hen w orking w ith several animators, directors or even other studios, the necessity for retakes w ill often
arise. Harmony gives you the possibility to mark new draw ings as either Retake Key, Retake Breakdow n, or
Retake In-betw eens. In the Xsheet view , you can identify draw ings as Key, Breakdow n or In-betw een.

About the Key Drawing
A key draw ing is a visually significant pose in a movement, often an extreme position. For example, if acharacter that is sitting dow n falls on his back, the key poses w ould be the character sitting and the characteron his back. Of course, it may vary from one animation to another.

About the Breakdown Drawing
A breakdow n draw ing is a pose somew here betw een tw o key poses that better show s the movement. Most
animation moves are arcs, such as an arm w aving, somebody bending, or a leg w alking. All of these
movements are rotations. The breakdow n pose is used to describe this curve better.

The breakdow n draw ing is then used to indicate secondary poses, also called the follow -through. These
actions can be a big stomach jiggle as somebody jumps, a cloak floating behind somebody that is running, orarms moving after the main body action. These moves w ill generally have a different timing than the primary
action. They w ill mainly start later and finish later. So, the breakdow n draw ings are used to complete the key
draw ings.
Note that a breakdow n draw ing is not alw ays placed exactly in the middle of tw o keys. It w ill often be closer
to one or the other depending on the timing and the action. Also, you can have more than one breakdow n pose
betw een tw o keys.

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Marking Key, Breakdown and In- Between Drawings
T-HFND-006-004A
Using the toolbar in the Xsheet view , you can mark your draw ings as Key or Breakdow n draw ings, or InBetw een.

If you add the Mark Draw ing toolbar to your w orkspace, you can also mark your draw ings as RetakeKey,
RetakeBD (Retake Breakdow n) and RetakeIB (Retake In-Betw een), w hich is an efficient w ay for someone incharge of verifying an animator's w ork to mark the draw ings they w ant the animator to do over. You can also
use this toolbar to mark draw ings w ith any custom marker you created, if needed—see Creating Custom
Draw ing Markers.

NOTES
l

Marking a draw ing as an In-betw een actually removes its marker. All unmarked draw ings are
considered in-betw eens.

l

You cannot mark an empty cell. You can only mark an existing draw ing. Hence, you must create
your draw ings before marking them.

lA marker is assigned to a draw ing, not a frame. If a draw ing is exposed several times in a scene,
marking this draw ing w ill make every instance of it marked.

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How to mark drawings as Key, Breakdown or In- between
1. Open the Xsheet view .

2. Select the draw ing you w ant to mark.

3. In the Xsheet toolbar, do one of the follow ing:lClick on theMark as Key Draw ing button to mark the draw ing as a key draw ing.

lClick on theMark as Breakdow n Draw ing button to mark the draw ing as a breakdow n.

lClick on theMark as In-betw een Draw ing button to remove an existing marker from thedraw ing.

4. Repeat until all your key and breakdow n draw ings are properly marked.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

How to mark drawings as Key, Breakdown or In- between
1. Add the Mark Draw ing toolbar to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:lRight-click on an existing toolbar and select Mark Draw ing.

l

In the top menu, select W indow s > Toolbar > Mark Draw ing.

The Mark Draw ing toolbar appears. It can be used to mark draw ings as key, breakdow ns, inbetw eens, retake keys, retake breakdow ns, retake in-betw eens and, if applicable, any custom
marker created for your production.

2. Open the Xsheet view .

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3. Select the draw ing you w ant to mark.

4. In the Mark Draw ing toolbar, do one of the follow ing:lClick on theMark as Key Draw ing button to mark the draw ing as a key draw ing.

lClick on theMark as Breakdow n Draw ing button to mark the draw ing as a breakdow n.

lClick on theMark as In-betw een Draw ing button to remove an existing marker from thedraw ing.
lClick on theMark Draw ing as: RetakeKey button to mark the draw ing as a retake key

draw ing.
lClick on theMark Draw ing as: RetakeBD button to mark the draw ing as a retakebreakdow n draw ing.
lClick on theMark Draw ing as: RetakeIB button to mark the draw ing as a retake in-betw een draw ing.

5. Repeat until all your draw ings are properly marked.

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Creating Custom Drawing Markers
If your production requires you to mark draw ings w ith markers other than the ones available by default inHarmony, it is possible to create custom markers. Custom markers have the same capabilities as othermarkers: You can mark draw ings w ith it using the Mark Draw ing toolbar, you can make Onion Skin only
display draw ings marked w ith your custom marker and you can use the Flip toolbar to only flip throughdraw ings w ith your custom marker.

Before you can add a custom marker to Harmony, you must first design its icons. A custom marker needs thefollow ing icons:lMark Draw ing Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)lOnion Skin Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)lFlip Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)l

Xsheet Column icon (16 x 16 pixel)

Once this is done, to add your marker to Harmony, you w ill need to add its information to an Extensible
Markup Language (.xml) file. XML is a type of computer language often used for configuration and to store
project data. The steps below explain in detail how to do this. Hence, although it is preferable to have scripting
or programming background to do this, it is not required.

How to create a custom drawing marker for yourself
1. Close Harmony.
2. Using an image editor, create the required icons for a draw ing marker. Create one file in Portable
Netw ork Graphics (.png) format, w ith the follow ing dimensions, for each required icon type:824

Chapter 7: Paperless AnimationlMark Draw ing Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)lOnion Skin Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)lFlip Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)l

Xsheet Column icon (16 x 16 pixel)

3. In a file brow ser, brow se to the location of your custom markers in your user preferences:l

W indows: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Toon Boom Animation\Toon
Boom Harmony Premium\full-2000-pref\drawingTypes.d

NOTE
The AppData folder is hidden by default. To see it, open the View menu in
Explorer and check the Hidden Items option.

lmacOS: /Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Toon Boom Animation/Toon
Boom Harmony Premium/Users/[username]/Library/Toon Boom
Animation/full-2000-pref/drawingTypes.d

NOTE
The Library folder is hidden by default. Access it, press and hold the Alt key
and then, in the Finder top menu, select Go > Library.

l

GNU/Linux: /home/[username]/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom Harmony
Premium/full-2000-pref/drawingTypes.d

4. Copy and paste the icons for your marker inside this drawingTypes.d directory.
5. Open the file drawingTypes.xml located in this directory in a text editor.
6. Copy and paste the follow ing line just above </DrawingTypes> near the bottom:<DrawingType text="MarkerName" pixmapFile="XsheetIcon.png" commandIcon="MarkerIcon.png" flipIc

7. Fill the line w ith the appropriate information for your marker:lReplace MarkerName w ith the name of your custom marker.

lReplace XsheetIcon.png w ith the file name of the icon to display for your marker in the
Xsheet view .

lReplace MarkerIcon.png w ith the file name of the icon to display in the Mark Draw ing
toolbar.

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Replace FlipIcon.png w ith the file name of the icon to display in the Flip toolbar.

lReplace OnionSkinIcon.png w ith the file name of the icon to display in the Onion Skin
toolbar.

8. Save the file and close it.
9. Start Harmony.
Your draw ing marker w ill be available in the Mark Draw ing, Flip and Onion Skin toolbars.

How to create a custom drawing marker for a Harmony Server database
1. Close Harmony.
2. Using an image editor, create the required icons for a draw ing marker. Create one file in Portable
Netw ork Graphics (.png) format, w ith the follow ing dimensions, for each required icon type:lMark Draw ing Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)lOnion Skin Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)lFlip Toolbar icon (24 x 24 pixel)l

Xsheet Column icon (16 x 16 pixel)

3. Using a file brow ser, brow se to the location of the custom draw ing markers configuration package
w hich is a directory named drawyngTypes.d, and w hich is bundled w ith Harmony at thefollow ing location:l

W indows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony
22 Premium\resourceslmacOS: /Applications/Toon Boom Harmony 22 Premium/Harmony
Premium.app/Contents/tba/resourcesl

GNU/Linux: /usr/local/ToonBoomAnimation/harmonyPremium_22/resources

4. Right-click on drawingTypes.d and select Copy.
5. Brow se to the root directory of your Harmony database:/USA_DB
6. Right-click inside the directory and select Paste.
The drawingTypes.d directory w ill be copied to your database, along w ith the icons andconfiguration for the RetakeKey, RetakeBD and RetakeIK markers, w hich are custom draw ing
markers bundled w ith Harmony.
7. Open the drawingTypes.d folder.

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8. Copy and paste the icons for your marker inside this drawingTypes.d directory.
9. In the same directory, open the drawingTypes.xml file in a text editor.
10. Copy and paste the follow ing line just above </DrawingTypes>, at the bottom:<DrawingTypetext="MarkerName"pixmapFile="XsheetIcon.png"commandIcon="MarkerIcon.png"flipIcon="

11. Fill the line w ith the appropriate information for your marker:lReplace MarkerName w ith the name of your custom marker.

lReplace XsheetIcon.png w ith the file name of the icon to display for your marker in the
Xsheet view .

lReplace MarkerIcon.png w ith the file name of the icon to display in the Mark Draw ing
toolbar.

l

Replace FlipIcon.png w ith the file name of the icon to display in the Flip toolbar.

lReplace OnionSkinIcon.png w ith the file name of the icon to display in the Onion Skin
toolbar.

12. Save the file and close it.
13. Start Harmony.
Your draw ing marker w ill be available in the Mark Draw ing, Flip and Onion Skin toolbars.

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About Onion Skin
One of the most basic techniques of traditional animation is to place tw o draw ings on a light table, put an
animation sheet over them and draw betw een the outlines of the tw o draw ings to make an in-betw een. In
Harmony, this technique is streamlined w ith Onion Skin.
Onion Skin is a pow erful feature in Harmony that allow s you to display the draw ings surrounding your current
draw ing in w ashed, semi-transparent outlines so as to help you use them as reference to make your poses,
your breakdow ns and your in-betw eens.

Onion Skin w orks in both the Camera and Draw ing view . W hen using Onion Skin, you can choose to include
one or several draw ings before, after or both before and after the current draw ing. By default, draw ings before
the current draw ing appear in red, and draw ings after the current draw ing appear in green.

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Enabling the Onion Skin
You can enable the onion skin to see your previous and next draw ings as reference.

NOTE
You can modify the onion skin display in the Preferences panel.

How to enable the onion skin
1. In the Timeline view , select the layer you w ant to draw on and the frame in w hich you w ant todraw .

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, click on theOnion Skin button.

l

In the Timeline view , click on theOnion Skin button left of the layer name.

l

In the top menu, select View > Onion Skin > Show Onion Skin.

l

Press Alt + O.

Onion Skin w ill be enabled. By default, it w ill display tw o frames before and tw o draw ings after
the current draw ing.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Selecting Drawings to Display in Onion Skin
W hen you enable Onion Skin, by default, it w ill display tw o draw ings before the current draw ing and tw o
draw ings after the current draw ing. You can adjust how many draw ings before and after the current draw ing
to display. There are tw o methods to doing this:l

Adjusting the Onion Skin handles in the Timeline view . W hen Onion Skin is enabled, a red handle and agreen handle appear before and after the red playhead in the Timeline view . Those handles indicate
and allow you to adjust the range of draw ings displayed in the Onion Skin.

l

Using thetoolbar buttons or menu commands to add or remove draw ings from the Onion

Skin one at a time.

NOTE
If you choose to include draw ings to display in the Onion Skin by draw ing instead of by frame, you
cannot use the Onion Skin handles in the Timeline view —see Selecting Draw ings to Include inOnion Skin by Frames or by Draw ings.

How to select drawings to display in the Onion Skin using the Onion Skin handles in
the Timeline view
1. Select the layer you w ant to draw on, the frame in w hich you w ant to draw , and enable Onion
Skin—see Enabling the Onion Skin.
Blue handles appear on each side of the Timeline play head.

All the draw ings in the current layer over w hich these handles span are included in the Onion Skin.

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2. Click on the handle left of the play head and drag it so that it includes only and all the previous
draw ings you w ant to display in the Onion Skin.

3. Click on the handle right of the play head and drag it so that it includes only and all the next
draw ings you w ant to display in the Onion Skin.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

The Onion Skin w ill display only, and all the draw ings that are w ithin the span of the blue handles.

How to increase or decrease drawings to display in the Onion Skin one at a time
1. Select the layer you w ant to draw on, the frame in w hich you w ant to draw , and enable Onion
Skin—see Enabling the Onion Skin.
The Onion Skin displays in the Camera or Draw ing view , w ith the default amount of previous andnext draw ings included.

2. Do one of the follow ing as many times as necessary to include only the draw ings you w ant to seein the Onion Skin:l

To increase the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the
Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.

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To decrease the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

Remove Previous

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To increase the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Add Next Draw ing

button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Remove Next Draw ing

button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
The Onion Skin w ill update w ith as many or as few previous and next draw ings as you add or
remove.

TIPSl

You can also select those commands in the top menu, in View > Onion Skin.

lThis menu also has commands to instantly set the amount of previous and next draw ings
to include in the Onion Skin to zero, one, tw o or three.

l

You can also add the commands to instantly set the amount of draw ings to include to zero,one, tw o or three to the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar by right-clicking on the toolbar andselecting Customize.

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Selecting Drawings to Include in Onion Skin by Frames or by Drawings
W hen you select w hich draw ings to include in the Onion Skin, you are actually just setting the amount ofdraw ings to include before and after the current draw ings.
Because draw ings can be exposed over multiple frames, this gives Harmony tw o possible approaches todetermine w hich draw ings to include in the Onion Skin:

Selecting Drawings by Frames
W ith this method, if you set the Onion Skin to include one draw ing before and after the current frame, it w ill
include the draw ings in the frame right before and right after the current frame. This means that even if thesame draw ing is exposed throughout this span of three frames, only that draw ing w ill be displayed in theOnion Skin.
This method is the default one used w hen using Onion Skin in the Camera view . The reason for this is that the
Camera view is often used for cut-out animation. W hen doing cut-out animation, layers often have the samedraw ing exposed for long spans w hile the layer itself is animated w ith translations, rotations and scaling. By
using Onion Skin by frames, you can display the position of the layer before and after the current frame in theOnion Skin, even if it's the same draw ing, just in different positions.

Selecting Drawings by Drawings
W ith this method, if you set the Onion Skin to include one draw ing before and after the current frame, it w ill
include the nearest draw ing that is different from the current draw ing before the current frame, and thenearest draw ing that is different from the current draw ing after the current frame.
This method is more useful for frame-by-frame animation. Since frame-by-frame animation typically does notuse layer animations, it is usually only relevant to have different draw ings in the Onion Skin.

Changing Between Methods
In the Timeline view , you can decide w hether to include draw ings by frames or by draw ings. In the Draw ing
view , how ever, draw ings included in the Onion Skin are alw ays selected by draw ing, since the Draw ing view
can only be used for frame-by-frame animation, w hereas the Camera view can be used for both frame-byframe and cut-out animation.

How to switch between selecting drawings for Onion Skin by drawing or by frame via
the top menu
1. In the top menu, select View > Onion Skin and select either Onion Skin by Frames or Onion Skin
by Drawings.

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How to switch between selecting drawings for Onion Skin by drawing or by frame
using the Onion Skin view
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top-right corner of a view , click on thel

In the top menu, select W indows > Onion Skin.

Add View button and select Onion Skin.

The Onion Skin view is added to your w orkspace.

2. Open the drop-drop dow n at the bottom and select either By Frames or By Drawings.

NOTE
Most of the controls in the Onion Skin view are only accessible in Advanced Onion Skin
mode—see About Advanced Onion Skin.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Displaying Only Key Drawings, Breakdowns or In- Betweens in Onion
Skin
If you have a lot of draw ings and only w ant to display certain kinds of draw ings in the Onion Skin, you canmake the Onion Skin only include draw ings that have been marked as keyframes or breakdow ns and ignore all
the in-betw eens. Likew ise, you can also make the Onion Skin only display draw ings that are not marked (inbetw eens) and ignore key draw ings and breakdow ns.
In order to be able to do this, you must properly mark your draw ings first—see About Marked Draw ings on
page 818.

NOTE
If you make the Onion Skin only display specific kinds of draw ings, the Onion Skin w ill
automatically select the draw ings to display by draw ing rather than by frame, and w ill only takedraw ings of the selected types in account. For example, if the Onion Skin is set to include tw o
draw ings before and after the current frame, and is set to only display key draw ings, it w ill display
the tw o nearest key draw ings before the current frame and the tw o nearest key draw ings after thecurrent frame.
For more information about selecting draw ings by frame or by draw ing, see Selecting Draw ings to
Include in Onion Skin by Frames or by Draw ings.

How to display specific kinds of marked drawings in the Onion Skin
1. Make sure your key draw ings and breakdow ns are properly marked—see About Marked Draw ings
on page 818.

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2. Add the Onion Skin toolbar to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:lRight-click on a toolbar and select Onion Skin.

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Onion Skin.

The Onion Skin toolbar appears.

3. Do one of the follow ing to enable Onion Skin:l

In the Tools toolbar, click on theOnion Skin button.

l

In the Timeline view , click on theOnion Skin button left of the layer name.

l

In the top menu, select View > Onion Skin > Show Onion Skin.

l

Press Alt + O.

4. Using the Onion Skin toolbar, do one or several of the follow ing:l

To only show key draw ings in the Onion Skin, click on

Show Key draw ingsl

To only show breakdow n draw ings in the Onion Skin, click on

Show Breakdow n

draw ingsl

To only show in-betw een draw ings in the Onion Skin, click on

Show In-betw een

draw ingsl

To only show retake key draw ings in the Onion Skin, click onl

To only show retake breakdow n draw ings in the Onion Skin, click on
Breakdow n draw ings.

838

Show Retake Key draw ings
Show Retake

Chapter 7: Paperless Animationl

To only show retake in-betw een draw ings in the Onion Skin, click on

Show Retake In-

betw een draw ings.
l

To show more than one types of draw ings at the same time, click on the buttons for eachtype of draw ings you w ant to display in the Onion Skin.

l

To go back to show ing all draw ings in the Onion Skin, click on all the buttons you clicked on
to toggle them back off.

5. Do one of the follow ing as many times as necessary to only include the draw ings you w ant to seein the Onion Skin:l

To increase the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

Add Previous

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

Remove Previous

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To increase the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Add Next Draw ing

button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the
button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.

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About Displaying the Onion Skin in the Other Layers
T-LAY-003-006
W hen doing paperless animation, you typically only need the Onion Skin to display for the current layer. It is
how ever possible to display the Onion Skin for multiple layers simultaneously. The procedure is different
depending on w hether you w ork in the Camera or Draw ing view .

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Displaying the Onion Skin for Other Layers in the Camera View
In the Camera view , w hen Onion Skin is enabled, the Onion Skin of the currently selected layer is alw ays
displayed. How ever, it is also possible to enable persistent Onion Skin on other layers in your scene. You cando this by clicking the Onion Skin button just left of individual layers in the Timeline view . W hen Onion Skin isenabled on specific layers, the Onion Skin for these layers display along w ith the Onion Skin of the current
layer, allow ing you use both as reference.
W hen you enable Onion Skin using the Onion Skin button in the Tools toolbar, persistent Onion Skin is
automatically enabled on the currently selected layer. Hence, if you w ant to sw itch to a different layer andhide the Onion Skin for the layer you are no longer w orking on, you can also use the Onion Skin button next tothat other layer to disable Onion Skin on it.

NOTE
If you are using Onion Skin w ith a complex scene w ith a lot of draw ing layers, such as in Cut-Out
animation, there are more advanced techniques for displaying and hiding Onion Skin on multiple
layers. For more information, see About Using Onion Skin in Cut-out Animation

How to display Onion Skin on multiple layers in the Camera view
1. Select the layer and frame on w hich you w ant to draw .

2. In the Timeline view , click on theOnion Skin icon just left of the selected layer to enable Onion

Skin on it.
The icon w ill light up, indicating that Onion Skin is now enabled for this layer.

3. Click on the Onion Skin icon for each layer that you w ant to include in the Onion Skin.

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The Onion Skin for all layers on w hich it is enabled w ill display in the Camera view .

NOTE
If you w ant to remove a layer from the Onion Skin, you can click on its

Onion Skin icon

again to disable Onion Skin for that layer How ever, keep in mind that, w hen Onion Skin isenabled on any layer, it alw ays includes the currently selected layer as w ell. Therefore, if you
disable Onion Skin on the current layer, the Onion Skin for that layer w ill keep displaying.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Displaying the Onion Skin for Other Layers in the Drawing View
By default, the Draw ing view only displays the draw ing in the current layer. How ever, if you enable the Light
Table, draw ings in other layers w ill be displayed in the Draw ing view as w ell. You can then enable the Enable
Onion Skin in Other Elements option to display the Onion Skin for these other layers.
W ith the Enable Onion Skin in Other Elements option, for each draw ing in the current layer that is displayed in
the Onion Skin, the draw ing in other layers that are aligned w ith this draw ing is also displayed. Hence, thedraw ings in the Onion Skin for other layers are alw ays aligned in time w ith the draw ings in the Onion Skin forthe current layer.

NOTE
To help you differentiate the different layers in the Onion Skin, w hile the Onion Skin for the current
layer is displayed in red for previous draw ings and green for next draw ings, the Onion Skin for
inferior layers is displayed in yellow, and the Onion Skin for superior layers is displayed in blue.

How to display Onion Skin for other layers in the Drawing view
1. Select the layer and frame on w hich you w ant to draw .
2. Enable Onion Skin—see Enabling the Onion Skin.
3. Select the amount of previous and next draw ings to display in the Onion Skin—see Selecting
Draw ings to Display in Onion Skin.

4. Do one of the follow ing to enable the Draw ing view 's Light Table:l

In the Draw ing toolbar, click on theLight Table button.

l

In the top menu, select View > Light Table.

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Press Shift + L.

W ith Light Table enabled, the draw ings for other layers display in the Draw ing view , in w ashedcolours.

5. Add the Onion Skin toolbar to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:lRight-click on any existing toolbar and select Onion Skin.

l

In the top menu, select W indow s > Toolbars > Onion Skin.

6. In the Onion Skin toolbar, click on the Enable Onion Skin for other elements button.
Onion Skin for other elements w ill display in the Draw ing view . The Onion Skin for inferior layers
w ill be displayed in yellow, and the Onion Skin for superior layers w ill be displayed in blue.

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NOTE
This option is also availble in the View Menu of the Onion Skin view —see About Advanced
Onion Skin.

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About Advanced Onion Skin
Advanced Onion Skin is a special mode for Harmony's Onion Skin future. It is very similar to regular Onion
Skin, except w ith tw o main key differences:l

You can select w hich draw ings to display in the Onion Skin one by one, and exclude some specificdraw ings. W ith regular Onion Skin, you can only choose to include a span of draw ings before and after
the current frame.

l

You can quickly adjust the opacity of the draw ings in the Onion Skin, either by adjusting the opacity
scale for all the draw ings, or the opacity level of individual draw ings.

Hence, Advanced Onion Skin is useful in situations w here you need extra control on w hich draw ings display in
the Onion Skin and w hen you need to fine-tune how visible each draw ing is.
Advanced Onion Skin is configured using the Onion Skin view . This view contains some options that apply toboth styles of Onion Skin. How ever, it has draw ing visibility sw itches and opacity sliders that are specificallydesigned for use w ith Advanced Onion Skin.

This section w ill teach you how to use the Onion Skin view to enable and configure Advanced Onion Skin.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Enabling Advanced Onion Skin
To use Advanced Onion Skin, you must first enable it. You also need to add the Onion Skin view to yourw orkspace, as it is required to configured w hich draw ings are displayed in the Advanced Onion Skin.

NOTE
W hen Advanced Onion Skin is enabled, you cannot use the Onion Skin handles in the Timelineview , nor theOnion Skin Add/Remove Previous/Next Draw ing buttons to adjust

w hich draw ings are displayed in the Onion Skin. You can only select the draw ings to display in theOnion Skin using the Onion Skin view .

How to add the Onion Skin view to your workspace
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top-right corner of a view , click on thel

In the top menu, select W indows > Onion Skin.

Add View button and select Onion Skin.

The Onion Skin view is added to your w orkspace.

How to enable Advanced Onion Skin
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, click and holdOnion Skin and selectAdvanced Onion Skin.

l

In the Onion Skin view , click on the

Advanced Onion Skin button.

l

In the top-left corner of the Onion Skin view , open the

View Menu and select Advanced

Onion Skin.
The controls for the Advanced Onion Skin are now accessible in the Onion Skin view .

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By default, Advanced Onion Skin displays the 10 previous draw ings and the 10 next draw ings. To
adjust w hich draw ings are displayed in the Onion Skin, see Selecting Draw ings to Display in
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Selecting Drawings to Display in Advanced Onion Skin
Contrary to regular Onion Skin, Advanced Onion Skin allow s you to select draw ings to display in the Onion
Skin one by one, even if those draw ings are not contiguous. This is done using the toggle buttons at the top of
the Onion Skin view :Each sw itch represents a draw ing before or after the draw ing in the current frame. For example, if you toggle
sw itches 1 and 3 on in the previous draw ings sw itches, toggle sw itch 2 on in the next draw ing sw itches, andtoggle all other sw itches off, it w ill show the first and third draw ing before the current draw ing as w ell as thesecond draw ing after the current draw ing in the Onion Skin.
Often, you w ill w ant to toggle w hole spans of draw ings on or off. For example, all 10 previous and next
draw ings sw itches are toggled on by default, but you may only w ant to use 2 or 3 draw ings before and after
the current frame as references. Toggling all of these sw itches off one by one w ould be tedious. Fortunately,
you can quickly toggle a span of draw ings on or off by clicking and holding one of the sw itches, then sliding
your mouse cursor over all the other sw itches you w ant to toggle.

How to select which drawings to display in the Onion Skin
1. By default, both previous and next draw ings from 1 to 10 are included in the Onion Skin. To reduce
the span of previous draw ings included in the Onion Skin, click and hold on sw itch 10 in the left
area of the Onion Skin view , then drag your mouse cursor until the sw itch corresponding to the last849

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draw ing you w ant to remove from the Onion Skin.
For example, if you w ant to only include the previous draw ings 1 to 4 in the Onion Skin, click andhold on sw itch 10, then drag the mouse cursor over to sw itch 5, to remove draw ings 10 to 5 fromthe Onion Skin, leaving only 1 to 4.

TIP
If you w ant to exclude all previous draw ings and only display next draw ings, click andhold on sw itch 10 and drag all the w ay to sw itch 1.

2. If you w ant to exclude any draw ing that is currently included in the Onion Skin, click on its
corresponding toggle sw itch to toggle it off.

3. If you w ant to include any draw ing that is currently excluded in the Onion Skin, click on its
corresponding toggle sw itch to toggle it on.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

4. To expand the span of previous draw ings included in the Onion Skin, click and hold on the sw itchcorresponding to the first draw ing excluded from the Onion Skin, then drag your mouse cursor to
the sw itch corresponding to the last draw ing you w ant to add to the Onion Skin.

5. Repeat steps 1 to 3, but using the sw itches on the right side of the Onion Skin view , to select w hichnext draw ings to include in the Onion Skin.

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Adjusting the Opacity of Drawings in Advanced Onion Skin
Using the sliders in the Onion Skin, you can quickly adjust the opacity of the Onion Skin as a w hole, as w ell as
the opacity scale of previous draw ings and next draw ings.

TIP
By default, w hen you change the value of one of the sliders, all of the other sliders on that side of
the Onion Skin view w ill follow . To be able to adjust the opacity of a single draw ing w ithout
affecting others, you can disable the Link Sliders option of the Onion Skin view , located in its
View Menu in the top-left corner.

How to adjust the opacity of all drawings displayed in the Onion Skin
1. In the Onion Skin view , click and drag on the slider in the middle, just beneath theAdvanced

Onion Skin button. Drag the slider up to increase the opacity, or dow n to decrease it.

How to adjust the opacity scale of drawings displayed in the Onion Skin
1. Make sure that Advanced Onion Skin is enabled—see Enabling Advanced Onion Skin.
2. In the left area of the Onion Skin view , click and drag on the slider underneath the 1 sw itch toadjust the opacity of the first previous draw ing.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

All the sw itches for draw ings 1 to 10 w ill adjust to keep the opacity scale linear.
3. In the left area of the Onion Skin view , click and drag on the slider underneath the 10 sw itch toadjust the opacity of the last previous draw ing.

All the sw itches for draw ings 1 to 10 w ill adjust to keep the opacity scale linear.
4. Optionally, click and drag on a slider underneath any sw itch betw een 2 and 9 to make the scale
into a segmented line.

5. In the right area of the Onion Skin view , click and drag on the slider underneath the 1 sw itch toadjust the opacity of the first next draw ing.

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6. In the right area of the Onion Skin view , click and drag on the slider underneath the 10 sw itch toadjust the opacity of the last next draw ing.

7. Optionally, click and drag on a slider underneath any sw itch betw een 2 and 9 to make the scale
into a segmented line.

NOTE
If you adjust the opacity slider for draw ing 1 or 10 again, the opacity scale w ill become
linear instead of segmented.

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How to adjust the opacity of individual drawings displayed in the Onion Skin
1. Make sure that Advanced Onion Skin is enabled—see Enabling Advanced Onion Skin.
2. In the top-left corner of the Onion Skin view , open the

View Menu and uncheck the Link Sliders

option.

3. Click and drag on the slider corresponding to the draw ing for w hich you w ant to adjust the opacity.

4. Repeat until every draw ing displayed in the Onion Skin has the desired opacity.

5. If you w ant to set the opacity of draw ings in the Onion Skin on a linear scale again, open the
View Menu and check the Link Sliders option. Then, make any adjustment on any of the sliders forthe previous or next draw ings to make all of the sliders for previous or next draw ings aligned
again.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

About the Drawing Desk
T-ANIMPA-008-002
You can w ork on a portion of an animation sequence or specific draw ings from different layers. To do this,select the segment needed in one or more layers in the Xsheet or Timeline view and then use the draw ing
desk to allow you to w ork only on these draw ings.
This can be useful w ent you need to reposition draw ings, use the Shift and Trace feature, paint multiple
draw ings at once, or apply the same transformation to draw ings for different layers—see About Shift andTrace on page 861.
The Draw ing Desk is only available in the Draw ing view .

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Adding Drawings to the Drawing Desk
T-ANIMPA-008-004
You can send draw ings your selected in the Xsheet view to the draw ing desk. You can also send new draw ings
to an existing set in the Draw ing Desk.

How to send several drawings to the drawing desk
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select a consecutive cell range from one or several
layers.

l

In the Xsheet view , hold dow n Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and click on any
cell to add it to the selection, even if it is not consecutive.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view menu, select Drawings > Send Drawings to Desk.

l

In the Xsheet view , right-click and select Send Drawings to Desk.

l

In the Xsheet view , hold dow n the Alt key and click on the selection.

The draw ing desk opens on the side of the Draw ing view .

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NOTE
The draw ing desk is by default on the left side of the Draw ing view . You can change its
positioning in the Preferences dialog box.

3. If the draw ing desk side panel is hidden, click the Arrow button, located on the left side of the view .

How to add more drawings to the drawing desk
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ings to be added.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view menu, select Drawings > Add Drawings to Deskl

Alt + click the selection.

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Modifying Thumbnails in the Drawing Desk
For your convenience you can modify the w ay the thumbnails are displayed in the Draw ing Desk.

How to clear drawings and send new ones to the drawing desk
1. Select a new draw ing in the Timeline or Xsheet view .
2. In the Timeline or Xsheet view menu, select Drawings > Send Drawings to Desk.
The previous draw ing desk selection is removed and replaced w ith the current selection.

How to change the size of drawing desk thumbnailslRight-click the draw ing desk and select No Thumbnail, Small Thumbnail, Medium Thumbnail or
Large Thumbnail.

How to change the position of a thumbnail in the drawing desk
1. In the draw ing desk, select the thumbnail.
2. Click the Move Draw ing Up

and Moving Draw ing Dow n

buttons as needed, to move it to thenew position in the draw ing desk.

How to clear selected or all drawings from the drawing desk
1. In the draw ing desk, select one or more draw ings to remove.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click the draw ing desk and select Remove Selected Drawings or Remove All
Drawings.

l

In the Draw ing view , press Esc to remove all draw ings.

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About Shift and Trace
T-ANIMPA-008-003
W hen hand draw ing animation, it is very important to stay on model as it is easy to lose the proportions orfeatures of a character. The Shift and Trace feature lets you temporarily move a draw ing so you can trace it on
a new draw ing. This is similar to animators w orking on an animation light table and using an entire characteror cut-out pieces of a character and moving it underneath the new draw ing to trace it.
W hen using Shift and Trace, draw ings are not permanently modified. They are temporarily moved, rotated orscaled to help you trace over them. Once you are done, you can turn off Shift and Trace to reset all draw ings totheir original position, angle and size.
If you use the Shift and Trace feature frequently, you can assign keyboard shortcuts for Shift and Traceroutines in the Shortcuts tab of the Preferences dialog box.

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About the Shift and Trace Tool
The Shift and Trace tool allow s you to shift and trace draw ings from w ithin the Camera view . Using thecontrols of the Shift and Trace tool, you can offset, rotate and scale the current draw ing or neighbouring
draw ings and, using Onion Skin, trace over the offset draw ings in new draw ings, hence helping you preserve
the volume and details across multiple draw ings.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Enabling the Shift and Trace Tool
You can use the Shift and Trace tool by selecting it from the Tools toolbar or from the Shift and Trace toolbar.
W hen selected, Shift and Trace becomes automatically enabled.
Likew ise, w hen selecting the Shift and Trace tool, Onion Skin becomes automatically enabled. It is throughOnion Skin that you w ill see the outlines of neighbouring draw ings and hence be able to trace over them in thecurrent draw ing.
Once enabled, you can choose the amount of previous and next draw ings to include in the Onion Skin as w ellas the options to use the Shift and Trace tool w ith.

NOTE
If you need to use the Shift and Trace tool often, you can add the Shift and Trace toolbar to yourw orkspace, w hich w ill allow you to quickly select and configure it.

How to enable and configure the Shift and Trace tool
1. Do one of the follow ing to select the Shift and Trace tool:l

In the Tools toolbar, double-click on the Hand
Shift and Traceltool to open its pop-up menu and selecttool.

In the Shift and Trace toolbar, click on the Shift and Trace Tool

button.

Shift and Trace as w ell as Onion Skin become enabled.

NOTE
You can configure some options for the Shift and Trace tool in the Tool Properties view . For
more information, refer to the Shift and Trace Tool Properties topic of the Reference Guide.

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Shifting Drawings with the Shift and Trace Tool
W ith the Shift and Trace tool, you can temporarily move, rotate and scale draw ings. By default, the Shift andTrace tool w ill w ork on the draw ing at the current frame. How ever, you can offset another draw ing appearing
in the Onion Skin, allow ing you to shift the draw ing you w ant to trace w ithout having to select it, and you caneven select multiple draw ings and shift them together.
The simplest w ay to shift draw ings is to shift the current draw ing. W hen you select a draw ing in the Timelineor Xsheet view , the Shift and Trace tool is already ready to move and transform this draw ing. W hen using thismethod, you have to select the draw ing you w ant to shift, shift it, then select the draw ing you w ant to draw onand start tracing.
Another approach is to use the Shift and Trace tool move draw ings before or after the current draw ing. W hen
using this method, you can start by selecting the draw ing you w ant to draw on, shift the draw ing you w ant totrace over in the right position, and start tracing right aw ay.
At last, if you need to shift several draw ings simultaneously, you can select several draw ings w ith the Shiftand Trace tool and transform them together.

How to shift the current drawing
1. Do one of the follow ing to select the Shift and Trace tool:l

In the Tools toolbar, double-click on the Hand
Shift and Traceltool to open its pop-up menu and selecttool.

In the Shift and Trace toolbar, click on the Shift and Trace Tool

2. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the draw ing you w ant to shift.

A manipulator box appears around the selected draw ing.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Peg holes also appear below the field of the draw ing. The left and right peg holes can be used torotate the draw ing around the centre peg hole.

TIPSl

If you do not need the peg holes, you can hide them by toggling the Show /HidePegslbutton off in the Tool Properties view .

If you w ant the peg holes to be displayed on a different side of the camera field, you
can select the border w here you w ant the peg holes to be by using the drop-dow njust right of the Show /Hide Pegs

button in the Tool Properties view .

3. Do one of the follow ing to extend the Onion Skin so as to include the draw ings you w ant to trace
over:

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In the Timeline view , click and drag on the Onion Skin brackets so as to make them include
all the required draw ings.

.
l

In the Camera view toolbar, use the Onion Skid Add One Previous Draw ing, Onion Skid

Reduce One Previous Draw ing

and Onion

Skin Add One Next Draw ing, Onion Skin Reduce One Next Draw ing
buttons.

The draw ings included in the Onion Skin w ill appear in the Camera view , in w ashed dow n red forprevious draw ings and w ashed dow n green for next draw ings.

4. If you w ant to move the draw ing, click and drag on it.

5. If you intend to rotate or scale the draw ing, but w ant to do it from a different pivot point than thecentre of the artw ork, click and drag on the pivot point to reposition it.

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6. If you w ant to rotate the draw ing around the pivot point, click on the rotation handle at the right ofthe bounding box and drag it clockw ise or counterclockw ise.

You can also rotate the draw ing by clicking just outside one of the four corners of the bounding box
and dragging clockw ise or counterclockw ise.

7. If you w ant to rotate the draw ing around its centre peg hole, click on one of the side peg holes anddrag it clockw ise or counterclockw ise.

8. If you w ant to scale the draw ing, click and drag on one of the four corners of the bounding box.

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NOTE
You can also adjust the position, scale, rotation angle and the position of the pivot point for theselection in the Info section of the Tool Properties view .

How to select and shift a previous or next drawing
1. Do one of the follow ing to select the Shift and Trace tool:l

In the Tools toolbar, double-click on the Hand
Shift and Traceltool to open its pop-up menu and selecttool.

In the Shift and Trace toolbar, click on the Shift and Trace Tool

button.

2. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the draw ing in w hich you w ant to draw instead of the one
you w ant to shift and trace over.

.
3. Do one of the follow ing to extend the Onion Skin so as to include the draw ings you w ant to trace
over:l

In the Timeline view , click and drag on the Onion Skin brackets so as to make them include
all the required draw ings.

.
l

In the Camera view toolbar, use the Onion Skid Add One Previous Draw ing, Onion Skid

Reduce One Previous Draw ing

and Onion

Skin Add One Next Draw ing, Onion Skin Reduce One Next Draw ing
buttons.

The draw ings included in the Onion Skin w ill appear in the Camera view , in w ashed dow n red for868

Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

previous draw ings and w ashed dow n green for next draw ings.

4. In the Camera view , w hile holding dow n the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key, click on theOnion Skin of the draw ing you w ant to shift

The control box of the Shift and Trace tool w ill appear around the draw ing you just clicked on. From
now on, all transformations done w ith the Shift and Trace tool w ill be done on that draw ing.

5. Using the Shift and Trace control box, move, rotate and scale the selected draw ing until it is in theright position, for you to trace over it.

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TIPS
If you w ant to select the current draw ing again, hold dow n the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘l(macOS) key and click on its artw ork in the Camera view .
You can make the selection of other draw ings easier by adding cross hairs to yourldraw ings. Clicking on a draw ing's cross hair w hile holding dow n the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ (macOS) key w ill also select that draw ing—see Adding Cross Hairs w ith the Shiftand Trace Tool on page 874.

How to select and shift several drawings simultaneously
1. Do one of the follow ing to select the Shift and Trace tool:l

In the Tools toolbar, double-click on the Hand
Shift and Traceltool to open its pop-up menu and selecttool.

In the Shift and Trace toolbar, click on the Shift and Trace Tool

button.

2. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select one of the draw ings in the middle of the series of draw ings
you w ant to shift.

.
3. Do one of the follow ing to extend the Onion Skin so as to include at least all of the draw ings you
w ant to shift.
l

In the Timeline view , click and drag on the Onion Skin brackets so as to make them include
all the required draw ings.

.
l

In the Camera view toolbar, use the Onion Skid Add One Previous Draw ing, Onion Skid

Reduce One Previous Draw ing

and Onion

Skin Add One Next Draw ing, Onion Skin Reduce One Next Draw ing
buttons.

The draw ings included in the Onion Skin w ill appear in the Camera view , in w ashed dow n red for

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

previous draw ings and w ashed dow n green for next draw ings.

4. In the Camera view , w hile holding dow n the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key and the Shift
key, click on the each draw ing that you w ant to add to your selection.
Once your selection includes multiple draw ings, a red control box appears around the w holeselection, and a blue control box appears around each selected draw ing.

5. Using the red control box, move, rotate and scale all the selected draw ings until they are in theirintended position, angle and size.

TIPSl

W hen multiple draw ings are selected, you can still shift individual draw ings bymanipulating their ow n blue control box.

l

If you w ant to select a single draw ing again, release the Shift key but hold dow n the
Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key, then click on its artw ork in the Camera
view .

l

You can make the selection of other draw ings easier by adding cross hairs to yourdraw ings. Clicking on a draw ing's cross hair w hile holding dow n the Ctrl
(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key w ill also select that draw ing—see Adding
Cross Hairs w ith the Shift and Trace Tool on page 874.

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Tracing Drawings with the Shift and Trace Tool
Once you have shifted your reference draw ing, you can start tracing over it w ith your preferred draw ing tool.

How to trace over drawings that you have shifted with the Shift and Trace tool
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ing on w hich you w ant to draw .
2. Do one of the follow ing to extend the Onion Skin so as to include the draw ings you w ant to trace
over:l

In the Timeline view , click and drag on the Onion Skin brackets so as to make them include
all the required draw ings.

.
l

In the Camera view toolbar, use the Onion Skid Add One Previous Draw ing, Onion Skid

Reduce One Previous Draw ing

and Onion

Skin Add One Next Draw ing, Onion Skin Reduce One Next Draw ing
buttons.

The draw ings included in the Onion Skin w ill appear in the Camera view , in w ashed dow n red forprevious draw ings and w ashed dow n green for next draw ings.

3. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brushor Pencil

tool.

4. Using your draw ing tool, trace over the w ashed dow n lines.

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Adding Cross Hairs with the Shift and Trace Tool
Cross hairs are visual indicators that you can add on draw ings w hen using the Shift and Trace tool. A crosshair added to a draw ing w ill appear in the same position on other draw ings in the layer, unless that draw ing isshifted. W hen shifting a draw ing w ith the Shift and Trace tool, the cross hair moves along w ith it. Hence, thiscan serve as a quick visual indicator of how much the current draw ing and the other draw ings in the Onion
Skin are offset from each other.

Another use for cross hairs is that you can use them to select draw ings w ith the Shift and Trace tool. W ithoutcross hairs, you can select one of the draw ings that are visible in the Camera view by holding the Ctrl
(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key and clicking on its artw ork. W ith cross hairs, you can also change theselection by holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key and clicking on a draw ing's cross hair.

How to add cross hairs
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tool Properties view , click on the Set Add Cross Hair Model

In the Shift and Trace toolbar, click on the Set Add Cross Hair Modebutton.
button.

2. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ing on w hich you w ant to add cross hairs.
3. In the Camera view , click on the location w here you w ant to add a cross hair.
A cross hair is added w here you clicked on every draw ing in the current layer. On draw ings that areoffset w ith the Shift and Trace tool, the corresponding cross hair is also offset.

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Removing Cross Hairs with the Shift and Trace Tool
Once you are done w ith the cross hairs you have added w ith the Shift and Trace tool, you can instantly remove
all of them from your draw ings.

How to remove all cross hairs
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tool Properties view , click on the Remove All Cross Hairl

In the Shift and Trace toolbar, click on the Remove All Cross Hair

876

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Disabling and Clearing Shift and Trace Transformations
All transformations made on draw ings w ith the Shift and Trace tool are temporary, so that they do not affectyour animation in the end. Once you are done using the Shift and Trace tool, there are tw o w ays to resetdraw ings to their original position:l

By disabling Shift and Trace. This w ill preserve the offset position of the draw ings, but they w ill appear
in their original position until Shift and Trace is enabled again.

l

By resetting all draw ings to their original position. The Shift and Trace tool can undo all of thetransformations done w ith it in a single click.

NOTE
Shift and Trace transformations are not saved in the scene. If you close and re-open your scene, alldraw ings w ill be reset to their original position.

How to temporarily disable Shift and Trace
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tool Properties view , click on Disable/Enable Shift and Tracel

In the Shift and Trace toolbar, click on Disable/Enable Shift and Trace

to toggle it off.
to toggle it off.

Draw ings that w ere offset w ith the Shift and Trace tool w ill now appear in their original position. If
you re-enable Shift and Trace later, they w ill appear offset again.

How to reset the currently selected drawing to its original position
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tool Properties view , click on the Reset Selected Draw ings Shift Positionl

In the Shift and Trace toolbar, click on the Clear the shift information for all draw ings
button.

The currently selected draw ing w ill be set back to its original position, angle and scale.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

How to reset one or several drawings to their original position
1. In the Timeline view , click and drag on the Onion Skin brackets so as to make them include thedraw ings you w ant to reset.

.
2. Select one or several draw ings by doing one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to reset a different draw ing than the one selected w ith the Shift and Trace tool,press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key, then click on that draw ing in
the Camera view .

l

If you w ant to reset several of the draw ings visible in the Camera view , press and hold theCtrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS), then click on the Onion Skin of the first draw ing you
w ant to select. Then, w hile holding both the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and Shift
keys, click on the Onion Skin of each draw ing you w ant to add to your selection.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

3. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tool Properties view , click on the Reset Selected Draw ings Shift Position

button.

l

In the Shift and Trace toolbar, click on the Clear the shift information for all draw ings
button.

The selected draw ings w ill be set back to its original position, angle and scale.

How to reset all drawings to their original positions
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tool Properties view , click on the Reset All Draw ings Shift Position

button.

l

In the Shift and Trace toolbar, click on the Clear the shift information for the current draw ing
button.

All draw ings that w ere offset w ith the Shift and Trace tool w ill be reset to their original position,
angle and scale.

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About Shift and Trace with the Drawing Desk
The Draw ing Desk is the legacy method of performing Shift and Trace. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , you canselect draw ings to add to the draw ing desk. In the Draw ing view , you can select draw ings from the Draw ing
Desk, offset them to the preferred position, angle and size. Then, using Onion Skin, you can trace over theoffset draw ings in other draw ings, hence helping you preserve the volume and details across multiple
draw ings.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Enabling Shift and Trace in the Drawing Desk
T-ANIMPA-008-005
You need to send draw ings to the Draw ing Desk and enable the Shift and Trace option to be able to use it—
see About the Draw ing Desk on page 857.

How to enable the Shift and Trace mode
1. Go to the Draw ing view .
2. In the Tools toolbar, click the Show Onion Skinbutton—see Paperless Animation Tools.

3. Send the selected draw ings to the draw ing desk—see About the Draw ing Desk on page 857.

4. In the Draw ing Desk toolbar, click the Shift and Trace Enable
Registration marks appear at the bottom of your draw ings.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Shifting Drawings with the Drawing Desk
T-ANIMPA-008-006
Once the Shift and Trace option is enabled, you can use the controls to shift the draw ings. This does not
modify your original draw ings.

How to shift
Using the shift and trace manipulator, you can move the registration marks to reposition selecteddraw ings w hile you w ork.
1. In the Draw ing Desk toolbar, click the Shift and Trace Manipulator

button.

At the bottom of the Draw ing view , a w indow displays a zoomed in view of the manipulator. You
can move the dividing line betw een the manipulator and the Draw ing view to resize the area.

2. In the Draw ing view , transform the draw ing as needed, positioning it betw een your tw o key poses.
l

To reposition, click and drag the draw ing to a new area.

l

To rotate from the centre peg, click the flat peg hole and rotate.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animationl

To scale, pull or push on the triangle control.

l

To show the pivot point, hold Alt. The pivot point is in the middle of your current
draw ing view . To rotate from the pivot point, hold Alt and rotate.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

To scale from the pivot point, hold Shift and move your cursor.

lClick and drag the pivot point to move it to a new position. Once the pivot point is
moved, you can hold Alt and move your draw ing to show it again.

3. To select another draw ing and reposition it, hold dow n Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS).

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

4. If necessary, click the Shift and Trace Resetbutton to reset the position of the modified draw ing.

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Tracing Drawings with the Drawing Desk
T-ANIMPA-008-007
You can trace your new draw ings once you shifted the reference artw ork.

How to trace
1. In the draw ing desk, select the draw ing into w hich you w ant to trace.

2. Select the check box next to the draw ing you w ant to allow to be temporarily transformed. By
default, all draw ings are enabled for Shift and Trace operations.

3. Select the draw ing you w ant to move.

4. If you w ant to trace more than one draw ing at the same time, you can link them together. In thedraw ing desk, select several draw ings and click the Link Draw ings
together—see Tracing Draw ings w ith the Draw ing Desk.
5. In the Tools toolbar, select a draw ing tool.
6. In the Draw ing view , trace your draw ing.

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Linking Drawings in the Drawing Desk
T-ANIMPA-008-008
W hen using the Shift and Trace feature, you can link different draw ings from the draw ing desk, so they move
together w hen dragging or scaling. These draw ings can be from different columns in the Xsheet view .

How to link your shift and trace drawings
1. In the draw ing desk, display the draw ings you w ant to use for the Shift and Trace operation.
2. Hold dow n Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and select the draw ings you w ant to link together.
3. In the Draw ing Desk toolbar, click the Link Draw ings

button to enable linking.

Coloured boxes appear beside draw ing thumbnails to identify different linked draw ing groups.
A link icon appears beside the currently selected draw ing and all draw ings linked to it.

4. Shift your linked draw ings.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

5. To unlink your draw ings, select one of the linked draw ings and click the Link Draw ing

buttonagain to disable it.
6. You can shift your draw ings independently.

7. To unlink your draw ings, select one of the linked draw ings and click the Link Draw ing
again to disable it.

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Enabling Onion Skin in the Drawing Desk
You may end up w ith a lot of draw ings in your onion skin display w hile w orking w ith the Shift and Tracefeature. You can disable individual draw ings from the onion skin display w ithout deactivating them.

How to enable and disable individual onion skin drawings
1. In the Tools toolbar, click the Onion Skinbutton.

2. In the Draw ing Desk, click on the draw ing’s Onion Skinenabled, the icon's

colour changes .

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

About Art Layers
T-RIG-005-000
Art layers give you the possibility to divide the artw ork in your draw ing on different layers. For example, you
can separate the outline and colour fill on tw o art layers, similar to 1950s traditional cell animation. These art
layers are contained w ithin a single draw ing as opposed to the layers in the Timeline view or Xsheet columns
w here individual draw ings w ith individual timing are stacked one on top of the other—see About Art Layers
on page 891.

Toon Boom Harmony Premium draw ings include four art layers.
lOverlay on page 891lLine Art on page 892

lColour Art on page 892lUnderlay on page 893

You can access the art layers through the Art Layer toolbar. By default, only the Line Art and Colour Art are
displayed. You need to enable the Support Overlay and Underlay Arts option in the Preferences dialog box.

Each layer can be used for separate hand-draw n animation tasks, letting you organize your w ork and facilitatecreation and revision.

Overlay
The Overlay layer can serve multiple purposes:

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Harmony 22 Premium User GuidelHighlights and toneslAnnotations and correctionslSketching
You can also draw in the Overlay layer as it's a regular layer.

Line Art
In hand-draw n animation, the Line Art layer is mainly used to trace and clean up animation. The outline isdraw n in the Line Art layer and colour is painted in the Colour Art layer.

Colour Art
In hand-draw n animation, you use the Colour Art layer to paint your animation. The outline is draw n in the LineArt layer and colour is painted in the Colour Art layer. Strokes (invisible lines) are generated from Line Art tocontain the painted area.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

W hen you are doing rough animation, you may w ant to send a clip for feedback or approval before carrying on
w ith your w ork. If you have several characters in your project that are overlapping, it may be difficult tounderstand w hat is going on as you can see through the characters. Toon Boom Harmony Premium cangenerate a matte automatically in the Underlay, or even in the Colour Art layer, and fill all the zones inside
your characters to make them opaque. This process is fast and easy, and allow s you to send easy-tounderstand movies.

Underlay
The Underlay layer can serve multiple purposes. It is frequently used by animators to sketch rough animationor generate a matte colour w hen doing line testing.

Separated Lines and Colours
A draw ing is composed of line and colour filling layers. Lines and colours can be separated or kept together,
depending on w hich animation process you use. The follow ing diagram presents Line Art and Colour Art
layers recommendations based on the selected animation w orkflow .

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

W hen a traditional draw ing is scanned, strokes are automatically created in the Colour Art from the Line Artw hen draw ings are vectorized unless you specified otherw ise.
W hen w orking w ith Cut-out animation, w e recommend that you do all of the w ork in the Line Art.
Once the draw ing sequence is completed for paperless draw ings, you can proceed w ith creating Colour Art
strokes if you plan to paint the animation in the Colour Art. Use the Create Colour Art from Line Art option tocreate strokes from your lines.
You can create strokes in the Colour Art during the follow ing stages:lAfter the full draw ing is completed in Line Artl

W hile draw ing in Line Art

You may have some traditional draw ings that need to be fixed; for example, needing extra lines to patch gaps.
Use the Auto-Create Colour Art from Brush option to create the strokes at the same time as the lines are
draw n. This creates strokes from the lines and brush strokes created in the Line Art w hile you draw and isuseful for fixing draw ings. How ever, if you are draw ing a new sketch, it is better to create the strokes
afterw ard using the Create Colour Art from Line Art option.

NOTE
Make sure to select the Advanced Art Mode in the Preferences dialog box to use this feature.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Enabling Overlay and Underlay Art Layers
T-LAY-002-004
By default, the Overlay and Underlay art layers are disabled to simplify the w orkflow . You can enable thesupport of those additional art layers in the Preferences panel.

How to enable the Support Overlay and Underlay Arts option
1. Select Edit > Preferences ( W indow s/Linux ) or Harmony Premium > Preferences ( macOS ).
2. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Advanced tab.
3. In the Advanced Options section, select the Support Overlay and Underlay Arts option.
4. Click OK.

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Switching Between Art Layers
T-RIG-005-000A
You can use the Art Layers toolbar and keyboard shortcuts to sw itch betw een art layers.

How to switch between drawing layers
1. In the Art Layer toolbar, click the Line Art

or Colour Art

buttons. W hen sw itching art layers,

you can edit the select layer w ithout affecting the other one.

2. Click the Preview All Enabled Art Layers

button to display all layers together. Even w hen thePreview mode is enabled, you w ill only be able to edit the select art layer. The other ones are only
displayed as a reference. By default, the Preview mode is alw ays enabled in the Camera view . You
w ill only be able to see the selected art layer by itself if you enable the Current Draw ing on Top
option located in the Camera bottom toolbar.

NOTE
To edit both Line Art and Colour Art at the same time, you must enable the
Apply to Line Art and Colour Art

button in the Tool Properties of the tools

supporting the operation.

How to switch between the drawing layers in Advanced Art mode
1. In the Art Layer toolbar, click the Overlay Art, Line Art, Colour Art

or Underlay Art

buttons to display the appropriate layer—see How to enable the Support Overlay and Underlay
Arts option on page 895. W hen sw itching art layers, you can edit the selected layer w ithout
affecting the other one.

2. Click the Preview All Enabled Art Layers

button to display all the layers together. The otherones are only displayed as a reference. By default, the Preview mode is alw ays enabled in the
Camera view . You can view only the selected art layer if you select the Current Draw ing on Top
option in the Camera bottom toolbar.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Creating Colour Art from Line Art
T-RIG-005-000B
Lets you use the outline you traced on one of the four embedded layers (line art, colour art, overlay, underlay)
and create invisible strokes to paint your draw ings on separate layers. This provides more inking and painting
flexibility.
You can also configure this option to create the invisible strokes on any of the four embedded layers.

How to create Colour Art zones from the Line Art layer
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

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

button if you w ant to apply theoperation on all draw ings in the layer.
3. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the artw ork to transfer to the Colour Art. Create a selection
around the entire animation sequence if you w ant to apply the operation to all your draw ings.
4. In the Draw ing View toolbar, click the Create Colour Art from Line Art

button or press *.

How to create strokes with the Create Colour Art Automatically option
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush tool.
2. In the Tool Properties view , enable the Create Colour Art Automatically

option.

3. Draw the required lines.
4. Once you're done, deselect the Create Colour Art Automatically

option.

You are now ready to paint.

How to configure the Create Colour Art from Line Art option
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

2. In the Tool Properties view or the Draw ing View toolbar, Shift + click the Create Colour Art fromLine Art

button.

The Configure Line Art to Colour Art dialog box opens.

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Parameter

Description

Use rendered version of thedraw ing

Renders the draw ing and vectorize it to calculate the position of thecentreline that w ill produce the colour art stroke.

Maximum Resolution for
rendered image

The size of the rendered image.

Threshold for renderedimage

The value of grey processed to create the rendered vectorized arts.

Fitting error for renderedThis value represents how precise the fitting of the colour art zone in relation

Beziers

to the line art w ill be.

Source layer

Lets you select the layer (Line Art, Colour Art, Underlay or Overlay) you
w ant the colour art to be created from.

Destination layer

Lets you select the layer (Line Art, Colour Art, Underlay or Overlay) you
w ant the colour art to be created on.

Clear Destination Art Layer
First

Deletes the content before the colour art is added. This is useful w hen you
already have artw ork on the destination layer.

Perform Line Art to Colour
Art Operation Immediately

Performs the Create Colour Art from Line Art command w hen you click OK.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Generating a Matte
T-ANIMPA-006-013
You can quickly generate a matte to be displayed behind your rough animation so you don't see thebackground through the draw ings. It can be generated in any art layer.

How to generate a matte
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, select the SelectlPress Alt + S.

tool.

2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , select the draw ing you w ant to create a matte for.

NOTE
You can also apply the operation to all the draw ings in the layer at the same time.

3. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Generate Auto- Matte.

l

In the Camera or Draw ing menu, select Drawing > Generate Auto- Matte.

The Auto-Matte dialog box opens.

4. If you w ant to create a matte for all the draw ings included in your layer, select the Apply to All
Drawings option.
5. Depending on how precise or rough your line is, increase or decrease the radius value. Use a low ervalue, the closer to your lines’ contours the matte w ill be shaped. The higher the value, the looser
the matte w ill be shaped.

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6. In the Source Art menu, select the layer from w hich you w ant the matte created: Line Art,Colour
Art, Underlay or Overlay.
7. In the Destination Art menu, select the layer on w hich you w ant the matte to be created: Line
Art,Colour Art, Underlay or Overlay.
8. If you already have artw ork on the destination layer and you w ant the content to be deleted before
the matte is added into it, select the Clear Destination Art First option.
9. If you w ant the contour of your lines to be copied as invisible lines in your matte draw ing (in case
you ever need to keep them for later), select the Copy Stroke in Destination option.
10. Click OK.

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Flipping Animation
T-ANIMPA-006-010
Using the Easy Flipping toolbar, you can rapidly flip through draw ings in the Draw ing view , just as you w ould
w ith paper draw ings in traditional animation.

How to use the Easy Flipping toolbar
1. Sw itch to the Draw ing view .
2. In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Easy Flipping to enable the Easy Flipping toolbar.

3. In the Easy Flipping toolbar, click thePrevious or

Next button to see the previous or next

draw ing of your animation.
4. To display draw ings in the first frame after you reach the last frame of your animation, select the
Loop option.

5. Move the slider to the right to flip forw ard and to the left to flip backw ard through your draw ings.

The further you move the slider to the left or right, the faster the draw ings w ill flip.
6. In the Preroll field, enter the amount of draw ings to automatically flip through before and after thecurrent draw ing.
7. In the FPS field, enter the speed at w hich you w ould like to automatically flip through yourdraw ings, in frames per second.
8. Click on the Easy Flip button

to automatically flip through the draw ings based on the Preroll andFPS settings.
By default, the Flipping toolbar w ill flip through all draw ings in the range specified in its Preroll field.
Optionally, you can use the Flip toolbar to only flip through certain types of draw ings, such as key draw ings or
breakdow ns, provided that you marked these draw ings as such prior—see About Marked Draw ings.

How to use the Flip toolbar
1. In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Flip.

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2. Click on the corresponding button for each type of draw ing you w ish you flip through:
Icon

Drawing TypeKey Draw ing

Breakdow n

In-betw een (Unmarked draw ings)

Retake-Key

Retake-Breakdow n

Retake-In-betw een

The Easy Flipping toolbar w ill only flip through draw ings marked w ith the enabled draw ing types.

NOTE
If no draw ing types are selected in the Flip toolbar, the Easy Flipping toolbar w ill flip throughall draw ing types.

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Chapter 7: Paperless Animation

Previewing and Playing Drawings
It is a good idea to preview your draw ings to check your animation's ink and paint, verify that there are nocolour mistakes, or to play your animation in real time. You can do this by scrolling through your draw ings orpressing F and G. You can also use the Preview option in the Xsheet view .

How to preview drawings from the Xsheet view
1. Save your scene.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select File > Save.

l

Click the Savel

Press Ctrl + S (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + S (macOS).

button.

3. In the Xsheet view , select the range of draw ings or the w hole column to preview .
4. Open the Xsheet view menu

and select View > Preview Selected Drawings.

The Play application opens and loads the selected draw ings.
5. In the Play w indow , press the Playbutton to play back your draw ings.

6. Select the Preroll option to see blank frames at the beginning and end of the animation sequencew hile looping the playback.

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Previewing Animation with Mini Playback
You can quickly preview parts of your animation using Mini Playback. Mini Playback allow s you to quickly
preview a short span of animation starting a few frames before the current frame and ending a few frames
after the current frame, at a customizable frame rate.

How to use Mini Playback
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a frame betw een the animation frames that you w ant topreview .
2. Do one of the follow ing to add the Mini Playback toolbar to your w orkspace:l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Mini Playback.

l

Right-click on any existing toolbar and select Mini Playback.

3. In the Mini Playback toolbar, click on the

Mini Playback Dialog button.

The Mini Playback dialog appears.

NOTE
You can also open the Mini Playback dialog by selecting Play > Mini Playback from the
top menu.

4. In the Frame Rate drop-dow n, select the frame rate at w hich you w ant to preview your animation,in frames per second, or leave it to Same as Scene if you w ant to preview your animation at theframe rate set for your scene.
5. In the Before field, enter the amount of frames before the current frame to play.
6. In the After field, enter the amount of frames after the current frame to play.
7. Click on thePlay button.

Your scene starts playing at the chosen amount of frames before the current frame, and stops
playing at the chosen amount of frames after the current frame.
8. If you are satisfied w ith the Mini Playback configuration, you can close the Mini Playback dialog,
and you can do one of the follow ing to start Mini Playback again:

904

Chapter 7: Paperless Animationl

In the Mini Playback toolbar, click on thel

In the top menu, select Play > Start Mini Playback.

905

Mini Playback button.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

906

Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Setting up your scene can be compared to building a set for a television show . This is the point w hen you
position each scene element such as the camera frame, the background elements and the characters.
To learn how to position and animate your camera, see Camera Set-up and Animation on page 1337.

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About Layer Position

Setting up the scene also involves positioning the different scene elements w ithin the camera frame.
At this time, the elements are set to a static position. See Digital Animation on page 989 to learn how toanimate the elements and the camera.

908

Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Disabling Animation Keyframe Creation W hen Transforming Elements
T-HFND-008-001
By default, w hen you move, rotate, scale or skew elements in your scene using theof theTransform tool or any

Advanced Animation tools, Harmony records the position of that element at the current

frame into a keyframe. This means that, if you transform the same element on several frames, it w ill become
animated. This is because the Animate mode of Harmony is set to

Animate Current Frame by default, tofacilitate animation.
W hen staging a scene, you usually w ant to position, rotate, scale and skew elements throughout the length of
the scene, not just at the current frame. It is possible to do this by setting the Animate mode to

Animate Off.

W hen Animate Off mode is selected, any transformations you make to layers, pegs deformations or otherelements to your scene using theTransform tool or the

Advanced Animation tool is applied

across your entire scene, w ithout creating a keyframe at the current frame.
If you set the Animate mode to Animate Off and reposition an element that is already animated, the element
w ill be offset on every existing keyframe for this element, offsetting its entire animation. This can be very
useful if you need to reposition, rotate or scale an element after having animated it.

How to set the Animate mode to Animate Off
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, click on the Animate mode button w hich, depending on the currently
selected mode, w ill either have theRange orlAnimate Current Frame,

Animate Off icon, and selectAnimate Off in the pop-up menu.

In the top menu, select Animation > Animate > Animate Off.

909

Animate Onion Skin

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Selecting Layers
T-HFND-008-002
There are different w ays to select the layers you w ant to reposition.
You can select your elements directly in the Camera view using the Transform tool. W hen using this tool, its
properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view . Alw ays make sure that the Peg Selection Mode
option in the Tool Properties view is disabled or it w ill limit the selection to pegs only.

How to select a layer in the Camera view
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Tool Properties view , make sure that the Peg Selection Modeis deselected.

3. In the Camera view , click on the element to be repositioned. You can select more than one element
at a time. Hold dow n Shift w hile clicking on the elements to be selected.
The corresponding layers and columns are highlighted in the Timeline and Xsheet view s.

How to select from the Timeline or Xsheet viewlIn the Timeline view , click the layer corresponding to the element you w ant to reposition.

l

In the Xsheet view , click the column header corresponding to the element you w ant to reposition.
The selected element is highlighted in the Camera view .

How to select non- adjacent elements in the Timeline or Xsheet viewlIn the Timeline view , hold dow n Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and click on any layers thatyou w ould like to add to the selection.

l

In the Xsheet view , hold dow n Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and click on any columns thatyou w ould like to add to the selection.
The non-adjacent, selected layers and columns are highlighted in the Timeline and Xsheet view s.

How to select all elements within a group in the Node view
1. In the Node view , navigate to the group w hose elements you w ant to select.
2. Hold dow n Alt and drag a marquee selection around the group node.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

All elements w ithin that group are selected.

How to select all elements within a group in the Timeline view
1. W ith a group collapsed or expanded, hold dow n Alt and click on the group in the Timeline view .

All elements contained w ithin the group are selected.

911Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Setting Bounding Box Styles
You can change the display style of selected elements to a bounding box style. This removes the default
overlay highlight and leaves only the bounding box around the selected element.

How to set the bounding box selection style
1. In the Camera view bottom toolbar, click the BBox Selection Style912

button.

Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Centering on Selections
W hen you have many layers in the Timeline view , you may find it hard to locate w hich one is selected. You can
use the Centre on Selection feature to display the selected object's layer in the Timeline view .
Like the Timeline view w ith its many layers, w hen you have several nodes in the Node view , you may find it
hard to locate w hich one is selected. You can use the Centre on Selection feature as w ell as the Search toolbar
to focus on the selected node in the Node view . You can also select elements in the Timeline or Xsheet view .
This can be useful w hen there are too many objects in the scene or w hen an object is hard to grab. Finally, you
can select all the elements w ithin a group at once via via the Node or Timeline view .

How to center on the selected layer in the Timeline view
1. In the Camera or Node view , select a layer.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Timeline view menu, select View > Centre on Selection or press O.

l

In the Timeline view toolbar, click the Centre on Selection

button.

How to center on the selected layer in the Node view
1. In the Camera or Timeline view , select a layer.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node View menu, select View > Centre on Selection.

l

In the Node View toolbar, click the Centre On Selectionl

In the Node view , press O.

913

button.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About the Transform Tool
T-HFND-008-003
Using the Transform tool, you can easily reposition, scale, rotate and even skew layers directly in the Camera
view .
W hen positioning a draw ing layer using the Transform tool, alw ays make sure the Peg Selection Modeisdeselected in the Tool Properties view . Otherw ise, it w ill limit the selection to pegs in the Camera view .

NOTERefer to About 3D Space Positioning on page 965 to learn about the 3D Transform tool and how
to position elements in 3D space.

There are tw o different options you can use w hen you w ant to flip your element.
The Flip Horizontal and Flip Vertical options let you flip a draw ing layer along the Camera view ’s horizontal
and vertical axis.
Once your draw ing layer is rotated, the original horizontal and vertical axes change. The Flip Scale X and Flip
Scale Y w ill perform a flip on your draw ing layer follow ing its original axis.
l

The Flip Horizontal command flips the layer follow ing the Camera view X-axis.

l

The Flip Scale X command uses the original X-axis of the layer and flips the element follow ing it.

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Repositioning Temporary Pivots with the Transform Tool
T-HFND-008-004
Transformations, such as rotation, scale, skew and flip are made relative to the pivot point position. You cantemporarily reposition the pivot point for each transformation using the Transform tool. Note that the pivot isonly moved temporarily. W hen animating the position, the interpolation is calculated from the permanentpivot position—see About Advanced Animation Tools on page 927.

How to temporarily reposition the pivot point
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , make sure the Peg Selection Modeis disabled.

3. In the Camera view , select your element.
The pivot point appears at the center of the scene space (coordinates 0, 0, 0), unless previously
repositioned.

4. Click on the pivot point and drag it to a new position.
This w ill be the new position of the pivot point for the current transformation. It w ill remain in thisposition as long as you do not deselect the draw ing. Using the Transform tool to reposition yourpivot w ill temporarily override the existing pivot point position until you complete the current
transformation. Then it returns automatically to its original position.
W hen you translate the pivot point using the Transform tool, the permanent pivot w ill appear as aghost so you know w here it is and also from w here the animation w ill be interpolated w hen you
create motion paths. The animation is alw ays interpolated from the original pivot and not thetemporary pivot.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Panning with the Transform Tool
T-HFND-008-005
You can pan (translate) a layer using the Transform tool.

How to pan a layer using the Transform tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Tool Properties view , make sure

Peg Selection Mode is disabled.

3. In the Camera or Timeline view , click on the layer you w ant to manipulate to select it.

TIPSl

If you w ant to select multiple layers in the Camera view , hold dow n Shift and clickon each layer you w ish to select.

l

If you w ant to select multiple layers in the Timeline view , hold dow n Ctrl
(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and click on each layer you w ish to select.

l

If you w ant to select a contiguous series of layers in the Timeline view , hold dow n
Shift, click on the first layer you w ant to select, then on the last layer you w ant toselect.

A manipulator control box appears around the selected layer.

4. Move the cursor over the artw ork. W hen the cursor changes into
to move it.

917, click and drag on the artw ork

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Rotating with the Transform Tool
T-HFND-008-006
You can rotate a layer from its pivot using the Transform tool. You can temporarily reposition the pivot torotate from a different point.

How to rotate a layer using the Transform tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Tool Properties view , make sure

Peg Selection Mode is disabled.

3. In the Camera or Timeline view , click on the layer you w ant to manipulate to select it.

TIPSl

If you w ant to select multiple layers in the Camera view , hold dow n Shift and clickon each layer you w ish to select.

l

If you w ant to select multiple layers in the Timeline view , hold dow n Ctrl
(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and click on each layer you w ish to select.

l

If you w ant to select a contiguous series of layers in the Timeline view , hold dow n
Shift, click on the first layer you w ant to select, then on the last layer you w ant toselect.

A manipulator control box appears around the selected layer.

4. Place the pointer outside of a corner of the bounding box. W hen the cursor changes into,
click and drag to rotate.

919, thenHarmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTE
You can display a rotation handle on the bounding box w hen transforming alayer. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Camera tab and then select theUse Rotation Lever with Transformation Tools option. This preference is off bydefault.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Scaling with the Transform Tool
T-HFND-008-007
You can scale a layer from its pivot using the Transform tool. You can temporarily reposition the pivot to scalefrom a different point.

How to scale a layer using the Transform tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Tool Properties view , make sure

Peg Selection Mode is disabled.

1. In the Camera or Timeline view , click on the layer you w ant to manipulate to select it.

TIPSl

If you w ant to select multiple layers in the Camera view , hold dow n Shift and clickon each layer you w ish to select.

l

If you w ant to select multiple layers in the Timeline view , hold dow n Ctrl
(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and click on each layer you w ish to select.

l

If you w ant to select a contiguous series of layers in the Timeline view , hold dow n
Shift, click on the first layer you w ant to select, then on the last layer you w ant toselect.

A manipulator control box appears around the selected layer.

2. Move the cursor over any of the yellow control points on the manipulator box, then click and dragto scale the layer.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTE
W hen scaling your selection, you can hold dow n Shift to preserve the proportions
betw een its w idth and height.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Skewing with the Transform Tool
T-HFND-008-008
You can skew a layer from its pivot using the Transform tool. You can temporarily reposition the pivot to skew
from a different point.

How to skew a layer using the Transform tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Tool Properties view , make sure

Peg Selection Mode is disabled.

3. In the Camera or Timeline view , click on the layer you w ant to manipulate to select it.

TIPSl

If you w ant to select multiple layers in the Camera view , hold dow n Shift and clickon each layer you w ish to select.

l

If you w ant to select multiple layers in the Timeline view , hold dow n Ctrl
(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and click on each layer you w ish to select.

l

If you w ant to select a contiguous series of layers in the Timeline view , hold dow n
Shift, click on the first layer you w ant to select, then on the last layer you w ant toselect.

A manipulator control box appears around the selected layer.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

4. Do one of the follow ing:lMove the cursor over one of the vertical edges of the manipulator box, then click and drag up
or dow n to skew the layer vertically.

lMove the cursor over one of the horizontal edges of the manipulator box, then click and dragleft or right to skew the layer horizontally.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Flipping with the Transform Tool
T-HFND-008-009
You can flip a layer using the Transform tool. There are tw o w ays to flip.
l

The Flip Horizontal command flips the layer follow ing the Camera view X-axis.

l

The Flip Scale X command uses the original X-axis of the layer and flips the element follow ing it.

How to flip a layer

1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Tool Properties view , make sure the Peg Selection Mode
3. In the Camera view , use the Transformis deselected.

tool to select a draw ing layer to flip.

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Flip > Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical.

l

In the Tool Properties view , click the Flip Horizontal

and the Flip Verticalbuttons.
l

Press 4 or 5.

How to flip an element following its original axis

1. In the Tool Properties view , make sure the Peg Selection Mode
2. In the Camera view , use the Transformis deselected.

tool to select an element that has already beentransformed.
3. From the top menu, select Animation > Flip > Flip Scale X or Flip Scale Y.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Manipulation with the Transform Tool
W hen enabled, this mode allow s the transform tool to select these controls, add them to the existingbounding box, and modify them in the same w ay as a peg. This is particularly useful for modifying both pegs
and deformation controls at the same time w ith the same bounding box. It also allow s for controls on different
nodes and in different deformations to be modified w ith the same transformation.
Certain deformations and controls can be selected and transformed w ith other Draw ings and Pegs byenabling the Mixed Manipulation Mode.

How to enable the Mixed Manipulation Mode using the Transform tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool or press Shift + T

2. In the Tool Properties view , enable theMixed Manipulation Mode.

3. In the Camera view , click on the Curve manipulator, Offset Manipulator, or Free Form Deformation
you w ant to transform.

TIP
Enabling the Control Selection Mode w ill allow lasso selections of deformation
controls. This is helpful w hen multiple controls need to be selected in an area.

The selected controls w ill now have a bounding box around them. This bounding box can be manipulated
in the same w ay as selected pegs and draw ings.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

About Advanced Animation Tools
T-HFND-008-010
You can also use the advanced animation tools to position your layers. The difference betw een these tools andthe Transform tool is that they modify only one parameter of the position such as the rotation or the scale as
the Transform tool adjusts all parameters together.
You can find the advanced animation tools in the Advanced Animation Tools toolbar.

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Repositioning Permanent Pivots
Transformations made on a draw ing layer, such as rotation, scale, skew and flip, are made relative to theposition of the draw ing's pivot point. For example, rotating a layer w ill make it rotate around its pivot point,and scaling the layer w ill make it scale as if its centre w as actually its pivot point.
W hile making transformations using the Transform tool, you can drag and drop your selection's pivot.
How ever, this has no permanent effect. It w ill only temporarily change the pivot's position to help you maketransformations at the selected frame, but the actual pivot point of your draw ing layer w ill remain the same.
You can reposition a layer's pivot point permanently by using one of the tools in the Advanced Animation
toolbar.

NOTE
W hen you permanently move the pivot point of a layer that is already animated, all thetransformations done on the layer on other keyframes w ill be recalculated according to the new
pivot point's position. Therefore, your existing animation w ill look completely different, except at
the current frame. It is recommended to alw ays make sure your pivot point is at its ideal position
before you start animating.

How to permanently reposition the pivot point of a layer
1. In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select theTranslate ,Rotate ,Scale , or

Skew

tool.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , select the layer for w hich you w ant to move the pivot.

l

In the Camera view , Ctrl + click (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + click (macOS) on the layer forw hich you w ant to move the pivot.

Thepivot point appears in the Camera view .

3. Move the cursor over the pivot point. W hen the mouse cursor becomes
pivot point to reposition it.

928, click and drag on theChapter 8: Scene Staging

The layer's pivot point is now repositioned. If the layer has been animated, its position w ill be offset
across the scenes relative to how much you just offset the pivot point.

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Using the Translate Tool
T-LAY-004-002
You can use the Translate tool to pan your elements on the X, Y and Z axes.

How to use the Translate tool

1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Advanced Animation toolbar, click theTranslate tool.

l

From the top menu, select Animation > Tools > Translate.

lPress Alt + 2.

2. In the Camera view , Ctrl + click (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + click (macOS) to select your element.
3. Drag the selection to a new area.

l

You can select multiple layers at the same time. Press Ctrl + Shift + click(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + click (macOS) on each element to select them.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Using the Rotate Tool
You can use the Rotate tool to rotate your objects on the x,y and z axis.

How to use the Rotate tool

1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Tools > Rotate.

l

In the Advanced Animation toolbar, click the RotatelPress the Alt + 3.

tool.

2. In the Camera view , Ctrl + click (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + click (macOS) to select your element.
3. Rotate the layer.

l

You can select multiple layers at the same time. Press Ctrl + Shift + click(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + click (macOS) on each element to select them.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Using the Scale Tool
You scan use the Scale tool to squash, stretch, and resize your elements.

How to use the Scale tool

1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Tools > Scale.

l

In the Advanced Animation toolbar, click the Scalel

Press Alt + 4.

tool.

2. In the Camera view , Ctrl + click (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + click (macOS) to select your element.
3. Pull or push either on the side, top or corner control point. Hold dow n Shift to lock the selection’s
ratio w hen using the corner control points.

l

You can select multiple layers at the same time. Press Ctrl + Shift + click(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + click (macOS) on each element to select them.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Using the Skew Tool
You can use the Skew tool to distort your elements on the x and y axis.

How to use the Skew tool

1. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect Animation > Tools > Skew.

l

In the Advanced Animation toolbar, click the Skewl

Press Alt + 5.

tool.

2. In the Camera view , Ctrl + click (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + click (macOS) on the element to select it
and drag a side of the bounding box up, dow n or sidew ays.

l

You can select multiple layers at the same time. Press Ctrl + Shift + click(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + click (macOS) on each element to select them.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Using the Capture Motion Tool
The Capture Motion tool allow s you to create an animation on a draw ing or a peg by tracing it in real timeusing the mouse or the pen.

How to use the Capture Motion tool
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Tools > Capture Motion.

l

In the Advanced Animation toolbar, click the Capture MotionlPress Capture Motion Tool: Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M.

tool.

2. Select the draw ing or Peg that you w ant to animate either in the Node or Timeline view .
3. Set the desired capture speed, keyframe interval and smoothing.
4. Place the play head on the start frame of your animation.
5. Click the Capture button in the Capture Motion Tool Properties.
In the Camera view a record progress indicator w ill appear.
6. Left click anyw here to start registering the motion path.
The path is recorded in real time, and the capture time w ill start updating in the recording indicator
7. Release the mouse at the end of your animation.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

TIP
You can press dow n anyw here in the Camera view or in your draw ing to register the motion
path. It w ill help you orient the path.

NOTE
Make sure the Capture Motion tool is enabled w hile performing these steps.

NOTE
If you record an animation for a node that is already a child of a peg, the final animation w ill beaffected by the animation in the parent peg and the recorded motion w ill be local to the nodethat you have selected.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About the Layer Properties View
T-HFND-008-011
Each layer has a series of parameters that you can modify to adjust an element's position. You can accessthese parameters in the Layer Properties view . In this view , you can type in a value instead of moving theobject in the Camera view . These values can also be animated over time.
You can also access a layer's parameters in the Timeline view . Click on the Expand Parameters

button.

It is important to understand the coordinate values in Harmony, w hich is based on the origins of animation. In
traditional animation, a scene's size and camera motion are calculated in fields. A field has a 4:3 ratio andmeasures 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) in w idth. A specific grid has been created for this purpose know n as a field
chart. Harmony uses this unit of measurement as its coordinate system.

A field chart uses the cardinal directions. The X axis is the east-w est (left-right) direction, the Y axis is thenorth-south (up-dow n) direction and the Z axis is the forw ard-backw ard direction.
In Harmony, a draw ing's pivot is located at the centre of the field chart, regardless w here your draw ing has
been draw n on the page. Your draw ing is the entire sheet of paper, not only the draw ing strokes you havedraw n on the page. This allow s scanned draw ings, imported images and paperless draw ings to be properly
registered together.
If you w ant to move your draw ing in the upper-left region of the camera frame, you w ould type in something
like the follow ing:

936

Chapter 8: Scene Stagingl

X Axis: -4 or 4W (4 W est)l

Y Axis: 5 or 5N (5 North)If you w ant to move your draw ing in the low er-right region of the camera frame, you w ould type in something
like the follow ing:l

X Axis: 3 or 3E (3 East)l

Y Axis: -2 or 2S (2 South)937

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Displaying the Layer Properties View
You can display the Layer Properties view in several w ays.

How to display layer parameters
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Layer Properties view is not part of your w orkspace, from the top menu, selectW indows > Layer Properties. In the Timeline view , select a layerl

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

lPress Shift + E.

l

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

The properties display—see Element/Draw ing Node in the Reference guide .

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Positioning Elements with the Layer Properties View
T-HFND-008-012
You can type values to position your elements using exact coordinates.

How to position an element with coordinates
1. In the Timeline view , select a layer.
2. In the Layer Properties view , select Enable 3D option to display the 3D parameters in the Layer
Properties.
3. In the Position section, select one of the follow ing options:lSeparate to independently edit the different coordinate fields. Continue to step 3.

l

3D Path to use a 3D path function w hen animating your element. Continue to step 4.

4. In the (x), (y) and (z) Axis fields, type in a new coordinates corresponding to the desired position—
see About Multiplane on page 945.
As you type in values, the element’s position is updated in the Camera view .
5. Use the Function

buttons to create function curves and add keyframes to animate theparameter.
6. In the Scale section, select one of the follow ing options:lLocked to resizes the element uniformly in three directions.

lSeparate to resize the element in any direction w ithout affecting the others.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

7. In the (x) and (y) Axis fields, type in a new coordinates corresponding to the desired position
8. Use the Function

buttons to create function curves and add keyframes to animate theparameter.
9. In the Rotation section, Angle z field, type in a degree value for the rotation angle. Note that you
can enter values greater than 360 and -360 degrees. If you enter 720, the object w ill rotate tw ice.

10. In the Skew field, type in a degree value betw een -90 to 90 for the skew angle.

11. In the Pivot section, type in the desired coordinate value to reposition the transformation pivot. Thisw ill change the permanent position of the pivot.

For detailed information on the Layer Properties parameters, see the Reference guide .

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

About Auto- Apply
W hen you modify a parameter in a property dialog box, Automatically applies changes you make to a property
w indow or dialog box. Harmony applies the modification automatically and displays the result in the Camera
view . W hen w orking on a heavy scene, it is useful to turn off this option.If you w ant to alw ays w ork in AutoApply mode, you can deselect the Auto-Apply option in the Preferences dialog box (General tab). Then, eachtime you start Harmony, the Auto-Apply mode w ill be off. You must click the Apply button to see any
modifications.
W hen you disable this function, Apply and OK buttons at added at the bottom of the Layer Properties view
and any other parameter dialog boxes.
lClick Apply to apply the current change.

lClick OK to apply the current change and close the Layer Properties.

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Setting the Auto- Apply Option
If you w ant to alw ays w ork in Auto-Apply mode, you can deselect the Auto-Apply option in the Preferences
dialog box (General tab). Then, each time you start Harmony, the Auto-Apply mode w ill be off. You must click
the Apply button to see any modifications.

How to enable or disable the Auto Apply optionlFrom the top menu, select Edit > Auto- Apply.

How to enable or disable the Auto- Apply preference
1. In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) orHarmony Premium > Preferences (macOS).
The Preferences dialog box opens.
2. In the Preferences dialog box, select the General tab.
3. In the Options section, select or deselect the Auto Apply option.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Resetting Transformations
You can easily reset layers to their original position. W ith the Reset command, you can return the value of a
selected element to the initial value of the active tool. For example, if the Rotatetransformation angle w ill be reset to 0 and if the Transform

tool is active, thetool is active, the all transformation

parameters values w ill be reset.
W hen selecting elements in the Camera view using the Transform tool, alw ays make sure that the Peg
Selection Modeis deselected in the Tool Properties view . Otherw ise, it w ill limit the selection to pegs only.

How to reset the transformation on the current frame
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or any Advanced Animation

tool.

2. In the Timeline view or directly in the Camera view , select the draw ing layer(s) to reset.
3. From the top menu, select Animation > Reset or press R. This w ill reset the current frame if
keyframes w ere created.
The selected layer(s) return to their original position.

How to reset all transformations on the current frame
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or any Advanced Animation

tool.

2. In the Timeline view or directly in the Camera view , select the draw ing layer(s) to reset.
3. From the top menu, select Animation > Reset All or press Shift + R.
The selected layer(s) return to their original position.

How to reset all transformation values except Z
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or any Advanced Animation

tool.

2. In the Timeline view or directly in the Camera view , select the draw ing layer(s) to reset.
3. From the top menu, select Animation > Reset All Except Z.
All values except for those set on the Z axis are reset.

How to completely reset the layers' parameters
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or press Shift + T.

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2. In the Timeline or Camera view , select one or more draw ing layers to reset.
3. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click the selected layers and select Clear All Values. This w ill remove all
keyframes and reset all values for the entire layer.

l

In the Timeline View menu, select Layers > Clear All Values. This w ill remove all
keyframes and reset all values for the entire layer.

The selected layers return to their original position.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

About Multiplane
T-HFND-008-013
One of the most exciting features in Harmony is the multiplane or Z-depth. In the multiplane, you can create
backgrounds in several layers, spread them on the Z-axis to add depth, and then move the camera throughthis environment to create an impressive perspective illusion.

In live action, w hen the camera moves around in a scene, objects near the camera w ill appear to move by agreater distance than objects far from the camera. In 2D animation, multiplanes can be used to achieve asimilar effect w ithout having to use 3D.
In Harmony, a multiplane can be easily achieved by creating a scene's background over several layers, andpositioning them at different depths relative to the camera.
Before creating a multiplane, make sure you have a proper understanding of the environment in w hich yourscene happens. Picture w hat your scene's background w ould be like in 3D, then image the camera moving
through the space, and how the objects in the picture move at different speeds depending on w here they are
in relation to the camera lens.
In the follow ing example, the background is made of 6 different layers, each picturing an object that is at adifferent distance from the camera. On the left, you can see how each object is positioned relative to thecamera, as if you w ere looking at them from the side. On the right, you can see how layers are positioned
relative to each other as if you w ere looking at the scene from a corner. Below , you can see the scene from thecamera's point of view .

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NOTE
W hen creating a multiplane background, it is important to draw each layer fully. Even if someparts of a background layer is hidden behind a foreground layer in the camera's initial position,
panning or zooming the camera may expose parts of background layers that are not initiallyvisible.

In order to move a layer further from or closer to the Camera, you must change its position on the Z-axis. You
can do this by moving a layer using the Transform Toolin the Side or Top view s. You can also move a layer

on Z-axis directly from the Camera View by holding Alt and dragging the layer up or dow n. Positioning yourelement closer to the camera makes them appear bigger, and moving them further makes them appear
smaller. It is also possible to move elements on the Z-axis w ithout affecting their apparent size by using theMaintain Size

tool in the Advanced Animation toolbar.

It is a good idea to keep a Camera view open to see w hat your scene looks like w hile positioning elements in
the Top and Side view s.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Just like w ith other transformations, transformations on the Z-axis on a parent layer w ill also affect theapparent position on the Z-axis of its child layers. Therefore, a child layer's apparent position on the Z-axis canbe affected by any of its parents. Once transformations on the Z-axis have been performed on several layers ina hierarchy, it may be difficult to keep track of w hich layers have been moved on the Z-axis and w hich ones
have not. To help w ith this, it is possible to compare the selected layer's Z coordinate value w ith its apparent
position on the Z-axis using the Coordinates and Control Point view or the Coordinate toolbar. Both theseinterfaces feature a field to tw eak the layer's Z coordinate, w hich is independent from parent layers, as w ell asa field displaying the layer's cumulative Z coordinate, w hich is the sum of the Z coordinate of the selected layer
w ith the Z coordinate of all its parents.

To enable the Coordinate toolbar, do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Coordinate.

lRight-click on any visible toolbar and select Coordinate.

To enable the Coord. and Control Points view , do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select W indows > Coord. and Control Points.

l

From any view already open, click the Add View
and Control Points.

947

button at the top-right corner and select Coord.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Setting Up Multiplanes
T-HFND-008-017
You can setup your elements as a multiplane to create a parallax effect w hen moving your camera. You simply
need to spread and scale the objects on the Z-axis.
Using the Depth View mode can also be a useful tool w hen setting up multiplanes, see—Using the Depth
View Mode on page 973.

How to rotate a scene in the Perspective view
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Rotate View

tool.

2. Click in the view , and drag the cursor around to rotate the view or press and hold Ctrl + Alt(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Alt (macOS) and click and drag to rotate the view one axis at a time.

How to set up a multiplane

NOTE
Before distributing layers along the Z-axis using the Top and Side view s, deselect the No Z
Dragging option by selecting Animation > No Z Dragging. This option is disabled by default.

1. To maintain the visual scale in the Camera view as you move your element, do one of the follow ing:l

In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the Maintain SizelFrom the top menu, select Animation > Tools > Maintain Size.

l

Press Alt + 6.

tool.

2. In the Side or Top view , select one of the layers in the thumbnails section. You can also select alayer from the Timeline view .
The selected layer is highlighted in the Top, Side and Camera view s.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

3. Drag the layer to the correct depth position in the camera cone. Your element aspect w ill remain
the same in the Camera view .

4. For your element to scale up or dow n in relation to their distance to the camera, do one of thefollow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, select the Transformtool. Make sure the Peg Selection Mode
option is disabled in the Tool Properties view .

lIn the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the Translatefrom the thumbnails section of the Top or Side view .

lSelect a layer from the Timeline view .

The selected layer is highlighted in the camera cone.

949

tool and select a layer

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

5. In the Top view , drag the element sidew ays to position it horizontally. Hold Shift w hile dragging
the element to make sure it only moves along the X-axis.
6. In the Side view , drag the selected element up or dow n to position it vertically. Hold Shift w hile
dragging the element to make sure it only moves along the Y-axis.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Staging a 3D Space
Harmony is w ell know n for its multiplane space w here you can move your layers forw ard and backw ard on
the Z-axis. Harmony brings you a true three-dimensional space w here you can actually rotate your camera andlayers on all axes. This lets you perform a 360 degree rotation around elements, create a floor and even build
sets!

NOTE
If you are using 3D rotations in your animation, do not render your project as a SW F as theseparameters are not supported by that format.

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Enabling the 3D Option
Before you can rotate layers in three axes instead of tw o, you must enable the 3D option in the layer
properties. By default, w hen you create layers in Harmony, you can only move them as flat layers.

How to enable the 3D option
1. In the Timeline view , select the layer you w ant to move in 3D space.
2. In the Layer Properties view select the Transformation tab.
3. Select the Enable 3D option to display the 3D parameters for that layer.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

New parameters appear in the Layer Properties w indow .

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About 3D Parameters
W hen w orking in 3D, notice that three sets of parameters are modified: scale, rotation, pivot.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

About the 3D Scale Parameter
W hen using 3D, the Z-axis parameter appears in the list of settings. You can have the Scale locked or
separated. W hen the Scale is locked, the object you are scaling is uniformly resized in three directions. W hen
the Scale is separated, the object you are scaling can be squashed and stretched in any direction w ithout
affecting the other ones.

NOTE
You cannot add thickness to an object by scaling it in the third dimension. Three-dimensional
scaling is used to scale objects that w ere rotated on their axes or to scale a group of objects laidout in three dimensions.

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About the 3D Rotation Parameter
The main parameter you w ill use w hen w orking in three-dimensions is rotation. W ithout using 3D rotation,
you are simply w orking using the multiplane technique.

3D rotation can be used in tw o different w ays:

Quaternion Rotation

Quaternion Rotation is very similar to the 3D path position parameters. A Quaternion is composed of threerotation functions: X, Y and Z to control the rotation on three axes, and a velocity function to control thevelocity of the three rotation functions simultaneously.
The X, Y and Z functions are linked. W hen you add a keyframe on one of them, it also adds it to the tw o others.
If you are planning to animate an element such as the camera, you should use the Quaternion rotation rather
than Euler Angles. Quaternion creates a smooth trajectory and interpolation since the path is controlled by thesame keyframes and a single velocity.

Euler Angles Rotation

The Euler Angles Rotation is very similar to the Separate position parameters. The Euler Angles parameter iscomposed of three functions: X, Y and Z to control the rotation on three axes. These three functions are
independent of each other; each has its ow n velocity.

956Chapter 8: Scene Staging

W hen you add a keyframe on one function, the other ones do not receive it, allow ing you to control each axis
independently.
Euler Angles are mainly used to position elements w ith exact coordinates and rotate elements on a single
axis. The interpolation betw een the keyframes w ill not be as smooth as the Quaternion one since eachfunction w orks individually.

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About the 3D Pivot Parameter
W hen w orking in 3D, the draw ing or layer pivot becomes a location that can move on three axes. W hen you
w ork in tw o dimensions, the pivot is mainly an anchor point somew here in the draw ing from w here thetransformations w ill be performed. In 3D, the transformations are made on three axes, so the centre of rotationand scaling also becomes three-dimensional.

By default, the pivot is positioned at the centre of the stage: (0,0,0). W hen you use the Pivot

tool toreposition the centre of transformation, the pivot position is changed on the X and Y axes, but the Z-axis
remains at zero until you change it in the Top, Side or Perspective view using the transformation tools.

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About 3D Tools
Once the 3D option is enabled, your transformation tools become 3D transformation tools. These tools arefound in the Advanced Animation toolbar as w ell as the Transformtool. Instead of letting you moveelements only on the X and Y axes, you can also manipulate them on the Z-axis.

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About the 3D Translate Tool
Once the 3D option is enabled on a layer, the Translate

tool w ill w ork as a 3D Translate tool on that layer.

This tool is able to move elements on all three axes.

You can click on the direction arrow s to move your layer on only one axis. If you click anyw here else, the layer
can move freely on tw o axes at once. Once the arrow is selected, it w ill turn pink.

NOTE
If you move the layers in the Perspective view , it may be difficult to control the motion since you
may not have the optimum point of view on your stage to understand the setup. In this case, it isbest to use the direction arrow s.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

About the 3D Rotate Tool
Once the 3D option is enabled on a layer, the Rotate

tool w ill w ork as a 3D Rotate tool on that layer. This

tool is able to rotate elements on all three axes.

You can click on the direction ellipses to rotate your layer on one axis only. If you click anyw here else, the layer
rotates freely on tw o axes at once. Once the ellipse is selected, it w ill turn pink.

NOTE
If you move the layers in the Perspective view , it may be difficult to control the motion since you
may not have the optimum point of view on your stage to understand the setup. In this case, it isbest to use the direction ellipses.

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About the 3D Scale Tool
Once the 3D option is enabled on a layer, the Scaletool w ill w ork as a 3D Scale tool on that layer. This tool

is able to scale elements on three axes.
Depending on the selection, the 3D Scale tool w ill display one of the follow ing:•

A scaling rectangle appears if your draw ing is flat.

•

A scaling cube appears if your object has some rotated layers around the pivot points, indicating thedifferent axes.

Click on one of the three control points to scale the shape on one axis. Hold dow n the Shift key to scale theobject proportionally. Once the control point is selected, it w ill turn pink.

NOTE
If you move the layers in the Perspective view , it may be difficult to control the motion since you
may not have the optimum point of view on your stage to understand the setup.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

About the 3D Transform Tool
Once the 3D option is enabled on a layer, the Transform tool w ill w ork as a 3D Transform tool on that layer.
This tool is able to translate, rotate and scale elements on all three axes.

To translate an element, grab the direction arrow s in the same w ay that you w ould w ith the Translate tool.

To rotate an element, grab the rotation ellipses in the same w ay that you w ould w ith the Rotate tool.

To scale an element, grab the scaling control points in the same w ay that you w ould w ith the Scale tool.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

About 3D Space Positioning
To position elements in 3D space, you need to understand w hat you w ant to build and w hat is involved inbuilding it.

Simple sets like the one above are easy to build, light to manage and probably w hat you w ill use 3D staging
for most often.
If you have a project based on a room, it can be useful to build it in 3D. This saves you from having to redraw
the background for each scene and it w ill be entirely vector based.

Here, you can see some of the different backgrounds you can get in only three seconds from this set.

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About Planning
W hen you are building a room, there are only a few pieces to prepare. Before starting to build your set, map
out the parts you need.

A complex set that is more intricate in its design w ill require more careful planning. Not only w ill you have tolist the pieces you need, but you w ill also have to think about w hat can be reused. If you have a series of
w indow s in your set, you w ould create a symbol from the draw ing, rather than copy paste it several times allover your set. This w ay, if you need to make any correction to its design, you w ill only need to do it once and all
the instances of your symbol throughout your set w ill be corrected. The same can be done w ith for each pieceof your set.
Here is an example of all the source draw ings required to build the castle.

These are the only draw ings required to build the entire castle. As you can see, there are not that many
considering the final result. The rest is constructed by assembling symbols and through reuse. How ever, keep
in mind that although you are using simple draw ings and symbols to optimize your set, the more you add toyour project, the heavier the toll it takes on your machine's RAM. W hile the scene's package itself is reallylight, running the scene places heavy demands on your RAM and video card.
Using the draw ings show n previously, here are a couple of pieces that w ere put together.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Here is the final result. A large and impressive fortress.

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About Maximizing Efficiency
W hen your main set is built, you w ill w ant to store it in the Library. It is important to know that w hen you
import such a large structure in one of your production scenes, the set may be slow to run. To avoid longrendering sessions or slow manipulation, remove all faces and planes that are not visible in your scene.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Positioning Layers in 3D Space
Once your draw ings and symbols are assembled, it is time to position them. This section explains how this isdone using the example of a simple room.

How to position layers in 3D space
1. Next to the Camera and Draw ing view tabs, click on the Add View

button and selectPerspective.
The Perspective view appears in the same section of your w orkspace as your Camera and Draw ing
view s. This view allow s you to view your scene from any angle and point of view , rather than fromyour Camera's point of view . In this view , the usual navigation keyboard shortcuts w ork the same,
but you can also press Ctrl + Alt (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Alt (macOS) to rotate the view in any
angle and on any axis

2. In the Timeline view , double-click on the new layer to open the Layer Properties dialog box.
3. In the Transformation tab, select the Enable 3D option.

4. In the Rotation section, select the Euler Angles option.

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5. In the (x) Axis field, type 90 to flip the floor so it is flat on the ground.

6. To position the height of the floor, type values in the Position section of the Layer Properties, use
the Translate

tool or Transformtool.

7. Repeat the process for the other pieces to position.
8. If you have parallel w alls, once you have positioned one, select the W all layer in the Timeline view .
9. Do one of the follow ing to duplicated the layer.
lFrom the top menu, select Edit > Duplicate.

l

Right-click and select Edit > Duplicate.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

10. Once the layer is duplicated, use the Layer Properties w indow to enter the positioning values or
use the Translate or Transform tool. If you w ant to position your layer visually, consider using the
Camera, Top or Side view so as to be able to position it w ith precision.

11. If your w alls are touching each other, you should make them intersect by extending one end of the
w all through the other w all. This prevents accidentally leaving small gaps betw een them.

You now have a complete 3D room.

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NOTE
The Transform tool as w ell as the Advanced Animation tool can be used w ith 3D layers as
w ith 2D layers. The Transform tool allow s you to reposition, rotate and scale 3D layers on any
axis, but does not allow you to skew 3D layers. You can use these tools on 3D layers in the
Camera, Perspective, Top and Side view s.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Using the Depth View Mode
The Depth View mode can come in handy w hen positioning 3D models, creating multiplane backgrounds andbuilding sets in 3D space.

How to use the Depth view
1. In the Node view , open your Layer Properties of your composite by clicking on the yellow box.
2. In the Layer Properties w indow , set the Input Ordering to 3D.

3. In the Camera view , click on the Render View modeView

button and from the menu, select Depth

mode.

The image of your scene changes from full colour to various shades of black, w hite and grey.

4. The Depth View mode displays images in a relative w hite to black gradient scale. The object(s)closest to the camera are displayed in w hite and the object(s) furthest from the camera aredisplayed in black. If the position of the last object changes along the z-axis, that object w ill still973

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

remain black, so long as it retains its position as the object the farthest back. It does not matterw here that object is in 3D space, it just matters w hat its position is relative to the other object in thesame space. The objects closest and farthest from the camera set the range of the w hite to blackscale. All the other objects fall somew here in betw een.
5. In the Timeline or Node view , disable elements that you don't need, in order to w ork better w ith theelements that you w ould like to reposition. In the example below , the background elements havebeen disabled so that repositioning elements in the room can be done more precisely.

As you can see, the same elements in the Depth View mode are now displayed differently, because
their relative positions have changed. W ithout the background present, the corner of the room
becomes the element that is the furthest back, w hile the right part of the right w all is the elementthat is the closest and is therefore displayed in w hite.
Deep blue signifies infinity. The space around elements goes on forever and therefore does not fall
into the w hite to black scale.
6. In the Camera, Top, Side or Perspective view s, use the Transform tool or any of the Advanced
Animation tools (Translate, Rotate, Scale, etc.) to reposition elements in your scene, using the
Camera's Depth View mode to verify your adjustments as you make them.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

About 3D Input Output Options
In Harmony, you can create very advanced netw orks using effects, complex connections and multiple-levelcompositing.
The Composite node's main task takes all of your image's output and converts it into a single flat image thatyou can render out. You can alter it further by manipulating a three-dimensional scene setup. You can also
modify a Composite's behaviour as seen in the Scene Staging on page 907 chapter.

The default options combination is:l

As Bitmap, for the output behaviourl

3D flat, for the input ordering

By default, a Composite node is set to output a flat bitmap image and to correctly composite elements
positioned in 3D space.

For example, if you have tw o intersecting w alls, and use the default combination, you w ill see the follow ing
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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

This image is correctly represented in the Camera view and is output from the Composite node as a flatdraw ing. The Z-axis value of your elements are not retained, it becomes an independent composition w ith only
one forw ard-backw ard value.

NOTE
W hen building a 3D set out of planes, it is recommended that you set the composite mode to As
Seamless Bitmap. This avoids intersection issues w hen rendering the 3D objects created out ofplanes.

3D Input Ordering Option
The visual result for the 3D Input Ordering option is the same as the 3D Flat option. The visual result in the
Camera view w ill be correct, but the elements w ill not be converted into a flat image. The 3D position of yourimages w ill be remembered until the next Composite node. This mode is quite advanced and should only be
used in very advanced cases. Most of the time you w ill use the 3D Flat Input ordering option.

2D Input Ordering Option
If you sw itch the Input Ordering option to 2D, the w alls w ill be calculated as flat 2D objects and not as 3D
objects. The perspective caused by the 3D rotation w ill be correctly represented, but the elements w ill notintersect. The result w ill be similar to the follow ing:

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

About 3D Composite Nodes
If you start combining several composite nodes in your Node view , it is important to understand how theyw ork if you w ant to get the desired result.
There is a specific order in w hich you should set your Composite nodes. Each time you process images througha 3D Flat Composite node, the images w ill be merged together. Images processed in later Composite nodes
cannot be inserted betw een images of the previous composite since it is a flat image.

If you used Pass-Through type Composite nodes in your netw ork, the images w ill not be processed together
before the final Composite. It is important to keep your final Composite as a 3D Flat Composite in order to readthe layer ordering correctly.
The most efficient netw orking system for obtaining the desired result is likely the Pass-Through composite
mode throughout the w hole netw ork. This w ay, you can create individual compositions to keep your netw ork
clean and organized, but process everything together at the end.

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NOTE
W hen building a 3D set out of planes, it is recommended that you set the composite mode to As
Seamless Bitmap. This avoids intersection issues w hen rendering the 3D objects created out ofplanes.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Drawing on 3D- Rotated Layers
As you build your project in the Perspective view , you may rotate and reposition 2D draw ings to lay flat
against different planes of your 3D model. If you then w ant to draw on these 2D draw ings, you w ill see that it
is not possible. In order to draw on a 2D draw ing in the Perspective view , the draw ing needs to be facing thecamera.

How to turn a 2D object to face the camera so you can draw on it
1. In the Perspective view , select the 2D draw ing w ith the Transform tool

2. From the Perspective view menu.

, select View > Face Selected to Draw.

The Perspective view is reset so that the 2D draw ing is now facing the camera.

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3. Select a draw ing tool from the Draw ing Tools toolbar and modify the draw ing.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

About Alignment Guides
Alignment guides are horizontal and vertical rulers that you can add to a panel. You can position them
anyw here in your stage, and use them to help you align layers and artw ork as w ell as to draw along their axis.
Alignment guides can be used as visual aids, but you can also make your animation and draw ing tools snap tothem.
The follow ing tools can snap to alignment guides:lTransformlSelectlContour EditorlPerspective

l

Brush

l

Pencil

l

Stamp

l

Eraserl

RectanglelEllipse

l

Line

l

Draw ing Pivot

W hen you manipulate elements w ith theLayer Transform tool and thenearby alignment guides. As for draw ing tools such as theBrush or the

Select tool, they w ill snap toPencil tool, they w ill snap toalignment guides if you draw close enough to them, allow ing you to draw straight lines along the guides.

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Adding Alignment Guides
You can add horizontal or vertical alignment guides to your scene.

NOTE
W hen you add a guide, it is instantly positioned in the centre of your scene. You can move it w ith
theTransform tool or the

Select tool.

How to access the Alignment Guides toolbar
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Alignment Guides.

lRight-click on any toolbar in your w orkspace and select Alignment Guides.

How to add an alignment guide
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Alignment Guides toolbar, click

New Horizontal Alignment Guide or

New

Vertical Alignment Guide.
l

In the top menu, select View > Alignment Guides > New Horizontal Alignment Guide or
New Vertical Alignment Guide.

The guide is added to the centre of the stage.

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Chapter 8: Scene Staging

Moving Alignment Guides
You can move alignment guides w ith theTransform tool or the

Select tool.

NOTE
Guides cannot be moved if they are locked—see Locking and Unlocking Alignment Guides.

How to move an alignment guide
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool or the

Select tool.

2. Position your mouse cursor over the guide. The cursor w ill change to
3. Click and drag on the guide.

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Snapping to Alignment Guides
Alignment guides are not just visual aides. You can make theTransform tool as w ell as various draw ing

tools snap against them.
The follow ing are tools that can snap against alignment guides:lTransformlSelectlContour EditorlPerspective

l

Brush

l

Pencil

l

Stamp

l

Eraserl

RectanglelEllipse

l

Line

l

Draw ing Pivot

W hen you're using a tool that supports snapping, you can enable snapping by clicking on the

Snapping

button in the Tool Properties view . Some tools support several types of snapping other than snapping toalignment guides.

NOTE
W hen you enable or disable snapping to alignment guides, it is enabled or disabled for all toolsthat support it.

How to enable snapping to alignment guides
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the animation or the draw ing tool you w ant to use.
2. In the Tool Properties view , double-click

Snapping and, in the drop-dow n menu, select Snap to

Alignment Guides.
Snapping to alignment guides is now enabled for all tools that support it.

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Locking and Unlocking Alignment Guides
By default, it is possible to move alignment guides w ith theTransform tool and the

Select tool. Once

your guides are properly positioned, you can lock them in position so as to avoid moving them by accident
w hen manipulating elements in your scene.

How to lock or unlock alignment guides
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Alignment Guides toolbar, click on the

Lock Alignment Guides button to toggle iton or off.
l

In the top menu, select View > Alignment Guides > Lock Alignment Guides to toggle theoption on or off.

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Hiding and Displaying Alignment Guides
It is possible to temporarily hide alignment guides if you don’t need them.

NOTES
l

W hen alignment guides are hidden, animation and draw ing tools do not snap to them.

lAdding an alignment guide automatically makes alignment guides visible.

How to hide or display alignment guides
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Alignment Guides toolbar, click on theShow Alignment Guide button to toggle iton or off.
l

In the top menu, select View > Alignment Guides > Show Alignment Guides to toggle theoption on or off.

l

In the toolbar below the Camera View , click on theShow Alignment Guide button totoggle it on or off.

NOTE
This button is available in the toolbar below the Camera View , but not in the
toolbar below the Draw ing View .

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Clearing Alignment Guides
It is possible to instantly remove all alignment guides from your scene.

NOTE
It is not possible to delete a single alignment guide and keep all others.

How to clear all alignment guides
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Alignment Guides toolbar, click

Clear Alignment Guides.

l

In the top menu, select View > Alignment Guides > Clear Alignment Guides.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

Chapter 9: Digital Animation

W ith Harmony, you can animate layers using computer-generated trajectories, create multiplane camera
moves and camera shakes, adjust the easing, shape your paths w ith control points and much more.
Before animating the position of your layers, you need to create motion paths w hich are trajectories on w hich
you can attach draw ing objects. Using keyframes, you can then record key positions along the trajectory.
Harmony’s w ide range of features let you produce simple and advanced motions and trajectories. By creating
a simple motion, you w ill learn the basics of animating a layer.
There are tw o w ays to create motion paths: animated draw ing layers and pegs. They each have different
purposes.

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About Pegs
T-HFND-009-004
A Peg layer is a trajectory that contains no draw ings on w hich you can hook your draw ings.

Pegs have been used for a long time in the traditional animation process, mainly for registration purposes. Peg
holes at the bottom or top of the animation paper are used to keep all the sheets even and at the sameregistration.
There are three peg holes in regular animation paper. The centre peg hole is round w hile the left and rightones are oval shaped. The oval peg holes are located on each side of the page, four inches aw ay from thecentre peg hole.
To keep the draw ings together, the animator uses a peg bar. This peg bar has three pins that correspond to theshape and location of the peg holes. Peg bars are normally found at the bottom and top of animation discs.
Before digital compositing, the peg bars w ere also used to move layers on the camera stand to create pansand camera moves. They w ere the equivalent of digital trajectories. Harmony makes use of these concepts tocreate animation and camera motion.
A peg is composed of many customizable parameters. These parameters are:l

X, Y and Z positions (3D Path or Separate Positions)lAngle (rotation)

l

Skew

l

X and Y ScaleslEuler Angle or Quaternion Angle (w hen 3D option is enabled)l

Z Scale (w hen 3D option is enabled)

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

You can control a peg’s trajectory the same w ay as the animated draw ing layer.
A peg layer is mainly used to control a series of draw ing layers, such as clouds, a school of fish or a flock ofbirds. You can attach them to a peg layer and make them follow a trajectory as a single unit. This makes
trajectory modifications much easier and faster. W hen building a puppet, most of the time you w ill add amaster peg to control your puppet as one object.
In Harmony, you can add pegs to the Node view using the Node Library view and they w ill instantly appear in
the Timeline view . The nodes you add to the Node view are synchronized w ith the ones in the Timeline view .

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Adding Pegs
T-ANIMCO-001-001
You can add peg to your Timeline view and parent the layers to animate to it.

How to add a peg in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the layer on w hich you w ant to attach a peg.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Timeline view layers toolbar, click the Add Peg

button.

l

From the Timeline view menu, select Insert > Peg.

l

From the top menu, select Insert > Peg.

lRight-click on the selected layer, then select Insert > Peg.

l

In the Node Library, select a Peg node and drag it to the Node view .

lPress Ctrl + P (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + P (macOS).

The layer that w as originally selected becomes a child of the new parent Peg layer. The new Peg
layer automatically takes the name of its child layer, w ith the addition of the suffix -P.
The indentation of the layer, along w ith the "L" indicates hierarchy and that the layer is attached to
the Peg layer. This relationship is called a parent-child relationship.

3. If you intend to add multiple pegs or if the layer name that w as added to the peg does notaccurately represent the content of the Peg layer, you can rename it. Click the layer name and typein a new name. Or double-click the layer and type a new name into the dialog box.

4. If you did not create your peg layer directly above the layer you intended on parenting it to, thendrag the layer you w ant to attach to the peg and drop it directly below the Peg layer. The
indentation of the layer below the Peg layer indicates w hether it w as correctly attached or not.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animationl

You can unparent layers by holding dow n Shift and dragging the selected parents
aw ay from the child layer. Drop your selected betw een other layers.

How to add a peg in the Node view via the Node Library
1. In the Node Library view , select the Move tab.
2. Select a Peg node and drag it to the Node view . You can also press Ctrl + P (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘+ P (macOS).

3. In the Node view , select the Peg node's output port and connect it to a Draw ing or Camera node.

The advanced connections in the Node view are show n in the Timeline view , unless they cannot be
reproduced in a timeline layout.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

Enabling Peg Selection ModeIn the Tool Properties view , the Peg Selection Modelets you automatically select the peg layers in the

Camera view instead of the draw ing layers. If you animate w ith pegs instead of animating the draw ing layers
directly, enable the Peg Selection Mode to avoid having to select in the Timeline view or use the Select Parent
Skipping Effects command.

How to enable the Peg Selection Mode
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Tool Properties view , click the Peg Selection Mode
3. In the Camera view , select an element parented to a peg.

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Connecting Nodes to Pegs
You can connect several nodes to a single parent peg or give them each their ow n peg.

How to create an automatic connection to a parent peg
1. In the Node view , select one or more draw ing nodes that are not parented to any other node.

2. Press Ctrl + P (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + P (macOS) to add a new peg node to the Node view andautomatically connect it to the selected nodes. Press Ctrl + Shift + P (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift+ P (macOS) to add a peg to each node.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

About Drawing Layers
T-ANIMCO-001-002
You can create a motion path directly on layers (animated layers).

You can control and define a trajectory using several different parameters, including:l

X, Y and Z positions (3D Path or Separate Positions)lAngle (rotation)

l

Skew

l

X and Y Scales

3D objects and 3D-enabled layers also have these extra paramaters:lEuler Angle or Quaternion Angle (w hen 3D option is enabled)l

Z Scale (w hen 3D option is enabled)

Harmony keeps track of the animation by storing each parameter of each layer in their ow n function curve.
W hen you add a keyframe to a layer, a keyframe is created on each of these functions, and transformations
done on a layer via the Camera view are translated into coordinates w hich are then stored in those functions. It
is possible to edit these functions individually using the Function view , but that is rarely necessary, asHarmony provides easy-to-use tools for visually controlling trajectories and timing in the Camera andTimeline view s.

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If you do not w ant to animate a draw ing layer, you can turn off its animation parameter. To do so, simply selectthe layer and in the Layer Properties view , deselect the Animate Using Animation Tools option on the Controlstab. If your layer w as already animated, then your keyframes w ill appear dimmed so you can easily identify
them as ones that cannot be modified. To modify keyframes, select the Animate Using Animation Tools
options.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

Disabling Layer Animation
By default, you can animate a draw ing layer using the same parameters as a peg, but you can choose not to do
so by turning off this feature. This allow s you to sw itch your draw ing layers so they can no longer be animatedw ithout a peg, w hich has certain advantages. In cut-out animation, it's easier to separate draw ing exposureand keyframes to change the timing and rearrange keyframe position in the Timeline view . This also w orks forbackw ard compatibility w hen bringing in templates created in older versions of Harmony so as not to lose
their offset keyframes or draw ing substitution keyframes.

How to disable animation on a drawing layer
1. In the Timeline view , double-click the layer on w hich you w ant to set the parameter.
The Layer Properties editor opens.
2. In the Controls tab, deselect the Animate Using Animation Tools option.

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About Layer Parameters
T-HFND-009-008
A layer is composed of many customizable parameters, such as the X, Y and Z positions, angle (rotation), skew
and scales. Each parameter has its ow n function w hich is a mathematical formula expressing the relationshipbetw een position values. You can view each function on a graph as a simple curve, such as the one below .

There are several options available for setting up function parameters:lLocked Positions (3D Path)l

Separate PositionslLocked ScaleslSeparate ScaleslQuaternion (3D Rotation)lEuler Angles (3D Rotation)

You must select 3D Path, Separate Positions, Separate Scale, or Locked Scale before starting the animation.
W hen you lock or unlock parameters, this does not convert the functions from one to the other, but creates
new ones.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

In a 3D Path, the X, Y and Z curves are locked together and controlled by a single velocity function. W hen you
add a keyframe, it is added on all three trajectories at once, as is the velocity. This is very useful for long,smooth trajectories.

W hen using a 3D path, the X, Y and Z functions w ork together using the same keyframes. This allow s for thevelocity to control the curve and create a smooth trajectory. Even if a function does not have any variation on
its curve (for example, all keyframes are at zero), the velocity might add a slight motion to ensure a smooth
trajectory. This can cause elements that are very close to each other on the Z-axis to pop in front of one
another. This is w hy in cut-out animation it is recommended to use separate position settings. But if you w ork
w ith 3D path, you can use the Constant Z feature to avoid this from happening.
The Constant Z feature is used w hen creating motion keyframes. The Z function w ill use stop-motion
keyframes and w ill not be interpolated, w hich can be very useful for cut-out animation. The Constant Z feature
only w orks w ith 3D paths.
W hen the Separate Positions option is used, the X, Y and Z curves are independent and have velocity controls
directly on their function curve. This is useful w hen you w ant to set keyframes on one of the curves w ithout
affecting the others.

W hen using the Scale parameter, you can use a single function curve to control both the vertical andhorizontal scale, or tw o separate scales. W hen using a single function curve, the values are the same for the X

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide(horizontal) and Y (vertical) axes for uniform size changes w ithout distortion. How ever, if you separate thescale functions, you can squash, stretch and skew your elements.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

Displaying Layer Parameters
T-ANIMCO-001-004
You can easily display the parameters for each layer in the Timeline view .

How to display the layer parameters in the Timeline view
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline’s left side, click a layer's ExpandlIn the Timeline view menu, select View > Show Functions.

lPress Alt + F.

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Setting Layer Parameters
T-ANIMCO-001-003
You can modify the layer parameters to different types of function and linking some of them together.

How to set the layer parameters
1. In the Timeline view , double-click on the layer on w hich you w ant to set the parameter. You canalso see the parameters in the Layer Properties w indow w hen you select the layer in the Timelineview .
The Layer Properties w indow opens.

2. Select the Transformation tab.
3. In the Position section, select the 3D Path or Separate option.
4. In the Scale section, select the Locked or Separate option.
5. Click Close.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

Enabling Constant Z
T-HFND-009-008A
You can also enable the Constant Z option directly in the Function view for specific functions.

How to enable the Constant Z option
1. In the Timeline view , expand the layer on w hich you w ant to set the Constant Z feature. Note thatyou must select the 3D Path option for the layer.
2. Double-click on one of the position functions to open the Function editor.
3. In the Function editor, select the Constant Z

button.

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About Keyframes
T-HFND-009-005
Interpolation is the computer-generated motion betw een tw o keyframes. Some animators and compositors
like to create their ow n in-betw eens, w hile others like to have the computer do it. Harmony has stop-motion(no interpolation) and motion keyframes (computer-generated interpolation).
W ith stop-motion keyframes, there is no computer-generated motion betw een the stop-motion keyframe andthe next keyframe. The segment of the function betw een those keyframes is flat, and the draw ing remains still
until the playback reaches the next keyframe, then the draw ing pops to its new location.

W ith motion keyframes, Harmony generates the interpolation betw een the motion keyframe and the next
keyframe. This means that a value for each frame betw een the keyframes is calculated by Harmony toprogress from the value of the previous keyframe to the value of the next keyframe.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

About Keyframe Creation
There are several different w ays you can create keyframes. You can add a coordinate keyframe, position
keyframe or a keyframe along w ith your draw ing duplication.
You can create a keyframe w ithout a draw ing. This adds new coordinate points but the draw ing in the layer
stays the same. At the same time, you may also w ant to duplicate your draw ing if you need to modify it and do
not w ant to modify the original.
You can also add a position keyframe instead of a regular keyframe. W hen you do this, keyframes w ill only be
added on the X, Y and Z parameters of the selected layer. Keyframes are not added on the Angle, Scale andSkew parameters.

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Creating Keyframes in the Timeline View
T-HFND-009-006
You can add keyframes in the Timeline view to multiple layers, a single layer or a specific parameter.

How to create keyframes in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to add a keyframe.

2. Add a keyframe by doing one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Insert > Keyframe.

lRight-click on the selection and select Insert Keyframe.

lPress F6.

l

In the Timeline View toolbar, click the Add Keyframe

button.

If the Animate mode is enabled in the Camera view , a keyframe is automatically created on thecurrent frame.

How to add a keyframe for a specific parameter
1. On the right side of the Draw ing layer, press the + to expose the different functions of that draw ing.
2. On the right side of the Timeline view , select a cell on the layer’s function that you w ant to animate.

3. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click the selected cell and select Insert Keyframe.

lPress F6.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animationl

In the Timeline View menu, select Motion > Insert Keyframe.

l

In the Timeline View toolbar, click the Add Keyframe

button.

How to create a keyframe and duplicate the drawing at the same time
1. In the Timeline view , select the cell containing the draw ing you w ant to duplicate and add a
keyframe.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Insert > Keyframe and Duplicate Drawing.

l

Right-click on the selection and select Insert Keyframe and Duplicate Drawing.

l

Press F6.

A keyframe and a duplicate of the draw ing is created. The duplicated draw ing sits on top of theoriginal draw ing.

How to add a Position keyframe
1. In the Timeline view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to add a position keyframe.

2. From the top menu, select Insert > Position Keyframe.

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Creating Keyframes in the Function View
You can add keyframe directly on the graph using the Function view .

How to add or delete keyframes in the Function editor
1. In the Timeline view , open the draw ing or layer’s parameters by clicking the Expand

button orpress Alt + F.

2. Double-click on the parameter layer name to open the Function editor w indow or click once on theparameter layer to display it in the Function view 's left sidebar. If you are using the Function view ,you must click on the function name from the sidebar list to view it in the graph display region.
3. In the Function editor, do one of the follow ing:l

In the graph section, click on the frame w here you w ant to make changes.

l

In the Frame field, enter the frame number.

In the graph display area, the red playhead moves to that frame number.
4. In the Function editor, click the Add Keyframe

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

5. Click on the new ly created keyframe and drag it up to increase the value of the function or dow n to
decrease the value. Depending on the selected function, this could increase or decrease the w idthof the object (scale_x) or change the object's vertical position (position_y). Pull on the handles tocreate non-linear transition speeds betw een keyframes.
6. If you do not like the changes you just made, select and delete the new keyframe by pressing Del orclicking the and Delete keyframe

button.

You can delete an existing keyframe by using the same process.

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Creating Keyframes in the Xsheet View
If you prefer w orking w ith the Xsheet view , you can also create keyframes and type values in the Xsheet view .
To edit a function column in the Xsheet view , you must first display the Functions section of the Xsheet viewand then select the layer you w ant to modify. If you double-click on a function column's header, you w ill
display the corresponding function curve in the Function editor.

How to add a keyframe in the Xsheet view
1. In the Xsheet view , click the Expand button located on the right side of the main section to show
the Functions section.

2. In the Timeline view , select the layer that contains the parameters to modify.
The columns appear in the Xsheet view if function curves w ere previously created by adding
keyframes in the Xsheet view or Layer Properties w indow . Otherw ise, the columns do not appear.

3. In the Xsheet view , go to the function column on w hich you w ant to add a keyframe.
4. Double-click on the cell on w hich you w ant to add a keyframe and type a numeric value.

5. Press Enter/Return to continue to the next cell.

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6. Press Esc to exit the typing mode.

How to convert a cell into a keyframe
1. In the Xsheet view , go to the function column on w hich you w ant to add a keyframe.
2. Select the cell to convert.

3. Right-click on the cell and select Set Selection As Keyframe or press F6.

4. To remove a keyframe, select the keyframe, right-click on the cell and select Clear Keyframe in
Selection or press F7.

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Automatically Creating Animation Keyframes W hen Transforming
Elements
T-ANIMCO-001-007
Before you start animating, you should set the Animate mode of Harmony tomode ensures that, w henver you use theAnimate Current Frame. This

Transform tool or any of theAdvanced Animation

tools to move, rotate, scale or skew an element in your scene, a keyframe is created at the current frame in
w hich the new coordinates of the element are stored.
W hen this mode is enabled, all you need to do to animate elements in your scene is to select the frame w here
you w ant to create an animation keyframe, then position the element you w ant to animate in the position,
angle, scale and skew you w ant it to be at this frame, and repeat for every animation keyframe you w ant tocreate. Since a keyframe is automatically created at the current frame each time you transform an element,
making transformations on your elements on different frames in your scene w ill automatically create an
animation.

How to set the Animate mode to Animate Current Frame
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, click on the Animate mode button w hich, depending on the currently
selected mode, w ill either have theRange orlAnimate Current Frame,

Animate Off icon, and selectAnimate Onion Skin

Animate Current Frame in the pop-up menu.

In the top menu, select Animation > Animate > Animate Current Frame.

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Deleting Keyframes
T-HFND-009-007
You can delete keyframes independently from draw ing exposure.

NOTE
If you select a keyframe in the Timeline view and press the Del key, you w ill also delete thedraw ing exposure. To only delete the keyframe, you must use the Delete Keyframe command.

How to delete a keyframe
1. In the Timeline view , select a keyframe and do one of the follow ing:lRight-click and select Delete Keyframes.

l

In the Timeline view menu, select Motion > Delete Keyframes.

l

From the top menu, select Animation > Delete Keyframe.

lPress F7.

l

In the Timeline View toolbar, click on the Delete Keyframesl

Use the Transformbutton.

tool to select a keyframe to delete from the trajectory in the

Camera view and press Del.

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Animating with Keyframes
T-ANIMCO-001-005
You can animate a layer or a peg by creating keyframes and moving your draw ings in the Camera view .

How to animate a layer or a peg
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the
2. In the Tools toolbar, if

Transform tool or press Shift + T.

Animate Off orAnimate Onion Skin Range mode is selected, click on it

to open the Animate pop-up menu and selectAnimate Current Frame.

3. If your layer has a parent peg:l

If you w ant to animate on the peg instead of the layer, make sure thatPeg Selection

Mode is enabled in the Tool Properties view .
l

If you w ant to animate directly on the layer, make sure thatPeg Selection Mode isdisabled in the Tool Properties view .
4. In the Timeline view , go to the first frame.

5. From the top menu, select Animation and make sure the Stop- Motion Keyframe option isunchecked. This w ill make it so Harmony automatically creates the animation betw een the
animation keyframes you create.
6. Select the cell w here you w ant to create your first keyframe
7. To create your first keyframe, do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the

Add Keyframe button.

l

Right-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

A keyframe is created on the first frame of the Timeline view .

8. In the Camera view , select the element to animate and move, rotate, scale or skew it so that it is in
its proper starting position.

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9. In the Timeline view , go to the frame on w hich you w ant to set the second position.

10. Select the cell w here you w ant to create your second keyframe. right-click on the selection andselect Insert Keyframe.
The second keyframe appears in the Timeline view , along w ith a line going from your first keyframe
to your second keyframe. This indicates that every frame in-betw een w ill be animated by Harmony.

11. In the Camera view , move, rotate, scale or skew the element to that it is in its proper second
position.

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NOTES
l

For information on how to use the Transform tool to move, rotate, scale or skew anelement, see About the Transform Tool .

l

You can also use the Advanced Animation tools to move, rotate, scale and skew
elements—see About Advanced Animation Tools.

12. In the Timeline view , select the first frame to rew ind to the beginning of your animation.
13. In the Playback toolbar, click on thePlay button to preview your animation.

NOTE
If your scene has 3D objects, or if you animate layers on the Z axis, you may w ant to preview
your animations from the Top, Side or Perspective view s during playback. How ever, playback
is disabled by default in those view . To enable them, from the top menu, select Play > Enable
Playback > Top View, Side View or Perspective View.

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Animating, Repositioning or Transforming an Element Over Several
FramesBy default, w hen you use theTransform tool or the

Advanced Animation tool to reposition

an element, its coordinates are changed in the current frame only. How ever, it is possible to move, rotate, scaleand skew an element on several keyframes simultaneously. This is done by changing the Animate mode.
There are three different Animate modes:lAnimate Current Frame: W hen you transform an element, its position, angle, scale and skew arestored in a keyframe at the current frame. This means that a keyframe is created at the current frame, if
there is not one already.

lAnimate Onion Skin Range: W hen you transform an element, the transformation is applied toevery frame in the Onion Skin. This means that it is applied to every keyframe inside the Onion Skin
range, and, if needed, keyframes are created at the beginning and the end of the Onion Skin to preserve
the transformations you make.

l

Animate Off: W hen you transform an element, the transformation is applied throughout the entire
scene. If the element has keyframes, the transformation is applied to all of these keyframes. No
keyframe is automatically created w hen using this mode.

How to move, rotate, scale or skew an element over a specific span of frames
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool.

TIP
You can also make transformations over several keyframes using the
Rotate,Scale,

Skew orTranslate,

Maintain Size tools, w hich can be selected in the

Advanced Animation toolbar.

2. In the Timeline, Node or Camera view , select the element you w ant to transform.

3. In the Tools toolbar, click on the Animate mode button w hich, depending on the currently selected
mode, w ill either have theAnimate Off icon, and selectAnimate Current Frame,

Animate Onion Skin Range orAnimate Onion Skin Range in the pop-up menu.

Animate Onion Skin Range is now enabled. At the same time, Onion Skin becomes enabled, and1019

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the Onion Skin handles appear left and right of the red playhead in the Timeline view .

4. In the Timeline view , move the timeline playhead to a frame somew here in the middle of the spanof frames you w ant to transform.

5. Adjust the range of the Onion Skin so that it covers every frame you w ant to apply thetransformation to by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , click and drag on the red onion skin marker to make it include theprevious draw ings you w ant to display in the onion skin, then click and drag on the green
onion skin marker to make it include the next draw ings you w ant to display in the onion skin.

l

Use the buttons in the toolbar above the draw ing space to adjust how many previous andnext draw ings are included in the Onion Skin:l

To increase the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

Add Previous

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of previous draw ings to display, click on the

RemovePrevious Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To increase the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the

Add Next

Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.
l

To decrease the amount of next draw ings to display, click on the
Draw ing button in the Camera/Draw ing view toolbar.

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Remove Next

Chapter 9: Digital Animation

NOTE
If there are no keyframes at the beginning and at the end of the Onion Skin range,
keyframes w ill be automatically created at those frames to store the transformation
you w ill make. If you w ant to avoid this, make sure the Onion Skin range begins andends on a keyframe.

The position of the layer in every frame in the Onion Skin range w ill appear in the Camera view , asOnion Skin.

6. In the Camera view , use the Transform tool to move, scale, rotate or skew the selected element.

NOTES
l

For information on how to use the Transform tool to move, rotate, scale or skew anelement, see About the Transform Tool .

l

You can also use the Advanced Animation tools to move, rotate, scale and skew
elements—see About Advanced Animation Tools.

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The transformation is applied on every keyframe w ithin the Onion Skin range on the selected layer.

NOTE
Make sure to set the Animate mode back to Animate Current Frame w hen you w ant yourtransformations to only affect the current frame again.

How to move, scale, rotate or skew an element throughout the entire scene
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool.

TIP
You can also make transformations throughout the entire scene using theTranslate,
Rotate,Scale,
Skew orMaintain Size tools, w hich can be selected in the
Advanced Animation toolbar.

2. In the Timeline, Node or Camera view , select the element you w ant to transform.

3. In the Tools toolbar, click on the Animate mode button w hich, depending on the currently selected
mode, w ill either have theAnimate Off icon, and selectAnimate Current Frame,

Animate Onion Skin Range orAnimate Off in the pop-up menu.

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4. In the Camera view , use the Transform tool to move, scale, rotate or skew the selected element.

NOTES
l

For information on how to use the Transform tool to move, rotate, scale or skew anelement, see About the Transform Tool .

l

You can also use the Advanced Animation tools to move, rotate, scale and skew
elements—see About Advanced Animation Tools.

The transformation is applied to the element throughout the entire scene. If the element has
animation keyframes, the transformation is applied to every keyframe as w ell.

NOTE
Make sure to set the Animate mode back to Animate Current Frame w hen you w ant yourtransformations to only affect the current frame again.

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Changing Keyframe Values
Once a keyframe is added, beside moving the image in the Camera view , you can change its value by typing itin the Timeline and Function view s.

How to change the keyframe values in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , open the draw ing or layer’s parameters by clicking the Expand

button orpress Alt + F.

2. Select the parameter for w hich you w ant to create a function curve.
3. Place the cursor over the blue number value of the parameter and do one of the follow ing:l

W ait until the cursor changes to a w hite hand w ith a tw o-w ay arrow and then dragthe hand left to decrease the value or right to increase the value.

lDouble-click on the blue number and enter a value in the field.

How to change a keyframe value in the Function editor
1. In the Timeline view , open the peg element's parameters by clicking the Plus
layer's name.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

2. Double-click on the parameter layer name to open the Editor w indow or click once on theparameter layer to display it in the Function view .
3. In the graph of the Function editor, select a w hite keyframe.
The keyframe turns red and displays a pointed yellow handle.
4. In the Value field, enter a value. You can also drag the keyframe up or dow n in the graph.

5. Press Enter/Return or click the Playbutton to view the changes made in the Camera view .

6. Keep adjusting the values until you are satisfied w ith the results.
7. Click Close.

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Switching Between Motion and Stop- Motion Keyframes
T-ANIMCO-001-006
You can sw itch a keyframe from stop-motion to motion at any time in the Timeline view and Function Editor.

How to switch between motion and stop- motion in the Timeline view
1. On the right side of the Timeline view , select one or more keyframes to modify.

2. Sw itch betw een motion and stop-motion by doing one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the selected keyframes and select Set Motion Keyframes or Set StopMotion Keyframes.

lPress Ctrl + K (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + K (macOS) for motion keyframes and Ctrl + L(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + L (macOS) for stop-motion keyframes.

l

In the Timeline View toolbar, click the Motion Keyframe
button.

or Stop-Motion Keyframe

How to switch between motion and stop- motion in the Coordinates and Control
Points view
1. Using the Transform

tool, in the visible path in the Camera or Timeline view , select the

keyframe to convert.
2. In the Coordinates and Control Point view , select/deselect the Stop- Motion Keyframe option.

How to switch between motion and stop- motion keyframes in the Function view
1. Open the Function view .
2. In the Timeline view , double-click on the layer that contains the keyframes you w ant to convert.
The Layer Properties w indow opens.

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3. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Transformation tab, click the Function Editorl

In the Timeline view , click the Expand Function

button.
button or press Alt + F anddouble-click on the function to edit.

4. On the function curve, select one or more keyframes to modify.

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5. Select or deselect the Stop-motion Keyframe

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button to set a stop-motion or motion keyframe.

Chapter 9: Digital Animation

Jumping to Keyframes
You can jump betw een the selected layer's keyframes in the Timeline view .

How to jump to keyframes
1. In the Camera or Timeline view , select the layer that contains the keyframes you w ant to flip
through.

2. From the top menu, select Animation > Go to Previous Keyframe or Go to Next Keyframe orpress semicolon (;) and single quote (').

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About Controls
T-HFND-009-010
Camera moves and motion paths can become quite advanced, especially w ith moves through 3D space.
Harmony provides tools to view your camera’s path and make adjustments to it from both a 2D and 3D
perspective.
You can display the trajectory of a motion path w hen you select an object from any view it can be selected in.
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.

You can edit keyframes and control point parameters, such as the position, continuity, bias, tension and lockin-time using the Coordinates and Control Points view .
Each time you select a keyframe or control point in the Camera, Timeline or Xsheet view , its parameters appear
in the Coordinates and Control Point view . You can also see the same information in the Coordinates andControl Points toolbar.

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You can adjust these parameters by selecting the control points and keyframes in the Camera, Top and Side
view s w ith the Transformtool.

You can set the default Continuity, Bias and Tension parameters in the Preferences panel.
Continuity: Controls the smoothness of a transition betw een the segments joined by a point.

Tension: Controls how sharply the path bends as it passes through a control point or keyframe.

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Bias: Controls the slope of the path so it flow s tow ards one side of the motion point or the other.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

Displaying Controls
T-HFND-009-011
You can display a layer's controls to adjust a trajectory or other parameters such as a gradient's position ordeformation settings.

How to display the layer’s controls
1. Verify that the Camera view (click its tab) is selected and that the layer w hose trajectory you w ant
to display is selected in the Timeline view .

2. From the top menu, select View > Show > Control or press Shift + F11 or in the Camera view
toolbar, click on the Show Control

button.

NOTE
If nothing appears in the Camera view , you may not have animated or selected
the layer.

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Adding Control Points
T-HFND-009-012
You can add control points on 3D Path trajectories. You need to display the layer's controls in the Camera
view .

How to add a control point on a trajectory
1. In the Timeline or Camera view , select the peg or layer on w hich you w ant to add a control point.
2. If the selected element’s trajectory is not displayed, select View > Show > Control from the top
menu or press Shift + F11.
The trajectory appears in the Camera, Top, Side and Perspective view s.

3. Add control points on a 3D path trajectory by placing the cursor w here you w ant to add the point
and press P once. If you hold the key dow n, control points w ill be added continuously until you
release the key.
A control point is added to the trajectory.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

Toggling Point Types
You can convert a control point into a keyframe and a keyframe into a control point. The position and othervalues w ill remain in both cases, only the frame w ill change. A control point is not locked in time.

How to switch between keyframe and control point
1. In the Camera view , use the Transform

tool select a point to convert.

2. To convert the point:l

In the Coordinates and Control Points view , select or deselect the Locked in Time
option.

l

From the top menu, select Animation > Lock in Time.

l

In the Function view or Function Editor, select the keyframe to convert and click the
Lock in Timelbutton.

Press Alt + L.

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Adjusting Tension, Bias, and Continuity
You can adjust the shape of the curve passing through a point by modifying the bias, tension, and continuity
settings. You can also set preferred settings as default.

How to adjust the Continuity, Tension and Bias parameters
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Timeline view , select the layer that contains the parameters you w ant to adjust.
3. From the top menu, select View > Show > Control or press Shift + F11 to display the trajectory.
4. In the Camera view , select a control point or keyframe.

5. In the Coordinates and Control Points view , adjust the Continuity, Tension and Bias parameters.

How to adjust the control point preferences
1. From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (W indow s) or Harmony Premium > Preferences(macOS).
The Preferences dialog box opens.
2. Select the Camera tab and adjust the parameters in the Control Points section.

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Converting Angled and Curved Corners
W hen you select a control point on a path, you can sw itch betw een a rounded or angled corner by using the
Linear/Curve command.

How convert an angled or curved corner
1. In the Timeline view , double-click the layer that contains the point you w ant to convert.
The Layer Properties w indow opens.
2. On the Transformation tab, select the 3D Path option.
3. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or press Shift + T.

4. In the Camera view , select the point to convert.
5. From the top menu, select Animation > Linear Motion.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

Offsetting Trajectories
By offsetting a trajectory, you Lets you reposition the visual trajectory w ithout offsetting or modifying youranimation. By default, the trajectory is located at 0,0,0 fields. If your elements w ere draw n in a different
location than the centre of the draw ing area, it w ill look like the trajectory is not aligned w ith your draw ing.
Also, if you have several elements attached to one trajectory, you might w ant your trajectory to be at adifferent location to represent the group's motion better.

How to offset a trajectory
1. In the Animation Tools toolbar, select the Spline Offset

tool or press Alt + 8.

2. In the Camera, Top, Side or Timeline view , select the layer w hose trajectory you w ant to offset.
3. From the top menu, select View > Show > Control to display the trajectory. If you do not display
the trajectory, any transformation done using the Spline Offset tool w ill be ignored.

4. In the Camera view , drag the trajectory to the proper position. You can move it on the X and Y axes,
but also on the Z-axis using the Top and Side view s.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

About Functions
By default, w hen a draw ing layer or peg is added to a scene, no function curves are created. You w ill generally
create the ones you need to avoid being overloaded w ith too many functions you might not use.
W hen you select an element in the Camera view and move it around, it w ill automatically create thecorresponding function curves. If you need to create certain functions manually, you can alw ays do it throughthe Layer Properties view or editor. You can then share it w ith other layer parameters or set keyframes directlyon the function curve instead of doing it in the Timeline or Camera view .
You can also link a layer's parameter to an existing function curve or attach several parameters to the samefunction curve. For example, if you have an aircraft performing loops betw een clouds, you may w ant thecamera to follow the aircraft's motion path. If you attach the camera to the aircraft's layer, the camera w ill also
loop, but this may produce undesirable results and even induce a feeling of motion sickness as you w atch thefinal animation. Instead, you can share the X, Y and Z positions of the aircraft w ith the camera's peg layer, but
ignore the angle, scale and skew .
By default, all function curves can only be used and modified using their original parameter. If you w ant
another layer or parameter to use the same function curve, you must share it.
There are tw o w ays to share a function:lShare Functions commandl

Layer Properties editor

W hen you create a function curve in the Layer Properties view or editor, there are several choices available:
Parameter

Description

Create 3D Path

Creates a new 3D Path Column set

Create Bezier

Creates a new Bezier curve

Create Ease

Creates a new Ease curve

Local

Disconnects the parameter from any function and changes it to shared.

3D PathDisplays the list of every shared 3D Path function available

Bezier

Displays the list of every shared Bezier curve available

Ease

Displays the list of every shared Ease curve available

Velobased

Displays the list of every shared velocity based curve available

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Expression

Displays the list of every shared Expression function available

3D Rotation

Displays the list of every shared 3D Rotation function available

Connected

Displays the list of every shared connected function curve

Unconnected

Displays the list of every shared unconnected function curveAll

Displays the list of every shared function curve

You have the choice of creating a new function curve or linking it to a shared function. This w ay, you can have
tw o or more parameters follow ing the same function.
Depending on your favourite w orking method, you can create different types of function curves to suit yourneeds, including:lEase functionlBezier functionl

Velobased function

W hen you create a function to control a parameter over time (Scale, X, Y, Z, Rotate), you have the choice of an
Ease or Bezier function.

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These function editors present different w ays of editing the values over time. The shape of the created graphindicates the velocity of the function, regardless of the chosen editor. The type of function that you choose islargely based on your w orking preference.
W ith the Ease editor, you can edit the shape of the function curves using the ease-in and ease-out controls.
You can also create Velobased functions for certain effects, like changes in rotation or size over time. W hen
you do this, the Velobased functions are linked to the velocity of a 3D path. You cannot change the shape of a
Velobased function to control its velocity.
W ith Velobased functions, you can link changes in rotation or scaling to the velocity of a 3D path. This makes
it possible for changes in rotation or scaling to progress at the same speed as changes to the position of anelement.

You can convert Ease and Bezier function so you can edit them using the controls offered by that type offunction.

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Creating Functions
You can create function curves in several different w ays. You cannot create function curves directly in the
Xsheet view . You must do this in the Layer Properties w indow or the Timeline view .

How to create the function curve in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , expand the layer's parameters.
2. Click the Function button and, in the drop-dow n menu, select Create Bezier or Create Ease.

How to create function curves using the Layer Properties view
1. In the Timeline view , double-click on the layer you w ant to create function curves for.
The Layer Properties Editor opens.

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2. In the Transformation tab, click the Function Arrow button beside the local function information.
3. Create a 3D Path, Bezier, Ease or Velobased curve. You can also create an Expression column—see
About Expression Columns on page 1077.

You can click the Function

button to open the Function editor.

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Converting Functions
You can duplicate the functions in a column and send them to another column in different w ays.

How to convert Ease and Bezier functions
1. In the Xsheet view , show the function columns.
2. In the Xsheet view , click the Expand button located on the right side of the main section to show
the Functions section. Click on the same button to collapse it. You can also use the Show Column
Listbutton in the Xsheet View toolbar.

3. On the right side of the Functions section, click the Expand button to display the Column List
section.

4. In the Timeline view , click the layer that contains you function columns you w ant to display.

5. In the Xsheet view , right-click on the column header, select Convert and one of the follow ing:lConvert the Column: The values of multiple effects may be linked to the originalcolumn. W hen you use the Convert the Column command, all links to the original

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column w ill transfer to the new converted column.
lCreate a New Column and Update Links: Creates a new function from the original.
All links to the original column w ill transfer to the new column. The original function
column w ill remain in the exposure sheet in case you decide you w ant to sw itch backto it.

lCreate a New Unused Column: Creates a new column based on the values in theoriginal column and leaves all links pointing to the original column. You can use thiscommand to experiment w ith various functions and then link effect values to the newfunction curve column.

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Sharing Functions
You can connect tw o or more functions to a shared function. If that shared function is modified, then the linked
functions w ill vary accordingly.

How to share a function using the Layer Properties editor
1. In the Timeline view , double-click on the layer that contains the function to share.

The Layer Properties w indow displays.
2. In the Transformation tab, click the Arrow button beside the function you w ant to share and selectLocal.

The function is shared w ith the other layers and parameters.
Shared functions are visible in the main section of the Xsheet view .

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3. From the same menu in w hich you chose the Bezier option (in our example), select the function you
just shared and attach it to your parameter.

4. In the Timeline view , open the Layer Properties editor of the other layer that contains theparameters you w ant to link to the shared function.
5. In the Layer Properties editor or view , attach the parameter to the shared function the same w ay
you did for the first layer.
The tw o parameters are both linked to the same function curve and follow the same path. If you
modify the curve, both parameters w ill update.

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How to share a function using the Share Functions command
1. In the Timeline view , select the function layer to share.

2. Right-click and select Share Functions.
The function is shared w ith the other layers and parameters.
Shared functions are visible in the main section of the Xsheet view .

3. In the Timeline view , double-click on the layer that contains the parameters you w ant to link to theshared function.
The Layer Properties Editor opens.
4. In the Transformation tab, click the Function Arrowbutton beside the function you w ant to linkto the function column.
5. From the menu, select the function you just shared from the 3D Path, Bezier, Ease, Velobased,
Expression, Connected, Unconnected, or All menu and attach it to your parameter.

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The tw o parameters are both linked to the same function curve and should follow the same path. If
you modify the curve, both parameters w ill update.

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Linking Functions
You can give the same series of motions that you created for one layer to another. These motions may include
moving, rotating, scaling and skew ing. An example w ould be a car tire. You could animate the rotation of one
tire and then link that rotation function to another tire, so that they both rotate together. The tire may also
move up and dow n if it is driving along a bumpy road. This w ould mean that you w ould have to copy the x andy-axis position functions as w ell.
Linking motion w orks w ith many layer types, including draw ing, peg or 3D subnode.
In the example below , the rotation from a peg w ill be copied onto a draw ing layer.

How to link the motion from one element to another
1. Open the Layer Properties of the element w hose motion you w ould like to copy. You can do this isin one of tw o w ays:l

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

l

In the Node view , click on the node's yellow square.

2. In the Layer Properties, locate the parameter you w ould like to copy, for example Rotation: Angle z,
then open the function menu for that parameter, by clicking on the arrow button at the end of therow .

3. In the function menu, select Copy Function Link.
4. Open the Layer Properties for the second element. You can have the Layer Properties for bothelements open at the same time. If you plan to perform multiple copy-pastes, it may be a good idea
to keep them both open.
5. Verify that the motion types are the same for both elements. For example, if the Position type foryour first element is set to Separate, be sure that the Position type for your second element is set tothe same.

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6. In the second element's Layer Properties, open the function menu for the same parameter, forexample Rotation: Angle z.

7. In the function menu, select Paste Function Link.
Notice in the parameter's function field that the copied motion function appears, including the nameof element that the function w as copied from.

In the Timeline view , all the keyframes relating to that motion appear in the Timeline.

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8. In the Camera view , slide the red playhead back and forth to view the tw o linked objects.
9. Repeat steps 2-8 for any other motion that you w ould like linked.
Simply deleting the keyframes from an element that w as linked to another does not break the link betw een
the tw o objects. You must clear the function field for all linked parameters in the Layer Properties of the linked
element.

How to unlink the motion between two elements
1. Open the Layer Properties of the element w hich contains linked functions.
2. Open the function menu for a parameter w ith a linked motion function and select Local.
The property field is reset to 0.

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About Copying Motions
In the Timeline view , you can easily drag keyframes to change the animation timing, delete them, cycle themand even copy them.
As you animate, you w ill find that you reuse many positions, draw ings, and keys. How ever, you may only w ant
to paste the draw ings or just the keys or maybe everything. There are different paste options available in theTimeline view w hich give you maximum flexibility w hen reusing and pasting.
Note that these modes also apply w hen you drag instead of copying and pasting.
There are three different modes for pasting your selection:lPaste Mode: All Drawing Attributes: Pastes the draw ing exposure and keyframes.

lPaste Mode: Keyframes Only: Pastes only the keyframes.

lPaste Mode: Exposures Only: Pastes only the draw ing exposure.

W hen you have position keyframes set in your draw ing layer and you w ant to move them around w hen
moving your draw ing's timing, you can use the Paste Special feature to only move selected keyframes.
You can also use the Paste Cycle and Paste Reverse feature to cycle your selection including keyframes anddraw ings.
If you w ant to cycle a portion of your animation, you can use the Paste Cycle command. You can also use the
Paste Reverse command to completely reverse the flow of your animation.

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Using Timeline Paste Modes
Use can copy and paste or drag and drop keyframes and draw ings in the Timeline view using various modes.

How to paste a selection using different modes
1. In the Timeline view , select the cells you w ant to copy and paste.

2. In the Timeline toolbar, click the desired Paste

mode button.

3. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Cells from the Timeline or press Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ + C (macOS).
4. In the Timeline view 's right side, select the cell on w hich you w ant to paste your selection.

5. Select Edit > Paste Cells in the Timeline or press Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS).
Paste Mode: All Draw ing Attributes

Paste Mode: Keyframes Only

Paste Mode: Exposures Only

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Using Paste Special
You can copy draw ing exposures and keyframes and paste only a portion of your selection using Paste
Special.

How to copy and paste a motion using Paste Special
1. In the Timeline view , select the keyframes to copy and paste. If you w ant to move the keyframes, go
to step 3.

2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Cells from the Timeline or press Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ + C (macOS).
3. Edit your selection by doing the follow ing:l

To paste the selection, in the Timeline view , select the first cell on w hich you w ant topaste your keyframes and from the top menu, select Edit > Paste Special or press
Ctrl + B (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + B (macOS).

l

To move the selection, in the Timeline view , drag the selection and hold dow n Alt.
Drop the selection w here you need it and release the hot key.

The Paste Special w indow opens.
4. Set the Draw ing, Pegs and Functions, and Cycles parameters.
5. Click OK.

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Cycling Animations
You can copy and cycle a section of your animation or your entire animation.

How to cycle an animation
1. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the cell range and keyframes to loop.
2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Cells from the Xsheet/Timeline.
3. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the cell on w hich you w ant the cycles to start.

4. From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Cycle or press Ctrl + / (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + / (macOS).
The Paste Cycle dialog box opens.

5. In the Number of Cycles field, increase or decrease the number of cycles you w ant to paste.
6. In the Cycle Type, select the type of cycle to paste.

l

Normal (forward): Pastes your selection as it is, starting w ith the first cell and ending
w ith the last.

l

Reverse: Pastes your selection reversed, starting w ith the last cell and ending w ith
the first.

lForward > Reverse: Pastes your selection as a yo-yo, starting w ith the first cell, goingto the last one and ending w ith the first cell.

l

Reverse > Forward: Pastes your selection as a reversed yo-yo, starting w ith the lastcell, going to the first one and ending w ith the last cell.

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Pasting Reverse Motions
You can paste your animation reversed from its original flow .

How to reverse the animation flow
1. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the cell range and keyframes to paste inverted.

2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy.
3. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the cell on w hich you w ant the cycles to start.
4. From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Reverse or press Ctrl + . (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + .
(macOS).

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About Velocity
T-ANIMCO-001-009
To add ease in and ease out on motion paths, you can display the function curve and modify the Bezier or Ease
curve. To apply ease to multiple functions and keyframes, you can use the Set Ease For Multiple Parametersscript and set the amount.
The Velocity, or ease, is used on motion keyframes. The Velocity must be adjusted directly on the function
curve in the Function view or Function editor. W hen a keyframe is selected, easing values appear in the righthandle and left handle fields, as w ell as Bezier handle or Ease w heel controls on each selected keyframe. Pullon them to adjust the ease in and ease out, or type values in the fields.
You can reshape the velocity function using Bezier controls.

You can also reshape the velocity function using Ease controls.

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If you have several functions w hose velocity you w ant to adjust at the same time, you can use the Set Ease forMultiple Parameters dialog box. It allow s you to apply the same velocity parameters to all the selected
keyframes in the same frame.

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Displaying Velocity Curves
You can display a parameter's function curve and adjust the easing w ith the relevant controls.

How to display the velocity curve
1. In the Timeline view , click the Expand

button on a layer or press Alt + F.

The layer’s functions are displayed.

2. Double-click the desired function. Note that 3D Paths have a specific velocity curve controlling theX, Y, and Z axis together. You need to click on the Position:Velocity layer.

The Function Editor opens as the Ease Editor or Bezier Editor.

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The editor w ill not be displayed if the function does not already exist.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

Adjusting Bezier Curve Velocity
You can reshape a Bezier curve velocity using the Function view controls.

How to adjust a Bezier curve velocity
1. In the Function view , select a keyframe.
2. Drag the controls to modify the shape of the curve.
You can reshape the function using the Bézier controls.

3. The Continuity options influence how you can move the handles:lStraight: Lets you move the handles together, maintaining the same angle to thepoint.

lCorner: Lets you move the handles independently.

lSmooth: Lets you move the handles together, maintaining the same distance andangle to the point.

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Adjusting Ease Curve Velocity
You can reshape an Ease curve velocity using the Function view controls.

How to reshape the function using Ease controls
1. In the Function view , select a keyframe.
You can reshape the function using the Ease controls.

2. To set the number of frames in the ease-in, press Alt, click to the right of the keyframe and drag thegreen line. The ease in slope is indicated in blue.
As you change the values visually, the value in the Ease In field is updated. This value represents
the number of frames in the ease-in.
3. To set the number of frames in the ease-out, press Alt, click to the left of the keyframe and drag thegreen line. The ease-out slope is indicated in red.
As you change the values visually, the value in the Ease Out field is updated. This value represents
the number of frames in the ease-out.
4. To adjust the ease-in or ease-out, drag the handles around the keyframe.
The Continuity options, Corner and Straight, influence how you can move the handles:1066

Chapter 9: Digital AnimationlStraight: Lets you move the handles together, maintaining the same angle to thepoint.

lCorner: Lets you move the handles independently.

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Creating Stepped Velocity
You can create a stepped curve to hold the same value over a selected number of frames. 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 overthose tw o frames.

How to create a step velocity
1. Click the Hold Value Editor

button.

The Hold Value editor opens.

2. In the Hold Value Editor, enter the follow ing values:lStart: The starting frame for the effect.

l

Stop: The last frame for the effect.

l

Step: The number of frames to hold the value.

The function curve is updated based on the values you entered.

You can reshape the curve to create a linear velocity, so the values are interpolated (tw eened)
consistently betw een keyframes. That is, there is no acceleration in the effect.

How to create a step velocity for multiple parameters
1. Add the Scripting toolbar to your interface:l

Go to the top menu and select W indows > Toolbars > Scripting.

lright-click on the empty space near the top of the interface and from the quick-access menu
selecting Scripting.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animationlright-click on the empty space near the top of a view and from the quick-access menu
selecting Scripting.

2. In the Scripting toolbar, click on the Manage Scripts

button to open the Scripts Manager

w indow .
3. In the Scripts Manager, in the Files section, select the file TB_CreateStepsOn.js.
The functions associated w ith that file appear in the Functions section.
4. In the Functions section, select TB_CreateStepsOn.
The Add script to toolbar

button becomes active.

5. Click on the Add script to toolbar
The TB_CreateStepsOn script

button.
button is added to the Scripting toolbar.

6. Click Apply.
7. Click OK.
8. In the Timeline view , select the layer w hose parameter values you w ould like to hold.
9. In the Scripting toolbar, click on the TB_CreateStepsOn script
The Create Function Step On dialog box appears.

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10. In the Settings section, enter the hold value by changing the number in the Every Number ofFrames field.
11. In the Selection section, enter the first and last frame numbers to define the selection range.

NOTE
The playhead location determines the low est value you can enter for the first frame,
w hen defining the selection range. You need to move the playhead to frame one if you
w ould like to set frame one as the low est possible starting value.

12. Click OK.
13. In the Timeline view , expand the layer properties of the selected layer by clicking on its plus
button.

14. Double-click on a parameter layer to open its Bezier Editor. If that parameter w as animated, the 3frame hold from frame 20 to 60 w as applied.

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15. In the Bezier Editor, click on any of the keyframes to bring up the bezier point handles and use themto reshape the velocity curve for that parameter.

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This means that multiple parameters can have the same stepped velocity, but have different easein ease-out curves defining that velocity.

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Adjusting Velocity in the Timeline View
If you w ould rather avoid playing w ith graphs and function curves, you can adjust the velocity in the Timelineview .

How to set the ease in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select a keyframe on one or more layers.

NOTE
Only the first selected keyframe w ill be considered w hen using the Set Ease For Multiple
Parameter function. If many keyframes are selected on the same layer, the ease values w ill beapplied only on the first keyframe and the rest w ill be ignored.

2. In the Timeline toolbar, select an option from the Set Ease Type menu.

NOTE
TIP: Optimize your w orkflow by adding the Apply Ease to Selection

button to the Timeline

toolbar. This lets you quickly reapply the ease type w ithout going through the Set Ease Typemenu each time. To add the button to the toolbar, right-click on the toolbar area of theTimeline view and select Customize.

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Setting Ease on Multiple Parameters
T-HFND-009-013
You can adjust the velocity on multiple parameters at a same frame for consistency.

How to set the ease on multiple parameters
1. In the Timeline view , select a keyframe on one or more layers.

NOTE
Only the first selected keyframe w ill be considered w hen using the Set Ease For
Multiple Parameter function. If many keyframes are selected on the same layer,
the ease values w ill be applied only on the first keyframe and the rest w ill beignored.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , right-click and select Set Ease For Multiple Parameters.

l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Set Ease For Multiple Parameters

button.

The Set Ease For Multiple Parameters dialog box opens.

3. In the graph, adjust the Bezier handles to change the velocity for all the selected functions.

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4. In the Filters section, you can apply the easing parameters to a specific type of function only, suchas Rotation or Scale. Deselect the function types you do not w ant to affect.
l

Motion: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Position X, Position Y, Position
Z and 3D Path functions.

lRotation: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Angle functions.

l

Scale: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Scale functions.

l

Skew: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Skew functions.

lMorphing: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Morphing Velocity
functions. Note that it applies to the Morphing velocity function found in the Layer
Properties w indow , not the basic morphing ease in the Tool Properties view .

lOther: Applies the easing parameters to all the other the selected functions, such as
all functions created to animate effect parameters.

5. You can also adjust the easing by typing values in the Time and Value Ratio fields. The values arecalculated in percentage.
l

In the Left Time Ratio and Right Time Ratio fields, type the percentage value
corresponding to the length of time you w ant the easing to last. Stay betw een 0%
and 100%. If you go beyond 100%, your motion w ill overshoot.

l

In the Left Value Ratio and Right Value Ratio fields, type the percentage value of how
strong you w ant the easing out to be. Stay betw een 0% and 100%. If you go beyond
100%, your motion w ill overshoot.

l

If your Time Ratio and Value Ratio values are equal, you w ill have a linear motion.

6. Once done, click one of the follow ing:lApply/Previous: Applies the easing parameters to the selected keyframes and thenselects the previous keyframe in the timeline.

lApply: Applies the easing parameters to the selected keyframes.

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Apply/Next: Applies the easing parameters to the selected keyframes and thenselects the next keyframe in the timeline.

lClose: Close the dialog box. If you did not apply the modifications, they w ill becancelled.

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Chapter 9: Digital Animation

About Expression Columns

In Harmony, you can use expressions to automate the calculation of effect values based on the values inanother function. An expression is a mathematical formula that allow s you to manipulate the value in thesource function to create new values for the destination effect.
For example, in a scene w ith tw o characters, one is w alking across the stage and the other is follow ing thesame path tw o steps behind. W ithout expressions, you w ould have to manually enter the values for the
position of the peg to be one frame behind the original element. How ever, you can save time by building an
expression that does it for you. Then, if you change the position of the element in the original column,
Harmony automatically updates the Expression columns linked to it.

W hen you w ant to create an expression for an effect, you must add an Expression column to the Xsheet view ,build the expression and then link the Expression column to the parameter you w ant to control.

W riting Expressions
Expressions are based on a JavaScript (JS) program. You can access the full capability of the JS language andw rite any type of program, as long as it executes relatively quickly.
The entire JavaScript must be defined w ithin the expression code. There is no common repository of JS
functions and services available to the expression column scripting environment. How ever, w ith the Harmony
C++ SDK, you can extend the API of functions available to the expression scripting environment.
If you're w orking w ith an old project that contains expressions, they are converted to a JS program. Only
simple expressions are updated. Complex expressions and expressions using non-ported services cannot be
converted. For these type of expressions, you must convert them manually.

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Expression Dialog Box
The Expression dialog box is w here you w rite expressions. It's a simple text editor that can handle incomplete
or invalid JS programs although they w ill not be evaluated. Harmony can save and load invalid JS programs.
The Expression editor evaluates the current script at the current global frame and reports any errors or returns
the numerical result of the program.

Expression JavaScript Program
An expression JavaScript program can be any valid program. The only requirement is the last statement of thescript must leave a number on the stack. The “return” statement is NOT needed as the script is not a function.

Valid Expression Column JS Program
Example 1
10This is a simple program returning 10.
Example 2
currentFrame
This is another simple program returning the current frame. The variable “currentFrame” is one of thepredefined variables and services available.
Example 3value( “MyBezierFunction”, currentFrame - 1 );A simple expression program that returns the value of the Bezier function “MyBezierFunction” at the previous
frame. If this function does not exist in the scene, the expression column w ill be blank in the Xsheet. If thisfunction does exist, the expression column w ill show the value of that function at the frame.
Example 4This programs evaluates the Fibonacci series starting at the current frame. The value w ill be computed up to acertain frame. After that frame, the program is too complex and w ill be stopped by the engine before finishing.

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ErrorsPrograms that take too long to execute, that don't generate a numerical value, or has syntax errors w ill not becompiled and w ill not compute a value. The scripting editor w ill show the condition that triggers this, but the
Xsheet w ill display a blank field.

API
To refer to the values in a column, use the column name and frame number. If you do not state the frame
number, then Harmony uses the value of the current frame. You can refer to the frame numbers in thefollow ing w ays:lcurrentFrame: Refers to the current frame number.

lnumFrames: Refers to the total number of frames in a scene.

Consider the expression: value ( “peg x”, currentFrame-1)lThis expression says that the current frame value w ill be the same as the previous frame value of theelement peg x.

Now consider this expression: value ( “peg_angle”, currentFrame - 2] * 3lIn this expression, Harmony is to look tw o frames before the current frame in the column "peg_angle"
and multiply the value by 3 to derive the value for the current frame of the expression column.

Predefined Functions
Most mathematic functions are obvious. They either take an angle or value, or return an angle or value. Angles
are alw ays specified in degrees. If the input argument is not valid, the function w ill log an error (w hich isvisible in the script editor) and the Xsheet does not display anything.
The tw o variants of the function value() are used to get the value of 2D functions at the current frame or the
specified frame. The first argument is alw ays a string that identifies the function. The optional second
argument is the frame to use.
For example: value( “myFavBezier”, currentFrame-1)
Function

Descriptionsin (angle)

Returns the sinus from the angle specified in degrees.

cos (cosine)

Returns the cosinus from the angle specified in degrees.

tan (angle)

Returns the tangent from the angle specified in degrees.

asin( v )Returns the arcs in degrees.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guideacos( v )Returns the arccos in degrees.

atan( v )Returns arctan as an angle in degrees from the first quadrant.

atan2( x, y )Returns the arc tangent in degrees.

int

Returns the integer value of the “v”. Undefined behaviour for negative number.

ceil( v )Returns the next integer greater or equal than “v”.

floor( v )Returns the integer value of v. Remove the fractional part.

abs( v )Returns the absolute value.

sqrt( v )Returns the square root for v >= 0.

exp( v )Returns the “e” exponent v. (see c library exp( f )).

ln( v )

Returns the natural logarithmic of v for v > 0.

ln

Logarithm of a value.

value( columnName)

Value of the function specified by “columnName” at the current frame.

value(columnName,frame)

Value of the function specified by “columnName” at the frame specified by“frame”.

Indentify the text w rapped by columnName to be renamed w henever the column
named “columnName” is renamed.

column( columnName )node( nodeName )node( nodeName )column() is a keyw ord that does nothing at runtime, but helps Harmony track
w hich references to a function needs to be renamed in the script w hen a function
is renamed. For example, if you have a function named “B” and this one gets
renamed to “C” through some scripts or by the user, all expression scripts
referencing “B” w ill automatically be updated to refer to “C” if their call w as
w rapped as column( “B” ).

Identifies a node/node that is in the same group as another node w hich is using
this expression column.
node( nodeName) and node( nodeName ) are tw o functions that return a proxy to1080

Chapter 9: Digital Animationa node that must be in the same group as another node using that expression
column. For this method to w ork, the expression must be connected to a node “A”
and the script must refer to a node “B” in the same group as node “A”. The
resulting object is a proxy to a node w hich cannot be converted to a number. This
proxy object is only usable by an SDK plugin.

numFrames

A constant that represents the number of frames in the current scene.

currentFrame

A constant that represents the current frame (1 based).

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W riting Expressions
The number of expressions you can w rite is limitless. Find below an example of an expression for an effect.

How to build an expression for an effect
1. In the Xsheet view menu, select Columns > Add Columns or press Shift + C.
The Add Column dialog box opens.

2. In the Name field, type a name for the column.
3. From the Type menu, select Expression and click OK.
4. Double-click on the column's header to open the Expression dialog box.

5. Type an expression in the dialog box.

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NOTE
To address a specific component of a 3D path, the syntax is "Peg x", not "Peg_x".

6. Click OK or Apply to activate the expression.
The cells in the Expression column are filled w ith values based on the expression you created.

7. To apply the values in the Expression column to an effect, link the Expression column to theparameter values. In the draw ing's layer properties, link the function to the new Expression column.

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About Animation Resources
As you are animating, you might find that you are constantly selecting the same elements from your scene, inorder to progressively move and manipulate them. You can create a preset for almost any selection or group
selection in your scene, in order to speed up the animating process.

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Creating Selection Presets
As you're animating, you might find that you are constantly selecting the same pegs, draw ing layers, bezier
points on a deformation envelope, part of a character rig, etc. You can create a preset that automaticallyselects any defined element or group of elements.

How to add the Selection Preset script to the Scripting Toolbar
1. Add the Scripting toolbar to your interface:l

Go to the top menu and select W indows > Toolbars > Scripting.

lright-click on the empty space near the top of the interface and from the quick-access menu
selecting Scripting.

lright-click on the empty space near the top of a view and from the quick-access menu
selecting Scripting.

2. In the Scripting toolbar, click on the Manage Scripts

button to open the Scripts Manager

w indow .
3. In the Scripts Manager, in the Files section, select the file TB_SelectionPreset.js.
The functions associated w ith that file appear in the Functions section.
4. In the Functions section, select TB_SelectionPreset.
The Add script to toolbar

button becomes active.

5. Click on the Add script to toolbar
The TB_SelectionPreset script

button.
button is added to the Scripting toolbar.

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6. Click Apply.
7. Click OK.

How to create a preset from a selection
1. In the Scripting toolbar, click on the TB_SelectionPreset

button.

The Selection Presets dialog w indow opens.
2. In your scene, select an individual element or group of elements. This can include, but is not limited
to: pegs, draw ing layers, deformation controls, part of a character (such as the entire rig of the headfrom the Node view ).
3. In the Selection Presets w indow , click on the plus button.
The Save Selection As Preset dialog box opens.

4. Enter a name for the new selection preset in the field provided.
5. Click OK.
The new selection preset name appears in the Selection Presets w indow .

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How to use a Selection Preset
1. In the Scripting toolbar, click on the TB_SelectionPreset

button.

The Selection Presets w indow opens.
2. Double-click in the Group field next to the Selection Preset you w ish to use OR select a preset fromthe Name column and click on the Apply To Selection button.

The defined selection is selected.

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Chapter 10: Morphing Animation

Hand-draw n animation requires you to spend a lot of time tracing in-betw een draw ings. Harmony's morphingfeature can help speed up the process. This pow erful feature automatically creates computer-generated
draw ings betw een your vector draw ings to save time and increase productivity. You can easily modify thetiming and velocity (ease in and ease out) of a morphing animation.
One of the main uses of the morphing feature is effects animation. For example, animating smoke or w ater canbe time-consuming because these types of effects are usually slow moving requiring a large number of closely
placed inbetw eens.
The morphing feature is used to animate similar and simple shapes such as hair or smoke. It helps you bysaving time w hen you are w orking on tedious inbetw eening and tracing tasks This, in turn, provides you w ith
more time to spend on complex animation tasks such as w alk cycles or acrobatic sequences.
To learn how to morph draw ings, it is better to start w ith basic shapes such as circles and rectangles. Onceyou are more familiar w ith the tool, you can increase your know ledge and expertise. In a very short time you
w ill be producing some remarkable effects.
It is helpful to know the pros and cons of morphing before you start. Understanding w hat you can do andw hich draw ing lines may be more useful or problematic w ill enable you to design your key draw ings so theymorph efficiently.

NOTE
The more complex the shape is, the longer it takes to morph. If it takes more time to morph adraw ing than to hand-draw it, then it is better to animate it instead of morphing. How ever, if you
spot an occasion w hen you can morph your draw ings, do it! It allow s you to fix your timing andvelocity in no time w ithout having to create any extra draw ings!

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About Source and Destination Drawings
The morphing feature matches similar shapes in a source and a destination draw ing. Harmony evaluates thesource's shape properties and matches them to the most similar ones in the destination draw ing.

Morphing w orks betw een similar shapes, w hich are draw ings that have the same palette, colours and numberof shapes. You can even change any shape into another one, as long as the source and destination keep thesame colours, number of lines and number of shapes.

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About Morphing Rules
Harmony follow s a set of rules as it evaluates the shapes. Familiarize yourself w ith these basic morphing rules
before you start morphing.

NOTE
Note that a morphing sequence can only be done on vector draw ings. You cannot morph bitmap
layers or Toon Boom bitmap draw ings.

Here are a few tips about creating morphing sequences:l

W hen learning about morphing, it is recommended that you use the Brush tool. You can use the Pencil
line for simple closed shapes.

l

If you are using pencil lines, use Contour hints instead of Pencil hints. Use Pencil hint if you w ant the
Pencil line to sw itch direction.

l

Flatten your draw ing before starting a morphing sequence.

l

If you leave a dot, even the smallest one, it is possible that your morphing w ill create odd shapes. If thesource line is closer to the dot than the destination line, the source line w ill morph into the dot and thedestination line w ill disappear.

l

Use the same colour sw atch betw een tw o draw ings. You cannot morph betw een tw o different colour
sw atches even if they have the same RGB values. This can be turned to your advantage for complex
morphing.

lSimilar shapes should have the same number of colour zones. This only applies to the number of zones
and lines and not the number of points on a curve.

l

If a zone inside a larger zone on the source draw ing ends up outside on the destination draw ing, themorphing w ill fail.

l

For example, if you are morphing a face so it turns from the front to the side, the nose is located in the
middle of the face on the source draw ing. How ever if after morphing, the nose ends up outside or
merged w ith the face profile line on the destination draw ing, this w ill give undesirable results. You can
avoid this by using morphing layers and splitting the nose on a separate layer.

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About the Closest Similar Shape Rule
A colour, line shape or zone w ill morph w ith the closest similar one in the destination draw ing. This means it
w ill morph w ith the zone nearest to it, as long as that zone uses the same palette's colour sw atch (colour ID)
and has the same vector properties (Central or Contour).

In the example above, the red heart shape (1) w ill morph w ith the closest shape using the same colour sw atch.
It w ill morph w ith the red diamond shape (1) in the next draw ing. The red diamond shape (2) in the source
draw ing w ill morph w ith the red heart shape (2) located in the same area in the destination draw ing. The black
spade shape (3) in the source draw ing w ill morph w ith the black club shape (3) located in the same area in thedestination draw ing. Finally, the black club shape (4) in the source draw ing w ill morph into the black spadeshape (4) located above in the destination draw ing.

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About the Pencil Line to Pencil Line Rule
If you trace a shape using a pencil line such as the Ellipse, Rectangle, Polyline, Lineor Pencil

tool, you have to morph it w ith another pencil line. Make sure that both draw ings are pencil shapes (central
vector).

A pencil line w ill never morph w ith a brush stroke.

Pencil lines w ith thickness are supported in morphing sequences. The thickness w ill morph according to thethickest and thinnest areas in the source and destination draw ings.

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Pencil lines w ith textures are not supported in a morphing sequence. During the morphing, the texture w ill
disappear and show w ithout pencil line opacity texture.

If you have pencil lines in your source draw ing, the same number of pencil lines must be present in thedestination draw ings. A pencil line w ill appear if it is not found in the destination draw ing. It w ill pop out on
the first or last frame depending on w hich one it is draw n.
W hen tw o pencil lines cross one another, they are considered to be tw o lines and not four lines anymore (as it
w as in version 7.8 and below of the application). In this case, you must have tw o pencil lines in yourdestination draw ing for your morphing to w ork correctly.

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About the Fill Shape to Fill Shape Rule
If you have a brush stroke or a colour fill ( contour vectors), make sure that you morph it w ith another brushstroke or fill zone. It is important to undersand that strokes draw n w ith the Brush tool are the same thing aszones painted w ith the Paint tool. Vector points are located along the contour. They are simply not the same
size. Contour vectors w ill not morph w ith pencil lines (central vectors). A brush stroke can morph into a colour
fill zone and vice versa as they are the exact same thing.

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About the Same Colour Swatch Rule
Harmony does not morph betw een colours. If you w ant to perform a colour transition, you have to create theeffect during the compositing step of your production. A colour palette is composed of colour sw atches. Eachcolour sw atch has its ow n unique identification number, even if tw o sw atches are the same colour value, they
are identified independently. A colour zone or shape w ill morph w ith another one painted w ith the same
colour sw atch.

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About the Vanishing and Appearing RuleIf a colour zone does not find a match in the first or the second draw ing, it w ill progressively appear or
disappear.

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About the Colour Art and Line Art Rule
In Harmony, there is an advanced concept for painting your draw ings called Line Art and Colour Art. Basically,an extra layer is added in your draw ings so that you can fill the colour zones on a separate layer. The regularlayer on w hich you are draw ing is called Line Art and the extra layer under the Line Art is the Colour Art.
l

A shape draw n in Colour Art can only be morphed w ith another shape existing in the Colour Art.

l

A shape draw n in Line Art can only be morphed w ith another shape existing in the Line Art.

l

A shape created in Colour Art can never morph w ith a shape created in Line Art.

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Creating Morphing
W hen it comes to morphing, you w ill need to practice and become at ease w ith it. Once you are familiar w ith
the basic rules, you can start creating morphing sequences. To begin, start w ith simple elements. W hen you
are confident w ith the morphing process, you can start to use complex and advanced morphing techniques,
such as head rotations or full characters.

NOTE
As you create and adjust your morphing sequences, you w ill often use the Tool Properties view .
Using this view allow s you to do things such as toggle betw een your key draw ings, adjust theeasing or select a hint type.

How to create a basic morph
1. In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add Draw ing Layerbutton to add a new layer to your project.

2. Rename the new layer ( for example, Morphing).
3. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the first cell in the layer.

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, select the RectanglelPress Alt + 7.

5. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw a rectangle.

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NOTE
W hen draw ing a rectangle or an ellipsis, you can hold dow n the Shift key todraw your shape w ith equal dimensions, so as to make a square or a circle
instead. You can also hold dow n the Alt key to draw the shape from its center
rather than from its corner.

6. Paint your rectangle using the Paint tool.

7. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the cell on w hich you w ant your morphing sequence to end.

8. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, select the EllipselPress Alt + =.

tool.

9. Draw and paint the ellipse w ith the same outline and fill colours as the rectangle.

10. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the range of frames going from your first draw ing to yoursecond draw ing, including the frames containing the draw ings.

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11. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Morphing > Create Morphing.

l

In the Xsheet or Timeline view , right-click and select Morphing > Create MorphinglPress Alt + M.

Arrow s going from the first key draw ing to the second key draw ing appear, indicating thatcomputer-generated inbetw eens have been created.

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Deleting Morphing
You may w ant to delete an entire morphing sequence in order to redo a sequence from scratch.

How to delete a morphing sequence
1. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select a cell in the morphing sequence.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Morphing > Delete Morphing.

l

From the Xsheet or Timeline view menu, select Morphing > Delete Morphing.

lright-click on your sequence and select Morphing > Delete Morphing.

The entire sequence betw een the tw o keyframes is removed.

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About Morphing Velocity and Timing
Once you have set up a morphing sequence, you can control its velocity and timing.
W hen you look at your animation you w ill notice that the morphing motion is constant. To produce a lessmechanical motion, you w ill probably w ant to create some ease in or ease out.

If you have several morphing sequences on a single layer, you may find it easier to adjust their velocities on
one function curve rather than several separate ones. Having all of your velocity parameters in one place ismore efficient and easier to modify.
Adjusting the velocity in the Layer Properties editor also allow s you to reverse a section of the morphing
sequence. The sequence w ill alw ays start w ith the source draw ing and end at the destination. You can play
the morphing sequence backw ards or forw ards during the animation.

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Adjusting the Morphing Velocity
You can have tw o levels of easing:l

In the Tool Properties View , you can adjust the velocity of each sequence in your layer independentlyl

In the Layer Properties editor, you can adjust the morphing velocity function to control the entire layer's
easingHow to adjust the velocity in the Tool Properties view
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Morphing

tool or press F3.

2. In the Timeline view , click on a frame in the morphing sequence you w ant to adjust.
3. In the Tool Properties view , increase and decrease the Ease In and Ease Out value to adjust thesequence's velocity.

How to adjust the velocity in the Layer Properties editor
1. In the Timeline view , double-click on the draw ing layer to open the Layer Properties editor.
2. In the Layer Properties editor, go to the Advanced tab and click on the Function

button to create

a function curve.

3. In the Layer Properties editor, click the Function

button again to open the velocity curve.

4. Add a keyframe at the first frame of the morphing (source) and one at the end (destination) by
clicking on the Add/Remove Keyframe

button.

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5. Move the destination keyframe upw ard.

NOTE
It is important that the last keyframe remains above the first one.

6. Make sure that the first keyframe is not a stop-motion keyframe. To do this, disable the Stopmotion Keyframe

button. To use the Toggle Stop-Motion Segment feature, press S.

7. Click on the keyframes and pull the Bezier handles to create ease in and ease out. If you make thecurve go dow nw ard instead of upw ard, the animation w ill play backw ard until the curve starts togo upw ard again.

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NOTE
If you have more than one morphing sequence in the same layer, you need to add a keyframeon the velocity curve for each source and destination draw ing.

8. If you w ant your morphing to play back on a double frame exposure rather than single frame, you
can use the Hold Value editor and set the velocity to change every second frame, instead of every
frame.
9. In the Morphing Function editor, click on the Hold Value Editor
hold the value for tw o frames.

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button and set the parameters toChapter 10: Morphing Animation

Adjusting the Morphing Timing
If you did not place your source and destination draw ings on the correct frames you may need to extend or
shrink the sequence length.

How to extend or shrink a morphing sequence length
1. In the Timeline view , select the source or destination draw ing.
2. Click on your selection and drag the draw ing to its new frame.

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About Morphing Hints
Harmony's Morphing tool allow s you to control your morphing sequence in many w ays. One of those w ays isto place hints to ensure Harmony morphs your draw ings the w ay you intended.

Hints are points that are placed in both the source and destination draw ings to associate zones and lines
betw een the tw o draw ings. They are used to fix errors in the w ay Harmony morphs draw ings, such as a linethat is not follow ing the colour fill zone, or w hen a part of your source draw ing doesn't morph into its
corresponding part of the destination draw ing. By default, Harmony w ill associate a corner or a point in thesource draw ing w ith the nearest corner or point in the destination draw ing. Hence, hints quickly become
necessary if the shape being morphed or its movement is complex.
Hints alw ays exist on both the source and destination draw ing. W hen you create a hint on either draw ing in amorph, a corresponding hint w ill automatically appear on the other draw ing. The same principle applies if you
delete a hint.
The key to placing your hints is to put them w here the biggest problem is. Fix the largest distortions first, thismay also fix the smaller ones at the same time.

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Do not add too many hints, this is a common mistake w hen morphing, it takes some practice to learn how tocorrectly use and place hints.
If you are morphing tw o sequences in a row , you w ill have to create a different set of hint points for eachsequence.

Morphing tw o sequences in a row requires three draw ings: 1, 2 and 3. Using these three draw ings you create
tw o morphing sequences; one sequence betw een draw ings 1 and 2, and a second sequence betw een
draw ings 2 and 3.

NOTE
Each morphing sequence has its ow n set of parameters and hints. This means that Draw ing 2 w ill
have a set of hints for the first sequence and another set for the second sequence. The tw o sets ofhints w ill not show at the same time. Each set of hints that appears alw ays corresponds to themorphing sequence you are w orking on.

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About Hint Types
To correct morphing distortions, Harmony has different types of hints available for controlling different typesof problems.
Each type of hint has a different purpose and they can all be used in the same draw ing. Use the Morphing tool
to add hints to your morphing sequences.
Hint points in the source draw ing are green and red in the destination draw ing.

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About Contour Hints
The Contour Hint point is used on the colour fill zone and brush lines; in other w ords, on Contour vectors. It
allow s you to control the line thickness and contour position. Also, if a contour is not animated correctly, you
can use hints to correct the animation. For example, if a flag is not w aving properly.
W hen adding a Contour Hint point, make sure to place it far enough aw ay from the contour so you can see it
snap to the contour.
Contour Hint points are yellow .

NOTE
Do not place the Contour Hint directly on the line as it may look like it has snapped to the contour,
w hen in fact, it has not and the morphing w ill remain unchanged.

NOTE
To correct a brush stroke, place a hint on both sides of the line to indicate its thickness variations
over time.

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About Zone Hints
The Zone Hint point is used on a colour zone to control the proximity rule. The Zone Hint is placed in the centreof the colour zone. Sometimes a colour zone is not associated w ith the corresponding one by default. For
example, in a splash animation there are many w ater droplets that are the same colour. Harmony
automatically morphs the droplet to the nearest one. This is not alw ays the one you may have predicted. A
Zone Hint w ill force a colour zone to morph w ith another one.
Zone Hint points are cyan in colour.

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Chapter 10: Morphing Animation

About Pencil Hints
A Pencil Hint point is used to control a pencil line, also know n as central vector. It can be used on draw ings
that w ere done using the Pencil, Polyline, Ellipse, Line and Rectangle tools. Like the Contour Hint, the Pencil
Hint snaps to the central vector. Make sure to place it far enough aw ay from the line so you w ill see it snap
w hen you move it.
Pencil Hint points are magenta in colour.

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About Vanishing Point Hints
A Vanishing Point Hint is used to control the trajectory of a vanishing shape. A shape w ill vanish from thesource draw ing w hen there is no corresponding shape in the destination draw ing. If you do not place a
Vanishing Point Hint to control the point of disappearance, the shape w ill vanish into its centre.
Vanishing Point Hint points are green in colour.

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Chapter 10: Morphing Animation

About Appearing Point Hints
An Appearing Point Hint is used to control the trajectory of an appearing shape. A shape w ill appear in thedestination draw ing w hen there is no corresponding shape in the source draw ing. If you do not place an
Appearing Point Hint to control the point of appearance, the shape w ill appear from its centre and expand
outw ards.
Appearing Point Hint points are violet in colour.

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Adding and Deleting Morphing Hints
Using the Morphing tool you can use hints to correct the morphing sequence.

How to add and hints
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the source draw ing of your morphing sequence.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select theMorphing tool or press F3.

Use your other morphing key draw ing, show n in the Draw ing view 's bottom right corner, as areference.

3. In the Tool Properties view , select the type of hint you w ant to use.

l

Select Contour Hint to correct a brush line or colour zone's contour (Contour vector).
Contour Hint points w ill behave similar to Pencil Hint points w hen used on a pencil
line. Note that you obtain better results using the Pencil Hint point on pencil line
rather than Contour Hint points.

l

Select Pencil Hint to correct a pencil line (Central vector).

l

Select Zone Hint to correct a colour zone morphing match.

lSelect Vanishing Point Hint to correct a vanishing shape's trajectory.

l

Select Appearing Point Hint to correct an appearing shape's trajectory.

4. In the Camera or Draw ing view , click on the draw ing near the problematic area.

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5. Select the hint's point and move it to its correct position.

6. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select your destination draw ing.
7. Find and move the corresponding hint's point to the matching part of your destination draw ing.

8. In the Playback toolbar, press the Playbutton to see the result.

How to delete hints
1. Select one or many hints.
2. Press Del.

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NOTE
To delete all of the hint points at once, press Shift + Del.

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Chapter 10: Morphing Animation

Copying Hint Points
If you have tw o morphing sequences that use the same draw ing and you w ould like to copy it and its hint
points, you can do so in the Draw ing view .

How to copy a drawing and its hints
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, click the SelectlPress Alt + S.

tool.

2. In the Draw ing view , select the draw ing to reuse in your second morphing sequence.
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select Edit > Copy.

l

Press Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C (macOS).

4. In the Timeline view , select the cell w here the new draw ing w ill be.

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5. In the Draw ing view , paste your selection.
6. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select Edit > Paste .

lPress Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS).

7. In the Timeline view , select the cell w here the second draw ing w ill be.

8. In the Draw ing or Camera view , draw your second draw ing.

9. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , create the morphing sequence for the new draw ings.

lPress Alt + M.

10. Do one of the follow ing:

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Chapter 10: Morphing Animationl

In the Tools toolbar, select the MorphinglPress F3.

tool.

11. In the Draw ing or Camera view , position your hint points.

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About Morphing Layers
Morphing layers simplify the morphing animation. Complex shapes are often too difficult to control and may
not w ork properly, by dividing the draw ings into morphing layers, the task becomes much easier.
The major points used in controlling a morphing sequence are the intersections. If there are many lines
intersecting w ithin a draw ing, the system w ill require more control—see About Hint Types on page 1110.
An important aspect of morphing is to identify possible problem zones in order to fix them and avoid
potentially frustrating situations.

Simple details that look easy to morph can sometimes be more challenging than they may initially appear tobe. For example, you may find that the nose becomes an issue w hen performing a head rotation. As explained
earlier, the draw ings need to be similar in their number of shapes. Generally, on a head rotation, the source
nose is in the centre of the face, but on the destination, the nose line is part of the face outline. This means thaton the source draw ing, the nose and the face outline are tw o separate shapes, w hereas they are combined into
one shape on the destination draw ing.
Morphing a full face as demonstrated on the figure below w ill cause the source nose to slow ly vanish as thedestination nose grow s from the character's cheek.

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Chapter 10: Morphing Animation

Any shape that is contained inside another one and has to morph out of that shape w ill be problematic for thesame reasons as the nose is. At some point during the morphing sequence, the shape contained inside the face
w ill merge w ith the face outline, and then become a separate shape again.
Morphing layers are all contained in the same draw ing layer. It is like having a mini Timeline w ithin a Timelinelayer, or a mini Xsheet w ithin an Xsheet column.
Each morphing layer can have its ow n duration and velocity. Also, because you only have a single element tohandle in your Timeline or Xsheet view , it w ill be treated as one element for the Compositing process, making
the compositor's w ork easier.
You can separate all of your elements into different draw ing elements and have many layers, but you w ould
have to create a large number of morphing sequences and make sure that you modify all of their timings
properly.
Both solutions are correct, but morphing layers makes it easier to handle and does not change the scene
structure by adding more elements, w hich can be very important for Cut-out animation puppets. For example,
if you morph a front head to a three-quarter head w here the ear needs to be separate, you do not w ant to add
a new ear layer at the same time and have to w orry about connecting it inside the puppet's construction.
Instead, simply create an ear morphing layer w ithin the head layer.

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NOTE
Use a naming convention for each morphing layer such as ear_1, ear_2 or head_1, head_2. You canalso use the numbers 1 to 9 for the first layer, 10 to 19 for the second one, 20 to 29 for the third
one and so one. This technique is useful if you plan to do more than one morphing sequence in thesame column. For example, front head to three-quarter head to side head. The three-quarterdraw ings w ill be used in both morphing sequences.

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Creating Morphing with Morphing Layers
You can create morphing sequences on separated layers using morphing layers.

How to create a morph with morphing layers
1. In the Timeline view , add a new draw ing element and name it properly.
2. In the first cell, draw the main source shape such as the head shape or body shape. Do not add
details like eyes.

3. In the Timeline view , select the destination cell.
4. Enable and extend the Onion Skin.

5. In the destination cell, draw the second draw ing.

6. In the Timeline view , select the in-betw een cells.
7. Do one of the follow ing:

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Right-click and select Morphing > Create Morphing.

lPress Alt + M.

8. In the Tools toolbar, select the Morphingtool.

9. In the Morphing Tools Properties view , click on the Add Layerbutton to add a new morphing

layer. W hen you click on a morphing layer draw ing, it automatically appears on top of the others. If
you w ant it to stay in place, for example the w ing behind the body, enable the Show Morphing inPlace

option in the Morphing Tool Properties view .

10. Double-click on the new layer's name and name it appropriately.
11. Press Enter/Return.

12. Use the Upland Dow narrow buttons to move the new layer above or below the Main layer.

If placed above the Main layer, it w ill be displayed in front. If it is placed below , it w ill
be displayed behind.

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13. To create new draw ings, double-click on the blank area under the From section to create thesource draw ing and the To section for the destination draw ing and type a different value than theones used for the main layer.
14. Press Enter/Return.
You do not need to type any value for the Main layer as it uses the one from the Xsheet column.

15. Click on the new source draw ing to start draw ing the new part. (Make sure that you are w orking on
the proper draw ing by verifying the name in the Camera or Draw ing view 's bottom left corner.)

16. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw the source draw ing.

17. Once the source draw ing is done, use the Morphing Tool Properties view and click on thedestination draw ing's name and draw it in the Camera or Draw ing view .
18. Repeat steps 9 to 15 for each layer needed. You can add as many layers as you w ant.
19. Enable or disable the layers that you w ant to display or hide w hile draw ing.

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20. If you w ant to change the layer duration, click on the layer and change the start and stop numbers.

The length indicator changes according to the new values.

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Chapter 10: Morphing Animation

About Morphing Key Drawings
Once you have a morphing sequence, you can add a morphing key draw ing.

A morphing key draw ing allow s you to insert extra details into a morphing sequence. For example, during amorphing sequence you may need to insert a detail such as teeth or a mouth; this is easy to do w hen you use amorphing key draw ing. Instead of creating an entirely new draw ing, convert a computer generated in-betw een
to a morphing key draw ing and add your extra details to it and the next key draw ing.

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Inserting Morphing Key Drawings
A morphing key draw ing converts a computer-generated morphing frame into a real draw ing that you can edit.
It splits the morphing sequence into tw o sequences, retaining any previous modifications.

How to insert a morphing key drawing
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the morphing frame you w ant to transform into a morphing
keyframe.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select Animation > Morphing > Insert Morphing Key Drawing.

l

Right-click and select Morphing > Insert Morphing Key Drawing.

The new morphing key draw ing appears.

3. In the Draw ing or Camera view , draw your new details on the morphing key draw ing.
4. In the Playback toolbar, press the Playbutton to see the result.

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Chapter 10: Morphing Animation

About Transparency Morphs
To be able to morph shapes w ith holes or transparent colours, it is important to understand the process ofanalyzing and morphing a shape. Harmony begins the process by reading the exterior outline of the entire
shape. So if you are morphing a doughnut, it w ill first read the entire circular shape and ignore the central hole.

Once the general morphing shape is analyzed, the system w ill carry on analyzing the interior details such as
colour zones and holes.

As you can see, because the hole w as placed on top after the main shape w as morphed, the centre is filled
w ith an opaque brow n colour. In order to avoid opaque holes, you have to paint the zone w ith a transparent
colour so that you can control it and flatten the transparency to cut a hole through the main shape.
The same thing happens w hen you have holes painted w ith semi-transparent colours. To see through yourshapes, you have to follow the same process as morphing shapes w ith holes.

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Morphing Transparencies
You can use invisible colours to morph holes and transparencies.

How to morph a shape with a hole
1. In your Colour view , select an unused colour sw atch and set its alpha (transparency) to 0.

2. Paint both holes on the source and destination draw ings.

3. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , click on a cell in your morphing sequence.

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, select the MorphinglPress F3.

5. In the Tool Properties view , enable the Flatten

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tool.

button.

Chapter 10: Morphing Animation

A hole appears in the shape.

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About Morphing Quality
Increasing the morphing quality settings improves the line shape betw een vector points. It also creates alarger file, so only increase quality w hen you are zooming in closely. You can adjust the quality in the Tool
Properties view and in the Preferences panel.

W hen morphing in Toon Boom Harmony Premium, there is a preference you can set to help you set the default
quality of morphing sequences. Refer to the Preferences Guide for complete descriptions.

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Chapter 10: Morphing Animation

Setting the Morphing Quality Level
Increase the morphing quality to smooth out morphed lines.

How to set a morphing sequence's quality level
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , click on a cell in your morphing sequence.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Tools toolbar, select the MorphinglPress F3.

tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , adjust the Quality level.

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Converting Morphing Inbetweens to Drawings
Harmony lets Lets you convert your morphing inbetw eens to real draw ings you can edit. This is useful w hen
manually editing a morphing sequence or if you prefer to have animation timing in double frame (on tw os)
instead of single frame (on ones).

How to convert morphing inbetweens to drawings
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select a morphed draw ing in the morphing sequence you w ant toconvert to real draw ings.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select Animation > Morphing > Convert Morphing to Drawings.

lRight-click and select Morphing > Convert Morphing to Drawings.

The Converting Morph dialog box opens.

3. Type the draw ing basename you w ant to give to your new draw ings. In this case, you could typecircle.
4. Click OK.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning
Toon Boom Harmony Premium allow s you to import external content as w ell as being able to draw directly inthe softw are. This means that characters, backgrounds and videos created in other draw ing, painting andmultimedia programs can be brought in and animated. You can import QuickTime videos, pictures,
multilayered .psd files, as w ell as .ai, .sw f, .pdf, and .fla files. You can also scan images and import them asbitmap or vectorize them.

NOTE
For sound import, refer to Importing Sound on page 494.

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About Importing Bitmap Images
T-HFND-007-001
Images can come in many different file formats and are usually saved in a format that retains the original
specifications set by the image creator. Some formats can preserve the transparency or transparent layers,
w hile others are not resolution dependent due to their vector nature. Toon Boom Harmony Premium supports
the follow ing bitmap image formats: JPEG, BMP, PNG (16 bits per channel RGB and RGBA), TGA, PSD (16bits per channel), TIFF, SGI, TVG, OMF, PAL, SCAN.

W hen importing a bitmap image, you must decide how Harmony must process it. You can choose betw een thefollow ing options:l

Keep as Original Bitmap: This imports the image exactly as is and ensures that it cannot be modified
w hen w orking on the scene. This is useful for using backgrounds that w ere created in different softw arein your project.

l

Import as Toon Boom Bitmap Drawing: This imports the image as is, but allow s you to edit it using
Harmony's bitmap draw ing tools.

lImport as Toon Boom Vector Drawing: Converts a bitmap into Toon Boom vector art, w hich can easily
be painted and edited using Harmony's vector draw ing tools. This can be useful for importing line art
scanned or created using a different softw are.

W hen importing images or 3D models, or w hen linking images, the settings used to import are saved in youruser settings.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

Importing Bitmap Images As Original Bitmap
T-HFND-007-002
Importing a bitmap image in its original format ensures it is preserved exactly as is in Harmony. W hen
importing a bitmap image, you have several options available such as w here you w ant to import the file andhow to name it.

How to import a bitmap image in its original format
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select File > Import > Images.

l

In the File toolbar, click the Import Imagesl

In the Xsheet view , right-click anyw here in the frame area and select Import >Images.

The Import Images dialog box opens.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

2. In the Files section of the Import Images dialog box, click Browse to find and select one or more
images on your computer.
3. Add the bitmap image to a new layer by selecting the Create Layer(s) option and one of thefollow ing options:lCreate Single Layer Named: Creates a new layer w ith the specified name andimports the images into it.

lCreate Layer(s) Based on Filenames: Creates a layer based on each uniquefilename prefix. For example, if you import three files named a-1.tga, a-2.tga
and b-1.tga, this w ill create tw o layers, one named "a" and one named "b".
Layer "a" w ill contain the tw o first images and "b" w ill contain the third one.

l

Add to Existing Layer: Imports the images into the specified layer. Note thatyou can only import into layers that are compatible w ith your import options.
For example, if you're importing images as vector draw ings, you can only
import them into vector draw ing layers.

4. In the Import Options section, select the Keep As Original Bitmap option.
5. In the Colour Space section, it is possible to specify the colour space of the imported image. During
the import no other colour space conversion is done, simply the specified colour space is set to the
new created element. It is also possible to modify the colour space of the layer by using Layer
Properties.
The colour space could be selected form one of follow ing options:llLinear: 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 forcompositing intermediary images that are meant 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 and the same gamma transfer
curve as sRGB.

l

Display P3 Linear: The same as Display P3, except w ith no gamma transfer curve.
This colour space is useful for compositing intermediary images that are meant to berendered 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 w ith a gammatransfer curve of 2.4. This colour space exists because some editing systems use agamma transfer curve of 2.4 instead of the standard gammae curve for Rec. 709.

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Chapter 11: Importing & ScanninglRec. 2020: A colour space used for Ultra High Definition TV (UHDTV). It has acomplex gamma transfer curve and primaries that cover more of the humanperceivable colour space than other colour spaces, especially in the area of humanperceivable greens.

lRec. 2020 2.4: The same colour space as Rec. 2020, except w ith a simple gammatransfer curve of 2.4. This colour space exists because some editing systems use agamma transfer curve of 2.4 instead of the standard gammar curve for Rec. 2020.

lRec. 2020 Linear: The same colour space as Rec. 2020, except w ith no gammatransfer curve. This colour space is useful for compositing intermediary images thatare 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 a different gamma transfer curve.

6. In the Alignment section, decide on the size and placement of your image w ithin the camera frame.
You can choose betw een the follow ing options:Parameter

Description

Adjusts the image's size to fit completely w ithin the scene's field, bothvertically and horizontally, making sure the entire image is visible.
If the image's orientation is portrait, then it w ill adjust the image's height to
fit the field's height, w ithout affecting the image's aspect ratio:

Fit

If the image orientation is landscape, then it w ill adjust the image's w idth
to fit the field's w idth, w ithout affecting the image's aspect ratio:

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This has the opposite effect to the fit parameter. The image's smallest
dimension w ill be made to fit the scene frame's matching dimension, andthe image's largest dimension w ill be adjusted proportionally, making theimage fill the entire scene field, and bleed past its boundaries it if its aspectratio does not match the field's aspect ratio. This option can be used toimport a panning background image, also referred to as a pan.
If the image's orientation is portrait, it w ill adjust the image's w idth to fit
the field's w idth, w ithout affecting its aspect ratio:Pan

If the image's orientation is landscape, it w ill adjust the image's height to fit
the field's height, w ithout affecting its aspect ratio:

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Scales the image to fit the scene's resolution, making each pixel in the
Project
Resolution

image take one pixel in the scene's field. For example, if the image's
dimensions in pixels are half of the scene's resolution in pixels, then theimage's dimensions w ill appear to be half of the scene field's dimensions.

7. If your image has transparency, in the Transparency section, select how the colour values in thesemi-transparent pixels in the image w ere premultiplied w ith their alpha values. This allow s
Harmony to demultiply the values so that it can properly blend the image w ith the other elements
in your scene.
You can choose betw een the follow ing options:Parameter

Description

Premultiplied w ith W hite

The colour values of semi-transparent pixels in the image
have been encoded so that the more transparent they are, thecloser to w hite they are. W hen an image that is premultipliedw ith w hite is loaded in a softw are that does not support
transparency, it appears blended w ith a w hite background.
Select this to make Harmony reverse this premultiplication sothat the image blends properly w ith other visual elements inyour scene.

Premultiplied w ith BlackThe colour values of semi-transparent pixels in the image
have been encoded so that the more transparent they are, thecloser to black they are. W hen an image that is premultipliedw 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 Harmony reverse this premultiplication sothat the image blends properly w ith other visual elements inyour scene.

Straight

The colour of semi-transparent pixels in the image is encoded1143

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

independently from their transparency. W hen an image thatis not premultiplied is loaded in a softw are that does notsupport transparency, semi-transparent pixels simply appear
fully opaque, making its edges appear pixelated.

Clamp Colour to AlphaThis is the same as Premultiplied with Black, except that it
also prevents the colour values for a given pixel from being
higher than that pixel's alpha value. This option is only useful
if you are w orking w ith images that are supposed to be
premultiplied w ith black, but w here the colour values ofpixels have been increased w ithout their alpha values being
adjusted accordingly.

TIP
The transparency type for an image may depend on the softw are used to create
it. For example, images exported by Harmony in any format but PNG are
typically Premultiplied with Black, w hereas PNG images exported by Harmony
use Straight transparency.
The follow ing are transparency modes typically used by other softw are for
specific file types:lPortable Network Graphic (.png): StraightlPhotoshop Document (.psd, .psb):lImported as a single image: Premultiplied w ith W hitelImported as separated layers: StraightlTagged Image File Format (.tif): Premultiplied w ith Blackl

Truevision TARGA (.tga): Straightl

Silicon Graphics Image (.sgi): Straight

8. Click OK.

NOTE
By default, bitmap images w ill display in low resolution in the Camera view so as to avoid
affecting playback performance. You can also adjust the display quality of a bitmap image by
selecting it w ith the Transform tool, then opening the Bitmap Image Quality dialog via View >Bitmap File Quality. You can also preview your bitmap image in your scene's resolution by
activating the Render Preview

mode in the Camera view .

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Adjusting the Bitmap Image Display Quality
T-HFND-007-004
Your original bitmaps are imported as is in your project. In the Camera view , they may appear low quality as aproxy image is displayed in its place to insure fast playback.
If the bitmap images that you imported look blurry or slightly pixelated, you can increase the image proxy
display by changing the quality of the preview in the Camera view . It w ill not affect the final render.

How to change the bitmap image quality
1. In the Camera view , double-click on the bitmap image to enter its symbol if the image is
encapsulated or simply select the bitmap image layer in the Timeline view if it's not.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select View > Bitmap File Quality.

l

From the Camera menu, select View > Bitmap File Quality.

lPress Ctrl + Q (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Q (macOS).

The Bitmap Image Quality dialog box opens.

3. Drag the slider to the right to improve the quality.
4. Click OK.
5. If you are inside a symbol, go to the top of the Camera view and click Top to exit the symbol andreturn to your scene.

1145Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Importing Bitmap Images As Toon BoomBitmap
T-HFND-007-002
Importing a bitmap images Toon Boom bitmap preserves its original detail, but allow s the user to modify themusing Harmony's bitmap draw ing tools.

How to import a bitmap image as a Toon Boom bitmap drawing
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select File > Import > Images.

l

In the File toolbar, click the Import Imagesl

In the Xsheet view , right-click anyw here in the frame area and select Import >Images.

The Import Images dialog box opens.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

1. In the Files section of the Import Images dialog box, click Browse to select one or more images
from your computer.
2. Select the destination for your images:lCreate Single Layer Named: Creates a new layer w ith the specified name andimports the images into it.

lCreate Layer(s) Based on Filenames: Creates a layer based on each unique filename
prefix. For example, if you import three files named a-1.tga, a-2.tga and b-1.tga, thisw ill create tw o layers, one named "a" and one named "b". Layer "a" w ill contain thetw o first images and "b" w ill contain the third one.

l

Add to Existing Layer: Imports the images into the specified layer. Note that you can
only import into layers that are compatible w ith your import options. For example, if
you're importing images as vector draw ings, you can only import them into vectordraw ing layers.

2. In the Import Options section, select the Import as Toon Boom Bitmap Drawing option.
3. In the Colour Space section, the colour space of the new created layer is selected as sRGB bydefault. If “Read Toon Boom Draw ings Using sRGB Colour Space” is disabled—see Setting theW orking Colour Space for a Scene on page 788. It is possible to specify the colour space, w hichw ill be used by new layer. If add to existing layer, the colour space of the existing layer w ill be
used, and the option is also disabled.
4. Enabling the option “Convert Image Colour Space on Import” and selecting the “Source Colour
Space” of the image allow s you to convert the image colour space to the layer’s colour space, if thecolour space of image to be imported is know n.
The colour space could be selected form one of follow ing options:lLinear: The same primaries and w hite point as sRGB and Rec. 709, but w ith no gammatransfer curve applied to the colour values. This colour space is useful for compositing
intermediary images that are meant 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 and the same gamma transfer curve as sRGB.

l

Display P3 Linear: The same as Display P3, except w ith no gamma transfer 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.

1147

Harmony 22 Premium User GuidelRec. 709 2.4: The same colour space as Rec. 709 or sRGB, except w ith a gamma transfer
curve of 2.4. This colour space exists because some editing systems use a gamma transfer
curve of 2.4 instead of the standard gammae 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 that cover more of the human-perceivable colour spacethan 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 a simple gamma transfer
curve of 2.4. This colour space exists because some editing systems use a gamma transfer
curve of 2.4 instead of the standard gammar 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 berendered 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 a different gamma transfer curve.

5. In the Alignment section, decide on the size and placement of your image w ithin the camera frame.
You can choose betw een the follow ing options:Parameter

Description

Adjusts the image's size so that its height matches the scene's height,
w ithout affecting its aspect ratio.

Vertical Fit

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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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

Actual Size

Imports the image in its actual size, w ithout adjusting its size relative to thescene's resolution. For example, if the image's dimensions in pixels are halfof the scene's resolution in pixels, then the image's dimensions w ill appear
to be half of the scene field's dimensions.

6. If your image has transparency, in the Transparency section, select how the colour values in thesemi-transparent pixels in the image w ere premultiplied w ith their alpha values. This allow s
Harmony to demultiply the values so that it can properly blend the image w ith the other elements
in your scene.
You can choose betw een the follow ing options:Parameter

Description

Premultiplied w ith W hite

The colour values of semi-transparent pixels in the image
have been encoded so that the more transparent they are, thecloser to w hite they are. W hen an image that is premultipliedw ith w hite is loaded in a softw are that does not support
transparency, it appears blended w ith a w hite background.
Select this to make Harmony reverse this premultiplication sothat the image blends properly w ith other visual elements inyour scene.

Premultiplied w ith BlackThe colour values of semi-transparent pixels in the image
have been encoded so that the more transparent they are, thecloser to black they are. W hen an image that is premultipliedw ith black is loaded in a softw are that does not support
transparency, it appears blended w ith a black background.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Select this to make Harmony reverse this premultiplication sothat the image blends properly w ith other visual elements inyour scene.

Straight

The colour of semi-transparent pixels in the image is encoded
independently from their transparency. W hen an image thatis not premultiplied is loaded in a softw are that does notsupport transparency, semi-transparent pixels simply appear
fully opaque, making its edges appear pixelated.

7. Click OK.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

Vectorizing Images on Import
You can import bitmap images as vector draw ings, w hich allow s you to edit them using Harmony's vectordraw ing tools. This is especially useful to convert bitmap line art scanned or created in a different softw areinto vector line art so it can be painted in Harmony.

How to import and vectorize a bitmap image
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select File > Import > Images.

l

In the File toolbar, click the Import Imagesl

In the Xsheet view , right-click anyw here in the frame area and select Import >Images.

The Import Images dialog box opens.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

1. In the Files section of the Import Images dialog box, click Browse to select one or more images
from your computer.
2. Select the destination for your images:lCreate Single Layer Named: Creates a new layer w ith the specified name andimports the images into it.

lCreate Layer(s) Based on Filenames: Creates a layer based on each unique filename
prefix. For example, if you import three files named a-1.tga, a-2.tga and b-1.tga, thisw ill create tw o layers, one named "a" and one named "b". Layer "a" w ill contain thetw o first images and "b" w ill contain the third one.

l

Add to Existing Layer: Imports the images into the specified layer. Note that you can
only import into layers that are compatible w ith your import options. For example, if
you're importing images as vector draw ings, you can only import them into vectordraw ing layers.

3. In the Import Options section, select the Convert to Toon Boom Vector Drawing option.
4. In the Vectorization section, decide w hether you w ant to import your image in black and w hite or ingreyscale. You can also click the New Preset

button to create a custom vectorization parameter

preset.
lBlack and W hite: Vectorizes draw ings as a solid black line; creates a 100% vector-based
draw ing. The outlines of your draw ings w ill be painted w ith the Vectorized Line colour
sw atch of your scene's colour palette.

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

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

NOTE
You can double-click on any of the presets at any time to open the Vectorization Parameters
dialog box to customize your option.

5. Click OK.
Your vectorized images w ill appear in their selected destination.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Linking Layers to External Images
W hen w orking on a large production, you may w ant to centralize the backgrounds in one directory instead of
duplicating the background several times in different scenes. As backgrounds are generally reused in manyscenes, some studios like to save space on the server and link the different scenes to the background directory.
Also, if they modify one background, it is modified everyw here at the same time w ithout having to reimport it.
To do so, you must use the Timing columns.
Timing columns are exposure sheet columns that link to files that are outside the scene’s structure. Because of
these external links, care must be taken not to break the links by moving the scene’s location or the
background directory’s location. Breaking a link w ill result in images not appearing in your scene.

NOTE
Refer to the Timing chapter in the Traditional Animation, Paperless Animation or Cut-out
Animation Guide to learn more about using Timing columns.

If you are w orking w ith Toon Boom Harmony Premium Server and all your scenes are located on a centralized
server, you can also use the Link to Images option.

How to link a layer to an external image
1. From the top menu, select File > Import > Link to Images.
The Link to Images dialog box opens.

2. Click the Browse button to select the image you w ant to link your scene to.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

3. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect the Create Timing Layer option to create a new Timing column in the Xsheet
view . Then select one of the follow ing:lCreate Single Timing Named: Type the new column name in the text
field.

lCreate Timing(s) Based on Filenames: Creates file names based on theselected file's name.

lSelect the Add to Existing Timing Layer option to insert the file into an existing
Timing column.

4. Select the Copy to Timings Directory option if you w ant to copy the selected file into the Timings
folder located in the scene directory. Note that the Timing column w ill link to the Timings folder.
5. Click OK.

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About Importing a Multi- Layer PSD
It is possible to import Photoshop Document (.psd) images into Harmony. This allow s you to create
backgrounds, characters and other assets in Adobe Photoshop w ith multiple layers and effects, then importthem in Harmony once you're finished editing them.

W hen importing a Photoshop Document (.psd) file, you have a choice of how to import the multiple layers
into your Harmony scene:lSingle Layer: Imports the rasterized, flattened version of the PSD into a single layer in your scene.

lGroups as Layers: This imports every group in the PSD file as a single layer in your Harmony scene.
Then, every layer inside a given group is imported as a single draw ing inside the layer in the Harmony
scene.

This can be useful if you w ant to create characters or props in Photoshop and import them in Harmony.
You can create all the draw ings for each layer in Photoshop and import them into Harmony in a single
step.
l

Individual Layers: This imports each group in the PSD file as a group in Harmony, and each layer in the
PSD file as a single layer in Harmony, reproducing the structure of your PSD file into your Harmony
scene.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

If any layer or group in your scene has a specific blending mode, this layer or group w ill be attached to a
blending node. The blending node w ill have the same blending mode as the corresponding layer orgroup in Photoshop—provided that its blending mode is supported by Harmony—so as to reproduce
the image in your PSD file as faithfully as possible.

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Importing Multi- layer PSD Files
T-HFND-007-003
You can import a multi-layer PSD file into Harmony using the Import Images dialog. W hen you attempt toimport a PSD into a Harmony scene, you w ill be prompted to choose w hether to import your PSD as a single
layer or as multiple layers.

NOTEYour .psd image file must be set to RGB mode w ithin Adobe Photoshop prior to being imported
into Harmony.

How to import a multi- layer PSD file
1. In Adobe Photoshop, organize your layers and groups so that they are imported as expected inHarmony—see About Importing a Multi-Layer PSD.
2. In Harmony, do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select File > Import > Imagesl

In the Files toolbar, click on the

Import Images button.

The Import Images dialog box opens.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

3. In the Files section, click Browse to find and select the .psd image on your computer.
4. In the Layer section, select the Create Layer(s) option, then select one of the follow ing options:lCreate Single Layer Named: Creates a new layer w ith the specified name andimports the images into it.

lCreate Layer(s) Based on Filenames: Creates a layer based on each unique filename
prefix. For example, if you import three files named a-1.tga, a-2.tga and b-1.tga, thisw ill create tw o layers, one named "a" and one named "b". Layer "a" w ill contain thetw o first images and "b" w ill contain the third one.

l

Add to Existing Layer: Imports the images into the specified layer. Note that you can
only import into layers that are compatible w ith your import options. For example, if
you're importing images as vector draw ings, you can only import them into vectordraw ing layers.

5. Select the Create Symbol for Imported Items option if you w ant the layers to be contained insymbols.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

6. In the Import Options section, select the follow ing option to import your image as its originalformat.
l

Keep As Original Bitmap: Retains an imported image as a bitmap. In the Alignment
section, decide on the size and placement of your image w ithin the camera frame.
Depending on the Scene Settings (the height and w idth in pixels that you chose foryour project), an image that you import may get scaled to the point w here all its
individual pixels become visible.

7. Decide w hether to select Vectorize Imported Items option.
8. Click OK.
The Multilayer Image Import Settings dialog box opens.

9. In the Create drop-dow n, select one of the follow ing:lSingle Layer: Imports the rasterized, flattened version of the PSD into a single layer in yourscene.

lGroups as Layers: This imports every group in the PSD file as a single layer in your Harmony
scene. Then, every layer inside a given group is imported as a single draw ing inside the layer
in the Harmony scene.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanningl

Individual Layers: This imports each group in the PSD file as a group in Harmony, and eachlayer in the PSD file as a single layer in Harmony, reproducing the structure of your PSD file
into your Harmony scene.

If any group or layer has a special blending mode, a blending node w ill be added to thatlayer or group w ith the same blending mode.
10. If your image has transparency, in the Transparency section, select how the colour values in thesemi-transparent pixels in the image w ere premultiplied w ith their alpha values. This allow s
Harmony to demultiply the values so that it can properly blend the image w ith the other elements
in your scene.
You can choose betw een the follow ing options:lPremultiplied with Black: The colour values of semi-transparent pixels in the image havebeen encoded so that the more transparent they are, the closer to black they are. W hen an
image 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 Harmony
reverse this premultiplication so that the image blends properly w ith other visual elements
in your scene.

lPremultiplied with W hite: The colour values of semi-transparent pixels in the image havebeen encoded so that the more transparent they are, the closer to w hite they are. W hen an
image that is premultiplied w ith w hite is loaded in a softw are that does not support
transparency, it appears blended w ith a w hite background. Select this to make Harmony
reverse this premultiplication so that the image blends properly w ith other visual elements
in your scene.

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

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Clamp Colour to Alpha: This is the same as Premultiplied with Black, except that it also
prevents the colour values for a given pixel from being higher than that pixel's alpha value.
This option is only useful if you are w orking w ith images that are supposed to be
premultiplied w ith black, but w here the colour values of pixels have been increased w ithout
their alpha values being adjusted accordingly.

TIP
Typically, the composite image of a PSD file, w hich is imported w hen importing a PSD
as a single layer, is Premultiplied with W hite, w hereas the individual layers of a PSD
file use Straight transparency.

11. Click OK.
The imported PSD file is imported into your scene. In the Timeline view , one or several layers areadded to your scene, depending on the import options your selected.

NOTE
If you import the PSD file w ith the Groups as Layers or the Individual Layers
option, all of the layers and draw ings imported into your scene w ill be linked tothe same PSD file in your scene folder. Hence, deleting any of the draw ings orlayers imported from the PSD file is liable to delete all of the draw ings imported
from the PSD file.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

About Importing Vector Files
T-HFND-007-005
You can import AI (Adobe Illustrator) and PDF files into Toon Boom Harmony Premium to convert your files to
the Toon Boom format (TVG) and create a colour palette based on the colour settings of the original file.
W hen importing AI and PDF files:l

RGB is supported, CMYK is not.

l

Gradients and textures are not supported.

l

Only legacy versions of Adobe Illustrator are supported. Exported SW Fs, including Actionscript 2 andActionscript 3, cannot be imported.

l

W hen importing an Illustrator or PDF file in Toon Boom Harmony Premium, by default the file w ill be
imported as separate layers. The import w ill use the Illustrator file's top level groups as separate layer
names. How ever, you can change this behaviour by deselecting the PDF/Illustrator Import as Separate
Layers option, to import your file as a single layer .

If a project w as started in Adobe Flash and needs a more professional boost, such as camera movements or
multiplaning, it can easily be imported into Harmony.
The actual *.fla file is not supported in Harmony, so you must export your project from Adobe Flash.

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Importing Adobe Illustrator (.ai) files and Portable Document Files(.pdf)
T-HFND-007-006
You can import vector Adobe Illustrator (.ai) files as w ell as Portable Document Files (.pdf) through the
Library view and File menu. Make sure to have the rights to modify your Library folder and that the colours inyour file are encoded in RGB.

How to import an .ai or .pdf file
1. In the Library view , right-click on the Stage Library folder and select Right to Modify to unlock thelibrary folder. Make sure the Lock icon disappears from the folder. If not, your library w ill remain
locked and you w ill not be able to import files.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select File > Import > SW F, Illustrator Files to Library.

l

Right-click on any unlocked folder and select Import Files.

The brow ser w indow opens.
3. Find and select your AI or PDF file in the Import Files dialog box and click Open.
The Rename dialog box opens.

4. Type in a name for the new template or keep the name of the original AI or PDF file.
5. Click OK.
A new template folder is created in the Library view .
6. Drag the new template folder from the Library view to the left side of the Timeline view . W ait until
the copy cursor

appears before releasing the folder.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

The message w indow opens.
7. The colour recovery dialog box appears, requesting that a colour recovery should occur. Before
clicking the Yes button, you have the option of selecting the Do Not Ask Again For This Session
option if you plan to import multiple .ai or .pdf files.

The colour palette used to create the .ai or .pdf file is imported and a new palette is created under
the imported file’s name.

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Importing Flash Movies (.swf)
You can import Flash (.swf) files in Harmony exported for any version of Flash Player up to version 14.

IMPORTANT
Some effects are not supported w hen imported from Flash movies into Harmony.

How to import a SW F file
1. In the Library view , right-click on the Stage Library folder and select Right to Modify to unlock thelibrary folder. Make sure the Lock icon disappears from the folder. If not, your library w ill remain
locked and you w ill not be able to import files.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select File > Import > SW F, Illustrator Files to Library.

l

Right-click on any unlocked folder and select Import Files.

The brow ser w indow opens.
3. Find and select your.swf file from the Import Files dialog box and click Open.
The Rename dialog box opens.

4. Type a name for the new template or keep the name of the original *.swf file.
5. Click OK.
A new template folder is created in the Library view .
6. Drag the new template folder from the Library view to the left side of the Timeline view . W ait until
the copy cursor

appears before releasing the folder.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

7. The colour recovery dialog box appears, requesting that a colour recovery should occur. Before
clicking the Yes button, you have the option of selecting the Do Not Ask Again For This Session
option. This might be useful if you plan to import multiple *.swf files.

The colour palette used to create the .ai or .pdf file is imported and a new palette is createdunder the imported file’s name.

NOTE
All the Flash layers are automatically attached to a parent peg called GlobalFlashPeg. DO
NOT DELETE THIS PEG. To maintain the look of your movie, it's important not to delete thispeg or detach its child layers.

The Adobe Flash file layers appear in the Timeline view . Symbols that w ere created in Flash
become regular draw ing layers, but can be reconverted into symbols in Harmony. Symbols w ithinsymbols or draw ings w ithin symbols collapse into their corresponding parent symbol.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTE
Some layers in your .sw f movie may be combined in a single layer as a result of optimization
enhancements in your movie file. You can easily move these elements back onto separate
layers.

In addition, all draw ing elements that are dynamically linked to the Toon Boom Harmony Premium
file are grouped together in one folder. In our example, this means that w hen you scroll through theDraw ing Substitution preview in the Library view , the different hand, leg, tentacles, antennae, torso
and facial positions are all organized together.

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Distributing SW Fs to Layers
In some instances, due to an optimization enhancement in the exported SW F file (CS4), some of the layers
might be combined as a single layer. If so, you can quickly redistribute these elements onto individual layers
again.

How to distribute to layers
1. In the Tools toolbar, click the Selecttool.

2. In the Camera view , select the draw ing that contains elements you w ant to redistribute onto
individual layers. To select the all the elements of the selected draw ing layer, press Ctrl + A(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + A (macOS).
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Drawing > Distribute to Layers.

l

In the Tool Properties view of the Select tool, click the Distribute to Layers

button.

The number of draw ing layers corresponding to the different grouped elements are created in theTimeline view . The selected elements in the original draw ing layer are removed. Each element is
distributed onto a new draw ing layer.
4. Repeat the process for each draw ing that contains elements to redistribute.

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About FLA Import
You can export files from Flash and import them in Harmony to transfer character rigs, props and backgrounds.

Flash import is available on all three editions of Harmony on W indow s and macOS. It is not possible to do soon GNU/Linux versions.
On the Flash side, users can w ork w ith these versions:lAdobe Flash CS5lAdobe Flash CS5.5l

Adobe Flash CS6lAdobe Flash CClAdobe Flash CC 2014l

Adobe Flash CC 2015

NOTE
Exports from older versions of Flash are not possible.

At the scene level (top timeline), you must have a symbol, such as a movie clip or graphic. Colour shapes,
shape lines, draw ing objects, groups and bitmaps at the scene level w on’t be exported. If these elements arepresent, you w ill be prompted to perform a clean up of the scene level. For details on importing Flash files, seeFlash Export and Import Guidelines on page 1188.
As part of preparing to import Flash files in Harmony, you must add an extension to Flash using Adobe
Extension Manager—see Installing the Export to Harmony Option on page 1172.
It is important to use the correct version of Adobe Extension Manager:l

If more than one version of Flash is installed on your computer, be careful w here you install theextension. If it's added to Adobe Extension Manager of Flash CS6, the extension w ill only be added inthis version and not the other.

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanningl

If you have a previous version of the extension, you must remove it first and install the latest
extension—see About FLA Import on page 1170.

Harmony includes a script specially created to import FLA Export packages. You must add this script to yourinterface in order to use it—see Displaying the Import Flash Scene Icon on page 1183.
W hen you export your FLA files, a folder w ill be created that contains the stage.tpl and export.json
files, as w ell as all the .swf and.txt files in your scene. The export.json file is used by a Harmony script
to organize and construct the node system from your exported files.
Once the Flash project is successfully imported into Harmony, here's how the node system w as constructed:lEach symbol has its ow n peg in w hich all the transformation information is stored.

l

W henever there are more than three symbols nested inside a symbol, a Composite node is
automatically created to group them all.

l

The pivot information is stored in the peg's Layer Properties (Pivot fields). The pivot information camefrom the rotation point of the symbol in Flash.

lRegistration point of the symbol in Flash represents the centre of the draw ing space in Harmony.
Therefore, the position of the draw ing inside a symbol w ill be exactly the same in Stage.

l

The imported node system is connected to the Composite of the scene, w hich contains the W rite andDisplay nodes.

lOne colour palette is created for each Flash import. One colour sw atch is created per RGB value. If you
have more than one zone using the same colour, they w ill be linked to the same colour sw atch.

l

If there are masks in your Flash project, they w ill reconstructed in Harmony using Cutter effects.
Harmony is now able to understand w hen more than one symbol share the same mask in Flash. Eachsymbol sharing the same mask w ill be grouped by a composite and connected to the cutter.

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Installing the Export to Harmony Option
The extension is required in order for Flash to export files to Harmony. The extension is called Export toHarmony.zxp and is located here:OS

W indow smacOS

EditionLocation

Premium

C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom
Harmony Premium [version] Premium\resources\flash

Advanced

C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom
Harmony Premium [version] Advanced\resources\flash

Essentials

C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom
Harmony Premium [version] Essentials\resources\flash

Premium

Applications > Toon Boom Harmony Premium [version]
Premium > tba > resources > flash

Advanced

Applications > Toon Boom Harmony Premium [version]
Advanced > tba > resources > flash

Essentials

Applications > Toon Boom Harmony Premium [version]
Essentials > tba > resources > flash

NOTE
Before installing the extension, you must remove all Harmony offline and database preferences.

How to install the Export to Harmony extension
1. Launch Adobe Extension Manager.
2. In the top-right corner of the Adobe Extension Manager, click on Install.
An Open dialog appears.
3. In the Open dialog, brow se to and select the Export to Harmony.zxp file, then click on Open.
A message opens informing you that you're about to install the Export to Harmony extension.
4. Click on Accept.
You may see the follow ing message confirming that you w ant to install the extension. Click Install.

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5. In order for the changes to take effect, you must close and restart Adobe Flash.
6. Click OK.

How to remove a previously installed Export to Harmony.zxp extension (if applicable)
1. If open, close Adobe Flash.
2. Start Adobe Extension Manager.
3. From the Products list, select Adobe Flash.
If you have a previous version of the Export to Harmony.zxp extension installed, it w ill belisted in the right pane.
4. Select the extension and click Remove.

A message opens asking you to confirm the removal of the extension.
5. Click Yes.
Adobe has stopped maintaining and updating their Extension Manager CC, therefore, it has become difficult to
install extensions. In order to link an extension from Animate CC, follow the steps below .

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How to install an extension on W indows with Adobe Animate CC version 2015 andhigher
1. Ensure the follow ing softw are is installed:l

Adobe Creative Cloudl

Animate CC and Mobile Device Packaging

2. Dow nload the ExManCmd from Adobe’s w ebsite.
https://docs.toonboom.com/go/dow nload/ExManCmdW in
3. Unzip the ExManCmd_w in.zip package.
4. Put the ExManCmd_w in folder in a safe place.

NOTE
The ExManCmd_w in folder must not be deleted; this folder is necessary for
installing or updating .zxp files.

5. Copy the package containing the plug-in from the Harmony installation folder to your Dow nloads
folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony 22
Premium\resources\flash\flashexport.zip
6. Unzip the flashexport.zip package.
7. Open the folder containing the unzipped files.
8. Move or copy the Export to Harmony.zxp file directly into the ExManCmd_w in folder.
9. In the ExManCmd_w in folder, hold Shift and right-click to select Open command window here.
10. Enter the follow ing command:
ExManCmd.exe /install <filename.zxp>.
11. Press Enter.
If no error message displays, the extension has been installed on your computer and recognized by
the Extension Manager CC.

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12. Open Animate CC.
13. Access Top Menu > Commands.
If the Export to Harmony option appears in the Top Menu > Commands list, your installation w as
successful.

NOTE
If you have a region language other than English (US) installed on yourcomputer, or if you have more than one language installed on your computer,
Animate CC may not be able detect in w hich language folder the extension has
been installed. If this occurs, you w ill not be able to see the Export to Harmony
menu option in Top Menu > Commands list. To correct this, proceed to How toensure Adobe detects extension files installed on your computer on page 1175.

How to ensure Adobe detects extension files installed on your computer
1. Brow se to:
C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Adobe\Animate <VersionNumber>
If Adobe detects more than one language on your computer, you w ill see multiple language folders
in the path. For example:

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2. Look inside each folder to detect the main language used by Adobe on your computer. To do so,compare the contents of both folders.
For example, inside the en_Ca\Configuration:

For example, inside the en_US\Configuration:

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The main folder is the one w ith more files. In this case, Adobe is using English (US) as the main
language. The folder en_CA only contains w hat w as installed w ith the extension installation:commands, Javascript and W indow SW F.
3. Copy and paste the contents of the commands folder w ithin the sub-language folder, to thecommands folder w ithin the main language folder .

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

4. Copy and paste the contents of the Javascript folder w ithin the sub-language folder, to theJavascript folder w ithin the main language folder.

5. Copy and paste the contents of the W indow SW F folder w ithin the sub-language folder, to the
W indow SW F folder w ithin the main language folder.

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How to install an extension on macOS with Adobe Animate CC version 2015 andhigher
1. Ensure the follow ing softw are is installed:l

Adobe Creative Cloudl

Animate CC and Mobile Device Packaging

2. Dow nload the ExManCmd from Adobe’s w ebsite.
https://docs.toonboom.com/go/dow nload/ExManCmdMac
3. Unzip the ExManCmd_mac file.
4. Put the ExManCmd_mac folder in a safe place.

NOTE
The ExManCmd_mac folder must not be deleted; this folder is necessary for
installing or updating .zxp files.

5. Copy the package containing the plug-in from the Harmony installation folder to your Dow nloads
folder:/Applications/Toon Boom Harmony 22 Premium/Harmony
Premium.app/Contents/tba/resources/flash/flashexport.zip
6. Unzip the flashexport.zip package.
7. Open the folder containing the unzipped files.
8. Move or copy the Export to Harmony.zxp file directly into the ExManCmd_w in folder.
9. Drag and drop the .zxp file directly into the ExManCmd_mac folder.
10. In Terminal, go to the folder w here the ExManCmd_mac package w as extracted.
For example, if you have put the ExManCmd_mac folder into the Dow nloads folder:
cd Dowonloads/ExManCmd_mac/
11. Enter the follow ing command:Contents/MacOS/ExManCmd --install <filename.zxp>
12. Press Enter.
If no error message displays, the extension has been installed on your computer and recognized by
the Extension Manager CC.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

13. Open Animate CC.
14. Access Top Menu > Commands.
If the Export to Harmony option appears in the Top Menu > Commands list, your installation w as
successful.

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Exporting FLA Files
How to export FLA files for Harmony from Adobe Flash
1. Open your.fla file in Adobe Flash.

NOTE
In case of a new file, it needs to be saved before continuing the exportation process. If not, theexport w on't be completed.

2. Return to the scene level.
Before exporting to Harmony, it is assumed that you are at the scene level even if you're not.
3. Do one of the follow ing:lOlder versions of Adobe Flash: Select W indow > Other Panels > Export toHarmony.

lAdobe Flash CC: W indow > Extensions > Export to Harmony.

NOTE
This w indow must be opened once after installing the extension in the extension manager
because it creates a drect link to Harmony (even if the w indow is not used). Afterw ards, you
do not have to reopen it if there is no need to change the option.

The Export to Harmony w indow opens from w hich you can set the resolution of the files as it w ill
appear in Harmony. The default resolution is set to 1920 x 1080, like the HD default resolution
value of Harmony. If needed, you can change the compression: Photo (JPG) or Lossless (PNG).

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Export to Harmony w indow , click Export button.

l

Select Commands > Export to Harmony.

The Output tab displays information about the conversions necessary for the export including:1181

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Distributing to layers, breaking apart, the presence of shapes at the scene level, ungrouping allgroups to verify if any symbols are hidden inside, breaking draw ing objects to transfer them as
shapes, draw ing substitutions, and so on. Problematic situations w ill also be mentioned. If nothingappears in the Output tab, then your.fla file is clean and does not need any conversions.
The .txt files contain the draw ing substitution information and at w hich frame they are exposed.
A .swf file is created for each symbol in Flash and a .tpl file is created of them. The corresponding
export.json file is also created, w hich you w ill need w hen importing your Flash scene in Harmony.
These files are in a folder located at the same location as the.fla file. The folder name is the sameas the .fla file.

NOTE
If a folder w ith the same name as the .fla file already exists, you w ill be prompted to replace
the folder. Be aw are that saving Flash projects as .xfl files w ill automatically create a folder
w ith the same name as the .fla file. In this case, the folder of the export w ill be createdinside the folder of the xfl. If this not w hat you w ant, place a copy of the.fla in another pathon your computer before the export.

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Displaying the Import Flash Scene Icon
W hen importing Flash files, the Scripting toolbar must be displayed, w hich should contain the Import Flash
Scene icon. If the icon does not appear in the Scripting toolbar, add it to the toolbar. Note that you w ill only
have to do this once. After that, you can import Flash files w henever needed.

How to display the Flash Import script icon
1. From the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Scripting.
The Scripting toolbar bars appears below the File toolbar in the upper-left of the Harmony
interface.

2. Click the Manage Scripts

button.

The Scripts Manager opens.

3. From the Files section, select TB_Import_Flash_Scene.js.
On your computer, here is the location of the script file:l

W indows:

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Toon Boom Harmony Premium: C:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Roaming\Toon
Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony Premium\1400-scriptslToon Boom Harmony Advanced: C:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Roaming\Toon
Boom Animation\Toon Boom Advanced\1400-scriptslToon Boom Harmony Essentials: C:\Users[\user_name]\AppData\Roaming\Toon
Boom Animation\Toon Boom Essentials\1400-scriptslmacOS:
lToon Boom Harmony Premium: /Users/[user_name]/Library/Preferences/Toon Boom
Animation/Toon Boom Harmony/1400-scriptslToon Boom Harmony Advanced: /Users/[user_name]/Library/Preferences/Toon
Boom Animation/Toon Boom Advanced/1400-scriptslToon Boom Harmony Essentials: /Users/[user_name]/Library/Preferences/Toon
Boom Animation/Toon Boom Essentials/1400-scripts

On macOS, the Library folder is a hidden folder. To display the display the folder, told dow n the Alt
key.
l

Global: [Server_Name] > USA_DB > scriptslEnvironment: [Server_Name] > USA_DB > environments > [environment_name]lJob: [Server_Name] > USA_DB > jobs > [job name]lUser: [Server_Name] > USA_DB > users > [user_name] > stage > 1400-scripts

4. From the Functions section, select TB_Import_Flash_Scene and click the arrow button to move itto the In Toolbar section.

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5. Click OK.
The Import Flash icon appears in the Scripting toolbar. Everything is now ready to import Flashscenes.

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Importing FLA Files
Once your extension is installed, your FLA file has been exported and your displayed the FLA import script inyour toolbar, you are ready to import your FLA file in Harmony.

How to import FLA files
1. In the Scripting toolbar, click the Import Flashbutton.

2. In the Import Files dialog box, locate the export.json file contained in the folder that w as created
w hen you exported your files from Flash.
3. Click Open.
In a few moments, the colour recovery dialog box appears, requesting a colour recovery.

4. Before clicking Yes, you have the option of selecting the Do Not Ask Again For This Session
option.
In a few moments, the .fla files are imported in Harmony.

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5. In the Node view , press 1 to zoom out of the Node view and see the entire node system.

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Flash Export and Import Guidelines
The follow ing points are guidelines for you to create optimal Flash files to export to or import in Harmony.
The follow ing are limitations that apply w hen importing .swf files, w hether they w ere exported specificallyfor Harmony or just regular Flash Movie files.

Drawing Featuresl

The line w idth w ill be preserved, w hether it's constant or varied w ith the W idth tool.

l

Any line caps and line joins other than round w ill be converted to round line caps and line joinsl

The flow of gradients must be set to Extend Color, w hich is the default flow for gradients. Gradientsw ith a Reflect or Repeat flow w ill cause the entire symbol in w hich they're located to be ignored.

Effects
The follow ing effects w ill not be imported by Harmony:lFilters (ie: Adjust Colour, Drop Shadow , Bevel, etc.)lColour Effects (ie: Alpha, Advanced, Brightness and Tint)lBlending (ie: Layer, Darken, Multiply, etc.)lRender: Cache as Bitmap (Export as Bitmap is supported)l

3D RotationslComponent properties

Bitmap Images
Bitmap images must be either .jpg or .png format. Symbols that have their Render mode set to Cache as
Bitmap w ill also be imported.

Flash Export Guidelines
The follow ing are rules to follow w hen exporting assets from Flash for import in Harmony.

Scene Root
W hat can be at the scene root:l

Only symbols. A minimum of one symbol is necessary. It could be a MovieClip or a graphic.

W hat cannot be used at the scene root:lShapes: Colour shapes and line shapeslBitmapsl

Draw ing objects

1188

Chapter 11: Importing & ScanninglGroups: The group w orks differently at the scene level. They are understood as shapes at the scenelevel—see Flash Export and Import Guidelines on page 1188.

Timeline
These features can be used in the Flash file, but w ill not appear w hen imported in Harmony.
lGuide layers for referenceslLocked layerslDisabled layerslFolders in the Timeline viewlOther: Several symbols on the same layer/keyframe. Harmony w ill spread them over several draw ing
layers, implicitly performing a Distribute to Layers operation in the process.

Not recommended:lMixed layers—see Flash Export and Import Guidelines on page 1188lSymbols, shapes, bitmaps and groups in the same layer/keyframelSymbols w ith draw ing objects

Library View
In the Library view , the follow ing w ill not be exported:lActionScript LinkagelEmbedded fonts

Mixed Layers
Mixed layers are something you must seriously consider before trying to export a Flash project to Harmony.
Otherw ise, there can be unexpected results or no export at all. In fact, it's best to avoid having mixed layers
altogether.
A mixed layer is defined as a layer that has more than one instance of objects at the same keyframe. It could
be a mix of symbols and groups; groups and draw ing objects; symbols and shapes, and so on. Since Harmony
understands symbols better than groups or draw ing elements, some information can be lost along the w ay.
Parameter

Description

Drawing Objects

No matter w hat is inside a draw ing object, it w ill alw ays be understood as ashape. So if a draw ing object shares the same layer w ith a shape, it w on’t be areal mixed layer, since they are all understood as shapes.

Groups that Contain Only

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

automatically during the export from Flash. The symbol inside it w ill be
understood by Harmony as a Draw ing node.
Symbols (MovieClip orgraphic)

Groups that Contain
Symbols and Shapes

Symbols and Groups on theSame Layer

But if there is more than one symbol inside the group, all the symbols w ill be
understand as if they w ere only one symbol. For example, if you have a groupcontaining five MovieClips and one graphic, Harmony w ill create one Draw ing
node to contain the five MovieClips and one graphic. This can be useful w hen you
w ant to create a repetitive texture and you don’t w ant to have each repetition
separated in Harmony. There is no differentiation betw een symbols.

W hen there is one or more symbols w ith shapes inside the same group, the groupw ill be ungrouped automatically during the export from Flash, but all the symbols
and shapes w ill be exported as if they w ere one symbol. There is nodifferentiation betw een symbols and shapes.

If there are symbols and groups sharing the same layer, each symbol w ill beseparated from all the groups w hich w ill then be grouped together as one
element. In Harmony, each symbol w ill have its ow n Draw ing node, but allgroups share one Draw ing node. Since only symbols can have a name, its name ispropagated to the Draw ing node and peg.
Groups, how ever, w ill receive the name of the MovieClip follow ed by anunderscore and an appropriate number. For example, of you have a group inside asymbol called HEAD, the group w ill receive the name HEAD_1 if there is alreadya Draw ing node that w as created w ith the same name.

Symbols and Draw ing
Objects/Shapes on the Same
Layer

If there are symbols and draw ing objects/shapes sharing the same layer, thesymbols w ill be separated from them and all the draw ing objects/shapes w ill be
kept together. Draw ing objects and shapes cannot be separated. In Harmony, thesymbols w ill have their ow n Draw ing node and the draw ing objects/shapes w ill
share the same Draw ing node. Since only symbols can have a name, its name ispropagated to the Draw ing node and peg.
Draw ing objects and shapes, how ever, can't do this. Draw ing objects and shapes
w ill receive the name of the MovieClip follow ed by an underscore and an
appropriate number. For example, if you have a group inside a symbol called
HEAD, the group w ill be named HEAD_1 if there is already a Draw ing node thatw as created w ith the same name.

Groups and Drawing
Objects or Shapes on theSame Layer

In order to have groups and draw ing objects/shapes on the same layer, theseelements must first be inside a symbol. Groups and draw ing objects/shapes
sharing the same layer in Flash w ill be exported as one Draw ing node. This
Draw ing node w ill contain both draw ing objects and shapes, and receive thename of the symbol in w hich they are contained.

Mixed Instances at theSame Level as a Symbol

Mixed instances at the same level as a symbol can occur w hen, at the same level
inside a symbol, there is more than one type of element sharing the same timeline1190

Chapter 11: Importing & Scanningat a specific frame. Those elements may be mixed layers.
Type of problems that can occur if mixed instances are kept:lOrder of appearance can be lostlSome layers can merge togetherlTransparency of shapes can cut other shapes

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Importing QuickTime Movies
T-ANIMPA-004-002
W hen creating an animation, it is not unusual to embed moving elements saved as videos w ithin the
animation. Toon Boom Harmony Premium allow s you to import QuickTime movies into your project.

How to import a QuickTime movie
1. From the top menu, select File > Import > Movie.
2. Brow se for the QuickTime movie to import and click Open.
The Import Images dialog box opens.

NOTE
Do not brow se for the movie file again. Leave the automatically generated field text as “manyfiles selected”.

3. Make your decisions for the Layer, Alignment and Transparency sections of this dialog box—see
the Reference guide .
4. Click OK.
The QuickTime video appears in the Timeline view as an image sequence. You can scroll throughthe film frame-by-frame just as you w ould scroll through your animation draw ing-by-draw ing.

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About Scanning
Harmony can receive images from any TW AIN device, such as scanners or digital cameras. You can load theseimages as bitmaps into your scene or convert them into vector-based images that can be edited using
Harmony.

You must install a TW AIN driver for your device in order to access its contents. Refer to the manufacturer ofyour device to get a TW AIN driver. Once all the animation layers are scanned in, you can set the timing in thedigital exposure sheet.
Once your traditional animation sequences are completed and cleaned up, you're ready to scan and importthem in Harmony. The scanning process is the point w here the traditional production becomes digital. It's themoment w here you use Harmony to control the project.

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Scanning Images
Toon Boom Harmony Premium can receive images from any TW AIN device such as scanners and digital
cameras. These images can either be loaded into your scene as bitmaps or converted into vector- based
images that can be edited using Toon Boom Harmony Premium.
If your operating system does not automatically recognize your device after it has been connected, you must
install the correct TW AIN drivers in order to access its contents. You can usually dow nload the drivers fromthe device manufacturer’s w ebsite.

How to scan images
1. From the top menu, select File > Import > From Scanner.
The Scan Draw ings w indow opens.

2. In the Scan Draw ings w indow , select your scanner or other supported TW AIN device from the
Scanner menu. If none are available, check your device to ensure that it's properly connected toyour computer. If your device still does not appear in the menu, you may have to shut dow n andrestart the softw are.

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3. In the Layer section, decide if the scanned or imported image w ill be placed on a new layer orexisting layer—see the Reference guide .
4. In the Import Options section, select the type of image you w ant to create—see the Reference
guide .
5. In the Alignment section, decide on the size and placement of your scanned image w ithin thecamera frame. Depending on the scene settings (the height and w idth, in pixels, that you chose foryour project), an image that you scan may be scaled to the point w here all its individual pixels
become visible—see the Reference guide .
6. In the Draw ing Options section, set the follow ing options if desired:lDrawing Name: Name of the draw ing to import.

lHold Value: Type the number of frames that the draw ing w ill be exposed.

lScan and Advance: Lets you scan one draw ing after another every time you click
Scan.

l

Flip Drawing: Mirrors the draw ings horizontally and scans it this w ay.

7. Adjust the Scale control and sliders in the Preview Image w indow until you are satisfied w ith theview .

8. Click Scan to scan your draw ing.
9. If you are scanning panoramic draw ings, in the Page Panning section, move the slider to the next
letter to capture your next frame.

10. If you have more than one draw ing, set the next draw ing in place and click Scan again. Repeat until
you have finished scanning all your draw ings.

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Vectorizing Scanned Drawings
You can turn scanned images into vector draw ings, w hile maintaining the sketchiness of a pencil line or into
vector images w ith a bitmap fill. Both options can add life to an animation, w hich straight vectorization w ithsmoothing does not usually afford.

How to scan and vectorize drawings
1. From the top menu, select File > Import > From Scanner.
The Scan Draw ings w indow opens.

2. Select your scanner from the Scanner list.

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3. Click Preview to get a test scan of your draw ing.
4. In the Layer section, select one of the follow ing:lCreate Layer: Imports an image into a new layer. Type a name for the layer in theName field.

l

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

5. In the Import Options section, select the Convert to Vector Drawing option.
6. In the Vectorization section, set the follow ing:lBlack and W hite: Vectorizes draw ings as a solid black line; creates a 100% vectorbased draw ing. Set the Threshold and Smooth parameters.

lGrey: Vectorizes the image as a mix of vector contour and greyscale bitmap filling.
Lines keep the texture from the scan, and the w hite of the paper becomestransparent.

l

New Preset: Lets you create a new preset.

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

lCustom vectorization: Lets you set custom vectorization parameters—see About
Custom Vectorization Parameters on page 1199.

7. In the Draw ing Options section, set the follow ing options if desired:

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Drawing Name: Name of the draw ing to import.

lHold Value: Type the number of frames that the draw ing w ill be exposed.

lScan and Advance: Lets you scan one draw ing after another every time you click
Scan.

l

Overwrite: Lets you overw rite existing draw ings—see Vectorizing Scanned Draw ings
on page 1196.

lFlip Drawing: Mirrors the draw ings horizontally and scans it this w ay.

8. Adjust the Scale control and the sliders in the Preview Image w indow until you're satisfied w ith theview .

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

11. If you have more than one draw ing, set the next draw ing in place and click Scan again. Repeat until
you have finished scanning all your draw ings.

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About Custom Vectorization Parameters
You can create your ow n vectorization settings w ith Harmony. The vectorization parameters you create can besaved, shared and also inserted into the VectOptions.conf file used by the Scan and Control Center
modules w hen scanning or vectorizing a series of draw ings.
You can use an interface to select and test the different options, as w ell as type in some advanced settings.
The Vectorization Parameters dialog box lets you vectorize pencil draw ings, along w ith any red, blue or green
pencil marks you may have used to indicate highlights and shadow s. The draw ing w ill be vectorized into pure
red, blue, green and black (RGB values), w hile creating colour art zones w herever lines connect. After painting
in your tones and highlights, change your pure RGB colours to transparent (0 Alpha) in the Colour Picker
w indow and w atch the indicator colour zone lines disappear.

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Creating Vectorization Styles
W ith Harmony, you can create custom vectorization parameters that can be saved, reused, shared, or used to
set the Scan module vectorization style list.
You can vectorize draw ings using one of the follow ing methods:lBlack and W hite: All the lines become vector based and 100% black. The w hite areas becomecompletely transparent.

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

lFour Colours: W ith the advanced parameters, you can isolate the red, green, blue, and black lines andturn them into 100% vector lines, preserving their original colours—see the Reference guide .

How to create or modify the vectorization parameters
1. From the top menu, select File > Import > From Scanner.
You can also open it from any other import option that allow s you to customize the vectorization
parameters (i.e. from the scanner).
2. In the Scan Draw ings w indow , do the follow ing:l

In the Layer section, decide on the layer options.

l

In the Import Options section, select the Convert to Toon Boom Vector Drawing optionlClick Preview.

3. In the Vectorization section, click the Vectorization Parameters

button.

4. The Vectorization Parameters dialog box opens.
5. Set the different options available in the Vectorization Parameters dialog box—see the Reference
guide .

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Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

6. Click the Vectorize button to update the Vectorized Image preview .
The vectorized image is just a preview . The actual vectorization happens w hen you click OK in the
Import Images dialog box. There are many options to try in the Vectorization Parameters dialog
box. These are applied during the vectorization process.
7. To set advanced parameters, read the information on the Help tab, then type in the Advanced
Options field at the bottom of the dialog box.
8. To save your vectorization parameters to reuse them later, share them, or use them to set the Scan
module vectorization style list, click Save.
9. In the Brow ser w indow , name and save the file.

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

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Configuring the VectOptions.conf FileToon Boom Harmony Premium Server uses a file called VectOptions.conf to get the vectorization stylew hen batch vectorizing a series of draw ings. A series of default styles is available in this file, but you w ill
certainly w ant to create your ow n to fit your production style.

How to set the VectOptions.conf file
1. Launch Configuration Editor:l

W indows: Open the Start menu and, in the Programs list, select Toon BoomHarmony 22
Premium > Tools >lConfiguration Editor.

macOS: In Finder, go to Applications > Toon Boom Harmony 22 Premium > Tools >Configuration Editor.

l

GNU/Linux: In a terminal, type the follow ing command:$ sudo /usr/local/ToonBoomAnimation/harmonyPremium_22/lnx86_
64/bin/ConfigEditor

The Configuration Editor w indow opens.
2. In the bottom section of the w indow , select the VectOptions.conf tab.

3. Scroll dow n the VectOptions.conf file to see all the different options available for creating yourcustom vectorization style. These options are the same as in the Vectorization Parameters dialog
box. It is recommended that you create your vectorization style using Harmony and the1202

Chapter 11: Importing & Scanning

Vectorization Parameters w indow and copy the result parameters in this file—see About Custom
Vectorization Parameters on page 1199
4. Scroll dow n tow ard the bottom of the file to see the default styles. You can modify them or add
new ones to the list using the parameters you got using the Vectorization Parameters w indow .
Notice that some of the lines have a “#” sign at the beginning to indicate that the line is a commentand w ill not appear in the style list. The lines that have no sign at the beginning appear in the stylelist.

5. To create a new style, type the follow ing below the existing styles:
style_name:
This should be follow ed by the name of your new style. For example: style_name: BlackLines.
6. Under the style name line, type the follow ing:
options:
7. Copy and paste the information in your *.vof style w hen saving your settings in the Vectorization
Parameters w indow .
‣To open the *.vof file, use any plain text editor application.

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

NOTE
If you are using the batch processing method available w ith Toon Boom Harmony PremiumServer to scan and vectorize draw ings, the selected style must be available on all themachines included in the batch processing list.
Refer to the Harmony Server Guide Guide to learn more about setting up and using batchprocessing.

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Overwriting Using Scanned Drawings
At times, it might be more efficient to create a scene and fill in the exposure sheet before scanning. Then you
can simply scan your draw ings to fill in the necessary cells in the exposure sheet. Note that w hen you startscanning, the draw ings are named sequentially regardless of w hether there is an exposure or not in the
Xsheet.

How to overwrite existing drawings
1. In the Xsheet, select the first cell to overw rite.
2. From the top menu, select File > Import > From Scanner.
3. In the Scan Draw ings w indow , do the follow ing:l

Scanner: Select your scanner from the list.

lLayer: Select the Add to Existing Layer option.

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

l

Vectorization: Select an appropriate option: Black and W hite or Grey, or create a newpreset.

lDrawing Options: Select the Overwrite option.

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4. Click Preview.
The scanner w indow opens.
5. Make any necessary adjustments to the image before scanning, then click Preview.
6. In the Scan Draw ings w indow , click Scan.
The scanned draw ing replaces the selected cell in the Xsheet, filling the entire exposure. The
Draw ing Options section indicates the name of the cell the draw ing overw rote and its exposure
value.

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Importing PSD Layouts
T-LAY-006-002
If you exported a Photoshop layout image from a Harmony project using the Export Layout Image function,
you can easily import it back into Harmony, simply be sure to import it at the beginning of the project for
accurate scene planning.

NOTE
For information on exporting layouts, see About PSD Layouts on page 660

How to import a layout
1. In your Harmony project, select File > Import > Images.
The Import Images dialog box opens.

2. In the Files section, click Browse to find and select the .psd or .psb layout file on your computer.
Note that this layout file must have its corresponding .xli file in the same folder.

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3. Once you have selected the layout file, the Use Position Information Contained in XLI File option
appears in the Layer section.
This option is enabled by default. W hen you import the layout image in your scene, it w ill be
automatically positioned to fit the original layout scene creating an accurate layout guide. You candisable this option if you w ant the imported layout image to be imported according to the normal
behaviour of the import process. The layout image w ill be incorrectly aligned as it w as w hen it w as
first created.

4. In the Layer section, select the Create Layer(s) option, then select one of the follow ing options:lCreate Single Layer Named: Creates a new layer w ith the specified name andimports the images into it.

lCreate Layer(s) Based on Filenames: Creates a layer based on each unique filename
prefix. For example, if you import three files named a-1.tga, a-2.tga and b-1.tga, thisw ill create tw o layers, one named "a" and one named "b". Layer "a" w ill contain thetw o first images and "b" w ill contain the third one.

l

Add to Existing Layer: Imports the images into the specified layer. Note that you can
only import into layers that are compatible w ith your import options. For example, if
you're importing images as vector draw ings, you can only import them into vectordraw ing layers.

5. Select the Create Symbol for Imported Items option if you w ant the layers to be contained insymbols.
6. In the Layer section, select the Create Layer(s) option, then select one of the follow ing options:lCreate Single Layer Named: Creates a new layer w ith the specified name andimports the images into it.

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Chapter 11: Importing & ScanninglCreate Layer(s) Based on Filenames: Creates a layer based on each unique filename
prefix. For example, if you import three files named a-1.tga, a-2.tga and b-1.tga, thisw ill create tw o layers, one named "a" and one named "b". Layer "a" w ill contain thetw o first images and "b" w ill contain the third one.

l

Add to Existing Layer: Imports the images into the specified layer. Note that you can
only import into layers that are compatible w ith your import options. For example, if
you're importing images as vector draw ings, you can only import them into vectordraw ing layers.

7. Select the Create Symbol for Imported Items option if you w ant the layers to be contained insymbols.
8. In the Import Options section, select the follow ing option to import your image as its originalformat.
l

Keep As Original Bitmap: Retains an imported image as a bitmap. In the Alignment
section, decide on the size and placement of your image w ithin the camera frame.
Depending on the Scene Settings (the height and w idth in pixels that you chose foryour project), an image that you import may get scaled to the point w here all its
individual pixels become visible.

9. Decide w hether to select Vectorize Imported Items option.
10. Click OK.
The Multilayer Image Import Settings dialog box opens.

11. In the Create drop-dow n, select one of the follow ing:lSingle Layer: To import the Camera and Layout layers merged together.

lSeparated Layers: To keep your Camera and Layout layers separated.

NOTE
Do not select the Individual Layers option w hen importing a PSD layout. Importing a
PSD file as individual layers w ill ignore the position information in the XLI file, w hichw as exported w ith your layout.

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12. If your image has transparency, in the Transparency section, select how the colour values in thesemi-transparent pixels in the image w ere premultiplied w ith their alpha values. This allow s
Harmony to demultiply the values so that it can properly blend the image w ith the other elements
in your scene.
You can choose betw een the follow ing options:lPremultiplied with Black: The colour values of semi-transparent pixels in the image havebeen encoded so that the more transparent they are, the closer to black they are. W hen an
image 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 Harmony
reverse this premultiplication so that the image blends properly w ith other visual elements
in your scene.

lPremultiplied with W hite: The colour values of semi-transparent pixels in the image havebeen encoded so that the more transparent they are, the closer to w hite they are. W hen an
image that is premultiplied w ith w hite is loaded in a softw are that does not support
transparency, it appears blended w ith a w hite background. Select this to make Harmony
reverse this premultiplication so that the image blends properly w ith other visual elements
in your scene.

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

lClamp Colour to Alpha: This is the same as Premultiplied with Black, except that it also
prevents the colour values for a given pixel from being higher than that pixel's alpha value.
This option is only useful if you are w orking w ith images that are supposed to be
premultiplied w ith black, but w here the colour values of pixels have been increased w ithout
their alpha values being adjusted accordingly.

TIP
Typically, the composite image of a PSD file, w hich is imported w hen importing a PSD
as a single layer, is Premultiplied with W hite, w hereas the individual layers of a PSD
file use Straight transparency.

13. Click OK.
Your image appears as separate layers in the Timeline view , corresponding to the .psd layer group
folders Camera_Set and Layout_Set. You can now use this layout as a guide for scene settings.

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Chapter 12: the Node View
The Node view is a visual representation of how every element in your scene, be it draw ing layers, pegs,
effects and others are combined together to form the final composited image. It allow s you to rig the elements
in your scene together and add a w ide range of effects to your scene. Getting to know how to use the Nodeview is important especially for rigging cut-out models, adding effects to scene or managing the w ay yourscene is composited, rendered and displayed in Harmony.

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About Nodes
The node view is a visual representation of the logic in w hich the elements in your scene are rendered. Eachelement in the Node view is called a node.

There are different types of nodes, each w ith a specific role:
Image

Type of NodeDescription

Reads the draw ing files stored in your scene folder and displays them inthe stage.

Draw ing

NOTE
Draw ing nodes are actually part of a bigger category of nodes
called Generators, w hich are nodes that generate an image. Other
generators include the Colour-Card and the Gradient nodes.

Transformation

Applies a geometric transformation (translation, scale, rotation, etc.) orother types of deformations onto a draw ing.

EffectTakes an draw ing or image as its input, and outputs the image w ith aneffect applied over it.

Composite

Combines multiple draw ings or images by laying them on top of eachother to make a single image.

CameraAllow s you to set the position of the camera relative to the stage.

W riteW hen rendering the scene, this node takes the image that is sent to it
and generates an image file for each frame in the scene.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Image

Type of NodeDescription

TIP
You can create several W rite nodes connected to different parts ofyour scene, and generate multiple renders w hen rendering thescene.

The Display node is w hat displays the image in the Camera view .

Display

TIP
You can create several Display nodes connected to different partsof your scene, and select w hich Display node to preview in the
Camera view .

One of the first thing you'll notice w hen opening the Node View about it is that, for every layer or peg you add
in the Timeline view , a node is present in the node view .

A node representing one of the layers in the Timeline view is referred to as a Draw ing or Element node. Its role
is to display the draw ing it contains.
As you can see, w hile layers in the Timeline view are ordered from bottom to top, in the Node view , Draw ing
nodes are ordered from right to left. This means that a node at the right of the Node View w ill appear
underneath a node at its left.
Beneath the draw ing nodes are a Composite node. The Composite node is w hat takes the image from every
Draw ing node in your scene and bakes it into a single image. It is also w hat determines the orders in w hich thelayers are rendered. For example, if you sw itch the order in w hich they connect to the Composite node, youalso sw itch the order in w hich they are rendered.

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Beneath the Composite node are tw o nodes:l

The W rite node is responsible for generating images w hen you render your scene's frames.

l

The Display node is responsible for displaying your scene in the Camera view in Harmony.

If you rig your layers under pegs, those pegs w ill also have a corresponding node in the node view .

As you can see, w hen a layer is rigged under a peg, its Draw ing node is rigged under its Peg node in the NodeView . This is because in the Node View , information travels from top to bottom, all the w ay until it reaches a
W rite or Display node.

Effect node act as filters for the image information sent by draw ing nodes. This means that they take an image
as their input, and output an image w ith the effect applied on it, like so:1214

Chapter 12: the Node View

A Camera node acts independently from your scene's node system. It can be rigged under a peg, w hich allow s
you to animate the Camera by creating animations on this peg. Otherw ise, it does not need to be rigged toanything to have an effect on the point of view from w hich your scene is rendered.

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About Node Connections and Ports
T-HFND-010-005
Nodes interact w ith each other by being connected through their ports. Most nodes have at least one input
port and one output port. A node's input ports are on top of the node and can only receive information. A
node's output port are at the bottom of the node and can only transfer information.

Port Names
Some nodes contain more than one input or output ports. To have a clue of w hat each port does, simply clickon it to display the name of the port.

Port Colours
Each port has a colour w hich indicates the kind of information it is meant to send or receive:l

A blue port means the port sends or receive image information. For example, a Draw ing node's output
port is blue because it outputs an image of its ow n draw ing. A composite's input ports are all blue
because a composite receives images and composes them together.

l

A green port means the port sends or receive transformation information. For example, Peg, Quadmap
and Deformation nodes all have a green output port, because they transform or deform anything
connected underneath them. Draw ing nodes have a green input port because they receive
transformations from such pegs.

Connections betw een nodes are colour-coded in the same w ay.

Some ports are flexible in the type of information they send. For example, you can connect a draw ing node toanother draw ing node. W hen you do this, the cable that links the tw o nodes is green. This is because the top
draw ing node's image information is ignored and, instead, the transformations made on this draw ing node areapplied to the draw ing underneath it. In this w ay, the draw ing is acting as a peg.

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Some nodes, including Draw ing nodes as w ell as several effect nodes, have w hat is referred to as a Matte
port. A Matte port is used to determine the area to w hich an effect is applied.

Matte Connections
For some layers, this Matte port is hidden until you attempt to connect an image port to the left extremity of
the node. These layers do not require a Matte draw ing to w ork, but can use one if needed.

Other nodes, mostly effects, require a Matte draw ing to w ork. These nodes alw ays have a Matte port visible.

Nodes that have a matte port can be connected to a draw ing, w hich is then referred to as the matte draw ing.
These nodes use the shape of the matte draw ing to determine w hich area of the image they affect. For
example, a Tone node w ill only apply a tone on the draw ing they are connected to in the area w here thatdraw ing and the matte draw ing mesh.

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W hen an image port is connected to a matte port, its connection is blue, like other image connections, but it isdashed to indicate that it is specifically a matte connection.

Output Z Port
All of the input ports of a Composite node are for laying different draw ings or images together into a single
image. How ever, you might notice that the leftmost input port of a Composite node is a lighter shade of blue.
This is because this port is used to determine the position of the composited image on the z-Axis. Because
each draw ing layer has its ow n position on the z-Axis (w hich is 0 by default, unless you explicitly move themon the z-Axis), and the Composite node is supposed to make a single flat image out of several draw ing layers,
it can only have one position on the z-Axis. Hence, by default, it uses the draw ing that is connected to its
leftmost port, that is, the topmost draw ing, as a reference for the position of the image it outputs on the z-Axis.

Pass Through Cables
Composites have several modes, one of w hich is named Pass Through. A Pass Through composite essentiallypasses all of the information it receives as is as its output. Hence, its output contains several layers of vector
artw ork. You can easily tell w hen a Composite's output contains several layers because its output connection
w ill be a w ide cable.

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About Multiple Connections in the Node View
The w ay nodes are connected together can have as important an impact on the w ay your elements are
rendered as the nodes themselves.
It is possible to connect a node's output port to several nodes making this node have the same effect on
multiple part of this scene. For example, you can have a single Peg node control several Draw ing nodes byconnecting it to each draw ing node you w ant it to control.

You can also connect a single Draw ing node several time to a composite. This can be useful if you w ant adraw ing to appear both as modified by an effect and in its original form in your scene, like in this example.

Since information in the Node View travels from top to bottom, it is not possible to make the output port ofseveral nodes connect to a single input port of a single node, as that w ould mean merging together images
and transformations in a w ay that is not defined. For example, you need to use a Composite node to combine
different draw ings together because the Composite nodes determines the order in w hich the draw ings arelayered.
How ever, it is possible to combine the transformations of Peg nodes and other similar nodes together bystacking them.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Likew ise, you can combine several effects by stacking them. The order in w hich the effects are stacked
determines the order in w hich they are applied to the image.

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Adding Nodes
T-ANIMPA-012-002
All the nodes available in Harmony can be added to your node system from the Node Library view , by using
the Quick Insert menu or by using the Node View ’s Insert sub-menu.

How to add nodes from the Node Library
1. In the Node Library, do either of the follow ing to find the node you w ant to add:l

In the Search bar, type in the name of the node you w ant to add.

l

In the list of categories to the left of the Node Library view , select the category to w hich thenode you w ant to add belongs.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

2. Do one of the follow ing to add the node to the Node View :lClick and drag on the node in the Node Library view , and drop it in the Node view .

lSelect the node in the Node Library view , then press Enter/Return.

How to add nodes using the Quick Insert menu
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to add an unconnected node and connect it manually, click anyw here inside thenode view .

l

If you w ant to add a node and automatically connect it to other nodes, click on the node the
new node should be connected to. For example:l

To add an Element node under an existing Peg node, select that Peg node.

l

To add a peg node on top of an Element node, or an effect under an Element node,
select that Element node.

l

To add an Element node to a specific Composite node, select that Composite node.

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2. Navigate to the group in w hich you w ant to add a node.
3. Press Enter.
The Quick Insert menu appears.

4. Do one of the follow ing to find the node you w ant to add:l

Scroll dow n until you find the node you w ant to add.

lStart typing the name of the node you w ant to add to filter the list of nodes until you see thenode you w ant to add in the list.

5. Do one of the follow ing:

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Chapter 12: the Node ViewlClick on the node you w ant to add in the list.

l

Use the Up Arrow and Dow n Arrow keys to select the node in the list, then press
Enter/Return.

lType up the entire name of the node you w ant to add so that it is the only node in the list,
then press Enter/Return.

The selected node is added to the Node View , and is automatically connected to the node you had
previously selected.

NOTE
The last five nodes you added using the Quick Insert menu are listed at the top of the list. Thishistory is preserved until you close your scene.

How to add nodes using the Insert sub- menu
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Node View , right-click and, in the context menu, select Insertl

In the top-left corner of the Node View , open the

A menu listing all the node categories w ill appear.

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View Menu and select Insert.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

2. Select the node category to w hich the node you w ant to add belongs.
A menu listing all the nodes in this category w ill appear.
3. Select the node you w ant to add.
The selected node is added to the Node View .

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Search Filter in Node Library View
You can clear the search filter in the node library using the escape key or an X button, in the same manner as in
the toolbar manager.

How to search in Node Library View
1. In the Search bar, type in the name of the node you w ant to search.
l

It w ill match and display the results in the Node Library.

l

For example: To add "Deformation Composite", you can type "def comp" and the result w ill display
as "Deformation Composite".

You can also search for the node descriptions by clicking

Search Node Descriptions.

NOTE
If you type a w ord w ith the space at the end such as "def ", it w ill not list anything as the NodeLibrary tries to match w hole w ords.

How to clear search filter in Node Library View
1. In the Search bar, type in the name of the node you w ant to search.
2. X appears on the right side in search bar to clear the field.
W hen the search filter is empty, a magnifying glass should be displayed on the right side of the field.

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Connecting Nodes
There are several w ays to connect nodes. You can create new connections from one node to another, you caninsert a node onto an existing connection so that this node becomes an intermediary betw een tw o nodes, andyou can instantly connect several nodes to the same nodes using a keyboard shortcut.

How to create a new connection from one node to another.
1. In the Node view , identify w hich node should be at the top of the connection and w hich one should
be at the bottom, and position them accordingly.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

W ith the mouse, click and drag from the top node's bottom port. A cable w ill be draw n fromthe port to your mouse cursor. Drag it to the bottom node's top port and the cable w ill snap
against it. Release the mouse button to create the connection.

lClick on one of the ports you w ant to connect to select it. Then, w hile holding the Ctrl
(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key, click on the other port to create a connection.

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How to connect a node in the middle of an existing connection
1. Add the node you w ant to insert into the existing connection to the Node view .

2. Press and hold the Alt key.
3. W hile holding the Alt, click and drag the node you w ant to add to the connection over thisconnection, then release the node.

The node w ill be connected as an intermediary betw een the tw o connected nodes.

How to instantly connect one or several nodes to the same child node
1. Select all the nodes you w ant to connect to a child node.

2. Press and hold the Alt key.
3. W hile holding the Alt key, click on the node you w ant the selected nodes to be connected to.

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TIP
This is mostly useful to connect several nodes to a composite, but can also be used toquickly connect any parent node to its child.

How to instantly connect one or several nodes to the same parent node
1. Select all the nodes that you w ant to connect to the same parent node.

2. Press and hold the Alt and Shift keys.
3. W hile holding the Alt and Shift keys, click on the node you w ant the selected nodes to beconnected to.

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Disconnecting Nodes
You can disconnect nodes by pulling the extremity of a cable and dropping it in the empty space in the Nodeview . You can also use the Cable Cutter mode of the Node view to instantly remove several connections w ith amouse gesture.

How to disconnect a node from another node
1. Do one of the follow ing:lUsing the mouse, click and drag on the top port of the bottom node. This w ill tear the cable
off the port. Drag the cable to an empty space in the Node view and drop it to delete theconnection.

lClick on the cable and press Del to delete it.

lClick on the cable and drag it to delete it.

How to remove an intermediary node from its connection
1. W hile holding the Alt key, click on the node and drag it aw ay from the connection.

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How to quickly cut several connections with the mouse cursor
1. In the Node View toolbar, click theCable Cutter button to toggle it on.

2. Click and drag over all the cables you w ant to remove.

3. Once you are done cutting cables, click theCable Cutter button again to toggle it off.

TIP
You can assign a keyboard shortcut to toggle or temporarily enable Cable Cutter mode. To dothis, assign keyboard shortcuts to the Cable Cutter or Cable Cutter Override commands in the
Node View section of the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog. To access 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 Premium > Keyboard Shortcuts.

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Displaying Port Tooltips
You can display a port's name by clicking on it. You can also display the information on a connection byhovering the mouse cursor on one of the ports in the connection.

How to display a port's name
1. Click on the port to select it.
The port w ill display its name.

How to display information on a connection.
1. Move the mouse cursor over one of the ports that the connection is linking and w ait one second.
A tooltip w ill appear displaying the type of port the mouse is over as w ell, its port number, thename of the node it is connected to and the port number to w hich it is connected.

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About Peg Nodes
Peg nodes are node that are used to store geometric transformations (position, scale, skew ing and angle) as
w ell as animations and apply them onto draw ings. Any transformation or animation made on a peg is also
applied onto elements connected under it.

A peg node can be connected to multiple draw ings, so as to make it possible to transform and animate
multiple elements, but still store all the transformation and animation in a single node.

Peg nodes can also be stacked to combined their transformations and animations, and apply the combinedtransformations onto an element.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Adding and Connecting Peg Nodes
Peg nodes are often use in great amounts in digital animation. To make rigging and staging easier, there aremethods for quickly adding pegs to a node system.

How to add and connect a Peg node manually
1. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click in the Node View and select Insert > Move > Peg.

l

In the top-left corner of the Node View , open the View Menu and select Insert > Peg.

lPress Ctrl + P

lIn the Node Library view , select the Move category. Then, drag and drop the Peg node into
the Node View .

2. Connect the bottom port of the Peg node to the top port of the Draw ing node you w ant it to affectby doing one of the follow ing:lClick and drag on the bottom port of the peg to create a cable, and drag it to the top port of
the Draw ing node.

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Click on the bottom port of the peg and, w hile holding Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS),
click on the top port of the draw ing node to instantly create a connection.

How to add parent pegs to several layers
1. In the Node view , select all the nodes to w hich you w ant to add a parent peg.

TIPSl

You can draw a rectangle around a cluster of nodes to select to select all of themsimultaneously.

l

You can hold the Ctrl key and click on each node you w ant to select to add them tothe selection.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top-left corner of the Node View , open the

View Menu and select Insert Parent

Pegl

Press Ctrl + Shift + P (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + P (macOS).

A peg is created for each selected node, each rigged as the parent of their respective node.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

How to add a single parent peg to several layers
1. In the Node view , select all the nodes to w hich you w ant to add a parent peg.

TIPSl

You can draw a rectangle around a cluster of nodes to select to select all of themsimultaneously.

l

You can hold the Ctrl key and click on each node you w ant to select to add them tothe selection.

2. Press Ctrl + P (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + P (macOS).
A single peg is created and is rigged as a parent of all the selected nodes.

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About Composite Nodes
The Composite node allow s you to use several images and output a single image. You can compare that todoing pre-compositions in editing softw are. You can connect several draw ing, image generators and effectnodes in your Composite node and one bitmap (or vector in some cases) comes out of it.

Using Composites is necessary if you w ish to apply effects to several layers combined. For example, if you
w ant a character rig that is composed of several layers to appear transparent, you must connect all the layersof your character's rig to the same composite, and connect a Transparency effect to that composite.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Adding and Connecting Composite Nodes
Composite nodes are often used in complex node systems and must often be connected to a lot of nodes. To
make rigging and staging easier, w hen you create a composite w hile nodes are selected, it is automaticallyconnected to all of the selected nodes.

TIP
You can assign a keyboard shortcut to

How to add and connect a Composite node manually
1. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click in the Node View and select Insert > Combine > Composite.

l

In the top-left corner of the Node VIew , open the View Menu and select Insert > Composite.

lPress Ctrl + H.

l

In the Node Library view , select the Combine category, then drag and drop the Composite
node from the Node Library to the Node View .

2. For each node that should be connected to the composite, do one of the follow ing:lClick and drag on the node's bottom port to create a connection cable, then release the cable
just over the composite.

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Click on the node's bottom port to select it. Then, w hile holding Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘(macOS), click on the top edge of the Composite, w here you w ant the connection to becreated.

3. Connect the bottom port of the Composite to another Composite, an effect, or a Display node.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

How to add a Composite node and instantly connect several nodes to it
1. Select all the nodes to w hich you w ant the Composite to be connected.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click in the Node View and select Insert > Combine > Composite.

l

In the top-left corner of the Node VIew , open the View Menu and select Insert > Composite.

lPress Ctrl + H.

A Composite node is created and is instantly connected to all the selected nodes.

3. Connect the bottom port of the Composite to another Composite, an effect, or a Display node.

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How to instantly connect several nodes to an existing Composite node
1. Select all the nodes to w hich you w ant the Composite to be connected.

2. W hile holding the Alt key, click on the Composite node.
The selected nodes are instantly all connected to the Composite.

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About Composite Modes
Composite nodes have several modes, each of w hich can have a specific purpose in a complex node system:l

As Bitmap: This is the default mode for composites. A bitmap composite outputs a single compositedimage.

l

As Seamless Bitmap: mode w orks very similarly to bitmap mode, except it prevents seams fromappearing betw een vector shapes that have matching outlines or w hen vector draw ings are 3D-rotatedand made to mesh together.

NOTE
Shadow , Glow , Blending and Focus effects do not w ork w hen connected to a Seamless
Bitmap composite.

l

As Vector: This mode outputs a flat vector draw ing made of all the connected draw ings. Vector
composites should be used only w hen necessary, as they ignore any effect and bitmap information thatis sent to them.

lPass Through: This mode simply passes all the information sent to the Composite, including artw ork,
effects and transformations, onto the next composite as is, as a multi-layered image. This means that if
an effect is applied to the output of that composite, the effect w ill be applied individually to each layer
connected to that composite. Hence, a pass through composite does not really perform any
composition. It is essentially an organization tool.

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NOTES
l

The cable coming from a Pass Through composite w ill be thicker and have a darker
centreline. This can be useful to identify areas of your node system that carry a lot of
information.

l

If a Composite set to Pass Through is at the bottom of the composite chain, it w ill act thesame as a Bitmap composite.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Changing Composite Mode
By default, composite nodes have their mode set to As Bitmap. You can change the mode of a composite nodevia its layer properties. You can also change the mode of several composites betw een As Bitmap and Pass
Through using the Set Properties for Many Layers dialog.

TIP
If your project requires a lot of pass through composites, you can enable the Default Pass
Through Composite preference. W hen this option is enabled, all new composite nodes you create
w ill have their mode set to Pass Through by default. This option can be enabled in the Preferences
dialog, in the General tab, in the Settings section.

How to change the mode of a single composite node
1. Locate the composite node in the Node View.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on the yellow squareinside the node to open its Layer Properties dialog.

l

Make sure the Layer Properties view to your w orkspace, then select the node to display its
properties in this view .

3. In the node's layer properties, open the Mode drop-dow n and select the desired mode for thiscomposite.

How to change the mode for several composite nodes
1. In the Node View , select all the Composite nodes for w hich you w ant to change the mode.

TIPSl

You can draw a rectangle around several nodes to select them simultaneously.

l

You can press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key and either clickon nodes or draw a rectangle around them to add them to your selection.

2. In the Node View toolbar, click on

Set Properties on Many Layers button.

The Set Properties on Many Layers dialog appears.

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3. Set the Composite Mode option to either Bitmap or Pass Through.
4. Click on the OK button.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

About Effect Nodes
Effect nodes are special nodes that take an image as their input, and output a transformed image. They are
typically connected as the intermediary betw een a draw ing node and a composite.

Some effect nodes have several input ports. The most frequent example is matte input port. Effect nodes w ith
matte input ports need a matte to know w hich part of the input image to affect.

There is a lot to learn about effect nodes. For more information about how to add, connect and configure effectnodes, see Effects on page 242.

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Enabling and Disabling Nodes
As w ith the Timeline layers, you can turn the Node view nodes on or off. W hen you turn off a node in the Nodeview , its corresponding layer in the Timeline and Xsheet view s is also turned off. Nodes that are turned off aredisplayed in red.

How to disable nodes
1. In the Node view , select the node(s) you w ant to disable.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top-left corner of the Node View , open the

View Menu and select Nodes >Disable.
lPress D.

How to disable all other nodes
1. In the Node view , select the node(s) that you w ant to keep enabled.

2. In the top-left corner of the Node View , open the
OthersAll nodes are disabled except for those selected.

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View Menu and select Nodes > Disable All

Chapter 12: the Node View

NOTE
This only affects nodes in the current group.

How to enable nodes
1. In the Node view , select the disabled node(s) you w ant to enable.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top-left corner of the Node View , open thelPress A.

View Menu and select Nodes > Enable.

How to enable all nodes
1. In the top-left corner of the Node View , open the1249

View Menu and select Nodes > Enable All.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Moving Nodes
If you are w orking on a complex node system, it is important to routinely move nodes around to keep them
organized and to keep their connections visible.

How to move several nodes using the mouse
1. In the Node view , click and drag on the node you w ant to move.
2. Release the mouse button w hen the node is w here you w ant it to be.

NOTE
W hen moving a node w ith the mouse, its vertical position w ill snap to align vertically w ith
other nodes and w ill snap to align horizontally to make its cables straight.

How to move several nodes using the mouse
1. In the Node View , select all the nodes you w ant to move.

TIPSl

You can draw a rectangle around a cluster of nodes to select to select all of themsimultaneously.

l

You can hold the Ctrl key and click on each node you w ant to select to add them tothe selection.

2. Click and drag on one of the selected nodes to move them.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

3. Release the mouse button w hen the nodes are w here you w ant it to be.

How to nudge nodes using the keyboard
1. In the Node view , select the node or nodes you w ant to move.

TIPSl

You can draw a rectangle around a cluster of nodes to select to select all of themsimultaneously.

l

You can hold the Ctrl key and click on each node you w ant to select to add them tothe selection.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

To nudge the selected node(s) up, press the Up Arrow key.

l

To nudge the selected node(s) right, press the Right Arrow key.

l

To nudge the selected node(s) dow n, press the Dow n Arrow key.

l

To nudge the selected node(s) left, press the Left Arrow key.

TIP
By holding the Shift key, you can nudge nodes by larger distances.

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Aligning and Organizing a Node System
The Node View comes w ith three scripts allow ing you to quickly organize and align nodes in a node system:lOrder Node View Up and Order Node View Down can organize a node system made of several parent
nodes connected to one child node—such as layers connected to a composite—into an upw ard arc, anode layout typically used for traditional or paperless animation scenes w ith few nodes. It should
how ever not be used for complex cut-out rigs.

lAlign Nodes Horizontally can arrange a selection of one or several row s of nodes into a grid. It can alsoorganize the parent nodes if they form a simple, clean tree-like structure. It is not made to organize
entire rigs, but it can quickly organize parts of a rig so as to make the organization of an entire rig easier.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

How to organize a simple node system
1. In the Node View , select either:l

The node at the root of your node system.

l

The Composite node at the bottom of your node system.

2. In the Node View toolbar, do one of the follow ing:l

If you selected the root node at the top, click thelIf you selected the Composite node at the bottom, click the

The Order Node View Settings dialog box opens.

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Order Node View Dow n button.
Order Node View Up button.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

3. The default values in the input fields are already optimized, but you can adjust them as needed:l

X Overlap %: How much nodes in the same vertical tier overlap each other on the horizontal
axis.

l

Layer Spacing: How much space to add betw een each vertical tier of nodes.

lVertical Spacing: How much vertical space to add betw een nodes of the same vertical tier.

4. Click OK.
The node system is organized in an arc.

How to align one or several rows of nodes horizontally
1. In the Node View , select one or several row s of nodes.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

TIPS
This script is designed to lay out one several row s of nodes in node system into a grid,but is not designed to w ork on entire rigs at a time. If you’re using it to align several
row s of nodes, make sure that:l

You avoid selecting node systems that branch out into several trees.

l

If one branch in your selection has an extra child, such as an Element node w ith eneffect underneath it, do not include this extra child in your selection.

l

Make sure you have created all your connections. Unconnected nodes w ill be put inthe same row .

In the follow ing image, green rectangles represent selections that w ould w ork, and red
rectangles represent selection that w ould lead to unexpected results.

2. In the Node View toolbar, click on the

Align Nodes Horizontally button.

The selected nodes are laid out by their hierarchy and aligned.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

About Displays
The Display node is an important node; it is used by the export and view s to display your scene, primarily the
Camera and Timeline view s. By default, a scene's node system alw ays has a Display node w hich can be used
to show your entire scene, a single node or a group of nodes through a Composite or Group node. You mightuse it to see one single character as you animate it, debug your node system as you create complex effects orexport your complete scene or a portion of it.

You can have more than one Display node in the Node view , so you can visualize different sections of thescene w ithout disabling or disconnecting elements that are in the w ay. This is useful in cut-out animation as itallow s you to see one puppet w ithout view ing all the other characters. It's also useful during compositing andhelps you visualize and debug effects.
To use this display concept, show the Display toolbar w hich w ill let you select different Display nodes
available in the node system.
You can also use the Scene > Display menu to select the desired Display node to update the contents of the
Camera, Top, Side, Perspective, and Timeline view s.

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W hen your scene does not have a Display node, it is automatically set to Display All w hich uses the Timelineview ordering and show s floating nodes from the Node view . You can also set your scene to use Display All
using the Display toolbar.

NOTE
If you try to add a peg or other transformation layer in the Timeline view w ithout having a layer
selected, an error message w ill display. Make sure to change to Display All. The peg layer w ill befloating in the Node view and w ill not be visible in the Timeline view . The Timeline view show s
only layers that are connected to the Composite node.
If you sw itch to Display All, you run the risk of not realizing w hen you have floating nodes that are
not connected to your composite. For this reason, it is not recommended to w ork in Display Allmode.

W hen your scene contains many nodes and you cannot see them all, you can display all nodes at that level.
Harmony has tw o display modes. By default, it is set to the Basic Display mode.
W hen creating a scene in Basic Display mode, a Display node is automatically added to the node system andconnected to the final Composite node. All of the view s are set to use this Display node. This means that only
the elements connected in that Composite node w ill show in the Camera view .
You can add and connect more Display nodes to your node system and select the one you w ant by using the
Display menu. In Basic mode, every view is set to the same Display node.
In Advanced Display mode, every view using the display concept has its ow n Display menu and each one canbe set to a different Display node. To sw itch from Basic to Advanced Display mode, you must enable theAdvanced Display option in the Preferences dialog box (Advanced tab). These Display menus allow you to set
the view s to different displays. By default, all view s are set to Default to follow the main Display toolbar
selection. How ever, you may w ant different view s set on different displays. For example, you can have one
Camera view to display the full scene and another Camera view to only display the character being animated.
In this case, you can set the first Camera view on the final display and the second on the character’s Display
node.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

If you w ant the view s to follow the main Display toolbar selection, set the display option of each display menu
to Default.

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Adding Display Nodes
To display different portions of your scene, you need to add several Display node to your project.

How to add a Display node
1. Do one of the follow ings:l

In the Node view , press Ctrl + Y (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Y (macOS).

l

In the Node menu, select Insert > Display.

l

In the Node view , right-click and select Insert > Output > Display.

l

In the Node Library view , in the Output category, select a Display node and drag it to
the Node view .

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Changing Global Displays
Using the Display toolbar, you can change w hich display to view the scene from.

How to set a different Display node as a global display
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Display toolbar drop-dow n, select a display.

l

From the top menu, select Scene > Default Display and select a display.

Each view is updated if set to the Default display option.

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Setting Advanced Display Options
You can set your view s to show different display outputs simultaneously w ith the Advanced Display option.

How to enable the Advanced Display option
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony Premium >Preferences (macOS).

‣

Press Ctrl + U (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + U (macOS).

2. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Advanced tab.
3. In the Advanced Options section, select the Advanced Display option.
A Display menu appears in the top-left corner of the Camera, Timeline, Perspective, Top, and Side
view s.

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About Groups in the Node View
W ith so many connections and nodes possible, the Timeline and Node view s can quickly become cluttered.
You can use groups to keep your scenes organized.

W hen grouping nodes, you can choose to create a simple group, or a group w ith a composite. A simple groupw ill simply help you organize your Node view , w hereas a group w ith composite w ill connect all the nodes inyour group to the same composite, and connect that composite to the outside of your group. This makes thegroup have a single outgoing connection for its composite, rather than one connection for each node thatconnected to your scene's composite.

Hence, grouping nodes w ith a composite is a quick w ay of connecting several layers that need to becomposited together to the same composite node. How ever, grouping nodes w ithout a composite allow s you
to connect the layers inside the group to different parts of the Node view outside of the group, allow ing you topreserve and tw eak the stacking order of the group's content relative to the remainder of the scene if needed.

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Using the Move to Parent Group command allow s you to move the selected node to the parent level,
maintaining all connections. If the operation cannot maintain the connections betw een the nodes, you w ill be
notified and the operation w ill be terminated.

NOTE
You can also group layers using the Timeline view —see About Groups in the Timeline View on
page 186.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Grouping Nodes
You can group your nodes to keep your Node view organized.

NOTE
For grouping layers in the Timeline view , see Grouping Layers on page 187.

How to group nodes in the Node view
1. In the Node view , drag a selection around the nodes you w ant to group.

2. In the Node menu, do one of the follow ing:lSelect Edit > Group > Group Selected Layers.

lPress Ctrl + G (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + G (macOS).

You can also right-click in the Node view and select one of the follow ing:lGroup > Group Selection W ith Composite or press Ctrl +Shift + G (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ + Shift + G (macOS).

lGroup > Group Selection or press Ctrl + G (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + G (macOS)

The selected nodes are grouped.

NOTE
To learn how to navigate inside the group, see Entering Groups and Exiting Groups.

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Ungrouping Nodes
If needed, you can ungroup nodes that you have previously grouped together.

NOTE
For ungrouping layers in the Timeline view , see Ungrouping Layers.

How to ungroup a group of nodes
1. In the Node view , select the group you w ant to ungroup.

2. In the Node menu, select Edit > Group > Ungroup.
The selected group is ungrouped.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Moving Nodes Between Groups
It is possible to move nodes from one group to another group, from the top level to a group or from a group to
the top level. To do this, you must cut the nodes you w ant to move and paste them in the intended group.

How to move nodes from one group to another group
1. In the Node view , select the node or nodes you w ant to move.

TIPSl

You can draw a rectangle around a cluster of nodes to select to select all of themsimultaneously.

l

You can hold the Ctrl key and click on each node you w ant to select to add them tothe selection.

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

l

In the top menu, select Edit > Cut selection.

lPress Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS)

3. Navigate to the group in w hich you w ant to move the selected nodes.
4. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click in the Node view and select Paste.

l

In the top menu, select Edit > Paste.

lPress Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS).

The nodes are pasted in the current group. You w ill have to manually connect them to this group's
node system.

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Moving Nodes to Parent Group
Using the Move to Parent Group command, you can quickly move a selection of nodes to the parent of thecurrent group and preserve their connections. How ever, to be able to use this command, the selected nodes
can be connected to the bottom of the group or to the top of the group, but not both.

How to move nodes to the parent group
1. In the Node view , go inside the group and select the nodes you w ant to move up to the parent
group level.

2. From the Node menu, select Nodes > Move to Parent Group or press Ctrl + Shift + U(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + U (macOS).
The selected nodes are moved to the parent group level.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Adding a Node's Properties to a Group's Properties
Using Publish Attribute Mode, you can select properties in any node's Layer Properties dialog and push themto the layer properties of their parent group. This w ay, if you need to make frequent changes to specificproperties of specific nodes inside a group, you can access those properties directly from the Layer Properties
dialog for that group, instead of having to enter that group and locate those specific nodes every time.

How to publish a node's attributes to its parent group
1. In the top-left corner of the Node view , open the

View Menu and select View > Publish

Attribute Mode.
2. In the Node view , locate the node for w hich you w ant to publish attributes.
3. Click on theLayer Properties button for this node.

The Layer Properties dialog for this node appears. Notice that:lA Tab field is at the top of the layer properties dialog. The attributes you publish w ill be in atab inside the parent group's layer properties, and the tab w ill have the name you put in thisfield. The parent group w ill have one tab for each node that has published attributes.

l

A check box and a text field is right of each group of attributes, such as Position, Scale,
Rotation, etc. If you check a group's check box, all of the attributes in this group w ill be listed
in the parent group's properties.

l

A check box and a text field is right of each individual attribute.

4. In the Tab field, give a name to the tab that w ill appear in the parent group's properties for this
node.

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5. For each attribute or attribute group that you w ant to add to the parent group's properties:
a. Check the check box just right of this attribute or attribute groupb. If you w ant this attribute or attribute group to have a custom name in the parent group's
properties, type in that name in the text field just right of the check box.

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6. Repeat for each attribute you w ish to publish.

7. In the Node view , navigate to the parent group by doing one of the follow ing:lClick on the Uparrow near the top of the node view .

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Click on the parent group's name in the hierarchy displayed at the bottom of the Node view .

8. Click on the Layer Properties

button for that group.

The group's Layer Properties dialog opens. In the group's layer properties, each attribute you choseto publish are in a tab w ith the given tab name. You can edit those attributes from here, and thechanges w ill be applied to the node's attributes.

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9. If you don't w ant the attributes published to this group to also be published to this group's parent
group (if it has one), uncheck the Publish to Parent Groups option.

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About Backdrops
T-RIG-008-001
Backdrops are a w ay to w ork w ith complex node systems that let you associate a selected set of nodes bycolour. You can add as many backdrops to your node structure as needed. The idea is to visually organize thestructure so you can quickly identify the particular set of nodes.
You can customize the backdrops w ith different colours. For example, the upper part of a character's body
could be in different shades of red, w hile the low er body is in shades of green. W hen you create a backdrop to
the Node view , the default colour is red.
Once you have created a backdrop w ith nodes inside, you can move the backdrop to the desired location andarrange multiple backdrops neatly. You can also resize backdrops to accommodate the number of nodes inyour rig.
You can select the nodes you w ant to add to the backdrop before creating it and vice versa—create an empty
backdrop and then drag the desired nodes into the backdrop.

NOTE
Because backdrops are not layers, its properties do not appear in a node's properties.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

For your convenience, you can add backdrops as templates to the library—see Create a Template from theNode view in Chapter 7: Library of the Cut-out Animation Guide.

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Adding Backdrops
T-RIG-008-002
You can add colourful backdrop to organize your nodes and group parts of your cut-out characters.

How to add a backdrop
1. In the Node view , do one of the follow ing:lSelect the nodes to include in the backdrop.

l

Click anyw here in the Node view to deselect any selected items.

2. From the Node View menu, select Insert > Backdrop.
If you selected nodes, a red backdrop displays around the nodes you selected.

If you did not select anything, a red backdrop displays in the Node view .

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Removing Backdrops
If no longer needed, you can easily remove backdrops.

How to remove a backdrop
1. In the Node view , clear any backdrop or node selections.
2. Alt+ click on the title bar of a backdrop to only select the backdrop, w ithout the nodes.
l

If you w ant to delete the backdrop and all its nodes, simply select the backdrop
w ithout using the Alt key.

3. Press Del.
l

If you had a node selection, depending on your project, the Confirm Delete w indow
may display. Deselect the Delete Drawing Files and Element Folders. If you havemultiple version of a scene, you w ill w ant to keep all the files and folders associatedw ith it. If you select this option, all the draw ings and folders linked to this backdrop
w ill be deleted.

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Customizing Backdrops
T-RIG-008-003
Once you've created a backdrop, customizing it is a great w ay to organize your w ork. You can change thecolour of the backdrop, give it a name w hich displays in the title bar of the backdrop, and add any notes or
instructions pertaining to the nodes contained in the backdrop.

How to customize a backdrop
1. To resize a backdrop, drag the triangle in the low er-right corner of the backdrop w indow .

2. Click the yellow square properties button.
The Backdrop Properties w indow opens.

3. To change the colour of the backdrop, click the Colour list and select a colour.

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4. In the Name field, type in a name for the backdrop.
5. In the Text field, type in any notes or instructions in the backdrop.

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Organizing Nodes in Backdrops
Once you have deselected all items in the Node view , you can organize any of the nodes by dragging andmoving them around even if they are in a backdrop. You can move nodes from one backdrop to another.

How to organize nodes in backdrops
1. Click anyw here in the Node view to deselect all items.
2. Organize the nodes by dragging them from one or more backdrops.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Moving Backdrops
T-RIG-008-004
W hen you w ant to move a backdrop, you can do so either w ith or w ithout the nodes it contains. Moving a
backdrop w ith its nodes lets you quickly organize entire sections of a complex rig.
Moving the backdrop only (w ithout its nodes) gives you a chance to reorganize a node structure. Perhaps
nodes should be grouped differently for a better w orkflow or nested w ithin another backdrop for optimalorganization.

How to move a backdrop and its contents
1. Click anyw here in the Node view to deselect all items.
2. Click the title bar of a backdrop and drag to a new location.

How to move a backdrop without its contents
1. Click anyw here in the Node view to deselect all items.
2. Hold dow n Alt and drag the backdrop by the title bar to a new location.
3. Click anyw here outside the backdrop to set its new position.

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Copying and Pasting Backdrops
W hen you copy a backdrop, its contents are copied along w ith the backdrop name, colour, and any notes.
W hen selecting a backdrop, all backdrops underneath it are also selected.
W hen you select a backdrop w ith the Alt key, the backdrop retains its Z order.

NOTE
A selection that contains only backdrops cannot be copied.

How to copy and paste a backdrop
1. Select one or more backdrops to copy and press Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C (macOS).
2. To paste the copied backdrop(s), press Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS). Note that
nodes w ill be pasted as clones. They w ill link to the same draw ing columns and existing function
columns.

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About W aypoints
W aypoints are a w ay to organize the connection cables in the Node view .

W aypoints have tw o basic functionalities:l

They allow you to modify the trajectory of a cable connecting tw o nodes.

lThey allow you to determine w here a cable should split before branching to several nodes.

In the end, the main purpose of w aypoints is to sort out connection cables in a complex node system w here a
lot of connections cross. By adding w aypoints to your nose system, you can keep the different connections
clearly separate and make your node system more legible.

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A connection can have one or several w aypoints accross it. The connection betw een a w aypoint and a node
w ill be a Bezier curve, and the connection betw een tw o w aypoints w ill be a straight line.

In the Node view , the information travels from top to bottom. Just like it is possible to split an outgoingconnection into several cables, it is possible to split a w aypoint into several cables. How ever, keep in mind thatthe opposite is not possible. You cannot use a w aypoint to combine several connections into one.

Just like w hen you create several connections from a single node, you can apply specific effects to one of theconnections of a w aypoint w ithout applying it to all of them.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Adding W aypoints
There are tw o w ays to add w aypoints. You can break an existing connection in tw o by creating a w aypoint in
the middle, or add a free w aypoint, then connect its input node and its output node.

How to quickly add a waypoint to a connection that has no waypoints
1. Click on the connection to w hich you w ant to add a w aypoint.
A circle appears in the middle of the connection.

2. Click and drag on the circle over the connection to w hich you w ant to add a w aypoint,.
The circle is converted to a w aypoint in the middle of the connection.

How to add a waypojnt to a connection that already has waypoints
1. Click on the connection to w hich you w ant a w aypoint.

2. Right-click on the connection, exactly w here you w ant the w aypoint to be created.
3. Select Create W aypoint.

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A w aypoint is created over the selected connection, w here you right-clicked.

How to add a free waypoint
1. Right-click anyw here in the Node view .
2. Select Create W aypoint.
A free w aypoint is created w here you right-clicked.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Connecting and Disconnecting W aypoints
If you created a free w aypoint, you need to create its incoming connection first, then its outcgoing onnections
after. You must follow this order. Connecting a node to a w aypoint is done the same w ay as connecting a nodeto another node. How ever, to connect a w aypoint to a node, you must press and hold the Shift key w hile
clicking and dragging on the w aypoint to create an output cable.

If you've created a w aypoint on an existing connection, it already has one incoming and one outgoingconnection. So, all you need to do is create its extra outgoing connections, if needed. A w aypoint can only have
one incoming connection, but can have as many outgoing connections as needed.

How to create an incoming connection from a node to a waypoint
1. Click and hold on the bottom port of the node you w ant to connect to the w aypoint.

2. W hile holding the mouse button, drag all the w ay to the w aypoint. W hen the cable snaps to thew aypoint, release the mouse button.

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How to create an outgoing connection from a waypoint to a node
1. Press and hold the Shift key.
2. Click and hold on the w aypoint.

3. Do one of the follow ing:l

W hile holding the mouse button, drag all the w ay to the top port of the node you w ant toconnect the w aypoint to. W hen the cable snaps to the port, release the mouse button.

l

Press and hold the Alt key and click on the node you w ant to connect the w aypoint to, near
the port to w hich you w ant to connect it.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Moving W aypoints
Like nodes, w aypoints can be dragged and dropped and can be nudged using the arrow keys

How to move a waypoint with the mouse
1. Click and drag on the w aypoint you w ant to move to move it.

How to move several waypoints with the mouse
1. In the Node View , select all the w aypoints you w ant to move.

TIPSl

You can select several w aypoints by pressing and holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ (macOS) key and clicking on each w aypoint you w ant to select.

l

You can draw a rectangle around a cluster of w aypoints to select all of themsimultaneously.

2. Click and drag one of the selected w aypoints to move them.

How to nudge waypoints with the arrow keys
1. In the Node View , select all the w aypoints you w ant to move.

TIPSl

You can select several w aypoints by pressing and holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ (macOS) key and clicking on each w aypoint you w ant to select.

l

You can draw a rectangle around a cluster of w aypoints to select all of themsimultaneously.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

To nudge the selected w aypoint(s) up, press the Up Arrow key.

l

To nudge the selected w aypoint(s) right, press the Right Arrow key.

l

To nudge the selected w aypoint(s) dow n, press the Dow n Arrow key.

l

To nudge the selected w aypoint(s) left, press the Left Arrow key.

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TIP
By holding the Shift key, you can nudge w aypoints by larger distances.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Disconnecting W aypoints
It is possible to disconnect the connection going from a w aypoint to a node. How ever, it is not possible todisconnect the connection from a node to a w aypoint, except by replacing it w ith a connection coming fromanother node.

How to break the connection from a waypoint to a node
1. Click and hold on the top port to w hich the w aypoint is connected.

2. W hile holding the mouse button, drag the mouse to break the connection aw ay from the port, thenrelease it to discard the connection.

How to replace the connection from a node to a waypoint
1. Click and hold on the bottom port of the node to w hich you w ant the w aypoint to be connected.

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2. W hile holding the mouse button, drag the mouse over the w aypoint. W hen the cable snaps to thew aypoint, release the mouse button.

If the w aypoint had an incoming connection from another node, this connection is now discarded,
as w aypoints can only have one incoming connection.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Removing W aypoints
You can remove a w aypoints w ithout affecting your node system. W hen you delete a w aypoint, the connectionthat the w aypoint separates remains in the node system.

How to remove a waypoint
1. In the node view , select the w aypoint you w ant to remove.

TIPSl

You can select several w aypoints by pressing and holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ (macOS) key and clicking on each w aypoint you w ant to select.

l

You can draw a rectangle around a cluster of w aypoints to select all of themsimultaneously.

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

lPress Del

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Navigating the Node View
The Node view is a limitless space in w hich you can lay out very large and complex node systems. Hence, it isimportant to know how to navigate it.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Panning & Zooming the Node View
The basics of navigating the Node View are panning and zooming in or out until you have the nodes you w ant
to w ork w ith w ithin the view .

How to pan the Node View
1. Press and hold the Spacebar key.
2. W hile holding the Spacebar key, click and drag the inside of the Node view .

How to zoom out the Node View
1. Do one of the follow ing:lMove the mouse inside the Node View and scroll dow n.

lClick on the Node View to set the focus on it, then press 1.

How to zoom in the Node View
1. Do one of the follow ing:lMove the mouse cursor inside the Node View and scroll up.

lClick on the Node View to set the focus on it, then press 2.

How to reset the Node View's pan
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top-left corner of the Node View , open the

View Menu and select View > ResetPan.
lPress Shift + N.

How to reset the Node View's zoom
1. In the top-left corner of the Node View , open the
View Zoom.

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View Menu and select View > Reset NodeHarmony 22 Premium User Guide

How to reset the Node View's pan and zoom
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the top-left corner of the Node View , open the
View.

l

Press Shift + period(.).

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View Menu and select View > ResetChapter 12: the Node View

Displaying All Nodes in the Node View
Using the Show All Nodes command, you can quickly adjust the pan and zoom of the Node View to include all
the nodes in your node system.

How to display all nodes
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node View menu, select View > Show All Nodes.

lPress Shift + comma (,).

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Using the Magnifier in the Node View
Magnifier is a convenient tool that displays the entire node system and allow s you to quickly zoom in on any
section of it.

How to magnify the Node view
1. Click anyw here in the Node View to set the focus on it.
2. Press and hold the Z key.
The Node View displays all the nodes in the node system and a magnifying rectangle appears near
your mouse cursor.
3. Move the mouse near the nodes you w ant to navigate to. The magnifier w ill display the nodes
around your mouse cursor as you move it.
4. W hen you found the nodes you w ant to navigate to, click in the Node View to jump to them.
5. Release the Z key.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Using the Navigator in the Node View
The Navigator is a small panel in the bottom-right corner of the Node View . It displays all the nodes in yournode system w ithin its rectangle as w ell as a smaller rectangle representing the area the Node View isdisplaying. You can click and drag on this rectangle to quickly pan the Node view .

How to pan the Node View using the Navigator
1. Click and hold inside the rectangle inside the Node View 's navigator.

2. W hile holding the mouse button, drag the rectangle to move it around the node system. The
rectangle w ill follow your mouse cursor, making the Node View pan around the node system.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Resizing the Node View Navigator
The Node View 's Navigator is rather small by default. It is possible to scale it up or dow n.

How to resize the Node View Navigator
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

To resize the navigator horizontally, move the mouse cursor over its left edge until themouse cursor appears.

l

To resize the navigator vertically, move the cursor over its top edge until themouse

cursor appears.
l

To resize the navigator both horizontally and vertically, move the cursor over its top-leftcorner until themouse cursor appears.

2. Click and drag on the edge of the Navigator to resize it.

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Moving the Node View Navigator
The Node VIew navigator is displayed in the bottom-right corner of the Node View by default. Although you
cannot move the navigator anyw here in the Node View , you can decide w hich corner of the Node View it
occupies.

How to reposition the Node View navigator
1. In the top-left corner of the Node View , open the

View Menu and select View > Navigator

2. Select one of the follow ing, depending on w here you w ant the Navigator to be:l

Top Leftl

Top RightlBottom Leftl

Bottom Right

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Hiding and Displaying the Node View Navigator
The Node View Navigator is displayed in the bottom-right corner of the Node View by default. You can hide it
if you prefer.

How to hide the Node View Navigator
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Node view menu, select View > Navigator > Hide NavigatorlPress Ctrl + Shift + W (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + W (macOS).

How to display the Node View Navigator
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Node view menu, select View > Navigator > Show NavigatorlPress Ctrl + Shift + W (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + W (macOS).

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Entering Groups
You can enter groups to see their content.

How to enter a group node
1. In the Node view , click the arrow on the right side of the group node you w ant to enter.

l

Inside the group node, the Multi-Port In and Multi-Port Out nodes ensure that your connections
continue beyond the group.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Exiting Groups
You can exit groups and return to the complete node system.

How to exit a group node
1. In the Node view , click the destination in the Group Hierarchy menu. You can also select Nodes >Exit Group from the Node menu.
‣

You can click on the top blue arrow in the Node view to exit the current group.

‣

W hen you enter a group, the Group Hierarchy menu displays the path to w here you are. In thisexample, w e are inside the group named Deform_Bob. To exit this group, click Top at thebottom-left corner of the Node view .

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Navigating the Node View with the Keyboard
It is possible to navigate a node system using the arrow keys and the Enter/Return key. To do this, you must
start by selecting one of the ports in a node. From there, you can navigate to any port in that node, or any nodeconnected to that node.

How to navigate a node system using the keyboard
1. In the Node view , click on any port of any node.
The port is selected.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

To navigate from a node's top port to its bottom port, press the Dow n Arrow key.

l

To navigate from a node's bottom port to its top port, press the Up Arrow key.

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Chapter 12: the Node Viewl

To navigate betw een different ports on the same side of a node, press the Left Arrow andRight Arrow keys.

lTo navigate from one node to another node that is connected under it, navigate to the port
through w hich they are connected. Then, press the Dow n Arrow key.

l

If a bottom port is connected to several nodes and you press the Dow n Arrow key, circles
w ill appear to prompt you to select w hich node to navigate to:

Use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to select the circle corresponding to the node you
w ant to navigate to.

Then, press the Dow n Arrow key to navigate dow n the selected path to the port it leads to.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

To navigate from one node to a higher node that is connected to it, navigate to the port
through w hich it is connected, then press the Up Arrow key.

l

To navigate inside a group, do one of the follow ing:l

To enter the group from the top (via the Multi-Port-In), navigate to one of the group's
top ports.

l

To enter the group from the bottom (via the Multi-Port-Out), navigate to one of thegroup's bottom ports.

Once one of the group's port is selected, do one of the follow ing:l

If the group's top port is selected, press the Dow n Arrow key.

l

If the group's bottom port is selected, press the Up Arrow key.

An Enter/Return symbol w ill appear over the group.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

At this point, you can press Enter/Return to enter the group. Inside the group, the Multi-PortIn or Multi-Port-Out port corresponding to the port you had selected w ill be selected, andyou can navigate from there.

l

To navigate outside of the group, navigate to either the group's Multi-Port-In or Multi-PortOut. Then:l

If the group's Multi-Port-In is selected, press the Up Arrow key.

l

If the group's Multi-Port-Out is selected, press the Dow n Arrow key.

An Enter/Return symbol w ill appear over the group.

At this point, you can press Enter/Return to exit the group. Outside of the group, the group's
port corresponding tho the Multi-Port-In or Multi-Port-Out port you selected w ill beselected and you can navigate from there.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Displaying Node Thumbnails
In the Node view , some nodes have a thumbnail option, identified by an arrow next to the properties button(square yellow button). Thumbnails can be very useful w hen navigating the netw ork to easily identify thecontent of each node or analyze the flow of images and effects.

How to display a node’s thumbnail
1. In the Node view , click on the arrow in the node.
The thumbnail opens.

If no thumbnail appears, click the Render View

button in the Camera view (bottom toolbar) togenerate them.

How to show thumbnails of selected nodes
1. In the Node view , select the node(s) w hose thumbnails you w ant to display.

2. In the Node View menu, select View > Show Selected Thumbnails or press T.

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If no thumbnail appears, click the Render View

button in the Camera view (bottom toolbar) togenerate them.

How to hide a node’s thumbnail
1. In the Node view , click the arrow in the node.
The thumbnail closes and the node returns to its closed state.

How to hide thumbnails for the selected nodes
1. In the Node view , select the node(s) w hose thumbnails you w ant to hide.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

2. In the Node View menu, select View > Hide Selected Thumbnails or press T.

How to hide all nodes thumbnails
1. In the Netw ork View menu, select View > Hide All Thumbnails.

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Adjusting Node Thumbnails
It is possible to adjust the size, resolution and background colour of thumbnails in the Node view .

How to adjust the size, resolution or background colour of Node thumbnails
1. In the Node view , click on the Arrow button of a Node to display its thumbnail. For other methods
to display Node thumbnails, see Displaying Node Thumbnails on page 1311

1. Click on the node to select it.
The node's thumbnail controls appear.

1. Do one of the follow ing:l

To resize the thumbnail, click and drag the handle in its top-right corner.

l

To change the resolution of the thumbnail, click and hold the resolution drop-dow n on thebottom-left corner, drag the mouse cursor over the desired resolution, then release themouse button.

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Chapter 12: the Node Viewl

The change the background colour of the thumbnail, click on the square in the bottom-rightcorner of the thumbnail.
The background colour cycles over w hite, black, blue and grey.

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Changing Cable Styles
You can customize the look of the cables in the Node view to fit your style of w orking. You can display thecable lines as Bezier (curved) lines or straight lines.

How to change cable stylesl

In the Node View menu, select View > Cable Style > Bezier or Line.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

About Node and Rig Caching
Character rigs used in cut-out animation are often very complex. Depending on their complexity and on thegeneral performance of your computer, some rigs can take as much as much as 50 to 150 milliseconds for
Harmony to render in the OpenGL preview of the Camera view .
W hen you manipulate an element in your scene, Harmony needs to regenerate the entire preview image for
the Camera view . This means that if your scene has several rigs, the time required to render each of theirpreview adds up each time you manipulate something, causing delays of several hundreds of milliseconds per
manipulation. As a result, it can be very challenging to w ork on scenes w ith several characters w ithout using
w orkarounds such as hiding all characters but the ones being w orked on.
How ever, it is possible to manage this situation efficiently w ith very little compromise by using rig caching.
Caching is a mode that can be enabled on any node that outputs an image, but more importantly, it can be
enabled on Composite nodes, allow ing you to cache entire rigs in your scenes.
W hen a rig is cached, Harmony generates the OpenGL preview image for that rig once, then stores it in a
database of preview images. W henever the preview image for the Camera view needs to be refreshed,
Harmony w ill simply re-use this cached image instead of regenerating the preview image for the cached rig.
Hence, in a scene w ith several rigs, you can enable caching on each rig separately, then temporarily disable
caching on the rig you w ish to w ork on. Harmony's performance w ill be comparable to that of a scene w ith asingle rig in it. You can then re-enable caching on this rig, at w hich point Harmony w ill regenerate the rig's
cache so that its preview image remains accurate w hile you start w orking on a different character rig.

NOTE
Node caching and rig caching do not affect the rendered image. They only affect the OpenGL
preview of a Harmony scene in the Camera view .

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About How Node Caching W orks and Its Caveats
Node caching can save a significant amount of time. How ever, before attempting to use node caching, it isimportant to understand how it w orks as w ell as its caveats.

Enabling Node Caching
Caching can be enabled on individual nodes. It can be enabled on any node that outputs an image. W hen
caching is enabled on a node, its output image is cached, and this cache is only regenerated w hen needed.
More importantly, caching can be enabled on a Composite node. In this case, the Composite node w ill notcache its output image. It w ill cache each of its input images separately.
This exception is meant to simplify the use of node caching. Essentially, all you need to do to create a separate
cache for each character rig in a scene is to enable caching on the Composite node to w hich your character rigs
are connected. The Composite node w ill take care of creating a cache for each of them, and of enabling,
disabling and refreshing these caches w hen needed.
Caching cannot be enabled on nodes that do not output an image, such as Peg, Quadmap, Deformation nodes,
Constraint nodes as w ell as W rite and Display nodes. Furthermore, caching cannot be enabled on a group, asa group does not actually output an image, it merely stores nodes and allow s cables to go in and out of it. To
cache the output image of a group, you can add a Composite node below the group and enable caching on it.

Posing and Animating with Node Caching
Project collaborators w ho have to w ork on scenes in w hich nodes and rigs are cached w ill need to learn how
to temporarily disable caching on a node or rig so that they can edit and manipulate it. The process is fairly
simple. For more information, see W orking w ith Node Caching on page 1330.

Effects on the OpenGL Preview
The most important hing to understand about node caching is that, w hen a node's output image is cached,w hat is cached, and w hat is displayed in the OpenGL preview of the Camera view , is a flat bitmap image. Thismeans that a cached node has a limited display resolution, that all its layers are flattened together and that it
does not carry any vector, colour palette or depth information.
In most cases, this w ill have very little visible effects. There are tw o exceptions to this: Layers that are offset
on the z-axis, and effects that can be preview ed in the OpenGL preview of the Camera view . Both exceptions
are explained below .

IMPORTANTKeep in mind that node caching and rig caching have no effect on the final rendered image, nor in
the preview image in the Camera view w hen it is set to
only affect the

OpenGL preview of the Camera view .

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Render View mode. Node caching canChapter 12: the Node View

Depth, Z- Ordering and Compositing Order
The first effect that node caching can have on the OpenGL preview occurs w hen layers in different rigs havebeen offset on the z-axis. It is common, in cut-out animation, to nudge specific elements of a character rig on
the z-axis so as to allow cut-out characters to interact w ith each other or w ith objects, and have each elementin each respective rig render in the proper order, regardless of the order in w hich elements are connected in
the node system, such as in the follow ing example:

This technique only w orks in Harmony w hen using composites in Pass Through or 3D Bitmap mode. These
composite modes pass on the data required for composites further dow n in the node netw ork to composite
elements according to their individual position on the z-axis.

How ever, w hen the output of a Composite node is cached, its cached output is alw ays a flat bitmap image,w ith no information about the position of individual elements on the z-axis. Hence, w hen characters andobjects in your scenes are cached separately, the OpenGL preview w ill display each character as a single flat
image. Individual elements that make up their rigs w ill not display in their specific position on the z-axis.

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Effect Preview
Some effects in Harmony are rendered in the OpenGL preview of the Camera view . One of the most commonlyused of those effects is the Colour-Override.
The Colour-Override effect w orks by finding colours and textures by their colour ID in the vector artw ork intheir input image and processing them as configured. For example, they can replace a colour w ith another one
or w ith a texture, hide a coulour, or hide all but a specific colour, etc.

If a Colour-Override node is connected under a composite that is cached, since that composite w ill output aflat bitmap image to the Colour-Override node, the latter w ill not be able to find colour IDs in this image. The
effect of the Colour-Override node w ill not be visible in the OpenGL preview of the Camera view .

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Another example of how node caching affects the preview of effects is w ith the Apply-Peg-Transformation
node. Normally, the Apply-Peg-Transformation node travels up the node netw ork to apply the transformationof its peg to every visual element it comes across. How ever, if the Apply-Peg-Transformation node reaches acached node, it w ill not travel up this node's parents. It w ill simply take the cached image of the node, andapply its transformation to it. Since a cached image is a bitmap image, if the Apply-Peg-Transformation node
is set up to scale-up the image, it may appear pixelated in the OpenGL preview .

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Enabling Cache on Individual Nodes
You can make any node that outputs an image cache its output image. This can be useful if an element
contains a very complex vector draw ing or 3D model.
To enable caching on a node, all you need to do is to enable the Cached parameter in its layer properties. You
can also toggle caching for one or several nodes simultaneously using the Node Caching toolbar.

TIP
You can find w hich nodes in your scene impact Harmony performance to most, and hence, w hichnodes might be more beneficial to cache, by enabling Debug mode. This w ill display the amount oftimes each node is traversed by Harmony, as w ell as the amount of milliseconds they take torender, next to each Node in the Node view . To enable Debug mode, simply select Help > Debugfrom the top menu.

NOTE
If you enable cache on a Composite, it w ill cache each of its input images individually instead of its
output image—see Enabling Cache on Every Rig In a Scene.

How to enable or disable caching on one or several nodes using the Node Caching
toolbar
1. Add the Node Caching toolbar to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Node Caching.

l

Right-click on any existing toolbar in your w orkspace and select Node Caching.

2. In the Node view , select the node or nodes for w hich you w ant to enable or disable caching.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

3. In the Node Caching toolbar, click on

Toggle Node's Cache button.

The node's image output port w ill have an arc over it to indicate that it is cached.

How to enable or disable caching on a single nodes by editing its layer properties
1. In the Node view , locate the node for w hich you w ant to enable or disable caching.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on theLayer Properties button near the left edge of the node to open its layer

properties dialog.
l

Add the Layer Properties view to your w orkspace, then select the node to display its
properties in this view .

3. In the top-right corner the node's layer properties, check on the Cached checkbox.
The node's image output port w ill have an arc over it to indicate that it is cached.

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Chapter 12: the Node View

Enabling Cache on Every Rig In a Scene
W hen a scene contains several character rigs, Harmony has to render the OpenGL preview of all character rigs
from scratch every time a change is made to the scene. This can be especially burdening w hen w orking on ascene w ith an usually high amount of character rigs, as Harmony may require as much as a second each time
the preview image is updated.
In such cases, it can be very useful to cache the scene's character rigs separately. Harmony w ill store a cacheof each character, and use this cache to generate the preview image in the Camera view . W hen the user needs
to edit, manipulate or animate a character, they can temporarily disable caching for that character, and reenable it w hen they're done. Harmony w ill only need to update the preview image for that character, and w ill
keep using the cached images of the other rigs in the scene to generate the preview image in the Camera view .
Caching every rig in a scene is easy, as it can done by simply enabling caching on the composite those rigs areconnected to. W hen caching is enabled on a composite, instead of caching its entire output image, it w ill cacheeach of the input image that is sent to it individually. Hence, w hen caching is enabled on a composite to w hichseveral character rigs are connected, the composite w ill cache each character rig separately.

How to enable or disable rig caching using the Node Caching toolbar
1. Add the Node Caching toolbar to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Node Caching.

l

Right-click on any existing toolbar in your w orkspace and select Node Caching.

2. In the Node view , select the composite to w hich the scene's character rigs are connected.

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3. In the Node Caching toolbar, click on

Toggle Node's Cache button.

Each of the composite's input ports w ill have an arc over them to indicate that they are cachedindividually.

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How to enable or disable rig caching by editing its layer properties
1. In the Node view , locate the composite to w hich the scene's character rigs are connected.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lClick on theLayer Properties button near the left edge of the composite to open its layer

properties dialog.
l

Add the Layer Properties view to your w orkspace, then select the composite to display its
properties in this view .

3. In the top-right corner the composite's layer properties, check on the Cached checkbox.
Each of the composite's input ports w ill have an arc over them to indicate that they are cachedindividually.

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Managing Cache Resolution and Size
W hen w orking on a scene w ith cached nodes or rigs, Harmony needs to keep bitmap images for each cachednode or rig in your scene and for each frame in your scene. This can require a lot of memory. In order to be able
to do this, Harmony creates a database of cached images in your computer's RAM. This database uses a set
amount of memory w hich can be changed in your preferences, and w hich is set to 2048 MB (2 GB)by default.
Once the cache database in your computer's RAM is filled up, Harmony creates another database on yourcomputer's permanent storage device so that it can store more cached images. Past this point, Harmony w ill
require more time to w rite to, and read from the cache, as storage devices are alw ays slow er than the RAM,w hich w ill impact its overall performance. Hence, it is preferable to keep the amount of cache Harmony uses
under the beneath the limit set for the cache database in your computer's RAM.
The cache database on your computer's permanent storage device also has a limited size, w hich can also be
set in your preferences, and w hich is set to 10240 MB (10 GB) by default. If this database gets filled
completely, Harmony w ill simply stop creating new cached images, meaning that some of your cached nodes
and rigs w ill not be cached, or w ill only be cached in the beginning of the scene but not at the end.
There are tw o w ays to manage the amount of memory used by node and rig caching:lAdjust the resolution of cached images.

lChange the amount of memory allocated for either the RAM cache or the storage device cache.

How to change the resolution of cached nodes and rigs
1. In the toolbar below the Camera view , click and hold on the

OpenGL Node Caching button.

2. In the pop-up menu, select w hich resolution you w ould like cached images to have:

How to change the amount of memory allocated for the node cache
1. In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony Premium > Preferences(macOS) .
The Preferences dialog box opens.

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2. Open the OpenGL tab.
3. In the Rendering Caching section:l

Set the OpenGL Node Cache Size in Memory field to the amount of RAM space you w ant toallocate to node caching.

l

Set the OpenGL Cache Size on Disk field to the amount of disk space you w ant to allocate
to node caching.

4. Click OK.

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W orking with Node Caching
W hen an element or a rig is cached, it cannot be interacted w ith directly w ithout temporarily disabling its
cache first. Hence, project collaborators w ho must w ork w ith cached nodes and rigs must learn how to
temporarily disable caching on elements and rigs they are w orking on.
Temporarily disabling the cache on an element or a rig is easy. W hen you move your mouse cursor over acached element w ith theTransform tool selected, your mouse cursor w ill change to. Then, if you clickon this cached element, caching w ill be temporarily disabled for it, allow ing you to manipulate and edit thiselement as you w ould normally be able to.
Likew ise, if you move the mouse cursor over any element in a cached rig, the mouse cursor w ill change to.

Clicking on any element in a cached rig w ill temporarily disable caching for the entire rig, allow ing you edit andanimate it freely.
W hen you temporarily disable caching for an element or a rig, if any other element or rig in your scene had its
cache temporarily disabled, it w ill be automatically cached again. Hence, w hen you w ant to start w orking on adifferent rig, you do not have to w orry about manually enabling caching on the rig you w ere w orking on.
You can keep track of w hich elements and rigs in your scene are cached by looking at the arcs displayed overports connected to cached elements and rigs. The arc use a colour code to indicate the status of the caching:l

A blue arc means that the node or rig is currently displayed using its cached image in the OpenGL
preview of the Camera view .

lA white arc means that the node or rig is temporarily uncached, and that you can manipulate and editit.

l

A red arc means that the node or rig does not have a cached image. Often, this is because:l

The memory allocated to node caching is full—see Managing Cache Resolution and Size on page
1328.

l

The cached image for this node or rig is being generated right now .

l

The node outputs an image, but it cannot be cached, i.e., the Colour-Card node.

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NOTE
Even if the OpenGL Node Caching option of the Camera view is turned off, the arcs indicating that
nodes or rigs are cached w ill still display in the Node view . They w ill still display a colour code
indicating w hether or not the nodes or rigs w ould be cached if OpenGL Node Caching w asenabled.

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Temporarily Disabling Cache on a Single Element or Rig
W hen an element or rig is cached, you cannot edit it or interact w ith it directly. You must first temporarily
disable caching for this element or rig.
Harmony w ill automatically disable caching on a cached element w hen you click on it. Likew ise, Harmony w ill
automatically disable caching on a rig w hen you click on any of its elements.
If you select an element in another rig afterw ards, Harmony w ill re-enable caching on the previously selected
rig and disable caching on the new ly selected rig instead.

How to disable cache on a single rig
1. Move your mouse cursor over any element in the cached rig.
If the rig your mouse cursor is over is currently cached, your mouse cursor w ill change to.

2. Click on the rig.
Cache w ill be temporarily disabled on the rig. It is now rendered normally in the OpenGL previewof the Camera view . You can now select any element inside the rig and edit or manipulate it as you
usually w ould.

NOTE
In the Node view , the arc indicating that an element or input image is cached w ill turnfrom blue to w hite w hen its cache is temporarily disabled.

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Temporarily Disabling Cache on Multiple Elements or Rigs
W hen you click on an element in a cached rig, Harmony temporarily disables caching for this rig. Then, if you
click on an element in another cached rig, Harmony w ill re-enable caching on the previously selected rig, andtemporarily disable caching on the new ly selected rig. This logic ensures that at least all but one rig arecached, so that you do not have to manage w hich rigs are cached or not cached w hile w orking in a heavy
scene.
How ever, there may be cases w here you need to w ork on multiple rigs simultaneously. For example, because
caching a rig causes it to display as a flattened bitmap image in the OpenGL preview of the Camera view , if
you're trying to animate tw o characters interacting w ith each other, alw ays having one of them cached w hile
manipulating the other ones may prevent you from animating their interaction w ith precision—see About How
Node Caching W orks and Its Caveats.
To circumvent this, it is possible to temporarily disable cache on multiple rigs by holding the Shift key andclicking on each rig you w ant to manipulate.

How to disable cache on multiple rigs
1. Move your mouse cursor over any element in the first cached rig for w hich you w ant to temporarily
disable cache.
If the rig your mouse cursor is over is currently cached, your mouse cursor w ill change to.

2. Click on the rig.
Cache w ill be temporarily disabled on the rig. It is now rendered normally in the OpenGL previewof the Camera view .
3. Move your mouse cursor over any element in the second cached rig for w hich you w ant totemporarily disable cache.
4. Press and hold the Shift key, then click on the rig.
Cache w ill be temporarily disabled on this other rig, and cache w ill not be reeanbled on theprevious rig.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each rig for w hich you w ant to temporarily disable cache.

NOTE
In the Node view , the arcs around the ports connected to the rigs for w hich cache is
temporarily disabled w ill appear w hite, w hereas the arcs for w hich cache is enabled
w ill appear blue.

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Re- Enabling Cache on All Cached Nodes and Rigs
If you have temporarily disabled caching on one or several elements or rigs, you can instantly re-enablecaching for all cache-enabled nodes and rigs in the scene using the Node Caching toolbar.

How to re- enable cache on all rigs
1. Make sure the Node Caching toolbar is on your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbar > Node Caching.

l

Right-click on any toolbar in your w orkspace and select Node Caching.

2. In the Node Caching toolbar, click on

Show Cached Preview .

Every rig and element in your scene for w hich cache w as temporarily disabled w ill become cachedagain.

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Disabling or Enabling Cache Globally
It is possible to disable or re-enable node caching globally using the

OpenGL Node Caching button in the

toolbar below the Camera view .

NOTEThis option w ill persist after your close Harmony.

How to disable or re- enable caching globally
1. In the toolbar below the Camera view , click on theor off.

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Chapter 13: Camera Set-up and Animation

Chapter 13: Camera Set- up and Animation
T-HFND-009-001
Harmony contains a camera that can move along the X, Y, and Z axes. Having the camera move on the Z-axis
offers the possibility to create truck in and truck outs, as w ell as multiplane camera moves. The default camera
position is centred and backed up to 12 fields.
It is important to understand the coordinate values in Harmony, w hich is based on the origins of animation. In
traditional animation, a scene's size and camera motion are calculated in fields. A field has a 4:3 ratio andmeasures 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) in w idth. A specific grid has been created for this purpose know n as a field
chart. Harmony uses this unit of measurement as its coordinate system.

A field chart uses the cardinal directions. The X axis is the east-w est (left-right) direction, the Y axis is thenorth-south (up-dow n) direction and the Z axis is the forw ard-backw ard direction.
The scene action occurs inside the camera frame, so it’s really important to set it up correctly. You can adjust
the camera resolution and other parameters in the Scene Settings w indow . If you're w orking in a gaming
animation pipeline, you also have to possibility to set an orthographic camera.
By default, a scene does not have a camera layer. In order to be able to tw eak the camera's angle and position,
you must add one to your scene. Although it is possible to have several cameras in the same scene, you can
only view your scene using one camera at a time. This can be useful if you are still w orking on your scene
composition and have different camera framing to try out.
The Camera layer is static w hich means that if you need to animate it, you must put it under a parent peg.

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You can reposition your camera frame directly in the Camera view , using the advanced animation tools.
Another w ay to set up your camera frame is to type the coordinates directly in the camera's properties. Doing
this positions the camera precisely w here you w ant it to be rather than gauging it visually.

Once you have a 3D set, the exciting part is to do a camera move in it. This section teaches you the main steps
required to perform a 3D camera move. Once you know how to do this, you can enjoy the delights of w orking
in 3D space and traveling through your creations!

Clipping Planes
You can change the near and far clipping planes of the camera. The near plane is the point on the camera conew here the camera is located. The far clipping plane is the far end of the camera cone. Nothing outside that
range is visible. This is useful w hen dealing w ith 3D elements and 3D sets. For example, the camera can belooking inside a 3D box or room and you might w ant the foreground w all to not obstruct the view of theinterior. By default, the near clipping plane is set to 1 field and the far clipping plane is set to 1000 fields.

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Camera Types
In Harmony, there are tw o types of cameras available:lPerspectivelOrthographic

The orthographic camera is specific to the gaming pipeline. It changes the camera type from perspective toorthographic. It becomes a camera w ithout vanishing points. This means there is no more perspective in the
Camera view . Objects, w hen moved on the Z-axis, w ill not change in size or scale.

The orthographic camera can be set in the Scene Settings dialog box. In order to create scenes w ith theorthographic camera, by default, you need to create a new custom scene resolution.

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Chapter 13: Camera Set-up and Animation

Adding a Camera
T-HFND-009-002
By default, there is no camera in the scene. The frame visible in the Camera view is only a reference based onyour project's resolution. In order to position your camera, you must add one to your scene.

How to add a camera in the Timeline view
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , click the

Add Layer button and, in the pop-up menu, selectCamera.
l

From the top menu, select Insert > Camera.

A new camera layer is added to the scene and appears in the Timeline view .

How to add a camera in the Node view
1. In the Node Library view , select the Camera node from the Favorites or Move category.

2. Drag and drop the Camera node into the Node view .

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Chapter 13: Camera Set-up and Animation

Setting the Camera TypeYou can set your camera to either Perspective or Orthographic. The orthographic is specifically used forgaming. It removes any depth or perspective.

How to set the camera type
1. From the top menu, select Scene > Scene Settings.
2. Select the Resolution tab.
3. In the Projection section, select Orthographic or Perspective.

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Selecting the Active Camera
T-HFND-009-003
You can add multiple cameras to your scene, but only one can be active at a time. You can select your active
camera from the Camera list.

How to select the active camera from the Camera list
1. From the top menu, select Scene > Camera > camera.

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Positioning the Camera Frame
You can grab the camera frame and move it around in the Camera view . You can also setup the camera
position by entering coordinates and values in the Layer Properties view .

How to reposition the camera frame in the Camera view

1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Advanced Animation toolbar, click theTranslate tool.

l

From the top menu, select Animation > Tools > Translate.

lPress Alt + 2.

2. In the Camera view , click on the camera frame (thin rectangle) to select it. You can also select thecamera layer from the Timeline or Node view .
The selected camera frame is highlighted.

3. Drag the camera frame to a new position.

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4. To tilt the camera frame, do one of the follow ing to select the Rotate tool:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Tools > Rotate.

l

In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the RotatelPress Alt + 3.

tool.

5. In the Camera view , drag to rotate the camera frame until it reaches the desired rotation angle.

6. To move the camera frame closer to or further aw ay from the scene, do one of the follow ing toselect the Scale tool:1346

Chapter 13: Camera Set-up and Animationl

From the top menu, select Animation > Tools > Scale.

l

In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the RotatelPress Alt + 4.

tool.

NOTE
The Transform tool can also be used to move the camera, but not to rotate or scale it.

How to set up the camera frame using the Layer Properties view
1. In the Timeline view , select the camera layer.
2. In the Layer Properties view , adjust the camera's properties.

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3. Type or use the numeric stepper to adjust the coordinate and angle values—see the Reference
guide .

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Resetting the Camera Position
You can easily reset the camera to its original position. Using the Reset command, you can reset the value ofthe selected element to the initial value of the active tool. For example, if the Rotate tool is active, thetransformation angle w ill be reset to 0 and if the Transform tool is active, then all parameters values w ill bereset.

How to reset the camera position
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or press Shift + T. If you w ant to reset a single

parameter, select the corresponding Advanced Animation tool, such as the Rotate
2. In the Timeline, Node, or Camera view , select the camera layer.
3. From the top menu, select Animation > Reset or press Shift + R.
The camera automatically returns to its original position.

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Setting the Camera Clipping Planes
You can modify how far and how close the camera can see by adjusting the clipping planes.

How to modify the camera clipping plane
1. In the Timeline or Node view , select the Camera node.
2. In the Layer Properties view , go to the Clipping Planes section.

3. Modify the value of the Near Plane to pull or push the clipping area closer to the camera. Anything
behind this plane w ill no longer be visible.
4. Modify the value of the Far Plane to pull or push the clipping area closer to the camera. Anything
behind this plane w ill no longer be visible.

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Locking Drawings to the Camera Angle
W hen you create a 3D camera move in your scene, notice that layers are treated as flat objects. That is,
animation layers that are supposed to face the camera at all times w ill look like a flat sheet of rotating paper.
Use the Ortholock layer w hen mixing flat animation layers w ith a set built in 3D. Ortholock forces yourdraw ing layer to alw ays follow the Camera angle. It does not follow its position or zooming level, only therotation. This prevents draw ings from being distorted by the camera motion.

NOTE
Adding an Ortholock layer in a symbol w ill not give the correct result. The Ortholock contained
inside a symbol does not consider the position of the camera contained in the root scene. Keepyour Ortholock layers in the root scene.

How to add an Ortholock layer
1. In the Node Library view , select the Move category.
2. Select the Ortholock node and drag it to the Node view .
3. In the Node view , drag an output cable from the Ortholock node and connect it to the node you
w ant to keep facing the camera.

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Animating the Camera
T-HFND-009-009
A scene's camera can be manipulated and animated just like any other layer. It is listed in the Timeline viewand you can use the same tools and selection modes to offset or animate it. How ever, the camera layer itself isstatic, w hich means it keeps the same position and angle throughout the w hole scene. In order to be able toanimate the camera, you need to connect it to a peg layer, w hich can be animated, and w hich w ill directly
affect the position and angle of the camera.

You can animate your camera movements directly in the Camera view . Alternatively, you can use the Side or
Top view s, w hich can be especially useful w hen animating a camera in a multiplane scene, w here each layer ispositioned at a different distance from the camera, or if your scene contains 3D models.

How to add a parent peg to a camera in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the Camera layer.
2. In the Layers toolbar, click the

Add Peg button.

A Peg layer appears directly above the Camera layer and is automatically attached to it.

How to add a parent peg to the Camera in the Node view
1. In the Node view , select the Camera node.

2. Press Ctrl + P (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + P (macOS).

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A peg node is instantly created and attached as the parent of the Camera node.

How to animate the camera
1. In the Tools toolbar, if

Animate Off orAnimate Onion Skin Range mode is selected, click on it

to open the Animate pop-up menu and select
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Animate Current Frame.

Transform tool or press Shift + T.

3. On the right side of the Timeline view , on the Camera peg layer, select the frame at w hich you w ant
the camera movement to start.

4. Do one of the follow ing to add a keyframe:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the

Add Keyframe button.

l

Right-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

A keyframe appears in that cell. Any frames preceding this keyframe cell w ill hold the same camera
position as this keyframe.

5. In the Camera, Top or Side view , manipulate the camera so that it is in the right position at the
beginning of your camera movement.

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TIP
To make a 3D camera movement, you can manipulate the Camera in the Top or Side
view , in w hich it appears as a cone.

6. On the Timeline view , click on the cell w here the camera movement w ill end.
7. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the

Add Keyframe button.

l

Right-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

A keyframe appears in that cell.

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8. In the Camera, Top or Side view , manipulate the camera so that it is in the right position for the endof your camera movement.

9. In the Timeline view , select the first frame to rew ind to the beginning of your animation.
10. In the Playback toolbar, click on thePlay button to preview your animation.

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Creating 3D Camera Movements
If you w ant to view your 3D camera move, you must be in the Perspective view .

How to create a 3D camera move
1. In the Tools toolbar, if

Animate Off orAnimate Onion Skin Range mode is selected, click on it

to open the Animate pop-up menu and select
1. In the Timeline view , click the Add Layers

Animate Current Frame.

button and select Camera to add a camera to yourscene.
2. In the Timeline view , select the new camera layer.
3. In the Timeline Layer toolbar, click the Add Peg

button to add a parent peg to the camera.

4. In the Timeline view , double-click on the new peg layer to open the Layer Properties dialog box.
5. In the Layer Properties dialog box, go to the Transformation tab and select the Enable 3D option.
6. In the Rotation section, select the Quaternion option.
7. In the Perspective view , click the Show/Hide Camera button to see your camera cone.
8. Setup your w orkspace to display the Camera view and Perspective view at the same time so you
can compare the results.

9. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transformtool.

10. In the Timeline view , select the Camera-Peg layer first frame and select Insert > Keyframe.

11. In the Timeline view , select the Camera- Peg layer.
12. In the Timeline view , go to the last frame.

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13. In the Perspective view , grab one of the rotation ellipses and rotate the camera on one axis only.
Alw ays do one axis at a time to keep control of the positioning.

14. Once the camera is rotated at the correct angle, grab one of the direction arrow s to move thecamera to the correct position. A keyframe is automatically created in the Timeline view .

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Enabling the 3D Playback ModeIn order to see a playback of you animation in 3D, you need to turn on the option to see playbacks in the
Perspective view .

How to enable the playback mode in 3D
1. From the top menu, select Play > Enable Playback > Perspective View.
2. In the Playback toolbar, click the Playbutton to see the results.

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Animating a Camera Shake Using the Quake Node
One very common camera move you w ill do is a camera shake. You can use the Quake node to generate anautomated quake instead of manually entering random keyframes. This w ay, you can simulate the shock ofsomething heavy falling on the ground, like an earthquake or a strong vibration.

How to use the Quake node to create a camera shake
1. From the Node Library view , drag a Quake node to the Node view .
2. If you do not have a Camera node already, drag one from the Node Library view to the Node view .
3. Connect the Quake node to the Camera node.

4. Click the Quake node's yellow square properties button to open the Quake properties.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Hold Time: Enter the number of frames you w ant one of the quake vibrations(position) to hold for. Most camera shakes are done in a single frame (1) or double
frame (2).

lInterpolate: An interpolation is generated betw een the random values. Instead ofjumping to the next position, it w ill slow ly progress forw ards to the next position. It's
the same principle as stop-motion keyframes and motion keyframes.

lMove Amplitude: This is the strength of the quake. The higher the value, the stronger
the quake. If the value is set to 0, there is no motion. To have the motion start andstop at a specific frame during the scene, you can create a function curve and animate
the amplitude over time. Simply click the Function

button to generate the function,then click on it again to open the Function Editor.

l

Apply on X, Y, Z: Applies the quake to the X, Y and Z-axis.

lRotation Amplitude: W hen the value is higher than 0, a rotating quake is applied.
The higher the value, the stronger the quake.

l

Random Seed: This parameter determines the pattern of random motions it uses tosimulate shaking. There is no w rong value for this parameter. Entering any value w ill
simply make it uses a different random pattern. If you have tw o or more
SnippetVariable1 nodes in your scene and they have the same Random Seed value,
their shaking w ill be similar, if not exactly the same, as it w ill be based on the same
pattern of random motions. Hence, you might need to assign different Random Seedvalues to all of your SnippetVariable1 nodes to make sure their motion pattern feeldifferent. You should also assign a different Random Seed value to eachSnippetVariable1 node if they make a shaking motion that goes on throughout

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several scenes so that it doesn't look like the motion pattern is repeating itself.You
can also change the value of this parameter just to make the SnippetVariable1 node
use a different shake pattern, and see if you can find a pattern that fits yourexpectations better.

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Animating the Line Thickness on Camera MoveAs you move the camera in your scene along the Z-axis, notice that, logically, the lines of the elements become
thicker the closer the camera gets to the draw ing. If you prefer the lines to remain the same size or become
thicker at a different speed, you can use the thickness feature to adjust your brush stroke and pencil line
thickness. You can modify the size of the lines even if the camera is not animated.

How to adjust the pencil line thickness of a drawing layer in the Camera view
1. In the Camera view , enable Render View

to see the effects of the pencil line thickness settings.

2. In the Timeline view , double-click on a draw ing layer to display the Layer Properties w indow .
3. Select the Line Thickness tab.
4. Ajust the follow ing parameters to have the desired pencil line thickness in the current frame andcamera position.

Adjust Pencil Lines Thickness: Enables the options below to adjust the line thickness in therendered image.
Normal Thickness: This setting makes the line thickness adjustments take one of tw o very
different behaviors:lEnabled: The line thickness settings are applied to pencil lines in all art layers in theelement. This setting should be used if you w ant to adjust the line thickness of pencil
lines.

lDisabled: The line thickness settings are applied to all art, w hether brush strokes or
pencil lines, in the line art layer, so that it fits the desired thickness pattern around art
in the colour art layer. This setting should be used for draw ings that have their line arton the line art layer and their colour art on the colour art layer, w hich is typical of
traditional and paperless animation productions.

NOTE
W hen this option is disabled, all artw ork in the line art layer that does notsurround artw ork in the colour art layer w ill be cropped out.

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Proportional: The factor by w hich to adjust line thickness. The original line thickness in thedraw ing w ill be multiplied by this value. A value betw een 0 and 1 can be used to makepencil lines thinner.
Constant: The offset by w hich to adjust line thickness. This value w ill be added to theoriginal line thickness in the draw ing. A negative number can be entered to make pencil lines
thinner.
Minimum: The minimum pencil line thickness allow ed. Line thickness w ill not go below thisvalue.
Maximum: The maximum pencil line thickness allow ed. Line thickness w ill not go above thisvalue. Set it to 0 to disable maximum line thickness.
5. To start animating the pencil line, create a function on one or more of the Proportional, Constant,
Minimum and Maximum parameters by clicking on their corresponding Bezier

button,depending on w hich setting(s) w ould better accommodate the desired effect.
6. Click again on the parameter's Bezier

button to open the Function Editor for that function.

7. Use the Function Editor to animate the value of the parameter across the scene.

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Chapter 14: Character Rigging
Harmony is a great tool for building characters. You can use different techniques and features to break dow n
your puppets.
This chapter w ill guide you through all the steps to create a complete simple rig. Harmony allow s you tocreate very advanced puppets using deformations, hierarchies and z ordering. As you practice and get familiar
w ith those concepts, you w ill be able to develop more complex rigs and combine various advanced features.

For more great options and features to create pow erful rigs, refer to Deformations on page 1549.

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About Rig Types
T-RIG-001-001
A rig is the process in w hich you w ill take apart the multiple pieces of your character and then reattach them
together to get them to move individually. Harmony provides you w ith a multitude of tools to help you build
characters. From the simplest of rigs, to a fully rotating character. There are about as many w ays to rig acharacter as there are individuals w ho make them. The complexity of the rig is often determined by the level ofanimation to be achieved.

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About Simple Rigs
T-RIG-001-002
Simple rigging is very fast and easy to do. It is built as follow s:lAll the body parts are independentl

All the timeline layers are attached to a master peg layer (trajectory layer)

The advantage of using this technique is that you are free to move any part around w ithout being influenced
by a parent layer.

How ever, since the parts are not parented to each other, the parts w ill move from point A to point B along a
straight trajectory. The hand w ill not follow the arm's rotation. You w ill have to set more keyframes for thehand to move along a curved path.

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About Drawing Hierarchy Rigs
T-RIG-001-003
W hen you w ant one part to follow another part, such as the forearm follow ing the arm, you can attach thelayers one to the other. For example, you can attach the forearm layer to the arm layer w ithout having toencapsulate the forearm into the arm layer. They w ill still be parented, but you can access the forearm directly
w ithout having to enter the arm layer.

The advantage of parenting layers is that the child layers w ill follow the parent smoothly w ithout having toselect them or create a series of keyframes.

The disadvantage of parenting layers is that you are not able to move the parent independently of its children,
since the child layers receive all the transformation information from their parent.

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Parenting layers, such as the arms and legs, and allow ing the torso and hips to be independent from them isoften a good solution.

NOTE
To attach one layer to another, you must drag the desired layer onto the other one in the Timelineview .
Harmony offers pow erful techniques to create hierarchies betw een your layers w ithout having toencapsulate layers into each other. These techniques are a great improvement over the lessefficient and time consuming method of creating parenting betw een your layers by inserting
symbols into other symbols. Therefore, rigging w ith symbols inside symbols is NOT
recommended.

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About Peg Hierarchy Rigs
T-RIG-001-004
Peg layer are useful w hen you are doing more advanced puppet rigging. Peg layers are trajectory layers that
do not contain draw ings. They are motion paths that you can use to control your entire puppet or advanced
hierarchies.
Parenting a draw ing layer to a peg layer allow s you to divide your motions on tw o separate levels. You canscale a body part up the chain of pegs directly on the draw ing layer. This w ay, you do not affect any childlayers that could be attached to that part.
Then, you can perform your translation and rotation on the peg layer so all the parts attached to that peg layer
follow the same trajectory.

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About Scene Setup for Rigging
Planning your rig is an essential step in avoiding missteps at later stages. Once a rig has moved on to theanimation level, it becomes more difficult to fix potential blunders, since updating the rig scene doesn't haverepercussions on rigs outside of that scene. These different topics w ill help you avoid such mistakes.

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About Models
To begin breaking dow n your puppet, you must first import your character into a new project. You can also
draw your character directly in the scene.

You can import your character in several different formats:l

Library template—see Library & TemplateslBitmap image or picturelExternal vector format

Model Alignment
W hen setting the character model in your scene, w e recommend that you to center it in the Camera view andscale it to fit inside the safe area frame.

If you have several view s of your character, place each view in a separate cell and center them one on top of
another. This w ill facilitate the break dow n process and ensure that all of your puppets are aligned and thesame size.

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Photo Puppets
If you are creating a cut-out puppet out of photos, break dow n the different parts in a bitmap editing softw are.
Then, import your parts and vectorize them as textured images.
A good w ay to set and import your bitmap parts is to organize them in a multilayered PSD file.
In Adobe Photoshop, organize your file so that all your layers are “grouped” into individual folders, or that all
the elements you w ant to import as a single layer in Harmony are grouped together in their ow n folder. Anylayer that is not in a folder group, by itself or otherw ise, w ill not be imported.

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About Size Relation
Understanding the relative size of every character and prop is important for maintaining consistency andstructure throughout your project.
A production may contain many characters and props. It is not unusual for these to have been created bydifferent people. If there is no size control implemented, the characters and elements created by different
artists can vary greatly in size. W hen this occurs, the characters that are put together in a scene w ill be out of
proportion. The animator or person doing the scene setup w ill then have to scale them to the correct size.
W hen a character or a prop is scaled dow n, the outline w ill get increasingly thinner. By the time the element isscaled to its proper size, the outline may be so thin that the difference betw een one character's outline andanother's w ill not look very good.

Line UpA line up consists of copying and pasting all of your character designs into the same draw ing and then scaling
them so they are in proportion w ith each other. This line up is very important and should be handed to any
animator, layout and posing artist, or scene setup person w orking on the project.

For the prop design, it is recommended that you paste one of the main character's hands or even the full bodybeside the prop. This enables the animator to know w hat size to draw or set the prop.
In your character design scene, it is a good idea to create a layer for the character line up. The line up is usually
done during the character design step. W hen the character builder imports the model to the break dow n
scene, the size relation should be correct.

Field Chart
The field chart in Harmony is a tool that is very useful w hen setting the height of characters and props. You
can display the field chart using the Show Grid option in the Camera and Draw ing view s.

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How to display the field chart
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

From the top menu, select View > Grid > Show Grid.

‣

Press Ctrl + ' (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + ' (macOS).

‣

Click the Show Gridbutton in the Camera View and Draw ing View toolbars.

Brush Size
There are a variety of pens and brushes in Harmony and you can also create and save your ow n. It is a goodidea to create and save pens w ith precise sizes and parameters to trace and design your models and break
dow ns—see About the Brush Tool on page 319.

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Setting Preferences for Rigging
Before you start adding layers to your puppets, make sure the Default Separate Position for Elements and theDefault Separate Position for Pegs preferences are enabled.
W ith the Default Separate Position preferences selected, w hen you create new layers, their X, Y and Z axes
are independent from each other.
By default, the Default Separate Position for Elements preference is enabled. For cut-out animation, you w ant
to have three independent axes so you can control them individually.
W hen you lock the three positions together, each time you add a keyframe, it is added on all three positions at
the same time.

W hen you separate the three positions and add a keyframe on one axis, it is not added on the other tw o. This
gives you more freedom w hen animating w ith motion keyframes and nudging parts forw ard and backw ard
over time.

How to set the Default Separate Position options
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

W indow s/Linux: Select Edit > Preferences.

lmacOS: Select Harmony Premium > Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + U (macOS).

2. In the Preferences dialog box, select the General tab.
3. In the Settings section, select the Default Separate Position for Elements and the Default
Separate Position for Pegs options.

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4. Click OK.

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About Naming Conventions
W hen w orking on a production, it is critical to keep w ork w ell organized w ith a naming convention chart
before starting the project. W hen dealing w ith thousands of characters, pieces and puppets, it is easy to getlost. Proper naming of both draw ing layers and draw ing substitutions is essential to keeping your w orkflow
consistent throughout your project.

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Naming Drawing Layers
It is highly recommended that you incorporate a naming convention for the layers. This w ill be very convenientin later steps.
One common practice is to add one or tw o letters for the character/prop name, so that w e don't make it too
long. You can then add the name of the part that you've separated. It is recommended to add an indicator of
the position of your character's symetrical pieces to keep track of w hich part you are selecting. Common
practice is to add either "F" or "B" (for front and back view ) or "R" or "L" (for right or left). Avoid using spaces inbetw een the w ords and opt for an underscore instead.
l

Character Orcus's right arm =OR_arm_F
or
OR_arm_R.

Pink: Front or Right
Blue: Back or Left
In the event that you've forgotten to add a prefix or suffix to your character's draw ing layers, you can add themafter your layers have been created.

How to add a prefix or suffix to a series of layers
1. In the Netw ork or Timeline view , select all the nodes or layers to rename or press Ctrl + A(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + A (macOS).

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2. In the Scripting toolbar, click the Add Prefix or Suffix Script

button. If the Scripting toolbar is not

visible, you can display it by selecting W indows > Toolbars > Scripting from the top menu. If the
Add Prefix or Suffix Script

button is not visible in the Scripting toolbar.

The Add Prefix or Suffix dialog box opens.
3. Select the Prefix or Suffix option depending on w hat you w ant to add to the layers' name.
4. Type the prefix or suffix information to be added to the layer's name.

5. Click OK.
6. The defined prefix or suffix is added to the selected nodes and layers.

How to remove a prefix of suffix to a series of layers
1. In the Netw ork or Timeline view , select all the nodes or layers to rename or press Ctrl + A(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + A (macOS).

2. In the Scripting toolbar, click the Add Prefix or Suffix Script

button. If the Scripting toolbar is not

visible, you can display it by selecting W indows > Toolbars > Scripting from the top menu. If the
Add Prefix or Suffix Script

button is not visible in the Scripting toolbar, see the Scripting guide.

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The Add Prefix or Suffix dialog box opens.
3. Select the Prefix or Suffix option depending on w hat you w ant remove from the layers' name.
4. Type the prefix or suffix information to be deleted from the layer's name.

5. Click OK.
6. The defined prefix or suffix is removed from the selected nodes and layers.

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Naming Drawings Substitutions
W e recommend that you use a naming convention for your draw ings. Especially if you combine all the angles
of a character in the same breakdow n scene, it is a good idea to identify each angle used.

Before breaking dow n the characters for your production, w e recommend that you create a draw ing nameconvention that represents the angle used. For example, use "f" for front, "s" for side, "q" for three-quarter sothat the draw ing name looks like this: f1, f2, f3, s1, s2, etc. This w ill be quite useful during animation anddraw ing substitution. Since draw ings are displayed in alphabetical and numerical order, all the draw ings forthe front view w ill be together, then all the draw ings for the three quarter view , and so on.
Keep in mind that in the draw ing substitution library, draw ings w ill show in alphabetical order. If you w ant
them positioned in a certain order, make sure you name them accordingly.

How to add a prefix to one or more drawings
1. In the Timeline view , select the draw ing range to rename.

2. Do one of the follow ing:‣

Right-click on the selection and select Drawings > Rename Drawing with Prefix.

‣

From the top menu, select Drawing > Rename Drawing with Prefix.

The Rename Draw ing w ith Prefix dialog box opens.

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3. Type the characters you w ant to add before the current draw ing name.
4. Click OK.

NOTE
To rename a draw ing, select the draw ing and use the Rename Draw ing option. Ctrl + D(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + D (Mac OS X). or . Do not double- click on the frame and w rite a
new name, as this w ill create a new draw ing and hide your actual one. Note that the hidden
draw ing has not been deleted and is still located w ithin the element folder. Simply retype thename and it w ill reappear.

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About Character Breakdown
T-RIG-001-006
Now that you have imported or designed your model, the next step is to analyze it. This is to determine w hat
parts w ill be broken apart and how they w ill be divided. W ill the hair be separated into one, tw o or three
sections? W ill the hand be separated from the sleeve? To determine w hat is best for your character, observe
the model in the Camera or Draw ing view .

Eyelids and Pupils
For increased flexibility w hen animating the eyes, you can split them into three layers: the eyeball, the pupil
and the eyelid. The eyelid layer is used for the blink and to cut the pupil w hen it gets too close to the side ofthe eyeball. For a more advanced break dow n, the tw o eyes are separated on their ow n individual three-layer
sets.

Separating the Mouth Elements and Jaw
To get a greater level of flexibility, you can separate the jaw from the head. You can also separate the mouth
shape, teeth, tongue and interior one from another.

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Keeping Fingers Attached to the Hand
To avoid needlessly complicating the break dow n, the fingers are not usually separated from the hand. The
full hand is a single layer w ith a bank of different hands stored inside. This technique is easy to w ork w ith andproduces a less mechanical effect.

Flipping Logos
You can separate logos and letters that appear on a character or a prop. This allow s you to flip and reuse acharacter's puppet.

Complete and Overlapping Pieces
For a better result w ith animated parts, it is important to understand that they must be properly overlappingand complete. A common mistake is to trace the part just as it appears on the model.

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Tracing the Model
The main breakdow n technique show n here is to trace your model.

How to break down a character by tracing
1. In the Timeline view , add a new draw ing layer for each body part to separate. You can press Ctrl +R (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + R (macOS) to add new draw ing layers.

2. In the Timeline view , select the layer's first cell in w hich you w ant to draw the part.

3. In the Tools toolbar, select the draw ing tool of your choice. There are tw o commonly used methods
to draw ing the parts of a cut-out character model:lUsing thePencil tool, then smoothing your lines w ith the

Smooth Editor toollUsing thePolylinetool. This method allow s you to draw w ith great precision, but

may take more time.
These methods ensure each part is made w ith as few points as possible, so that they are easy tomanipulate, modify or redraw .
4. In the Colour view , select a colour sw atch. If you haven't created a palette for your character yet,see About Palettes on page 682.
5. If you prefer w orking in the Draw ing view , do one of the follow ing to display the other layers inw ashed out colours:l

In the Draw ing view toolbar, lick thelPress Shift + L.

Light Table button.

6. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw the new part.

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7. If you w ant to close an open shape w ithout draw ing a visible outline, you can draw an invisible line
using theStroke tool.

NOTE
By default, strokes created w ith the Stroke tool are not visible. To see strokes in yourdraw ing, select View > Show > Show Strokes from the top menu or press K.

8. In the Tools toolbar, select the

Paint or Paint

Unpainted tool to colour your draw ing.

9. In the Colour view , create the desired fill colour if it's not already in your palette, then select it.
10. In the Camera or Draw ing view , paint your draw ing.

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11. In the Tools toolbar, select thethe

Select tool. Select your draw ing and flatten the lines by clicking

Flatten button in the Tool Properties view .

12. If your lines are composed of several pencil strokes, you might w ant to combine them into one
single smooth pencil line. Using the Select tool, select the pencil lines to be merged and in the Tool
Properties view , click the

Merge Pencil Lines button.

13. Repeat the entire process for every body part that you w ish to make animatable.

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About Cutting the Character into Pieces
If you do not w ant to redraw all the artw ork for your character, you can use the cut aw ay technique w here,
w ith the Cutter tool, you select and send pieces of the model on a new layer.

The first step in breaking dow n your character is to do a rough cut dow n of the main parts, such as the body,arms, legs and head. Using the Create Draw ing from Draw ing Selection feature lets you automatically create
layers and copy your selection in it.

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Breaking Down the Main Parts
To break dow n the main body parts, you w ill use the Create Draw ing From Draw ing Selection feature.
Breaks a character into its main body parts. There is no need to create any layers prior to this process. Make
sure your model is w ell centered and sized in the Camera view .
You do not need to make clean cuts around your parts; a rough one is sufficient as long as it includes all theartw ork of the part you w ant to break dow n. You w ill clean the extra bits and pieces later.
Using the Cutter tool, you can roughly cut the main sections, and then use the Select tool to select preciselines and colour zones.

How to break down the main parts
1. In the Timeline view , select the cell of the model that corresponds to the first view to break dow n.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Cutter
l

tool.

If you prefer to use the Select tool, choose the Selecttool from the Tools toolbar

or press Alt + S.
l

In the Tool Properties view , you can sw itch to the Lasso

selection mode.

3. In the Camera view , create a selection around the first part to break dow n. If you click on a zone, theCutter tool w ill select the zone. It w ill end the selection at the first point of intersection that itmeets.

‣

Hold dow n Shift to create a new lasso selection around another zone and add it to yourprevious selection.

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4. From the top menu, select Edit > Create Drawing From Drawing Selection or press F9(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + F9 (macOS).
The Create Draw ing From Draw ing Selection dialog box opens.

5. In the Layer Name field, type the name of the layer you w ant to create follow ing the naming
convention you established previously.
6. Deselect the Cut Artwork From Source option to keep the selected artw ork on your original
draw ing. You do not w ant to cut the artw ork from the colour model.
7. Click OK.
The new layer is created and your selection is copied in it. The draw ing is created in the same frame
number as the cell it w as taken from.

8. Repeat the previous steps for each main body part.

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Breaking Down Secondary Parts
You should now have a layer for each main part of the character for the first view to break dow n. You are now
ready to break dow n those main pieces into smaller ones.
Breaking dow n the secondary parts is similar to the main part break dow n process except that this time you
w ill cut aw ay the artw ork from the layer it has been selected from.

How to break down the secondary parts
1. In the Timeline view , lock your model layer by clicking its Lockbutton.

2. In the Timeline view , select the cell that corresponds to the main part you w ant to break dow n.

3. In the Tools toolbar, select the Cutter
‣

tool.

If you prefer to use the Select tool, choose the Selecttool from the Tools toolbar or press Alt+ S.
4. In the Camera view , create a selection around the part to break dow n.

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If you click on a zone, the Cutter

tool w ill select the zone and end the selection at the firstpoint of intersection that it meets. Click on the line w ith the Cutter tool to select it up to the next
intersection.

5. From the top menu, select Edit > Create Drawing From Drawing Selection or press F9(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + F9 (macOS).
The Create Draw ing From Draw ing Selection dialog box opens.

6. In the Layer Name field, type the name of the layer you w ant to create follow ing the naming
convention you established previously.
7. Select the Cut Artwork From Source option to remove the selected artw ork from your original
draw ing. In this case, you w ant to cut the artw ork from the colour model.
8. Click OK.

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The new layer is created and your selection is copied in it. The draw ing is created in the same frame
number as the cell it w as taken from.

9. Repeat the previous steps for each body part.

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NOTE
If you forgot to add some artw ork to a layer you previously created, you can alw ays add it later.
In the Camera view , select the artw ork to send to the existing layer. Open the Create Draw ing
from Draw ing Selection dialog box by pressing F9 (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + F9 (macOS). In the
dialog box, select an existing layer from the list instead of typing a new name. Click OK to add theartw ork to the existing draw ing in the layer you selected.

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Breaking Down Other Views
If your character model has more than one view , now is the time to break them dow n.
The process is very similar to breaking dow n the first view . You have tw o choices:l

Breaking dow n the new view in a new set of layerslBreaking dow n the new view s in the same existing layers
If your layers are not in the correct order, you can reorder them later. Simply add the part that you arebreaking dow n to the layer you previously created for the same body part.

Start by breaking dow n the main pieces, as you did before. The secondary parts w ill be broken dow n later on.
Repeat the follow ing steps for each extra view you need to break dow n.

How to break down the other views
1. In the Timeline view , selected the model's cell corresponding to the view to break dow n. Don't
forget to unlock the layer.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Cutter
l

tool.

If you prefer to use the Select tool, in the Tools toolbar select the Selecttool or press Alt + S.

3. In the Camera view , create a selection around the first part to break dow n.

4. From the top menu, select Edit > Create Drawing From Drawing Selection or press F9(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + F9 (macOS).
The Create Draw ing From Draw ing Selection dialog box opens.

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5. In the Layer Name field, select the corresponding layer from the list if you w ant to use the samelayers or type a new name if you w ant to create a new layer.
6. Deselect the Cut Artwork From Source option to keep the selected artw ork on your original
draw ing. You do not w ant to cut the artw ork from the colour model.
7. Click OK.
The artw ork is inserted into the existing layer. The draw ing is created in the same frame number as
the cell it w as taken from. It is not incorporated in the other view 's draw ings.

8. Repeat step 1 to 7 for each main body part.

Breaking Down Secondary Parts in the Extra Views
To break dow n the secondary parts for your extra view s, follow the exact same process as you did for the firstview you broke dow n, but you w ill incorporate the new parts in the existing layers—see Breaking Dow n Other
View s on page 1399.
Each view can have its ow n set of layers in the Timeline view , therefore each view does not necessarily needto have the same layer structure.
Here is an example of how your timeline should look at this stage:

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Completing Parts and Articulations
Now that all the layers are created and the parts are basically broken dow n, it is time to clean up the parts andcomplete the articulation.

Cleaning the Parts
You w ill need to use a series of draw ing tools to clean the parts:l

Brush toollEraser toollSelect toollCutter toollContour Editor toollPaint tooll

Close Gap tool

How to clean your drawings
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the draw ing tool you need to fix your draw ings.

2. In the Timeline view , select the cell containing the draw ing to fix.
3. In the Camera view , delete the extra bits using the SelectEraser

tool.

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or Cuttertool. You can also use theChapter 14: Character Rigging

4. Draw the missing lines using the Brush
you enable the Auto-Flatten

5. Using the Paint
Close Gap

tool. If you use the Brush tool, it is recommended that

option in the Tool Properties view .

tool, paint the gaps. You can close some gaps w ith invisible lines using thetool or press Alt + C.

6. Reshape your lines using the Contour Editor

7. Using the Selecttool or press Alt + Q.

tool, select the entire draw ing and click the Flatten

Properties view to flatten your draw ings.

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8. From the top menu, select View > Show > Show Strokes to display the invisible lines that could bepresent in your draw ing or press K.

9. From the top menu, select Drawing > Optimize > Remove Extra Strokes to remove any
unnecessary invisible lines in the draw ing.
10. Repeat this entire process for each draw ing to fix.

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Distributing to Layers
W hen breaking dow n a character, you can distribute each selected art stroke to a new layer.
Each stroke you select in the Camera view is automatically placed on a new layer. One layer per stroke.
If one part of your puppet is composed of several strokes, you must group them before distributing them onto
new layers.

NOTE
You cannot distribute layers in the Draw ing view ; it must be done in the Camera view .

How to distribute to layers
1. In the Tools toolbar, click the Selecttool.

2. In the Camera view , select the art strokes you w ant to distribute to different layers.

3. From the top menu, select Drawing > Distribute to Layers or click the Distribute to Layers
button in the Tool Properties view .
Draw ing layers are created in the Timeline view , each corresponding to the different strokes orgroups of strokes selected. Each stroke or group of strokes is distributed into each new Draw ing
layer. The selected strokes in the original draw ing layer are removed.

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About Articulations
Once your pieces are traced, you can go ahead and complete the articulations.
Articulations are an important aspect of any cut-out break dow n because w ithout them, a puppet cannot moveproperly and w ill not look good.
If you are using deformations to animate the limbs, your articulations don't need to overlap. The deformer
effect w ill create the joint for you.

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Creating Classical Articulations
Classical articulation is the most popular technique for basic characters. It is quite simple and produces
excellent results, but it's not the most efficient method. In many instances, it causes limitations and extra
draw ing corrections. For example, there may be a gap in the articulation if the part is bent too far. Joint design
is usually a circle; the overlapping part cannot be sent behind w ithout show ing the joint.
Classical articulation is done by erasing a part of the line from the overlay layer, leaving the colour overlapping
the bottom layer. You can use this technique for all the articulations on your puppet.

How to create a classical articulation
1. In the Timeline view , select the cell containing the part to modify (piece located behind), such as theupper arm.

2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Pencil, Polyline, Ellipse, Cutter, or Contour Editor

tool.
3. In the Colour view , select an outline colour.
4. In the Draw ing or Camera view , use your draw ing tool to make sure the joint overlaps the otherpart in a half-circle shape.

If you are w orking in the Draw ing view , click the Light Table

button in the Draw ing toolbar orpress Shift + L.
5. From the top menu, select View > Show > Show Strokes or press K to display the invisible linesthat may be present in your draw ing.
6. In the Draw ing or Camera view , select all the strokes in your draw ing.
7. In the Tools Properties view , click the Flatten

button.

8. In the Draw ing or Camera view , select all the strokes in your draw ing.

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9. In the top menu, select Drawing > Optimize > Remove Extra Strokes to remove any unnecessary,
invisible lines in your draw ing.
10. Repeat the previous steps for the other articulations.
11. In the Timeline view , select the cell of the part that w ill be on top of the joint.

NOTE
W hen placing rotation pivots later on, make sure they are positioned at thecentre of the articulation.

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About Auto- Patch Articulations
Harmony has a very efficient node to automatically patch an articulation w ithout you having to do any line
adjustment or colour overlapping. You can draw your tw o pieces w ith their complete lines overlapping eachother in semicircles and the Auto-patch node w ill create a perfect articulation from it.

In order for the Auto-patch to w ork on your puppet, you must draw the outline w ith the Pencil tool (pencil
lines) on the Line Art layer of your draw ing, and then paint the colour on the Colour Art layer.

You can use this technique in even more efficiently by adding extra lines in the Overlay layer of your draw ing
to create a fold illusion for a bent elbow .

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About the Auto Patch Node
The Auto Patch node is used mainly w hen creating joint patches for cut-out puppets draw n w ith pencil lines
and painted in the Colour Art layer. Instead of removing a portion of the outline to attempt to create aseamless joint, you can draw complete pieces, and w ith the Auto Patch node, automatically create a perfectarticulation.

The requirements for this effect to w ork are:l

Draw ing outlines must be draw n in pencil lineslDraw ing outlines must be draw n in the Line Art layerlDraw ing fill colours must be painted in the Colour Art layer

Pencil lines are central vector lines. The vector is located along the centre of the line. This means that w hen
you paint a zone delimited by a pencil line, the colour fill w ill expand to the centre of the pencil line.

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Chapter 14: Character Rigging

W hen using the regular patch technique, recommended for the brush line, the result w ith pencil lines is very
odd looking because the colour fill zone is bigger than the pencil line inner contour.

Instead of using the regular patch method, you can use the Auto Patch node. It w ill automatically extract the
Colour Art and clip it to the right size. Then, you can connect it in front of the piece to be covered.
The node connection for the Auto Patch is quite simple. Once your basic character rigging is done, add theAuto Patch node to the joints you w ant to cover. There is no need to set any parameters.
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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About Ordering Layers
T-HFND-005-005
At this point, it is possible that your character's pieces may show up in the w rong order.

There are several w ays to fix this. First, you can reorder your layers by dragging them to a higher or low erlevel in the Timeline view . The top layer is displayed in front of the others and the bottom one is displayed
behind. Second, you can use the Z-axis nudging (forw ard and backw ard) if you have extra view s included in
the same layers (front, three-quarter, back, etc.).

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Ordering Layers in the Timeline View
T-HFND-005-006
In the Timeline view , the layer positioned at the top w ill be displayed in front and the ones below w ill be
displayed behind. If you have multiple view s, you should order your layers based on the most common view ,w hich is generally the three-quarter front.

How to order layers
1. In the Timeline view , drag a layer to reorder it and drop it betw een other layers.

If you drop it on a layer, it w ill create a parent hierarchy, so make sure to drop it betw een layers.

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Ordering Layers in the Node View
T-HFND-005-007
The Node view allow s you to reorder layers w ithout breaking any hierarchy. For example, if you w ant the
Head layer to appear behind all the facial features, in the Timeline view , you cannot simply move the layer
dow n because you w ill break the parenting betw een the head layers. In the Node view , since you have a set offlexible connections, you can change the Composite node ordering w ithout breaking the parenting betw een
the nodes.

The Composite node ordering corresponds to your timeline ordering unless the Node view 's organization is
too complex for the Timeline view to display. The element connected in the left-most port of the Composite
node is displayed in front in the Camera view and the one connected in the right-most port is displayed
behind.

How to order layers in the Node view
1. In the Node view , select the node's output cable connected to the Composite node and drag it to its
new position.

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About Z Nudging
T-HFND-005-008
If you created a hierarchy on your arms, legs or other body parts, it is possible that you w ill w ant a part, suchas the hand, to appear in front of its parent. Yet, if you move the hand layer above the arm layer, you w ill break
the hierarchy. To reorder a layer rigged in a hierarchy, nudge it backw ards or forw ards on the z-axis.

NOTE
You w ill do the same for the layers that are not in the right order on the extra view s. Do not place
the draw ing on another layer. You w ant to keep all your draw ings of the body parts in the samelayers like a box containing all of the hands or all of the shoes.

Harmony allow s you to move your elements in three dimensions:l

Up and dow n (Y-axis)lLeft and right (X-axis)l

Backw ards and forw ards (Z-axis)

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Nudging Layers
T-HFND-005-009
In the same w ay you create multiplane backgrounds (depth), you can perform a micro nudge of the part to bereordered and see it in front of the other elements, even if its layer is actually behind the other ones in theTimeline view . The forw ard-backw ard position can also be animated over time.

How to nudge layers backwards and forwards
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform
2. In the Tools toolbar, if

Animate Off ortool.
Animate Onion Skin Range mode is selected, click on it

to open the Animate pop-up menu and selectAnimate Current Frame.

3. In the Camera view , select the element you w ant to reorder. Make sure the focus (red outline) isaround the Camera view before selecting the element.
4. To move the element forw ard, press Alt + Up Arrow and to move the element backw ard, press Alt+ Dow n Arrow .

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About Pivots
T-RIG-006-001
Even w ith a complex hierarchy, a rig is useless w ithout positioning the proper pivot points. This w ill allow the
puppet's pieces to rotate correctly. The arm needs to rotate from the shoulder and stay attached to the torso,
so its pivot point needs to be positioned accordingly. A good w ay to achieve this is to position the pivot point
exactly in the center of the articulation.
The initial position of the pivot point is alw ays at the center of the scene. Sometimes there w ill not be an
obvious place of rotation to place the pivot point, but it's a good idea to reposition the pivot to the besttransformation point. For instance, the master peg, w hich generally controls the entire rig, is often best
positioned betw een the character's feet.

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About Permanent Pivots
T-RIG-006-002
This is a permanent pivot, sometime referred to as peg pivot, that is applied to the entire draw ing or peg layer.
If you modify its position, it w ill be changed for the entire layer, modifying the animation, scale and rotationinterpolation. The permanent pivot is set using the Rotate, Translate or Scale tool. The Transform tool w ill
only move that pivot temporarily for positioning purposes, but the animation interpolation w ill be done fromthe original permanent pivot's position. The Transform tool is designed to move the pivot temporarily during
the animation process. It also permits you to select multiple pegs and apply a common temporary pivot.
To permanently move a peg pivot, use the Rotate or Scale tool. You can also directly type the values in theLayer Properties w indow in the Pivot section's (x) Axis and (y) Axis fields.
In the Layer Properties w indow , in the Draw ing Pivot section, select the Don't Use Embedded Pivot option to
use the permanent pivot.
For a simple character rig, it is recommended to set the Peg pivot (even on draw ing layers) using the Rotate
tool.

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Setting Permanent Pivots
T-RIG-006-004
In this section, w e'll take a look at one of the options w e have for setting pivots. The permanent pivot allow s
you to push your rigs to great lengths w ithout having to w orry about repositioning your pivot once it is set.

How to set the pivots with the Rotate tool
1. In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the Rotate

tool.

2. In the Camera or Timeline view , select the layer w hose pivot you w ant to set. In the Camera view ,you can also hold dow n Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and click on the piece w hose pivot
you w ant to set.
3. In the Camera view , drag the blue pivot to reposition it.

4. Repeat the previous steps for all the pieces, including the eyes, nose and mouth. If you are unsure
as w here to place the pivot, put it in the center of the selected piece or group of pieces.

NOTE
If you added other pegs to your rig, you must set their pivot using the same
method.

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Setting Multiple Permanent Pivots
You can simultaneously set the position of pivots for several draw ing layers or pegs that you w ould like torotate and scale from the same point of origin,

How to set pivots on multiple pegs
1. Select the multiple pegs or draw ing layers from either the node view or timeline view .
2. Select any Advanced Animation tool, such as the

Rotate tool.

3. Reposition your pivot using the Advanced Animation tool

NOTE
Never use the Transform tool to permanently position pivots. The Transform tool only
temporarily repositions it to accommodate your transformation, usually during the animation
process.

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About Drawing Pivots
T-RIG-006-003
The Draw ing pivot is contained w ithin each draw ing. In one layer, each draw ing can have its ow n pivot. If you
have many different view s of a character w ithin one layer, the pivot positions can be different and theanimation w ill adjust to the pivot. The Draw ing pivot can also be referred to as embedded pivot. If you are notmixing different view s w ithin the same layers or are using pegs to animate your layers, it is recommended touse the permanent pivot.
You can set a different pivot for each one of your draw ings. For example, if you have a series of draw ings fromdifferent view s, they are not likely to rotate from the same location. In that case, you can set a different pivot
for these draw ings by using the Draw ing Pivot

tool.

In the Layer Properties w indow , in the Draw ing Pivot section, select the Apply Embedded Pivot on Drawing
Layer option to use the draw ing pivot directly on the draw ing layer. If you w ant to apply the draw ing pivot to aparent peg to force the peg to follow the draw ing pivot variations, enable the Apply Embedded Pivot on
Parent Peg option.

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Setting Multiple Drawing Pivots
If you are using the draw ing pivots rather than the Rotate tool pivot and if some elements need the samedraw ing pivot, such as all of the three-quarter hands, you can select all of these hands cells and set the pivot
all at once. If your pivot is already correctly set on your first draw ing, copy and paste that pivot onto the otherdraw ings in the Timeline or Xsheet view .

You must have the same draw ing pivots on the extra parts from the same angle. If you substitute a draw ing
w hile the part is rotating, the animation risks popping out of place if the pivot is uneven.

How set the drawing pivot of a frame range
1. In the Draw ing or Camera view , set the first draw ing pivot of the series. For example, set it on
hand-1.

2. In the Timeline view , select the cell that contains the correct pivot.

3. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy.
4. In the Timeline view , select the cell range that requires the same pivot.

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5. From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Special or press Ctrl + B (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + B(macOS).
The Paste Special dialog box opens.

6. In the Paste Special dialog box, select the Advanced tab.
7. In the Draw ings section, select the Update Drawing Pivot option.
8. Click OK.

NOTEYou can also copy and paste the pivot from one draw ing to another using the
keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C and ⌘ + V(macOS) w hen the draw ing pivot tool is active and the focus is around the
Camera view .

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About Symbol Pivot
The Symbol pivot is similar to the Draw ing pivot. Each symbol cell can have its ow n pivot and act the same as
the Draw ing pivot. The Symbol pivot can also be referred to as embedded pivot. Inside a symbol, each draw ing
can have its ow n pivot. If you are not mixing different view s w ithin the same layers or are using pegs toanimate your layers, it is recommended to use the Peg pivot.

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Setting Symbol Pivots
If you w ant the puppet's pieces to rotate correctly, you must set the pivot points onto the articulations. You can
set the pivots using the Rotate tool w hich sets it for the entire layer or you can set the pivots directly on yoursymbol and have a different pivot for each symbol cell. By default, w hen you create symbols, the symbol pivot
is located at the centre of your draw ing. You w ill need to move it onto the shoulder or elbow .
You w ill set the pivot on the symbol's cells, not directly on the draw ings. To set your pivots, you must be at the
top level of your character building scene and not inside the symbols.
By default, w hen you set the pivot onto a symbol, all the cells use the same pivot. If you need different pivots
for different cells, refer to the follow ing procedure.
Do the follow ing steps for each layer in the Timeline view .

How to set the pivots on a symbol
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Draw ing Pivot

tool or select Drawing > Tools > Drawing Pivot.

2. In the Camera or Timeline view , select the symbol on w hich you w ant to set a pivot.

3. If you only w ant to set one pivot for your symbol, in the Tool Properties view , select the Set the
Pivot for Symbol on All Frameslbutton.

Deselect this button if you w ant to set a series of different pivots for your symbol's
cells.

4. In the Camera view , click w here you w ant the pivot to be. You can also drag the pivot marker to thedesired location.

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5. If you w ant to set a different pivot for another draw ing or symbol cell, select the draw ing or celland in the Camera view , set the new pivot.
Make sure the Set the Pivot for Symbol on All Frames button is deselected.

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Adding Pegs
Pegs are a special type of layer that do not contain any draw ing. They are used strictly to offset and transformdraw ings that are under their hierarchy, w ithout transforming the draw ings directly.
W hen rigging or setting up a scene, it is recommended to add parent pegs for each of your draw ing layers.
This allow s you to keep animation keyframes and draw ings on separate layers, making it easier to w ork on theposition and exposure of your draw ing layers independently in the Timeline view . It also makes it easier tocreate a hierarchy of w hich body parts can be animated together and independently.

If you w ant to animate only on pegs, you can activate the Peg selection mode of the Transform tool in the Tool
Properties view . You can also disable animating draw ing layers, so that only pegs can be animated.

NOTE
It is also possible to make a draw ing layer the parent of another draw ing layer. Just like the w ay
animating a peg animates its children layers, animating a draw ing layer w ith children w ill also
animate its children layers. Both layers w ill still appear in the animation as long as they are also
connected to your scene's composite.

How to create parent pegs for your layers in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select all the layers.

2. In the Timeline Layer toolbar, click the Add Peg

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button to add a parent peg to all selected layers.

Chapter 14: Character Rigging

W hen creating layers or pegs in the Timeline view , your Node view may look tangled up.

3. In the Node view , select all the nodes and, in the Netw ork View toolbar, click the Order Netw ork
Dow nbutton.

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How to create parent pegs for your layers in the Node view
1. From the Node view , select all the draw ing layers for w hich you w ant to create pegs.
2. Press Ctrl + Shift + P (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + P (Mac OS X)
3. Pegs are created, named and connected to their child draw ing layers. They w ill not automaticallyconnect if the top port of your draw ing layer is already connected to another node.
4. If the nodes are tangled, select all the nodes and, in the Netw ork View toolbar, click the Order
Netw ork Dow n

button.

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Disabling the Animation on Drawing Layers
By default, a draw ing layer can be animated, but Harmony lets you disable this feature. Being able to sw itchyour draw ings so they can no longer be animated w ithout a peg has certain advantages. It means that you canaccess the draw ing substitution feature for this draw ing layer, w hile being able to create keyframes on its
parent peg. This feature is also available for backw ard compatibility w hen bringing in templates created inolder versions of Harmony, so as not to lose their offset keyframes or draw ing substitution keyframes.
W hen selecting the element in the Camera view , the actual draw ing layer is selected, but the motion you w illcreate w ill automatically be transposed to the peg layer. You cannot animate (add keyframes) directly onto thedraw ing layer if the option is disabled. You w ill still be able to perform certain offset movements in theTransformation tab of the Layer Properties, but not using any of the animation tools in the Tools toolbar.
There are tw o w ays to disable animation on draw ing layers, via the Layer Properties w indow and thePreferences dialog box. W hen you disable animation in the Layer Properties w indow , it affects only theselected layer and not any others.
If you prefer this style of animation and w ant every draw ing element that you create to not be animated, you
can disable the Element Node “Animate Using Animation Tools” Default Value preference. This w ill disable
the Animate Using Animation Tools option on all the new layers you w ill create from that point on so you
don't have to do this through the Layers Properties w indow for every layer. It is recommended to disable thispreference before starting a new character rig.

How to disable animation on a single layer
1. In the Timeline view , double-click on a layer.
The Layer Properties dialog opens.
2. Open the Controls tab.
3. Uncheck the Animate Using Animation Tools option.
Notice that the layer functions are no longer available in the Timeline view .

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How to disable animation for several drawing layers
1. In the Timeline or Node view , select all the Draw ing layers/nodes for w hich you w ant to disable
animation.

2. In the Node View toolbar, click on

Set Properties on Many Layers button.

The Set Properties on Many Layers dialog appears.

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3. Set the Animate Using Animation Tools option to Off.
4. Click on the OK button.

How to disable animation for all new drawing layers
1. In the top menu, select Edit (W indows/Linux) or Harmony Premium (macOS) > Preferences.
The Preferences dialog opens.
2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. Uncheck the Element Node "Animate Using Animation Tools" Default Value option.
4. Click on the OK button.

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Creating Hierarchies
Harmony lets you build your rig in an elaborate hierarchy, allow ing you to set w hich parts of your rig should
influence other limbs, and how they can move independently. For example, w hen rigging a simple character'sarm, you can make the forearm layer a child of the arm layer, and the hand layer a child of the forearm layer.
This w ay, if the character moves their forearm, the hand w ill follow , and if they move their arm, the forearmand hand w ill follow .

W hen building a basic character rig, you should at least have a hierarchy for each arm and each leg. You canmake a hierarchy going from the torso, the neck and the head, and rig the arms to the torso, and you can rig thelegs to the hips. This w ould make a hierarchy like this:How to create a hierarchy in the Timeline view
1. In the left area of the Timeline view , select the layer w hich you w ant to make a child layer.

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2. Drag the child and drop it over the layer w hich you w ant to make the parent layer. Make sure you
are not dropping the child layer betw een tw o layers.
3. Repeat until you've created a hierarchy that rigs all of your character's parts, w ith a master peg at
the root. W hile rigging, if you w ant several layers to have a common parent, but no existing part ofyour rig can serve as that parent, create a new peg and nest those layers under that peg.

NOTE
In the Timeline view , you can unparent layers by holding dow n Shift, dragging the selectedparent aw ay from the child layer and dropping it somew here else in the list.

How to create a hierarchy in the Node view
1. Position your nodes as if they w ere in a tree representing their intended hierarchy, w ith the highest
nodes on top and the low est nodes at the bottom.

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2. Drag a cable from the output port (bottom) of a node w hich you w ant to make into a parent node.
3. Connect the cable to the input port (top) of the node w hich you w ant to make into its child node.

4. Repeat until you've created a hierarchy that rigs all of your character's parts, w ith a master peg at
the root. W hile rigging, if you w ant several layers to have a common parent, but no existing part of1436

Chapter 14: Character Rigging

your rig can serve as that parent, create a new peg and nest those layers under that peg.

NOTE
In the Node view , you can unlink nodes from their parent and child by holding dow n the Alt
key and moving them anyw here in the node view . This w ill delete the node's connections
instantly. If the node has both a parent and a child, this w ill automatically connect its former
parent to its former child.

W hen rigging, keep in mind that the order of the layers in the Timeline view affects the order in w hich they are
rendered. Layers on top of the list w ill be rendered over layers at the bottom of the list. Likew ise, in the Nodeview , layers that are connected to the leftmost port of a composite are rendered on top of layers connected toports to the right. Should you need to change a layer's order w hile animating, you can nudge this layer's
position on the Z-axis to override the layer order and force it to appear beneath or over other layers.

How to nudge a layer on the Z- axis
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool.

2. In the Timeline, Node or Camera view , select the layer you w ant to nudge.
3. If you selected the layer from the Timeline or Node view , click on the Camera view tab to set thefocus on the Camera view .
4. Do one of the follow ing:l

To nudge the layer forw ard, press Alt + Dow n Arrow .

l

To nudge the layer backw ard, press Alt + Up Arrow .

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Adding the Master Peg
Your character rig should alw ays have a master peg w hich connects to all of its parts. The master peg allow s
you to manipulate the entire rig from a single layer, w ithout having to manipulate each individual part. This isuseful for positioning and scaling your character relative to the scene, as w ell as to animate your character's
trajectory w hen it has to move betw een areas of the scene.

How to add a master peg in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the top layer.
2. In the Timeline view , click on the

Add Peg button.

A new peg is added to the timeline as a parent of the selected layer.
3. Name the new peg Master plus the character's name.
4. In the Timeline view , select all the layers you w ant to attach to your new peg. Remember that your
top layer is already a child of the peg, so don't include it in your selection.
5. Drag your selection ON to the peg layer to parent all your character's pieces to the peg. If yourlayers are added above the already parented layers, move that parented layer back on top of thelayer stack.

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How to add a master peg in the Node view
1. In the Node view , hold Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) and select each node that you w ant to
attach to your new peg.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node view menu, select Insert > Peg.

lPress Ctrl + P (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + P (macOS).

3. Rename the new peg Master plus the character's name.

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Fine- Tuning the Rig
Once your rig is done, you have access to a lot of tools and tricks that you can add to make your rig even more
efficient. Colours that can help you distinguish certain layers, or parts of your node view , cutter systems andmuch more. For more great options and features on creating pow erful rigs, refer to Deformations.

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Chapter 14: Character Rigging

Invert- Cutting
W hen rigging a character, there may be instances w hen you w ant to have the ability to move a particular piece
to give the illusion of a rotation or move the pupil w ithin the w hite of an eye w ithout having the extra bit of thedraw ing sticking out of the character or eyeball. To do so, you can use masks to cut anything you don't w ant tobe visible.

How to mask an object in the Node view
1. In the Timeline view , make sure the keyframe is added on the object that w ill be masking the pieceto cut.

2. From the Node Library view , select the Favorites category and then select the Cutter node.
3. Drag the Cutter node to the Node view .
4. Connect the object you w ant to cut to the Cutter node's right port and connect the Cutter to theComposite node.

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5. Pull out a cable from the masking object and connect it to the Cutter node's left port.

6. Your masking effect is most likely inverted and w hat you w ant to cut is probably show ing. Click the
Mask node's yellow button to open the Layer Properties w indow . In the Layer Properties w indow ,enable the Inverted option.

7. From the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool and move the cut object w ithin the masking

zone.

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Changing Composite Modes
W hen you create a character w ith Harmony, you have to connect all your nodes in the Composite node. The
Composite node takes all the different images coming out of your draw ing nodes and flattens them into one
single image.
This is useful w hen it is time to apply an effect to your entire character or group your layers for a moreorganized netw ork.
The regular Composite node w ill flatten all the pieces into one image preventing interaction w ith props or
characters connected to a different Composite node. That is w hy you have to change the Composite node's
type to a special one that w ill still output one single image but w ill not flatten the draw ings together. This w ill
allow you to nudge your draw ings on the Z-axis so that parts of you characters can pass in front and behind
other characters and objects. This Composite type is called Pass Through.

How to change your Composite node to a Pass Through1. In the Node view , click on the Composite node's Properties button.

The Layer Properties dialog box opens.
2. From the Mode menu, select Pass Through.

3. Click Close.

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Adding Displays
The Display node lets you see a section of the netw ork in the Camera view . By renaming the Display node
w ith your character's name, you can quickly identify it in the Global Display toolbar and isolate your characterto see it better w hile w orking on it.
If you do not have a Display node in your netw ork, you can add one by selecting one from the Node Libraryview and dragging it into the Node view .

How to add a Display node
1. In the Node Library view , select the IO tab and select the Display node.
2. Drag the node to the Node view .

3. Connect the Composite node's output port into the Display node's input port.

How to rename your Display node
1. In the Node view , click on the Display node's Properties button to open the editor.

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2. In the Layer Properties w indow , rename the Display node w ith your character's name.

3. Click Close.

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Chapter 14: Character Rigging

Grouping Rigs
Once your rigging is completed, you must group the puppet's skeleton to help organize the often large andcomplex netw orks. This w ay, once you have imported tw o or three characters into the scene, three Groupnodes w ill be displayed instead of all the rigging connections of three puppets.

How to group nodes
1. In the Node view , select all your nodes.
2. In the top menu, select Edit > Group > Group Selected Layers or press Ctrl + G (W indow s/Linux)or ⌘ + G (macOS).
Your nodes are grouped.
3. Click on the Group node's right arrow to enter the group.

4. If you do not have a Multi-Port Out node inside your group, in the Node Library view , select theGroup category and select a Multi- Port Out node.

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5. Drag the Multi-Port-Out node to the Node view .
6. Connect the Composite node's output port into the Multi-Port Out node.
An output port is created on your Group node.
7. In the bottom-left corner of the Node view , click Top to return to the netw ork's root. You should
now see an output port on your Group node.

8. Click on the Group's Properties button to open the Layer Properties w indow .

9. In the Layer Properties w indow , rename the Group node w ith your character's name.
10. Click Close.

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Creating Keyframes
Once all your draw ings are ordered and your master peg is added, you need to insert keyframes on each cell tocreate all of the function curves and block your pose in place.

How to create the keyframes
1. In the Timeline view , collapse the master peg by clicking the Expand

arrow .

2. In the Timeline view , select the first cell.

3. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Insert > Keyframe.

l

In the Timeline View toolbar, click the Add KeyframelPress F6.

button.

NOTE
If you use the F6 shortcut w hen w orking Flash keyboard shortcuts flavour, this not only
creates a keyframe but also duplicates a draw ing.

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About Pose Copier
T-RIG3-007-001
The pose copier is a scrip that can be added to your Scripting toolbar. The goal of the Pose Copier is tofacilitate the reuse of poses from a master template by taking information from it and pasting it at the desired
frame. It does not create new information outside of w hat is contained in the template.

In order for the Pose Copier to w ork, templates need to be set up properly to maximize the compatibility of thescript. It is recommended to keep only the frames that w ill be needed. Empty or unused frames may appear
w ithin the sliders.
For a simple use of the script, create a template of the part that you w ish to use w ith the pose copier. It could
be the entire character, the head, the lip sync or any other part. It is recommended to template groups as
opposed to scattered individual nodes. To maximize compatibility, keep the hierarchy of your template
identical to the hierarchy of your rig.
You can also create an advanced setup to select specific frames using guide layers—see About Guide Layers
on page 1452.

NOTE
To learn more about the Pose Copier dialog box, see the Reference guide .

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Adding the Pose Copier Script to the Scripting Toolbar
T-RIG3-007-002
To use the Pose Copier, you need to add the script to the Scripting toolbar.

How to add the Pose Copier script to your Scripting toolbar
1. Select W indows > Toolbars > Scripting to display the Scripting toolbar.
2. In the Scripting toolbar, press the Manage Scripts

button to open the Scripts Manager.

3. In the Files section, select the TB_Pose_Copier.js script file.
4. In the Functions section, select TB_Pose_Copier function.
5. Press the Add Script to Toolbar

button to send it to the Scripting toolbar.

6. Press OK to close the Script Manager.

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About Guide Layers
T-RIG3-007-003
The guide layers are ordinary draw ing layers named in a w ay that w ill associate them w ith the 3 sliders of thepose copier. These layers w ill need to be incorporated inside the template for the sliders to w ork w hen
activating the pose copier script.

You need to create three draw ing layers for the three sliders to w ork. These w ill need to be named accordingly
including a dash character. Suffixes may be added after the dash for additional information as seen in theexample above.
lslv- for the vertical layer that w ill be used for the tiltlslh- for the horizontal layer w hich w ill be used for the turnlslx- for the second horizontal layer that w ill be used for the lipsync

In those guide layers, you w ill need to create empty draw ing cells. These frames w ill represent the different
slider positions to w hich you w ill have access in the pose copier. The guide layer frames need to match thecharacter's frames if they are to show an accurate view of the information that w ill be pasted.

In the example above, the slh (horizontal) slider contains 5 frames. The horizontal sliders are read inalphabetical order from left to right. You can add numbers to display them in the desired order.
l

1frontl2quarter-front

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l

3side

l

4quarter-back

l

5back

The slv (vertical) slider contains 3 frames. The vertical slider w orks in alphabetical order from the w ay dow n
and moving up, hence the numerical prefix.
l1dow n

l

2mid

l

3up

The slx (expression) slider contains 5 frames. Each of these frames holds different combinations w hich w ill be
used for the different sliders to access the frames of the template.
l

A

l

B

l

C

l

D

l

E

For example, setting the slh (horizontal) slider to 1front, the slv (vertical) slider to 3dow n and the slx(expression) slider to B w ill display a front pose, looking dow n, using the B mouth.

NOTE
To learn more about the Pose Copier dialog box, see the Reference guide .

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Creating Guide Layers
T-RIG3-007-004
For each template, three guide layers can be created to associate w ith the three sliders of the pose copier.

How to create guide layers
1. W ith your rig open, go to the Timeline view , click the Add Draw ing Layerbutton or press Ctrl +R (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + R (macOS) and create 3 new draw ing layers. You may also create those
nodes in the node view or x-sheet view .
2. Name the prefix of each draw ing layer based on the different sliders. The suffix can be anything to
identify the sliders. The dash must be included w ithin the name in order for the sliders to w ork.
‣

slv- for the vertical slider‣

slh- for horizontal slider 1‣slx- for horizontal slider 2

3. Based on the rig of your character, select each layer one at a time and click on the

button tocreate new empty draw ing at the desired frame. The frame's location w ill be show n on the slider ofthe pose copier.
4. Select the draw ing cell and rename it w ith the desired information by doing one of the follow ing.
‣

Press Ctrl + D (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + D (Mac OS X)‣

From the timeline, right click on the cel and select Drawings > Rename Drawings...

5. Extend exposure up to the next position on the timeline that you w ish to include in the sliders.
6. Reuse frames by selecting frames from the Draw ing Substitution display in the Library view .
For more information about guide layers, see About Guide Layers on page 1452.

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Creating a Pose Copier Template
T-RIG3-007-005
The pose copier template is a regular template of assets that w ill be used to copy and paste information fromthe template over to a scene. Guide layers may be used inside of the pose copier template as additional
efficiency tools for selecting your pose.

How to create a Pose Copier template
1. In the Node view or in the leftmost section of the Timeline view , select the nodes intended to makethe template.
If you have created guide layer nodes, make sure to include them in the selection as w ell.
2. Copy the selection using one of the follow ing:‣

Press Ctrl + C (W indows/Linux) or ⌘ + C (Mac OS X).

‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Copy.

3. In the Library view , select a folder to store the template.
4. If a library folder is locked, right-click and select Right to Modify.
5. W ith the folder selected, paste the selection into the folder using one of the follow ing:‣

Press Ctrl + V (W indows/Linux) or ⌘ + V (Mac OS X).

‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Paste.

6. In the Rename dialog box, give the new template a name.
To rename a template once it is created, right-click on the symbol and select Rename.
7. Click OK.
8. Right-click on the template and select Generate Thumbnails.
You w ill see a preview of your template in the Draw ing Substitution area of your Library view . The
thumbnails are the images used inside the Pose Copier, therefore it is essential to do this before
using the Pose Copier the script. Once this step is completed, the thumbnails are stored w ithin thetemplate. You w ill not need to do this again unless you recreate your template.

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Pasting Poses Using the Pose Copier
T-RIG3-007-006
Once the templates have been created and set up properly, it is easy to paste a variety of poses from one or
multiple templates onto a still character aw aiting posing.

Depending on how the template has been set up, a different destination has to be set up in order for thepasting to take place.

How to Set the Default Destination with the Pose Copier script.
1. In the Library view , select the template you w ant to copy poses from.
2. If it w as not done previously, right-click on the template and select Generate Thumbnails.
The thumbnails are generated and show ing in the Draw ing Substitution View .
3. W ith the template still selected, run the TB_Pose_Copier script by clicking on it in the Scripting
toolbar—see Adding the Pose Copier Script to the Scripting Toolbar on page 1451.
The Pose Copier dialog box opens.
4. From the timeline, select the destination of the pasted keyframes by selecting the node or topmost
node of your hierarchy for the selected template.
5. W ith the destination highlighted in the timeline, (see below table for setting the proper destination)

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press the Set Default Destination Module button from the Pose Copier dialog box.
Once selected, this information w ill remain saved w ithin the template.
Selecting the Destination Layer

Type of template

Paste by Layer Name Option

Default Destination

Set it on the same group as the
EnabledGrouped Nodes

templated group or any node above itin the hierarchy. If a node inside thatgroup is selected, pasting w ill nottake place.

Disabled

Select the same group as the one
templated.

Enabled

Select any node in the hierarchy as
the default position.

Nodes
Disabled

Unless you've only templated a single
node, it is preferable to turn on the
Paste By Layer Name option.

How to Paste Poses W ith the Pose Copier Script
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

Set Default Destination to the designated layer and enable the Use Default Destination
Module option.

lManually select the layer for the destination of the pasting.

2. Select a pose using the different sliders—see About Guide Layers on page 1452.
3. Click Paste to apply it on your character at the currently selected frame.

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Chapter 15: Cut- out Animation
Harmony provides some great tools for rigging and animating cut-out character models. You can make simple
rigs or give your characters flexible capabilities using peg hierarchies, groups, composites, cutters, anddeformers, among other things. You can create basic animations w ith the Transform tool, or more advanced
animation w ith Inverse Kinematics as w ell as Bone and Curve Deformers. Harmony also supports advanced
onion skin and image sw apping features to help you animate efficiently and quickly.

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About Animating with the Transform Tool
The Transform tool is the main tool to use w hen w orking w ith a cut-out character. The Transform tool has
many useful functions:

Using the individual Rotate, Translate, Scale and Skew tools is not recommended, as they move each piecefrom their ow n pivot point. They are compositing tools. The Transform tool creates a global selection, so w hen
many parts are selected, you can move them as one unit. The Transform tool is highly recommended for cutout animation.
W hen animating w ith the Transform tool, make sure to select the right selection mode. In this example, makesure that the Peg Selection

Mode is disabled in the Tool Properties view or it w ill limit the selection in the

Camera view to pegs only.

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If there are hierarchy connections in the cut-out character, the Transform tool w ill also be used as the Forw ard
Kinematics equivalent.
The Transform tool can be used on any kind of rigging.
W hen many parts are selected w ith the Transform tool, the first selected part's pivot w ill be used as theglobal selection's pivot. This pivot can be moved temporarily for the animation. W hen you offset the pivot, thepermanent pivot is displayed as a ghost.

NOTE
The interpolation of the animation poses is alw ays calculated from each individual part's
permanent pivot. If there's a parent peg on a limb, make sure to select it instead of making a
selection of each part to avoid setting individual keyframes.

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Animating with the Transform Tool
The Transform tool allow s you to move, rotate, scale and skew a selection or multi-selection.

How to animate using the Transform tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, click the Transform

tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Transform Tool Properties view , make sure the Peg Selection

mode is deselected.

3. In the Timeline view , go to the frame on w hich you w ant to set the first position.
4. In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add Keyframe

button or press F6. It is recommended to add a

keyframe before moving the character. Moving a character's part w ithout setting a keyframe w illcreate keyframes only on certain parameters of the animation. You could run into issues later onw hen setting poses betw een existing ones. Creating a keyframe on all layers and parameters w illensure your pose is set and w ill not be modified by other poses later on.
5. In the Camera view , select the element to animate and move it.

6. In the Timeline view , go to the frame w here you w ant to set the next position.

7. In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add Keyframe
8. In the Camera view , animate the character.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

Resetting Transformations
W ith the Reset command, you can return a selected element to its initial position and scale values, depending
on w hich tool is active. For example, if the Rotate
and if the Transform

tool is active, the transformation angle w ill be reset to 0

tool is active, then all transformation values w ill be reset.

The Reset All option Resets all transformations on the current frame in a selected layer. Your keyframe w ill
remain, but all the values w ill return to the starting value. All transformations are reset regardless of the tool
you're using.
The Reset All Except Z option resets Resets all transformations on the current frame except the Z position.
This is useful w hen doing cut-out animation. Cut-out puppets often have a particular Z ordering for thedifferent view s of a character. You might w ant to reset the transformation, but not necessarily the Z position.

NOTE
W hen using the Transform tool to select elements in the Camera view , alw ays make sure the Peg
Selection Mode option in the Tool Properties view is disabled or it w ill limit the selection to peg
only.

How to reset the transformation on the current frame
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or any Advanced Animation

tool.

2. In the Timeline view or directly in the Camera view , select the draw ing layer(s) to reset.
3. From the top menu, select Animation > Reset or press R. This w ill reset the current frame if
keyframes w ere created.
The selected layer(s) return to their original position.

How to reset all transformations on the current frame
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or any Advanced Animation

tool.

2. In the Timeline view or directly in the Camera view , select the draw ing layer(s) to reset.
3. From the top menu, select Animation > Reset All or press Shift + R.
The selected layer(s) return to their original position.

How to reset all transformation values except Z
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or any Advanced Animation

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2. In the Timeline view or directly in the Camera view , select the draw ing layer(s) to reset.
3. From the top menu, select Animation > Reset All Except Z.
All values except for those set on the Z axis are reset.

How to completely reset the layers' parameters
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Timeline or Camera view , select one or more draw ing layers to reset.
3. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click the selected layers and select Clear All Values. This w ill remove all
keyframes and reset all values for the entire layer.

l

In the Timeline View menu, select Layers > Clear All Values. This w ill remove all
keyframes and reset all values for the entire layer.

The selected layers return to their original position.

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About Hierarchy Navigation
If there is a layer hierarchy in the puppet you built, use the keyboard shortcuts to travel up and dow n theparent-child chain. You can navigate betw een the children of the same parent. You can also easily center on
your selection in the Timeline or Node view .

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Navigating Layers
Navigate betw een the layers in the Timeline view , using keyboard shortcuts or the Animation menu. This w ayof navigating only w orks for unparented layers or the children of a parent layer. If you are navigating betw een
unparented layers, parent layers can be selected, but their children w ill be skipped. If you start on a parented
layer (child), only the other children of the same parent w ill be available for selection.

How move up and down the layer stack
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool.

2. In the Camera or Timeline view , select an unparented layer or child layer of a parent w ith several
children.

3. From the top menu, select:lAnimation > Select Previous Sibling or press / to select the previous child layer.

lAnimation Select Next Sibling or press ? to select the next child layer.

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Selecting Parent and Children
W hen animating, large movements that are made at the root (parent) of a chain cause secondary movements
throughout the rest (children) of the chain. For example, w hen you rotate the arm of a character from theshoulder, the forearm and hand w ill follow . How ever, in order to make the movement appear natural andgraceful, the forearm and hand should not move at the same speed or angle. As a result, animators often needto move up and dow n a chain, intermittently selecting parent and children, in order to make both large and finemovements.

How to select the parent or child of the selected layer
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool.

2. In the Transform Tool Properties view , make sure the Peg Selection

mode is deselected.

3. In the Camera or Timeline view , select a layer or object attached to a hierarchy.

4. Do one of the follow ing:lSelect Animation > Select Parent or press B to select the parent layer.

lSelect Animation > Select Child or press Shift + B to select the child layer.

lSelect Animation > Select Children to select all child layers at the same time.

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NOTE
W hen going up or dow n your node hierarchy, these keyboard shortcuts skip any effect node in
the hierarchy and only select either peg or draw ing nodes. This is because these shortcuts are
optimized for cut-out animation. In the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog, under the General section,these shortcuts are named Select Parent Skipping Effects and Select Child Skipping Effects.
If you w ant to use keyboard shortcuts to navigate the hierarchy w ithout skipping effect nodes,
you can assign custom keyboard shortcuts for the Select Parent and Select Child commands
instead.

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Centering on Selections
W hen you have many layers in the Timeline view , you may find it hard to locate w hich one is selected. You can
use the Centre on Selection feature to display the selected object's layer in the Timeline view .
Like the Timeline view w ith its many layers, w hen you have several nodes in the Node view , you may find it
hard to locate w hich one is selected. You can use the Centre on Selection feature as w ell as the Search toolbar
to focus on the selected node in the Node view . You can also select elements in the Timeline or Xsheet view .
This can be useful w hen there are too many objects in the scene or w hen an object is hard to grab. Finally, you
can select all the elements w ithin a group at once via via the Node or Timeline view .

How to center on the selected layer in the Timeline view
1. In the Camera or Node view , select a layer.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Timeline view menu, select View > Centre on Selection or press O.

l

In the Timeline view toolbar, click the Centre on Selection

button.

How to center on the selected layer in the Node view
1. In the Camera or Timeline view , select a layer.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node View menu, select View > Centre on Selection.

l

In the Node View toolbar, click the Centre On Selectionl

In the Node view , press O.

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About Keyframes
Keyframes are the building blocks of Cut-out animation. Unlike Traditional animation, w here every pose isdraw n, Cut-out animation uses keyframes to mark major poses (key poses) and lets the softw are create all theposes in betw een.
In Harmony, you can create tw o kinds of keyframes: Motion and Stop-Motion. Motion keyframes behave likethe description above; they allow for the automatic creation of draw ings betw een tw o keyframed poses. StopMotion keyframes do not allow for interpolation betw een keyframes. They are often used to block poses,
somew hat similar to w hat you w ould see in Traditional Animation.

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Creating Motion Keyframes
T-LAY-004-001
After you have created the key poses, you can animate the in-betw een poses yourself or let Harmony do it
using motion keyframes. W hen you use motion keyframes, the draw ings gradually move to the next position
instead of staying on the spot until the next keyframe.

How to create motion keyframes
1. In the top menu, make sure the Animation > Stop- Motion Keyframe option is disabled.
2. In the Timeline view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to add a keyframe.

3. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the selection and select Insert Keyframe.

lClick the Add KeyframelPress F6.

l

In the Camera view , if the Animate mode is enabled, as soon as you move thebutton in the Timeline toolbar.

selected element, a keyframe w ill be automatically created on the current frame.

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How to convert a stop- motion keyframe into a motion keyframe
1. In the Timeline view , select the stop-motion keyframes to convert into motion keyframes.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the selection and select Set Motion Keyframe.

lClick the Motion KeyframelPress Ctrl + K (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + K (macOS).

button in the Timeline View toolbar.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

Creating Stop- motion Keyframes
To start animating your character, start by doing your key poses. In fact, most of your time w ill be spent doing
key poses. It is better to w ork w ith stop-motion keyframes so Harmony does not automatically create theinterpolation betw een your keyframes.
W hen using stop-motion keyframes, also know n as step keyframes, the segment betw een tw o keyframes isconstant. There is no animation generated by the computer betw een the poses. The draw ing remains inposition until the next keyframe, then moves to its new position.

How to create stop- motion keyframes
1. In the top menu, make sure the Animation > Stop- motion Keyframe option is selected.
2. In the Timeline view , select the cell on w hich you w ant to add a keyframe.

3. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click and select Insert Keyframe.

l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add KeyframelPress F6.

l

In the Camera view , if the Animate mode is enabled, as soon as you move thebutton.

selected element, a keyframe is automatically created on the current frame.

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How to convert a motion keyframe into a stop- motion keyframe
1. In the Timeline view , select the motion keyframes to convert into stop-motion keyframes or press S.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click and select Set Stop- Motion Keyframes.

l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Stop-Motion KeyframelPress Ctrl + L (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + L (macOS).

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

About Swapping Drawings
T-RIG-004-001
Cut-out animation often requires using several different draw ings on the same layers. For example, it is typicalto have several draw ings in the mouth layer so that you can animate the character's mouth by sw apping its
draw ings, since it is complicated to animate a mouth w ith deformations and transformations alone. It is also
typical to have several hand draw ings in the hand layers, to avoid having to animate the hand's fingers
individually and to allow for quick hand rotations.

Hence, a cut-out animator is often required to sw ap draw ings on some layers throughout the scene tocomplete their cut-out animation. To allow for a flexible, adaptable and optimal w orkflow , there are several
w ays to sw ap draw ings. But before learning how to sw ap draw ings, it is important to understand thedifference betw een a layer's draw ings and its exposure. In Harmony, each layer has its ow n pool of draw ings,
referred to as an element, W hich draw ing is displayed for a layer at any frame in the scene is called exposure.
For example, a hand layer may contain dozens of different hand poses, but only display one or tw o of themthroughout the scene, w ith the first one displayed for the first half of the scene and the second one displaying
during the second half.
The exposure for a scene's layers is represented visually in the Xsheet view .

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You can also see how the exposure is separated throughout the scene in the Timeline view . Each exposure isrepresented by a gray rectangle.

NOTE
You can see w hich draw ings are exposed in each rectangle by enabling Thumbnails—see
Displaying Draw ing Thumbnails in the Timeline View .

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W hen you sw ap a draw ing, you change w hich one of the layer's draw ing is exposed at the current frame up
until the end of its exposure. For example, if you select the frame at the beginning of a draw ing's exposure,and sw ap its draw ing, the draw ing w ill be sw apped for the entire span of that exposure.

Otherw ise, if you select the frame in the middle of an exposure and sw ap its draw ing, the draw ing w ill be
sw apped from the current frame up until the end of that exposure.

This breaks the exposure into tw o exposures, w hich is visible in the Timeline view

There are three w ays to sw ap draw ings:

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The Drawing Picker view displays all the draw ing in the selected layer's elements as thumbnails. You
can see every draw ing you can choose from and pick the draw ing you w ant by clicking on it.

l

The Library view has a Draw ing Substitution panel in its top-right corner. It allow s you to sw ap
draw ings by selecting the draw ing you w ant using a slider, or by typing the number or name of thatdraw ing in a text field.

l

The Timeline view 's Parameters column displays w hich draw ing is exposed on draw ing layers at thecurrent frame. You can sw ap draw ings by clicking and dragging on the draw ing name, or by typing its
number or name manually.

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Swapping Drawings in the Drawing Substitutions View
The Draw ing Substitutions view is the easiest w ay to sw ap draw ings. W hen you select a layer, the Draw ing
Substitutions view w ill display every draw ing in that layer's element as thumbnails. All you have to do isselect the frame w here you w ant to sw ap draw ings, then click on the thumbnail of the draw ing you w ant toexpose.

How to swap drawings using the Drawing Substitutions view
1. Add the Draw ing Substitutions view to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top-right corner of any existing view , click on the

Add View button and selectDrawing Substitutions.
l

In the top menu, select W indows > Drawing Substitutions.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the layer on w hich you w ant to sw ap draw ings.

l

In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool. Then, in the Camera view , select the layer

on w hich you w ant to sw ap draw ings.

NOTE
Make sure thePeg Selection mode is turned off in the Tool Properties view .

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3. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the frame at w hich you w ant to sw ap draw ings.

NOTE
You can select a range of frames to substitute draw ings in several frames at the sametime—see About Sw apping Multiple Draw ings

4. In the Draw ing Substitutions view , click on the draw ing w ith w hich you w ant to expose at thecurrent frame.

The draw ing exposed in the current frame is sw apped w ith the draw ing you just selected.

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TIP
You can also press [ to substitute the current draw ing w ith the previous draw ing and ] tosubstitute it w ith the next draw ing.

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Swapping Drawings in the Library View
T-LAY-003-002
The Library view has a convenient Draw ing Substitution panel in w hich you can quickly sw ap the draw ing inthe selected frame for another draw ing. Under the draw ing thumbnail, you can use the slider to cycle throughthe draw ings in the selected layer's element, or use the text field to type in the name of the draw ing you w ant
to expose.

How to swap images in the Library view
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the layer on w hich you w ant to sw ap draw ings.

l

In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool. Then, in the Camera view , select the layer

on w hich you w ant to sw ap draw ings.

NOTE
Make sure thePeg Selection mode is turned off in the Tool Properties view .

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2. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the frame at w hich you w ant to sw ap draw ings.

NOTE
You can select a range of frames to substitute draw ings in several frames at the sametime—see About Sw apping Multiple Draw ings

3. Open the Library view . The Draw ing Substitution panel, in the top-left corner, w ill display theselected draw ing, the name of the layer and the name of the draw ing at the current frame.

4. Do one of the follow ing:lClick and drag on the slider to cycle through the draw ings in the layer's element. Leave theslider once you see the draw ing you w ant to expose in the thumbnail.

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In the text field, type in the number or name of the draw ing you w ant to expose.

lPress [ to substitute the current draw ing w ith the previous draw ing and ] to substitute it
w ith the next draw ing.

The draw ing exposed in the current frame is sw apped w ith the draw ing you just selected.

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Swapping Drawings in the Timeline View
T-LAY-003-001
In the Timeline view , there is a Parameters column right of the Layers column. For draw ing layers, theParameters column displays the name or number of the draw ing exposed at the current frame. You can quickly
sw ap w hich draw ing is exposed at the current frame by clicking and dragging on the value in the Parameterscolumn. This is a more technical approach, as you do not have a preview of the draw ing you are selecting.
Hence, you have to know the name or number of the draw ing you have to select. If you do know it, thistechnique can save you time as it can be done on the fly w hile w orking in the Timeline view .

How to swap a drawing in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the cell in w hich you w ant to sw ap draw ings.

2. In the fields under the Parameters column, right of the layer's name, do one of the follow ing:lClick and hold on the draw ing number or name, then drag left to cycle back through thedraw ings in the element, or right to cycle forw ard through the draw ings in the element.
W hen the number or name of the draw ing you w ant to expose appears, release the mousebutton.

l

Double-click on the draw ing number or name and, in the text field that appears, type in thename of the draw ing you w ant to expose and press ENTER.

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About Swapping Multiple Drawings
If you select a range of frames in the Timeline view , you can sw ap draw ings over the entire selected range offrames at the same time. How ever, there are tw o approaches to doing this, w ith tw o different results.

Drawing Picker, Library View or Keyboard Shortcuts
If you select a range of frames in the Timeline view , then use the Draw ing Picker view , the Library view or the [and ] keyboard shortcuts to sw ap draw ings, the draw ing in every frame in the selected range w ill be replaced
w ith the new draw ing. How ever, subsequent draw ings w ill not be substituted, even if they are part of thesame exposure. This w ill make the selected range of frames into its ow n exposure, breaking it from theexposure before and after the selection.

Timeline View
If you select a range of frames in the Timeline view , then use the Parameters column to sw ap draw ings, theevery frame in the selected range w ill be replaced w ith the new draw ing up and until the end of the last
exposure in the selection.

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About Key Exposures
Key exposures are a feature that can help preserve the exposure of specific draw ings at specific frames of yourscene w hen you perform draw ing substitution.
Before w orking w ith key exposures, it is important to understand how exposure w orks w ith Harmony. An
exposure basically represents the span of time (or frames) during w hich a specific draw ing is displayed in yourscene. You can see the exposure of each draw ing for a given layer in the Xsheet view . For example, here w ehave a layer in w hich draw ing 1 is exposed from frames 1 to 6, then draw ing 2 is exposed from frames 7 to 10,
and draw ing 3 is exposed from frames 11 to 12:

As you can see, in the Xsheet view , an exposure is represented in its first frame by the name of the draw ing,
then in every subsequent frame by a vertical line. The number represents the moment w here the exposure of adraw ing starts, w hich is called a key exposure, the line represents the span during w hich this draw ing's
exposure is repeated, w hich is just called exposure.
Typically, key exposures are automatically created w hen the exposed draw ing changes. How ever, it ispossible to add key exposure in the middle of a draw ing's exposure w ithout changing the exposed draw ing,
simply to break its exposure into tw o separate blocks of exposure. For example, here, you have draw ing 1
exposed from frames 1 to 8, but it is split into tw o blocks of exposure by a Key Exposure at frame 5.

This is useful for managing w hat happens w hen you perform draw ing substitution. In Harmony, w hen you
sw ap a draw ing for another draw ing at a specific frame, it replaces w hich draw ing is exposed on all the frames
starting from the current frame up until the next key exposure. For example, here, if w e sw itch the draw ing at
frame 3 w ith draw ing 6, draw ing 6 w ill be exposed from frame 3 all the w ay to frame 8, because there is a key
exposure at frame 9.

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In this other example, because there is a key exposure at frame 5, if the draw ing at frame 3 is sw itched fromdraw ing 1 to draw ing 6, the substitution w ill only happen on frames 3 and 4. The key exposure at frame 5 w ill
prevent the substitution from spanning any further:Hence, by using Key Exposures, you can make sure the draw ing exposed at a specific frame does not get
sw apped just because you sw apped the draw ing in earlier frames. The draw ing exposed w ith a Key Exposure
only gets sw apped if you select the frame w here that Key Exposure is and sw ap the draw ing in it.

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Adding Key Exposures
If there is a particular draw ing you w ant to keep on a specific frame, you can set it as a key exposure. This
prevents it from be overw ritten by a draw ing sw ap on a preceding frame. A key exposure is simply a propertyof an exposure that forces it to be exposed on a certain frame regardless of w hether the previous exposure is
the same draw ing or not.

How to add a key exposure
1. In the Timeline view , select the draw ing cell to set as the key exposure.
2. Do one of the follow ing:In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add Key Exposurel

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add Key Exposurel

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

l

Right-click and select Exposure > Add Key Exposure.

A new key exposure is added at the current frame.

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button.

button.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Removing Key Exposures
W hen you no know longer need a key exposure, you can remove it.

You can also remove key exposures of w here the draw ing is different than in the previous frame. W hen you
remove a key exposure, the exposure of the draw ing before it is extended over the exposure of the deleted key
exposure.

How to remove a key exposure
1. In the Timeline view , select a key exposure to remove.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Remove Key Exposure

button.

l

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

l

Right-click and select Exposure > Remove Key Exposure.

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

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Removing Duplicate Key Exposures
A duplicate key exposure is w hen a key exposure exposes the same draw ing as the frame before it. You canquickly remove all duplicate key exposures in a span of frames and only preserve the key exposure that isnecessary for your animation.

How to remove duplicate key exposures
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the span of frames in w hich you w ant to remove duplicate
exposure.
2. Right-click on the selection and select Exposure > Remove Duplicate Key Exposure.

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Copying & Pasting Key Exposures
W hen you copy a key exposure and paste it over a cell that has the same draw ing, by default, this creates a
key exposure in this cell.

You can actually choose w hether or not to create key exposure w hen you paste in tw o w ayslUsing Paste Special, you can choose w hether to paste key exposure on the fly.

lUsing Paste Presets, you can choose w hether to paste key exposure w henever you paste.

How ignore or enforce key exposures when copying and pasting drawings using Paste
Special
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ings you w ant to copy.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lPress Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C (macOS).

l

Right-click on the selection and select on Copy cells from the Timeline/Xsheet.

l

From the top menu, select Edit > Copy cells from the Timeline/Xsheet.

3. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell w here you w ant to paste your selection.
4. Do one of the follow ing:lPress Ctrl + B (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + B (macOS).

l

Right-click on the destination and select Paste Special.

l

From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Special.

The Paste Special dialog box opens.

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5. Check or uncheck the Enforce Key Exposure optiojn, depending on w hether or not you w ant topaste key exposures.
6. Click OK.

How ignore or enforce key exposures when copying and pasting drawings using Paste
Presets
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the draw ings you w ant to copy.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lPress Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C (macOS).

l

Right-click on the selection and select on Copy cells from the Timeline/Xsheet.

l

From the top menu, select Edit > Copy cells from the Timeline/Xsheet.

3. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the cell w here you w ant to paste your selection.
4. In the Timeline view toolbar, check w hether the All Draw ings Attribute
Exposures Only

, Keyframes Only

paste preset is selected.

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

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6. Check or uncheck the Enforce Key Exposure option, depending on w hether or not you w ant topaste key exposures.
7. Click OK.
8. Do one of the follow ing:lPress Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + V (macOS)l

Right-click on the destination and select Paste Cells in Timeline/Paste.

l

From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Cells in Timeline/Paste.

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About Eases
To add ease in and ease out on motion paths, you can display the function curve and modify the Bezier or Ease
curve. To apply an ease to multiple functions and keyframes, use the Set Ease for Multiple Parameters featureand set the amount desired.

The velocity, or ease, is used on motion keyframes. The velocity must be adjusted directly on the function
curve in the Function view or Function editor. W hen a keyframe is selected, easing values appear in the righthandle and left handle fields, as w ell as the Bezier handle or Ease w heel controls on each selected keyframe.
You can pull on them to adjust the ease in and ease out, or type values in the fields.
If there are several functions w hose velocity you w ant to adjust at the same time, such as the hand, forearmand arm of a cut-out character, you can apply the same velocity parameters to all the selected keyframes in
one frame.

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Setting the Ease for Animation Keyframes
You can set and fine-tune the ease for your animations using the Set Ease for Multiple Parameters dialog. In
this dialog, you can edit the ease for your animation using Bezier handles, allow ing you to adjust both thelength and the angle of the Bezier curve that makes the timing of the animation. You can also select w hichtypes of parameters, such as position, rotation angle and scale, to w hich the ease should be applied.
You can also quickly set the ease for a range of keyframes using the Set Ease on Keyframes dialog, w hich only
allow s you to set the length of the ease, but not the angle.

How to set ease on animations keyframe by keyframe
1. In the Timeline view , collapse the hierarchy of the rig (or of the part of the rig) to w hich you w ant toapply an ease.

NOTE
W hen you apply an ease to a layer w ith children, and this layer’s hierarchy is collapsed,the ease is applied to that layer and all of its children.

2. Select one of your animation keyframes.

NOTE
You should only select one keyframe. The Set Ease for Multiple Parameters dialog canonly edit the ease on one keyframe at a time, but it also allow s you to quickly jump
betw een keyframes in your timeline.

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3. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline view , right-click and select Set Ease For Multiple Parameters.

l

In the Timeline toolbar, you can click the Set Ease For Multiple Parameters

button.

The Set Ease For Multiple Parameters dialog box opens.

4. In the Bezier editor, click and drag on the Bezier handle to adjust the ease for the selected
keyframes.

5. You can also adjust the easing by typing values in the Time Ratio and Value Ratio fields below theBezier editor. The values are calculated in percentage.
l

In the Left Time Ratio and Right Time Ratio fields, type the percentage value
corresponding to the length of time you w ant the easing to last. This w ill move the Beziers
horizontally, aw ay from their keyframe. The value must be betw een 0% and 100%.

l

In the Left Value Ratio and Right Value Ratio fields, type the percentage value of how
skew ed you w ant the ease to be. This w ill move the Bezier vertically, tow ards their nearest

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keyframe if the value is positive, or aw ay the nearest keyframe if their value is negative. The
value must be betw een 0% and 100%.
6. To apply these easing parameters to a certain type of function only, such as Rotation or Scale, in
the Filters section, deselect the function types you do not w ant to affect.
l

Motion: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Position X, Position Y, Position
Z and 3D Path functionslRotation: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Angle functions.

l

Scale: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Scale functions.

l

Skew: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Skew functions.

lMorphing: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Morphing Velocity
functions. Note that it is applied to the Morphing Velocity function in the Layer
Properties w indow , not to the basic Morphing ease in the Tool Properties view .

lOther: Applies the easing parameters to all the other selected functions, such as allfunctions created to animate effect parameters.

7. Click one of the follow ing buttons:lApply/Previous: Applies the ease parameters to the selected keyframe and thenjumps to the previous keyframe in the timeline so that you can adjust its ease next.

lApply: Applies the easing parameters to the selected keyframe.

lApply/Next: Applies the ease parameters to the selected keyframe, then jumps thenext keyframe in the timeline so that you can adjust its ease next.

lClose: Closes the dialog box. If you did not apply the modifications, they w ill becancelled

How to apply a quickly set the ease on one or several keyframes
1. In the Timeline view , collapse the hierarchy of the rig (or of the part of the rig) to w hich you w ant toapply an ease.

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NOTE
W hen you apply an ease to a layer w ith children, and this layer’s hierarchy is collapsed,the ease is applied to that layer and all of its children.

2. Select all the keyframes for w hich you w ant to adjust the ease.

3. In the Timeline toolbar, click on the

Set Ease on Selected Keyframes button.

The Set Ease on Keyframes dialog appears.

4. For the ease before the selected keyframes, do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to set the ease before the selected keyframes, check the Ease- In (left) checkbox.
Then, in input field next to the checkbox, type in the percentage of ease you w ant to apply
before the selected keyframes.

l

If you don’t w ant to make changes to the ease before the selected keyframes, uncheck theEase- In (left) checkbox.

5. For the ease after the selected keyframes, do one of the follow ing:

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If you w ant to set the ease after the selected keyframes, check the Ease- Out (right)
checkbox. Then, in input field next to the checkbox, type in the percentage of ease you w ant
to apply after the selected keyframes.

l

If you don’t w ant to make changes to the ease after the selected keyframes, uncheck theEase- In (left) checkbox.

6. Click OK.
The eases on all the selected keyframe is now updated.

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Applying Ease Presets to Animations
You can quickly set the ease on an animation using the Timeline view toolbar. There are tw o approaches to
this:l

The Set Ease Type drop-dow n allow s you to quickly select an ease preset for the animation ranging
from the selected keyframe to the next keyframe.

l

The Quick Ease buttons allow you to apply an ease preset to the current keyframe, w hether before orafter the current keyframe.

How to select apply an ease preset to a motion
1. In the Timeline view , collapse the hierarchy of the rig (or of the part of the rig) to w hich you w ant toapply an ease.

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NOTE
W hen you apply an ease to a layer w ith children, and this layer’s hierarchy is collapsed,the ease is applied to that layer and all of its children.

2. Select the first keyframe of the animation to w hich you w ant to apply an ease preset.

TIP
You can select several keyframes. The ease preset w ill be applied to the animations
starting from each selected keyframe up to the follow ing keyframe.

3. In the Timeline toolbar, open the

Set Ease Type drop-dow n and select the preferred easepreset:lLinear: Removes ease-in on the selected keyframe and the ease-out on the next
keyframe.

lSlow ease-in: Applies an ease- in of 25% to the selected keyframe and an ease- out of
0% to the next keyframe.

lMedium ease-in: Applies an ease- in of 50% to the selected keyframe and an ease- out of
0% to the next keyframe.

lFast ease-in: Applies an ease- in of 75% to the selected keyframe and an ease- out of 0%
to the next keyframe.

lFast ease-in / ease-out: Applies an ease- in of 75% to the selected keyframe and anease- out of 75% to the next keyframe.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out AnimationlMedium ease-in / ease-out: Applies an ease- in of 50% to the selected keyframe and anease- out of 50% to the next keyframe.

lSlow ease-in / ease-out: Applies an ease- in of 25% to the selected keyframe and anease- out of 25% to the next keyframe.

lSlow ease-out: Applies an ease- in of 0% to the selected keyframe and an ease- out of
25% to the next keyframe.

lMedium ease-out: Applies an ease- in of 0% to the selected keyframe and an ease- out of
50% to the next keyframe.

lFast ease-out: Applies an ease- in of 0% to the selected keyframe and an ease- out of
75% to the next keyframe.:

The selected ease-type is applied to the animation spanning from the selected keyframe to thenext keyframe.

How to apply a quick ease preset before or after a keyframe
1. In the Timeline view , collapse the hierarchy of the rig (or of the part of the rig) to w hich you w ant toapply an ease.

NOTE
W hen you apply an ease to a layer w ith children, and this layer’s hierarchy is collapsed,the ease is applied to that layer and all of its children.

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2. Select all the keyframes to w hich you w ant to apply an ease preset.

3. In the Timeline toolbar, do one of the follow ing:l

To apply an ease of 33% before and after the keyframe, click on thelTo apply an ease of 33% after the keyframe, click on the

Quick Ease Out button.

l

To apply an ease of 33% before the keyframe, click on the

Quick Ease In button.

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Quick Ease button.

Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

About Using Onion Skin in Cut- out Animation
T-HFND-006-006
Although Onion Skin is primarily designed for frame-by-frame animation, you may find Onion Skin to be usefulw hen doing cut-out animation. Just like w ith paperless animation, you can use Onion Skin to help you use
existing poses in your scene as references to create new key poses, breakdow ns or in-betw eens. Also,
displaying the Onion Skin for the different frames of a movement can help you visualize the timing of youranimation.

NOTE
The follow ing topic explains how to control w hich layers in a cut-out rig are displayed in the Onion
Skin. For more information on how to use Onion Skin in general, see About Onion Skin.

W hen the Onion Skin is displayed, it is displayed for:l

The currently selected layer and its children.

l

All layers for w hich the Onion Skin is enabled.

W hen you enable Onion Skin, it is automatically enabled on the selected layer and its children, and disabled
for other layers. This w ay, if you select your character rig's master peg, enable Onion Skin, it w ill be enabled
for all its layers. If you select one of its layers to animate it, the Onion Skin for the w hole rig w ill persist.
This makes managing Onion Skin w hile doing cut-out animation relatively seamless. How ever, you may still
w ant to manage w hich layers are visible in the Onion Skin. For example, you may w ant to add more layers to
the Onion Skin as their position is needed to help you pose specific layers, or you may w ant to remove layers
from the Onion Skin to de-clutter it, or prevent it from hindering softw are performance. There are several
techniques for managing w hich layers are displayed in the Onion Skin.

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NOTE
Keep in mind that the selected layer and its children are alw ays displayed in the Onion Skin.
Hence, w hen you select a layer and try to remove it from the Onion Skin, it w ill remain displayed in
the Onion Skin until you select a different layer.

The Onion Skin

Button in the Tools Toolbar

W hen you click on the Onion Skin button in the Tools toolbar to enable Onion Skin, it is enabled on all theselected layers and their children. This is persistent even if you select different layers. Hence, it is a good idea
to select your character model, or the part of it that you w ant to animate, before enabling Onion Skin.

W hen Onion Skin is enabled, if you click on the Onion Skin button, it w ill disable Onion Skin for all layers.

The Onion Skin

Button in the Timeline View

In the Timeline view , there is an Onion Skin button left of each draw ing layer. If you click on it, it w ill toggle
w hether Onion Skin is enabled on that individual layer.

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Also, and perhaps more importantly, w hen a peg that is the parent of one or several draw ing layers iscollapsed, it also has an Onion Skin button. Clicking on this button w ill toggle Onion Skin on every draw ing
layer rigged under that peg. This allow s you to quickly enable Onion Skin on your w hole rig or on a large partof your rig.

Likew ise, you can quickly disable Onion Skin on part of your rig this w ay.

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The Onion Skin Menu
In the top menu, under View, there is an Onion Skin sub-menu. This menu contains several commands
allow ing you to add or remove layers to and from the Onion Skin:l

Add to Onion Skin: Adds the selected layer and all of its children to the Onion Skin.

NOTE
You can run this command instantly by pressing Shift + S.

lRemove from Onion Skin: Removes the selected layer and all of its children from the Onion Skin.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out AnimationlRemove Unselected from Onion Skin: Removes every layer but the selected layer and its children fromthe Onion Skin. This can be useful if you have Onion Skin enabled on your w hole rig or on a big part ofyour rig, but you selected a smaller part of the rig and you only w ant Onion Skin to be enabled on it.

l

Add All to Onion Skin: Adds all of the layers in your scene to the Onion Skin:

NOTE
You can run this command instantly by pressing Alt + Shift + OlRemove All from Onion Skin: Disables Onion Skin on all of the layers in your scene.

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NOTE
You can run this command instantly by pressing Ctrl + Shift + O (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ +Shift + O (macOS).

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Using the Outline ModeUse the Outline mode to temporarily convert all the draw ings on a layer to outlines. You can still select andmanipulate the draw ings in this mode. Select a draw ing by selecting its outline. The fill is not taken into
account w hen making selections in this mode.

Toggling drawings to outlines
1. In the Timeline view , click once on the Change Track Colour button of a layer to toggle all draw ingsof that layer to outlines, in the Camera view .

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Changing the outline colour
1. In the Timeline view , double-click on the Change Track Colour button of a layer to open the SelectColour dialog box.

2. In the Select Colour w indow , select a new colour for your outlines.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

3. Click Ok.

The colour sw atch and frames of the selected layer take on the new colour. In the Node view , thelayer's corresponding node also displays the colour marker.

4. In the Timeline view , click once on the change track colour of a layer to toggle all draw ings of thatlayer to outlines, in the Camera view .

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The outlines of the layer's draw ings appear in the selected colour.

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Flipping Through Poses
W hen animating, it is useful to flip through poses to see the flow of your animation w ithout going througheach frame in the Timeline view . Harmony lets you flip betw een the selected element’s keyframes.

How to flip through poses
1. In the Camera or Timeline view , select a layer that contains the poses you w ant to view .

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Go to Previous Keyframe or Go to Next
Keyframe.

lPress semicolon (;) and single quote (').

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Flipping Parts
If you w ant to flip a part, a limb or a w hole puppet, use the Transform tool and the Flip Horizontal and Flip
Vertical options. If the Scaling parameter is not set to Separate Scale, the flip is not applied to the selection.

How to flip a selection
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Tool Properties view , make sure the Peg Selection Modeis disabled.

3. In the Camera view , select the parts to be flipped.

4. In the Tool Properties view , click the Flip Horizontal
respectively.

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or Flip Vertical

option or press 4 or 5

Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

Animating Lip- Sync
Adding a lip-sync to your animation is essential to making your characters seem alive. How ever, it is also aparticularly tedious part of the animation process.

To solve this problem, Harmony provides an automatic lip-sync detection feature. This feature analyzes thecontent of a sound track in your scene and associates each phoneme it detects w ith one of the mouth shapes
in the follow ing mouth chart, w hich is a standard mouth chart in the animation industry.

NOTE
The letters assigned to these mouth shapes are standard identifiers, they do NOT correspond to
the sound they are meant to produce.

This is an approximation of the English phonemes each mouth shape can be used to represent:l

A: m, b, p, hl

B: s, d, j, i, k, tl

C: e, al

D: A, E

l

E: o

l

F: u, ool

G: f, phl

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W hen performing automatic lip-sync detection, Harmony does not create mouth draw ings. It simply fills thedraw ing column of your character's mouth layer w ith the generated lip-sync, by inserting the letter associatedw ith the right mouth shape into each cell of the column. Therefore, for the automatic lip-sync detection to
w ork, your character's mouth layer should already contain a mouth draw ing for each draw ing in the mouth
chart, and these draw ings should be named by their corresponding letter.

How to generate a sound detection for lip- sync using the Layer Properties view
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the sound layer.
The options for that layer w ill appear in the Layer Properties view .
2. In the Layer Properties, click Detect.

Harmony analyzes the selected sound clips and assigns a lip-sync letter to each sound cell.
3. Click the Map button to open the Lip-Sync Mapping dialog box.

4. From the Destination Layer menu, select the layer that contains the mouth positions for thecharacter's voice track.

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NOTE
If the selected layer contains symbols, you can map the lip-sync using draw ings locateddirectly on the layer or use the symbol's frames. In the Symbol Layer field select Don't
Use Any Symbol if you w ant to use the draw ings or select the desired symbol from thedrop-dow n menu.

5. In the Mapping section, type the draw ing name or Symbol frames in the field to the right of thephoneme it represents. If your draw ings are already named w ith the phoneme letters, you can skip
this step.
6. Click OK.
7. In the Playback toolbar, enable the8. Press the

Enable Sound option.

Play button in the Playback toolbar to see and hear the results in the Camera view

You can manually create the lip-syncing for your scene by selecting w hich mouth draw ing should be exposedat each frame of your character's d ialogue. For this process, you w ill be using the Sound Scrubbing
functionality, w hich plays the part of your sound track at the current frame w henever you move your Timeline
cursor, allow ing you to identify w hich phonemes you should match your character's mouth to. You w ill also beusing draw ing substitution to change w hich mouth draw ing is exposed at every frame.

How to animate lip- sync using the Timeline view
1. In the Playback toolbar, toggle theSound Scrubbing button on.

2. In the Timeline view , drag the red playhead along the sound layer w aveform.
3. W hen you reach a frame w here a mouth position should go, for example, an open mouth w ith
rounded lips for an "oh" sound, click on that frame on your mouth shapes layer.
4. In the Parameters section, staying on your mouth shapes layer, place your cursor on top of thedraw ing name (often a letter) until it changes to the sw apping

pointer.

5. Pull the cursor to see the list of mouth shape names and choose the one you w ant. The current
draw ing automatically changes to the new selection.

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How to animate lip- sync using the Library view
1. In the Playback toolbar, toggle theSound Scrubbing button on.

2. In the Timeline view , drag the red playhead along the w aveform of your sound layer.
3. W hen you reach a frame w here a mouth position should go, for example, an open mouth w ith
rounded lips for an "oh" sound, click on that frame on your mouth shapes layer.
4. In the Draw ing Substitution w indow of the Library view , drag the slider to choose a mouth shape.
The current draw ing is sw apped for the one in the preview w indow .

How to swap drawings using the Drawing Substitutions view
1. Add the Draw ing Substitutions view to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top-right corner of any existing view , click on the

Add View button and selectDrawing Substitutions.
l

In the top menu, select W indows > Drawing Substitutions.

2. In the Playback toolbar, toggle theSound Scrubbing button on.

3. In the Timeline view , drag the red playhead along the w aveform of your sound layer.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

4. W hen you reach a frame w here a mouth position should go, for example, an open mouth w ith
rounded lips for an "oh" sound, click on that frame on your mouth shapes layer.
5. In the Draw ing Substitutions view , click on the mouth pose you w ant to expose at the current
frame.

TIP
You can also press [ to substitute the selected draw ing w ith the previous draw ing and ] tosubstitute it w ith the next draw ing.

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Ordering in Z- Depth
The layer ordering system in Harmony saves time and simplifies your w ork. There is no need to create a newlayer or copy and paste artw ork into other layers to change the order. The Z-axis (forw ard/backw ard) allow s
you to create a multiplane and move elements closer or farther from the camera. This allow s you to move thepuppet’s pieces in front of or behind other ones w ithout physically changing the layer position.

Harmony provides you w ith a shortcut to move the piece w ith a micro nudge on the Z-axis. A keyframe iscreated w here different Z values can be entered. This allow s the piece to move forw ard and backw ards inspace w ithout requiring you to change the draw ing’s original position or break the layer hierarchy. This alsomeans that the layer ordering is maintained throughout the scene. You can combine animation assets so
Harmony can interpolate them.

How to nudge elements on the Z- axis
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform
2. In the Tools toolbar, if

Animate Off ortool or press Shift + T.
Animate Onion Skin Range mode is selected, click on it

to open the Animate pop-up menu and select1522

Animate Current Frame.

Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

3. In the Camera view , select the part to be repositioned and hold dow n the Alt key.
4. Using the Up Arrow or Dow n Arrow arrow keys, nudge the part until it moves to the desired
position.

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Creating Cycles
You can create cycles from a portion of your animation or completely reverse the flow of your animation.

How to create an animation cycle
1. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the cell range and keyframes to loop.

2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy Cells From the Timeline.
3. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the cell w here you w ant your cycles to start.

4. From the top menu, select one of the follow ing:lEdit > Paste Cyclel

Press Ctrl + / (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + / (macOS).

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

The Paste Special dialog box opens.

5. In the Cycles drop-dow n, select the type of cycle to paste:l

Normal (forward): Pastes the selection as is, starting w ith the first cell and ending w ith the
last.

l

Reverse: Pastes the selection reversed, beginning w ith the last cell and ending w ith the first.

lForward - > Reverse: Pastes the selection as a yo-yo, starting w ith the first cell, going to thelast cell and ending w ith the first cell.

l

Reverse - > Forward: Pastes the selection as a reversed yo-yo, starting w ith the last cell,going to the first one and ending w ith the last cell.

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

2. Click OK.

How to create a reverse animation cycle
1. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the cell range and keyframes to paste inverted.

2. From the top menu, select Edit > Copy.
3. In the Xsheet or Timeline view , select the cell w here you w ant the cycles to start.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

4. From the top menu, select Edit > Paste Reverse or press Ctrl + . (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + .
(macOS).

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About Inverse Kinematics
The Inverse Kinematics (IK) tool allow s you to pull on a character's extremities, such as the hands and feet, andhave the rest of the body follow . It can be used on any piece connected in a hierarchy. How ever, you don't haveto use IK every time you have a hierarchy rig. This tool is useful w hen you w ant to bend a character's knees,
make it sit and move the rest of the body, and so on. It w ill also assist you w ith posing difficult moves.

In most 3D animation softw are, Inverse Kinematics is implemented as a skeleton system. Harmony uses the
rigging hierarchy already created in the Timeline view , so there is no need to place bones in the character.
Inverse Kinematics in Harmony uses the connection betw een each of the parts' pivots.
Inverse Kinematics w ill not w ork on basic rigs w ithout hierarchy because there is no hierarchy chain present. IK
only w orks on a hierarchy w here the pivots are properly set.
Harmony provides different tools for animating cut-out characters and trajectories. The tw o main tools used toanimate characters are the Transform and Inverse Kinematics tools.
Here, w e'll compare the usage of these tools and explain the Inverse Kinematics philosophy.
lTransform Tool
Also know n as forw ard kinematics, the Transform tool is the main tool to use for cut-out animation. This
tool rotates, scales, moves and skew s selected elements as one global element.
Forw ard kinematics means that the limb is animated from the parent dow n to the last child as a single
piece. In other w ords, if the shoulder is animated, then the arm, forearm and hand follow as a complete
arm draw ing.

lInverse Kinematics Tool (IK)This tool helps you achieve complex motions, such as sitting dow n or knee bending. The Inverse
Kinematics tool moves and rotates every selected element as a chain.
Inverse kinematics means that the element is animated from the child up to the parent. In other w ords, if
the hand is animated, then the forearm, arm and shoulder follow the hand in a fairly natural w ay interms of the movement, rotation and bending.

The IK tool cannot be used on every type of cut-out character. It depends on the w ay the pieces and parts areattached to one another. In other w ords, it depends on the rigging type.
There are several w ays to rig a puppet. These are the three main rigging techniques:
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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

l

l

l

The Basic Rig TechniquelThis is the simplest rig technique.

lThere are no connections betw een the parts.

lThey are free to move, rotate and scale independently from each other.

l

The Inverse Kinematics tool CANNOT be used on this type of rigging.

The Hierarchy Rig TechniquelThis is a complex rig technique.

l

All the parts are connected to each other.

l

As they move, rotate and scale, they w ill influence all the other parts.

l

The Inverse Kinematics tool can be used on this type of rigging.

The Mixed Rig TechniquelThis is the best of the basic and hierarchy rig.

lSome parts are independent such as the torso.

lSome parts are set up in a hierarchy such as the arms and legs.

lIndependent parts are rigged in hierarchy using parent pegs.

l

The Inverse Kinematics tool can be used on this type of rigging.

Puppets are animated by using a combination of the Transform and Inverse Kinematics tools.
You w ill mainly use the Transform tool (forw ard kinematics) as it has all the main motions: rotate, scale, skew ,move and select. You can also control the exact position of the parts w hile using the Transform tool. As w ell,the Transform tool creates a temporary global pivot on the selection that can be moved around for the
animation purpose.
To complete complex motions, such as bending the knees w hile keeping the feet on the ground, you can use
the Inverse Kinematics tool as an assistance tool. By adding IK constraints (nails), it is possible to lock the feetor any other part to a particular spot and move the rest of the body, w hich w ill react to the constraints.
It is important to keep in mind that the Inverse Kinematics tool is an assistance tool. You w ill not be using it toanimate all the time.
Also, the Inverse Kinematics tool can be used to create the character's posing faster. Posing is a crucial part in
the animation process. The Inverse Kinematics tool can be used to pose the character more naturally,
depending on your ow n preferences.
An IK nail can be added anyw here on the character to animate only a small part of the hierarchy chain, such as
an arm or a portion of the arm.
Here are some tips and tricks to help you to use the Inverse Kinematics tool.
lInverse Kinematics on Mixed Rigs

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The Inverse Kinematics tool can be used on a full puppet's body even if it's connected as a mixed rig,
meaning some parts are rigged in a hierarchy and others not. For example, you can add IK nails on thepuppet's feet, select the full body master peg and move the character as if it w as connected in a fullhierarchy rig. This technique w orks on most mix rigs.
lInverse Kinematics Constraints
It's important to remember that you can add and remove IK constraints (nails, hold orientation, etc.) at
any time during the animation. They hold a certain part on the spot w hile you animate the rest of the
body. Because they're not constricting one part to another object, you can add or remove them w ithout
affecting any of the animation you have already completed.

lUseful Shortcutsl

W hile using the Inverse Kinematics tool, you can Ctrl + click (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + click(macOS) to select any part.

l

Hold Alt to rotate the selected part w ithout affecting the IK chain.

lPress Shift and click in a part's pivot to add or remove an IK Nail.

l

Press Shift and click on a bone to add or remove and Hold Orientation constraint.

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About IK Hierarchy Chains
Before going any further, a w ord about IK chains. There are three types of chains:lSingle Chains
The single chains are the most basic of chains. A single chain is a straight line w ith no secondary
chain attached. It goes up to the first intersection.

lDirect Chains
A direct chain is a single chain w hich goes directly to the core (root).

l

All Chains
All chains are attached and move together w hen one part is moved.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

About IK Setup
The first time you display the character's skeleton, notice a series of bones on the extremities w hich are out ofplace. There may also be some elements that you w ould like to exclude from the IK chain.

It is highly recommended to set up the skeleton before starting your animation.
Before fixing any bones, or excluding layers from the IK skeleton, make sure all the elements you w ant to beparented in a chain are set up.
You do not need to have hierarchy chains all over the body. They could exist only on the legs and arms. If the
body is not completely rigged in hierarchy, the skeleton w ill look a bit more messy, but the IK tool w ill still
w ork properly.
W hen w orking w ith the IK tool, you w ill probably w ant to move the main parts around, but not necessarily thesmall ones such as the nose or ears. To do this, you can select some elements on your character and exclude
them from the skeleton.
Once you remove the extra elements from the skeleton, set the bone orientation for the extremity parts. By
default, they are oriented horizontally tow ards the right. This orientation often w orks for the feet but notnecessarily for the hair or hands.
Harmony allow s you to set a minimum and maximum angle constraint on certain joints, such as the knees or
elbow s. W hen using the Inverse Kinematics tool or even the Forw ard Kinematics (Transform tool), it ispossible that some joints w ill bend in the w rong direction.
If you plan to animate a lot w ith the Inverse Kinematics tool, it's a good idea to try the angle constraints. The
angle constraints can be set by the character builder or by the animator in particular scenes w here it's needed.

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NOTE
It is recommended to use the minimum and maximum angles only if the character does not change
view w ithin the same layers. For example, if a character is facing the camera and has some angle
limitations enabled, it could be problematic if the character sw itches to side or quarter view since
the joints w on't bend the same w ay.
Use the minimum and maximum angle constraints if your character's view s are in different
templates or layers. If the character's view s are in the same layers, then it's better not to use theangle constraints.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

Excluding Elements from IK Skeletons
You can easily remove elements from your IK skeleton to simply it.

How to exclude elements from the skeleton
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Inverse Kinematics

tool or press Shift + I.

2. In the Tool Properties view , make sure the IK Manipulation Modeis enabled.

3. In the Camera view , Ctrl + click (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + click (macOS) on the part to exclude fromthe skeleton.

4. In the Tool Properties view , click the Exclude from IK

button.

5. Repeat the process for every part to be excluded from the skeleton.

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Orienting Bones
Extremity bones can be rotated to match the draw ing's orientation.

How to set the bone orientation
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Inverse Kinematics

tool or press Shift + I.

2. In the Tool Properties view , enable the Bone Editingmode.

3. In the Camera view , click on the pivot belonging to the part w hose bone you w ant to reposition,then pull the pivot in the desired direction.

4. Repeat this process for each bone you w ant to position.

NOTE
This command only w orks on the extremities.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

Setting Minimum and Maximum Angles
You can set minimum and maximum angles your character's limbs to avoid overbending them.

How to set the minimum and maximum angles
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Inverse Kinematics

tool or press Shift + I.

2. In the Tool Properties view , in the Mode section, make sure the Edit Min/Max Angle Modeisenabled.
3. In the Camera view , Ctrl + click (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + click (macOS) on the piece to set theminimum and maximum angle.

4. In the Tool Properties view , in the Selection section, click the Enable Min/Max Angle

option.

5. In the Camera view , rotate the Minimum and Maximum handles to set the angle.

6. Test the angles using the IK Manipulationmode.

7. For additional control over the Min/Max Angle, go to Edit > Preferences (W indow s/Linux) orHarmony Premium > Preferences (macOS). Select the Camera tab. In the Inverse Kinematics
section, look at the Min/Max Angle Constraint W eight. Although the maximum value goes up to
1.0, in a production setting, the most practical value w ould be closer to 0.1. This value acts similar
to the Stiffness setting in the Tool Properties view . The higher the value, the more difficult it
becomes to approach the minimum and maximum values.

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About Nails
Often, you w ill w ant to animate only part of a character, such as the arm and not the entire body. You can dothis using IK nails, w hich are IK constraints that temporarily cut or constrain the chain. W ith IK nails, you cancut an IK chain or block a part on the spot. For example, you can fix a character's feet to the ground w hen it
w alks.
There are different types of constraints you can place on the chain:l

IK Nail: Blocks the X, Y and Z positions.

lHold Orientation: Blocks the angle.

lHold X: Blocks only the X position.

lHold Y: Blocks only the Y position.

lEnable Maximum and Minimum Angles: Sets limitations on the angle parameter to prevent thepuppet from bending too far.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

Setting Nails
You can place nails on your skeleton to temporarily hold it in place.

How to set an IK nail1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Inverse Kinematics

tool or press Shift + I.

2. In the Tool Properties view , make sure the IK Manipulation Modeis enabled.

3. In the Camera view , Ctrl + click (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + click (macOS) on the part to set a nail on.
4. In the Tool Properties view , select a type of nail:lHold the Shift key and click on any part's pivot to set a regular nail on it w ithout
having to select it.

lHold the Shift key and click on the bone to set a Hold Orientation nail.

lSelect the nail type in the top menu by selecting Animation > IK Constraints >desired nail.

lRemove the nail at any time using the same technique you did for placing the nail. It
w ill not affect the animation.

5. To remove all nails except the Enable Min/Max Angle ones, from the top menu, select Animation >IK Constraints > Remove All Constraints.

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Animating with Inverse Kinematics
Inverse Kinematics w orks best w hen you lock a part of the character on the spot, such as a foot on the floor,then select the entire body or another extremity and move it. It also w orks w ell in single chain mode w hen you
need to simply position a limb.
To learn more about the IK tool's properties, see the Reference guide .

NOTE
To lock a part in place, use the IK Nail option—see About Nails on page 1538.

How to animate with the Inverse Kinematics tool
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Inverse Kinematics

tool or press Shift + I.

2. In the Camera view , Ctrl + click (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + click (macOS) on a part of the body.
The entire IK skeleton appears.

3. Click on a part of the body and pull on it to move the character.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

4. Hold dow n the Shift key and click on the pivot belonging to the part you w ant to lock in place.You
can Shift + click on a bone to lock the orientation of the bone.

5. Click on another part of the character and pull on it.

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About IK Keyframes

W hen you animate a w alking character and lock the feet dow n, the locked position w ill be perfect on the key
poses. How ever, w hen you use motion keyframes to auto in-betw een the animation, you'll notice a movementof the feet. This motion is caused by the in-betw eening of the rotations.
The nail holds in place the body part on the keyframe, but it w ill not hold it for the entire duration betw een
keyframes.
If you place a nail on the shoulder to move just the arm, you don't necessarily w ant to keep the shoulder in thesame place until the next key pose. You w ill probably w ant the shoulder, or any other part that is nailed, tohave a slight, natural motion follow ing the main body action. Of course, this is not the case w hen you fix ahand or a foot on the spot. If you have a fixed hand or foot, you w ill probably w ant it to stay exactly w here you
placed it. That is w hy you can apply an IK constraint on a frame range and on selected body parts.
To fix the part on the same spot requires an angle (rotation) correction on the parts that are moving too much.
For example, to fix a foot that is moving too much, you must correct the angles on the foot, leg and thigh. To fix
a hand, you must correct the angles on the hand, forearm and upper arm.

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Setting IK Keyframe Constraints
W hen setting up a hierarchy chain, the parent is usually the part that is at a logical point of rotation. For
example, in the case of a leg, the parent w ould be the thigh, as it rotates from the hip and its children w ould be
the shin and foot that w ill alw ays follow .
How ever, sometimes you come across a situation w here you need the movement to stem from the child, suchas in the case of a ballerina, w here the shin and thigh rotation follow the position of the foot. In order to keep
the foot from gliding around, making the kinds of secondary movements that children do, you need to nail thefoot in place and constrain its orientation (rotation). Sometimes this constraint needs to be held for several
frames.

How to apply IK constraints on a frame range
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Inverse Kinematics

tool or press Shift + I.

2. In the Camera view , click on the part on w hich you w ant to apply the constraint.
3. In the Timeline view , select the first frame on w hich you w ant to start applying the constraint.

4. In the Tool Properties view , enable the Apply IK Constraints
5. In the Tool Properties view , click the IK Keyframemode.

button to enter the first frame number.

6. In the Timeline view , move the playhead to the last frame on w hich you w ant to apply theconstraint.

The IK Keyframe field should now look like this:1543

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

7. In the Camera view , set a nail at the top of the limb you are correcting. For a foot, set the nail on thethigh by holding dow n the Shift key and clicking its pivot.

8. In the Tool Properties view , select the type of constraint to apply to the piece. The most common
one is a combination of the regular Nailand Hold Orientation

options.

9. In the Camera view , click on the bone of the part you w ant to apply a constraint to.
A w arning message appears asking you to confirm that you w ant to add a constraint on thatparticular piece and for that frame duration.

10. Click OK.
The constraint is applied.

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About Timeline View Modes
The View Modes button lets you streamline the process of w orking w ith elements in the Timeline view . There
are three different view modes you can choose to w ork in. W ith each mode you select, certain elements may or
may not be visible in the Timeline view . Depending on your w orkflow , this can be useful for quickly hiding
elements w hen you w ant to focus on specific ones. To select a view mode, use the drop-dow n menu in thebottom-left corner of the Timeline view .

Normal View Mode
Normal View

mode is the default Timeline view mode. It show s everything connected to the chosendisplay. In this mode, anything not connected to the currently set default display w ill not be show n in theTimeline view . This also means that you cannot add certain elements to the Timeline view , as by default,
w hen added they are not connected to any display or composite node. An example of such an element is a
peg.

NOTE
If you prefer to w ork as you did before, w here you see everything in the Timeline w hether it isconnected to a Display or not, you can change the Alw ays Display Unconnected Nodes settingin the Preferences dialog box, Timeline tab.

Selection Only Mode
W hen w orking in Selection Only

mode, only elements currently selected in the Camera or Node view

w ill be visible in the Timeline. This makes it easier to concentrate on one or a few elements at a time.

View Tagged Layers
The View Tagged Nodes

mode lets

you see only elements w hich have been assigned a Tagged status. An item that has been tagged w ill
appear in the Timeline view w ith a small asterisk beside its name.

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Once your elements are tagged and you have sw itched over to View Tagged Layers mode, the Timelineview w ill display only tagged elements. The red bar on the left of the layers indicates you are in this viewmode.

W hile in this mode, the asterisks are not displayed beside the tagged elements.

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Chapter 15: Cut-out Animation

Tagging Layers
You can tag layers to easily visualize them in the Timeline view .

How to tag or untag elements in the Camera view
1. In the Camera view , select one or more elements.
2. Right-click and select Tag or Untag.

How to tag or untag elements in the Timeline or Node view
1. In the Timeline or Node view , select one or more elements.
2. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click and select Tag and one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline or Node view menu, select Edit > Tag and one of the follow ing:lTimeline Tag: Tags selected elements in the Timeline or Node view s.

lTimeline Untag: Untags selected layer in the Timeline view .

lTimeline Untag All: Untags all tagged elements.

lTimeline Untag All Others: Untags all elements except the selected one.

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Hiding and Showing Specific Layer Types in the Timeline View
By default, the Timeline view w ill display every layer in your scene. You can choose to hide non-draw ing layer
types such as effects, groups and sounds from the Timeline view to de-clutter the list of layers and make iteasier to select draw ing or peg layers w hen doing cut-out animation.

How to show and hide layer types in the Timeline view
1. In the top-left corner of the Timeline view , click on the

Menu button and select View > Show >Show Manager.
The Show Manager dialog box opens.

2. Make sure the layer types you w ant to display are checked, and that the ones you w ant to hide areunchecked.
3. If you w ant these settings to persist after you close and reopen Harmony, click on Set as Default.
4. Click on OK.
The unchecked layer types w ill now be hidden in the Timeline view .

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Chapter 16: Deformations

Chapter 16: Deformations
T-RIG-007-001
Deformations let you animate bitmap or vector-based graphics, including gradients and textures.
Deformations act as a skeleton w ith limbs and articulations you can bend, reshape, and curve. You can deforma character made out of one, or many, draw ing or image layers and make it move as if it w ere a cut-out puppet.
This also allow s you to take an area in a single bitmap image and create animation by distortion.
A deformation skeleton is composed of deformation nodes, w hich are the various pieces (here represented aslayers or nodes) required to articulate or deform your draw ings, such as a series of bones, curves or gamebones.

NOTE
It's important to note that the deformation feature w as completely rebuilt in Harmony 12 tosimplify the process and no longer w orks like it w as in the previous releases. If you w ould like toconvert characters w ith deformation chains created in Harmony 11 or before, you can use the TB_
ConvertLegacyDeformation.js script to do so—see About Legacy Deformations on page
128.

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About Deformation Types
The 4 types of deformers are: Bone, Game Bone, Curve and Envelope. Each type has its ow n advantages andlimitations and need to be rigged and handled in different w ays.

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Chapter 16: Deformations

About Bone Deformations
T-RIG-007-002
The Bone deformation allow s you to create a bone-like structure in w hich each part is solid, but w ith
articulations that are flexible. This is mostly useful for animating a character's limbs, such as the arms or legs,
or other parts that can be articulated such as torsos or fingers.
For example, a Bone deformation can be used to articulate an arm that is made of a single draw ing, so that theupper arm and forearm can be moved independently, w ithout having to draw the upper arm and the forearmon different layers. Harmony w ill deform the draw ing to make it look articulated. The different parts of a Bonedeformation can be rotated around their joint, extended and shortened, giving you the same capabilities asanimating articulations on different layers, w ithout having to w orry about parts detaching, pivot points, orclipping outlines.

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About Game Bone Deformations
T-RIG-007-003
The Game Bone deformation is very similar to the Bone deformation. It allow s you to create a bone-likestructure in w hich each part is solid, but w ith articulations that are flexible. This is mostly useful for animatinga character's limbs, such as the arms or legs, or other parts that can be articulated such as torsos or fingers.
For example, a Game Bone deformation can be used to articulate an arm that is made of a single draw ing, sothat the upper arm and forearm can be moved independently, w ithout having to draw the upper arm and theforearm on different layers. Harmony w ill deform the draw ing to make it look articulated. The different parts ofa Game Bone deformation can be rotated around their joint, extended and shortened, giving you the same
capabilities as animating articulations on different layers, w ithout having to w orry about parts detaching, pivot
points, or clipping outlines.
The Game Bone deformation is different from the Bone deformation in w hich it is optimized for game engines
such as Unity. Hence, it is usually only used for game development and not in animated productions. The
differences betw een the Bone and Game Bone deformations are that Game Bone deformations do not have
Bias and Region of Influence properties. The articulation folds also look slightly more rounded.

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Chapter 16: Deformations

About Curve Deformations
T-RIG-007-004
The Curve deformation allow s you to deform parts of a character using a Bezier curve. It is different from theBone deformation in that the lines connecting the points are curvilinear. Hence, Curve deformations are
typically used to deform parts of a character that are flexible, such as hair, mouths, eyebrow s, or torsos. They
can also be useful to animate limbs in a rubber hose style, w here arms and legs are animated like extensible,
flexible tubes rather than articulated bone structures.
By manipulating the curve's points and their Bezier handles, you can change the curve's direction, shape andlength. A draw ing rigged w ith a curve deformation does not merely bend, it w ill deform along its entire length
to match the curve deformation's shape.

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About Envelope Deformations
T-RIG-007-005
The Envelope deformation allow s you to create an envelope around a draw ing, then deform the entire
draw ing by manipulating the envelope's points and curves. They can be used to deform parts of a characterw ith a fluid shape, such as hair, cloaks, shoulders, chins and so on. Envelope deformations can also be used todeform rigid parts of a characters so as to make them look like they are seen from different angles. This iscommonly done to make character rigs rotate w ithout sw apping draw ings, and using this technique makes it
possible to animate a character rig going from one angle to another w ithout having to sw ap draw ings orcharacter models.

Envelope deformations are very similar to Curve deformations, except that their last point connects to theirfirst point to make a closed shape. Also, contrary to Curve deformations, all points move independently fromone another, w hereas the first point of a Curve deformation offsets all its other points.

NOTE
By default, Envelope deformations do not w ork properly on bitmap images and textures. This canbe fixed by using a w eighted deformation—see Creating a W eighted Deformation w ith Envelopes.

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About Free Form Deformations
The Free Form deformation allow s you to deform draw ings by creating points anyw here, either on theircontour or inside their surface, and moving them around freely. It w orks a bit like laying dow n a piece of clothw ith a pattern on a surface, then pulling on parts of this cloth to w arp its shape and its pattern.
The Free Form deformation's main purpose is to deform textured shapes and complex draw ings. Contrary to
the Envelope deformation, w hich merely bends the contours of a draw ing w ithout deforming the texture
inside it, the Free Form deformation stretches and squashes all the artw ork betw een its control points.
Moreover, since the Free Form deformation allow s you to create points anyw here on a draw ing, including
inside its contour, you can actually control precisely how the texture is deformed.

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About Creating Deformations
Using the Rigging tool, you can quickly create a basic deformation rig.
As you create your chains, the controls w ill be show ing. How ever, w henever you close your project, thedeformation controls display is turned off. W hen you reopen the project, you can display all controls or only
some of them—see Displaying Selected Deformation Controls on page 83.

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About Selecting Elements for Deformation
Deformation groups are added to your scene's hierarchy in different places, depending on w hether a draw ing
or peg element is selected.
A deformer affects all the layers under its hierarchy. W hen you create a new deformer using the rigging tool, it
is automatically created as a parent of the selected layer, and w ill affect the selected layer and all its children.
Hence, it's important to select the right layer before attempting to create a deformer.
For example, if you w ish to create a deformer for an arm, and the arm is broken into several layers, you could
rig the arm in a hierarchy w here the upper arm is the root, the forearm is the upper arm's child and the hand is
the forearm's child. Then, if you create your deformer on the upper arm, it w ill be created as a parent of theupper arm, and w ill hence affect the w hole arm.

You can also group several layers under a peg, and create your deformer w ith this peg selected. W hen you
create a deformer on a peg, the deformer is created as a child of the peg, but as a parent of all of this peg's
children. This is because a peg is likely to be more useful over a deformer than under. If you move layers thatare under a deformer, they w ill exit the intended deformation zone, and may appear severely w arped anddistorted. Hence, it's better to create deformations under pegs as much as possible, and pegs under deformers
should only be animated if the deformer is left untouched. Since the deformer w ill be created as a parent of all
the peg's children, it w ill affect all the layers under the peg.

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Chapter 16: Deformations

Creating Bone Deformation Chains
You can add either Bones of Game Bones to your deformation chain by using different modes.

How to create a Bone or Game Bone deformer
1. Once your element is selected, select the
2. In the Tool Properties view , enable theRigging tool in the Deformation toolbar.
Bone mode or theGame Bone mode, depending on

w hether you're rigging for an animation project or a game—see Deformations on page 1549.
3. In the Tool Properties view , enable theAutomatically create a group w hen creating a new

deformation rig option so that your deformation chains are created inside groups. Every point in a
deformation chain is an individual layer, so creating deformers w ith this option disabled is liable toclutter your Timeline and Node view .
4. Click w here you w ant to create the root articulation of the bone structure. The root articulation
should be the one that is bound to the remainder of the body. For example, for an arm, the root
articulation w ould be its shoulder.

5. Click w here you w ant the second articulation to be created.
A bone w ill be created betw een the first and second articulation.

6. Click w here you w ant the next articulation to be created.

Observe that, as you create a new point, the previous point now has a circle around it. This is theradius of the articulation, w hich allow s you to determine how much of the draw ing should be partof the articulation. Every point in a bone deformer, except for the first and the last one, has a radius.

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7. Click and hold the previous articulation's radius control point and adjust the articulation's radius sothat it properly covers the articulation.

8. Repeat this until you are finished creating the Bone chain. Make sure you build each articulation in
the right order going from the root to the extremity.

NOTE
It is possible to reuse a deformation group on another draw ing, for example on a symmetrical bodypart, such as w ith the right and left arms. To do this, you need to rig the w ay you w ould for a multipose character, using a Transformation Sw itch—see Creating Main Deformation Chains for Multipose Rigs on page 119, as w ell as the Associate Parent Transformation Sw itch for Selected
Elements button—see Reusing Deformation Groups for Multi-pose Rigs on page 121.

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Creating Curve Deformation Chains
Depending on your character and the style of animation you w ant to achieve, sometimes it is better to use
Curve Deformers, instead of Bones, to rig your character.

How to create a Curve deformer
1. Once your element is selected, select the

Rigging tool in the Deformation toolbar.

2. In the Tool Properties view , enable theCurve mode.

3. In the Tool Properties view , enable theAutomatically create a group w hen creating a new

deformation rig option so that your deformation chains are created inside groups. Every point in a
deformation chain is an individual layer, so creating deformers w ith this option disabled is liable toclutter your Timeline and Node view .
4. Place the cursor w here you w ant to create the root of your deformation chain. The root of thedeformation chain should be w here the body part is bound to the remainder of the body. For
example, if you're creating a deformer for a w hole arm, you should create its root point at theshoulder joint.
5. Press and hold dow n the mouse button to create the point, then drag to tow ards the direction
w here you w ant your curve to bend to set the position of this curve's Bezier handle, just as you
w ould w hen draw ing a curve using the Polyline tool—see Creating Vector Shapes w ith the
Polyline Tool on page 433.

6. Press and hold dow n the mouse button at the location w here you w ant the curve to end, then dragbackw ards and release the mouse button to create the Bezier handle before that point.

NOTE
The Bezier handle after the point w ill be symmetrical to the Bezier handle before thepoint.

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7. Repeat this process until you have finished building the Curve chain.

8. As you go, you click and drag on the Bezier handles to adjust the curves of the deformation chain.

TIP
W hen manipulating a Bezier handle, by default, the opposite Bezier handle for thesame point w ill rotate in the same direction, keeping the point curved. If you w ant tomake the point into a corner, press and hold the Alt key, then click and drag on one of
the Bezier handles to rotate it w ithout affecting the opposite handle.

NOTE
It is possible to reuse a deformation group on another draw ing, for example on a symmetrical bodypart, such as w ith the right and left arms. To do this, you need to rig the w ay you w ould for a multipose character, using a Transformation Sw itch—see Creating Main Deformation Chains for Multipose Rigs on page 119, as w ell as the Associate Parent Transformation Sw itch for Selected
Elements button—see Reusing Deformation Groups for Multi-pose Rigs on page 121.

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Chapter 16: Deformations

Creating Envelope Deformation Rigs
Before adding deformations, you might w ant to use a default type of region of influence. You can set theseparameters in the Rigging tool's properties—see the Reference guide .

NOTE
By default, Envelope deformations do not w ork properly on bitmap images and textures. This canbe fixed by using a w eighted deformation—see Creating a W eighted Deformation w ith Envelopes.

How to create an Envelope deformation rig
1. Once your element is selected, select the

Rigging tool in the Deformation toolbar.

2. In the Tool Properties view , enable theEnvelope mode.

3. In the Tool Properties view , enable theAutomatically create a group w hen creating a new

deformation rig option so that your deformation chains are created inside groups. Every point in a
deformation chain is an individual layer, so creating deformers w ith this option disabled is liable toclutter your Timeline and Node view .
4. Place the cursor w here you w ant to start creating your envelope.
5. Press and hold the mouse button to create the point, then drag to tow ards the direction w here you
w ant your curve to bend to set the position of this curve's Bezier handle, just as you w ould w hen
draw ing a curve using the Polyline tool—see Creating Vector Shapes w ith the Polyline Tool on
page 433.

6. Press and hold dow n the mouse button to create another point, then drag backw ards and release
the mouse button to create the Bezier handle before that point.

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NOTE
The Bezier handle after the point w ill be symmetrical to the Bezier handle before thepoint.

7. Repeat to create other points.

8. As you go, you can click and drag on the Bezier handles to adjust the curves of the envelope.

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TIP
W hen manipulating a Bezier handle, by default, the opposite Bezier handle for thesame point w ill rotate in the same direction, keeping the point curved. If you w ant tomake the point into a corner, press and hold the Alt key, then click and drag on one of
the Bezier handles to rotate it w ithout affecting the opposite handle.

9. Create every other point needed, until you're ready to close the envelope.

10. W hen you're ready to close Envelope deformer, hold dow n the Alt key and click on the first point of
your deformation chain.

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Creating a Free Form Deformation
You can easily create a Free Form deformer using the

Rigging tool's

Free Form mode.

How to create a free form deformation rig
1. Select the draw ing w hich you w ant to deform—see About Selecting Elements for Deformation.
2. In the Deformation toolbar, select the

Rigging tool.

3. In the Tool Properties view , enable

Free Form Mode.

4. In the Camera view , click w here you w ant to create your first deformation point.

5. Repeat for each point you w ant to create.

6. If you w ant to reposition a point, simply click and drag on it. If you move a point w hile the Rigging
tool is selected, it w ill change the resting position of the point w ithout deforming the draw ing.

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7. If you w ant to delete a point, click on it to select it, then press Del.

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Creating a Split Deformation Chain
It is possible to create a deformation chain that splits into multiple branches, allow ing to rig complex draw ings
w ith multiple extremities using a single deformation chain.
W hen creating a split deformation chain, a Deformation Composite node is automatically added to your rig.
This deformation composite connects all the branches of the split deformation chain to the draw ing it deforms.
You can see w hich deformation nodes are connected to the Deformation Composite in the Node view .

How to create a split deformation chain
1. Select the draw ing layer or the deformation chain to w hich you w ant to add a branch.
2. In the Deformation toolbar, click the Show Selected Deformers and Hide All Others

button todisplay the deformer controls in the Camera view . This also hides all the deformer controls thatw ere displayed.
3. Select the Rigging

tool.

The deformation chain turns from green to red. A green chain indicates that you're animating thedeformation. A red chain indicates that you're modifying the rig.
4. In the deformation chain, select the point from w hich you w ant the new deformation branch tostart.
5. Place the cursor w here you w ant your new branch's first point to be and click. A new chain iscreated.
6. Create the remainder of your chain's points as you w ould create a regular deformation.

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NOTE
W hen using the Rigging tool, you can select w hich existing deformation point you w ant the next
deformation point you create to branch from at any time by selecting a point in the Camera view .
W hen you create a deformation point, it is alw ays linked to the currently selected point, if any.
Creating a point automatically selects it, w hich is w hy deformations are built in a single chain bydefault.

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Automatically Grouping Deformation Nodes
In a deformation chain, each deformation point is its ow n layer in the Timeline view and its ow n Node in the
Node view . This can add a lot of clutter to a character rig that uses deformers. Harmony can automaticallycreate deformation chains inside groups to keep your scene structure tidy and organized.

How to automatically group deformation nodes
1. From the Deformation toolbar, click the Rigging

tool.

2. In the Tool Properties view , in the Rig Tool Options section, enable the Automatically Create Group
w hen Creating a New Deformation Rig

option.

This option automatically creates a deformation group connected to the input port of the selected
element. This group includes all the necessary deformation nodes you created.

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Adding Deformation Nodes
The Node Library view allow s you to manually add the nodes necessary to create the deformation skeleton.
Additional nodes such as the Kinematic Output are available to create advanced rigs.

How to add a deformation node
1. In the Node Library view , select the Deformation category.
2. From the Node Library view , select a deformation node and drag it to the Node view . Note that theGlue, Mesh W arp, Refract, and Turbulence nodes are not directly related to deformation rigging.

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About the Envelope Creator
The traditional method of creating envelope deformations is to create it point by point. How ever, since
envelopes are often used to deform draw ings and shapes around their outlines, having to create envelope
deformation chains by tracing their outline w ith the Rigging tool may be redundant.
Using the Envelope Creator, you can automatically generate a deformation chain that either w raps around theoutlines of your artw ork, or goes right through its shape. This can help you quickly generate envelope or curve
deformation chains based on your artw ork.
Before making the Envelope Creator generate an envelope, you can configure the amount of points it should
create on the deformation chain as w ell as how those points w ill be distributed along the shape. If the resultsof the Envelope Creator are not satisfactory, you can try tw eaking the parameters and make it generate a newenvelope, and repeat the procedure until you get the best deformation chain possible.

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Automatically Generating a Deformation Envelope or Chain Based on
Artwork
Using the Envelope Creator, you can generate an deformation chain based on the contours or the centreline of
the artw ork in a layer. You can adjust the parameters of the Envelope Creator to determine the amount ofpoints in the deformation chain, as w ell as how the shape of the envelope is processed.

NOTE
Using the Envelope Creator for the first time may require some trial and error w ith its parameters
before you can obtain the expected results.

How to generate a deformation envelope or chain based on artwork
1. Select the node or layer for w hich you w ant to create a deformation chain.
2. In the top menu, select Animation > Envelope Creator > Create Envelope.
The Envelope Creator dialog appears.

3. If you w ant to create a deformation chain that goes through the artw ork, enable the Create Single
Center Line option. If you w ant to create a deformation chain that w raps around the artw ork, make2

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

sure this option is unchecked.

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant the Envelope Creator to determine the amount of deformation points to create in
the chain, check the Use All Corners option.

l

If you w ould rather decide the amount of points to create in the chain, set the Deformation
Points parameter to the amount of points you w ant in the deformation chain. The Envelope
Creator w ill distribute those points to the corners of your artw ork, giving priority to the
sharpest corners.

5. If you w ant the small details in the contour of your artw ork to be taken in account, you can low er
the Discretizer Spacing parameter. If you w ant these details to be ignored so as to create asmoother envelope, increase this parameter instead.

NOTE
Setting this parameter too low may cause the Envelope Creator to hang for a few
seconds w hen generating an envelope.

6. If you don't w ant the shape of the deformation chain to be as concave as the outer shape of yourartw ork, increase the Concave Smoothing parameter.

3

7. If you w ant the shape of the deformation chain to have softer corners and smoother angles than theouter shape of your artw ork, increase the Smooth Passes parameter.

8. If you w ant the shape of the deformation chain to be expanded around the shape of your artw ork,so that its contour w raps around the outlines instead of meshing w ith them, increase the Expand
parameter.

9. If you w ant to add extra points to the longer segments of the envelope so as to break them up andhave extra control on the envelope, increase the Bisect Curves parameter. The selected amount ofpoints w ill be added to the entire chain, w ith priority given to the longest curve segments. For
example, if the generated envelope has a segment that is much longer than the other ones and thisparameter is set to 1, this longer segment w ill have an extra deformation point in its middle.

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10. Decide w hether you w ant Envelope Mode to be enabled:l

If disabled, the first point in the chain w ill serve as an offset for the w hole chain. This meansthat moving this point w ill move the draw ing and all its other deformation points
simultaneously.

l

If enabled, the first point on the chain w ill be a deformation point like all the others. Moving
this point w ill simply deform the draw ing and w ill not affect the position of other points.

11. If you w ant the deformation nodes to be laid out in the Node View similarly to how theircorresponding deformation points w ill be laid out in the Camera view , enable the Shape Nodes in
Node View option. This w ill make it easy to visually identify w hich deformation point in the Camera
view corresponds to w hich node in the Node view .

12. If you w ant very w ide angle corners in the envelope to be smoothed, enable the Optimize Handles
option. This w ill make it so the curve handles for corners that are almost at an 180° angle arealigned, w hich makes the point straight instead of being a corner.

5

NOTE
W hen tw o Bezier handles for a point are aligned, the point does not act as a corner, butrather as a control point for the curve of the shape. Rotating a handle that is aligned
w ith the opposite handle also rotates the opposite handle, making sure that the point
does not become a corner. You can rotate one of the handles independently from theother by holding the Alt key.

13. Click on the Create Envelope button.
A deformation chain is created and placed as a parent to the current layer.
14. To view the deformation chain that w as created, click on the Show the Selected Deformation
Chains and Hide All Others

button in the Deformation toolbar.

15. If you are not satisfied w ith the result, Undo by doing one of the follow ing:lPress Ctrl + Z.

l

In the Edit toolbar, click on the Undol

In the top menu, select Edit > Undo.

button.

You can then adjust the parameters and try again.

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About Editing Deformations
As you attempt to animate a deformation, or if you need to make changes to the draw ings under adeformation, you may need to make adjustments to the deformation chain to better fit your needs.
A deformation rig has a resting position and an animated position. The resting position is the original pose thecharacter is in w hen not animated w ith keyframes. You can alw ays revert your animated character to its
resting position to recover the initial scale, angle, and shape. You can revert the entire character or only certain
deformation chains, such as the arm or leg. Just make sure your resting position is fully set before deploying
the character in production.
You can also set additional parameters in the Layer Properties w indow —see the Reference guide .

7

Editing the Resting Positions for Bone and Game Bone Deformations
Every deformation point has a resting position. The resting position is important as it acts as the starting point
for all the transformations that w ill be made to the draw ing w hen animating. Using the Rigging tool, you canmake adjustments to the resting positions of the point in a deformation chain.

How to make adjustments to a Bone or Game Bone deformation chain
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to edit.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to edit.

2. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .
1. In the Deformation toolbar, click the

Rigging tool.

The deformation chain turns from green to red. A green chain indicates that you're animating thedeformation. A red chain indicates that you're modifying the rig.

2. In the Camera view , set up the deformation chain.

8Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

To rotate the a bone, click and drag on it. This w ill rotate the selected bone and all
subsequent bones in the chain.

l

To offset the w hole chain, click and drag on its root control point.

l

To reposition an articulation, click and drag on its control point.

9l

To adjust an articulation's radius, click and drag on its radius control point. Make sure
the radius of the articulation covers the articulation itself.

3. Repeat until all the articulations and bones of the chain are correctly aligned to the element tow hich it is linked.
4. Test your modifications using theTransform tool.

TIP
W hen manipulating the articulation of a Bone or Game Bone deformer, you can press andhold the Alt key to lock the bone's angle and only shorten or elongate the bone. You can also
hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key to break the articulation off its chain andmake it into a new , separate deformation chain.

How to add an articulation to a Bone or Game Bone deformation chain
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to edit.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to edit.

2. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.

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The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .
3. In the Deformation toolbar, select the

Rigging tool.

The deformation chain turns from green to red, meaning that you are editing the deformation chain
rather than animating it.
4. Press and hold the Alt key.
5. W hile holding the Alt key, click on the bone w here you w ant to add an articulation.

NOTE
You can only insert new articulations betw een existing articulations on Bone and Game Bonedeformation chains.

11

Editing the Resting Positions for a Curve Deformation Chain
Every deformation point has a resting position. The resting position is important as it acts as the starting point
for all the transformations that w ill be made to the draw ing w hen animating. Using the Rigging tool, you canmake adjustments to the resting positions of the point in a deformation chain.

How to make adjustments to a Curve deformation chain
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to edit.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to edit.

2. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .
1. In the Deformation toolbar, click the

Rigging tool.

The chain turns from green to red. A green chain indicates the puppet is in animation mode. A red
chain indicates the puppet is in a resting position. Make sure your chain is red.

2. In the Camera view , setup the deformation chain.
l

Use the Pivot rotation handle to change the angle of the chain.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Use the Pivot centre control point to reposition the entire chain.

l

Use the curve handles to modify the shape of the curve.

l

Use the curve’s square control points to resize and reposition each segment of thecurve chain.

13

3. Repeat until all the curves of the chain are correctly aligned to the element to w hich it is linked. You
can also set additional parameters in the Layer Properties w indow —see the Reference guide .
4. W ith the deformation nodes or group still selected, in the Deformation toolbar, click theCurrent Keyframe button. This w ill set the current resting position as the current frame one.
5. Test your modifications using theTransform tool.

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Editing the Resting Positions for an Envelope Deformation Chain
Every deformation point has a resting position. The resting position is important as it acts as the starting point
for all the transformations that w ill be made to the draw ing w hen animating. Using the Rigging tool, you canmake adjustments to the resting positions of the point in a deformation chain.

How to make adjustments to an Envelope deformation chain
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to edit.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to edit.

2. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .
1. n the Deformation toolbar, click the

Rigging tool.

The chain turns from green to red. A green chain indicates the puppet is in animation mode. A red
chain indicates the puppet is in a resting position. Make sure your chain is red.

2. In the Camera view , set up the deformation chain.
l

Use the envelope’s square control points to resize and reposition each segment of theenvelope chain.

15

l

Use the curve handles to modify the shape of the envelope.

3. Repeat until all the curves of the chain are correctly aligned to the element to w hich it is linked. You
can also set additional parameters in the Layer Properties w indow —see the Reference guide .
4. W ith the deformation nodes or group still selected, in the Deformation toolbar, click theCurrent Keyframe button. This w ill set the current resting position as the current frame one.
5. Test your modifications using theTransform tool.

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Editing the Resting Positions of a Free Form Deformation
You can change the default position of individual points in a Free Form deformation using the

Rigging tool.

You can also add or remove points, if needed.

NOTE
Although Free Form deformation points can be rotated, you cannot change their default angle.

How to make adjustments to a Free Form deformation
1. Select the draw ing layer or the deformation chain for w hich you need to make adjustments.
2. In the Deformation toolbar, click theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others

button to display the deformer controls in the Camera view . This also hides all the deformer
controls that w ere displayed.
3. In the Deformation toolbar, click the

Rigging tool.

4. In the Camera view , make adjustments to the deformation by doing one of the follow ing:l

To change the resting position of a point, click and drag on it to reposition it.

l

To add a point, click w here you w ant to add the point.

17l

To delete a point, select this point and press Del.

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About W eighted Deformations
The W eighted Deform node is a deformation node that creates a blended deformation from the regions
defined by multiple sources. The deformation blends the points in a draw ing or image based on the distance toa deformation source and it is used to provide a clean deformed surface. It provides a high quality deformation
render and prioritizes quality over speed.
W eighted deformations can be used to define and deform regions. This is useful for designs w ith a high levelof detail. In this case, it helps to create volume by deforming along the axis lines of the hair and blending
betw een the deformation regions.

A W eighted Deform node w ith tw o bezier curve deformations -- the W eighted Deform blends betw een thetw o curve deformations. Pixels and draw ing contours are affected based on their distance from the individual
deformation regions attached to the W eighted Deform.The W eighted Deforms w ork w ell on both detail-heavy Harmony draw ings as w ell as Bitmap textures.

19

The W eighted Deform behaves as a hybrid of the Free Form Deformation and the Envelope deformation.
Curves, pegs and other nodes can define the target regions of the deformation and the W eighted Deform node
blends betw een these transformed regions—see About Envelope Deformations on page 1554 and About Free
Form Deformations on page 1555.
It is currently compatible w ith bones, curve deformations and pegs. All of w hich can be combined to define
deformable regions.

The deformations regions can be mixed and matched to best define the controls of the deformation andprovide a deformation that w orks best for the needs of animation.

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Using the W eighted Deform
The W eighted Deform behaves as a composite for existing nodes and creates a blended deformation map
from the attached regions. It can be used for both simple and advanced deformations and is best used w hen
the region needs to blend the deformation uniformly from multiple sources.
The w ay that the W eighted Deform blends the deformation makes it particularly useful for deforming
textures, as it is less prone to tearing than other deformation options. It is heavier to process than otherdeformation options, and should be used as an advanced option w hen other deformation options are notviable.

21

Creating a W eighted Deformation with Envelopes
On its ow n the Envelope Deformation is designed to deform the contours of a draw ings w ithout affecting thew idth of its outline. This w orks very w ell w ith flat-colored cartoon draw ings, but not w ith bitmap textures ordetail-heavy draw ings. Merely adding a W eighted Deform node to an envelope deformation chain w ill cause it
to deform its textures evenly.
For example, here is an envelope deformation on a character’s hair, before and after adding a W eight Deform
node to the deformation chain:

As you can see, the standard envelope deformation tends to make the borders of the draw ing stick to it and to
stretch them along its outlines, and then it deforms the inside of the draw ing to fill the gaps. This is designed
to deform cartoon draw ings quickly w ithout affecting the thickness of their outlines. In contrast, the w eighted
envelope deformation deforms the draw ing evenly inside the envelope, creating better results w ith textured
draw ings.

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NOTE
Although using the W eighted Deform node w ith Envelope deformations produces better results
w ith textured and detail-heavy draw ings, it should be used w ith discretion:l

A w eighted envelope deformation has a heavier impact on application performance than aregular envelope deformation.

l

If the deformed draw ing has outlines w ith an even thickness, the effect of the w eighted
envelope deformation may cause the outlines to stretch and have slight variations in their
thickness.

How to convert a standard envelope deformation to a weighted envelope deformation
1. Create the Envelope deformation chain for the draw ing you w ant to deform—see Creating
Envelope Deformation Rigs on page 1563.

2. In the Node Library view , in the Deformation > W eighted category, select a W eighted Deform
node and drag it to the Node view .

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3. Create a connection from output port of the peg above the deformation chain to the rightmost inputof the W eighted Deform node. This port is the common transformation that w ill be applied to all
input deformations.

4. Drag a cable from the output port of the deformation chain to the left side of the W eighted Deform
node. A new input port w ill be created. Release the mouse button to create this connection.

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5. Remove the connection going from the deformation chain to the Draw ing node, and create aconnection going from the W eighted Deform node to the Draw ing node instead.

NOTE
Depending on the complexity of the draw ing and the deformation, it may take amoment to generate the initial cache for the deformed draw ings.

6. Manipulate the Envelope deformation’s controls w ith theTransform tool. The deformation w ill

be blended by the W eighted Deform node and w ill evenly deform the texture and details in the25draw ing.

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Creating a W eighted Deformation with Pegs
Another use of the W eighted Deformation node is that it can be connected to Peg nodes to create free form
deformation points, similar to the Free Form deformation. The resting position of each point is determined by
the pivot point of its corresponding peg. You can deform the draw ing by moving a peg around, but you canalso rotate, scale and skew the peg to create interesting w arp effect that surpass the capacities of the Free
Form Deformation.

NOTE
For more information on the Free Form Deformation, see About Free Form Deformations on page1555.

W ith only tw o pegs attached to a W eighted Deform, the deformation w ill blend betw een the tw otransformations based on the distance from the peg’s pivot point. This allow s you to create fairly organic
deformations w ith very simple transformation controls.

The W eighted Deform is controlled by tw o peg transformations that are interpolated as a draw ing
deformation. This also allow s you to simply deform a shape organically in a rig w ith contextual controls. It also
allow s you to attach pegs to a rig that dynamically modifies the deformation w hen the peg is transformed.

27

NOTE
You can customize the w eight of each point by using the W eighted-Point node. See W eightedPoint Node.

How to create a weighted deformation with free deformation points
1. In the Node Library view , in the Deformation > W eighted category, select a W eighted Deform
node and drag it to the Node view .
2. W hile holding the Alt key, drag the W eighted Deform node over the connection betw een the
Draw ing node you w ant to deform and its parent peg. The W eighted Deform node should be achild of the Peg node and a parent of the Draw ing node.
3. Create a Peg node for each free deformation point you w ant to add. To create Peg nodes, do thefollow ing:l

In the Node Library view , in the Move category, select a Peg node and drag it to the NodeView .

l

Press Ctrl + P.

4. Connect the output port of each Peg node to the input of the W eighted Deform node. New input
ports w ill appear on the W eighted Deform node as you drag connection cables from other nodes
tow ards it.
5. Connect the output port of the parent peg of the w eighted deformation system to the input port of
the Peg nodes you just created.

6. In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the
7. In the Node view , select one of the pegs.

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Translate tool.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

8. In the Camera view , click and drag on the peg’s pivot point to position it w here you the resting
position of its free form deformation point to be.
9. Repeat the tw o previous steps for each peg that is connected to the W eighted Deform node, until
the pivot point of all the pegs are positioned w here you w ant the resting position of the free form
deformation points to be.

TIP
You can view the position of all the pegs connected to the W eighted Deform node by
selecting the node, then displaying its controls.
To display the W eighted Deform node’s controls, do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on

Show Control .

l

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

You cannot manipulate the free deformation points displayed w ith this method. To
manipulate the free deformation points, you must select their corresponding Peg nodes
and manipulate them one by one w ith theTransform tool.

The W eighted Deform is ready to be used. To manipulate the free deformation points, you mustselect the Peg node that represents the point and move them individually w ith theTransform

tool. This can be tricky, as those pegs are not technically attached to a draw ing, but to an effectnode. Hence, clicking on the draw ing w ill select the parent peg of the deformation system, and not
the free deformation points.
The most reliable w ay to transform a peg attached to the W eighted Deform is by selecting the Peg
node in the Node view , then manipulating its bounding box in the Camera view . For example, you
can move the peg by clicking and dragging close to the centre point of the bounding box.
You can also rotate, scale and skew each peg by manipulating their bounding box. This can create
interesting w arp effects.

29Creating a Rigid Point Deform
The Rigid Point Deformer is a type of w eighted-deformation that prioritizes rigid transformations over
deformations and is applied by tracking the position of attached pegs. It is particularly useful for tracking anddeforming textures on characters and animated surfaces and is used w ith the W eighted Deformer node.

How to create a Rigid Point Deform Node
1. The Rigid Point Deformer is attached to the deformer inputs of the W eighted Deform node. Rigid
Point Deform uses its attached pegs to first transform, and then deform the attached draw ing.
Each Rigid Point Deform node w ill define a deformed region that is transformed together. The deformed
region is defined by the peg’s pivot point in relation to the others in the system. W hen only one region isdefined, and there are few er than 4 points, the deformation w ill behave as a simple transformation.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

1. Only tw o points are defined in a single rigid deformation, this w ill behave as a standardtransformation.

NOTE
The Rigid Point Deform only considers the translation of the peg, the transformation in the
deformed draw ing is determined by the translated position of the pegs in the system. This
makes it useful for tracking textures since the points only have to match key features of theunderlying draw ing, and the transformation is implied based on the translated pivots.

31

W ith tw o Rigid Point Deform nodes, w ith tw o pegs attached to each, the system attempts to interpolate
the defined regions w hile maintaining overall integrity of the initial texture.

How to track multiple pointsl

The Rigid Point Deform node is also useful for tracking more points on a single texture. This is doneby adding more pegs to a single pivot.

l

In this mode, the W eighted Deform considers all points in the same system, prioritizes thetransformation common to all points, and then deforms to best make up the difference.

This mode helps to limit unw anted issues in textures, w hile allow ing the artist to track textures by simply
moving the nodes.

lSetting up the Rigid Point Deform in this w ay w ill allow an artist to move the points to tracking tocorresponding points on a draw ing. The deformation w ill first transform to best match the position

32

Harmony 22 Premium User Guideof the points, and then deform the draw ing to make up the difference.

33

NOTE
In simpler examples, the W eighted Deformation seems quite similar to the Rigid Point
Deformation w hen comparing the same translated points. The Rigid Point Deformation still
minimizes some deformation at the fringes.

For example- Consider a hand-draw n draw ing of a shirt that has to have a tracking texture applied. A
Rigid Point Deform can be used to define rigid regions of the texture to stick to, and the pegs only need to
be translated to match the new draw ing. The deformation system defined by the Rigid Point Deform w ill
do its best to first match the overall transformation, and deform to match internal regions.

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Combining Deformation Chains and Free Deformation Points
The W eighted Deform node can act as a composite for several deformation methods. You can combine one orseveral curve deformations, w ith each curve deforming their area of the draw ing. You can combine a curve
deformation w ith free deformation point, w here each point deforms their area of the draw ing, and the curve
deformation acts like one long curvilinear free deformation point. You can also combine an envelope
deformation w ith free deformation point. This creates a zone, and free deformation points w ill only deformareas of the draw ings on their side of the envelope.
For example, if you create an envelope inside a draw ing, then add free deformation points outside of theenvelope, the free deformation points w ill deform the draw ing outside of the envelope only.

Free deformation points are created by connecting pegs to the W eighted Deform node, and defining theirpivot point as their resting position. To combine free deformation points w ith a deformation chain, or several
deformation chains together, all you need to do is connect them all to the same W eighted Deform node. The
W eighted Deform node is a lot like Composite node for deformations. It w ill have as many input ports as there
are nodes connected to it.

35

The steps below explain how to reproduce this specific deformation rig, w hich w ill result in the example
further above. They can be adapted to combine any kind of deformations in a W eighted Deform node.

How to set up a combined weighted deformation rig
1. In the Node Library view , in the Deformation > W eighted category, select a W eighted Deform
node and drag it to the Node view .

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2. W hile holding the Alt key, drag the W eighted Deform node over the connection betw een one of
the Draw ing nodes you w ant to deform and its parent peg.

3. If the parent peg w as connected to several Draw ing nodes, connect the output port of theW eighted Deform node to the other Draw ing nodes that w ere connected to that peg.

37

NOTE
Currently, the W eighted Deform node has only one input port. As you add free
deformation points and deformation chains to it, more ports w ill be created left of that
initial input port. This is because, w hen the W eighted Deform node has several input
ports, the rightmost input port is specifically reserved for the draw ing’s parent pegs,
w hile all the other ports are for combining deformation chains and free deformation
points.

4. Creating the deformation chain that you w ant to combine. To do this, select the W eighted Deform
node, then create the deformation chain w ith the

Rigging tool. Depending on the type of

deformation chain you w ant to use, see Creating Bone Deformation Chains on page 1559, Creating
Curve Deformation Chains on page 1561 or Creating Envelope Deformation Rigs on page 1563. In
this example, an Envelope deformation chain is created.

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NOTES
l

The Envelope Deformation w ill be used to constrain the hair to the head.
Deformation regions are useful for both deforming regions as w ell keeping regions
static in the blended map.

l

Typically, the Rigging tool automatically creates deformation nodes inside a single
Group node. In this screenshot, the deformation nodes w ere not created in a groupso as to better illustrate how the combination of deformation nodes w orks.

5. Create a Peg node for each free deformation point you w ant to add. To create Peg nodes, do thefollow ing:l

In the Node Library view , in the Move category, select a Peg node and drag it to the NodeView .

l

Press Ctrl + P.

6. Connect the output port of each Peg node to the input of the W eighted Deform node. New input
ports w ill appear on the W eighted Deform node as you drag connection cables from other nodes
tow ards it.

39

7. Connect the output port of the parent peg of the w eighted deformation system to the input port of
the Peg nodes you just created.

8. In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select theTranslate tool.

9. In the Node view , select one of the pegs.
10. In the Camera view , click and drag on the peg’s pivot point to position it w here you the resting
position of its free form deformation point to be.

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11. Repeat the tw o previous steps for each peg that is connected to the W eighted Deform node, until
the pivot point of all the pegs are positioned w here you w ant the resting position of the free form
deformation points to be.

41

TIP
You can view the position of all the pegs connected to the W eighted Deform node by
selecting the node, then displaying its controls.

To display the W eighted Deform node’s controls, do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on

Show Control .

l

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

You cannot manipulate the free deformation points displayed w ith this method. To
manipulate the free deformation points, you must select their corresponding Peg nodes
and manipulate them one by one w ith theTransform tool.

The W eighted Deform is ready to be used.
To manipulate the points in the deformation chain, simply the display the chain and manipulate its
controls w ith theTransform tool, as you w ould w ith a regular deformation chain—see About

Deformation Animation on page 85.
How ever, to manipulate the free deformation points, you must select the Peg node that represents
the point and move them individually w ith the42

Transform tool. This can be difficult, as thoseHarmony 22 Premium User Guidepegs are not technically attached to a draw ing, but to an effect node. Hence, clicking on thedraw ing w ill select the parent peg of the deformation system, and not the free deformation points.
The most reliable w ay to transform a peg attached to the W eighted Deform is by selecting the Peg
node in the Node view , then manipulating its bounding box in the Camera view . For example, you
can move the peg by clicking and dragging close to the centre point of the bounding box:

You can also rotate, scale and skew each peg by manipulating their bounding box. This can create
interesting w arp effects.

43Creating a Dynamic Deformation
Since the W eighted Deform can use pegs as a deformation source, it also allow s you to connect other nodes
that w ork w ith pegs. An interesting combination is to use the W eighted Deform node w ith a Dynamic Springnode. The Dynamic Spring node is able to create a spring-like movement on a peg using tension and inertia. By
rigging pegs used as deformation points for the W eighted Deform node to Dynamic Spring nodes, you can add
a dynamic spring effect to individual parts of a draw ing.
For example, if you rig fluffy hair w ith points to a W eighted Deform node, and add pegs to the W eighted
Deform nodes so as to animate the individual points, you can rig Dynamic Spring nodes to each peg. The result
is that, if you move the hair around in the scene, a follow through animation w ill be automatically generated,based on that movement, for the individual deformation point. The points w ill trail behind the rest of the hair,then overshoot, then settle, creating the illusion of realistic hair physics.

NOTE
For more information on the Dynamic Spring node, refer to the Reference Guide.

How to create a dynamic deformation using W eighted Deform and Dynamic Springnodes
1. Starting w ith the rig previously created in Combining Deformation Chains and Free Deformation
Points on page 35, choose w hich sections of the hair w ill be given dynamics.

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2. In the Node Library view , in the Constraint category, select a Dynamic Spring and drag it to theNode view .
3. W hile holding the Alt key, click and hold the Dynamic Spring node, then drag it over the cable
above the peg for the point to w hich you w ant to add a dynamic spring effect. The Dynamic Spring
node should be a parent of that peg, but a child of the that peg’s former parent peg.

45

NOTE
Placing the Dynamic Spring betw een the main peg and the individual pegs w ill offset
the transformation applied to the individual pegs dynamically. The individual pegs
below the Dynamic Spring can still be offset and animated manually.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add a Dynamic Spring node to every point to w hich you w ant to add the
dynamic psring effect.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Now , as the character moves, the pegs controlling the tips of the hair w ill have a follow througheffect applied to them, w ith trailing, overshoot and settling, automatically added to them. Thosepegs can still be offset and animated manually, and the dynamic spring effect w ill be updated
automatically.

5. In the Node View , in the Constraint category, drag a Constraint Switch node to the Node View .
Then, connect the output port of the Constraint Sw itch node to the leftmost input port of each
Dynamic Spring node.

47

The Constraint Sw itch w ill allow you to change the Active parameter of every Dynamic Springsw itch simultaneously. This parameter defines the intensity of the dynamic spring effect on the
movement.
6. In the Node View , click on the Layer Properties button of the Constraint Sw itch node to open its
layer properties. Then, change its Active parameter to see if you can obtain the desired intensity forthe dynamic spring effect.

NOTE
For more information on the layer properties of the Constraint Sw itch node, refer to theReference Guide.

7. If you need to make more specific tw eaks to the dynamic spring effect, click on the Layer Properties
button of one of the Dynamic Spring nodes, and change its parameters as desired. Then, apply
similar changes to all the other Dynamic Spring nodes.

NOTE
For more information on the layer properties of the Dynamic Spring node, refer to theReference Guide.

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Deforming Specific Areas in Backgrounds and Large Images
Since the W eighted Deform node uses defined regions to deform the image, it can be useful for deforming
backgrounds and other complex images. Specific regions of the deformation can be defined and left static,
w hile other areas are deformed as needed. This w ay, the deformation can be localized, deforming the image
smoothly, w hile other areas remain unaffected.

NOTE
The W eighted Deform is optimized for making high quality deformations on textures and complex
draw ings. As such, it can be heavier on performance than regular deformations.

Animating the interactions betw een a detailed bitmap background and elements in the scene can becomplicated. A W eighted Deform allow s for regions of the background to be deformed w hile defining otherregions to preserve.
In the example below , the background is deformed around the special effect to improve its impact.

How to use the W eighted Deform node to make localized deformations on an image
1. In the Node Library view , in the Deformation > W eighted category, select a W eighted Deform
node and drag it to the Node view .
2. W hile holding the Alt key, drag the W eighted Deform node over the cable connecting thebackground layer to its parent peg.

49

3. Create an Envelope Deformation chain around the area you w ant to initially deform in the
background. To do this, select the W eighted Deform node, then create envelope w ith the
Rigging tool—see Creating Envelope Deformation Rigs on page 1563.

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NOTE
Typically, the Rigging tool automatically creates deformation nodes inside a single
Group node. In this screenshot, the deformation nodes w ere not created in a group so
as to better illustrate how the combination of deformation nodes w orks.

4. In the current state, if you move any of the deformation points, the entire background w ill be
deformed, as if pulling on a cloth. To make sure that only a specific area of the background gets
deformed, create another envelope deformation chain around that area.

This new contour w ill prevent the area outside of it from being deformed. The first interior
deformation w ill interpolate from its region to the outside contour, and w ill not effect anythingoutside of its range.
5. Using theTransform tool, move some of the points in the inner envelope deformation chain.

NOTE
Although subtle, the rippling effect in the w all is helpful to emphasize the effect. The
outer contour isn’t animated and prevents deforming the outside region. The innercurve is rippled to deform the interior bricks.

51

TIPS
l

Several layers of envelope deformations can be added to create a detailed rippling
effect.

l

It is recommended to keep the deformation chains as simple as possible so as tominimize the impact of the W eighted Deform node on Harmony performance.

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About Regions of Influence

To increase the quality of your animation and the accuracy of the deformation effect, you can modify theregions of influence around the deformation chains. A region of influence is the zone around the deformer
w ithin w hich art w ill be influenced by the deformation. The deformer has the pow er to shape all art contained
w ithin the influence area on its ow n element or on its children elements.
Zones of influence are different depending on the deformer type and zone type you selected. Note that theGame Bone deformers do not support regions of influences. Game Bone deformers are set to Infinite andcannot be changed.
You can find the settings for the zones of influence in the Layer Properties of the Curve, Bone and Envelope
nodes, as w ell as in the Rigging tool properties.
To understand better the various parameters available in the nodes' layer properties, you should know more
about the follow ing terms:lRadius: The radius determines the size of a zone. The radius value is the length from the central point of
the zone to its edge. By increasing the radius value, you increase the size of the area.

lTransversal: The transversal parameter is related to the w idth of the zone in relation to the bone. The
transversal value cuts across the bone.

53

lLongitudinal: The longitudinal parameter is related to the length of the zone in relation to the bone. The
longitudinal value is parallel to the bone's length.

NOTE
You can also prevent a child’s element from undergoing its parent deformation by connecting it
through a kinematic output—see About Rigging Draw ings to Deformations on page 65.

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Selecting Region of Influence Types
There are four types of region of influence:l

Zero: This creates no influence around the deformer.

lInfinite: This is the default option. The influence goes all the w ay to the image boundaries or until itintersects w ith another zone of influence. W hen w orking on a cut-out puppet built on several element
layers, the best choice is to keep the default Infinite option as the zone of influence type. In thefollow ing examples, the zones of influence are explained through deformation chains on a single
bitmap image. It's also recommended to keep the regions of influence to Infinite w hen using Envelope
deformers.

lElliptic: This creates a region of influence follow ing the deformer. Its size is based on a radius value.
W hen you set up the shape of your Elliptic zone of influence, you should be as accurate as possible andmake sure that only the element you w ant to follow the deformation is included inside the zone.

lShaped: This creates a custom region of influence around the deformer that can be adjusted using
control points and Bezier handles. W hen you set up the boundaries of your Shaped zone of influence,
you should be as accurate as possible and make sure that only the elements that you w ant to follow the
deformation are included inside the zone.
W hen you have an Elliptic zone of influence selected in the Node view , you can convert it to a Shaped
zone using the Convert Elliptic Zone of Influence to Shape option.

How to select a region of influence type
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the deformation group or nodes containing the deformation
chain you w ant to set the region of influence for—see Displaying Selected Deformation Controls on
page 83.
2. In the Deformation toolbar, click the Show Selected Deformers and Hide All Others
display the deformer of the selected piece.
3. In the Layer Properties w indow , in the Region of Influence tab, set the Influence Type:
l

Zero

l

InfinitelEllipticl

Shaped55

button toSetting Up Elliptic Regions of Influence
An elliptical region of influence is suited for regular shapes. Modify its parameters to refine the region
boundaries.

How to set up the Elliptic region of influence
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the deformation group or nodes containing the deformation
chain you w ant to set the region of influence for—see Displaying Selected Deformation Controls on
page 83.
2. In the Deformation toolbar, click the Show Selected Deformers and Hide All Others

button todisplay the deformer of the selected piece.
3. In the Layer Properties w indow , in the Region of Influence tab, set the Influence type to Elliptic.

4. Set up the ellipse shape by adding values to the various fields:

Influence Fade RadiusTransversal Influence Radius
Left

Transversal Influence Radius
Right

This defines the size of the fade area around the actual regionof influence's boundaries.

W hen the Symmetric Ellipse of Influence option is enabled,
this field controls the Left and Right transversal radius values.
W hen disabled, it controls the size of the left transversal
radius. By default, this value is set to 2.

W hen the Symmetric Ellipse of Influence option is enabled,
this field becomes inactive. The Left Transversal radius value
is automatically applied to the Right Transversal. W hen theSymmetric Ellipse of Influence option is disabled, it controls
the size of the Right Transversal radius. By default, this value
is set to 2.

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W hen the Symmetric Ellipse of Influence option is enabled,
this field becomes inactive. The End Longitudinal value is
automatically applied to the Begin Longitudinal value. W hen
the Symmetric Ellipse of Influence option is disabled, itLongitudinal Influence
Radius Begin

Longitudinal Influencecontrols the size of the Begin Longitudinal radius. By default,
this value is set to 0.25.

W hen the Symmetric Ellipse of Influence option is enabled,
this field controls both the Begin and End Longitudinal radiusvalues. W hen this option is disabled, it controls the size of the
End Longitudinal radius. By default, this value is set to 0.25.

Radius End

Symmetric Ellipse Influence

Enabled by default. The shape of the ellipse w ill besymmetrical on both the transversal and longitudinal radii. In
this case, use the Transversal Influence Radius Left field to
set the transversal radius value and use the Longitudinal
Influence Radius End field to set the longitudinal radius value.
The tw o other fields w ill remain unused unless you disable
the Symmetric Ellipse Influence option. In that case, you canset up different radius sizes for the four radii directions.

5. You can also modify the elliptic shape in the Camera view using the Rigging
l

tool.

If the Symmetric Ellipse of Influence option is enabled, one control point w ill be available in the
Camera view . Drag this point in any direction to increase or decrease the size of the Zone. Dragging
it left/right w ill modify both longitudinal radius sizes. Dragging it up/dow n w ill modify bothtransversal radius sizes.

57

l

If the Symmetric Ellipse of Influence is disabled, tw o control points w ill be available in the Camera
view . Drag the top-corner point left/right to modify the end longitudinal radius size and up/dow n tomodify the left transversal radius size. Drag the bottom-corner control point left/right to modify the
beginning longitudinal radius size and up/dow n to modify the right transversal radius size.

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Setting Up Shaped Regions of Influence
A Shaped region of influence is suited for irregular forms. Modify the region parameters to refine the shape's
boundaries.

How to set up the Shaped zone of influence
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the deformation group or nodes containing the deformation
chain you w ant to set the region of influence for—see Displaying Selected Deformation Controls on
page 83.
2. In the Deformation toolbar, click the Show Selected Deformers and Hide All Others

button todisplay the deformer of the selected piece.
If you selected the Shaped option in the Layer Properties w indow or in the Rigging tool properties,
the zone of influence w ill be square. This square has control points on all four corners and eachcontrol point as tw o control levers. If you converted an Elliptic zone to a shape, the zone w ill havemore control points and handles.

3. In the Layer Properties w indow , in the Region of Influence tab, set the Influence type to Shaped.

All radius options are disabled except the Influence Fade Radius option—see Setting Up Shaped
Regions of Influence on page 59.
l

In the Camera view , use the Rigging tool and drag a control point to redefine its
position and shape.

59

lClick and drag the control lever handle to modify the corners and redefine the shape.

lHold Alt dow n w hile dragging the control lever handle to move one handle at a time.

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Converting Elliptic Regions of Influence into Shapes
After you have tried tw eaking an elliptical region of influence, you may find that you need to convert theellipse into a shape, in order to create a more precise region. Instead of losing all the tw eaks you have made,you can use the elliptical region you have created as a base for a Shaped region of influence.

How to convert an Elliptic zone of influence to a shape
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the deformation group or nodes containing the deformation
chain you w ant to set the region of influence for—see Displaying Selected Deformation Controls on
page 83.
2. In the Deformation toolbar, click the Show Selected Deformers and Hide All Others

button todisplay the deformer of the selected piece.

3. In the Tools toolbar, click the Rigging

button.

4. In the Tool Properties view , in the Operations section, click the Convert Elliptic Zone of Influence toShapebutton.

The zone of influence is automatically converted to a shape. The shape is retained and control
points appear around the zone, so you can customize the shape.

61

Modifying Influence Fade Radii
To illustrate the zone of influence Fade Radius and its effect, the bitmap picture w ill be sw apped w ith a grid
pattern.

There is an area called the deformer Fade w hich surrounds the region of influence; this is the link betw een thestrict boundaries of the zone of influence and the surrounding region. This area gradually stretches orsquashes follow ing the deformation. You can change the Fade Radius value to modify the size of this area andthe exponent of the deformation fade effect.

If you built a custom deformation system from the Node Library view and are using a Deformation-Sw itch
node, you can change the default behaviour so the fading effect is inside the zone of influence instead ofoutside. This is explained in this example.

How to modify the Influence Fade radius
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the deformation group or nodes containing the deformation
chain you w ant to set the region of influence for—see Displaying Selected Deformation Controls on
page 83.

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2. In the Deformation toolbar, click the Show Selected Deformers and Hide All Others

button todisplay the deformer of the selected piece.

3. In the Layer Properties w indow , under the Region of Influence section, adjust the Influence Fade
Radius field to modify size of the fading area. The default value is 0.5.
4. If you built a custom node structure, using deformation nodes from previous versions of Harmony
and are using a Deformation-Sw itch node, you can also set the fade radius there. In the Node view ,select the Deformation-Sw itch node under the Deformation-Composite node in your deformation
chain.

5. In the Layer Properties w indow , set the follow ing options:Parameter

Description

Modify the exponent value or type the exact value in the field.
Influence Fade Exponentl

A value of 1 is similar to a linear curve.

63

Fade Inside Zonesl

A higher value w ill result in an ease-in type of curve.

lA low er value w ill result in an ease-out type of curve.

By default this option is disabled, meaning that the Fade
effect w ill occur outside the zone of influence. You can enable
this option so the fade effect is inside the zone of influence.

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About Rigging Drawings to Deformations
After you have created all the deformation chains for your character, you w ill need to assemble these separate
body parts into a puppet.
Often, you need a body part to be offset by a deformer w ithout that body part being deformed itself. For
example, you may rig an arm to a deformation chain, and then w ant the hand to follow the end of that
deformation chain. If you rig the hand directly under the deformation chain, it w ill get deformed in undesirable
w ays.
In order to w ork around this, you can use the Kinematic Output node. This node is designed to take the position
and angle of a deformation point and apply it to a draw ing w ithout deforming that draw ing, as if it w as a peg.
If you need to rig parts of your character to a specific part of a deformation other than one of its points, such as
somew here betw een tw o points along a deformation curve, or somew here inside an envelope or free form
deformation, you can use the Point Kinematic Node instead. This node is more complicated to use as it requires
to be configured, w hereas the Point Kinematic node w ill track the deformation point it’s connected to w ithout
any configuration, but it has a lot more capabilities.

Guidelines for Rigging with Deformers
W hen assembling a character rig w ith deformers, the follow ing guidelines should be kept in mind:l

Before rigging draw ings to deformers, make sure all the parts of your rigs are in their proper position.

l

It is important to avoid rigging pegs directly under deformers. The offset of the peg w ill be affected by
the deformation w hich may cause undesirable results. If you need to offset a part of draw ing that isrigged to a deformer, rig the peg above the deformation chain instead.

65l

You w ill probably w ant to be able to manipulate and offset the parts of a rig that are connected to a
Kinematic Output node. In this case, you can connect a peg betw een the Kinematic Output node and thedraw ing. It is especially important to set the pivot point of these draw ings so that the animator canrotate and scale them w ithout issue. For more information, see Setting Permanent Pivots on page 1420.

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Rigging a Drawing to a Deformation Point with the Kinematic Output
Node
In order to assemble the rigged parts of your character to a specific deformation point, you need to add aKinematic Output betw een the deformation node and the draw ing node. The Kinematic Output node w ill act
as a peg that follow s the position of the deformation point it is rigged under, w ithout applying any deformation
to the draw ing connected to it.
You can add a Kinematic Output node in the Node View or the Timeline view .

NOTE
The Kinematic Output Node can only be used to rig a draw ing to a deformation point. If you needto rig a draw ing to a specific area in a deformation chain, see About Rigging Draw ings to
Deformations w ith the Point Kinematic Output Node on page 71.

How to rig a drawing to a deformation point in the Node view
1. In the Node Library view , go to the Deformation section, select the Kinematic Output node anddrag it to the Node view .

2. Pull out a second output connection (bottom port) from the deformer node you w ant your piece orlimb to follow and connect it to the Kinematic Output port.

67

3. Connect the Kinematic Output node to the piece you w ant to follow the deformer.

‣

If it a good practice to rename the Kinematic Output node to reflect w hich deformer it isassigned to as the node structure can become very large and nodes can be positioned far apart.
Select the Kinematic Output node and in the Layer Properties view , rename the node.

‣

You can pull out multiple connections from the same Kinematic Output node if many limbs andpieces must follow a single deformer. For example, you can use the same Kinematic Output
node for both arms and the neck to follow the body deformer.

68Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

How to rig a drawing to a deformation point in the Timeline view
1. Select the element to attach to the Kinematic Output node, such as the hand or head peg.

2. From the top menu, select Insert > Kinematic Output.
The node appears in the Timeline view as a parent of your selection.

3. In the Timeline view , drag and drop the Kinematic Output layer ONTO the deformation layer you
w ant your limb or piece to follow . For example, onto the neck deformer if you w ant your head tofollow it w ithout being deformed or onto the arm deformer if you w ant your hand to follow .

69l

If your pieces are no longer ordered properly, use the Z-nudging feature to reorderthem—see About Ordering Layers on page 1412.

l

It's good practice to rename the Kinematic Output layer to reflect w hich deformer it isassigned to as the Timeline view can become very large and layers can be positioned
far apart. Select the Kinematic Output node and in the Layer Properties w indow ,rename the node. You can also double-click on the layer's name.

70Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About Rigging Drawings to Deformations with the Point Kinematic
Output Node
The Point Kinematic Output is a more advanced version of the Kinematic Output node. W hile the Kinematic
Output node can rig a draw ing layer to a deformation point, the Point Kinematic Output can be used to rig adraw ing layer to any point on a deformation curve, betw een tw o deformation points, w ithout deforming thedraw ing.

W hile the standard Kinematic Output simply outputs the translation and rotation angle of a deformation point,
the Point Kinematic Output can sample up to three point anyw here on a deformation curve. Using these threepoints, it can transform the draw ing in any of the follow ing w ays, depending on how you configure it:lTranslate the draw ing to make it follow the curve, w ithout rotating it.

lTranslate the draw ing to make it follow the curve and rotate it to match the angle of the curve at thatpoint.

lTranslate the draw ing to make it follow the curve, rotate it to match the angle of the curve at that point
and scale it proportionally to the length of the curve.

l

Rig the draw ing to all three points, and transform it as needed to keep it rigged w ith those three points.

This is useful for creating rigs w ith elements that need to track w ith a deformation, w hile retaining their overall
shape.

71

NOTE
For information on how to use the more simple version of this node, the Kinematic Output node,
w hich rigs a draw ing to a deformation point w ithout requiring any configuration, see About
Rigging Draw ings to Deformations on page 65.

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Rigging with a Point Kinematic Output Node
The Point Kinematic Output behaves very similarly to the standard Kinematic Output node, except that insteadof simply follow ing the end point of the deformation, it w ill sample up to three points along the deformation
curve, and output a transformation that tracks all three points.

How to Rig W ith a Point Kinematic Output
1. W ith an existing deformation rig, prepare a draw ing and place it in a location that you w ant to trackon the deformed draw ing.

2. In the Node Library view , in the Deformation section, select the Point Kinematic Output node anddrag it to the Node View above the draw ing node that you w ant to rig to the deformation.

73

3. Drag out a connection from the output port of the deformation chain and attach it to the rightmost
input port of the Point Kinematic Output node. Then, drag a new connection from the output port of
the Point Kinematic Output node and attach it to the input port of the Draw ing node.

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4. Select the Point Kinematic Output node and display its controls in the Camera view by doing one of
the follow ing:al

In the Camera view toolbar, click on

Show Control .

l

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

The tracking point of the Point Kinematic Output w ill appear in the centre of the Camera view .

5. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool.

6. In the Camera view , click and drag the tracking point and place it w here you w ant the draw ing to
track to on the deformation curve. This is w here the draw ing w ill adhere to as the deformation ischanged.

7. Make changes to the deformation curve and observe that the draw ing now moves along the curve.

75

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About Using Sampling Points with the Point Kinematic Output Node
The Point Kinematic Output allow s for up to three different tracking points. Using multiple tracking points
results in different transformations and allow s for draw ings to track and transform in different w ays.

One- Point Sampling

One-Point Sampling w ill track the deformation and apply a simple translation in order to match thedeformation. The applied transformation w ill have no rotation or scale, and w ill simply translate the draw ing
to match the tracking points.

Two- Point SamplingTw o-Point Sampling w ill track the deformation w ith tw o points and w ill apply a constrained transformation inorder to match the deformation. The applied transformation w ill rotate and translate to best match the tw otracking points, but w ill not scale. This sampling method is useful for having draw ings rotate w ith a surface totrack the deformed position, but not squash and stretch relative to the deformation.

Two- Point Sampling with Scaling77

Tw o-Point Sampling w ith Scaling w ill track the deformation w ith tw o points and w ill apply a constrainedtransformation in order to match the deformation. The applied transformation w ill scale, rotate and translate
to best match the tw o tracking points. The squash-and-stretch is applied similar to the 2-Point Constraint, anduses the Volume Modifier Property to define the ratio of the squash and stretch.

Three- Point SamplingThree-Point Sampling w ill track the deformation w ith three points and w ill apply a full transformation in orderto match the deformation. The applied transformation w ill scale, rotate, translate and skew to best match thethree tracking points.
The Three-Points Sampling mode is especially useful for rigging a draw ing to an area inside a deformed
draw ing. W hile the other modes use a limited set of transformations meant to track along a curve, the ThreePoints Sampling mode causes the Point Kinematic Output node to make all the necessary transformations tomake the draw ing track w ith the shape of the deformed draw ing.

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TIP
The Point Kinematic Output can also be used to track points in an envelope deformation.

79

About Using Multiple Point Kinematic Output Nodes
The Point Kinematic Output node is particularly useful w hen multiple draw ings need to be constrained to asingle deformation source. Each draw ing can have its ow n Point Kinematic Output that provides atransformation tailored to the context of the draw ing relative to the attached deformation. This is useful w hen
constraining multiple draw ings to a shape, such as limbs on a torso controlled by an envelope, or a number oftrinkets attached to a necklace controlled by a single curve.

In this example, a necklace chain is rigged w ith three gems. The necklace is deformed by a curve deformation
chain, w hile each gem is rigged w ith its ow n Point Kinematic Output node, w hich is configured to track adifferent point in the curve. This allow s for each gem to transform based on its position on the chain.

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Additionally, this allow s to transform each draw ing in different w ays. In this example, the central gem is usinga Point Kinematic Output node w ith Tw o-Point Sampling as its Sampling Type. This allow s the gem totranslate and rotate along the curve w ithout scaling. The gems on the edges are each using a Point Kinematic
Output w ith One-Point Sampling, each set to a different point on the curve. this allow s the gems to translate
and track w ith the curve w ithout any rotation or scale.

81

About Using Deformations as Controllers
Sometimes, several draw ing in a rig need to be constrained to a specific shape, such as the links in a chain, orbooks in a tall, w obbly pile. Such rigs require all their individual parts to follow a single curve, and animatingeach part of these rigs individually can be very tedious.
W ith the Point Kinematic Node, you can automatically constrain several draw ings to a curve or envelope,w ithout having to animate each draw ing individually. Even if you don’t have a draw ing to deform, you cancreate a deformation chain that is rigged to several Point Kinematic Output nodes, and hence use thedeformation chain as an animation controller for all of these draw ings.
In the example below , a deformation chain is rigged to four Point Kinematic Output nodes, each of w hichcontrol a single link in a metal chain. The deformation chain is not deforming any draw ing, it’s merely used tocontrol the Point Kinematic Output nodes, w hich apply regular transformations to the position and angle ofeach link.

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Displaying Selected Deformation Controls
Harmony lets you control w hich deformers are displayed in the Camera view independently from the current
selection. W hen you create a deformation chain, its deformation controls are displayed in the Camera view .
How ever, if you select an existing deformer or a layer that's connected to existing deformers, its deformation
controls w on't display automatically. Likew ise, deselecting a deformation chain w ill not hide its deformation
controls.
Before you can animate or modify an existing deformation chain, you must manually display it.

How to display deformation controls
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to display.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to display.

2. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .

NOTE
The Show the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button w ill display all
deformation chains that are in the hierarchy of the selection. For example, if the master peg ofa character model is selected, all of its deformation chains w ill be displayed. Likew ise, if
multiple layers linked w ith different deformation chains are selected, all of their deformation
chains w ill be displayed.

83

Hiding Deformation Controls
If you no longer w ant to animate or modify deformers, you can hide the deformation controls so that they nolonger clutter the Camera view .

How to hide deformation controls
1. Do one of the follow ing:lClick in the negative space of the Camera view , Timeline view or Node view to discard
the current selection, then click on theShow Selected Deformation Chain and

Hide All Others button in the Deformation toolbar.
lSelect a layer that is not linked to any deformer, then click theShow the Selected

Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button in the deformation toolbar.
l

In the Camera toolbar, click the

Hide All Controls button.

l

From the top menu, select View > Hide All Controls.

lPress Shift + C.

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About Deformation Animation
Just like w ith animating pegs and draw ing layers, you can animate your deformers by creating keyframes on
their corresponding layers in the Timeline. Animating deformers w orks exactly like making modifications to a
deformer, except it requires using theTransform tool instead of the Rigging tool. W hen the Transform tool

is selected, deformation controls in the Camera view display in green, w hich means they are in animationmode, w hereas w hen the Rigging tool is selected, they display in red, meaning they are in rigging mode.

85

Animating Bone and Game Bone Deformers
You can add keyframes to deformers reposition their deformation controls to create animated sequences.

How to animate Bone and Game Bone deformations
1. In the Timeline view , collapse your character using the Expand/Collapse arrow .

2. Select the first frame of the scene.

3. To ensure your model doesn't disappear after 1 frame, open the Extend Exposure dialog by doing
one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the first frame in the Timeline and select Extend Exposure.

lPress F5.

4. In the Extend Exposure dialog, type in the amount of frames in your scene and confirm. This w ill
make your model exposed (visible) throughout your w hole scene.
5. Now , w e w ill make your character's first pose. First, make sure there is a keyframe on the first
frame of every layer of the model. This ensures that w hen you make the second pose later, yourfirst pose w ill not be affected. To do this do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the

Add Keyframe button.

l

Right-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

A keyframe is added on the current frame.

6. In the Tools toolbar, select the
7. In the Tools toolbar, if

Transform tool or press Shift + T.

Animate Off orAnimate Onion Skin Range mode is selected, click on it

to open the Animate pop-up menu and select86

Animate Current Frame.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

8. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to animate.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to animate.

9. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .
10. In the Camera view , do the follow ing:l

To rotate the w hole limb, click and drag on the first bone. This w ill rotate the firstbone and all subsequent bones.

l

To bend the limb, click and drag on another bone. This w ill rotate the bone and all
subsequent bones, but w ill leave the bones before it in their current position.

87

l

To reposition an articulation, click and drag on its control point. This can be used torotate, shorten or extend the bone, and w ill offset all subsequent bones.

l

To shorten or extend a bone w ithout rotating it, press and hold the Alt key, then click
and drag on its control point.

l

To offset the w hole limb, click and drag on its root point.

TIP
You can also nudge an articulation in any direction by selecting it, thenpressing on the arrow keys.

11. In the Timeline view , go to the frame on w hich you w ant to set the next key pose.
12. Add a keyframe on the current frame by doing one of the follow ing:

88Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add KeyframelRight-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

button.

13. Transform your deformer's points to make your new key pose.
14. Repeat the previous steps until your animation is complete.

TIP
You can also manipulate the deformers by selecting them, then typing their coordinates
manually in the Layer Properties view .

89

Animating Curve Deformers
Add keyframes and reposition the curve deformers to create animated sequences.

How to animate Curve deformations
1. In the Timeline view , collapse your character using the Expand/Collapse arrow .

2. Select the first frame of the scene.

3. To ensure your model doesn't disappear after 1 frame, open the Extend Exposure dialog by doing
one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the first frame in the Timeline and select Extend Exposure.

lPress F5.

4. In the Extend Exposure dialog, type in the amount of frames in your scene and confirm. This w ill
make your model exposed (visible) throughout your w hole scene.
5. Now , w e w ill make your character's first pose. First, make sure there is a keyframe on the first
frame of every layer of the model. This ensures that w hen you make the second pose later, yourfirst pose w ill not be affected. To do this do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the

Add Keyframe button.

l

Right-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

A keyframe is added on the current frame.

6. In the Tools toolbar, select the
7. In the Tools toolbar, if

Transform tool or press Shift + T.

Animate Off orAnimate Onion Skin Range mode is selected, click on it

to open the Animate pop-up menu and select90

Animate Current Frame.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

8. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to animate.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to animate.

9. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .

10. In the Camera view , do the follow ing:lClick and drag on one of the control points to shorten or extend the body part.

91

TIP
You can also nudge a deformation point in any direction by selecting it,then pressing the arrow keys.

lClick and drag on one of the Bezier curve handles to deform the curve of the body
part.

l

By default, if you rotate a Bezier handle for a point, the opposite Bezier handle for thesame point w ill rotate along w ith it, influencing the curve on the other side of it. To
rotate a Bezier handle independently from its opposite handle, click on this Bezier
handle to select it. Then, w hile pressing and holding the Alt key, click and drag on thishandle to rotate it.

l

By default, transforming a point in a Curve deformation chain does not offset
subsequent points. To offset a point and all its subsequent points, press and hold theCtrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key, then click and drag on the first point you

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w ant to offset.

l

To rotate a point and all subsequent points, click on the Bezier handle after the pointaround w hich w ant subsequent points to rotate to select it. Then, w hile pressing andholding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key, click and drag on that handle torotate it. All the subsequent points w ill rotate around this handle's point.

lClick and drag on the root point to offset the entire limb.

93lClick and drag on the rotation handle behind the root pivot point to rotate the entire
limb.

11. In the Timeline view , go to the frame on w hich you w ant to set the next key pose.
12. Add a keyframe on the current frame by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add KeyframelRight-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

button.

13. Transform your deformer's points to make your new key pose.
14. Repeat the previous steps until your animation is complete.

TIP
You can also manipulate the deformers by selecting them, then typing their coordinates
manually in the Layer Properties view .

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Animating Envelope Deformers
Add keyframes and reposition the envelope deformers to create animated sequences.

How to animate Envelope deformations
1. In the Timeline view , collapse your character using the Expand/Collapse arrow .

2. Select the first frame of the scene.

3. To ensure your model doesn't disappear after 1 frame, open the Extend Exposure dialog by doing
one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the first frame in the Timeline and select Extend Exposure.

lPress F5.

4. In the Extend Exposure dialog, type in the amount of frames in your scene and confirm. This w ill
make your model exposed (visible) throughout your w hole scene.
5. Now , w e w ill make your character's first pose. First, make sure there is a keyframe on the first
frame of every layer of the model. This ensures that w hen you make the second pose later, yourfirst pose w ill not be affected. To do this do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the

Add Keyframe button.

l

Right-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

A keyframe is added on the current frame.

6. In the Tools toolbar, select the
7. In the Tools toolbar, if

Transform tool or press Shift + T.

Animate Off orAnimate Onion Skin Range mode is selected, click on it

to open the Animate pop-up menu and select95

Animate Current Frame.

8. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to animate.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to animate.

9. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .

10. In the Camera view , do the follow ing:lClick and drag on any of the control points located along the envelope to deform yourdraw ing.

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TIP
You can also nudge a deformation point by selecting it, then pressing thearrow keys.

l

Use the envelope's control point handles to modify the draw ing's curvesl

By default, if you rotate a Bezier handle for a point, the opposite Bezier handle for thesame point w ill rotate along w ith it, influencing the curve on the other side of it. To
rotate a Bezier handle independently from its opposite handle, click on this Bezier
handle to select it. Then, w hile pressing and holding the Alt key, click and drag on thishandle to rotate it.

11. In the Timeline view , go to the frame on w hich you w ant to set the next key pose.
12. Add a keyframe on the current frame by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add KeyframelRight-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

button.

13. Transform your deformer's points to make your new key pose.

9714. Repeat the previous steps until your animation is complete.

TIP
You can also manipulate the deformers by selecting them, then typing their coordinates
manually in the Layer Properties view .

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Animating a Free Form Deformation
You can animate the position and angle of each individual point in a Free Form deformation.

How to animate Free Form deformations
1. In the Timeline view , collapse your character using the Expand/Collapse arrow .

2. Select the first frame of the scene.

3. To ensure your model doesn't disappear after 1 frame, open the Extend Exposure dialog by doing
one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the first frame in the Timeline and select Extend Exposure.

lPress F5.

4. In the Extend Exposure dialog, type in the amount of frames in your scene and confirm. This w ill
make your model exposed (visible) throughout your w hole scene.
5. Now , w e w ill make your character's first pose. First, make sure there is a keyframe on the first
frame of every layer of the model. This ensures that w hen you make the second pose later, yourfirst pose w ill not be affected. To do this do one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the

Add Keyframe button.

l

Right-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

A keyframe is added on the current frame.

6. In the Tools toolbar, select the
7. In the Tools toolbar, if

Transform tool or press Shift + T.

Animate Off orAnimate Onion Skin Range mode is selected, click on it

to open the Animate pop-up menu and select99

Animate Current Frame.

8. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to animate.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to animate.

9. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .
10. In the Camera view , do the follow ing:lClick and drag on the centre of a control point to reposition it.

TIP
You can also nudge a deformation point by selecting it, then pressing the arrow
keys.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Click and drag on the purple handle right of a control point to rotate it.

11. Repeat for all the other control points until the draw ing is deformed as intended.

12. In the Timeline view , go to the frame on w hich you w ant to set the next key pose.
13. Add a keyframe on the current frame by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the Add KeyframelRight-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

button.

14. Transform your deformer's points to make your new key pose.
15. Repeat the previous steps until your animation is complete.

101Animating Multiple Points
W hen animating Curve, Envelope and Free Form deformers, the position of each point is independent fromone another. In situations w here you need to animate several deformation points simultaneously, you canselect several deformation points, then move then together.
By default, this only allow s you to move the selected points laterally. How ever, if you are w orking w ith Curveor Envelope deformations, you can also rotate or scale a selection of deformation points by using the Show
Manipulator option of the Deformation toolbar. This option w ill display a manipulator bounding box w ith scaleand rotation handles, w hich w orks similarly to the one you can use to transform draw ing strokes w ith theSelect tool or draw ing layers w ith the Transform tool.
You can now skew and scale a selection of deformer points on each axis w hen using the deformation
manipulator. Skew and scaling controls are now available w hen hovering near the edges of the manipulators
controls.

NOTESl

You can only select and manipulate several points w ith Curve, Envelope and Free Formdeformations.

l

You can only use the deformation manipulator w ith Curve and Envelope deformers.

How to select multiple points in a Curve, Envelope or Free Form deformation
manually
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to animate.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to animate.

2. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .

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3. Click on one of the deformation points you w ant to animate to select it.

4. W hile holding the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) or Shift key, click on each other deformation
point that you w ant to animate to add them to the selection.

5. Click and drag on any of the points to move them simultaneously.

TIP
You can also use the arrow keys to nudge the selected points in any direction.

103

How to select multiple points in a Curve, Envelope or Free Form deformation using alasso
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to animate.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to animate.

2. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .

3. In the Tool Properties view , enable

Control Selection Mode mode.

4. Draw a lasso around all the deformation points you w ant to select.

The points in the lasso become selected.

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TIP
If you already have points selected, you can hold Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS)
or Shift to add the points in your lasso to the selection.

5. Click and drag on any of the points to move them simultaneously.

TIP
You can also use the arrow keys to nudge the selected points in any direction.

How to use the deformation manipulator to animate multiple Curve or Envelope
deformation points
1. Using one of the tw o methods above, select several points in your curve or envelope deformation
chain.
2. In the Deformation toolbar, enable theShow Manipulator option.

A manipulator bounding box appears around your selection.

105

3. If you w ant to rotate or scale your selection from a specific pivot point, drag and drop the pivot
point of the manipulator to the preferred position.

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to scale your selection, click and drag one of the square scale handles in thecorner of the manipulator.

l

If you w ant to rotate your selection, position your mouse just outside of the manipulator,
near a corner. W hen your mouse cursor displays a rotation w heelrotate the manipulator.

106, click and drag toHarmony 22 Premium User Guidel

If you w ant to move your selection, click and drag on one of the selected points.

TIP
You can also use the arrow keys to nudge the selected points in any direction.

107

Resetting a Deformer to its Resting Position
You can reset the positions deformation points to their original resting positions, w hether for the current frameor for the entire scene.

How to reset the position of one or several deformation points at the current frame
1. In the Timeline view , move the playhead to the frame w here you w ant to reset the puppet to theresting position.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to reset.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to reset.

3. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .
4. In the Camera view , select the deformation point you w ant to reset.

TIPSl

You can select several deformation points by pressing and holding Ctrl, thenclicking on each point you w ant to reset to add them to the selection.

l

W hen w orking w ith Curve or Envelope deformations, you can also select several
deformation points by enabling

Control Selecton Mode in the Tool Properties

view , then draw ing a lasso or marquee around all the points you w ant to select.

5. In the Deformation toolbar, click on the Reset Current Keyframe
the selected chain on the current frame.

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button to reset the position ofHarmony 22 Premium User Guide

How to reset the position of all the points of a deformation at the current frame
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to reset.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to reset.

2. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .
3. In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group you w ant to reset.
4. In the Deformation toolbar, click on the Reset Current Keyframe

button to reset the position of

the selected chain on the current frame.

How to set the position of all the points of a deformation chain throughout the scene
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera, Timeline or Node view , select one of the draw ing layers linked to thedeformation chain you w ant to reset.

l

In the Timeline or Node view , select the deformation group or any part of the deformation
chain you w ant to reset.

2. In the Deformation toolbar, either:lClick theShow the Selected Deformation Chain and Hide All Others button to show theselected element's deformation chain and hide any other deformation chain that is currently
displayed.
lClick theShow Selected Deformers button to show the selected element's deformation

chain along w ith any other deformation chain that is currently displayed.
The selected deformation controls appear in the Camera view .
3. In the Deformation toolbar, click the

Reset All Keyframes button.

109

Converting Deformer Animation to Drawings
You may w ant to adjust your deformation animation. Convert deformation animations to draw ing sequences,
so you can adjust the draw ings using the draw ing tools. You may also w ant to change the timing and set it on
double frames instead of single frame. Harmony offers you the option to convert your deformation animation
to an actual draw ing sequence.

How to convert deformation animation to drawings
1. In the Timeline view , select the deformation frame range for w hich you w ant to convert todraw ings.

2. From the top menu, select Animation > Deformation > Convert Deformed Drawing to Drawings.
The Baking Draw ing w indow opens. W ait for the baking to complete.

Your selection is converted to vector draw ings.

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Disabling Deformations in the Camera View Preview
W hen adding new draw ings w hile animating, you may need to see the reference draw ings as their original
resting position as it may be quite difficult to draw on a deformed canvas. You have the possibility to disable
deformations in Harmony so that all draw ings appear in their resting position.

NOTE
Disabling deformations is only a display mode. Although draw ings w ill not appear deformed in the
Camera view , even in Render View mode, they w ill still be deformed in the rendered images.

How to enable or disable deformation preview
1. In the Deformation toolbar, click on the Enable Deformations
preview .

111

button to toggle deformation

About Multi- pose Deformation Rigs (Transformation Chains)

Creating and rigging a full character turnaround can be achieved by creating multiple deformation chains on asame character w ithout having to create completely different puppets.
For a simplified process, you can keep each view of your character separate in the Timeline or Node view . If
you create separate rigs for each view , then you can simply turn on or off the exposure of each view in thetimeline w hen needed.
How ever, if you w ant to keep the entire character, w ith all view s, in one group/rig on the timeline, then you canfollow the process described here by building a multi-pose deformation rig, also know n as multiple
transformation chains.

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About Character Preparation for a Multi- pose Deformation Rig
Before building a puppet’s deformation skeleton, you must prepare your character. The best w ay to proceed is
to have the limbs on separate draw ing layers. This is similar to a standard cut-out puppet preparation, butuses few er pieces. Since this is a more advanced type of puppet, you should keep the character’s head, hands,
feet, and facial features on a separate layer from the body, arms, and legs. This w ill prevent the extremities
from being distorted if the limbs are stretched during an action. It w ill also let you use draw ing substitution tosw ap hands, feet, eyes and mouth poses during animation.

There are many w ays to break dow n a cut-out puppet. The example described in this chapter uses thesepieces:•Body•

Left Ear•

Right Ear

•

Head

•

Left Eye•

Right Eye

•

Mouth

•

Left Eyebrow•

Right Eyebrow

•

Nose

•

Left Arm•

Right Arm•

Left Hand•

Right Hand•

Left Leg•

Right Leg•

Left Foot•

Right Foot

Refer to the follow ing topic to learn how to break dow n a character: Character Rigging on page 1365.

113

About Structure for Multi- pose Deformation Rigs
Each pose (transformation chain) you rig w ithin the same element has to be part of a separate subgroup, all of
w hich are gathered together by a Transformation-Sw itch node. The group name is not relevant in the multipose structure. These subgroups can be renamed once the rig is complete. The Transformation-Sw itch node
uses the draw ing name to associate a transformation chain w ith it. If you rename a draw ing after is has been
linked to a transformation chain, you w ill have to manually change the draw ing name associated to the chain
in the Transformation-Sw itch layer properties. You might w ant to rename your draw ing before you start
rigging so the names correspond to the poses. For example: front, side, quarter, etc.

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115

Renaming Drawings for Multi- pose Deformation Rigs
Although renaming your draw ings is not mandatory, it can prove useful in maintaining a clear node structure
for your project. If you leave your draw ing as is and do not rename it, your deformation subgroups could
become slightly confusing. If you plan to have several draw ings using the same rig w ithin an element, forinstance, draw ing substitution, then you should rename these extra draw ings before starting your rig.

How to rename drawings
1. In the Xsheet view , locate the column that corresponds to the element w hich includes several
draw ings that w ill use the same chain, such as a character that has several costumes w hich youplan to sw ap by using draw ing substitution. In our example, w e w ill use the rabbit’s feet, w hich w ill
all use the same deformation curve.

2. In the Xsheet view , select the first draw ing of the column. This is the one that w ill be rigged.
3. From the Xsheet menu, select Drawings > Rename Drawing or press Ctrl + D (W indow s/Linux) or⌘ + D (macOS).
4. In the Rename Draw ing dialog box, type a relevant new name for the draw ing and click OK.

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5. In the Xsheet view , select the next draw ing in the column and select Drawings > Rename Drawing
from the Xsheet menu.
6. In the Rename Draw ing dialog box, type the same name that you gave the first draw ing of thecolumn, exactly as it is w ritten and add and any number. For example, if the first draw ing is named
front, the subsequent draw ings are named: front_1, front_2, front_3, etc.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each subsequent draw ing that needs to be renamed.

117

Creating New Deformation Chains (Transformation Chains)
The process of creating multiple deformation chains on the same character is divided in four steps: creating themain chain, creating additional chains, renaming the chains, and associating additional draw ings to the chains.
The draw ings are associated w ith deformation chains. For example, if you w ant to rig the puppet's arm, you
w ill need to add a deformation chain to the arm draw ing. If the arm has multiple pieces such as upper arm,
forearm and hand, you w ill create the deformation chain on the upper arm and afterw ard link the forearm andhand to that same chain. W hen creating the additional transformation chains on the other view s of your rig,
you w ill create them on the upper arm. The forearm and hand w ill not influence w hich chain is used. They w illfollow the upper arm chain. If the draw ing exposure is changed on the upper arm, the deformation chain w illchange to the associated one. If the forearm or hand exposure is changed, the same deformation chain w ill
remain. You must create the deformation chain on the draw ing that w ill have the most influence w henchanging the puppet's view .
After creating your deformation rig, you may w ant to convert an animated character's pose to a new
deformation chain. This can be useful w hen you w ant to add a pose to a turn-around deformation rig you havealready spent time creating and manipulating. You can take the pose at the current frame and the state of thedeformations and create a new draw ing set along w ith a new deformation chain using the current position.

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Creating Main Deformation Chains for Multi- pose Rigs
The first step in creating a multi-pose rig is to create the main chain for the additional poses.

How to create the main deformation chain
1. In the Timeline view , make sure the time marker is set to the frame displaying your first draw ing.
2. In the Node view , select the draw ing layer containing the draw ing you w ant to create the chain for.
If you w ant to create the chain for an arm composed in multiple pieces, you must select only one ofthe draw ing layer, such as the upper arm. The additional pieces w ill be added afterw ard.

3. In the Deformation toolbar, click the Create New Deformation Chain

button.

A new deformation chain is created and appears in the Transformation Chain drop-dow n list.

4. In the Deformation toolbar, select the Rigging

tool.

5. Create your deformer structure—see About Creating Deformations on page 1556.

6. If needed, in the Node view , link the new deformation group to the additional pieces, such as theforearm and hand.

1197. Repeat these steps for all the deformation chains that need to be created on the current puppet'sview .
These chains are now the default deformation chains that w ill be used on all draw ings not using acustom deformation chain.

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Reusing Deformation Groups for Multi- pose Rigs
W hen creating a deformation rig, you may w ant to copy and paste the deformation group created for adraw ing and connect it to another draw ing. For example, after creating a bone or curve chain for the arm of acharacter, you may w ant to copy and paste the deformation group to use it on the other arm.
The problem w ith copying and pasting deformation groups is that the Transformation sw itch in the group w ill
still point to the first draw ing it w as connected to. You can easily correct this problem by using the Associate
Parent Transformation Sw itch w ith Selected Element button.

How to copy bones and curves
1. In the Node view , copy the deformation group node.

2. Paste the deformation group node.
3. Connect the second set of draw ings to the deformation group node. If these draw ings are attached
to a peg, be sure to put the deformation group betw een the draw ings and the peg.

4. Enter the Deformation group by clicking on its grey arrow .

121

5. Open the Transformation Sw itch properties by clicking on the yellow box.

Notice that the draw ing that the Transformation Sw itch points to is the original draw ing that it w asconnected to.

6. Exit the deformation group to return to the main Node view .
7. Select the draw ing node connected to the copied deformation group. If there are multiple draw ing
nodes connected to the same deformation group, select the draw ing at the top of the hierarchy or
the one that makes the most sense for your setup.

8. From the Deformation toolbar, click on the Associate Parent Transformation Sw itch to Selected
Element

button. If you do not see this button in the Deformation toolbar, you need to add it—

see the Reference guide .
The Transformation Sw itch now points to the correct draw ing.

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9. Rename the deformation group to match its associated draw ings.

123Creating Additional Deformation Chains for Multi- pose Rigs
The second step to creating a multi-pose rig is to create additional chains. after the creation of the main chain.

How to create additional deformation chains
1. In the Timeline view , move the playhead (current frame) to the character's next position.
2. In the Node or Timeline view , select the draw ing you w ant to set a new deformation chain(transformation chain) for. If you had previously selected the upper arm in a multiple parts arm
structure, select the same draw ing layer (upper arm).

3. In the Deformation toolbar, click the Create New Deformation Chain

button.

A new deformation chain is created and appears in the Transformation Chain drop-dow n list.

4. In the Deformation toolbar, select the Rigging

tool.

5. Create your new deformer structure—see About Creating Deformations on page 1556.

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Renaming Transformation Chains on Multi- pose Rigs
Rename your transformation chains in order to keep track of and better organize your rig's various poses.

How to rename a transformation chain (deformation chain)
1. In the Timeline or Node view , select the draw ing layer containing the chains you w ant to rename.
Make sure your current frame contains a deformation chain.

2. In the Deformation toolbar, click on the Rename Transformation

button,The Rename Transformations dialog opens.

3. Rename the different transformation chains (deformation chains) to match the view they areassociated w ith.

4. Click OK.

125

Linking Drawings to Transformation Chains
Link draw ings to transformation chains, so that the draw ings can be animated using the chains.

How to associate a drawing to a transformation chain
1. In the Timeline or Node view , select the draw ing layer containing the draw ing you w ant to link to
an existing deformation chain. The deformation chain has to exist on that same layer. You cannot
associate a draw ing to a chain created on a different layer.
2. To associate the draw ing to the chain, do one of the the follow ing:l

In the Deformation toolbar, select the desired chain from the Transformation Chain
drop-dow n list.

l

In the Node view , select the Transformation-Sw itch contained in the deformationgroup and in the Layer Properties view , type the draw ing name in the fieldcorresponding to the desired chain. The draw ing names must be semi-colon
separated.

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Converting Drawings to New Deformation Chains
Link existing draw ings to new deformation chains.

How to convert a drawing to a new deformation chain
1. In the Timeline view , go to the frame you w ant to transform into an new pose (deformation chain).
2. Select the draw ing you w ant to convert and add a new chain.
3. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Deformation > Convert to New Drawing
and Add Deformation Chain.

l

In the Deformation toolbar, click the Convert to New Draw ing and Add Deformation
Chainbutton.

A new transformation is created and added to the list.

127

About Legacy Deformations
Releases prior to Harmony 12 used a different deformation structure. The current structure is simplified.

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Transferring Curve Positions of Legacy Deformations
You can Lets you transfer all of the information from first curve deformer to its parent Offset node. This isuseful for a legacy scene created using Curve deformations w here the Offset's position has been placed far
aw ay from the draw ing to make sure it doesn't affect the draw ing's deformation. You can bring back the offset
and give it the first curve's position. The Envelope deformation lets you animate the offset of each curve
separately. The offset no longer needs to be placed far aw ay.

How to transfer a curve's position to its parent offset
1. In the Node view , select the root Offset and the first curve.

2. From the top menu, select Animation > Deformation > Set Curves and Offsets Independent from
Parent.
3. In the Node view , select only the first curve node.

129

4. From the top menu, select Animation > Deformation > Transfer Curve Values to Offset.
In the Node view , the first Curve node is disabled and the values are transferred to the parent
Offset node.

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Converting Legacy Deformation Chains
You can also convert a legacy deformation rig to the new format using a script. You can select w hich chain you
w ant to transform. Certain legacy nodes w ill remain in the structure to make sure the integrity of your original
puppet is maintained.

How to convert legacy deformation chains to the new structure
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the deformation group containing the chain you w ant toconvert to the new structure.
2. In the Scripting toolbar, click on TB_ConvertLegacyDeformation. If the script is not available in the
toolbar, you can load it.
l

In the Scripting toolbar, click on Manage Scriptsl

In the Script Manager dialog, in the File column, select the TB_
CovertLegacyDeformation.js script. If you cannot find the script in the list (most likely
due to a softw are upgrade installation), you can load the script through the Script
Editor view from the default resources folder—see Importing Scripts in the Scripting
guide.

l

In the Functions column, select TB_ConvertLegacyDeformation.

lClick the Right Arrow button to move the function to the Scripting toolbar.

131

l

Click OK.

The legacy chain is converted.

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About the Master Controller
T-RIG3-008-001
The Master Controller is a node that is capable of generating custom on-screen manipulators, or w idgets,w hich can be programmed to affect one or several elements in a scene w hen manipulated. They are createdand configured entirely through the scripting interface of Harmony. This allow s you to create controls that canmanipulate any amount of elements in your scene based on specific algorithms, making their capabilities
virtually infinite.

The end goal of master controllers is to give studios the ability to create tools that make it easy for scene
planners and animators to manipulate rigs and objects in the w ay they w ere designed to be manipulated. For
example, you can create a slider w idget that rotates your character's rig in 360°, or a point w idget that can be
dragged around, w hich determines the direction your character's head is facing. For complex characters w ith
many deformations, this removes the need for the animator to create poses manually, w hich can be tediousand can lead to going off-model, or to copy and paste poses from templates.
There are tw o approaches to creating master controllers:l

W izard: W izards are user friendly dialogs that allow you to generate master controller w idgets byfeeding them character poses and configuring how the w idget w ill apply the different poses to thecharacter.

l

Scripting: This method allow s you to create a master controller of any kind for any purposew hatsoever. How ever, since it requires using the Harmony scripting interface, it is recommended toonly attempt this if you have solid bases in scripting.

Several types of Master Controller w idgets can be created:l

The Slider w idget creates a slider that the user can slide. W hen manipulated, it generates a value
betw een its minimum and maximum values w hich can be used to manipulate elements in the scene.

133

l

The 2D Point w idget creates a point that the user can freely drag around the stage. W hen manipulated,
it provides its position, w hich can be used to position elements in the scene.

l

The Button w idget creates a button that can be scripted to fire an action w hen clicked on.

l

The Checkbox w idget creates a togglable button that can be scripted to do something different
depending on w hether it's toggled on or off, like a checkbox in an application.

l

The 2D Line Display w idget displays a line going betw een tw o 2D Point w idgets to make a "bone" typemanipulator. It is not manipulable by itself, but the points to w hich it is linked are.

l

The 3D Rotation w idget creates a 3D sphere that the user can rotate in all directions. W hen
manipulated, it provides an object w ith a rotation angle for each axis.

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The X, Y and Z Rotation w idgets create a circle that can be rotated around the stage around its axis.
W hen manipulated, it provides a rotation angle for its respective axis.

l

The X, Y and Z Translation w idgets create an arrow that can be dragged along its axis. W hen
manipulated, it provides an offset for its respective axis.

l

The Label w idget creates text label. It cannot be interacted w ith, but it can be combined w ith anotherw idget to identify it, or to give any kind of directions to the animator.

l

The Custom w idget can be composed of one or multiple elements from other w idget types, and the
behavior of w hich w hen manipulated can be customized.

NOTE
Master Controller w izards can generate slider and 2D point w idgets. To generate any other kind of
Master Controller w idget, you must script it manually.

135

About Master Controller W izards
T-RIG3-008-003
Creating a Master Controller w idget from scratch requires appropriate scripting skills and, depending on their
purpose, generating data files that the Master Controller reads from to pose the characters. To streamline thisprocess, Master Controller W izards are provided w ith Harmony. Those w izards are scripts that allow you togenerate fully functional Master Controllers by feeding them poses from your scene.
l

The Slider W izard allow s you to create a slider w idget w hich changes the character's pose w hen
manipulated. The slider w ill store a range of poses you feed it and, w hen you move the slider, w ill posethe character based on an intermediary betw een tw o of the poses it stored. It is very simple to use, but
only allow s for uni-dimensional control.

l

The Grid W izard allow s you to create a 2D point w idget w hich changes the character's pose w hen
manipulated. The slider stores one or several series of poses you feed it into a grid. W hen you move the2D point, it w ill apply a pose on the character that is the intermediary of the nearest poses assigned tothe part of the grid w here the point is. The Grid W izard is more complex to use, as it requires you tocreate several row s or columns of poses, assign each pose to a point in a grid and, optionally, determine
w here the grid's centre should be and how big its cells should be. It can how ever create very usefultools for animators, such as 2D point w idget that makes the character rotate or look in any direction,change its facial expression to an intermediary betw een several facial expression or even control one of
the character's articulations.

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The Stack W izard allow s you to create a Master Controller that combines the capabilities of a Grid anda Slider w idget. It w orks by combining several grids together, making a "stack" of grids. W hen
manipulating either w idget, only one of the grids is used at any time. W hich grid is used is decided bymanipulating Slider w idget, and w hich pose in the current grid is used is determined by manipulating
the 2D Point w idget. This can be useful for example if you w ant to create a Master Controller that cancontrol both the direction in w hich a character is looking and their mouth pose or facial expression.
In the image below , you have a basic grid of poses that can be used to create a 2D point w idget, w hichw ill make the character look in the direction of the point.

Then, if you create variants of this grid, you can add them to your Master Controller to make a stack ofgrids. In the image below , each variant of the grid represents the same character, w ith a different mouth
pose.

137

The result of this is a 2D point w idget that determines the direction in w hich the character is looking,and a slider that determines the character's mouth pose.

l

The Deformer on Deformer W izard allow s you to combine a Curve deformer w ith an Envelope
deformer. It w orks by making the Curve deformer manipulate the points of the Envelope deformer
instead of deforming the draw ing directly, leaving it to the Envelope deformer to deform the draw ing
instead. This makes it possible to combine the flexibility and versatility of an envelope deformer w ith
the simplicity and ease of use of a curve deformer.

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The Function W izard allow s you to create a basic Master Controller to toggle the visibility of elements
or controls in your scene or to set the parameters of specific nodes relative to the position of a Slider or
a 2D Point w idget. It is useful w hen you need to quickly create a Master Controller w ith a basic
purpose, to quickly generate a barebone Master Controller to build upon, or to learn about how a
Master Controller and its code structure w ork and can be customized.

l

The Unroll W izard allow s you to modify Master Controller coordinates. The dialog w orks by letting you
specify destination frames in the Timeline for the poses to appear. W hen destination frames have been
specified, you may go into each frame and make pose modifications. Once you have made your desired
modifications, you may re-create the Master Controller. W hen setting up destination frames, you may
set the spacing betw een frames, offset the frames, and reset the frame ordering.

139About Rig Structure and Master Controllers
Before using a Master Controller w izard, it is important to understand how the Master Controller w ill connect
to your character rig and control its nodes. You read this topic carefully if you w ant to make sure that your
Master Controller w ill w ork w hen you import your character in an animation scene.
Each node in a scene is identified by its unique path, w hich starts w ith Top, follow ed by the hierarchy ofgroups in w hich it is located, and ending w ith its name. For example, the unique path to a scene's main
composite is typically Top/Composite, and the unique path for a composite named master_comp inside agroup named MyCharacter w ould be Top/MyCharacter/master_comp.
Master Controllers need to be able to locate the nodes they control using their path and their name. W hen you
create a Master Controller by using one of the w izards provided w ith Harmony, you w ill be prompted to selectw hich Composite node to connect the Master Controller to. The Master Controller node w ill be created in thesame group as the Composite you selected, and w ill refer to each node it controls by its relative path from thisgroup.
For example, if you create the Master Controller at the root of the scene, and this Master Controller is meant tocontrol a character inside of a group, it w ill refer to each node it controls by the name of the group, follow ed by
the name of the node. Hence, to control hand_front-P inside group MyCharacter, it w ill use the path
MyCharacter/hand_front-P. This means that if the group MyCharacter is renamed, the Master
Controller w ill not w ork. Likew ise, if you import the character tw ice in the scene, both their Master Controllers
w ill control the first instance of that character, as that instance w ill be in the group MyCharacter, and thesecond instance w ill be in a group named MyCharacter_1.
How ever, if you create the Master Controller inside the group MyCharacter, it w ill refer to each node in thisgroup by their name only. To control hand_front-P, it w ill only need to refer to the node as hand_front-P.
By using this approach, you can rename the character's group, and you can import as many copies of thecharacter as you w ant, and its Master Controller w ill still w ork.
Hence, you should create your Master Controller inside the group of the character it controls. Not only this w ill
make your Master Controller impervious to changes in group names or hierarchy, it w ill make it easier to copy
your character and its Master Controller into templates and scenes, as it w ill alw ays come bundled w ith thecharacter.
To accomplish this, three conditions must be met:lYour character's rig must be inside a group.

lThis group must contain a Composite node.

l

The keyframes for the key poses you w ant to use to make your Master Controller must be inside thisgroup. For example, if your character's group has a parent peg, you should not create keyframes on thatpeg to make your key poses.

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NOTE
If you w ant to make a Master Controller that only controls a specific part of your character (ie: thehead), and this part happens to be contained inside a group w ith a composite, you can create your
Master Controller inside that group instead. This w ill make it possible to import only that part ofyour character in a scene and use its Master Controller w ithout issue.

141About the Slider W izard
T-RIG3-008-004
The Slider W izard is a script that allow s you to create slider w idgets w hich can be used to pose a rig or any
part of a rig. All it needs you to do is provided it w ith a few keyposes, and it w ill generate a Master Controller
w hich w ill allow you to apply one of these poses, or an intermediary betw een tw o of these poses, to yourcharacter.
For example, you can start by creating a front, 3/4 front, side, 3/4 back and back poses for your character. Then,
you can use the Slider W izard to generate a slider w idget based on these poses, and you w ill have a slider
w idget that can instantly make your character face any angle.

The Slider W izard is very simple to use. All it needs is for you to create your keyposes, feed them to it and it
w ill generate a fully functional slider w idget, w ithout any need for scripting.

NOTE
Since the Slider uses interpolations to create the intermediary poses betw een the poses you
provide it, the poses you make for your character must be interpolatable. This means that theymust use the same layers and the same draw ings, and must rely exclusively on deformations andgeometric transformations to create the different poses.

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About Preparing a Character's Poses for the Slider W izard
To use the Slider W izard, you must select a range of frames in the Timeline view . The Slider W izard w ill store
the pose of your character at each frame in the selected range, and create a Master Controller w ith a Slider
w idget that, w hen manipulated, either applies one of these poses or an intermediary betw een tw o of these
poses to your character, depending on w here you move the handle of the slider.

Key & Breakdown Poses
Make sure to prepare enough key and breakdow n poses for it to be able to properly pose your character. A
Master Controller generated by the Slider W izard w ill generate intermediary poses betw een the poses you
provide it as needed. Hence, it is not necessary to provide it w ith each possible pose that you w ant the slider
w idget to be able to apply to your character. How ever, the intermediary poses generated by the Master
Controller are made w ith simple linear interpolation. This means that these generated poses may lack
precision if your key poses require breakdow ns betw een them to be properly interpolated.
For example, if you simply provide the Slider W izard w ith a pose of your character facing left, and one of yourcharacter facing right, there is no w ay the Master Controller w ill know how to pose your character to make it
face the camera w hen the slider handle is in the middle. Hence, you w ould have to at least provide the Slider
W izard w ith a pose of your character facing the camera, and optimally poses of your character facing eachdirection at a 45° angle, so that the Master Controller is able to generate credible, on-model poses regardlessof w here the handle is on the slider.

Interpolations
It is also important to not provide an unnecessarily w ide range of frame to the Slider W izard, as it w ill store a
copy of your character's pose in each and every frame in the selected range of frames into a database fileinside your scene folder. Hence, if you select a w ide range of frames, your scene w ill be heavier because thepose database of your Master Controller w ill take multiple megabytes of disk space, and the slider w idget w ill
take more time to load as w ell as to refresh w hen manipulated as it w ill have to sort through all this data.
For example, if you select a range of 30 frames w ith three animation keyframes: one at the beginning, one in
the middle and one in the end, the Slider W izard w ill store the character's pose on each of those 30 frames inthe database. You can have the same results, and save a significant amount of disc space and computerresources, by sticking the three keyframes next to each other and selecting them. This w ill make a Master
Controller w ith a database of three poses. W hen theSslider w idget is manipulated, it w ill generate theinterpolations betw een those poses on the fly.

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Range of Poses
At last, to launch the Slider W izard, you must first select the range of poses you w ant to use in a contiguous
selection. Hence, you should copy and paste all the poses you w ant to use in a specific range of frames, so thatthey make a cluster and that there are no superfluous pose betw een the useful poses. Your poses should be in
the right order so that the slider can interpolate from one pose to the next smoothly.

Summary
In summary, before using the Slider W izard:lMake sure you have all the necessary key poses and breakdow ns for proper interpolations.

l

Make sure you do not have any unnecessary in-betw eens or interpolations betw een your key poses andbreakdow ns.

lCopy and paste all the poses you w ant to use w ith the slider into one contiguous cluster of frames.

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Using the Slider W izard
Using the Slider W izard is very simple. All you need to do is select the range of poses you w ant the slider tointerpolate betw een, select w hich layers or groups the slider w idget should control and the w izard w ill
generate a Master Controller for you.

How to generate a slider widget using the Slider W izard
1. Make sure your rig as w ell as your key poses are inside a group w ith a Composite node—see About
Rig Structure and Master Controllers.
2. Prepare all the poses you need to provide to the Slider W izard in a single continuous range offrames—see About Preparing a Character's Poses for the Slider W izard.
3. Do one of the follow ing to add the Master Controller toolbar to your w orkspace:l

Right-click on an existing toolbar and select Master Controller.

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Master Controller.

The Master Controller toolbar appears.

4. In the Timeline view , on the group containing your character rig, select the range of frames you
w ant to use for the Slider.

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NOTESl

If you select a group, everything inside the group w ill be added to the list of layers
controlled by the Master Controller.

l

If you select a collapsed peg in the Timeline view , its children w ill not be added to
the list of layers controlled by the Master Controller. You must expand the peg andselect its children as w ell.

5. In the Master Controller toolbar, click on the

Slider W izard button.

The Slider W izard dialog appears.

6. Check mark the Automatically Filter Attributes checkbox to remove the extra attributes that are notchanging.
7. In the Monitored Attributes list, expand the Top item.
The nodes you selected w ill appear in the list, in a group-based hierarchy. You can expand groups
in the list to see the nodes inside them as w ell. All the nodes in this list w ill be controlled by your
Master Controller.

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If you w ant to add nodes to the list of nodes that w ill be controlled by the Master Controller,
select these nodes in the Timeline or Node view , then, in the Monitored Attributes section,
click on the Add Selected Nodes button.

l

If you w ant to remove nodes or attributes from the list, select them in the list, then click onthe

8. Click on the

Remove Selected Items button.
Filter Attributes button under the Monitored Attributes list to remove any nodes or

attributes that do not change in the selected frame range from the list of controlled attributes. Thisw ill optimize the performance of your Master Controller.
9. If you w ant the slider to interpolate from the first pose to the last pose by going from the top of theslider to the bottom, instead of from the bottom to the top, check the Invert Direction option.
10. If you w ant the slider to be horizontal rather than vertical, check the Horizontal Layout option. Bydefault, the slider w ill interpolate from the first pose to the last pose by going from left to right,
unless you checked the Invert Direction option, in w hich case it w ill go from right to left.
11. In the Output section, in the Name field, type in the name you w ant to give to your Master
Controller.
12. Click on the Create button.
13. A dialog prompting you to select a Composite w ill appear. In this dialog, select a Composite inside
the group for your character rig. This w ill create the Master Controller inside your character rig's
group, ensuring that it is alw ays copied over w ith your character w hen you create templates andimport them into scenes—see About Rig Structure and Master Controllers

14. Click on OK.
15. A Save dialog appears. It prompts you to select w here to save the database file in w hich thecharacter's poses w ill be saved. The dialog w ill open in the scene's scripts sub-directory by default
and w ill give the database file a name based on the Master Controller's name. Hence, you can justclick on Save right aw ay.
Your Master Controller has now been created and is added to your scene.

147

The Master Controller's Slider w idget is visible in the Camera view .

16. In the Timeline view , move the timeline cursor to a frame outside of the selected range of frames,
so as to not override one of your poses.

17. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool.

18. In the Camera view , click and drag on the handle of the Slider w idget to test your Master
Controller.

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TIP
At any time, you can show or hide the Master Controller's w idget by selecting it in theTimeline or Node view , then doing either of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on thel

In the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

149

Show Control button.

About the Grid W izard
T-RIG3-008-005
The Grid W izard is a script that allow s you to create a 2D point Master Controller w hich can be used toposition a character rig. For example, you can make a 2D point w idget w hich can be used to rotate yourcharacter or their head, change their facial expression, or position one of your character's articulations.
The w ay this w ork is by providing the Grid W izard w ith a grid of key poses. For example, by providing it w ith agrid of poses such as the one below , you can generate a 2D point master controller w hich w ill make thecharacter look in the point's direction as you move that point around in the Camera view .

The Grid W izard w ill generate poses for your Master Controller that interpolate betw een the poses you feed
it. This w ay, you only have to create poses in key angles (ie: 0°, 45° and 90°) and the Grid W izard w ill generatea Master Controller that can pose your character at any angle betw een those key angles.

NOTES
To use the Grid W izard and the Master Controller in this w ay, the poses you feed it must be
interpolatable. This means that they must use the same layers and the same draw ings, and that
their differences must rely on deformations and geometric transformations.

Once you have fed the Grid W izard w ith your poses, it w ill generate a Master Controller node w hich w ill
display a 2D point w idget in the Camera view . By moving this w idget around, the character's pose w ill change
to an intermediary of one of the poses you provided, depending on w here the point is moved.
The Grid script w orks w ell w ith 360 rigs, but it can also be used for any purpose w here part of a character rig
can vary betw een four or more key poses. For example, you can also use this mechanism to make the characterinterpolate betw een four facial expressions.

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You can also create a 2D point w idget w hich w ill control a specific articulation of your character.
You can also use it to create a 2D point to attach a specific articulation of your character to a 2D point w idget.
In the example below , w e position the character's arm based on four different w rist positions, all of w hichtrace a square. Using those four poses, you can create an grid of 2 × 2 poses, allow ing you to position thecharacter's w rist, and its w hole arm along w ith it, using a 2D point w idget.

151About Preparing a Character's Poses for the Grid W izard
The most important thing to do before you can use the Grid W izard is to create a grid of poses in your scene.
This means that you must create a series of poses in your scene's timeline, each pose on a different frame, until
you have enough poses to associate one pose for each intersection of the grid you intend to create.

The timeline of a scene is linear, but you w ill need to associate each pose you w ill feed to the Grid W izard to
one of the points in a rectangular grid. You w ill get to decide how many row s and columns the grid w ill have,giving you control on how many poses and w hich kind of poses you w ill have to create. How ever, w hen
creating your poses, you must keep in mind that each row must have the same amount of poses as other row s,
and each column must have the same amount of poses as the other columns. This is important so that you canhave one pose to associate to each point in the grid.

You w ill have to associate each point in the grid w ith a pose in your scene manually, one by one. Hence, it isrecommended to sort out your poses neatly. You can cluster your poses by row , then order them by column, orcluster them by column and order them by row . Then, if you w ant, you can use scene markers to separate eachrow or column in the Timeline view —see About Scene Markers on page 296.

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153

About the Centre Position and Cell Size of a Grid
W hen you launch the Grid W izard, you are first prompted w ith the Grid Parameters dialog, in w hich you canset up the size of the grid, but also its centre position as w ell as the size of each cell in the grid.

The coordinates used for the centre position and the cell size are in fields, and are based on the field grid used
to position objects in your scene. This is a traditional, 12 fields, 4:3 animation grid, w ith its centre coordinates
being (0, 0), and w ith horizontal coordinates incrementing from left to right, and vertical coordinates
incrementing from bottom to top. You can see how a traditional animation grid, w hen laid out on your scene,corresponds to the grid displayed in the Grid w izard in the follow ing side by side comparison:154

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTE
To lay out an animation grid over your scene, simply add a Grid node and connect it to your scene's
main composite.

W hen you display a 2D point w idget created w ith the Grid W izard, it w ill appear somew here inside the area
covered by the grid it w as created w ith. W hen you move it around, it w ill be able to move up to the edges ofthat grid. Hence, by adjusting the centre position and cell size of your grid before you create it, you can make itso the position of the part of your character rig you w ant to control closely matches the position of the 2D
point as you move it.
For example, if w e w ant to create an grid of the follow ing set of poses, w e need to create a grid of 6 verticalposes × 3 horizontal poses:

At the default centre position (0, 0) and cell size (2 fields × 2 fields), a grid of 6 × 3 poses w ould occupy thisarea of the scene:155An animator w ould have to move the 2D point w idget in this rectangular area to control the direction in w hichthe character is looking. This is not intuitive. W hat w ould be preferable is a grid like this:To obtain such a result, you w ould first need to figure out the ideal centre position of the grid. In this case, it is
the centre of the character's nose w hich, according to the grid, is in the middle on the horizontal axis, and 6
fields north on the vertical axis, making its exact coordinates (0, 6).
Then, you w ould need to adjust the cell size to obtain a less rectangular, more square-like grid. In this case, thedefault cell size w as set to 1 horizontal field and 3 vertical fields, or 1 field × 3 fields. Although this makes
vertical rectangular cells, since w e have 6 columns for 3 row s, the resulting grid is nearly square-shaped.
By calculating and using precise coordinates, you can even create a 2D point master controller that appears to
be attached to a specific articulation of your character. For example, let's say you are w orking w ith the fourarm poses, and you w ant to create a 2D point w idget that w ill be attached to the w rist:

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You could spread those four w rist poses at the corners of a rectangle, grid, like so:

A rectangle can be represented by a simple grid of 2 poses x 2 poses, w hich has a single cell. The size of ts cellsize w ould determine the size of the entire grid. Hence, you w ould simple have to figure out the size and centre
coordinates and size of this rectangle, in fields, and create an gird of 2 x 2 poses, positioned at the centre ofthis rectangle, and w ith a cell size that is the size of this rectangle. In this case, the rectangle is 6 x 8 fields, andits centre is at (2.5, 2.5).

157

Using the Grid W izard
T-RIG3-008-006
Before using the Grid W izard, you must create all the poses required for your Master Controller. To do this,you can create a scene w ith your character rig in it, and put each possible pose for your character on a different
frame of the scene. The Grid W izard w ill use the frame number of each frame containing a pose as an identifier
for the pose.
Once your character's key poses are properly laid out in your scene's timeline, the next step is to select thenodes w hich you intend to animate w ith the Master Controller in the Node view , then launch the Grid W izard.
This w izard w ill allow you to associate parts of your grid to frames in your scene.

How to generate a 2D point Master Controller using the Interpolation Grip wizard
1. Make sure your rig as w ell as your key poses are inside a group w ith a Composite node—see About
Rig Structure and Master Controllers.
2. Prepare all the poses you need to provide to the Grid W izard—see About Preparing a Character's
Poses for the Grid W izard on page 152.
3. Calculate the centre point and cell size of the grid you w ant to create—see About the Centre
Position and Cell Size of a Grid on page 154.
4. In the Node or Timeline view , select all the layers that you w ant the 2D point Master Controller tocontrol.

NOTESl

If you select a group, everything inside the group w ill be added to the list of layers
controlled by the Master Controller.

l

If you select a collapsed peg in the Timeline view , its children w ill not be added to
the list of layers controlled by the Master Controller. You must expand the peg andselect its children as w ell.

5. Do one of the follow ing to add the Master Controller toolbar to your w orkspace:158

Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Right-click on an existing toolbar and select Master Controller.

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Master Controller.

The Master Controller toolbar appears.

6. In the Master Controller toolbar, click on the

Grid W izard button.

The Grid W izard dialog appears.

The Load Preset dialog appears just over it. This dialog can be used to load a grid preset, or tocreate a new grid by specifying its w idth, height and, optionally, its centre point and cell size.

159

7. If you already created a proper grid preset for your character, select it in the Preset field.
Otherw ise, skip this step.
8. In the Key Poses fields, type in the amount of horizontal poses per row under X, and the amount ofvertical poses per column under Y.
9. If you calculated the desired centre position of your grid, type in its centre coordinates in the Center
fields. Type in its horizontal position in fields under X and its vertical position in fields under Y.

NOTES
l

For information on how to calculate the centre point of your grid, see About theCentre Position and Cell Size of a Grid.

l

If you skip this step, the default position of your 2D point w idget w ill be the centreof your scene.

10. If you calculated the optimal cell size for your grid, type it in the Cell Size fields. Type its horizontal
cell size in fields under X and its vertical cell size in fields under Y.

NOTES
l

For information on how to calculate the cell size of your grid, see About the Centre
Position and Cell Size of a Gridl

If you skip this step, the size of each cell in your grid w ill be 2 horizontal fields × 2
vertical fields.

11. Click on OK.
The dialog w ill close and you can now use the Grid W izard dialog. In the top half, the grid view
displays the grid you just configured, w ith each point represented by a red dot.

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TIP
If you w ant to return to the Load Preset dialog, click on the

Load Preset button on

the left edge of the Grid W izard dialog.

IMPORTANT
If you create a new grid or load an existing grid preset w hile w orking on a grid, any
w ork you have put on the currently loaded grid w ill be discarded.

12. If needed, adjust the grid view to see the entire grid:l

To pan the view , click and drag on it.

lClick on theZoom In button right of the grid view to zoom in on the grid or on theZoom Out button to zoom out from the grid.
13. In the Monitored Attributes list, expand the Top item.
You w ill see all the nodes you had selected, in a group-based hierarchy. These nodes w ill becontrolled by your Master Controller.

161

l

If you w ant to add nodes to the list of nodes that w ill be controlled by the Master Controller,
select these nodes in the Timeline or Node view , then, in the Monitored Attributes section,
click on the Add Selected Nodes button.

l

If you w ant to remove nodes or attributes from the list, select them in the list, then click on
theRemove Selected Items button.

14. In the Timeline view , click and drag the playhead until you find the pose you w ant to associate w ith
the top-left point, then make note of the frame number.

NOTE
Even w hile the Grid W izard dialog is open, you can click and drag on the playhead in
the Timeline view to preview different frames and find the frame containing the rightpose.

15. In the Visual Grid area, click on the top-left red point.

A Select Frame dialog appears.

16. Type in the frame number of the pose that you w ant to associate w ith this point.
17. Click on OK.
In the Grid View , the frame number appears just right of the selected point.

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TIP
W hile a point is selected, you can update its Frame number and customize its identifier
and its position in the grid in the State properties section.

18. Repeat the last three steps for each point in the grid until every point is associated w ith a frame
number. A point that is assigned to a pose w ill appear in green, w hereas points that are not appear
in red.

163

NOTE
You must associate every point w ith a pose before you can create your 2D Master
Controller.

19. Once you are done configuring every point in your grid, select the point w here you w ant the 2D
point w idget to appear by default.

20. If you w ant to re-use the same grid for other characters later, click on theCreate Grid Preset

button to save the grid as a preset. You w ill be prompted to type in a name for your grid preset.
Later, you can select this preset from the Grid Parameters dialog w hen you launch the Grid W izard.
21. Under the Monitored Attributes list, click on theFilter Attributes button to remove any nodes

or attributes that do not change in any of the poses you added to the grid. This w ill optimize theperformance of your Master Controller.
22. In the Output section, in the Name field, type in the name you w ant to give to your Master
Controller.
23. Click on the Create button.
24. A dialog prompting you to select a Composite w ill appear. In this dialog, select a Composite inside
the group for your character rig. This w ill create the Master Controller inside your character rig's
group, ensuring that it is alw ays copied over w ith your character w hen you create templates andimport them into scenes—see About Rig Structure and Master Controllers.

25. Click on OK.

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26. A Save dialog appears. It prompts you to select w here to save the database file in w hich thecharacter's poses w ill be saved. The dialog w ill open in the scene's scripts sub-directory by default
and w ill give the database file a name based on the Master Controller's name. Hence, you can justclick on Save right aw ay.
Your Master Controller has now been created and is added to your scene, connected to theComposite you selected earlier.

The Master Controller's 2D point w idget w ill appear in the Camera view , at the bottom-right cornerof the area in w hich you can drag it. A black frame w ill appear around the area in w hich you canmove the point. This is the same area as the one covered by the grid you created earlier.

27. In the Timeline view , move the timeline cursor to a frame that does not contain any of the key poses
you used, so as to not override one of your poses.

16528. In the Camera view , click on the 2D point w idget and drag it around the black rectangle to test your
Master Controller.

TIP
At any time, you can show or hide the MasterController's w idget by selecting it in the Timeline
or Node view , then doing either of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on thel

In the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

166

Show Control button.

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About the Deformer On Deformer W izard
The Deformer On Deformer W izard is a tool that allow s you to rig a deformation chain over anotherdeformation chain.
Because of the nature of deformers, simply rigging one deformer over another deformer does not w ork thew ay one w ould expect it to. W hat happens instead is that both deformers deform the draw ing in their ow n
w ay, but the deformer connected over the other one does not deform the other one’s points. The results ofattempting this are rarely desirable.
W ith the Deformer on Deformer W izard, it is possible to create a deformer that deforms the deformer overw hich it is rigged. For example, if you use the Deformer on Deformer W izard to create a Curve deformer overan Envelope deformer, manipulating the curve deformer w ill move the points of the envelope deformer, w hichw ill in turn deform the draw ing.

In the example below , the Curve Deformation handles are used to deform the Envelope Deformation, w hich inturn deform the draw ing:

167

The purpose of the Deformer on Deformer W izard is to make it possible to combine the flexibility andversatility of an envelope deformer w ith the simplicity and ease of use of a curve deformer. W ith those tw o
combined, you can animated the draw ing’s centreline as easily as you can tw eak its outer shape.

How it W orks
The Deformer on Deformer W izard w orks by allow ing you to create a Curve deformation chain over yourEnvelope deformation chain, then converting this Curve deformer into a Master Controller. This Master
Controller w ill display a series of point w idgets laid out and configured to resemble and behave like the curve
deformation chain you created. The difference is that, instead of deforming the draw ing, the Master Controller
w ill deform the shape of the Envelope deformer it is connected to by moving and rotating its deformation
points.
The reason w hy it is important to understand this technicality is that, w hile manipulating a regular deformer or
a Deformer on Deformer is virtually the same, displaying a regular deformer in the Camera view is done
differently than displaying the w idgets of a Master Controller. For more information, see Using the Deformer
On Deformer on page 173.
Other than that, creating and using Deformer on Deformer systems is virtually the same as creating and using
regular deformers.

The Node System
W hen a new Deformer On Deformer is created, a new group node is created under the group node containing
the Envelope deformer. This group node contains all the nodes making the Curve deformation system. It isconnected to same parent peg as the Envelope deformer through its left intput port, as w ell as to the Envelope
deformer itself through its right input port.
The group is also connected to a Composite node to ensure that the Master Controller’s w idget can be madevisible in the Camera view .
The image below show s the node “mcDeformation-Brow Contour-G”, w hich contains the centerline Curve
Deformation and the Master Controller created by the w izard.

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The Master Controller node
The group that is created by the Deformer on Deformer w izard contains a system of nodes allow ing theMaster Controller to use the Curve deformation chain you created to deform the Envelope deformation chain it
is connected to.
W ithin this group is the Master Controller node itself. This is useful information in case you w ant to select the
Master Controller node from the Node View so as to display its controls in the Camera view . How ever, you
should how ever avoid making modifications to the node system inside this group.

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Using the Deformer On Deformer W izard
Creating a Deformer on Deformer system is very simple, especially w hen compared to other types of Master
Controllers. The method is explained in detail further below , but can be summarized as follow s:
1. Create an Envelope deformer as you usually w ould.
2. Open the Deformer on Deformer W izard.
3. W hile the w izard is open, create a Curve deformer over the Envelope deformer.
4. Click on the Done button in the Deformer on Deformer W izard.
The W izard w ill convert your Curve deformer into a Master Controller system w hich, instead of deforming thedraw ing it is rigged to, w ill deform the points of the Envelope deformer, w hich w ill in turn deform the draw ing
it is rigged to.

How to use the Deformer on Deformer W izard
1. Start by creating the Envelope deformer over w hich you w ant to create the Curve deformer—see
Creating Envelope Deformation Rigs on page 1563.
2. Add the Master Controller toolbar to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:lRight-click on an existing toolbar and select Master Controller.

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Master Controller.

The Master Controller toolbar appears.

3. In the Node View or the Timeline view , select the group for the Envelope deformer you just created.

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4. In the Master Controller toolbar, click the

Deformer on Deformer button.

The Deformer on Deformer W izard appears.

NOTES
l

The

Rigging tool is also automatically activated in the Deformation toolbar assoon as you open the w izard. This is because the next step is to create the otherdeformer.
l

The Deformer on Deformer dialog needs to be open w hile you create the second
deformer. You can keep w orking on your scene w hile the dialog is open.

1. In the Tool Properties view , in the Mode section, click on theCurve Mode button.

2. Create your Curve deformation chain as you w ould normally do—see Creating Curve Deformation
Chains on page 1561.

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3. W hen you are done creating the Curve deformer, click on the Done button in the Deformer on
Deformer W izard.

Your Curve deformer w ill be converted to a Master Controller, w hich can be used to deform theEnvelope deformer you created earlier.

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Using the Deformer On Deformer
Manipulating a Deformer on Deformer system is virtually the same as manipulating a regular deformer, so it
should be easy for an animator to use a Deformer on Deformer system if they are already familiar w ith
animating w ith deformers.
How ever, one of the nuances to understand about Deformer on Deformer systems is that the w ay to display
their controls in the Camera view is different than w ith regular deformers. This is because a Deformer on
Deformer system is technically not a regular deformation chain, but rather, a Master Controller made to act
like a deformation chain.
For example, you can display all of a rig’s deformation chains by selecting this rig’s parent peg and pressing
theShow Selected Deformers button in the Deformation toolbar, but if the rig contains a Deformer on

Deformer system, it w on’t be displayed using this method.
To display a rig’s Deformer on Deformer systems, you can use one of the follow ing methods:lPress theShow Master Controllers button in the Master Controller toolbar,l

Use the Master Controller view , orlLocate the Master Controller in the Node or Timeline view , and then click on

Show Controls in the

Camera view toolbar.

How to display a Deformer on Deformer using the Show Master Controller button
1. In the Node View or the Timeline view , locate and select the group containing the Deformer on
Deformer system.
This group w ill be connected under your draw ing’s envelope deformation group, and it w ill be
named mc follow ed by the name of the draw ing’s envelope deformation group, follow ed by - G. For
example, if your draw ing is named Drawing, the group containing the envelope deformer w ill most
likely be named Deformation- Drawing, and the group containing the Deformer on Deformer
system w ill hence be named mcDeformation- Drawing- G.

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2. In the Master Controller toolbar, click on theShow Master Controller button.

A dialog appears listing the Master Controller nodes included in the selected group.

3. Check the checkbox for the Master Controller you w ant to display. Its path w ill end w ith mc_
DeformerOnDeformer.
4. Click OK.
The Deformer on Deformer’s controls w ill appear.

How to display a Deformer on Deformer using the Master Controller view
1. In the top-right corner of any view in your w orkspace, click on the Add View button and selectMaster Controller.
The Master Controller view appears.
2. In the Master Controllers list, locate and select the one for the Deformer on Deformer system you
w ant to display. This Master Controller w ill be named mc_DeformerOnDeformer, and w ill be
inside a group named mcDeformation- [DrawingName]- G, w here [DrawingName] is the name ofthe draw ing being deformed. This group w ill be inside the same group as the draw ing you w ant to174Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

deform.

NOTESlYou can select several Master Controllers in this list. To do this, click and drag over
the Master Controllers you w ant to select, press and hold the Shift key and selectthe first, then the last Master Controller in the range of Master Controllers you w ant
to select, or press and hold the Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key and click oneach Master Controller you w ant to select.

l

If you recently created the Deformer on Deformer system you w ant to display, you
may need to refresh the list for it to appear. To do that, click on the

Refreshbutton at the bottom of the Master Controller view .

3. In the bottom-right corner of the Master Controller view , click on theShow Master Controllers

button.

How to display a Deformer on Deformer using the Show Control command
1. In the Node View or the Timeline view , locate the group containing the Deformer on Deformer
system.
This group w ill be connected under your draw ing’s envelope deformation group, and it w ill be
named mc follow ed by the name of the draw ing’s envelope deformation group, follow ed by - G. For
example, if your draw ing is named Drawing, the group containing the envelope deformer w ill most
likely be named Deformation- Drawing, and the group containing the Deformer on Deformer
system w ill hence be named mcDeformation- Drawing- G.

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2. Click on the right arrow button on the group node to enter the group.
3. Inside the group, locate and select the node named mc_DeformerOnDeformer.

4. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera toolbar, click on Show Controll

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11 (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + F11 (macOS).

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How to manipulate control points
Manipulating the control points of a Deformer on Deformer system w orks just the same as manipulating
the control points of a regular curve deformer. The only difference is that this deformer w ill “deform” theposition of the points in the Envelope deformer it is connected to, rather than the draw ing itself. The
Envelope deformer w ill deform the draw ing in turn.

NOTE
The control points for a Deformer on Deformer system are slightly bigger than those of aregular deformer. This can help you differentiate them, as w ell as remember that you’rew orking w ith a Master Controller rather than a regular deformation chain.

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About the Master Controller Function W izard
The Function W izard allow s you to create Master Controllers w ith a specific, custom purpose. Unlike the Grid
W izard, the Stack W izard and the Slider W izard, w hich are designed to control many elements of a rig basedon a set of poses, the Function W izard is intended to create w idgets that perform simple operations on a
specific attribute of one or several nodes.
The Function W izard can create Master Controller w idgets of the follow ing types:lCheckboxlSliderl

2D point

Using the Function W izard, you can make those w idgets perform one of the follow ing operations:lControl the value of one of a node’s numerical (scalar) attributes (e.g., horizontal position, vertical
position, etc.)l

Control the value of one of a node’s 2D (vector) attributes (e.g., position, scale, etc.)l

Toggle w hether a node is enabled or disabledlShow or hide the controls for a nodelShow or hide the deformation controls for a deformation chain

TheFunction W izard can only generate Master Controllers that perform one specific operation on one specificattribute, on one or several nodes that have this attribute.
The simple operations can be combined w ith other tools, such as other Master Controllers.
These simple operations can how ever be assembled w ith other tools such as existing Master Controllers,
w hich can be activated and deactivated by a checkbox w idget made by the Function W izard, for example.
Function W izard w idgets can also be chained w ith one another, making it possible to create “control panels”
w here a main checkbox per character is used to activate all relevant Master Controllers, Deformations ortransformation controls. Sliders and 2D Point w idgets can also be linked to virtually any property of any node,in order to provide a convenient access to these properties directly from the Camera View .
Although scripting know ledge is not required, the code generated by the Function W izard can also optionallybut easily be customized by those w ho are comfortable w ith scripting.

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Lastly, a secondary important intent for the Function W izard is to educate users about Harmony’s scripting API
in general as w ell as Master Controllers. Each w idget and operation type combination w ill generate small
code snippets, providing a headstart for more advanced scripters w ho w ish to create their ow n custom Master
Controllers. For those users, the Function W izard provides a basic template w hich is easy to modify.

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Function W izard Example 1: Enabling and Disabling Node with the
Checkbox W idget
The Function W izard allow s you to quickly create a Checkbox w idget w hich w ill enable a specific set of nodes
w hen checked and w ill disable that set of nodes w hen unchecked.

How to create a Checkbox widget for enabling and disabling nodes using the Function
W izard
1. In the Node View , Timeline view or Camera view , select the nodes you w ant to enable or disable
w ith a Checkbox w idget.

2. Do one of the follow ing to add the Master Controller toolbar to your w orkspace:l

Right-click on an existing toolbar and select Master Controller.

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Master Controller.

The Master Controller toolbar appears.

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3. In the Master Controller toolbar, click on the

Function W izard button.

The Function W izard dialog appears.
4. In the Controller Type drop-dow n, select CheckboxW idget.
5. In the Operation drop-dow n, select Enable/Disable Node.

6. In the Target Nodes list, verify that all the nodes you w ant your Master Controller w idget tocontrol are listed. If not:

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l

To add nodes to the Target Nodes list, select them in the Node View , the Timeline view or
the Camera view , then click on Add Selected Nodes in the Function W izard dialog box.

l

To remove nodes from the Target Nodes list, select them in the Target Nodes list, then clickon

Remove selected nodes.

7. In the Label field, type in the display name for your Master Controller w idget.
8. Click OK.
9. A dialog box w ill appear prompting you to select a composite to attach the Master Controller to. In
the Composite drop-dow n, select the main composite for your character rig. Then, click OK.
A Checkbox w idget w ill be created and w ill appear in the Camera view . Toggling it off w ill disable
the nodes that w ere in the Target Nodes list, and toggling it on w ill enable them.

NOTE
W hether the checkbox is checked or not is synchronized w ith w hether the first node in
the Target Nodes list is enabled or disabled. This means that disabling the first node in
the Target Nodes list w ill uncheck the checkbox, and enabling it w ill check thecheckbox, but disabling or enabling any of the other nodes in the Target Nodes list w ill
not update the state of the Checkbox w idget.

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Function W izard Example 2: Showing and Hiding Node Controls with
the Checkbox W idget
The Function W izard allow s you to quickly create a Checkbox w idget w hich, w hen checked, w ill display thecontrols of a specific set of nodes, and w hen unchecked, w ill hide the controls of that set of nodes.

How to create a Checkbox widget for displaying and hiding node controls using the
Function W izard
1. In the Node View , Timeline view or Camera view , select the nodes for w hich you w ant to display or
hide the controls w ith a Checkbox w idget.

2. Do one of the follow ing to add the Master Controller toolbar to your w orkspace:l

Right-click on an existing toolbar and select Master Controller.

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Master Controller.

The Master Controller toolbar appears.

3. In the Master Controller toolbar, click on the

Function W izard button.

The Function W izard dialog appears.

1834. In the Controller Type drop-dow n, select CheckboxW idget.
5. In the Operation drop-dow n, select Show/Hide Controls.

6. In the Target Nodes list, verify that all the nodes you w ant your Master Controller w idget tocontrol are listed. If not:l

To add nodes to the Target Nodes list, select them in the Node View , the Timeline view or
the Camera view , then click on Add Selected Nodes in the Function W izard dialog box.

l

To remove nodes from the Target Nodes list, select them in the Target Nodes list, then clickon

Remove selected nodes.

7. In the Label field, type in the display name for your Master Controller w idget.
8. Click OK.
9. A dialog box w ill appear prompting you to select a composite to attach the Master Controller to. In
the Composite drop-dow n, select the main composite for your character rig. Then, click OK.
A Checkbox w idget w ill be created and w ill appear in the Camera view . Toggling it on w ill display
the controls for the nodes that are in the Target Nodes list in the Camera view , and toggling it off
w ill hide them.

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NOTE
W hether the checkbox is checked or not is synchronized w ith w hether the controls forthe first node in the Target Nodes list are displayed or hidden. This means that
displaying the controls for the first node in the Target Nodes list w ill check thecheckbox, and hiding them w ill uncheck the checkbox, but show ing or hiding thecontrols for any of the other nodes in the Target Nodes list w ill not update the state of
the Checkbox w idget.

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Function W izard Example 3: Showing and Hiding Deformation
Controls
The function w izard allow s you to create a Checkbox w idget w hich, w hen checked, w ill display the
deformation controls for a specific set of deformation nodes, and w hen unchecked, w ill hide these deformation
controls.

How to create a Checkbox widget for displaying and hiding deformation controls
using the Function W izard
1. In the Node View or Timeline view , select the deformation nodes or deformation groups for w hich
you w ant to show or hide the controls w ith a Checkbox w idget.

2. Do one of the follow ing to add the Master Controller toolbar to your w orkspace:l

Right-click on an existing toolbar and select Master Controller.

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Master Controller.

The Master Controller toolbar appears.

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3. In the Master Controller toolbar, click on the

Function W izard button.

The Function W izard dialog appears.
4. In the Controller Type drop-dow n, select CheckboxW idget.
5. In the Operation drop-dow n, select Show/Hide Deformers.

6. In the Target Nodes list, verify that all the nodes you w ant your Master Controller w idget tocontrol are listed. If not:l

To add nodes to the Target Nodes list, select them in the Node View , the Timeline view or
the Camera view , then click on Add Selected Nodes in the Function W izard dialog box.

l

To remove nodes from the Target Nodes list, select them in the Target Nodes list, then clickon

Remove selected nodes.

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7. In the Label field, type in the display name for your Master Controller w idget.
8. Click OK.
9. A dialog box w ill appear prompting you to select a composite to attach the Master Controller to. In
the Composite drop-dow n, select the main composite for your character rig. Then, click OK.
A Checkbox w idget w ill be created and w ill appear in the Camera view . Toggling it on w ill display
the controls for the deformation chains that w ere in the Target Nodes list, and toggling it off w ill
hide them.

NOTE
W hether the checkbox is checked or not is synchronized w ith w hether the deformation
controls for the first node in the Target Nodes list are displayed or hidden. This meansthat displaying the deformation controls for the first node in the Target Nodes list w ill
check the checkbox, and hiding them w ill uncheck the checkbox, but show ing or hiding
the deformation controls for any of the other nodes in the Target Nodes list w ill not
update the state of the Checkbox w idget.

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Function W izard Example 4: Controlling Attributes with the Slider
W idgetThe Function W izard allow s you to create a Slider w idget that can control any specific numerical (scalar)
attribute for one or several nodes.

How to create a Slider widget that controls a given parameter for one or several
nodes
1. In the Node View or Timeline view , select the node or nodes that the Slider w idget w ill control.

NOTE
If you select several nodes of different types, the Function W izard w ill only allow you
to select a parameter to control that is common to all of the selected nodes.
For example, the Function W izard w ill not allow you to manipulate the position of adraw ing element and the position of a peg using the same w idget, as the position
parameter of a draw ing element is named OFFSET, w hereas the position parameter ofa peg is named POSITION. If you are familiar w ith Harmony‘s scripting interface, you
can w ork around this limitation by customizing the function of your Master Controller—
see Function W izard Example 6: Customizing the Function Code on page 195.

2. Do one of the follow ing to add the Master Controller toolbar to your w orkspace:

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l

Right-click on an existing toolbar and select Master Controller.

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Master Controller.

The Master Controller toolbar appears.

3. In the Master Controller toolbar, click on the

Function W izard button.

The Function W izard dialog appears.
4. In the Controller Type drop-dow n, select SliderW idget.
5. In the Operation drop-dow n, select Set Value.
6. In the Target Nodes list, verify that all the nodes you w ant your Master Controller w idget tocontrol are listed. If not:l

To add nodes to the Target Nodes list, select them in the Node View , the Timeline view or
the Camera view , then click on Add Selected Nodes in the Function W izard dialog box.

l

To remove nodes from the Target Nodes list, select them in the Target Nodes list, then clickon

Remove selected nodes.

7. In the Attribute drop-dow n, select the node attribute that you w ant the slider to control.

NOTE
Some node attributes are hidden by default to avoid cluttering the Attribute drop-dow nlist. To display all attributes available for the target nodes, check the Advanced
checkbox at the bottom of the dialog box.

8. In the Label field, type in the display name for your Master Controller w idget.
9. In the Min Value field, type in the value to w hich you w ant the parameter to be set w hen the slider
is moved to its low est position. Likew ise, in the Max Value field, type in the value to w hich you

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w ant the parameter to be set w hen the slider is moved to its highest position.

10. Click OK.
11. A dialog box w ill appear prompting you to select a composite to attach the Master Controller to. In
the Composite drop-dow n, select the main composite for your character rig. Then, click OK.
A Slider w idget w ill be created and w ill appear in the Camera view . Manipulating it w ill update theattribute you selected for all of the nodes that w ere in the Target Nodes list.

NOTE
The position of the Slider w idget w ill be synchronize w ith the value of the selectedparameter for the first node in the Target Nodes list. This means that if you manipulate
the first node in the Target Nodes list, the slider’s position w ill automatically update tokeep up w ith the value of this node’s parameter, but if you manipulate any other nodein the Target Nodes list, the slider’s position w ill not be updated accordingly.

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Function W izard Example 5: Creating a Master Controller Dashboard
If your character has multiple Master Controllers, you can lay them out side by side so as to be able to display
all of them and use them separately. Then, you can use the Function W izard to create a Checkbox w idget that
instantly displays or hides their controls.

How to create a character dashboard with a Checkbox widget that toggles thevisibility of all the character’s master controllers
1. Create multiple Master Controllers for your character rig, as needed.
2. Connect pegs to each of your character’s Master Controller nodes so that you can move themaround in the Camera view . Then, using the Transform tool, select each of them and lay them out
so that they don’t overlap.

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3. In the Node View , select all the Master Controller nodes for your character.
4. In the Master Controller toolbar, click on the

Function W izard button.

The Function W izard dialog appears.
5. In the Controller Type drop-dow n, select CheckboxW idget.
6. In the Operation drop-dow n, select Show/Hide Controls.

7. In the Target Nodes list, verify that all the nodes you w ant your Master Controller w idget tocontrol are listed. If not:l

To add nodes to the Target Nodes list, select them in the Node View , the Timeline view or
the Camera view , then click on Add Selected Nodes in the Function W izard dialog box.

l

To remove nodes from the Target Nodes list, select them in the Target Nodes list, then clickon

Remove selected nodes.

8. In the Label field, type in the display name for your Master Controller w idget.
9. Click OK.

193

10. A dialog box w ill appear prompting you to select a composite to attach the Master Controller to. In
the Composite drop-dow n, select the main composite for your character rig. Then, click OK.
A new Checkbox w idget is created and appears in the Camera view .
11. In the Node View , locate the Master Controller node you just created w ith the Function W izard andclick on its

layer properties button.

12. In the Layer Properties dialogue, in the Attributes tab, set the Show Controls Mode parameter to
Alw ays. This w ill ensure that the Checkbox w idget you just created to show or hide yourcharacter’s Master Controllers is alw ays visible.

13. To test your new dashboard, click on the

Hide All Controls button in the Camera view toolbar.

This should hide all the Master Controllers except for the one you just created, since its Show
Controls Mode is set to alw ays.

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Function W izard Example 6: Customizing the Function CodeThe Function W izard allow s you to customize the code it automatically generates for your Master Controller
w idget.
By follow ing the steps in the follow ing example, you can create a 2D Point w idget w ith the Function W izard
and tw eak its code to make several draw ings point tow ards its position.

To create a Master Controller W idget with custom code, follow the steps below:
1. Create an empty scene.
2. In the Node View , add a Field-Chart node to your scene and connect it to your scene’s main
composite. This w ill serve as a spatial reference for this tutorial’s purposes.

3. In the scene’s default Draw ing layer, using theBrush orPencil tool, draw an arrow pointing

from the centre of the scene’s field chart tow ards the right.

4. In the Node View or the Timeline view , copy and paste your draw ing layer three times so as to havefour arrow draw ings in your scene.

195

5. In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select theTranslate tool. Then, select each draw ing layer

and reposition them in a rectangular formation, like so:

6. In the Node View or the Timeline view , select all four draw ing layers.
7. In the Master Controller toolbar, click on the

Function W izard button.

The Function W izard dialog appears.
8. In the Controller Type drop-dow n, select Point2dW idget.
9. In the Operation drop-dow n, select Set Value.
10. In the Attribute drop-dow n, select Offset.

NOTE
Although this Master Controller’s purpose is to make the arrow s rotate, the Function
W izard w ill only allow you to select an attribute of the 2D (vector) type. This is because
w hen the 2D point w idget is manipulated, it provides its position on the X and Y
coordinates as a 2D (vector) type value. W e w ill make the Master Controller control thearrow ’s rotation angle by customizing the script later.

11. In the Label field, type in a name for your Master Controller that w ill indicate its purpose. In thisexample, the Master Controller w ill make all arrow s point tow ards the 2D point w idget, so it w as
named LookAt.

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12. In the minimum and maximum fields for each axis, enter the follow ing values:l

XMin: -12lYMin: -12l

XMax: 12l

YMax: 12

13. Although the code for the Master Controller you are about to create can be customized directly
using the text field at the bottom of the dialogue, w e w ill create this Master Controller using thedefault code for it for now , and edit its code in its properties so as to be able to test each change
one by one. Hence, at this point, simply click OK to generate the Master Controller w ith the default
function for a 2D Point w idget.

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14. A dialog box w ill appear prompting you to select a composite to attach the Master Controller to. In
the Composite drop-dow n, select Top/Composite, then click OK.
A Master Controller node w ill be created, and its 2D Point w idget w ill appear in the Camera view .
15. In the Node view , locate the Master Controller that w as just created by the Function W izard, andclick on its

layer properties button.

16. Although no modification needs to be done to the code in the UI Data tab, you can take a look at it
at this step. You w ill notice that the parameters you entered in the Function W izard are all stored inthis tab in JSON format. The actual code executed by the Master Controller, w hich is stored in the
UI Script tab, refers to this data. Hence, you can easily make changes to the parameters of your
Master Controller by updating the data in the UI Data tab, if needed.

17. Open the UI Script tab. This tab contains the code that is executed each time the 2D Point w idget ismanipulated. It is the same code that w as displayed in the text field in the Function W izard, before
you clicked OK to generate this Master Controller.

18. In the Camera view toolbar, click on the

Hide All Controls button. This is necessary because

w hen you make changes to the UI Script code of a Master Controller, these changes w ill not bereflected in its behavior until you hide the Master Controller’s controls, then display them again.
19. In the UI Script tab, remove the tw o lines that update the target node’s offset. These lines both
start w ith node.setTextAttr. Then, add the bolded lines below to log basic information as you move198

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the 2D Point w idget:function onPoint2dValueChanged(params, point2dVal){
MessageLog.trace("START");var targetAttr = params.targetAttrs[0];MessageLog.trace("Attribute Name:" + targetAttr);
for(var i=0; i<params.targetNodes.length; ++i){var targetNode = params.targetNodes[i];MessageLog.trace("-----------------------------");
MessageLog.trace("Node Index:" + i);
MessageLog.trace("Node Identifier:" + targetNode);}
MessageLog.trace("END");}

20. Add the Message Log view to your w orkspace. To do this, click on the

Add View button in the

top-right corner of the view in the top-right area of your w orkspace, and select Message Log.
21. In the Node View , select the Master Controller node. Then, in the Camera view toolbar, click on
Show Controls. This is to test if the changes you just made to the code contain any syntax error. If
your code can run w ithout issues, the Master Controller w idget w ill reappear in the Camera view ,and the Message Log w ill log a header for the type of w idget being displayed, follow ed by “Done.”

22. Using the Transform tool, move the 2D point w idget around in the Camera view to test if
information is logged as you manipulate it.

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23. Using the node.getTextAttr() method, add code to isolate and output the position of eachtarget node on the X and Y axes.
function onPoint2dValueChanged(params, point2dVal){
MessageLog.trace("START");var targetAttr = params.targetAttrs[0];for(var i=0; i<params.targetNodes.length; ++i){var targetNode = params.targetNodes[i];var pos_x = node.getTextAttr(targetNode, frame.current(), "OFFSET.X");
var pos_y = node.getTextAttr(targetNode, frame.current(), "OFFSET.Y");
MessageLog.trace("Node Index:" + i);
MessageLog.trace("pos_x:" + pos_x);
MessageLog.trace("pos_y:" + pos_y);}
MessageLog.trace("END");}

include(fileMapper.toNativePath(specialFolders.resource+"/scripts/utilities/ui/functionWizard/

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24. Add the bolded lines below so as to calculate the angle at w hich to rotate each arrow using thedifference betw een the position of each arrow relative to the position of the 2D Point w idget:function onPoint2dValueChanged(params, point2dVal){
MessageLog.trace("START");var targetAttr = params.targetAttrs[0];for(var i=0; i<params.targetNodes.length; ++i){var targetNode = params.targetNodes[i];var pos_x = node.getTextAttr(targetNode, frame.current(), "OFFSET.X");
var pos_y = node.getTextAttr(targetNode, frame.current(), "OFFSET.Y");var deltaX = point2dVal.x - pos_x;
var deltaY = point2dVal.y - pos_y;
var angle = Math.atan2(deltaY, deltaX) * 180 / Math.PI;
MessageLog.trace("Node Index:" + i);
MessageLog.trace("deltaX:" + deltaX);
MessageLog.trace("deltaY:" + deltaY);
MessageLog.trace("angle:" + angle);}
MessageLog.trace("END");}

include(fileMapper.toNativePath(specialFolders.resource+"/scripts/utilities/ui/functionWizard/

201

NOTE
The Math module, the atan2() function and the PI property are built into theHarmony scripting interface as they are part of the ECMAScript language.

25. Now that the script has all the information required to perform its task, w e can add thenode.setTextAttr() method to change the rotation angle of each arrow to make them point tow ards
the 2D Point w idget. W e can also clean up the logging commands used until now to make sureeach addition to the code w orked as intended.
function onPoint2dValueChanged(params, point2dVal){var targetAttr = params.targetAttrs[0];for(var i=0; i<params.targetNodes.length; ++i){var targetNode = params.targetNodes[i];var pos_x = node.getTextAttr(targetNode, frame.current(), "OFFSET.X");
var pos_y = node.getTextAttr(targetNode, frame.current(), "OFFSET.Y");var deltaX = point2dVal.x - pos_x;
var deltaY = point2dVal.y - pos_y;
var angle = Math.atan2(deltaY, deltaX) * 180 / Math.PI;
node.setTextAttr(targetNode, "ROTATION.ANGLEZ", frame.current(), angle);}}

include(fileMapper.toNativePath(specialFolders.resource+"/scripts/utilities/ui/functionWizard/

202Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

TIPS
The follow ing are tips to help troubleshoot issues w hen changing the code of a Master
Controller:l

W hen a script encounters an problem, it usually stops executing w ithout reporting
errors by default. Hence, it’s a good idea to add logging throughout each step ofyour script and to keep an eye on the Message Log view as you test it.

lAfter performing changes to the code of a Master Controller, hide and display its
controls to test that it’s still able to load. If you don’t see a header message and an
end message such as the ones in the example below w hen displaying the controlsof a Master Controller, it is likely that the code for your Master Controller contains a
syntax error.

l

Alw ays make sure that your w idget function is fully executed, until the end. A goodw ay to verify this is to log a message such as “START” at the beginning of yourfunction and “END” at the end of your function. That w ay, if your script doesn’t
behave as expected, you can assess w hether or not your function w as called, andw hether it w as executed until the very end.

l

To activate the Script Debugger, the magic comment //!debug can be added at the
beginning of your script, as show n below :

203

l

The Script Debugger can be used to inspect variables, callstacks, and errors.
How ever, because the Script Debugger w ill appear every time your code is
executed, and your code is executed w ith every manipulation of the w idget, it may
be preferable to use logging to troubleshoot your code w hen possible.

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Creating a Master Controller Through Scripting
The follow ing topics w ill introduce you to scripting for a Master Controller and provide examples of how tohandle basic use cases. How ever, before going through this section, you should know that:lThis documentation alone is not enough to be able to create a Master Controller through scripting. Sucha task should only be taken by someone w ith sufficient experience in scripting or programming.

lThis is an introduction guide, not a reference. To obtain a list of all the modules, properties and methods
related to the Master Controller, you must refer to the Master Controller Node section of the Harmony
scripting API reference–see Harmony Scripting Reference on page 772.

205

Creating a Master Controller
T-HSCP-002-002
To create a Master Controller, you must add a Master Controller node to the scene, then link it to a UI script, inw hich its w idget and the w ay it interacts w ith elements in the scene w ill be programmed. The UI script of a
Master Controller is executed w hen its controls are displayed.

How to add a Master Controller to a scene
1. In the Node view , add a Master Controller node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Node Library view , select the Misc filter, then drag and drop the Master Controller
node from the Node Library view to the Node view .

lRight-click on the Node view and select Insert > Misc > Master Controller.

lOpen the Node view menu and select Insert > Effects > Misc > Master Controller.

IMPORTANTThe Master Controller node does not need to be connected to another node to w ork.
How ever, if you do connect it to another node, the node system to w hich it is connectedmust ultimately be connected to a Display node.

2. Click on the yellow square in the Master Controller node to open its Layer Properties.

NOTE
The Layer Properties of a Master Controller are very similar to those of a Script Node.
The main difference is that the Master Controller has access to methods allow ing it tocreate and use w idgets.

3. Sw itch to the Script UI tab.
4. In the scripting field of the Script UI tab, type in the follow ing code to link to your w idget script:
include(scene.currentProjectPath() + "/scripts/myScript.js");

In this example, the script is located in a scripts subfolder of the scene folder, and is named
myScript.js.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTE
To make sure a UI script stored in the scene's file structure is copied over w hen you
make a template that includes the Master Controller node, you must add this script tothe Extra Files list of the Master Controller node—see Linking the Master Controller to
its Files for Template Creation on page 230.

5. Save your scene.
6. Open the Script Editor view by doing one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select W indows > Script Editor.

l

From any existing view (ie: the Camera or Draw ing view ), click on the Add View
and select Script Editor.

7. In the Scope dropdow n, select Project.

The script list w ill now list scripts in the scripts subfolder of your scene.
8. In the Script Editor toolbar, click on the New Script

button.

9. In the New Script dialog, type in myScript and confirm.
10. In the Save Script dialog, select Scene in the location dropdow n and confirm.
The script scripts/myScript.js w ill be added to the list of scripts.

207

button11. Select scripts/myScript.js from the script list to load it in the editor.

You are now ready to start scripting a w idget for the Master Controller node.

NOTE
To make sure the script is copied over w ith the Master Controller node if it is copied into a
template, you must add the script file to the Extra Files tab of the Master Controller's properties—
see Linking the Master Controller to its Files for Template Creation on page 230.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Creating Master Controller W idgets
T-HSCP-002-004
The UI script linked to a Master Controller node is called w hen the Master Controller node is selected and theuser uses the Show Control command to display its controls in the camera view , w hich calls the
onShowControl method of the Controller object of the node. Hence, to make the Master Controller node
display a w idget, you must define its w idget in a function that overrides this method.
The follow ing example overrides a Master Controller's onShowControl method w ith a function that creates abasic slider w idget. Simply copy and paste it to your UI script to test its effect.
// When Show Controls is called from the Harmony UI, create a script widget// and register it to the main Controller.
Controller.onShowControl = function(){// Initialize the array of widgets
Controller.controls = [];// Add a slider widget.
Controller.controls.push(new SliderWidget());}

Similarly, you can handle the case w here the control is hidden using the onHideControl method.
// Called when the user hides the Master Controller node controls
Controller.onHideControl = function(){
MessageLog.trace("Slider hidden.");}NOTE
W hen the control is hidden, it is destroyed and the attributes that w ere set by the user w hen they
manipulated it are not preserved. This occurs regardless of w hether or not the onHideControl
method is overridden. Hence, there is no need to script the destruction of the w idget.

It is possible to create a Master Controller w ith several w idgets. For example, you can combine a
TranslationXWidget and TranslationYWidget to make a 2D Translation w idget by creating them as
elements of the same Controller.controls array.
// Create a TranslationX and TranslationY widget in the same Master Controller.
Controller.onShowControl = function(){// Initialize the array of widgets
Controller.controls = [];// Add the TranslationX and TranslationY widgets
Controller.controls.push(new TranslationXWidget());
Controller.controls.push(new TranslationYWidget());}

209

Save your script.

NOTES
l

To display and test your w idget, see Displaying and Testing Master Controller W idgets.

l

To learn about the different classes of w idget available for the Master Controller, refer to the
Master Controller Node section of the Harmony scripting reference–see Harmony Scripting
Reference on page 772.

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Setting the Properties of a Master Controller W idget
T-HSCP-002-005
W hen creating a w idget, you can customize it by declaring its properties. These properties can be passed asparameters in the constructor of the w idget. For example, the follow ing code creates a Slider w idget w ith afull set of custom properties:
Controller.controls.push(new SliderWidget({
data : "mySlider", // name of the created attributewidth : 0.15,// width of the slider frameheight : 0.2,// height of the slider frame
min : 0,// minimum value of the slider
max : 100,// maximum value of the slider
frame_color : ColorRGBA(40,100,150), // the colour of the slider frame
slider_color : ColorRGBA(135,135,135), // the colour of the slider handle
slider_selection_color : ColorRGBA(200,200,150), // the colour of the slider frame when selected}));

The data property of a w idget can be set to a string that uniquely identifies its attributes. Hence, if tw o
w idgets are created w ith an identical data property, they w ill have the same attribute, like in this example:// Create a 2d point widget.
Controller.controls.push(new Point2dWidget({
data : "Magnet",// name of the created attribute
size : 0.05,// the diameter of the point
selection_color : ColorRGBA(80,50,50) // the colour of the point manipulator when selected.
}));// Create a 2d point widget.
Controller.controls.push(new Point2dWidget({
data : "Magnet",// name of the created attribute
size : 0.1,// the diameter of the point
selection_color : ColorRGBA(20,70,70) // the colour of the point manipulator when selected.
}));

Each type of Master Controller w idget has its ow n set of properties that can be set at its creation. All of theirproperties are optional and have default values if not set.

NOTE
To learn about the properties of each type of w idget, refer to the Master Controller Node section of
the Harmony scripting reference–see Harmony Scripting Reference on page 772.

211

Linking Attributes Between Different Master Controller W idgets
T-HSCP-002-007
By default, Master Controller w idgets are created w ith their ow n attributes. It is possible to link the attributes
betw een several w idgets using the data property.
In the follow ing example, a w idget that is composed of tw o 2D points w hich are linked by a line is created.
There is no such w idget in the Master Controller API, but there is a 2D Point w idget (Point2dWidget) and a
2D Line Display w idget (Line2dDisplayWidget) , the data property of the latter is an array of tw o 2D
Points. Hence, w e can simply create tw o Point2dWidget, then create a Line2dDisplayWidget and set its
data property to an array of the data properties of both Point2dWidget. The Line2dDisplayWidget w illfollow the position of the tw o 2D Points.
// Create 2 2d point widgets.
var pointWidgetA = new Point2dWidget();var pointWidgetB = new Point2dWidget();Controller.controls.push(pointWidgetA);
Controller.controls.push(pointWidgetB);// Display a line linking the 2 2d point widgets.
Controller.controls.push(new Line2dDisplayWidget({
data : [pointWidgetA.data(), pointWidgetB.data()]}));

This capability can be used to create a w idget consisting of a more complex netw ork of lines and points.
Another w ay to do this is by setting the data property of tw o w idgets w ith an identical string. For example, if
tw o Point2dWidget are created w ith an identical string in their data property, they w ill share the same
attribute.
// Create a 2d point widget.
Controller.controls.push(new Point2dWidget({
data : "Magnet",// name of the created attribute
size : 0.05,// the diameter of the point
selection_color : ColorRGBA(80,50,50) // the colour of the point manipulator when selected.
}));// Create a 2d point widget.
Controller.controls.push(new Point2dWidget({
data : "Magnet",// name of the created attribute
size : 0.1,// the diameter of the point
selection_color : ColorRGBA(20,70,70) // the colour of the point manipulator when selected.
}));

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Updating a Node's Attribute when Manipulating a Master Controller
W idget
T-HSCP-002-006
In order for a Master Controller w idget to have any effect on an element in the scene, it must be programmed
to set the value of an attribute for an element w hen the w idget is being manipulated by the user.
Master Controller w idgets emit a signal w hen they are manipulated. You can control w hat happens w hen they
are manipulated by creating a function that handles the value given by the w idget, and connect that function
to the valueChanged signal of the w idget.
// Callback function for when the slider value changes
function mySliderValueChanged(newSliderValue){
MessageLog.trace("The value of the slide changed to " + newSliderValue);}
Controller.onShowControl = function(){Controller.controls = [];Controller.controls.push(new SliderWidget());// Connect the valueChanged signal to the sliderValueChanged// function
Controller.controls[0].valueChanged.connect(mySliderValueChanged);}

Then, functions in the Harmony scripting interface must be used to affect the attributes of elements in thescene based on the value provided w ith the w idget's signal. In this example, w e use the slider w idget's value
to make the horizontal position of a peg named My_Peg_A , located in the scene's top level, vary betw een 0
and 2 fields. The horizontal position of a peg is stored in the attribute POSITION.X.

TIPSl

You can easily obtain the names of a node's attributes for scripting by enabling Publish
Attribute Mode in the Node View and opening a node's Layer Properties dialog. For more
information, see Accessing Node Attribute Names for Scripting on page 799.

l

W hile position attributes for a peg are stored in the POSITION attribute group, position
attributes for a draw ing layer are stored in the OFFSET attribute group.

function mySliderValueChanged(newSliderValue){
var percentage = newSliderValue / 100.0;// make the slider sets a My_Peg_A x position between 0 and 2 fields
var newXValue = percentage * 2;
node.setTextAttr("Top/My_Peg_A", "POSITION.X", frame.current(), newXValue);}213

W idgets that can be manipulated w ill call the valueChanged signal w hen the user manipulates them. Otherw idgets, such as the Line2dDisplayWidget, cannot be manipulated and are only designed to display useful
information to the user, so they do not support this signal.
Most w idgets handle transforming manipulations done to them by the user into attribute value changes on
their ow n through their valueChanged signal. For example, a SliderWidget that has a minimum value
betw een 0 and 100 w ill convert manipulations done to its handle into a value betw een 0 and 100 and passthat value through the signal. The CustomWidget, on the other hand, allow s the user to program specificalgorithms to handle manipulations done to it by using dragStarted, drag and dragEnded signals.
Although this is particularly useful for the CustomWidget, those events are inherited by w idgets from the
WidgetBase class, and are hence available to all w idgets.
To create custom actions for drag manipulations, simply connect a callback to one of these signals.
Controller.onShowControl = function(){var c = new CustomWidget({
data : "TranslationX",
drag_manipulator : "SCRIPT",
painter : "ARROW_X",
picker : "MONO",
local_transformation : "TRANSLATION_X",
attribute : "DOUBLE"} );// Register drag callback functions
c.dragStarted.connect(onDragStart);c.drag.connect(onDrag);}

In the callback function, convert the mouse position from the w orld coordinates system into the Master
Controller's OpenGL model coordinates.
var myController = Controller;
var drag_offset = new Vector3d;
var drag_offsetZ = new Vector3d;function onDragStart(context){// The context drag point is expressed in world coordinates.
// Convert the point in model coordinates and project it// on the Master Controller XY plane.
var projectedPoint = context.projectToModelPlane(context.dragPoint());
var modelPickingPoint = projectedPoint;
if(myController.controls.length &amp;gt; 0){// If other script widgets affecting the local transformation of// the Master Controller are registered after the current widget,// they may affect the position// of the current widget. Take their transformations into account.
modelPickingPoint = context.multiplyByPostMatrix(modelPickingPoint);}

214

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide// Compute the delta between the controlled Peg position and the picked point.
var pegPosition = node.getAttr(getPegPath(),frame.current(), "POSITION").pos3dValue();var modelOriginPoint = scene.toOGL(pegPosition);drag_offset = modelOriginPoint.minus(modelPickingPoint);}
function onDragTransX(context){
var projectedPoint = context.projectToModelPlane(context.dragPoint());
var localPoint = projectedPoint;
if(myController.controls.length &amp;gt; 0){localPoint = context.multiplyByPostMatrix(projectedPoint);}
var fieldPoint = scene.fromOGL(localPoint.add(drag_offset));var newValue = fieldPoint.x;
node.setTextAttr(myController.node, "TranslationX", frame.current(), newValue);node.setTextAttr(getPegPath(), "POSITION.X", frame.current(), newValue);}215

Updating the Attributes of a Master Controller W idget
T-HSCP-002-008
The attributes of a Master Controller w idget can be initialized are their creation. How ever, it may also be
useful to update their attributes in other circumstances.
For example, if a SliderWidget is set to control the horizontal position of a draw ing that is already animatedto go from left to right. If the user moves the Timeline cursor to a different frame, the draw ing w ill be in adifferent horizontal position, but the slider's value w on't be automatically updated to reflect the draw ing's
current horizontal position unless w e program it to do so.
This can be done by using the global Controller object's onFrameChanged method. This method is called
every time the current frame is changed, and it can be overriden w ith a custom function that w ill update theattributes of the w idget based on the attributes of the element(s) it controls.
A Master Controller w idget's attributes can be accessed by their data() method, w hich returns an object of
the Attribute type. The value of a w idget can be updated by calling its data().setValue() method. For
more information on the Attribute class, refer to the Harmony scripting reference.

// Called when the current frame of the application changes
Controller.onFrameChanged = function(){// Get the peg current position in x.
var xPegPosition = node.getAttr("Top/My_Peg_A", frame.current(), "POSITION.3DPATH.X").doubleValue()// If the peg x position is computed as “slider value” / 100.0 * 2.0// The script widget slider value would be computed as:var sliderValue = xPegPosition * 100.0 / 2.0;
Controller.controls[0].data().setValue(sliderValue);}If more than one attribute w as assigned to a w idget's data property at its creation, those attributes can beaccessed by passing their zero-based index as a parameter to the w idget's data() method. Take for example
this script w here a w idget composed of tw o Point2dWidget linked by a Line2dDisplayWidget are
created:// Create 2 2d point widgets and 1 line 2d widget reusing// the 2d point widget attributes.
var pointWidgetA = new Point2dWidget();var pointWidgetB = new Point2dWidget();var line2dWidget = new Line2dDisplayWidget({
data : [pointWidgetA.data(), pointWidgetB.data()]});

The tw o follow ing methods of setting the values of the tw o Point2DWidget are equivalent, but the second
one uses the data() method of the Line2dDisplayWidget and passes the index of each Point2DWidget
to access them:216

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide// Set the attribute values of the two 2D point widgets by referring to their// variable names.
pointWidgetA.data().setValue(new Point2d(3,3));pointWidgetB.data().setValue(new Point2d(-3,-3));// Set the attribute values of the two 2D point widgets by referring to the// data array of the 2D line widget.
line2dWidget.data(0).setValue(new Point2d(3,3));
line2dWidget.data(1).setValue(new Point2d(-3,-3));217

Applying the Coordinates of a Master Controller W idget to a Node
T-HSCP-002-011
W hen using a w idget like the Point2dWidget, w hich is used to input X and Y coordinates by dragging a dot
around the scene, you may w ant to connect the Master Controller or to a node system so that it is properly
positioned in the stage. For example, a w idget that controls a body part of a character may be connected tothat character's master peg so that it follow s the character's movement in the scene.
The coordinates you obtain from a Point2dWidget w hen it is moved by the user w ill be relative to its parent
peg's position. For example, the Point2dWidget may initially appear in the corner of a scene because it is thechild of a character that is positioned there, but its initial position w ill still be 0, 0, 0, w hich might not be
accurate for the w idget's purpose. Hence, before you can use the w idget's coordinates to maketransformations on an element in the scene, you w ill have to calculate its actual position in the stage (referredto here as a w orld point) by applying its parent's transformations, or matrix, to its coordinates. This can beaccomplished w ith the follow ing function:// Return the given point 2d, in OGL coordinates, in world coordinates.
function getWorldPoint2d(modelPoint2d, nodePath){// Convert the model point into world coordinates.
// Apply the parent node transformation to the position// to go from (the node) model coordinates to world coordinates.
var parentNode = node.srcNode(nodePath, 0);
var parentTransformation = node.getMatrix(parentNode, frame.current());
var modelPoint3d = new Point3d(modelPoint2d.x, modelPoint2d.y, 0);
var worldPoint = parentTransformation.multiply(modelPoint3d);
return worldPoint;}

If the element that the Point2dWidget is supposed to control is also connected to a node system thatapplies transformations to it, for example a body part in a character model, applying transformations using aw orld point is likely going to offset it a lot more than intended. Even if that body part is in a corner of the stage
because this is w here its character is located, its actual coordinates might also be 0, 0, 0 if only its parents
w ere offset, but it itself has not been moved directly. Hence, before applying the coordinates of the w orld
point calculated above to the target element, you w ill need to calculate the relative coordinates you w ant toapply to the element, referred to here as a model point, by applying the reverse matrix of the element's parent
to the w orld point, using a function such as the follow ing one:// Convert the position from world coordinates to the target model// coordinates.
// Apply the inverse of the node parent transformation to the world position// to go from world coordinates to (the node) model coordinates
function getModelPoint(worldPoint, nodePath){var parentNode = node.srcNode(nodePath, 0);
var parentTransformation = node.getMatrix(parentNode, frame.current());
var inverseTransformation = parentTransformation.getInverse();218

Harmony 22 Premium User Guidevar modelPoint = inverseTransformation.multiply(worldPoint);
return modelPoint;}

To bring all this together, several more calculations must be made. For example, you may have to convert
points from Harmony's field coordinates system to an orthonormal coordinates system (referred to in thescripting interface as OpenGL coordinates). This is because Harmony's field system does not use the samelength for horizontal and vertical fields, w hich can cause serious inaccuracies, for example, w hen handling
matrices that contain rotations.
The follow ing example demonstrates how to process the coordinates provided by a Point2dWidget andapply them to a peg named MyPeg in the top level of the scene, using the tw o functions declared above in theprocess:// Callback when the position value has changed
function point2dValueChanged(newFieldPosition2d){// The 2d position attributes typically have their value expressed in// field.
// Convert the field position into OpenGL coordinates.
// The OpenGL point will be expressed in the Master Controller node model// coordinates system.
var mcModelPoint2d = scene.toOGL(newFieldPosition2d);// Compute the position of the master controller in world coordinates.
var worldPoint = getWorldPoint2d(mcModelPoint2d, "Top/MasterController");// Convert the position from world coordinates to the target peg model// coordinates// Apply the inverse of the peg parent node transformation to the world// position to go from world coordinates to (the peg) model coordinates
var pegNode = "Top/MyPeg";var pegModelPoint = getModelPoint(worldPoint, pegNode);// Get the peg position which is in fields
var fieldCenterPoint = node.getAttr(pegNode, frame.current(), "POSITION" ).pos3dValue();// Convert from fields to OpenGL coordinates
var pegModelCenterPoint = scene.toOGL(fieldCenterPoint);// Compute the new position of the Peg after applying the magnet to it.
var newPegModelCenterPoint = computePosition(pegModelPoint, pegModelCenterPoint, 0.001);// Convert from OpenGL to fields coordinates
var newPegFieldCenterPoint = scene.fromOGL(newPegModelCenterPoint);// Set the peg attribute values to the new values.
node.setTextAttr(pegNode, "POSITION.3DPATH.X", frame.current(), newPegFieldCenterPoint.x);
node.setTextAttr(pegNode, "POSITION.3DPATH.Y", frame.current(), newPegFieldCenterPoint.y);node.setTextAttr(pegNode, "POSITION.3DPATH.Z", frame.current(), newPegFieldCenterPoint.z);
}

219

TIP
You can easily obtain the names of a node's attributes for scripting by enabling Publish Attribute
Mode in the Node View and opening a node's Layer Properties dialog. For more information, see
Accessing Node Attribute Names for Scripting on page 799.

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Applying the Coordinates of a Master Controller W idget to a
Deformation Node
T-HSCP-002-012
It is possible to use Master Controller w idgets to apply transformations to deformers. How ever, before
attempting that, it is important to understand the difference betw een deformations that have absolute
attributes and the ones that have relative attributes.
W hen using the Rigging tool to create Bone, Game Bone and Curve transformation chains, Harmony creates
each deformation node w ith the attribute "Apply Parent Transformation" enabled. This attribute makes it soeach point is deformed by their parent—the previous point in the chain—before they apply their ow n
deformations to the draw ing. This makes manipulating these types of deformation points difficult as theirdeformation matrices are not fully reversible.
Hence, using a Master Controller w idget to manipulate deformers is more easily achieved w ith Envelope type
deformations. The Rigging tool creates Curve deformation nodes w ith the attribute "Apply Parent
Transformation" disabled. This means envelope deformation points are not affected by their parent's
deformations. Therefore, the deformation matrix for all the points in a Curve deformation chain is the same,that is, the one carried by the parent of the chain's offset, w hich w ould typically be a peg or a draw ing node,
and w ould hence be fully reversible. The process then becomes similar to w hen a w idget is used tomanipulate pegs or elements.

TIP
If you w ant to use the Master Controller to control deformation nodes that are relative to otherdeformation nodes, you can do so using the getDeformationComponentMatrix method of the
DeformationUtils namespace. For more information, refer to the Harmony scripting reference.

W ith the inverse matrix of a deformation node, w e can convert w orld coordinates to a deformation node's
coordinates system. How ever, it is important to understand that curve and envelope deformation nodes are
represented by three points: The central point, and the tw o tangent points defining the secondary points of the
Bezier curves. If you plan to change the position of a curve or envelope deformation node, you w ill also need tomodify its tangent positions, w ith an algorithm such as:
Tangent0 in fields = Previous-Offset + rotation(Vector(length0 * 0.1, 0), orientation0 degrees)
Tangent1 = Offset + rotation(Vector(length1 * 0.1, 0), orientation1 degrees)

In the Harmony scripting interface, this w ould be expressed like so:var t0FldU = add(previousDeformationNode.fieldOffset, rotate(Point2d(deformationNode.length0 * 0.1, 0
var t1FldU = add(p1FieldUndeformed, rotate(Point2d(deformationNode.length1 * 0.1, 0), 180 + deformati

In this example, the deformationNode and previousDeformationNode are Deformation type objects
defined as:221

function Deformation (nodePath){var currentFrame = frame.current();
this.fieldOffset = node.getAttr(nodePath, currentFrame, "offset").pos2dValue();this.OGLOffset = scene.toOGL(this.fieldOffset);
this.nodePath = nodePath;this.nodeType = node.type(nodePath);
if(this.nodeType == "OffsetModule"){
this.orientation0 = node.getAttr(nodePath, currentFrame, "orientation").doubleValue();this.orientation1 = 0;
this.length0 = 0;
this.length1 = 0;}if(this.nodeType == "CurveModule"){
this.orientation0 = node.getAttr(nodePath, currentFrame, "orientation0").doubleValue();this.orientation1 = node.getAttr(nodePath, currentFrame, "orientation1").doubleValue();this.length0 = node.getAttr(nodePath, currentFrame, "length0").doubleValue();this.length1 = node.getAttr(nodePath, currentFrame, "length1").doubleValue();}}

TIP
You can easily obtain the names of a node's attributes for scripting by enabling Publish Attribute
Mode in the Node View and opening a node's Layer Properties dialog. For more information, see
Accessing Node Attribute Names for Scripting on page 799.

In the follow ing example, w e use a Point2dWidget to move the position of envelope deformation nodes
tow ards it proportionally to the inverse distance betw een those tw o points. As the user drags the w idget
around the stage, the deformation points w ill inch tow ards it:

This is the node system for this example:
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First, w e calculate the position of the Point2dWidget in the coordinates system of each parent peg of eachdeformation group in the scene.

// Get the deformation chains
getDeformationChains(leftmostParent, deformationChains);for(var i=0; i&lt;deformationChains.length; ++i){// The first node of a deformation chain is always an Offset in our case.
// Convert the position from world coordinates to the target peg// model coordinates.
// Apply the inverse of the peg parent node transformation to the// world position to go from world coordinates to (the peg) model// coordinates
var pegParentNode = node.srcNode(node.parentNode(deformationChains[i][0].nodePath), 0);
var pegParentTransformation = node.getMatrix(pegParentNode, frame.current());
var inversePegTransformation = pegParentTransformation.getInverse();var pegModelPoint = inversePegTransformation.multiply(worldPoint);// A deformation chain is simply an array of deformation node parameters.
var deformationChain = deformationChains[i];if(deformationChain.length == 0)
continue;// Apply the magnet translation for the deformation node offset and// both tangent points.
// The first node is the Offset which doesn’t require a previous position.
moveDeformationNode(deformationChain[0], new Deformation(""), pegModelPoint);for(var j=1; j&lt;deformationChain.length; ++j)223

{
moveDeformationNode(deformationChain[j], deformationChain[j-1], pegModelPoint);}}

Then, w e compute the new position of the offset and tangent points of the deformation chains. W e must also
compute new orientation values from the new tangent point positions.
function moveDeformationNode(deformationNode, previousDeformationNode, magnetPoint){
if(deformationNode.nodeType == "OffsetModule"){var p1FieldDeformed = scene.fromOGL(computePosition(magnetPoint, deformationNode.OGLOffset));node.setTextAttr(deformationNode.nodePath, "offset.X", frame.current(), p1FieldDeformed.x);
node.setTextAttr(deformationNode.nodePath, "offset.Y", frame.current(), p1FieldDeformed.y);}else if(deformationNode.nodeType == "CurveModule"){// Compute the new Offset attribute position
var p1FieldUndeformed = deformationNode.fieldOffset;
var p1FieldDeformed = scene.fromOGL(computePosition(magnetPoint, deformationNode.OGLOffset));// Set the new Offset attribute values.
node.setTextAttr(deformationNode.nodePath, "offset.X", frame.current(), p1FieldDeformed.x);
node.setTextAttr(deformationNode.nodePath, "offset.Y", frame.current(), p1FieldDeformed.y);// Compute the Tangent 0 position
var t0FldU = add(previousDeformationNode.fieldOffset,rotate(Point2d(deformationNode.length0*0.1,0
var t0OGLU = scene.toOGL(t0FldU);// Compute the new Tangent 0 position
var t0FldD = scene.fromOGL(computePosition(magnetPoint, t0OGLU));// To compute the new orientation 0 position,// compute the new position of the previous node.
var p0FieldDeformed = scene.fromOGL(computePosition(magnetPoint, previousDeformationNode.OGLOffse// Compute the inverse of the tangent calculation// to get the new orientation 0 positionvar vRef0 = Point2d(1,0);
var ori0D = -angleDelta(minus(toPoint2d(t0FldD),p0FieldDeformed),vRef0);// Compute the Tangent 1 position
var t1FldU = add(p1FieldUndeformed,rotate(Point2d(deformationNode.length1*0.1,0),180+deformationNvar t1OGLU = scene.toOGL(t1FldU);// Compute the new Tangent 1 position
var t1FldD = scene.fromOGL(computePosition(magnetPoint, t1OGLU));// Compute the inverse of the tangent calculation// to get the new orientation 1 positionvar vRef1 = Point2d(-1,0);
var ori1D = -angleDelta(minus(toPoint2d(t1FldD),p1FieldDeformed),vRef1);// Set the new orientation attribute values.

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node.setTextAttr(deformationNode.nodePath, "orientation0", frame.current(), ori0D);
node.setTextAttr(deformationNode.nodePath, "orientation1", frame.current(), ori1D);}}

TIP
Should you w ant to apply the deformations of a deformation chain to another deformation chain,
you can use the applyVertexTransform method of the DeformationUtils namespace. For
more information, refer to the Harmony scripting interface reference.

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Connecting Master Controller W idgets to Nodes
T-HSCP-002-009
Like the Script node, the input and output ports of a Master Controller node are fully customizable. To
customize the ports of a Master Controller node, open its Layer Properties and select the Specifications tab. In
the follow ing example, this specifications sheet w ill add one Peg (green) input port, one Image (blue) input
port and one Image (blue) output port to the Master Controller node:<specs><ports><in type="PEG"/><in type="IMAGE"/><out type="IMAGE"/></ports><attributes></attributes></specs>

IMPORTANT
Although the Master Controller does not require to be connected to a node system, it must at least
have one output port in order to w ork.

To apply the change in the configuration of the input ports, you must save, close and reopen the scene.
If the first (rightmost) input port of the Master Controller node is a Peg input port, you can connect a peg node
to it to affect the visible position of the w idget in the Camera view . You can add more input ports and use themto detect w here the Master Controller is relative to the remainder of the node netw ork.

NOTE
To learn about the attributes of a Master Controller node, refer to the Script Node reference .

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Controlling Nodes Connected to a Master Controller
T-HSCP-002-016
A Master Controller node can detect the nodes that are connected to it and apply transformations on thesenodes.

Using the Specifications tab of the Master Controller layer properties, an input port can be added to the Master
Controller w hich w ill indicate w hich node system to control. Using this port, the script can be made to scan thenode system connected to it, and look for the expected pattern. For information on how to add port to a Master
Controller node, see Connecting Master Controller W idgets to Nodes on page 226.

NOTE
You should avoid using the main (rightmost) input port of the Master Controller node for thispurpose, as transformations sent to this port w ill affect the position of the w idget in the stage.

For example, if w e take the magnet w idget programmed in the previous topic, this magnet attracts Element
nodes tow ards its position every time the mouse drags it. The rightmost input port of this w idget's Master
Controller node is used to position the w idget, but its leftmost port is used to specify the entry point of thenode system to control. To accomplish this, use the srcNode method of the Controller object.
// Get the parent node of the Master Controller node// from its leftmost port.
var leftmostParent = node.srcNode(myController.node, 1);// From the leftmost parent node of the Master Controller,// gather every Element node children.

227

var elementNodes = [];getElementChildren(leftmostParent, elementNodes);var nbElements = elementNodes.length;for(var i=0; i&amp;lt;nbElements; ++i){// do something}

From there, you can use the node global object's dstNode method to find its children, as its type method to
obtain the type of each node.
// Recursively look for child Element nodes.
function getElementChildren(parentPath, elementPaths){// Assume that the parent node has only one output port// For nodes with multiple output ports, iterate on the last// parameter using numberOfOutputPorts.
var numberOfLinks = node.numberOfOutputLinks(parentPath, 0);for(var i=0; i &amp;lt; numberOfLinks; ++i){// Get the child node pathvar childPath = node.dstNode(parentPath, 0, i);// Check the type of the child (READ is the Element node type)if(node.type(childPath) == "READ"){
elementPaths.push(childPath);}else{// Recursively inspect the child node children
getElementChildren(childPath, elementPaths);}}}

If a node is inside a group, use the parentNode method of the node object to access the node's parent groupnode.
var myDeformationGroupPath = node.parentNode(myOffsetDeformationNodePath);var pegParentNode = node.srcNode(myDeformationGroupPath, 0);228

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Referring to the Master Controller Node
T-HSCP-002-017
It is possible for the Master Controller node to refer to itself. The path to its ow n node is available in the global
Controller object. Because this object is created by the Master Controller node, it is specific to that node.
function myCallback(newValue){// Get the parent node of the Master Controller by using its path from the// Controller.
var masterControllerParentNode = node.srcNode(myController.node, 0);}The example above does not refer to the Controller object directly, but rather, to an object named
myController. This is because the Controller object is only available at the root level of the script or w ithin
its ow n methods. To use the Controller object in other function in the script, it must be stored in a global
variable:// The script context will be initialized when Show Controls will be called.
// Keep a script global copy of the Controller object.
var myController = Controller;
function point2dValueChanged(newPointValue){// Not OK, the Controller global object isn’t available in callbacks
var masterControllerParentNode = node.srcNode(Controller.node, 0);// OK, use a copy from the script global scopevar masterControllerParentNode = node.srcNode(myController.node, 0);}// Called when the user shows the Master Controller module controls
Controller.onShowControl = function(){Controller.controls = [];Controller.controls.push(new Point2dWidget);Controller.controls[0].valueChanged.connect(point2dValueChanged);}229

Linking the Master Controller to its Files for Template Creation
T-HSCP-003-005
By default, if you create a template of a character that uses a Master Controller, files used by the Master
Controller, such as script files, pose databases or any other asset files, w ill not be automatically copied overw ith the template. Hence, the Master Controller w ill not w ork w hen the character template is imported inanother scene. To make sure your Master Controller node is alw ays copied w ith its dependencies, you mustlist the files it depends on in its Extra Files property.

NOTE
Files to include w ith a Master Controller template must be located inside the scene directory, or in
one of its sub-directories, in order for Harmony to be able to copy them w ith the template.

How to specify files and folders to copy when creating a template that contains a
Master Controller.
1. In the Node view , click on the yellow squareof the Master Controller node to open its Layer

Properties.

2. Select the Extra Files tab.

3. Next to the Files to copy field, click on the

Function button to create a pseudo-function in w hichto store file and folder names.

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4. Click on the

Function button again to open the Files to copy dialog.

5. In the text field of the File to Copy dialog, do one of the follow ing:l

If all of your Master Controller's files are w ithin one sub-directory of your scene, type thename of that sub-directory. For example, if you stored all the files for your Master Controller
in the scripts sub-directory of your scene, type script.

lType in the path to each file your Master Controller depends on, relative to the scene
directory. For example, if your Master Controller uses the file myScript.js in the scripts
sub-directory of your scene, type scripts/myScript.js. You can type one file path perline.

6. Click OK.
If you create a template that include the Master Controller node, the files listed in the Extra Files
parameter w ill be copied in the template's directory.

231

Displaying and Testing Master Controller W idgets
T-RIG3-008-007
To use a Master Controller, you must first display its w idget in the Camera and Perspective view s. There are
tw o w ays to do this:lUsing the Master Controller view , you can quickly find Master Controllers in your scene and display
their w idgets.

l

You can find and select the Master Controller node in the Node or Timeline view and use the Show
Control command to display its w idget.

TIP
If you make changes to your Master Controller, you can hide and show the Master Controller's
w idget to reload its script and test your changes.

How to display or hide the Master Controller's widget using the Master Controller
view
1. Do one of the follow ing to add the Master Controller view to your w orkspace:l

In the top-right corner of the an existing view , click on the

Add View button and selectMaster Controller.
l

In the top menu, select W indows > Master Controller.

The Master Controller view appears. In it, the Master Controllers list at the bottom displays all the
Master Controllers in your scene, w ith their w hole group hierarchy follow ed by their name.

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2. If there are a lot of Master Controllers in the list, you can do one of the follow ing to filter the list:l

In the Path list at the top of the Master Controller view , expand the Top item to display a listof the groups in your scene, then select the group corresponding to the character in w hichthe Master Controller you w ant to select is located.

l

In the Name field, type in part of the name of the Master Controller you w ant to display.

233

l

In the Name field, type in part of the name of the group in w hich the Master Controller you
w ant to display belongs.

3. In the Master Controllers list, select the Master Controller you w ant to display.

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4. In the bottom-right corner of the Master Controller view , click on theShow Master Controller

button.
The w idget displays in the Camera and Perspective view s.

NOTE
You can follow the same steps to hide a w idget that is already displayed.

How to manually find and display or hide the Master Controller's widget
1. In the Node view or Timeline view , navigate to and select the Master Controller node you w ant todisplay or hide.

235

2. Do one of the follow ing to display the Master Controller's w idget:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on

Show Control .

l

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

The w idget displays in the Camera and Perspective view s.

3. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool.

4. Click and drag on the w idget to try manipulating it.

NOTE
You can follow the same steps to hide a w idget that is already displayed.

How to hide all Master Controller widgets
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on Hide All ControlslFrom the top menu, select View > Hide All Controls.

lPress Shift + C.

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Manipulating a Master Controller W idget
Once you have displayed a Master Controller w idget, you can manipulate it w ith the Transform tool to test its
effect.

How to manipulate a Master Controller widget
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or press Shift + T.

2. In the Camera or Perspective view , click and drag on the w idget.

237

Changing the Position of a Master Controller W idget
By default, a Master Controller w idget w ill alw ays appear w here it is scripted to appear. How ever, it ispossible to manually offset the w idget of a Master Controller from its default position. This is done byattaching a peg to the Master Controller, then manipulating the peg. The Master Controller's w idget w ill movealong w ith the peg, as if it w as a draw ing layer. Likew ise, if you need a Master Controller's w idget to bepositioned relative to a specific character, you can connect the Master Controller to this character's master peg.
By default, Master Controllers do not have an input port to w hich you can connect a peg. To be able to do this,you must configure it to have a transformation input port. Those ports are green and are usually used toconnect pegs.

NOTE
If you configure your Master Controller to have several input ports, the peg that w ill be used tooffset the Master Controller w idget must be the first of its input ports. The first input port of a
Master Controller node is alw ays the rightmost input port in the Node view .

How to connect a peg to a Master Controller and offset its widget
1. In the Node view , locate the Master Controller node.
2. Click on its

Layer Properties button to open its Layer Properties dialog.

3. Open the Specifications tab. By default, the content of this tab w ill be as follow s:<specs><ports>238

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide<in type="IMAGE"/><out type="IMAGE"/></ports><attributes></attributes></specs>

4. Click on the

Edit button to open the Specifications editor.

5. In the Value field of the Specifications editor, replace the w ord IMAGE w ith PEG in the follow ing
line:<in type="IMAGE"/>It should now be:<in type="PEG"/>6. Click on OK.
The Master Controller node's input port sw itches from blue to green. This is how you can tell that it
is now a transformation (peg) input port, w hich can be connected to a peg.

7. In the Node view , locate and select the Master Controller node.
8. Do one of the follow ing to display the Master Controller's w idget:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on

Show Control .

l

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

239

l

Press Shift + F11.

The w idget displays in the Camera and Perspective view s.

9. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool.

10. Press Ctrl + P (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + P (macOS) to instantly create a parent peg attached to the
Master Controller.

11. In the Node view , click on the Peg node to select it.
A transformation box appears in the Camera view .

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12. In the Camera view , click and drag on the Master Controller's w idget to offset its position.

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Chapter 18: Effects

Chapter 18: Effects
T-HFND-010-001
W hen creating a scene, rigging a character or once your animation is finished, you can add effects such as
blurs, glow s, shadow s, colour filters and transparency filters and to enhance your project's quality. Effects
change the w ay layers or groups of layers are rendered in your scene.

Harmony supports OpenFX plugins, and has its ow n integrated particle systems as w ell as light shading(normal map)—see About OpenFX on page 472, About Light Shading in Harmony on page 392, and About
Particles on page 387.
Effects are special types of nodes that you can add to your scene's structure. For an effect node to w ork, it
must be connected under a draw ing, a composite, another effect, or any other node that outputs an image.
Effect nodes alter the image information sent to their input port, and output the processed image through their
output port. This gives you flexibility in deciding w hich elements of your scene are affected by an effect.
Some effects need to be linked to another layer, referred to as a matte layer, w hich is used to define the area
they should affect. A good example of this is the Tone effect, w hich is used to add a shadow of a given shape
to a layer. Alone, the Tone effect has no impact on the draw ing it is connected to. Once combined w ith a mattelayer, the Tone effect w ill use the matte's shape to apply a shadow to the draw ing. Even if the matte's shape
bleeds outside of the draw ing's outlines, the shadow w ill only be applied w ithin the draw ing's outlines.

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A matte layer is simply a regular draw ing layer that is connected to an effect as its matte. The effect takes theshape of the draw ing in the matte layer to determine the area of the draw ing it affects. The colours and details
in the matte layer are ignored by the effect, only its shape is taken in account.
In the Node view , an effect must be connected to the draw ing or composite it is meant to affect by its input(top) port, and its output (bottom) port must be connected to the scene's main composite.

If the effect can use a matte layer, it w ill have a matte port on its left to w hich the matte layer can beconnected.

The matte port has a

Matte icon underneath it. You can invert the matte by double-clicking on this icon,

w hich w ill make the effect use the negative space of the matte draw ing rather than the matte draw ing itself as
its matte. W hen an effect's matte is inverted, the Matte appears black on w hite instead of w hite on black:.

Once your effect is connected, you can adjust its parameters by selecting it, then adjusting its parameters
using the Layer Properties view . You can also click on a node's

Layer Properties icon to open its layer

properties in a dialog. If desired, you can even animate the parameters of your effect by converting their values
to functions.

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Chapter 18: Effects

TIP
If you need to use the uncut version of your draw ing layer anyw here else in your scene, you can
bypass the effect it is connected to by connecting the draw ing layer's output port to other input
ports of your composite, or to other effects or composite, as needed. This w ill create new cables,
leaving your layer's connection to its effect unaffected.

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Adding Effects Nodes
T-HFND-010-004
In Harmony, you can add effects through the Node view . You can select an effect from the Node Library view ,drag it to the Node view and connect it to draw ing layers to form a netw ork of nodes. Then, by adjusting eachnode's parameters, you can achieve exactly the look you have in mind.

How to add an effect
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Node Library view , select an effect and drag it to the Node view . You can use the
Search toolbar to find nodes quicker.

245Chapter 18: Effects

TIP
You can use the Search

field in the Node Library view to search for a node by

name.

l

In the Node view , right-click and select Insert, select the category of the node you w ant to
add, then select the type of node you w ant to add.

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Connecting Effects
T-HFND-010-006
For an effect to w ork, it must be connected to a layer or composite. The effect w ill be applied to the image
output by the layer or composite, and the transformed image w ill be composited w ith other elements in thescene.

How to connect an effect
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant the draw ing to only display in your scene as filtered by the effect, click on the
input port connecting the scene composite to the draw ing, then drag it to the input port ofthe effect, like so:

The draw ing is only connected to the effect.
l

If you w ant the draw ing to show both in its original state and as filtered by the effect, clickon the draw ing's output port and drag it to the input port of the effect, like so:

The draw ing w ill be connected to both the effect and the scene composite.
2. Click and drag on the output port of the effect, the connect it to the scene composite.

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Chapter 18: Effects

TIP
You can quickly connect an effect as the intermediary betw een a draw ing and a composite byholding the Alt key, then clicking and dragging the effect over the connection betw een thedraw ing and the composite.

You can remove an effect from the connection betw een a draw ing and a composite using thesame technique.

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Adding a Matte Drawing to an EffectSome effects can use, or even require the use of a matte layer. The matte layer is a draw ing that determines
the area that the effect affects.
For example, a Cutter effect needs to be connected to a matte layer, because it uses the draw ing in the mattelayer to determine w hich part of the draw ing to cut out. How ever, a Colour-Scale effect can be used w ithout amatte layer, in w hich case it w ill affect the colour of all of the draw ing it is connected to, but if it is connected
to a matte layer, it w ill only affect the colours of the part of the draw ing that is covered by the matte draw ing.
In the Node view , effects and nodes that require a matte layer w ill alw ays have a matte port

at their left.

Effects and nodes that can use a matte layer, but w hich don't require it, w ill have their matte port hidden by
default, and it w ill appear if you bring a connection cable near their left edge.

TIP
The same mechanic w orks w ith Draw ing nodes. Although they do not have a matte port bydefault, but if you connect a draw ing or a composite near their left edge, a matte port w ill appear.
W hen a Draw ing node is connected to a matte, the part of the draw ing covered by the matte is cut
out from that draw ing, w hich is the same as if the draw ing w as connected to a Cutter node—see
About Masking and Cutting Parts of Elements in your Scenes on page 274.

How to connect a drawing to an effect's matte connection in the Timeline view
1. In the toolbar above the layer list in Timeline view , click on

249

Add Draw ing Layer .

Chapter 18: Effects

2. In the Add Draw ing Layer dialog, give your new draw ing layer a relevant name for a matte layer,such as "Matte-Draw ing", then click on Add and Close.

3. In the new matte draw ing layer, draw a matte for your effect. Your matte can be a simple shape,
but should be filled w ith a colour, as only parts of the matte that are opaque w ill be taken inaccount.

NOTE
Mattes can also have semi-transparent areas. Areas of the draw ing that are covered bysemi-transparent areas of the matte are partially affected by the effect.

4. In the Timeline view , locate the effect layer for w hich you created a matte and click on the Expand
button right of its name.

Just below the effect, a list of parameters for the effect appears. If the effect has a matteconnection, the first parameter in the list w ill be Matte, and its value w ill be <Drop layer here>.

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5. Click and hold on the matte layer, then drag and drop it over <Drop layer here>.

The matte layer w ill be set as the effect's matte property.

<

NOTES
l

W hen a draw ing layer is used as an effect's matte, the artw ork in that layer is not
visible in the scene, since it is only used as the effect's matte.

l

If you w ant to disconnect the effect from the matte, you can click on the Unlink
button at the right of the Matte parameter to unlink the matte layer from the effect.
This w ill make the matte draw ing visible in the scene again.

6. By default, the effect is applied to the matte's opaque areas and the matte's transparent areas are
ignored. If you w ant to invert this effect, w hich means apply the effect on the matte's transparent
areas and ignore the matte's opaque areas, double-click on the layer (but not on its name) to open
its Layer Properties dialog.
7. In the Layer Properties dialog of the effect, there should be an Invert Matte parameter. If the effecthas several tabs in its layer properties, you might have to look through each tab to find thisparameter. Check the check box for this parameter to invert the effect of the matte.

NOTE
For Cutter nodes, this parameter is just named Inverted.

How to connect a drawing to an effect's matte port in the Node view
1. In the toolbar above the layer list in Timeline view , click on

Add Draw ing Layer .

2. In the Add Draw ing Layer dialog, give your new draw ing layer a relevant name for a matte layer,such as "Matte-Draw ing", then click on Add and Close.

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Chapter 18: Effects

3. In the new matte draw ing layer, draw a matte for your effect. Your matte can be a simple shape,
but should be filled w ith a colour, as only parts of the matte that are opaque w ill be taken inaccount.

NOTE
Mattes can also have semi-transparent areas. Areas of the draw ing that are covered bysemi-transparent areas of the matte are partially affected by the effect.

4. In the Node View , locate the effect node and the matte draw ing node.

Notice that the matte draw ing node is connected to your scene's main composite.
5. Click on the input port of the composite that is connected to the matte draw ing, then drag it over tothe left edge of the effect node.

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If it's an effect that requires a matte, such as a Cutter there w ill already be a matte port at the leftedge of the effect node. If it's an effect that can optionally use a matte, such as Colour-Scale, thematte port w ill pop up w hen you drag the cable over the left edge of the effect node.
The matte draw ing is now used as the effect node's matte.
6. By default, the effect is applied to the matte's opaque areas and the matte's transparent areas are
ignored. If you w ant to invert this effect, w hich means apply the effect on the matte's transparent
areas and ignore the matte's opaque areas, double-click on the Matte icon
it. W hen an effect's matte is inverted, its matte icon also appears inverted

253of the effect to invert.

Chapter 18: Effects

Configuring an EffectOnce your effect is connected, you can configure it by changing its layer properties. There are tw o w ays toaccess a layer's properties:l

By selecting it. Its layer properties w ill display in the Layer Properties view , w hich can be added to yourw orkspace.

l

By opening its Layer Properties dialog.

NOTE
Most effects do not have a visible effect in the Camera view 's default preview mode (OpenGL
View). This preview mode is very fast and is optimized for animation, but not for effects. To

preview an effect as you change its parameters, you must set the Camera view 's preview mode toRender View

, w hich w ill update slow ly, but w ill render the effects as they w ould appear in the

final rendered image.

How to view a layer's properties in the Layer Properties view
1. Do one of the follow ing to display the Layer Properties view :lIn the top right corner of any existing view , click on the Add View button and select Layer
Properties.

l

In the top menu, select W indows > Layer Properties.

2. In the Timeline or Node view , select the effect node you w ant to configure.
The selected node's layer properties are now displaying in the Layer Properties view .

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How to open a layer's Layer Properties dialog
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Node view , locate the effect you w ant to configure and click on the Layer Properties
icon just left of the node's name.

l

In the Timeline view , double-click on the effect layer you w ant to configure, but not on its
name.

The layer's Layer Properties dialog appears.

How to configure an effect
1. In the toolbar under the Camera view , click on the Render View
the effects in the Camera view .

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If your scene currently does not have a background, the negative space in your scene
w ill render in black. To circumvent this, you can add a Colour-Card layer underneath all
the other layers in your scene by clicking on the Add Layerbutton in the toolbar

over the layer list and selecting Colour- Card.

2. In the Layer Properties view or the Layer Properties dialog, adjust the parameters of the effect until
you have the expected results.
The preview in the Camera view w ill update every time you make changes, but each change may
take a short w hile before appearing in the Camera view , as the Render Preview mode requires
more computing pow er to update.

NOTE
For more information on how to configure certain effects, refer to Examples of Effect
Usage on page 335. For detailed information on the properties of each available effect,
see refer to the Nodes / Layers section of the Reference guide.

3. Once you are done, you can dismiss the Layer Properties dialog if it w as open, and you can set thepreview mode of the Camera view back to OpenGL by clicking on the OpenGL View
the toolbar at the bottom of the Camera view .

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Animating an Effect
You may need to animate some effects to obtain the expected results. For example, you may w ant the radiusof a Glow effect to slow ly increase and decrease to make it pulsate throughout a scene, or you may w ant thetransparency of a Transparency effect to increase from 0% to 100% to make a draw ing vanish.
Almost all numerical parameters in an effect can be attached to a function. A function allow s you to set a
parameter to different values at different points in the scene by adding keyframes to it, and setting each
keyframes to a specific value. Betw een keyframes, the value of the parameter w ill progress from the value ofthe previous keyframe to the value of the next keyframe. Draw ing layers are animated by having theircoordinates associated to functions. Likew ise, effects can be animated by associating their parameters tofunctions.
Some effect parameters can be animated directly in the Timeline view , but not all. W hen you expand an
effect's parameters in the Timeline view , some of its parameters may be hidden to avoid cluttering theTimeline view . You can animate those parameters from the Layer Properties view or the Layer Properties
dialog, w hich display all of a layer's parameters.

NOTE
To learn how to preview animated effects, refer to About Effects Preview on page 267.

How to animate an effect parameter in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , locate the effect you w ant to animate, and click on the

Expand button rightof its name.

The list of parameters that effect's paramaters that are available in the Timeline view appears.

2. In the right area of the Timeline view , in the same row as the parameter you w ant to animate, selectthe frame w here you w ant to create the first animation keyframe for the effect.

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3. Create a keyframe by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the

Add Keyframe button.

l

Right-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

4. In the left area of the Timeline view , under the Parameters column, adjust the value of theparameter for this keyframe by doing one of the follow ing:lClick and hold on the value of the parameter, then drag it tow ards the left to reduce its
value, or tow ards the right to increase its value.

lClick on the value of the parameter. A text field w ill appear. Type in the new value of theparameter, then press Enter.

5. In the right area of the Timeline view , click on the frame w here you w ant to create the second
animation keyframe for the effect.

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6. Create the second keyframe for your effect's animation by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the

Add Keyframe button.

l

Right-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

7. In the Parameters column, adjust the value of the parameter at the current keyframe.
8. Repeat the steps to create as many animation keyframe for your effect as needed.
9. To adjust the timing betw een the keyframes of your animation, select the first keyframe.
10. In the Timeline toolbar, click on the

Set Ease for Multiple Parameters button.

The Set Ease for Multiple Parameters dialog appear. The function graph in this dialog w ill befocused on the first

keyframe in your animation, w hich should have ato it, pointing to the right.

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Bezier handle right nextChapter 18: Effects

11. Click on the

Bezier handle and drag it tow ards the right, at any angle, to adjust the ease-in of theanimation.

12. Click on Apply/Next.
The Set Ease for Multiple Parameters dialog w ill focus on the second keyframe. If this is the last
keyframe in the animation, it w ill only have one Bezier handle, pointing tow ards the left. If there are
more animation keyframes after this one, it w ill have tw o Bezier handles, one pointing in eachdirection.

13. Click on the left

Bezier handle and drag it tow ards the left, at any angle, to adjust the ease-out of

the animation betw een the previous keyframe and the current keyframe.

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14. If there is a

Bezier handle pointing tow ards the right, click on it and drag it tow ards the right, at

any angle, to adjust the ease-in of the animation betw een the current keyframe and the next
keyframe.

15. Repeat the previous steps until the timing for your animation is adjusted throughout the entire
scene.

How to animate an effect in the Layer Properties dialog
1. Open the effect's Layer Properties by doing one of the follow ing:l

Add the Layer Properties view to your w orkspace, then select the effect in the Timeline orNode view .

lIn the Timeline view , double-click on the effect layer, but not on its name.

l

In the Node view , locate the effect node and click on its Layer Properties

button.

2. In the effect's layer properties, locate the parameter that you w ant to animate and click on the
Function button to its right.

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The parameter's input field w ill be greyed out. This is because you cannot directly edit a parameter
once it is attached to a function. The field w ill indicate the name of the function that w as created forit, in this format:
Name of node: Name of function: Value at current frame
3. Click on the parameter's Function button again.
The Bezier Editor dialog opens.

This dialog w ill allow you to animate the function. The function graph at the bottom is made torepresent the values of the function throughout each frame in the scene.
4. In the function graph, click and drag on the red cursor
create your first animation keyframe.

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5. Click on the
A keyframe

Add Keyframe button to create the first animation keyframe for the effect.
is created and should be visible in the function graph. If you do not see it, that is

because the function graph is not positioned to include the keyframe w ithin its frame. To move thefunction graph to view the function's keyframe, click on the

Reset View or

Reset View

Vertically button.

6. Adjust the value of the parameter at the current frame by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Value field over the function graph, type in the desired value for the parameter.

l

In the function graph, click and drag on theor dow n to decrease it.

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keyframe , and move it up to increase its value,Chapter 18: Effects

TIP
If you w ant to set the keyframe to a value that is outside of the function graph's
frame, you can press the 1 key to zoom out. You can also press the 2 key to zoom
back in.

7. Click and drag on the red cursor to move it to the frame w here you w ant to create your second
animation keyframe.

8. Click on the Add Keyframe

button to create the second animation keyframe for the effect.

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9. Adjust the value of the parameter at the current frame by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Value field over the function graph, type in the desired value for the parameter.

l

In the function graph, click and drag on the

keyframe , and move it up to increase its value,or dow n to decrease it.

10. If you w ant to adjust the timing of the animation betw een the first and second keyframes, do thefollow ing:lClick and drag theBezier handle of the first keyframe tow ards the right, in any direction,

to affect the ease-in of the animation.

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Chapter 18: EffectslClick and drag theBezier handle of the second keyframe tow ards the left, in any direction,

to affect the ease-out of the animation.

11. Repeat these steps until you created and timed every animation keyframe required to animate youreffect.

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About Effects Preview
T-HFND-010-010
Most effects must be rendered so you can preview them properly. Some effects can be displayed in the
OpenGL view , but most of them must be rendered and preview ed in the Render Mode of the Camera view .
Once you preview your effect, you may w ant to adjust it. By default, as soon as you modify a parameter,
Harmony w ill recalculate the preview image. If your scene is heavy and you do not w ant the preview rendered
automatically, deselect the Auto-Render option and do the preview update manually.
You might also need to play back your animation and see the final effect before final rendering. But first, youmust connect a Render Preview node to each effect.
You cannot play back your animation in Render mode. You must perform a render or a preview render to see
your animation w ith the final effects or use a Render Preview node for each effect. Effects must be calculated
before they can be view ed in real time.
To make your preview s calculate faster, you may w ant to render them at a smaller resolution. You can use thePreview Resolution command so you w ill not have to modify the resolution of your scene every time you makea check preview .

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Previewing Effects in Render Mode
T-HFND-010-011
You can preview a single final frames w ith all effects calculated in the Camera view w hen you enable theRender mode. You cannot playback your animation in Render mode. You can also disable the auto-render
option w hen adjusting several effect parameters to avoid slow ing dow n your computer.

How to preview effects in Render mode
1. In the Camera view status bar, click the Render View

button.

In the bottom-right corner of the Camera view , the progress bar indicates the status of the render.
Depending on the size of the frame to render, it may take several seconds.

How to disable the Auto- Render option
1. In the Camera view status bar, click the Auto-Render

button. In the top menu, you can enable

and disable Scene > Render > Auto- Render.
Once the Auto-Render option is disabled, you must request the preview update by clicking the
Auto-Render

button.

How to manually update the rendering preview
1. In the Camera view status bar, click the Render268

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Previewing Effects in OpenGL ModeIf you w ant to playback your animation and see rendered effects, you can use the Preview node to see youreffects in the Camera view OpenGL mode.

How to preview effects in OpenGL mode
1. To adjust the effect's visual controls in OpenGL mode, from the Node Library view , drag a Render
Preview node to the Node view . Connect it betw een the effect and the Composite nodes.

2. In the Camera view , enable the OpenGL

mode to see the rendered effect in OpenGL.

As you modify the effect's parameters and controls, the frames are rendered to ensure a real-timeplayback. The larger the resolution and the heavier the effect, the longer the rendering process w ill
take. Green frames are rendered, red frames are pending and yellow frames are rendering.

3. To display the controls, select the node in the Node view , and do one of the follow ing:‣

In the Camera View toolbar, click the Show Control‣

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

‣

Press Shift + F11 (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + F11 (macOS).

The controls appear.

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4. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or press Shift + T.

5. In the Camera view , adjust the controls.
6. To set the preview parameters, click the Layer Properties

button of the Preview Render node in

the Node view .
The Preview Render properties display.

Parameter

Description

Name

Allow s you to enter a name for the node.

Preview Resolution

Lets you set the resolution used to generate the preview .
Resolutions range from 1/4 to 1/64th of the scene resolution.

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Do Not Render: Does not render any effects in your scene.

Outdated Images ModeShow W ithout Effects: Show s the outdated images w ithout
any effect.
Use Previously Rendered: Uses the previously rendered
images. The old images w ill be used until the new ones are
rendered.

Pre-render Next Frames

Starts a pre-render job for every frame of the timeline.

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Playing Back Effects
T-HFND-010-012
To playback your effects, you need to do a temporary render.

How to play back effects
1. In the Playback toolbar, click the Render and Playbutton.

The Play node opens and loads the frames.

2. Once the frames are loaded, click the Playbutton in the Play w indow .

3. Select Scene > Render > Cancel Preview Render to cancel the rendering.

NOTE
W hile preview ing effects, you can press the Spacebar to stop and start playback.

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Changing the Preview Resolution
The Preview Resolution button allow s you to quickly get a preview at half, one-third, or one-quarter of thescene resolution.

How to change Preview Resolution
1. In the Camera view status bar, click the Preview Resolution button.

2. Select any of the follow ing resolution:‣

1:1 of Scene Resolution‣

1:2 of Scene Resolution‣

1:3 of Scene Resolution‣

1:4 of Scene Resolution‣

1:8 of Scene Resolution‣

1:16 of Scene Resolution‣

1:32 of Scene Resolution‣

Progressive Render

You can also enable/disable Progressive Render Preview option:l

From the Top menu, select View > Progressive Render Preview .

3. Preview your effects animation.

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About Masking and Cutting Parts of Elements in your Scenes
An important part of staging and rigging is cutting. Cutting is the process of making parts of a draw ing thatintersect w ith another draw ing invisible. It allow s you, for example, to mask parts of a character that should
appear behind a background element that is draw n on the same layer as other background elements, to mask
tw o parts of a rig that should not overlap, or to confine an effect w ithin the outlines of an element in yourscene.
There are tw o methods to cutting in Harmony:lUsing the matte port of a draw ing layer. W ith this port, you can connect any draw ing layer to anotherdraw ing layer or composite, and use the latter as the draw ing layer's matte. Any part of the draw ing
that intersects w ith the artw ork in its matte w ill be hidden.

lUsing a Cutter effect. A cutter effect can be connected to a draw ing, effect or composite, and then canuse any other draw ing layer or composite as its matte. Any part of w hat is connected to the Cutter
effect w hich intersects w ith the artw ork in its matte w ill be hidden.

Hence, if you only w ant to hide parts of a single draw ing layer, you can use the draw ing's matte port. If you
w ant to hide parts of the image output by a composite or an effect, you w ill have to use a cutter effect

NOTE
In either case, the effects of cutting can be inverted. W hen inverted, only the parts of the artw ork
that intersect w ith the matte are visible, and everything else is hidden.

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Using the Matte Port of a Drawing Layer
Each draw ing in a Harmony scene has their ow n Matte port. Connecting a draw ing or composite to a draw ing's
matte port w ill make the parts of the draw ing that intersect w ith the matte image invisible.
Optionally, you can invert a draw ing layer's matte. This w ill make parts of the draw ing that intersect w ith thematte image visible, and everything else hidden.

How to connect a matte drawing node to a drawing node
1. In the toolbar above the layer list in Timeline view , click on the Add Layerbutton and selectDrawing.
2. Give your new draw ing layer a relevant name for a matte layer, such as "Matte-Draw ing", then click
on Add and Close.

3. In the new matte draw ing layer, draw a matte for your effect. Your matte can be a simple shape,
but should be filled w ith a colour, as only parts of the matte that are opaque w ill be taken inaccount.

NOTE
Mattes can also have semi-transparent areas. Areas of the draw ing that are covered bya semi-transparent area of the matte w ill appear semi-transparent. For example, if amatte is filled w ith a colour that has an alpha value of 64 (25% opaque), instead ofmaking the parts of the draw ing it covers completely invisible, it w ill subtract thematte's opacity from the opacity of those parts of the draw ing, making them 75%
opaque.

4. In the Node view , click on the output port of the matte draw ing node and drag the cable to the leftedge of the draw ing node. A Matte port w ill appear. Release the mouse button to connect the275

Chapter 18: Effects

matte draw ing node to the matte port of the draw ing node.

At this point, areas of the draw ing layer that intersect w ith the artw ork in the matte draw ing node
are hidden.
5. If you w ant to invert the matte effect for the draw ing node, so that the artw ork that intersects w ith
the artw ork in the matte layer is visible and that everything else is hidden, double-click on the
Cutter node's Matte

icon to toggle its Inverted parameter. W hen an effect's matte is inverted, its

matte port also appears inverted.

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Using the Cutter Node
T-HFND-010-009A
You can use the Cutter node to hide parts of a draw ing, a group or an effect. The Cutter node must beconnected to a draw ing that w ill serve as a matte. Parts of the draw ing, group or effect that intersect w ith thematte draw ing w ill be hidden.
Optionally, you can also invert the Cutter node's matte, w hich w ill make parts of the draw ing, group or effectthat intersect w ith the matte draw ing visible, and everything else w ill be hidden.

How to use the Cutter effect
1. Select a draw ing layer and do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node Library view , select the Cutter effect and drag it to the Node view .

lIn the Node view , right-click and select Insert > Combine > Cutter.

TIP
You can also create Cutter nodes by pressing a keyboard shortcut. To be able to do this,you must assign a keyboard shortcut to the Create Cutter command in the Node View
section of the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog. To access 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 Premium > Keyboard Shortcuts.

2. W hile holding the Alt key, move the Cutter node over the cable connecting the draw ing to yourscene's main composite. The Cutter node w ill become connected as an intermediary betw een thedraw ing and its composite.

1. In the toolbar above the layer list in Timeline view , click on

Add Draw ing Layer .

2. In the Add Draw ing Layer dialog, give your new draw ing layer a relevant name for a matte layer,such as "Matte-Draw ing", then click on Add and Close.

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3. In the new matte draw ing layer, draw a matte for your effect. Your matte can be a simple shape,
but should be filled w ith a colour, as only parts of the matte that are opaque w ill be taken inaccount.

NOTE
Mattes can also have semi-transparent areas. Areas of the draw ing that are covered bysemi-transparent areas of the matte are partially affected by the effect.

4. In the Node view , connect the output port of the matte draw ing node to the Cutter node's left input(matte) port.

At this point, areas of the draw ing layer that intersect w ith the artw ork in the matte draw ing node
are hidden.
5. If you w ant to invert the Cutter's effect, so that the artw ork that intersects w ith the artw ork in thematte layer is visible and that everything else is hidden, double-click on the Cutter node's
icon to toggle its Inverted parameter. W hen an effect's matte is inverted, its matte port also

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appears inverted.

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About Opacity and Transparency
Harmony has tw o w ays of adding transparency to your scene:l

The Opacity parameter is a parameter each draw ing layer. It is set to 100% by default. By low ering it,
you can make an individual layer appear more transparent.

l

The Transparency effect is an effect node that can be attached to individual layers or to a composite. It
has a Transparency parameter that is set to 50 by default. The higher it is, the more transparent thelayer or composite it is attached to w ill appear.

It is important to know w hen to use either approach. For example, to make a character composed of several
layers transparent, it is preferable to connect the character rig's nodes to a composite and connect theTransparency effect to this composite, as reducing the opacity of individual layers w ill make their overlapping
parts visible—see About Composite Nodes on page 1238.

You can how ever animate a Transparency effect's parameter in the Timeline view , so this may be a preferable
approach even if you only w ant to animate the transparency for a single layer. To learn how to add andanimate an effect, see Adding Effects Nodes on page 245, Connecting Effects on page 247 and Animating an
Effect on page 257.

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Setting the Layer Opacity
If you need specific layers to appear semi-transparent, you can quickly set a draw ing layer's opacity parameter
directly in the Timeline view .
A draw ing layer's opacity parameter w ill appear in the Timeline view w hen this draw ing layer has thumbnails
display enabled:

How to set a drawing layer's opacity
1. In the Timeline view , do one of the follow ing:lLeft of the layer's name in the Layers list, click on the Show ThumbnailslSelect the draw ing layer and press T.

lLeft of the Layers list header, click on the Show All Thumbnails

icon.

icon.

The Opacity parameter is displayed left of the draw ing layer's thumbnail.

2. Do one of the follow ing:lDouble-click on the value of the Opacity parameter and type in its new value.

lClick and drag the value of the Opacity parameter to the left to reduce it, or to the right toincrease it.

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Overriding Colours and Textures
The Colour Override Effect is one of the most useful and commonly used effects in Harmony, as it considerably
expands the flexibility w ith w hich you can use colours and textures in your animation. W ith the Colour
Override effect, you can replace individual colours or textures used your scene's draw ings w ith other colours
or textures. If your scene has different clones of the same palette, you can also use the Colour Override effectto make certain draw ings use specific clones of the palette, w hereas they w ould otherw ise use the topmost
clone in the palette list.

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Overriding a Colour
W ith the Colour-Override node, you can change the colour of some sw atches.

How to override colours
1. From the Colours section, select the colour sw atch to modify and move it to the Individual Colour
Overrides section. Several options are available to modify your colours.

2. Once the sw atch appears in the Colour-Overrides section, click the drop-dow n arrow and selectone of the follow ing options from the Mode menu:lOverride colour: W hen selecting a colour sw atch from a clone palette (not set as thecurrent palette), use this option to override the current colour and use the sw atchfrom the clone palette over the corresponding one in the current palette.

lColour Not Visible: Renders the selected colour invisible in the Camera view .

l

New RGB Only: Overrides the colour sw atch RGB value w hile maintaining its originalalpha value. You can select a new colour by clicking on the colour sw atch andchoosing a new colour from the Colour Picker w indow .

l

New Alpha Only: Overrides the sw atch's alpha channel w hile maintaining its original
RGB values. You can select a new alpha value by clicking on the colour sw atch andchoosing an alpha value from the Colour Picker w indow .

l

New RGBA: Overrides the sw atch's colour and alpha values. You can select a newcolour by clicking on the colour sw atch and choosing an alpha value from the Colour
Picker w indow .

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Overriding a Colour W ith a Texture
W ith the Colour Override node, you can apply a texture over a selected colour. Any zone painted w ith theselected colour sw atch w ill be overridden by the selected texture.

There are different w ays to apply the texture over your colour:

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NOTE
The result w ill only be visible in the Camera view in Render mode. In OpenGL mode, you w ill see
the original colour.

The matrix position can be modified using the Edit Gradient and Texture

tool. To do so, your draw ing zone

must be painted w ith a gradient sw atch or texture sw atch.

Texture - Original Matrix
Overrides the sw atch's colour w ith a pattern or texture. You must right-click under the Texture header to bringup the Brow ser w indow to search for your texture. The texture's default matrix (fixed proportion andorientation) is mapped to the full size of the bounding box of each colour area to be overridden.

Texture - Global Bbox Matrix

Overrides the colour w ith a texture that is scaled non-proportionally to the size of the bounding box
encompassing the colour areas to be overridden. W ith multiple objects, it w ill look as though their fills w ere
all traced and cut from the same piece of stretched or squashed fabric.

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Texture - Global Bbox Centered

Overrides the colour w ith a texture that is scaled proportionally to the size of the bounding box encompassing
all colour areas to be overridden. W ith multiple objects, it w ill look as though their fills w ere all traced and cut
from the same piece of fabric.

Texture - Contour Bbox Matrix

Overrides the colour w ith a disproportionately scaled texture for each individual colour area. In other w ords,
each fill area w ill not only have the texture scaled to its individual proportions, but also stretched or squashedto fit w ithin its contours.

Texture - Scale to Screen

Disproportionately scales the texture to the output resolution before applying it as an override.

Modulate Pencil Texture Colour (Replace Transformation)
Overrides the initial texture fill's transformation (matrix) established w hen you painted the line or modified it
w ith the Edit Gradient and Texture

tool. This transformation override w ill be done by modifying the Peg's

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position.

Modulate Pencil Texture Colour (Combine Transformation)
Combines the initial texture fill's transformation (matrix) established w hen you drew the line or modified it
w ith the Edit Gradient and Texture

tool w ith the new position transformation you w ill create w hen

modifying the Peg's position.

Override with This Texture Centered on Overridden Objects' Centre

Overrides the colour w ith a texture that is centered in the bounding box encompassing all colour areas to be
overridden. W ith multiple objects, it w ill look as though their fills w ere all traced and cut from the same pieceof fabric. The texture w ill not be stretched or distorted. It w ill be tiled in proportion. The centre of the texturezone w ill be centered in the middle of the bounding box's centre.
W ith this option, you can connect a Peg in the middle port to apply a transformation on the texture's position.
The advantage of being able to animate the texture is that it can be adjusted, scaled, rotated and translated tofollow the general motion of a character if you w ant the texture to follow instead of having the charactermoving across the fixed texture—see How to animate a texture override w ith a peg on page 290.

Texture - Use Input Peg

Overrides the colour w ith a texture that is scaled non-proportionally to the size of the bounding box
encompassing the colour areas to be overridden. W ith multiple objects, it w ill look as though their fills w ere
all traced and cut from the same piece of stretched or squashed fabric.
W ith this option, you can connect a Peg in the middle port to apply a transformation on the texture's position.

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Textures - Use Input Image
How to apply a texture over a colour
1. From the Colours section, select the colour sw atch to override and drag it to the Individual Colour
Overrides section.
2. Once the sw atch appears in the Individual Colour Overrides section, select it and then click on theMode drop-dow n button and select one of the follow ing options:lTexture - Original MatrixlTexture - Global Bbox MatrixlTexture - Global Bbox CenteredlTexture - Contour Bbox MatrixlTexture - Scale to ScreenlOverride W ith This Texture Centered on Overridden Objects CentrelTexture - Use Input Pegl

Texture - Use Image Image

The Brow se

icon appears in the New column.

3. In the Colour-Override section, in the New column, click the Brow se
texture.

4. Brow se for your texture file.

5. Click Open.

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6. If you w ant to select a new texture to replace the existing one, click the Brow sebutton again

and select a new one to replace the existing one.

How to animate a texture override with a peg
1. From the Node Library view , drag a Peg node to the Node view .

2. Connect the Peg node in the Colour Override's middle port. The green port w ill take thetransformation of the Peg to modify the texture's position.
3. In the Node view , select the Peg node.
4. In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the Translate, Rotate

5. In the Camera view bottom toolbar, enable the Rendermode.

or Scaletool.

6. In the Camera view , move the Peg's position. As you move it, you can see the texture being
modified. You can animate the position by adding position keyframes in the Timeline view . You can
use the Random Fill function to quickly create a random shake.

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Modifying a Texture Fill's Transformation
W hen you paint a zone w ith a bitmap texture sw atch, you may w ant to modify the size or position of the
texture's matrix at the compositing level. For example, you may w ant to do this to animate the position of the
texture in a zone. W ith the Colour-Override and a Peg node, you can animate the texture.

How to modify a texture fill's transformation
1. From the Node Library view , drag a Colour-Override node and a Peg node to the Node view .

1. In the Node view , connect the Colour-Override node under the Draw ing node you w ant to animate
the line for. Note that for a cut-out puppet, you w ould connect the Colour-Override under the final
Composite, set as Pass-Through.
2. Connect the Peg node in the Colour Override's middle port. The green port w ill take thetransformation of the Peg to modify the texture's position.
3. Click the Colour-Override's square yellow properties button to open its property editor.
4. In the Palettes section, select the palette containing the bitmap texture sw atch.
5. In the Colours section, select the texture sw atch you used to paint the draw ing and drag it to theIndividual Colour Overrides section.

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6. Once the sw atch appears in the Individual Colour Overrides section, select it and then click theOverride Mode button and select one of the follow ing:lOverride the colour's transformation: Overrides the initial texture's transformation(matrix) established w hen you painted the zones or modified w ith the Edit Gradientand Texture tool. This transformation override w ill be done by modifying the Peg's
position.

l

Combine the colour's transformation: Combines the initial texture's transformation(matrix) established w hen you painted the zones or modified w ith the Edit Gradientand Texture tool w ith the new position transformation you w ill create w hen
modifying the Peg's position.

7. In the Node view , select the Peg node.
8. In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the Translate, Rotate

9. In the Camera view bottom toolbar, enable the Rendermode.

or Scaletool.

10. In the Camera view , move the Peg's position. As you move it, you w ill see the texture fills being
modified. You can animate the position by adding position keyframes in the Timeline view .

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Overriding a Texture on a Pencil LineA pencil line can be draw n w ith a texture but also painted w ith a texture sw atch. W ith the Colour-Override
node, you can override the pencil line's texture or texture fill and replace it by another one, or you can animate
the texture's position.
W ith the Edit Gradient and Texture

tool, you can modify the size and position for both types of textures ona pencil line; the draw ing texture and the filling texture. By doing that, you are actually modifying the texture's
matrix.

W hen you paint a pencil line w ith a bitmap colour sw atch, you can override the position of the texture fill using
the Colour-Override node and a Peg.
You can modify and animate a pencil texture's position using the Colour-Override node and a Peg node. This
lets you create a shaky line style w hich is a very popular design style. The main issue w ith this style is that itw orks w ell in traditional and tradigital animation, w hen the artist draw s the line differently on each draw ing,
but it does not w ork in cut-out animation w here the same draw ing is used for the entire animation. The same
issue happens w hen the same draw ing is held for more than a few frames. The line moves during theanimation, but stops moving during the draw ing hold, w hich looks bad.

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W ith the Colour-Override node, you can animate the position of the pencil line texture independently from thedraw ing exposure. Even if a draw ing's exposure is held over several frames, the line w ill move.

How to modify the pencil line texture

1. From the Node Library view , drag a Colour-Override node and a Peg node to the Node view .
2. In the Node view , connect the Colour-Override node under the Draw ing node you w ant to animate
the line for. Note that for a cut-out puppet, you w ould connect the Colour-Override under the final
Composite, set as Pass-Through.
3. Connect the Peg node in the Colour Override's middle port. The green port w ill take thetransformation of the Peg to modify the texture's position.
4. Click the Colour-Override's square yellow properties button to open its property editor.
5. In the Palettes section, select the palette containing the colour to override.
6. In the Colours section, select the bitmap texture sw atch you used to paint your lines and drag it to
the Individual Colour Overrides section.

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7. Once the sw atch appears, select it and then click on the Override Mode button. Select one of thefollow ing options from the drop-dow n menu:lModulate Pencil Texture Colour (replace transformation): Overrides the initialtexture fill's transformation (matrix) established w hen you painted the line or
modified it w ith the Edit Gradient and Texture

tool. This transformation override

w ill be done by modifying the Peg's position.
lModulate Pencil Texture Colour (combine transformation): Combines the initialtexture fill's transformation (matrix) established w hen you drew the line or modified it
w ith the Edit Gradient and Texture

tool w ith the new position transformation you

w ill create w hen modifying the Peg's position.
8. In the Node view , select the Peg node.
9. In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the Translate, Rotate

10. In the Camera view bottom toolbar, enable the Rendermode.

or Scaletool.

11. In the Camera view , move the Peg's position. As you move it, you w ill see the texture fills being
modified. You can animate the position by adding position keyframes in the Timeline view .

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How to modify the pencil line texture
1. From the Node Library view , drag a Colour-Override node and a Peg node to the Node view .

2. In the Node view , connect the Colour-Override node under the Draw ing node you w ant to animate
the line for. Note that for a cut-out puppet, you w ould connect the Colour-Override under the final
Composite, set as Pass-Through.

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3. Connect the Peg node in the Colour Override's middle port. The green port w ill take thetransformation of the Peg to modify the texture's position.
4. Click the Colour-Override's square yellow properties button to open its property editor.
5. In the Palettes section, select the pencil texture palette containing the texture you w ant to use. Bydefault, every scene has a pencil texture palette named after the name of the scene follow ed by _pencil_texture.

6. In the Colours section, select the pencil texture used to draw your lines and drag it to the Individual
Colour Overrides section.

7. W hen the sw atch appears in the Individual Colour Overrides section, select it and click theOverride Mode button. Select one of the follow ing:lChange Pencil Texture Transformation: Overrides the initial pencil texture's transformation(matrix) established w hen you drew the line or modified w ith the Edit Gradient and Texture
tool. This transformation override w ill be done by modifying the Peg's position.

lModulate Pencil Texture Matrix: Combines the initial pencil texture's transformation(matrix) that w as established w hen you drew the line or modified w ith the Edit Gradient and298

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Texturetool w ith the new position transformation you w ill create w hen modifying the

Peg's position.
8. In the Node view , select the Peg node.
9. In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the Translate, Rotate

10. In the Camera view bottom toolbar, enable the Rendermode.

or Scaletool.

11. In the Camera view , move the Peg's position. As you move it, you w ill see the pencil texture being
modified. You can animate the position by adding position keyframes in the Timeline view . You can
use the Random Fill function to quickly create a random shake.

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Overriding a Colour with a Texture Sequence
In production, you may need to map a live action sequence or bitmap image sequence into a zone or over
several zones. For example, you could have a mirror shattered into several pieces and you w ant to map video
or someone talking into those pieces. You can paint the mirror pieces w ith a specific colour sw atch and use theColour-Override node to map the image sequence into the pieces. It can also be a single image w ithout having
to be an image sequence.

NOTE
To learn how to modify a texture's exposure based on an animation or character's motion, see
Animating Textures Based on Action on page 302.

How to override a colour with a bitmap image sequence
1. From the Node Library view , drag a Colour-Override node to the Node view .
2. In the Node view , connect the Colour-Override node under the draw ing node that contains the line
you w ant to animate.
3. Connect the Live Action or Bitmap Image Sequence node in the Colour-Override's left port. The
blue left port w ill input the images into the colour zones. Note that your image sequence's
exposure needs to span over all the frames you it to be visible for. If there is not images exposed,
the colour w ill not be overridden w hen frames are blank.

4. Click the Colour-Override's square yellow button to open its property editor.
5. In the Colour-Override w indow , in the Palettes section, select the palette containing the colour tooverride.
6. In the Colours section, select the pencil texture used to draw your lines and drag it to the ColourOverride section.

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7. Once the sw atch appears in the Colour-Override section, select it and then click the Override Modebutton and select Texture - Use Image Input.
8. In the Node view , select the bitmap image node.
9. In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the Translate, Rotate

10. In the Camera view bottom toolbar, enable the Rendermode.

or Scaletool.

11. In the Camera view , move the Bitmap Image position. As you move it, you w ill see the texture fills
being modified. You can animate the position by adding position keyframes in the Timeline view .

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Animating Textures Based on Action
An effect often applied at the compositing stage is the texture overlays. W ith this effect, you can replace solid
colours in your character w ith tiled-on bitmap textures, or replace their solid outlines w ith textured, naturallooking pencil lines.
To enhance this effect, you may w ant the texture override to be animated. The texture override can becomposed of multiple draw ings, w hich can be looped through as the scene plays out. You may w ant thesetexture draw ings to change at a constant pace, or only w hen the character's action is fast enough to w arrant it,
to give it a more organic or stylized look.
This is w here the Exposure Fill Using Render Change command comes in handy. This functionality allow s you
to automatically fill the texture layer's column w ith different draw ing exposures relative to how intense theaction is in the rendered image. You can define how much action is enough to w arrant a draw ing sw ap, letting
the textures sit still w hen the character is inert but making them animated w hen they move.
The Exposure Fill Using Render Change command can be applied on any draw ing layer, but the most common
case w here this feature w ill be w hen a layer containing texture draw ings is being used by a Colour-Override
through its texture port to replace one of a character's colours w ith a texture. The draw ing layer containing the
texture draw ings should have at least a few different texture draw ings for the Exposure Fill Using Render
Change command to be able to sw ap betw een them. For more information on this approach, see Overriding a
Colour w ith a Texture Sequence on page 300.

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Using the Exposure Fill Using Render Change to Animate a TextureFill
You can use the Exposure Fill Using Render Change functionality to automatically fill the column of a texture
override layer w ith draw ing exposures. The exposures w ill change more or less depending on the amount of
motion that occurs betw een every frame, allow ing you to easily make textures animated w hen the character ismoving, and make them still w hen the character is not.

TIP
Harmony w ill analyze how much action occurs betw een every frame based on the image sent toyour scene's Display node. Hence, if you prefer that Harmony only analyzes the action for specificelements of your scene, you can add a Display node to your scene, connect it to the elements you
w ish to analyze, and use it as your current display—see About Displays on page 1257.

NOTE
The Exposure Fill Using Render Change command modifies the timing (exposure) of the selected
layer. If you modify the character animation, you may need to reapply the exposure fill as the
texture's exposure might no longer give the same final result.

How to animate a texture using the Exposure Fill Using Render Change functionality
1. In the Timeline view , select the textures or live-action sequence.

2. From the top menu, select Scene > Default Display > desired Display node.
3. From the top menu, select Animation > Exposure Fill > Using Render Change.
W ait w hile Harmony creates a low resolution render of the images to preview .

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4. In the Fill Exposure Using Render Changes w indow , use the Frame slider to view the motion
change analysis.
5. Based on your style preference, adjust the parameters to assign w hen the texture exposurechanges w ill occur. You can adjust the type of filter to use for the motion detection, as w ell as
threshold values to indicate w hat w ill be considered a big enough motion variation for an exposurechange.

Parameter

Description

Frame: Use the slider to see w hen a change is necessary. A
red edge indicates there is a large enough motion for the
texture to change.
Changes Detection Settings
Use: Lets you use either the Red, Green, Blue, or Alphachannel, or Luminance difference betw een frames to analyze
the motion changes. The Alpha channel is selected by default
as it is the most commonly used parameter.

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Pixel Value Change Threshold: The percentage of change ina pixel to be considered different from one frame to another.
The higher the value, the more change is required w hen
comparing tw o images in order for a new texture to be used.

Area Change Threshold: The percentage of non-empty
pixels that must change from one frame to another to beconsidered different.

These settings let you change the exposure. You can alsodecide on how many images you w ant to cycle.

First/Last Frame: Lets you set the first and last frame for the
exposure change. You can set this for the entire scene or forpart of the scene (frames 20 to 32 for example).

Number of Drawings in Cycle: Lets you set of the number ofdraw ings to include in the cycle.
Fill Settings
First Drawing Used in Cycle: Lets you set the first draw ing
used in the cycle. Your draw ings must be named using
numeric values only, or number values w ith a prefix or suffix.
It cannot only be letters.

Drawing Name Prefix: Adds a prefix before the number. For
example, texture_01, texture_02 and so on.

Drawing Name Suffix: Adds a suffix after the number. For
example, 01_texture, 02_texture and so on.

6. Click OK.
The selected layer's exposure is updated. If you modify the exposure of motion in your animation,
you may need to repeat this procedure.

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About Fading Colours
Using the Colour Fade effect, you can change the colours of a part of your scene, such as a character, a prop ora background, to a different set of colours over a specific span of time.
The Colour Fade effect w orks a lot like the Colour Override effect, except that it has an animatable parameter,
Fade, the value of w hich can go from 0 to 100: At 0, the colours in the image are unchanged, at 100, thecolours in the image are replaced by the override colours, and at 50, the colours in the image are an even mix
betw een the original colours and the override colours. Hence, by animating this parameter from 0 to 100, you
can create a colour fade effect.
Just like w ith the Colour Override effect, you can use cloned palettes to replace several colours at the sametime w ith the colours in an alternate palette, or you can select individual colours in the image and replace themw ith custom colours one by one.

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Adding a Colour- Fade EffectTo create a Colour Fade effect, you must add a Colour Fade node to your scene and connect it under theelement, effect or composite w hich you w ant the effect to be applied.

NOTE
Just like the Colour Override effect, the Colour Fade effect can only w ork on vector draw ings, as it
uses colour IDs to identify w hich colours to override.

How to add a Colour- Fade effect
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Node Library view , select the Filter category and the Colour-Correct sub-category,then drag and drop the Colour-Fade node to the Node View .

lIn the top-left corner of the Node View , open the View Menu and select Insert > Filter >Colour Correct.

l

Right-click in the Node View and, in the context menu, select Insert > Filter > Colour-Correct

A Colour-Correct node is added to the Node View .
2. Press and hold the Alt key.
3. Click and drag the Colour-Correct node over the cable under the element, effect or composite tow hich you w ant to apply the colour fade effect.

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Using the Colour Fade Effect to Fade Individual Colours
You can use the Colour Fade effect to change specific colours in your artw ork w ith custom colours.

How to configure the Colour- Fade effect to fade specific colours to custom colours
1. In the Node View , click on the Layer Properties button of the Colour-Correct node.
The Layer Properties dialog of the Colour-Correct node appears.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Palettes list, select the palette containing the colour that you w ant to change. Then, in
the Colours list, select the colour sw atch for the colour you w ant to change.

l

If the colour you w ant to override is visible in the Camera or Draw ing view , you can instantly
selected it by clicking on the Colour Eyedropper button above the Colours list, then clicking
on the colour in the Camera or Draw ing view . The colour w ill be selected in the Colours list.

3. Click on the Add button betw een the Colours list and the Individual Colour Overrides list.
The sw atch is added to the Individual Colour Overrides list.
4. In the Individual Colour Overrides list, in the row for the colour you just added, click on the dropdow n button right of the Mode column to select the colour override mode:lOverride Colour: If this colour is overridden by one of the palettes in the W hole PaletteOverrides list, this option w ill prevent this specific colour from being overridden.

lColour Not Visible: Areas filled w ith the selected colour become invisible.

l

New RGB Only: Areas filled w ith the selected colour fade to a new colour w ith custom red,green and blue values, but the colour’s alpha value remain unchanged.

l

New Alpha Only: Areas filled w ith the selected colour value fade to the same colour w ith adifferent alpha value.

l

New RGBA: Areas filled w ith the selected colour fade to a new colour w ith custom red,green, blue and alpha values.

5. If you selected New RGB Only, New Alpha Only or New RGBA, click on the colour sw atch in the
New column to open a colour picker and select the new colour and/or alpha values.

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Using the Colour Fade Effect to Fade to a Different Palette
You can use the Colour Fade effect to change the colours in your artw ork from the colours in their original
palette to the colours in an alternate palette. This w orks just like overriding a character’s palette w ith analternate palette using the Colour-Override effect.
For this to w ork, your alternate palette must be a clone of the original palette. This is because the Colour-Fade
effect know s w hich colours in the original palette to replace w ith w hich colours in the alternate palette basedon each colour’s “colour ID”. W hen you clone a palette, you create a new palette w ith the same colour IDs as
the original palette, but you can change the colours in the cloned palette w ithout affecting the original
palette—see Cloning a Palette on page 716.
If you add a colour to the original palette after you created a clone of it, you can clone the colour from theoriginal palette to the clone palette, so that it also has the same colour IDs across palettes—see Copying andPasting Colours on page 673.

How to configure the Colour- Fade effect to fade to an alternate palette
1. In the Node View , click on the Layer Properties button of the Colour-Correct node.
The Layer Properties dialog of the Colour-Correct node appears.
2. In the Palettes list, select the clone palette w hich you w ant to use to override the element’s original
palette.

NOTE
You do not need to select the original palette used in your artw ork. The Colour Fade
effect only needs the alternate palette. It w ill find w hich colours to replace w ith thecolours in the alternate palette by matching their colour IDs

TIP
You can also use an alternate palette that is on your computer or your Harmony Server
database, even if it is not in your scene:l

To add a palette from your Harmony Server database, click on the Add database
palette button.

l

To add a palette from your computer to the list, click on the Add file system palettebutton.

3. Click on the Add button betw een the Palettes list and the W hole Palettes Overrides list.
As soon as the clone palette is added to the W hole Palette Overrides list, you should see its effectin the Camera view .

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NOTE
If you don’t see the effect of the palette override, make sure that the palette you
selected is actually a clone, and not just a copy, of one of the palettes used by the sceneelement to w hich the effect is connected—see Cloning a Palette on page 716.

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Animating the Colour Fade Effect
W hen using a Colour Fade effect, you need to animate the transition from the original colours to the alternate
colours. This is done by animating its Fade parameter, w hich can range from 0 to 100. At 0, the Colour Fade
outputs the original colours. At 100, the Colour Fade outputs the alternate colours. At any value in-betw een,
the Colour Fade outputs a mix of the original and alternate colours.

How to animate the Colour- Fade effect
1. Locate the Colour-Fade effect in the Timeline view .

TIP
You can quickly locate the Colour-Fade in the Timeline view by doing the follow ing:
a. Select the Colour-Fade node in the Node View .
b. Click on the Timeline view to focus on it.
c. Press O to scroll to the Colour-Fade node in the Timeline view .

2. In the Layers list, right of the Colour-Fade layer, click on the Expand button to expand the layer’s
parameters.
The Fade parameters is listed under the Colour-Fade layer.
3. Right of the Fade parameter, select the frame w here you w ant the colour fade effect to begin.
4. Do one of the follow ing to create an animation keyframe:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the

Add Keyframe button.

l

Right-click and select Add Keyframe.

lPress F6.

5. In the Parameters column, next to the Colour-Fade layer, there should be the number 100. Do oneof the follow ing:lDouble-click on this value and type 0.

lClick on the value and drag tow ards the left until it reaches 0.

6. Right of the Fade paramter, select the frame w here you w ant the colour fade effect to end.
7. Do one of the follow ing to create an animation keyframe:l

In the Timeline toolbar, click the

Add Keyframe button.

l

Right-click and select Add Keyframe.

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Chapter 18: EffectslPress F6.

8. In the Parameters column, next to the Colour-Fade layer, do one of the follow ing:lDouble-click on the value and type 100.

l

Click on the value and drag tow ards the right until it reaches 100.

The Colour-Fade effect w ill fade its input image from its original colours at the frame w here its
Fade parameter is set to 0 to its alternate colours at the frame w here its Fade parameter is set to100.
9. If you are not satisfied w ith the w ay the original colours transition to their replacement colours, trychanging the Colour Space parameter to a different option:

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Adjusting Colour Curves
W ith the help of the different channel curves, the Colour Curves effect allow s you to modify the brightness
and contrast of an image. Depending on if you modify the input, the output values or a mix of both, you candarken the shadow of a picture, brighten the highlights. By adding a point to the middle of the curve you canalso modify the medium values.

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Connection
The Colour Curves node takes an image of any type as its input and outputs an image w ith different brightness
and contrast parameters.

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Modifying Colour Curves
How to add point to a curve
1. Open the Layer Properties of the Colour Curves node that you w ant to modify.
2. Select the Channel that you w ant to modify.
3. Use the modifier Ctrl and click on the curve w here you w ant to add a control point.

NOTE
On an unmodified curve, you w ill notice that both Input and Output values are the same foreach new control point added to the curve, since the curve has not been modified yet.

How to apply a texture to a drawing
If you w ant to apply a texture on a draw ing to give it a dirtier look, you need to make sure that the texture
receives the same colours as your draw ing, but in a different tonality and by keeping the original colour
sw atches intact. Even though there may be different w ays of doing it in Harmony, the Colour Curves node
may become really handy in this kind of situation.

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1. Import a bitmap texture image into Harmony. In the top menu, select File > Import > Images.

NOTE
Make sure the imported image w ill be kept as an Original Bitmap.

2. Connect a Channel Sw ap node under the Texture draw ing node.

3. Open the Layer Properties of the Channel Sw ap.
4. For each channel (Red, Green, Blue and Alpha) select Luminance.

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NOTES
l

By selecting the Luminance option, it w ill limit the output to a single channel
and makes it appear as if it w ere the same perceived brightness as it w as
w hen it w as coloured.

l

It w ould have been possible to recreate the same example w ithout using the
Channel Sw ap node, but you w ould have needed to modify every curve
w ithin the Colour Curves. The Channel Sw ap node makes it easier tomanage.

The other reason w hy using the Channel Sw ap may be the best thing to do is because
managing more than one curve, or even converting an image to a grayscale w ill lose thecontrast value of the image. In that, the human eye sees colours as brighter values, even if
they are at the same brightness. W hat luminance does, is it flattens to a grayscale, but uses
an algorithm that w eights the RGB based on the human eye. So it'll bump up greens, lessen
blues, ect. to make it more real to the human eye.
5. Connect a Colour Curves node under the Channel Sw ap node.

6. Open the Layer Properties of the Colour Curves node to create a better contrast on your texture.
7. Select the Alpha channel.
8. Select the first control point and move it to the right.
By doing so, the texture w ill have more contrast, since the middle colour values w ill become darker.

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9. Select the last control point and move it dow n.
This w ill reduce the amount of w hite.

10. Make a more progressive curve by playing w ith the handles of both control points.

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11. Connect a 2nd Colour Curves node under your Draw ing.
12. Open the Layer Properties of the Colour Curves node to create a better contrast on your texture.
13. Select the Alpha channel.
14. Select the last control point and move it to the left.
By doing so, the texture w ill have more contrast, since the middle colour values w ill becomebrighter.
15. Make a more progressive curve by playing w ith the handles of both control points.

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16. Add a Cutter node.
17. W hile holding ALT, insert a Cutter node under the Colour Curves of the Draw ing node. The Colour
Curves node should be connected to the matte-port of the Cutter node.

18. Connect the Colour Curves from the Texture draw ing node to the Image input of the cutter.
19. Make sure the Cutter's matte option is inverted.

20. Add a second Cutter node.
21. W hile holding ALT, insert a Cutter node under the first Cutter node. It should be connected to the
Matte-port of the 2nd Cutter node.
22. Drag a second cable from the Draw ing node to the Image input of the 2nd Cutter.
23. Make sure the Cutter's matte option is inverted.

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24. Add a Blending node.
25. W hile holding ALT, insert the Blending node betw een the Draw ing node and the second Cutternode.

26. Open the Blending’s Layer Properties.
27. Select the Blend mode Multiply.

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28. Drag a third cable from the Draw ing node and connect it to the right-most position on the
Composite node.

29. In the Camera view , visualize the effect in Render mode.

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Adjusting Colour Levels
You can adjust the colour levels on an imported bitmap image or scanned image using the Colour Levels node.

How to change the contrast of an image
1. In the Top menu, select File > Import > Images.
2. Select the Create Single Layer Named option under the Create layer(s) section.
3. Define the name for that Draw ing layer.
4. Select the Keep As Original Bitmap option under the Import Options section.
5. Click on the OK button to validate.

6. Drag from the Node Library view to the node view a Colour Levels node.

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7. Select the Colour Levels node and, w hile holding ALT (or Cmd on Mac), move it near the cable link
linking the sketch draw ing node to the Composite node.

This w ill connect it directly to the cable under the sketch draw ing node.

8. From now on, enable the Render View mode as the follow ing effects and parameters are notvisible in OpenGL mode.
9. Open the Colour Levels node’s Layer Properties to modify the parameters.

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10. In the RGB tab:l

Increasing the value of the Input Black parameter w ill make the darkest parts of the draw ing
closer to blackl

Decreasing the values of the Input W hite parameter w ill make the lightest parts of thedraw ing closer to w hitelModifying the values of the Gamma parameter to a higher value than one w ill increase thevalue of dark colours proportionally to their actual values, increasing the contrast betw een
them and making them lighter.

l

Increasing the Output Black level w ill make the black pixels in the draw ing appear lighter.
All other pixels in the draw ing w ill also appear lighter, but the closer to w hite they are, theless lightness is added to them.

lDecreasing the Output W hite level w ill make the w hite pixels in the draw ing appear darker.
All other pixels in the draw ing w ill appear darker, but the closer to black they are, the lessdarkness is added to them.

NOTE
The same logic is kept for all parameters w ithin each channel tab, but instead ofmodifying all the channels at the same time like in the RGB tab, the other one
w ill modify only one channel at a time.

Example w ith random values for some channels:

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Original

Red

Green

Blue

How to clear a sketch drawing to keep only the lines

BeforeAfter@ 2018 hedgehog by Clemence Dufresne

1. In the Top menu, select File > Import > Images.
2. Select the Create Single Layer Named option under the Create layer(s) section.
3. Define the name for that Draw ing layer.

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4. Select the Keep As Original Bitmap option under the Import Options section.
5. Click on the OK button to validate.

6. Drag from the Node Library view to the node view a Colour Card node

7. Connect the Colour Card on the right side of the sketch draw ing port on the Composite node.

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The Colour Card w ill make it easier to clean up the draw ing and see the remaining grey spots w hen
playing w ith the Colour Levels.

8. Drag from the Node Library view to the node view a Colour Levels node.

9. Select the Colour Levels node and, w hile holding ALT (or Cmd on Mac), move it near the cable link
linking the sketch draw ing node to the Composite node.

This w ill connect it directly to the cable under the sketch draw ing node.

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10. From now on, enable the Soft Render and keep w orking w ith it since the next effects don’t appear
in OpenGL.
11. Open the Colour Levels node’s Layer Properties to modify the parameters.

The Colour Levels node w ill be useful to reduce the amount of greys and to clean up the image.

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12. In the RGB tab:l

Increasing the value of the Input Black parameter w ill make the darkest parts of the draw ing
closer to blackl

Decreasing the values of the Input W hite parameter w ill make the lightest parts of thedraw ing closer to w hitelModifying the values of the Gamma parameter to a higher value than one w ill increase thevalue of dark colours proportionally to their actual values, increasing the contrast betw een
them and making them lighter.

13. Drag from the Node Library view to the Node view a Negate node.
14. Connect the Negate node under the Colour Levels node.

No need to modify its Layer Properties. Values can be kept as is.

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The Negate node w ill make the line brighter w here it exists, and darker w here it doesn't. So theluminance w ill be able to pick it up for alpha.
15. Drag from the Node Library view to the Node view a Channel Sw ap node.
16. Connect the Channel Sw ap node under the Negate node.

17. Open the Channel Sw ap node’s Layer Properties to modify its parameters.
By Turning all RGB channels except the Alpha to black and using the luminance option to be thealpha. It is now possible to have a black draw ing w ith an invisible background.

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Modify the Red Channel to: Full Off

lModify the Green Channel to: Full Off

lModify the Blue Channel to: Full Off

lModify the Alpha Channel to: Luminance333

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NOTEl

By modifying a channel to “Full Off”, it changes the channel to Black.

l

By modifying a channel to “Lumiance”, it changes the channel to W hite.

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Examples of Effect Usage
The follow ing section gives examples of how to use a few commonly used effects in Harmony.

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Adding a Highlight to a Drawing
Using the Highlight effect, you can apply a highlight to a draw ing. Contrary to the Glow effect, the Highlighteffect does not convert your draw ing into a glow , it applies the glow onto your draw ing. The resulting renderincludes both the draw ing to its glow .

The Highlight effect uses a matte draw ing layer to determine w hich areas of the draw ing to apply thehighlight to. The highlight w ill not be applied outside of the draw ing or outside of the matte.

How to use the Highlight effect
1. Select a draw ing layer and do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node Library view , select the Highlight effect and drag it to the Node view .

lIn the Node view , right-click and select Insert > Combine > Highlight.

2. W hile holding the Alt key, move the Highlight node over the cable connecting the draw ing to yourscene's main composite. The Highlight node w ill become connected as an intermediary betw een
the draw ing and its composite.

1. In the toolbar above the layer list in Timeline view , click on

Add Draw ing Layer .

2. In the Add Draw ing Layer dialog, give your new draw ing layer a relevant name for a matte layer,such as "Matte-Draw ing", then click on Add and Close.

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3. In the new matte draw ing layer, draw a matte for your effect. Your matte can be a simple shape,
but should be filled w ith a colour, as only parts of the matte that are opaque w ill be taken inaccount.

NOTE
Mattes can also have semi-transparent areas. Areas of the draw ing that are covered bysemi-transparent areas of the matte are partially affected by the effect.

4. Connect the Matte draw ing to the Matte port of the Highlight node.

5. Display the Highlight properties and adjust the properties to control the type and amount of blurand the colour of the highlight effect—see the Reference guide .

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Adding a Shadow to a Drawing
Using the Tone effect, you can apply a shadow to a draw ing. Contrary to the Shadow effect, the Tone effectdoes not convert your draw ing into a shadow , it applies the shadow onto your draw ing. The resulting renderincludes both the draw ing to its shadow .

The Shadow effect uses a matte draw ing layer to determine w hich areas of the draw ing to apply the shadow
to. The shadow w ill not be applied outside of the draw ing or outside of the matte.

How to use the Tone effect
1. Select a draw ing layer and do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node Library view , select the Tone effect and drag it to the Node view .

lIn the Node view , right-click and select Insert > Combine > Tone.

2. W hile holding the Alt key, move the Tone node over the cable connecting the draw ing to yourscene's main composite. The Tone node w ill become connected as an intermediary betw een thedraw ing and its composite.

1. In the toolbar above the layer list in Timeline view , click on

Add Draw ing Layer .

2. In the Add Draw ing Layer dialog, give your new draw ing layer a relevant name for a matte layer,such as "Matte-Draw ing", then click on Add and Close.

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3. In the new matte draw ing layer, draw a matte for your effect. Your matte can be a simple shape,
but should be filled w ith a colour, as only parts of the matte that are opaque w ill be taken inaccount.

NOTE
Mattes can also have semi-transparent areas. Areas of the draw ing that are covered bysemi-transparent areas of the matte are partially affected by the effect.

4. Connect the Matte draw ing to the Matte port of the Tone node.

5. Display the Tone properties and adjust the properties to control the type and amount of blur andthe colour of the Tone effect—see the Reference guide .

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Creating a Drop Shadow
The Shadow effect converts the draw ing layer it is connected to into a dark, blurry matte. You can control thetype and amount of blur, as w ell as the colour of the shadow .
On its ow n, simply connecting a draw ing or composite to this effect w ill only convert your draw ing to ashadow , w hich might not be useful. How ever, it is possible to make both the original character and its shadow
version appear in your scene, and have the shadow version transformed and distorted to appear as a drop
shadow . You can accomplish this by doing one of the follow ing: You can accomplish this by creating a node
system similar to this one:TIP
W hen creating a drop shadow against a floor, you can obtain a more realistic effect by using a
Quadmap to transform the shadow instead of a Peg. A Quadmap is similar to a peg, except that itallow s you to apply perspective effect to the draw ings underneath it.

How to create a drop shadow for an animated character
1. In the Node view , make sure your character's rig is in a group w ith a composite. If it is not, select all
the nodes making your character's right, and do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the selection, then select Group > Group Selection with Composite.

l

In the top-left corner of the Node View , open the View Menu

, then select Nodes >Group Selection with Composite.
lPress Ctrl +Shift + G (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + G (macOS).

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2. Using the Node Library, add a Peg, an Apply- Peg- Transformation, and a Shadow node to yournode system.

3. Connect the output port of your character rig to the input port of the Shadow node.

4. Connect the output port of the Shadow node to the right-most input port (Image) of the ApplyPeg-Transformation node.

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5. Connect the output port of the peg to the leftmost input port (Transformation) of the Apply-PegTransformation node.

6. Connect the output port of the Apply-Peg-Transformation node to your scene's main composite,
just right of the connection for your character rig. This w ay, the shadow w ill appear behind yourcharacter rig.

7. Select the Apply-Peg-Transformation's Peg node.
8. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool.

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9. In the Camera view , scale and skew the selection so that it looks like a drop shadow .

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Adding a Radial Zoom Blur to a Scene
T-COMP2-003-006
The Blur - Radial Zoom effect creates blurs around a centre point, simulating the look of a zooming or rotatingcamera. You can use a matte to isolate the area of the image from w hich you w ant the effect to radiate from.
For example, in the illustration below , a circular matte w as created to mask the eyeball and a Negate effectw as applied so the blur is outside the matte. Then the centre point w as positioned on the character's iris,
w hich is the centre of the matte.

For a detailed video tutorial by Adam Phillips, see
https://w w w .youtube.com/w atch?v=mHAnqqM2PyE

NOTE
To learn about the Blur Radial Zoom parameters, see the Reference guide .

How to use the Blur Radial Zoom
1. In the toolbar at the bottom of the Camera view , click on Render View.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node Library view , drag a Blur- Radial- Zoom node to the Node view .

lRight-click in the Node View and select Insert > Filter > Blur > Blur- Radial- Zoom.

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3. Click on the port connecting the composite to the draw ing node, and drag the cable to the rightmost (Image) input port of the Blur-Radial-Zoom node.

4. Click on the output port of the Blur-Radial-Zoom node and drag it to the composite to connect theeffect to the composite.

5. On the Blue Radial Zoom node, click on the Layer Properties
Properties dialog.

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icon to open the node's LayerChapter 18: Effects

6. In the Layer Properties dialog, increase the Blurriness value.

7. In the Direction section, click on any of the direction presets to modify the direction of the blur. Each
preset button has an icon that represents the results of the preset.
8. In the Node or Timeline view , select the Blur-Radial-Zoom node.
9. In the Camera view toolbar, click on the Show Control.

A red dot appears in the middle of the Camera view . This dot determines the focus (centre)of theradial-zoom blur effect.

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10. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transformtool.

11. Click and drag on the red dot to position it w here you w ant the focus of the radial-zoom blur effectto be.

How to create a radial- zoom blur around an isolated area
1. In the toolbar above the layer list in Timeline view , click on the Add Layerbutton and selectDrawing.
2. Give your new draw ing layer a relevant name for a matte layer, such as "Matte-Draw ing", then click
on Add and Close.

3. In the new matte draw ing layer, draw the shape of the area that you w ant to isolate from theradial-zoom blur, and fill it.

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4. In the Node view , click on the port connecting the composite to the matte draw ing layer and drag itto the left edge of the Blur-Radial-Zoom blur. A matte input port w ill appear w hen you bring acable near the left edge.

5. Click on the Layer Properties

button of the Blur-Radial-Zoom node to open its Layer Properties

dialog.
6. Check the Invert Matte check box at the bottom of the layer properties dialog.
Everything outside of the matte draw ing is now affected by the radial-zoom blur.

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Applying a Greyscale Matte to a Scene
Here is an example on how to use the Matte Output option of the Greyscale node. A frosted w indow w ascreated using a snow flake image over a blue rectangle and a colourful background.
Here are the three draw ings used for the example:

W hen the snow flake image is connected into the Greyscale node, it turns into a greyscale image. There is notransparency visible in the Camera view Matte View mode.

W hen the Matte Output option is enabled, the snow flake image colours are displayed as normal, but w hen the
Matte View mode of the Camera view is enabled, you can see the transparency levels generated from thecolour values.
W hen you connect the Snow flake images into a Cutter effect's Matte port along w ith the W indow images, thew indow w ill be semitransparent, matching the alpha (transparency) channel generated by the Greyscale node.

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NOTE
To learn more about the Greyscale filter, see the Reference guide .

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About the Animated Matte Generator
T-COMP2-002-003
The Animated Matte Generator effect is a very advanced tool in Harmony's suite of effects w ith three key
features:l

Matte AnimationlFeathered EffectlSnapping

Matte Animation
The Animated Matte Generator takes a vector draw ing as input and generates animatable points for its
contours. This allow s you to animate the points and contours of a vector draw ing, w hich can come in handy if
you w ant to animate simple parts of a character rig, like fingers, eyebrow s and eyelids.

Feathered Effect
The Animated Matte Generator can use the vector draw ing it is connected to as the basis for an effect matte,from w hich you can create an outer contour and an inner contour, and use them to generate a custom-shaped351

Chapter 18: Effects

feathered effect. The matte's contours can be animated. The resulting effect can be used as-is, or serve as atransparency mask for other effects or draw ings.

Snapping
You can set some of the points and contours of an Animate Matte Generator to snap to the contours of adraw ing in your scene. This can be especially useful if you w ant to create shadow s or highlights that match theshape of a draw ing.

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Adding an Animated Matte Generator Node
T-COMP2-002-004
In order to use the Animated Matte Generator, you must connect it to a vector draw ing layer, called the source
draw ing, w hich w ill be used to define the default shape of the matte before it is animated.
A source draw ing for an Animated Matte Generator should follow these guidelines:l

It should be simple. The Animated Matte Generator w ill create an animatable control point for each
vector point in the draw ing, so having too many points could make it very difficult to animate.
If you w ant to create a feathered effect, make your draw ing a simple shape w ith a solid colour. If you
w ant to animate a draw ing's shapes and contours, make sure the draw ing's lines are made w ith pencil
lines and not brush strokes, that the draw ing has been flattened and optimized and that all unnecessary
vector points have been removed using the Contour Editor or the Smooth Editor tools.

l

It must be a single vector draw ing layer. The Animated Matte Generator cannot w ork w ith composites,
effects, bitmap layers or anything but a vector draw ing node.

l

If you have Overlay and Underlay Arts enabled, the Overlay Arts should be used for annotations only.
The Animated Matte Generator w ill ignore the Overlay art layer in the source draw ing.

How to add an Animated Matte Generator node
1. In the Node view , add an Animated Matte Generator node to your scene by doing one of thefollow ing:l

In the Node Library, select the Generator filter, and drag and drop the Animated- MatteGenerator node from the Node Library view to the Node view .

lIn the Node view , right-click and select Insert > Generator > Animated- Matte- Generator.

lOpen the Node view menu and select Insert > Generator > Animated- Matte- Generator.

2. Connect the Animated Matte Generator node as an intermediary betw een your source draw ing
node and its composite, by doing one of the follow ing:

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W hile holding the Alt key, drag the Animated Matte Generator node over the cableconnecting the source draw ing node to the composite.

lConnect the output of the source draw ing node to the Source Draw ing (right) input port of
the Animated Matte Generator node, then the output port of the Animated Matte Generator
node to the composite.

TIP
If you w ant the generated matte's contours to snap to the contours of another draw ing in yourscene, you can also connect it to another draw ing, w hich is referred to as the snapping source.
For more information, see About Snapping w ith the Animated Matte Generator on page 383.

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About Matte Creation and Animation with the Animated Matte
Generator
T-COMP2-002-005
The Animated Matte Generator node converts the vector points of its source draw ing into matte points. Thosepoints can be animated, allow ing you to freely morph the shape of the source draw ing as your scene plays out.
You can animate the points of an Animated Matte Generator by displaying its controls in the Camera view ,then moving them using the Transform tool. Moving and tw eaking the contour points for an Animated Matte
Generator w orks a lot like using the Contour Editor tool.

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Displaying Animated Matte Generator Controls
T-COMP2-002-006
The points and contours of an Animated Matte Generator can be edited and animated in the Camera view by
displaying its controls and manipulating them w ith the Transform tool.

How to display the Animated Matte Generator controls
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the Animated Matte Generator node.
2. Display the controls of the Animated Matte Generator node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on Show Controll

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

.

The control points for the Animated Matte Generator display in the Camera view .

3. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool to be able to manipulate the matte controls in the

Camera view .

TIP
In the Tool Properties view , you can enable Control Selection Modeto enable selecting

several control points in the Camera view by draw ing a lasso or marquee around them w ith
the Transform tool. This can make animating the control points of the Animated Matte
Generator easier.

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Adding Points to an Animated Matte Generator
T-COMP2-002-007
You can add additional points to the ones already generated by the Animated Matte Generator for your source
draw ing.

NOTE
If you have already animated the Animated Matte Generator, creating a matte point w ill also addthat point to every keyframe. Therefore, you w ill have to position that point on every keyframe ofyour animation to make sure it looks and moves as expected.

How to add new matte points to an Animated Matte Generator
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the Animated Matte Generator node.
2. Display the controls of the Animated Matte Generator node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on Show Controll

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

.

The control points for the Animated Matte Generator display in the Camera view .
3. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool.

4. In the Editing Mode panel of the Animated Matte Generator view , select Add Matte Point.

NOTE
Contrary to tools like the Contour Editor, you cannot use a keyboard shortcut to click
and add a point to a matte contour.

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5. In the Camera view , click on the matte contour w here you w ant the new point to be created.

NOTE
Adding a matte point to one of the matter's contours w ill also add a point to the matte's othercontour. It is not possible to have a different amount of points on a matte's inner and outer
contours.

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Removing Points from an Animated Matte Generator
You can remove controls points that you do not intend to use, w hether they w ere automatically generated by
the Animated Matte Generator or added manually.

NOTE
If you have already animated the Animated Matte Generator, removing a matte point w ill removethat point on every keyframe, w hich w ill affect the shape of the matte throughout the scene.

How to remove matte points from an Animated Matte Generator
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the Animated Matte Generator node.
2. Display the controls of the Animated Matte Generator node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on Show Controll

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

.

The control points for the Animated Matte Generator display in the Camera view .
3. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool.

4. In the Editing Mode panel of the Animated Matte Generator view , select Define Matte Point.

5. In the Camera view , select the point you w ant to remove. You can select several points by holding
Shift w hile clicking on each point.

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6. In the Camera view , click on the matte contour w here you w ant the new point to be created.

NOTE
Removing a matte point from one of the matter's contours w ill also remove its corresponding
point to the matte's other contour. It is not possible to have a different amount of points on amatte's inner and outer contours.

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Animating the Contour of an Animated Matte Generator Contour
T-COMP2-002-008
Every control point for an Animated Matte Generator can be animated independently, giving you full control
on the shape of your draw ing or effect throughout the scene. You can animate the contours of an AnimatedMatte Generator by displaying its controls in the Camera view , then manipulating its points using theTransform tool.

How to animate the points and contours of an Animated Matte Generator
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the Animated Matte Generator node.
2. Display the controls of the Animated Matte Generator node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on Show Controll

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

.

The control points for the Animated Matte Generator display in the Camera view .
3. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool.

TIP
In the Tool Properties view , you can enable Control Selection Modeto enable

selecting several control points in the Camera view by draw ing a lasso or marqueearound them w ith the Transform tool. This can make animating the control points of theAnimated Matte Generator easier.

4. In the Tools toolbar, if

Animate Off orAnimate Onion Skin Range mode is selected, click on it

to open the Animate pop-up menu and selectAnimate Current Frame.

5. In the Editing Mode panel of the Animated Matte Generator view , select Define Matte Point.

This mode allow s you to move and tw eak matte points and contours in the Camera view .

6. In the Timeline view , move the Timeline cursor to the frame w here you w ant to create the initialpose of the Animated Matte Generator.

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7. Do one of the follow ing:lClick and drag a matte point to reposition it.

lClick and drag a contour to tw eak its curve.

lSelect a matte point to display its curve handles.

lClick and drag one of the curve handles of a matte point to influence the curves on bothsides of the matte point.

lW hile holding Alt, click and drag one of the curve handles to influence the curve only on one
side of a matte point.

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W hile holding Alt, click on a matte point to remove its curve handles.

l

W hile holding Alt, click and drag a matte point w ith no curve handles to create its curve
handles.

8. In the Timeline view , move the cursor to the frame w here you w ant to create your next pose.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until the animation for your matte is completed.
Points that have been left in their resting positions appear light blue, and points that have been
animated w ill appear dark blue, except w hen selected.

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TIP
In the Animated Matte Generator view , you can enable the Auto Key on All Points

optionto create keyframes for all matte points every time you manipulate a matte point, or the Fix
Adjacent Keyframes

option to create the necessary keyframes to avoid overlapping

animation w ithout creating keyframes on all points.

TIP
You can select multiple points in the matte by holding Shift and clicking on each point you
w ish to select. You can also move a single point in a selection of multiple points w ithout
deselecting other points by holding Ctrl, then clicking and dragging the point you w ish to
move.

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About the Outer & Inner Contours of the Animated Matte Generator
T-COMP2-002-009
An animated matte generator has tw o separate contours: The inner contour and the outer contour. It
automatically generates both contours based on the source draw ing it is connected to, so both contours startout having the exact same shape and position, and their points start out being locked together. Therefore, until
you separate the points of the outer and inner contours, your Animated Matte Generator w ill behave as if it
had a single contour.
You can define the Animated Matte Generator's inner and outer contours separately by disabling one of them,
then manipulating the points in the other one. Each point that is animated on one of the contours w hile theother one is disabled w ill become independent from the other contour.

There are tw o cases w here you need an inner and an outer contour:lTo create a feathered effect. W hen the Animated Matte Generator's Output Type is set to Feathered, it
generates a gradient going from the inner contour to the outer contour, allow ing you to create light andshadow effects that match very precise shapes.

l

To create an animation based on both contours. By setting the Animated Matte Generator's Output
Type to Interpolate Between Contours, you can make your matte draw ing morph from the outer
contour's shape to the inner contour's shape, and vice versa, by animating the Animated Matte
Generator's Interpolation Factor.

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TIP
The Animated Matte Generator keeps track of w hich points correspond w ith each other across theinner and outer contours. You can enable the Point Id

option in the Animated Matte Generator

view to display the identification number of each matte point in the Camera view . Points from theinner contour that match points from the outer contour w ill have the same identification number.

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Separating the Outer and Inner Contours of an Animated Matte
Generator
T-COMP2-002-010

How to separate the inner and outer contours of an Animated Matte Generator
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the Animated Matte Generator node.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transformtool.

3. Display the controls of the Animated Matte Generator node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on Show Controll

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

.

The control points for the Animated Matte Generator display in the Camera view .

TIP
In the Tool Properties view , you can enable Control Selection Modeto enable

selecting several control points in the Camera view by draw ing a lasso or marqueearound them w ith the Transform tool. This can make animating the control points of theAnimated Matte Generator easier.

4. In the Animated Matte Generator view , do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant the Outer Contour to be based on the shape and dimensions of your mattedraw ing and the Inner Contour to be smaller, disable the Outer Contour
enable the Inner Contourloption andoption.

If you w ant the Inner Contour to be based on the shape and dimensions of your mattedraw ing and the Outer Contour to be bigger, enable the Outer Contour
disable the Inner Contour

option andoption.

The matte points w ill appear orange instead of blue. This means they represent a single contour
instead of both contours together.

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TIP
You can quickly enable one contour and disable the other one by holding the Alt key
and clicking on the button of the contour you w ish to enable.

5. In the Camera view , move the control points that you w ant to separate to their intended position:l

If you are editing the inner contour, move each point you w ant to separate from the outer
contour tow ards the centre of the shape so that they are inside the outer contour.

l

If you are editing the outer contour, move each point you w ant to separate from the innercontour aw ay from the centre of the matte so that they w rap around the inner contour.

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NOTE
You can keep some control points locked together. For example, if you w ant to create afeathered effect that gradates from one side to the other instead of from the centre out,
you can keep the control points on one of the sides of the matte locked together.

6. W hen you are done separating outer and inner contour points, enable both the Outer Contour
and Inner Contour

options of the Animated Matte Generator view again so you can animate

them together.
The points that w ere separated w ill appear orange, and w ill be linked to their corresponding pointin the other contour by a blue line. If some points are still locked together, they w ill appear blue.

TIP
You can select multiple points in the matte by holding Shift and clicking on each point you
w ish to select. You can also move a single point in a selection of multiple points w ithout
deselecting other points by holding Ctrl, then clicking and dragging the point you w ish to
move.

NOTE
If your selection includes both points from the inner and outer contour:lClicking and dragging on one of the selected points from the outer contour w ill only movethe selected points in the outer contour.

lClicking and dragging on one of the selected points from the inner contour w ill only movethe selected points in the inner contour.

This is so you can easily select points from both contours w ith the lasso, but only manipulate
points from one contour at a time. To move all the selected points regardless of w hich contour
they are part of, you must do one of the follow ing:lClick and drag one of the blue lines connecting an inner contour point and an outer contour
point that are part of your selection.

l

If your selection includes points that have not been split, click and drag one of those points.

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Scaling the Contours of an Animated Matte Generator
You can use the scaling control of the Animated Matte Generator to quickly scale the control points of yourmatte contours. This is especially useful for quickly separating the outer contour and the inner contours.

How to use the scaling controls of the Animated Matte Generator
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the Animated Matte Generator node.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transformtool.

3. Display the controls of the Animated Matte Generator node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on Show Controll

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

.

The control points for the Animated Matte Generator display in the Camera view .
4. In the Matte Visibility panel of the Animated Matte Generator view , do one of the follow ing:l

If you don't w ant to separate the inner and outer matte contours, or if they are alreadyseparated, enable both the Outer Contourloptions.

If you w ant to shrink the inner contour only, disable the Outer Contour
the Inner Contourland Inner Contour

option.

If you w ant to shrink the inner contour only, enable the Outer Contour
the Inner Contour

option and enableoption and disable

option.

TIP
You can quickly enable one contour and disable the other one by holding the Alt key
and clicking on the button of the contour you w ish to enable.

5. In the Editing Mode panel of the Animated Matte Generator view , enable the Scaling Controls
option.
Scaling controls appear over the enabled matte contours. If both matte contours are enabled, ablue scaling control appear in-betw een the outer and inner contours w hich can be used to scale

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both contours simultaneously.

6. If you w ant to scale the matte points from a specific pivot point, click and drag the purple square in
the middle of the scaling control to position the scaling pivot.
7. Do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to scale both the outer and inner contours together, click and drag any control
point of the blue scaling box.

l

If you w ant to scale the outer contour only, click and drag any control point of the red scalingbox.

l

If you w ant to scale the inner contour only, click and drag any control point of the green
scaling box.

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Merging Outer & Inner Contours for an Animated Matte Generator
If you have separated the matte points of the outer and inner contours of an Animate Matte Generator, you canlock them back together so that they behave as single matte points again.

How to merge outer and inner contour points
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the Animated Matte Generator node.
2. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transformtool.

3. Display the controls of the Animated Matte Generator node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on Show Controll

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

.

The control points for the Animated Matte Generator display in the Camera view .
4. In the Editing Mode panel of the Animated Matte Generator view , click on Define Matte Point.

5. In the Camera view , select the contour point you w ant to merge w ith its corresponding point in theother contour. If you w ant to merge several contour points w ith their corresponding contour points,
hold shift and click on each point to select them together.

NOTE
You do not need to select the point in both the outer and inner contours. Simply
selecting the point from one of the tw o contours is enough to merge it w ith thecorresponding point in the other contour.

6. In the Animated Matte Generator toolbar, click on Merge Inner and Outer Matte Contours.

The selected matte points and their corresponding matte points are moved to the same position,

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halfw ay betw een their respective positions, and are locked together again.

TIP
You can also lock a contour point back to its corresponding point by clicking and dragging itvery close to its corresponding point. W hen close enough, it w ill snap to that point and appear
blue. Releasing it in this state w ill lock the corresponding contour points together.

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Animating Interpolated Contours with the Animated Matte Generator
T-COMP2-002-011
The Animated Matte Generator can output an image that is an interpolation (in-betw een) of its outer contour
and its inner contour. How close to the outer or inner contour this image is is based on its Interpolation Factor
parameter, w hich can be animated. Hence, you can animate the Animated Matte Generator to morph from theouter contour to the inner contour, and vice versa.

How to interpolate between contours with the Animated Matte Generator

1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the Animated Matte Generator node.
2. In the Tool Properties view , set the Output Type to Interpolate Between Contours.
3. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transformtool.

4. Display the controls of the Animated Matte Generator node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on Show Controll

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

.

The control points for the Animated Matte Generator display in the Camera view .

5. In the Matte Visibility Settings panel of the Animated Matte Generator view , enable the Outer
Contourand disable the Inner Contour.

6. In the Camera view , adjust the matte points until you obtain the expected shape for the firstcontour.

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7. In the Matte Visibility Settings panel of the Animated Matte Generator view , disable the Outer
Contourand enable the Inner Contour.

8. In the Camera view , adjust the matte points until you obtain the expected shape for the second
contour.

9. In the Matte tab of Layer Properties view , click on the Create Bezier

button of theInterpolation Factor property.

10. If the Parameters column is not enabled in the Timeline view , click on the Show Parameters
button in the bottom-left corner of the Timeline view to display it.
11. In the Timeline view , locate the Animated Matte Generator layer and click on the Expand
Parameters

button on its right to list its parameters.

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The Interpolation Factor parameter w ill appear in the list of parameters, second to the
Snapping Source parameter.

12. Move the Timeline cursor to the frame w here you w ant to start animating the matte.
13. In the Parameters column of the Timeline view , right of the Interpolation Factor parameter, set
the desired value for the interpolation factor at the current frame:l

An interpolation factor closer to 0 w ill generate a draw ing that looks closer to the outer
matte of the animated matte generator.

l

An interpolation factor closer to 100 w ill generate a draw ing that looks closer to theinner matte of the animated matte generator.

l

An interpolation factor set to 50 w ill generate a draw ing that is an in-betw een of theouter and inner contours.

14. Move the Timeline cursor to the frame w here you w ant to create your interpolation pose.
15. In the Parameters column of the Timeline view , set the desired value for the Interpolation
Factor parameter at the current frame.
16. Repeat steps 14 and 15 until you've completed your interpolated contour animation.

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About the Feathered Effect of the Animated Matte Generator
One of the most important capabilities of the Animated Matte Generator is to create a feathered effect. Thiseffect is generated by filling the inner contour of the matte w ith a solid colour, and the outer contour w ith agradient going from the inner contour colour to its outer contour colour. This gradient is made to fit the shapeof both the inner and the outer contours, allow ing you to generate glow s, shadow s and light effects w ith
specific shapes.

To create a feathered effect, the Output Type parameter of the Animated Matte Generator must be set to
Feathered. W hen this option is use, the Animated Matte Generator ignores the colours in the source draw ing
and only uses the shape of the inner and outer contours. The inner and outer colours of the feathered effect, as
w ell as the w ay they are interpolated, can be set in the Advanced tab of the Animated Matte Generator's Layer
Properties.

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Creating a Feathered Effect with the Animated Matte Generator
T-COMP2-002-012

How to create a feathered effect with the Animated Matte Generator
1. Make sure the source draw ing connected to the Animated Matte Generator closely matches theouter shape of the intended effect, but that it is simple, does not have too many vector points and is
only painted in a single colour.

2. In the Node or Timeline view , select the Animated Matte Generator node.
3. In the Tool Properties view , set the Output Type to Feathered.
4. Display the controls of the Animated Matte Generator node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on Show Controll

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

.

The control points for the Animated Matte Generator display in the Camera view .
5. In the Camera view , click on Render View to see w hat the feathered effect w ill look like w hen
rendered as you configure and animate it.
6. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transformtool.

7. In the Animated Matte Generator view , do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant the Outer Contour to be based on the shape and dimensions of your mattedraw ing and the Inner Contour to be smaller, disable the Outer Contour
enable the Inner Contourloption andoption.

If you w ant the Inner Contour to be based on the shape and dimensions of your mattedraw ing and the Outer Contour to be bigger, enable the Outer Contour
disable the Inner Contour

option.

8. In the Animated Matte Generator view , enable the Define Matte Point

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option.

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9. In the Camera view , move the control points that you w ant to separate to their intended position.
For example, if you are editing the outer contour, you w ould w ant its control points to w rap aroundthe inner contour. If you are editing the inner contour, you w ould w ant its control points to be inside
the outer contour.

TIP
If you w ant to quickly scale up the outer contour or scale dow n the inner contour, you
can enable the Scaling Controls

option in the Animated Matte Generator view toscale all the points of the matte contours simultaneously.

10. In the Layer Properties view , select the Advanced tab.
11. In the Interpolation Mode drop-dow n, select one of the follow ing options:lDistance: Generates a linear gradient going from the inner contour to the outer contour.

lParametric: Generates a linear gradient going from each side of the inner contour to thecorresponding side of the outer contour. This mode is different from the Distanceinterpolation mode by how it makes the gradients track the matching sides of the inner andouter contours.

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Dot: Generates a gradient going from the inner contour to the outer contour, but based on apow er function that creates the illusion of a thinner, harder outline.

lNone: The outer and the inner contour are solid shapes, filled w ith their respective colours.

12. In the Colour Interpolation dropdow n, select one of the follow ing options:lConstant: Generates a gradient based on the inner colour, gradating in transparency only.
The inner contour w ill have the opacity of the inner colour, and w ill gradate tow ards fulltransparency tow ards the outer contour.

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Harmony 22 Premium User GuidelLinear 2 Colours: Creates a gradient that steadily gradates from the inner colour to theouter colour.

lGamma 2 Colours: Creates a gradient that gradates from the inner colour to the outercolour on a Gamma curve, the pow er of w hich can be set in the Colour Gamma field. For
more information, see the Colour Gamma field section below .

13. If you set the Colour Interpolation parameter to Gamma 2 Colours, adjust the Colour Gamma
parameter until you obtain the desired effect. W hen the Colour Gamma is set to any value betw een
0 and 1, the gradient w ill ease in from the inner colour to the outer colour. W hen it is set to any
value above 1, the gradient w ill ease out from the inner colour to the outer colour.

14. Set the Inner Colour to the colour that should fill the inner contour of the matte.

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15. Set the Outer Colour to the colour that the Inner Colour should gradate to in the outer contour.

NOTE
If the Colour Interpolation mode is set to Constant, this option w ill be disabled and thecolour w ill simply gradate to full transparency.

16. In the Alpha Interpolation dropdow n, select one of the follow ing options:lLinear: Steadily gradates from the inner contour's alpha to the outer contour's aplha.

lGamma: Calculates the alpha going from the inner contour to the outer contour based on a
Gamma curve, the pow er of w hich can be set in the Alpha Gamma field. For more
information, see the Alpha Gamma field section below .

17. If you set the Alpha Interpolation parameter to Gamma, adjust the Alpha Gamma parameter until
you obtain the desired effect. W hen the Alpha Gamma is set to any value betw een 0 and 1, thealpha values w ill ease in from the alpha value of the inner colour to the alpha value of the outercolour. W hen it is set to any value above 1, the alpha values w ill ease out from the alpha value ofthe inner colour to the alpha value of the outer colour.

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About Snapping with the Animated Matte Generator
You can make some of the points and contours of the animated matte snap to the contours of a draw ing inyour scene. This is especially useful if you w ant to use the Animated Matte Generator to create highlights or
shadow s and you need the effect's outlines to match a draw ing's outlines.

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Chapter 18: Effects

Connecting a Snapping Source Drawing to an Animated Matte
Generator
T-COMP2-002-013
In order to make the contours of an Animated Matte Generator to a draw ing in your scene, you must firstconnect that draw ing to the Animated Matte Generator node through its Snapping Source (left) port.

NOTE
The Snapping Source draw ing of an Animated Matte Generator must be a single vector draw ing
node. Snapping w ill not w ork w ith any other type of node.

How to connect the Animated Matte Generator to a snapping source drawing
1. In the Node view , create a connection going from the output port of the snapping source draw ing
node to the Snapping Source (left) input port of the Animated Matte Generator node.

2. Create a connection going from the output port of the snapping source draw ing node to the input
port of the source draw ing node. This w ill ensure that if the snapping source is moved or animated,the matte w ill follow the movement of the snapping source.

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Making Matte Contours Snap to a Drawing
T-COMP2-002-013A
In order for matte points and contours to snap to the contours of the snapping source draw ing, you must use
the Set to Snap mode of the Animated Matte Generator view to select w hich points and w hich contours of thematte should snap.

How to make an Animated Matte Generator snap to the contours of the snapping
source drawing
1. In the Node or Timeline view , select the Animated Matte Generator node.
2. Display the controls of the Animated Matte Generator node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on Show Controll

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

.

The control points for the Animated Matte Generator display in the Camera view .
3. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool.

4. In the Editing Mode panel of the Animated Matte Generator view , select Define Matte Point.

5. Adjust the contours of the matte so that they are close to the contours of the snapping source
draw ing. Contours and points w ill only snap if they are at a short distance from the contours of thesnapping source draw ing.

6. In the Editing Mode panel of the Animated Matte Generator view , select Set to Snap.

Sw itches to enable or disable snapping appear over each of the matte's contours and points in the385Chapter 18: Effects

Camera view .

7. In the Camera view , do one of the follow ing:l

To enable or disable snapping on a matte point, click on its control point.

lTo enable or disable snapping on a matte contour, click on the snapping sw itch for that
contour.

Points that are set to snap w ill appear green instead of purple. Contours that are set to snap w ill
have a magnet icon on their snapping sw itch.
8. If a point or contour does not snap to the contour of the snapping source draw ing, adjust theposition and curves of the matte so that they are closer to the contour of the snapping source
draw ing.

TIP
You can adjust the maximum distance from w hich a matte point or contour w ill snap to thedraw ing source, w hether the matte should snap to all contours or only the outlines of thesnapping source as w ell as w hich one of the snapping source's art layers the matte snaps to in
the layer properties of the Animated Matte Generator.

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About Particles
Particle effects are both cool and a huge time saver. You can create atmospheric effects, such as rain, grass orfire to more complex systems, such as sw arms of animated insects-- all in a fraction of the time it w ould
usually take.

Particle effects act in the same w ay as all other effects in Harmony, except they alw ays w ork w ithin their ow n
specifically structured system. You can attach a Blur effect node under a Draw ing node and the image
contained in the Draw ing node w ill become blurry. Particle effect set-ups are more complex than simply
adding a node and playing w ith its parameters. To keep things simple, just think of each Particle effect as its
ow n group.

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About the Particle System StructureThis is w hat the basic structure of a particle system looks like in the Node view . This structure can change
depending on the type of effect you are trying to create.

NOTE
To learn more about each particle node, see the Reference guide .

Colour Coding
Particle effects are colour coded to make them easy to identify by colour and function. Each colour represents
a different function. For example, Action nodes, such as Velocity, Move-Particles and the Sprite Emitter are
purple.
You’ll also notice that the ports above and below each node are colour-coded. These indicate the kind of node
these ports should be connected to. For example, the output (bottom) port of an Action node is dark blue,
w hich is the colour of the Particle-System-Composite node, to w hich Action nodes must be connected.
Otherw ise, some particle nodes have standard green and blue ports, w hich must be connected to standard
peg and image ports respectively. This can help you easily structure your particle system as you add
components to it.

Node Types
The types of nodes that are part of a particle system are as follow s:lRegion: These nodes are used to define the region from w here the particles are emitted. These regions
can be Planar or 3D.

lRegion Composite: This node combines Region nodes. In case you have more than one region in youreffect, this composite w ill help define the position and the render order of the different regions.

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Action: These nodes define the particle dynamics. They determine how particles are created and moved
around in space. If there are multiple Action nodes hooked to a composite, they are executed from rightto left. Hence, it is typical of a particle system to have an Emitter node in its right- most port, as thisnode creates the particles before they are affected by other actions.

lSystem Composite: Unlike a regular composite that reads all the position information from its in-port
nodes and combines them accordingly, a System Composite is specifically designed to handle Action
node information.

l

Baker: These nodes allow you to make decisions about the w ay the particles are created andprocessed.

lVisualizer: This node assembles a particle system through its middle port and renders it as a flat image
that can be composited onto your scene. It also allow s you to offset and animate the generated image.
The left input port allow s you to connect it to a peg that w ill offset, scale and rotate the rendered
image. The right input port allow s you to connect it to a peg that w ill determine the position of therendered image on the z-axis, w ithout affecting its apparent size.

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Accessing Default Particle Templates
Harmony comes w ith particle templates, w hich are node systems that you can insert into your scene andw hich are already configured to generate some kind of particles. You can then modify these node systems togenerate the particles you w ant, such as by changing the effect’s sprite w ith your ow n artw ork, and thentw eaking its parameters to generate particles the w ay you w ant them to.
There are tw o barebone particle systems, Basic Particle System and Basic Gravity Based System, w hichgenerate w hite dots.
l

Basic Particle System: This effect template has the simplest structure and the parameters for all of its
nodes are set to the default values. For example, the Planar-Region has not been rotated or resized, theparticles have not been randomized in the Sprite-Emitter, and the particles start their generation on thefirst frame and die out at the maximum number allotted in the Particle-Baker.

lBasic Gravity Based System: This effect template simulates particles being generated from a source
w ith special emphasis on adding gravity to the particle system.

There are also more elaborate pre-build examples:lAnimated Grass: Simulates a patch of grass that is sw aying in the w ind. Uses an animated draw ing
layer as a sprite.

lBees: Simulates a crow d of bees flying around. Uses an animated draw ing layer as a sprite. Animate
the position of the bees using the Peg layer.

lBouncing Balls: Simulates the randomness of a set of bouncing tennis balls.

l

Bubble Vortex: Simulates a sw arm of insects emerging from a single origin point (such as the openingof a hive) and forming a tornado-shaped, tubular vortex.

lConfetti: Simulates confetti being throw n upw ard and falling back to the ground.

lFairies: A fun example of how you can have a particle (the Fairy) w hich generates particles (the Fairy
Dust).

l

Fairy: An example of how you can create a trail of Fairy Dust follow ing an animated draw ing layer.

lFire - Simulates a camp fire.

lFire_Particles - Simulates a large fire filing the entire screen w idth.

lGrass: Simulates a static patch of grass at a fully grow n state.

lHorizontal Speed Lines: Simulates horizontal speed lines that w ill radiate in one direction from acentral point.

lLeaves: Simulates autumn leaves falling in the w ind.

lLemmings: Simulates the classic game Lemmings. Uses an animated draw ing layer as a sprite. This isalso a good example to use to learn how to use Bounce Planes, as the particles w ill fall until they hit abounce plane.

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Looping Dust: Simulates a cloud of dust tw irling in the w ind.

lRain: Simulates a fairly turbulent rainfall w ith 3 different coloured raindrops.

lRain 2: Simulates rain w ater splashes as drops hit the groundl

Rain3: Simulates a fine rain falling vertically.

lSnow W indy: Simulates snow flakes falling in the w ind.

l

Sparkly 2 Colours: Simulates magical sparkles.

l

Speed Lines: Simulates radial Speed Lines that w ill radiate outw ards from a central point.

lSpay W and: Simulates a w an spraying magical sparkles at a target.

lToon Fire: Simulates a more cartoony camp fire.

lTrail Particles: Simulates a trail of sparkle follow ing a given path.

lTwinkle Particles: Simulates a show er of tw inkling particles.

How to insert particle templates into a scene:
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

To quickly insert a basic template, in the top menu, select Insert > Particle and then selecteither Basic Particle System or Basic Gravity Based System.

l

In the Node Library view , select the Particle category, then the Examples sub-category,then drag and drop any one of the templates into the Node View.

l

In the Node View, right-click and, in the context menu, select Insert > Particle > Examples
and select any of the examples to insert it into the Node View .

The particles template is added to your scene. Connect the output port of its Particle-Visualizer
node to your scene’s composite to make it visible. Then, you can start experimenting w ith theparameters of each node to make your ow n particle effect.

NOTE
To learn more about each particle node, see the Reference guide .

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Chapter 18: Effects

About Light Shading in Harmony

Cut-out animation allow s for great advancements and time saving in production, but it has certain limitations.
One of the main advantages of using a cut-out puppet is the ability to reuse your characters w ithout having to
redraw them and you can modify your animations very quickly. This speeds up the process quite a bit. One ofthe disadvantages of cut-out animation w hen w anting to retain the time saving factor and ability to quickly
modify an animation, is the fact that you cannot easily create tones and highlights. To do so, you must draw all
the highlight zones for each frame by hand. Follow ing that, if you w ant to modify your animation, you have to
redraw those zones. This slow s dow n the process. There are a few tricks for doing simple automatedhighlights, but the results are not alw ays convincing.
The Harmony Light Shading effect provides a proper solution to this issue. It allow s you to add a few nodes toyour original puppet rig and obtain a customizable lighting effect on your characters. It can be applied to any
object in your scene, not only on cut-out characters. The light shading effect allow s you to define your volume
zones as w ell as your light source and animate its position.
In Harmony, all draw ings are flat 2D planes, unless you imported 3D elements. A light source cannot interact
w ell w ith a flat shape to create tone and highlight areas w ithin it. To create shading zones, Harmony uses thebevel principle to create a three-dimensional shape illusion. To do that, you must define w hich object or
combination of objects should be defined as a volume. Next, you can carve and emboss areas using colour
zones w ithin the volumes to create w hat is referred to as 3D geometry.

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If you have a scene w ith one single draw ing layer, you w ill define that layer as your volume object, since there
are no other elements in the scene. The light shading effect w ill emboss the contour of the shape, but if you
w ant to have highlight and tone zones w ithin the draw ing, you w ill need to carve and emboss areas using
specific colour zones.

If you have a cut-out character composed of several draw ing layers, you w ill need to identify the different
layers or group of layers you w ant to define as volume objects. For example, you could group the arm, forearmand hand layers as one object, w hile the head could be another volume. Depending on your design, you w ill
have to analyze and decide w hat should be grouped. You can then use colours to carve areas w ithin thosevolumes.

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The beauty of the light shading effect is that you only have to set it up once. You can animate the light source
position, shading style, as w ell as colour and your volume objects, carving and adding areas w ill be accurately
used. There's no need to redraw another set of zones depending on the light source or even draw tones forany animation frames. This only needs to be done once in the character rig. The compositing artist w ill thenhave the freedom to play around w ith the light positioning and ambiances.

Harmony provides you w ith a series of nodes and parameters allow ing you to shape, carve and model yourimage's 3D geometry as you like. Each volume object has an ID number. You can have several volumes using
the same ID so they can receive the same shading, smoothing and bevelling parameters. If you w ant to treat
each area individually, you can assign them different ID numbers.
You also have the possibility to create tones, not only highlights. You can also combine both on the sameimage. Both tones and highlights react to the same carving colours, modelling parameters, and set volume
objects.

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About Light Shading Nodes
You can build your light shading effect using these five nodes:lVolume Object on page 396lNormal Map on page 396lLight Position on page 397

lLight Shader on page 398lTone Shader on page 398

To learn more about each node's parameters, see the Reference guide .

Volume Object
The Volume Object node allow s you to define w hich parts of your rig constitute a single volume to w hichshading should be applied. For example, if you need the arm, forearm and hand of your character to be shaded
together, you can connected all the nodes that constitute these body parts to the same Volume Object node,and the shading w ill be applied to these parts of your rig as if they w ere a single object.

NOTES
l

Even if you w ant to apply shading separately to a single draw ing, you must connect a Volume
Object node under that draw ing.

l

If you create separate Volume Object nodes for parts of your rig that are attached together, you
may see bumps in the shading w here the joints overlap.

Normal Map
The Normal Map node lets you centralize all Volume Object nodes and chisel out the shading 3D geometry(bevel height, smoothing, carving, etc.). It could be described as carving a bas relief. You only need one Normal
Map node per light shading effect and, in general, only one per scene.

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A normal map can be used to create other effects. If you're are w orking w ith an OpenFX plugin or other plugin
requiring a normal map, you can use the Normal Map Converter node to translate the Harmony normal map to
a format supported by your plugin. The Normal Map Converter node has been optimized to w ork w ith
GenArts® plugins, but you also have the ability to use it on custom plugins..

Light Position
The Light Position node is the actual light source interacting w ith all the defined volume objects. You can set
its position in relation to the objects and animate it over time. All volumes w ill react according to the light's
motion.

This is not w here you set the light type or colour. You'll be adjusting these in the Light Shader and Tone
Shader nodes.

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Light Shader
The Light Shader node lets you adjust the highlight parameters, such as the colour, to create the desired
ambiance. You can animate most parameters over time to create a mood change, sunset or any other type oflight transition. The beveling height and smoothing is set in the Normal Map node.

Tone Shader
The Tone Shader node lets you adjust the tone parameters, such as the colour, to create the desired ambiance.
You can animate most parameters over time to create shade transitions. The beveling height and smoothing is
set in the Normal Map node.

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Light Shading Setup
The first step in setting up your light shading effect is to identify w hich volumes you w ant the light to interact
w ith.
To learn more about each node's parameters, see the Reference guide .
Here's w hat a basic light shading effect node structure looks like:

How to set up a basic light shading effect
1. In the Node Library view , select a Volume Object node from the Shading category and drag it to
the Node view .
2. In the Node view , connect the Volume Object node betw een the draw ing node and the Composite
node. Click on the node's properties button (yellow square) and rename it w ith the volume it
represents. This w ill make it much easier to edit the beveling in the Normal Map node later on.

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If you need to combine several elements into one volume, you can connect the elements into a
Composite node set to Pass-Through and connect that Composite node to the Volume Object
node.

3. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Normal Map node and drag it to theNode view .
4. In the Node view , connect a second connection from the Volume Object node to the Normal Map
node. Don't connect the Normal Map's output port yet.

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5. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Light Shader or Tone Shader node anddrag it to the Node view .
6. In the Node view , connect the Normal Map output node to the shader node's middle input port.

7. From the Volume Object node, pull out a third connection and connect it to the shader node's right
input port.

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8. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Light Position node and drag it to theNode view .
9. In the Node view , connect the Light Position output node to the shader node's left input port
(green).

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10. Connect the shader's output port to the Composite node to the left (in front) of the Volume Object's
Composite connection. This w ill display the light shading effect on top of the original draw ing.
Connecting it to the right w ould result to nothing as the effect w ould be hidden behind thedraw ing.

11. If you added colours to your drzw ing to carve in some areas, in the Node Library view , select a
Colour-Override node and drag it to the Node view .
12. In the Node view , connect the Colour-Override node betw een the Volume Object and theComposite nodes. Make sure the Volume Object node is connected to the Colour-Override's right
input port.

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13. Click the Colour-Override node's properties button (yellow square) to open the Layer Parameters
dialog. From the Colours section, drag your carving colours to the Individual Colour Overrides
section. In the Mode column, set all your colours to Colour not visible.

14. To combine both the Tone Shader and the Light Shader, from the Node Library bring the othershader node and drag it to the Node view .

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15. In the Node view , connect the same Light Position, Normal Map and Volume Object nodes to the
new shader node.

16. Click the Normal Map node's properties button (yellow square) to open the Layer Parameters
dialog.
17. In the Volume Creation section, from the Object List , select all the Volume Object nodes you w ant
to use in this map.

‣It's possible to add all Volume Object nodes at the same time by selecting the Add all Defined
Objects option or it's possible to add each Volume Object node one by one.

18. In the Camera view , enable the Render mode to view the final effect.

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19. See the Reference guide to adjust the light shading parameters.

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Adding and Carving Volumes
Once your basic volumes are set up, you can use colours from your colour palettes to carve or add zones.
Depending on the design of the draw ing, you may w ant to use the same palette as the character, backgroundor object, or you may w ant to use a specific palette reserved specifically for this purpose.

To learn more about each node's parameters, see the Reference guide .

How to add and carve volumes
1. Add colour sw atches in your character's colour palette or in a new palette solely reserved forcarving. Name them Carving and Adding. By choosing different colours, it w ill be easier todifferentiate w here those colours w ill carve or add.
2. In the Camera or Draw ing view , draw the areas you w ant to carve out and add. It's recommended
to draw them in the Underlay or Colour Art layer.

3. In the Node view , click the Normal Map's properties button (yellow square) to open the Layer
Properties w indow .

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4. In the Override Modelling by Colour section, click Add Colour and select the palette containing
your carving and adding colours.

5. Add your Carving and Add colour sw atches.
6. Increase or decrease the Carving - Adding value by adjusting the slider to carve or emboss yourvolumes using the colour zones.

7. In the Camera view , enable the Render mode to view the final effect.

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Animating the Light Source and Target
You can set up the light source and animate it.

How to display the controls of the Light Position node
1. In the Node view , select the Light Position node.
2. Do one of the follow ing:‣

In the Camera View toolbar, click the Show Control‣

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

‣

Press Shift + F11 (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + F11 (macOS).

button.

A yellow camera appears in the scene, representing the light source.

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How to animate the light source and the target
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool and animate the light source or target.

2. Before moving the light source for the first time, you must move the light to make it visible. At the
moment, the target is not visible because it is hidden behind the light source.
A red line appears, starting at the light source. This line represents the direction of the light. The
green dot at the end of the line represents the target. Depending on the setting of your Light
Shader or Tone Shader node, the direction or target may be more useful.

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About Surface Shading
The Surface Shading set of nodes is an advanced version of the original Light Shading set of nodes. It provides
the ability to perform more advanced lighting effects in Harmony, such as cast shadow s and ambient
occlusion.
The legacy Volume Object and Normal Map nodes in Harmony w ork by adding bevel to the draw ings that
constitute the rig. This creates an overall rounded volume w ith lighting that w ould normally be difficult toobtain w ith flat draw ings. How ever, this approach is often limited to simpler rounded shapes and simple
surfaces.
The Surface Shading set of nodes allow s you to create more specific shapes, as w ell as to define the height ofthe bevel across the shapes. By using the original beveled surface, as w ell as specifically defined surfaces andanimateable height maps, you are able to create a Surface Map that is more reactive to the light in yourenvironment.
W hile the draw ings that constitute the rig remain flat, the Volume Object and Surface Map nodes allow you toprovide an extra layer of information to the accompanying nodes to help define the surface of the draw ings.
The surfaces can still be added and carved, but can also be overlapped and placed in relation to one-anotherin a height map, allow ing to generate advanced light effects such as cast shadow s and ambient occlusion.

Harmony provides you w ith a series of nodes allow ing you to bevel, shape, carve and model your image's
height map as you like. Each volume object has an ID number and several volumes can share the same ID.
Height maps can be added to specifically define a volume, shapes can be modeled for animated surface
definition and joints can be blended w ith the height mattes. This all comes together in a system that allow s
you to dynamically relight a character in a scene for a rich volumetric appearance.

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NOTE
For more information on the Light Shading effect, w hich is the legacy version of the Surface
Shading effect, see About Light Shading in Harmony on page 392.

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Surface Shading
Unlike the Light Shading effect, the Surface Shading effect uses the field units of the scene for its parameters.
This allow s the system to light draw ings and cast shadow s relative to their positions in the scene and in
relation to the surrounding draw ings. Although it requires some extra configuration, this system allow s formore customization, such as rounded surfaces, custom height-maps, and cast shadow s.

The Surface Shading effects blends the different light and shadow effects in your rig. A flat-character rig iscreated w ith the same Volume Object nodes as the Light Shading nodes to define the relative heights andsurface modeling.

NOTE
By default, Volume Objects are ignored in a scene until they are rendered w ith a Normal Map orSurface Map. The Normal Map and Surface Map w ill convert these Volume Objects into relevant
surface data used for lighting the scene.

The Surface Shading nodes include:lVolume Object on page 414

lSurface Map on page 414

lSurface Normal on page 415lCast Shadow on page 416

lAmbient Occlusion on page 417lHeight Shape Nodes on page 418lLight & Tone Shaders on page 419

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Volume Object
The Volume Object node allow s you to define w hich parts of your rig constitute a single volume to w hichshading should be applied. For example, if you need the arm, forearm and hand of your character to be shaded
together, you can connected all the nodes that constitute these body parts to the same Volume Object node,and the shading w ill be applied to these parts of your rig as if they w ere a single object.

NOTES
l

Even if you w ant to apply shading separately to a single draw ing, you must connect a Volume
Object node under that draw ing.

l

If you create separate Volume Object nodes for parts of your rig that are attached together, you
may see bumps in the shading w here the joints overlap.

Surface Map
The Surface Map behaves similarly to the Normal Map, but instead of defining the surface orientation, it isused to define the overall surface height and modeling in the scene. This node accumulates all draw ings,
Volume Objects, height maps and height mattes attached to the Pass-Through composites above. These
individual layers are combined into a single Surface Mapping w hich is then used as a guide for further Lightand Shading nodes.

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NOTE
The surface map appears similar to a normal map, but it behaves differently. The red, green andblue channels represent the X, Y and Z coordinates of their respective pixel in the scene. Hence,isolating the blue channel in the surface map is useful for preview ing the height of each pixel.

The Surface Map uses a lot of the same parameters as the Normal Map, but also requires that you set theheight ranges of each volume object relative to each other. By doing this, a surface is constructed that can beused to cast shadow s relative to each other.

Surface Normal
The Surface Normal node converts the output of the Surface Map into a normal image similar to the output of
the original Normal Map. Once converted, this output is compatible w ith the original Light and Tone Shaderand allow s these nodes to use new surface shading options.

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Cast Shadow
The Cast Shadow node samples the Surface Map and calculates the shadow that each surface should receive
based on that surface’s elevation, the surrounding elevations and the current position of the Light Position
node. A shadow is rendered w hen a surface does not receive any light due to a surface blocking the path ofthe light source.

NOTE
All of the Surface Shading nodes w ork in the same field-units as the draw ings in the scene andrequire that the light be placed in front of the draw ing and their defined height in the Z-axis.

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Ambient Occlusion
The ambient occlusion node creates a shadow that helps to emphasize the depth and roundness of acharacter. This node shades the areas on a surface that w ould be difficult for any ambient light to reach—areas w ith deep holes, crevices or overlapping surfaces. The darkness of this shadow is relative to thedifference in depth betw een a given pixel and the surrounding pixels w ithin a range. This shadow does not use
any light position, but instead behaves as an ambient shadow in the scene.

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NOTE
The Ambient Occlusion Node can be used to add volume to a flat character, even w ithout a direct
light source.

Height Shape Nodes
The addition of the Height Map port on the Volume Object node allow s for the customization of any surface
defined in the Surface Map. The Height Shape series of nodes provides a w ay to create an animatable heightthat w orks w ell w ith the Volume Object -- this can be used to create custom surfaces and animated heights
over the course of a scene.

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NOTE
The Shape Curves and Shape Lines nodes can be used together in the same rig. This allow s you tocreate a height map w ith both edges and curves that best fit the draw ing’s surface.

Light & Tone Shaders
The Light Shader and Tone Shader use the surface and depth information provided by the Surface Normal
node to generate diffuse light, specular highlight and light fall-off.

NOTE
Only the Surface Map node is able to provide the Height Map and Height Matte definition to theLight and Tone Shaders. This information is not available w hen using the original Normal Map
node.

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How to Rig with Surface Shading
The first step in Surface Shading is to identify the surfaces that w ill need lighting, shading or cast-shadow s.
Volume Objects can be used to join multiple draw ings into a single surface, or separated into different Volume
Object IDs and blended w ith the Height Matte. The Volume Objects for a rig can be created at either the
rigging or compositing stage—but it is important that these Volume Objects accurately represent a surface inrelation to the rest of surfaces in the rig.
The Surface Map node combines all the Volume Objects in your rig and allow s you to a add a height to eachvolume definition. This allow s you to define each surface’s range in relation to the others in the rig. Thesesurfaces can be animated w ithin the surface mapping, joints can be masked and height maps can be used tofurther define and animate the surface. All surface depths are in the same units as the field used by pegs in thescene—this provides a consistent relationship betw een the surface heights and the pegs and draw ings in thescene.
The Surface Shading nodes render in relation to the overall surface defined by the Surface Map. Volume
Object nodes are used to define individual surface layers and the Surface Map node accumulates these into asingle elevation-map facing tow ards the camera. W hen a light is placed in the scene, surfaces that are in frontof others w ill receive more light and w ill occlude the surfaces that are further aw ay.
Here's w hat a basic surface shading effect node structure looks like:NOTE
A Surface Shading node system is very similar to a legacy Light Shading node system, except thatit provides more surface definition and effect options.

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How to Set Up a Basic Surface Shading Rig
1. In the Node Library view , select a Volume Object node from the Shading category and drag it to
the Node view .
2. In the Node view , do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to create a Volume Object for a single draw ing, connect the Volume Object node
betw een the draw ing node and the Composite node.

l

If you need to combine several elements into one volume object, connect each of theseelements to a Pass Through composite, then connect that Composite node to the Volume421

Chapter 18: Effects

Object node.

TIPSl

To create a Pass Through composite, drag a Composite node from the Combine
section of the Node Library into the Node view , then click on its

Layer Properties

button and, in the Layer Properties dialog, set the Mode parameter to Pass
Through.
l

If you are w orking w ith a complex character rig, your rig w ill contain many Volume
Object nodes representing different part of the rig. You should name each Volume
Object node so that it identifies w hich part of the rig the object represents. To
rename the node, click on its

Layer Properties button and type its new name in

the Name field.

3. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Surface Map node and drag it to theNode view . Then, connect the output port of the Volume Object node to the input port of the
Surface Map node.

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4. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Surface Normal node and drag it to theNode view . Then, connect the output port of the Surface Map node to the input port of the Surface
Normal node. This w ill convert the map provided by the Surface Map node into a normal map,
w hich the Light Shader and Tone Shader nodes can use to generate their effects.

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NOTE
The Surface Map node provides the surface information of your combined Volume
Object nodes in field units. The Ambient Occlusion and Cast Shadow nodes can be
attached directly to this node as they only require the height of the surfaces to generate
their effect.
How ever, in order for the Light Shader and Tone Shader nodes to be able to w ork w ith
the Surface Map node, a Surface Normal node needs to be attached betw een them. The
Surface Normal node converts the surface information from field units to directional
normals, w hich is required by the Light Shader and Tone Shader nodes to generate
their effects.

5. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Light Shader node and drag it to theNode view . Then, connect the output port of the Surface Normal node to the middle input port of
the Light Shader node.

6. Create a new connection from the output port of the Volume Object node to the rightmost input
port of the Light Shader node.

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7. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Light Position node and drag it to theNode view . Then, connect the output port of the Light-Position node to the leftmost (green) input
port of the Light-Shader node.

8. Connect the output port of the Light Shader node to the scene composite, left of the port
connecting the Composite node to the Volume Object node. This w ill ensure that the light shading
effect is composited on top of the artw ork.

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9. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Tone Shader node and drag it to theNode view . Then, connect it to the Volume Object node, the Surface Normal node and the Light
Position node in the same w ay you did w ith the Light Shading node.

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10. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Cast Shadow node and drag it to theNode view . Then, connect the output port of the Surface Map node to the middle input port of theCast Shadow node.

11. Create a new connection from the output port of the Volume Object node to the rightmost input
port of the Cast Shadow node.

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12. Create a new connection from the output port of the Light Position node to the leftmost input portof the Cast Shadow node.

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NOTE
The Light Position node is used to define the position of the light source in the scene. In
this example, the Light Shader, Tone Shader and Cast Shadow all use the same lightsource. How ever, it is also possible to connect different Light Position nodes to each ofthese nodes to create a more complex lighting effect that uses different light sources.

13. Connect the output port of the Cast Shadow node to the scene composite, just left of port
connecting the Composite node to the Volume Object node.

14. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select anAmbient Occlusion node and drag it to
the Node view . Then, connect the output port of the Surface Map node to the leftmost input port of
the Ambient Occlusion node, and the output port of the Volume Object node to the rightmost input
port of the Ambient Occlusion node.

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NOTE
W hile the Cast Shadow node generates shading based on the position of the lightsource, the Ambient Occlusion node generates shading based on the height map of thevolume object.

15. At this point, the rig is ready, but the Surface Map needs to be customized to best represent thesurface being rendered.
In the Node View , click on theLayer Properties button of the Surface Map node to open its

Layer Properties dialog.
16. In the Volume Creation section, from the Object List , select all the Volume Object nodes you w ant
to use in this map.

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NOTE
If multiple Volume Object nodes are connected to the Surface Map node, they w ill all
appear in this list.

17. The Surface Map requires that the elevation range of each Volume Object be specified. This is doneby specifying the Elevation Min and Elevation Max for each volume object in the list.

TIPSl

You can set the elevation parameters to negative values to set the height of objects
further back in the stage.

l

After the elevation values are set, they can be animated by connecting a peg or an
animated height map to the Volume Object node. For more information, see
Defining and Animating Elevation on page 457l

You can also carve out parts of your volume object in the Surface Map node thesame w ay you can w ith the Normal Map node of the legacy Light Shading effect—
see Adding and Carving Volumes on page 407.

l

For best results, consider using blending modes to composite the shading effects toyour rig—see Surface Blending on page 454.

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Positioning the Light Source for Surface Shading
You can manipulate the position of the Light Source for your shading system in the Camera view . For best
results, it is recommended to position the light source above all the volume objects in your scene. In otherw ords, its position on the Z-axis must be higher than the highest volume object in your rig.

How to position the light source for surface shading
1. In the Tools toolbar, select theTransform tool.

2. In the Node View , select the Light Position node.
3. Show the controls for the Light Position node by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on

Show Control .

l

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

A control resembling a light projector w ill appear in the Camera view .
4. Reposition the light source to the desired position by moving the red control point:l

To change the position of the light source on the x and y axes, click and drag on the light
projector.

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To change the position of the light source on the z-axis, press and hold the Alt key, then click
and drag on the light projector.

Move the light in the scene to best represent the desired lighting condition.
5. To make the light source point tow ards the artw ork, position the target of the light source over the
artw ork by moving the purple control point:l

To change the position of the target on the x and y axes, click and drag on the light projector.

l

To change the position of the target on the z-axis, press and hold the Alt key, then click anddrag on the light projector.

TIP
You can also adjust the position of the light source in the layer properties of the Light
Position node. To access them, in the Node View , click on theLayer Properties

button inside the Light Position node.

6. To preview the effect of the new position of the light source, click on thethe toolbar at the bottom of the Camera view .

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Creating a Cast Shadow Effect
To take advantage of Cast Shadow s or Ambient Occlusion, it is helpful to have multiple Volume Objects orlarger overall elevation ranges in the Surface Map. The size and value of both the Cast Shadow and theAmbient Occlusion are dependent on the relative elevations of the surface; the Cast Shadow also depends on
the Light Position relative to the surface’s mapping.

Create a Cast Shadow with Multiple Volume Objects
1. Start by setting up a simple Surface Map node w ith tw o image sources. To do this, follow the steps
in How to Rig w ith Surface Shading on page 420.
To create a Surface Map that combines multiple Volume Object nodes, you must connect all theVolume Object nodes to a Composite node, and set this Composite node’s Mode property to Pass
Through.

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2. For each Volume Object node in your rig, click on theirLayer Properties button to open theirLayer Properties dialog, and set their ID parameter to different numbers.
For example, in this case, the ID of Volume-Object-Leaf_1 w ould be set to 1 and the ID of VolumeObject-Leaf_2 w ould be set to 2.

3. In the Node View , click theLayer Properties button of the Surface Map node to open its Layer

Properties dialog.
4. In the Volume Creation section, add the Volume Objects you w ant to use to generate the surface
map to the list below by doing one of the follow ing:

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Harmony 22 Premium User GuidelOpen the Object drop-dow n and select each Volume Object you w ant to add to the list one
by one.

l

To add all the Volume Object nodes connected to the Surface Map node to the list, open the
Object drop-dow n and select Add All Defined Objects.

5. For each Volume Object node in the list:a. Set the Elevation Min value to a value equal or higher than the Elevation Max value of theprevious object. For the first object, this can be set to 0.
b. Set the Elevation Max value to a value higher than the Elevation Min value for that object.
For example, if you have tw o Volume Objects, you can set the Elevation Min and Elevation max
values for the first object to 0 and 1 respectively, and the Elevation Min and Elevation Max values
for the second object to 1 and 2 respectively.

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NOTES
l

The Elevation Min and Elevation Max values for an object determine the range ofspace that each object occupies on the z-axis, and hence, how high each object isrelative to other objects. This affects, among other things, how one object casts a
shadow on other objects behind it.

l

The Elevation Min parameter of an object should be equal or higher to the Elevation
Max parameter of the previous object, so that volumes do not clip together.

lElevation Min and Elevation Max parameters can have decimal values so as to lay
different Volume Objects closer together.

l

An object that is too elevated may end up behind the camera, w hich w ill cause thesurface to be rendered w ith a hole in it.

lTo have a visual representation of your Surface Map as you configure the elevationof your objects, see Preview ing the Surface Map on page 442.

6. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Cast Shadow node and drag it to theNode View .
7. Connect the output port of the Surface Map node to the middle input port of the Cast Shadownode.
8. Connect the output port of the Composite node combining your Volume Objects to the rightmost
input port of the Cast Shadow node.

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9. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Light Position node and drag it to theNode view . Then, connect the output port of the Light Position node to the leftmost (green) input
port of the Cast Shadow node.

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10. Connect the output port of the Cast Shadow node to the scene’s main Composite node, left of theport connecting that Composite node to the Composite that combines your Volume Object nodes.
This w ill ensure that the shading effect is applied on top of the artw ork.

11. Position the Light Position node so that the object in the front casts a shadow onto the object in theback—see Positioning the Light Source for Surface Shading on page 432.

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12. In the toolbar below the Camera view , click on the
shadow effect.

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Previewing the Surface Map
The Surface Map’s render contains technical information used for calculating shadow s and lighting. W ithsome manipulation, this render can be very useful for problem-solving surface details and rigging.
The standard surface map renders a mapping that displays the X-position in fields in the red channel, the Yposition in fields in the green channel and the Z-position (elevation) in fields in the blue channel. The X and Y(red and green) coordinates are calculated automatically, but the Z values (blue channel) are provided by thedefined ranges in the Surface Map and the attached Height Maps.

How to visualize the elevation of a Surface Map
1. In the Node Library view , in the Filter category, drag a Channel-Sw ap node to the Node View . Then,connect the output port of the Surface Map node to the Input Port of the Channel Sw ap node.
2. In the Node Library view , in the Output category, drag a Display node to the Node View . Then,connect the output port of the Channel Sw ap node to the input port of the Display node.

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3. Click on the Layer Properties button for the Channel Sw ap node and, in the Layer Properties dialog,
set Red Channel from, Green Channel from and Blue Channel from parameters to Blue.

4. In the Display toolbar, select the display connected to the Channel Sw ap node to visualize its
output in the Camera view .
5. In the toolbar at the bottom of the Camera view , click on Render View to preview the elevation of
the Surface Map node. The preview w ill be in greyscale, w ith higher values rendered as brighter
greys than low er values.

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About Soft Shadow Options for Surface Shading
Soft Shadow ing can be done in a number of different w ays depending on the intended appearance of therendered shadow .
By default, a surface is in shadow w hen the light source is occluded by another surface in the direction of theray of the light source.
In this case, Surface A occludes the edge of Surface B, and causes a shadow w here the light is blocked. The
Surface is either lit, or in shadow and no blending is considered.

On the left, the shadow can be seen on Surface B. On the right, a side-view representation demonstrates thatthe shadow occurs w hen the single ray from the light source is blocked by Surface A.
The Soft Shadow Sample Size property defines a light range in Z that is used to interpolate the amount of
shadow on a given surface. This creates a soft shadow that blends along the direction of the light and fades toa lighter shadow as it recedes from the occlusion source.

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On the left, a softer shadow can be seen on Surface B. On the right, a side-view representation demonstrates
that the shadow creates a penumbra w hen only a portion of the light is occluded. The Soft Shadow Sample
Size defines the height-range of the light source—the penumbra is created by interpolating how much of thelight source is occluded betw een the upper and low er range of the light.
Sometimes, multiple options can be used to help better represent shadow s on softer surfaces.

On the left, a basic shadow w ith Shadow Sample Size of 0 causes a hard shaded surface. In the centre, theshadow ’s aliasing bias and blend is set to help blend out the shadow details closer to the occlusion source atthe starting edge of the shadow . On the right, the Shadows Sample Size is set to a larger number to create asofter shadow that blends as it recedes aw ay from the light source.

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If a more diffused shadow is preferred, the shadow can be created w ith multiple samples that are offset. Thisis helpful w hen creating lighting conditions that are less direct or for creating shadow s that blend softer
around the contours of the surfaces.

On the left, a hard edged shadow w ith no sampling. In the centre, the shadow is calculated by sampling only ahandful of times, creating a shadow that appears to be created from multiple light sources. On the right, theshadow is calculated w ith many samples, creating a blended surface that appears more rounded and softer
over the entire surface.

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Adding Ambient Occlusion
Ambient Occlusion can be easily added to any Light Shading system provided that it contains at least tw oVolume Objects.

To Create a Ambient Occlusion with Multiple Volume Objects
1. Start by setting up a simple Surface Map rig w ith at least Volume Objects—see Creating a Cast
Shadow Effect.

NOTE
In this example, the shading system does not have Cast Shadow , Light Shader andTone Shader nodes. That w ay, the only shading effect w ill be the Ambient Occlusion
node, and its effect w ill be easier to see.

2. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select an Ambient Occlusion node and drag it to
the Node view .
3. Connect the output port of the Surface Map node to the left input port of the Ambient Occlusionnode.
4. Connect the output port of the Composite node combining all your Volume Object nodes to theright input port of the Ambient Occlusion node.

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5. Connect the output port of the Ambient Occlusion node to the scene’s main Composite node, left ofthe port connecting that Composite node to the Composite that combines your Volume Object
nodes. This w ill ensure that the shading effect is applied on top of the artw ork.

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NOTE
Contrary to other shading effects, the Ambient Occlusion node does not require a Light
Position node. This is because the Ambient Occlusion shades the surface w ith screenspace ambient occlusion (SSAO). It calculates the amount a surface is exposed toambient lighting, For example, surfaces that are in deep crevices are shaded darker as
less light is reflected from nearby surfaces in these areas.

6. In the toolbar below the Camera view , click on the

Render View button to preview the ambient

occlusion effect.

TIP
As demonstrated in the screenshot above, adding Ambient Occlusion to your shading
system helps outline separate surfaces. Additionally, it can help amplify the volume ofyour objects.

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Surface Light Options for the Light Shader and Tone Shader Effects
W hen using the Surface Map and Surface Normal, new options become available on the Light Shader node
and Tone Shader node. These options can be found in the new Surface tab of the nodes.

W hen using the Surface Normal node w ith the Light Shader or Tone Shader, the shader is able to light relative
to the Z-position of the light and the elevation of the surface in the scene. This also allow s for the addition of a
specular highlight on the lit surface.

The original diffuse lighting from the Light Shader. The diffuse-style of lighting is created by calculating theamount of light being absorbed by the surface by using the direction of the light and the orientation of thesurface.

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The specular highlight helps to define shinier surfaces and is often used to emphasize more rounded surfaces.
The specular-style of lighting is created by calculating the amount of light being reflected off of the surface
and into the camera.
To learn more about the Specular Options check out the Light Shader and Tone Shader reference.

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Light Fall- off
Now that the Light and Tone nodes are using field units in the scene, the light can fall-off as it recedes into the
distance. W hen using the fall-off property, the brightness of a surface is calculated based on its distance fromthe light source. The light is at full strength at the Light Position node’s source and falls off, becoming lesspow erful, as it recedes tow ards the target.
The fall-off defines the percentage falloff at the w eakest part of the light, the Light Position’s target. A valueof 100% in the fall-off property w ill cause the light to fall-off completely, and no longer light the surface. The
value of the rendered light is determined by the pow er of the light ray at the point that it intersects the surface.

The fall-off value can also be used to make the surface appear brighter w hen closer to the light. W hen thefalloff is turned on w ith a value above zero, a light directly near the surface appears brighter and more direct
than a light further from the surface.

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Surface Blending
For best results, alw ays consider the blending of the light on the surfaces and use appropriate light, tone andshadow colours w ith proper blending modes.

In a very basic light effect rig, the default settings of the effect can appear abrasive if not blended
appropriately. In this case, a simple Light Shader and Cast Shadow have been added. W ithout proper colours,
masking and blending, the colours appear w ashed-out.

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The screen blend mode has been added to the lighting effect and a multiply blend mode has been added tothe shadow effect. To prevent light from being rendered in areas w ith cast shadow s, the Light Shader has
been cut by the Cast Shadow ’s render. For an overall rich effect, more appropriate colours have been chosen
for the Light Shader and Cast Shadow node.

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The resulting effect appears much more vibrant and less w ashed-out.

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Defining and Animating Elevation
There are a number of w ays to define and animate the elevation of a surface. These methods are useful for
defining specific surface shapes, or animating the elevation to better represent the elevation and lighting
conditions in the scene.

The Volume Object provides three extra ports to further define the elevation of a particular surface.

The Z- Offset Port

The Z Offset port allow s you to add a peg to the Volume Object in order to move the surface’s elevation range
in the scene. By adding a peg to the volume object, the peg can be animated to move the surface’s elevation
relative to other surfaces in the scene. This w ill also affect the shadow s cast by the surface. This is useful foranimating and offsetting the surface’s overall elevation range in the surface mapping, such as the changing
elevations on the individual draw ings in a full turn-around character rig.

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The Height Map PortThe height map is useful for adding specific surface detail to a Volume Object, or for adding animated heightmaps like the Shape Node. The Height Map port converts the attached image into elevation information thatcan be used to light and shade the surface. This image can be connected to a draw ing that better defines thesurface or it can be animated over time as the surface changes—it can even use bump texture data for surface
definition.

The incoming image is converted to greyscale, multiplied by the Volume Object’s Elevation Min and Elevation
Max and smoothed by the smoothness value. This height map is then added to the surface’s existing elevationin the Surface Map and is considered w hen lighting and shading the surface.

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NOTES
l

The surface information can be used to both add and carve an existing volume object.

l

The Height Map port can use both vector and bitmap images as its input.

lThis can be used in conjunction w ith the Shape Height nodes to make animatable height
shapes—see459

Chapter 18: Effects

The Height Matte Port
The Height Matte port allow s you to mask out regions of a Volume Object in order to blend the ranges in a
Surface Map. The Height Matte port uses an image w ith alpha values (like a gradient) to mask out the height
ranges provided by the Volume Object. The Volume Object’s surface is then blended w ith the underlying
surfaces. This can be used in places w here draw ings intersect one another at joints or breaks in the surface,such as the shoulder, hip or nose.

By default, fully opaque pixels are masked out of the surface and transparent pixels are included. This can beinverted by checking Invert Height Matte in the Volume Object’s properties.

NOTE
For more information on the Volume Object node and its properties, refer to the Reference Guide.

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Creating Animatable Height Shapes for Surface Shading
As explained in Defining and Animating Elevation on page 457, it is possible to add shape definition to a
Volume Object by connecting a draw ing to it. But it is also possible to create basic animatable shapes and use
them to add shape definition to a Volume Object. This allow s you to animate parts of the surfaces in yoursurface shading system.

This is done by creating a system of Shape Line, Shape Curve and Shape Render nodes, and connecting it to
the Height Map port of your Volume Object.

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W hile the Shape Line and Shape Curve nodes define the points of the shape, the Shape Render nodecombines those points to generate shapes, and fill those shape w ith a height map, w hich can then be used by
the Volume Object node, instead of a draw ing or bitmap image.

How to create an animatable height map
1. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category, select a Shape Render node and drag it to theNode view . This node acts as a composite for all attached Shaped nodes.
2. In the Node Library view , in the Output category, select a Display node and drag it to the Nodeview . Then, connect the output port of the Shape Render node to the input port of that Display
node.

NOTE
This Display node w ill be used to preview your shape as you build it.

3. In the drop-dow n in the Display toolbar at the top of the user interface, select the Display node you
just created to preview it in the Camera view .
4. In the Node Library view , in the Shading category. Then, do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to create a polygonal shape, select a Shape Line node and drag it to the NodeView .

l

If you w ant to create a curved shape, select a Shape Curve node and drag it to the NodeView .

A single Shape Line or Shape Curve node defines a single point in the shape of the region. Hence,
you must repeat this process until you have as many Shape Line or Shape Curve nodes asnecessary to define each point in the shape of the region you w ant to create.
For example, if you w ant to create a rectangle, you w ould need four Shape Line nodes, one for eachof the four points defining a rectangle. If you w ant to create an ellipsis, you w ould need four Shape
Curve nodes instead.
5. Position the Shape Line or Shape Curve nodes vertically, and connect them in a chain.

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6. Connect the output port of the low est Shape Line or Shape Curve node to the Shape Render node.

NOTE
Like a Composite node, the Shape Render node w ill create as many input ports as youconnect nodes to it. This is because you can combine several shapes by connecting
several chains of Shape Curve or Shape Line nodes to the Shape Render node.

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TIP
Shape Line and Shape Curve nodes can be used together, to create shapes that are
made of curves and straight lines.

7. Select the Shape Render node and display its controls in the Camera view by doing one of thefollow ing:l

In the Camera view toolbar, click on

Show Control .

l

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11.

NOTE
Only one set of handles w ill appear, but this is because all points are in the same
position.

8. Drag each point out and form the desired shape. If you are w orking w ith Shape Curve nodes,
manipulate the Bezier handles for each point to obtain the desired curves.

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9. You may notice that there is no contour linking the last point in the chain to the first point. To fix
this, In the Node View , click on theLayer Properties button for the low est Shape Line or Shape

Curve node in the chain. Then, in its Layer Properties dialog, check the Close Shape Contour
option.

10. Repeat steps 4 through 9 to create another shape inside the first one.

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NOTE
You can connect several chains of Line Shape or Curve Shape nodes to the Shape
Render node to give it several shapes.

11. Select all the points of the inner shape by holding the Shift key and clicking on each point. W hen
the points are selected, they w ill be highlighted in purple.

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12. W hile holding the Alt key, click on one of the selected points and drag it upw ards. This w ill movethe points closer tow ards the camera. As a result, the points w ill appear larger to give you a visualindication of their position on the z-axis.

13. In the toolbar at the bottom of the Camera view , click on the

Render View button to preview thehigh map generated by your shapes. There should be a gradient going from the contour of the outershape to the contour of the inner shape. The lightness of each pixels is representative of its heightin the height map.

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TIPSl

The Shape Render is best used to provide a Height Map for a Volume Object node—seel

The output of the Shape Render node is in fields, w hich means that the differences w hen
adjusting the height of certain points may be difficult to discern. For a more legible
preview , you can connect the Shape Render node to the Height Map port of a Volume
Object, then preview the resulting surface map instead—see Preview ing the Surface Map
on page 442.

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Using Shapes to Blend Joints in a Surface Shading System
Different parts of a rig typically need to be placed at different elevations so that they generate cast shadow s
on each other. How ever, this causes hard seams to appear w here different parts of a rig join together. For
example, in the Height Map below , the character’s left arm is more elevated than their body, creating a hardseam around its shoulder w hich w ill make it “pop out” w hen a Cast Shadow effect is applied.

TIP
Displaying the blue channel of a Surface Map in the Camera view w ill show the relative heights ofthe surfaces in the Surface Map. This is helpful for setting up a character’s Volume Objects andblending the elevations of the surfaces. To generate this preview , see Preview ing the Surface Map
on page 442.

To fix this, a height map shape can be created to taper the height betw een the higher volume object and thelow er volume object.
The first step is to create a single shape rig. The shape must be created to cover the part of the volume object
that needs to be blended—see Creating Animatable Height Shapes for Surface Shading on page 461.

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Then, the points that are closer to the joint must be moved dow n, so as to create a height map that w ill taperfrom the higher Volume Object’s height to the low er Volume Object’s height.
To move points backw ards, select them and, w hile holding the Alt key, click and drag them dow nw ard. The
points w ill shrink in size to indicate that they are further aw ay from the camera.

This causes the elevation of the arm to be sloped. The effect of this slope w ill be visible in the light, tone andcast shadow effects applied to the rig.
It is also possible to blend the joint by calculating the difference in elevation betw een the tw o Volume Objects,
then applying this elevation difference to the control points near the joint. This allow s you to blend the joints
w ith much more precision, w hich should prevent even very subtle seams to appear near the joint.

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In this case, the elevation of the Arm01-Object needs to meet the elevation of the Torso-Object at the joint.
Considering that:l

The Torso-Object has an elevation range from 1 to 2, w hile the Arm01-Object has an elevation range
from 2 to 3.

l

The Torso-Object’s Elevation Baseline parameter is set to 50%. Hence, w ith no height map applied, theelevation of the torso is of 1.5 field, since that is the middle point betw een its minimum elevation of 1
and its maximum elevation of 2.

l

The Arm01-Object’s Elevation Baseline parameter is also set to 50%. Hence, w ith no height map
applied, the elevation of the arm is of 2.5 fields, since that is the middle point betw een its minimum
elevation of 2 and its maximum elevation of 3.

This means that, w hen no height map is applied, the Arm01-Object is exactly 1 field (2.5 - 1.5) above the
Torso-Object. Hence, in order for the shoulder and the torso to meet, the points around the shoulder need tobe moved dow n by 1 field.
Since each point in a height map shape is a node, you can tw eak the elevation of each point by opening theLayer Properties for its corresponding node, and entering the desired elevation for the point in its (z) Axis
parameter.
In this case, the points near the joint need to be moved dow n 1 field. This can be accomplished by setting theirposition on the z-axis to 1 B.

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Chapter 18: Effects

About OpenFX
T-COMP2-008-002A
To expand your compositing possibilities, you can use OpenFX plugins directly in Harmony.

OpenFX is an open standard used to create visual effects plugins. These plugins can be used in any applicationthat supports the standard. This means that banks of visual effect plugins can be developed by programmers
and shared w ith various platform users. Harmony is one of these platforms.
To learn more about OpenFX, refer to:lopenfx.sourceforge.net

lopeneffects.org

To learn more about the main OpenFX plugin providers, refer to:ltoolfarm.com/products/category/3316/all

To demonstrate this feature, the Sapphire package from GenArts® w ill be used. You can dow nload the
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Installing an OpenFX Package
T-COMP2-008-002B
Once you have purchased or dow nloaded an OpenFX package, you need to launch the executable file toinstall it. All OpenFX plugins install in a centralized location that all applications can read from. You w ill notneed to do anything in Harmony. They w ill appear automatically in the Node Library view once the package ofyour choice is installed.
Here is the centralized installation path:l

W indow s: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\OFX\PluginslmacOS: /Library/OFX/Pluginsl

GNU/Linux: /usr/OFX/Plugins

How to install an OpenFX package for Harmony
1. Dow nload the OpenFX package you w ant to install.
2. Quit Harmony.
3. Launch the OpenFX package installer and follow the installation instructions.
4. Launch Harmony.
5. In the Node Library view , in the Categories section, select the category matching the package's
name.
All effects included in the package are now available to use in Harmony.

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Chapter 18: Effects

Using OpenFX Plugins
T-COMP2-008-002C
All OpenFX plugins can be customized by adjusting their parameters. Settings are organized by category andsome of them can be expanded and collapsed for clarity. Parameters can also be animated over time.
Some effects also have visual controls to set the position or angle. If you w ant to adjust the controls for youreffect, you must do so in OpenGL mode. To see the effect in OpenGL mode, you need to connect a Render
Preview node to your effect.

How to use and edit an OpenFX plugin in Harmony
1. From the Node Library view , select an effect plugin and drag it to the Node view .
2. Connect your draw ing nodes or other required nodes to the effect plugin.
3. In the Camera view , enable the Rendermode to see the final rendered effect.

4. In the Node view , click the effect node's yellow square to open the Layer Properties w indow andadjust its parameters.

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NOTE
In the Layer Properties w indow , you can expand some parameter sections to see many more
controls.

5. Adjust the effect's visual control in OpenGL mode by dragging a Render Preview node from theNode Library view to the Node view . Connect it betw een the plugin and the Composite nodes.

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6. In the Camera view , enable the OpenGL

mode to see the rendered effect in OpenGL.

7. To display the controls, in the Node view , select the plugin effect node and do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera toolbar, click the Show Control

button.

l

From the top menu, select View > Show > Control.

lPress Shift + F11 (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + F11 (macOS).

The controls appear.

8. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform

tool or press Shift + T.

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9. In the Camera view , adjust the controls.

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Chapter 18: Effects

Using the Normal Map Converter
Harmony has the ability to generate normal maps. The main usage is to create light shading effects on flat 2D
draw ings. The normal map w ill carve and emboss a flat plane using vectors. The X, Y and Z coordinates of thenormal map vectors are stored in RGB values to convert the 3D aspect into a visual result and use it to create
various effects, such as light reflections (light shading). The X value is stored in the Red channel. The Y value isstored in the Green channel. The Z value is stored in the Blue channel.

A normal map can be used to create other effects. If you're are w orking w ith an OpenFX plugin or other plugin
requiring a normal map, you can use the Normal Map Converter node to translate the Harmony normal map to
a format supported by your plugin. The Normal Map Converter node has been optimized to w ork w ith
GenArts® plugins, but you also have the ability to use it on custom plugins.

NOTE
Note that not all normal map formats are supported.

The Normal Map Converter uses the follow ing formula per channel:lvalue * (+/- length) + offsetl* +/- depending if inverse is set to true ("-" if true)

How to use the Normal Map Converter node
1. In the Node Library view , go to the Shading category and select the Normal Map Converter node.
2. Drag it to the Node view .

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3. Connect the Normal Map Converter node betw een the Normal Map node and your custom pluginnode.

4. Select the Normal Map Converter node.
5. In the Layer Properties view , adjust the node's properties.

Parameter

Description

Conversion TypeBy default, the conversion type is set to Genarts. If you w ork
w ith a different manufacturer and w ant to adjust theparameters, set the conversion type to Custom.

OffsetOffsets the original position of the vector. You need to readthe plugin documentation to know the offset you need to use.

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You must use the same offset value as the manufacturer isusing. By default the offset is set to 0.

LengthInvert Red

The Normal Map Converter normalizes Harmony vectors to 1.
By default the length value is set to 1. If your plugin requires
shorter or longer vectors, enter a value smaller or greaterthan 1. It w ill multiply the vector length.

Inverts the red value (x). If your value is 125, the invert setting
w ill transform it to -125.

Invert Green

Inverts the green value (y). If your value is 125, the invert
setting w ill transform it to -125.

Invert Blue

Inverts the blue value (z). If your value is 125, the invert
setting w ill transform it to -125.

6. If the plugin you are using stores the X,Y and Z coordinates in different channels, you can use theChannel-Sw ap node to reassign the colour channels.

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About Node Categories
Customizing the categories is a great w ay to organize the nodes according to how you like to w ork and thenodes you use most often. You can easily add categories and subcategories, remove categories you don't use,
and rename categories.

Displaying All Nodes

482

Adding a Node Library View Category483

Removing a Node Library View Category

485

Renaming a Library View Category

486

Adding Nodes to Categories

487

Removing Nodes from Categories

488

Searching for Nodes, Categories, and Descriptions

489

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Chapter 18: Effects

Displaying All Nodes
You can display all the nodes available in the Node Library view .

How to display all the nodes
1. If a category is selected and you w ant to see all the nodes available in the library, in the NodeLibrary view , place your cursor in the Node Search field.

The Node Library view displays all the nodes.

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Adding a Node Library View Category
You can add a Node Library view category to organize your most commonly used nodes or group them in amore convenient w ay to your pipeline.

How to add a category
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

To create a new main category, click in the Node Search field.

l

To create a subcategory, select a category.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node Library menu, select New Category.

l

Right-click in the category area and select New Category.

The New Category w indow displays.

3. In the New Category w indow , type in the name of a new category and click OK.
The new category appears in the Category list. Now you can add nodes to your new category—see
Adding a Node Library View Category on page 483.

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Removing a Node Library View Category
You can remove custom categories you are not using in the Node Library view .

How to remove categories
1. From the Category list, select a category to remove.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node Library menu, select Remove Category.

l

Right-click in the category area and select Remove Category.

The Confirm Remove Category w indow displays.

3. Click Yes.

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Chapter 18: Effects

Renaming a Library View Category
You can rename a Node Library view category to keep it organized.

How to rename categories
1. From the Category list, select a category to rename.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node Library menu, select Rename Category.

l

Right-click in the category area and select Rename Category.

The Confirm Rename Category w indow displays.

3. Type in a new name for the category and click OK.

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Adding Nodes to Categories
Once you've created a category, you can add nodes to it for easy access. Later on, you can go back and remove
any nodes you no longer use. You can only add and remove nodes from a category you created.
W hen you add a node to a new category, it is essentially a copy of the node. The node in its default location
remains there. You cannot delete nodes from their default categories or move them.

How to add nodes
1. Select a node from any category and drag it to a category you created.

A copy of the selected node is added to your new category.

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Removing Nodes from Categories
You can remove nodes you no longer use from custom categories.

How to remove nodes
1. Select a node from a category you created.

NOTE
Nodes from the default categories cannot be removed.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Node Library menu, select Remove Node.

lRight-click in the category area and select Remove Node.

l

Press Del.

The node is removed from the category.

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Searching for Nodes, Categories, and Descriptions
Sometimes it's faster to type in the name of a node instead of looking through all the categories. You can also
search for category names or descriptions as w ell. Once you type in the name of a node, description or
category in the Node Search tool, it is displayed in the library. Sometimes the result of a node search is in one
or more categories for convenience.

How to search for nodes
1. In the Node Library, place your cursor in the Node Search field.

The Node Library view displays all the nodes.
2. Type in the name of a node, category or description.
Depending on how you are view ing the nodes, the Node Library view displays the node, categories
and/or description you typed in.

3. To return to displaying all the nodes, place your cursor in the Node Search field again and delete
the node name in the Search field.

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Chapter 19: Sound

Chapter 19: Sound
W ith Harmony, you can import soundtracks and dialogue into your animation. There are several sound editing
features you can use to synchronize sounds to individual frames or moments in time. You can also edit them totrim unw anted seconds from the beginning and end of your sound files, as w ell as loop sounds that you w ant
to continue throughout your animation.

Your ability to add dialogue to animation is greatly enhanced w ith the Harmony automatic lip-sync detection.
Harmony can analyze voice tracks to determine w hich of the eight animation phonemes (lip positions) w ould
best apply to each frame of sound. W ith the mouth chart that is generated, you can easily draw lip positions
for your character. Furthermore, Harmony can automatically apply draw ings of lip positions to each frame ofyour animation based on the mouth chart.

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About the Sound Editor
W hen you double-click on a sound layer in the Timeline view , the Sound Element Editor appears.

lMute/Unmute: This button mutes and unmutes the sound layer during the scene play back.

l

Layer Name: This field displays the layer's name.

lSound Editor: This button opens the Sound editor.

lStart Frame/End Frame: These fields determine the start and end frame of the sound file.

lDetect: This button launches the automated lip-sync detection.

l

Map: This button opens the Map Lip-sync dialog box.

l

Mouth Shapes: This section shows the automated lip-sync detection during the scene play back. Click on the
thumbnail image of each mouth to change the phoneme assigned to the current frame.

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Chapter 19: Sound

Sound Layer
W hen you select a sound layer in the Timeline view , the options related to that layer appear in the Layer
Properties view .

If you double-click on a sound layer in the Timeline view , or in a sound column in the Xsheet view , the Sound
Element Editor dialog w ill open. This dialog allow s you to fine-tune the sound track's lip sync, start time, stoptime and volume.

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NOTE
Contrary to all other layers, sound layers are not represented by nodes in the Node view .

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Chapter 19: Sound

Importing Sound
T-HFND-007-009
If you w ish to add sound to your animation, it is recommended to edit and mix your sound files in a soundediting softw are. Having full-length pre-mixed soundtracks ensures the audio preserves its timing, mixing andquality should you use third party softw are for post-production. Another good practice is to keep yoursoundtrack separated in tracks for music, sound effects and characters to make it easier to sync your animation
w ith voices and sounds. Otherw ise, it is possible to clip sound effects and adjust their volume directly inHarmony w hen needed.
If you create your project in Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, you can export all of your project's scenes as separate
Harmony scenes. The storyboard's sound track w ill be cut up by scene and each piece w ill be inserted into theexported scenes, allow ing you to save time on splitting and importing your sound track.
Harmony can import .w av, .aiff and .mp3 audio files.

NOTE
Importing a soundtrack longer than your scene w ill not extend your scene's length. Sound
playback w ill stop at the end of your scene's length.

How to import a sound file
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select File > Import > Sound.

l

In the Xsheet view , right-click anyw here in the frame area and select Import >Sounds.

l

From the Xsheet menu, select File > Import > Sounds.

l

From the Timeline menu, select Import > Sounds.

The Select Sound File dialog box opens.
2. From the Select Sound File dialog box, find and select a sound file.
The sound file appears as a layer in the Timeline view . Its w aveform is displayed in the track to help
you visualize at w hich frames the sound effects in your soundtrack occur.

Your soundtrack also appears as a column in the Xsheet view , but w ill not display a w aveform by
default. If you w ish, you can display a sound column's w aveform by right-clicking on it, thenselecting Sound Display > W aveform.

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Playing Sound
T-HFND-007-010
Before playing back any sound, click the Enable Soundbutton in the Playback toolbar or enable it throughthe Play menu (in the top menu). This w ill ensure that you can hear the sound layers in your scene, even theones included w ithin symbols.
If there are tw o or more sound layers and you w ant to listen to them independently, you can disable theunw anted sound by clicking the Disable Layerbutton on the sound name layer in the Timeline view .

If you are trying to do a playback w ith sound and the frame rate doesn't reach 24 fps (frame per second), you
can do one of the follow ing to troubleshoot the issue:lShrink dow n the Camera view size to reduce the cached image size.

lPlayback your scene w ithout sound first, then add the sound. If you do not cache the images firstw ithout sound, the playback w ill try to follow the sound by skipping images that w ill never get cached.

l

In the Preferences panel, in the OpenGL tab, reduce the size of the Playback Cache Size (in mb)
preference.

How to play back sound1. To select a starting point:l

In the Xsheet view , click on a cell in the sound column.

lIn the Timeline view , click on a cell in the sound layer. You can also slide the red
playhead to the correct cell.

2. In the Playback toolbar, activate the Enable Soundbutton.

3. Do one of the follow ing:lClick the Playbutton in the Playback toolbar.

lFrom the top menu, select Play > Play or click on the Enter/Return key.

4. To hear the sound played back again and again, do one of the follow ing:lClick the Loopbutton in the Playback toolbarlFrom the top menu, select Play > Loop.

5. To mute soundtrack, on the left side of the sound layer, click the Disable Layer

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Changing the Sound Display
W ithin the Xsheet view , you can display the sound file in different w ays, depending on your sound editingneeds.
You can show or hide the w aveform in the Timeline view by selecting the W aveform

button in the Timeline

View toolbar. You must customize the toolbar to display this button because it is not included in this toolbar bydefault.

How to change the sound display in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view 's right area, right-click in the frame section and select Show Sound
W aveforms or in the Timeline view menu, select View > Show > Show Sound W aveforms.

l

You can change the w aveform scale using the Zoom W aveform

icon on individual sound layers

in the Timeline view 's left side.

How to change the sound display in the Xsheet view
1. Right-click in the sound column or on the sound column header, and select Sound Display and oneof the follow ing:lSound Name: Show s the name of the sound file, as w ell as the file format. The line
running vertically through the column frames betw een the same file name indicates acontinuity of the same sound file in these frames.

lMouth Shapes: Show s the letter (or name depending on the w ay you named yourcharacter's different mouth positions) in the column's frames. There is only one mouth
position allotted per frame and this position should correspond to the sound file after
performing a lip-sync.

l

W aveform: Show s a vertical display of the sound file's actual w aveform. In thecolumn header, in the field under the column name, you can type in a percentage tozoom in or zoom out on the w aveform, or pass the scroll cursor
W aveform

icon.

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Chapter 19: Sound

Sound Scrubbing
Harmony uses a process know n as Sound Scrubbing to let you hear sound in real-time w hile you move theplayback pointer forw ard or backw ard. This is very useful for finely-tuned lip-synching. You can scrub sounds
from the Timeline view .

How to scrub a sound from the Timeline view
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

From the top menu, select Play > Enable Sound Scrubbing.

‣Right-click in the frame bar of the Timeline view and select Play > Enable Sound Scrubbing.

‣In the Playback toolbar, enable the Sound Scrubbing

button.

2. At the top of the Timeline view , drag the red playhead to hear the sound at each frame.

3. In the Playback toolbar, you can use the jog slidder to playback forw ard and backw ard subsequentsound frames. This allow s you to do a more fluid scrubbing.

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About Analog Sound Scrubbing
Harmony is set to the digital sound scrubbing mode by default. This means that all sounds are played in realtime. It also means that as you scrub over a frame, you w ill hear the section of your sound file that is allotted tothat frame. As you are scrubbing, although it is accurate, the sound can sound clipped. It can also be difficult tohear nuances in pitch and tone.
Harmony has an analog sound scrubbing option. W hen sound scrubbing in this mode, the sound is playedback according to the speed that the playhead or jog is manually adjusted. Harmony's interface offers shuttle
and jog sliders to perform analog sound scrubbing, how ever, external hardw are and their corresponding
softw are can be used in conjunction w ith Harmony for improved analog sound scrubbing results.

NOTE
Refer to the device's manual to configure its functionality w ith Harmony.

Performing an Analog Sound Scrub in Harmony
Before you can perform an analog sound scrub in Harmony, you have to learn about the Shuttle and Jog
controls.

lShuttle: Pull the Shuttle control backw ard or forw ard to make the red playhead in the Timeline view
jump by large increments in the direction you are moving the shuttle.

501Chapter 19: Soundl

Jog: Drag the Jog control to make the "dial" rotate. The Jog controls finer incremental movements along
the soundw ave. Use the Frame field to see the frame number w hich you are on. As you rotate the dial,
your speed in fps appears directly after the FPS field.

How to perform an analog sound scrub
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

From the top menu, select Play > Enable Sound Scrubbing.

‣Right-click in the frame bar of the Timeline view and select Play > Enable Sound Scrubbing.

‣In the Playback toolbar, enable the Sound Scrubbing

button.

2. In the top menu, select Edit > Preferences (W indow s) or Harmony Premium > Preferences(macOS).
3. In the Sound tab, select the Analog Sound Scrubbing option.
4. Click OK.
5. Do one of the follow ing:‣

In the Playback toolbar, use the Shuttle to find the general location of w here you w ant to start
your sound scrub.

‣In the Timeline view , drag the red playhead to the desired location.

6. In the Playback toolbar, use the Jog to fine-tune your scrub to just a few frames.

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Editing Sound
Now that you have successfully imported a sound file into Harmony, it is time to familiarize yourself w ith thesound editing interface. The Sound Element editor makes it possible to edit sounds that w ere created outsideof Harmony and imported into your scene.

How to open the Sound Element editor
1. Double-click on the sound layer name in the Timeline view or the sound column header in the
Xsheet view .
The Sound Element Editor dialog box opens.

The Sound Element editor consists of three main parts.

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Chapter 19: SoundlSound Element: The w aveform in the Sound Element Editor is the actual sample that w ill be heard
w hen the final movie is rendered. It may be shorter than the original sound sample due to thelength of the scene. If any edits are made to the sound sample, they can be heard here. In theSound Element panel, notice the coloured tabs that indicate the start and end frames of a soundsegment. The frame number is displayed in the tab.

lCurrent Sound: Displays the original sound file in its entirety and is w here you can edit its
properties. This w indow remains empty until you click inside the Sound Element Editor.

lLip- sync Preview: Lets you preview the automated detection and to manually insert different
mouth positions to correspond w ith the sound sample.

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Cropping Sound
To synchronize the sound w ith specific images in your scene, you must set a start frame for your sound. To
make sure the sound ends by a certain frame, you must set an end frame.
In the Sound Element panel you w ill see some coloured tabs, these tabs represent the frames. The frame
number is show n inside the tab flag marker. These tabs indicate the start and end frames of a sound segment.

How to change start or end frame of a sound
1. Double-click on the sound layer name in the Timeline view or the sound column header in the
Xsheet view .
2. In the Sound Element editor, select a sound sample from the Sound Element section. To distinguish
one sound section from another on the same sound layer, check the frame numbers that appear ontabs flanking the start and stop lines of each w aveform section.

Click the Playbutton in the Current Sound section (only the selected sound plays).

3. W ithin the Sound Element panel, drag the selected clip to the frame number w here you w ant it tostart playing.

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Chapter 19: SoundYou can only move the clip to a section that does not already contain a clip; you cannot overlap tw oclips in the same element.
4. To change the end frame, drag the yellow marker at the end of the w aveform to the frame position.

5. To hear how all the clips fit together in the element, click the Playbutton in the Sound Element

section.

If you only w ant to hear the selected clip, click the Play

6. Click Apply/Next.

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The Xsheet and Timeline view s display the sound clip at the start frame you selected.

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Trimming Sound
To play only a section of a sound file, use the Sound Element editor to select the exact part you w ant to use.
For example, if there is a bit of noise at the start of the sound, use the Sound Element editor to cut the noise.
The Sound Element Editor does not change the original sound file; it only plays a section of it, ignoring the rest.
This means that the entire sound file is included on export. If you need to be mindful of file size, it is better toedit sound files completely in a sound editor before bringing them into Harmony.

How to trim the start and end of a sound file
1. Double-click on the sound layer name in the Timeline view or the sound column header in the
Xsheet view .
2. In the Sound Element editor, select a sound sample from the Sound Element section. To distinguish
one sound section from another on the same sound layer, check the frame numbers that appear ontabs flanking the start and stop lines of each w aveform section. Or select a soundw ave and click
the Playbutton in the Current Sound panel (only the selected sound plays).

3. Using the Current Sound section, decide on the part of the file you w ant to play by dragging the left
and right boundaries of the selection area.

4. Click the Playbutton in the Current Sound section to check that you have trimmed the desired

sections. Use the Zoom slider at the bottom of the panel to zoom in on the w aveform so you cantrim it more accurately.

5. Click Apply/Next.
The trimmed sound sample appears in both the Timeline and Xsheet view s at the start and end
positions you selected.

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Looping Sound
To repeat a sound, specify the number of times that you w ant it to loop in the Sound Element editor.

How to loop a sound sample
1. Double-click on the sound layer name in the Timeline view or the sound column header in the
Xsheet view .
2. From the Sound Element section, select the sound section you w ant to loop.
3. In the Current Sound section, type the number of times you w ant the sound to play in the Numberof Loops field.

4. Press the Enter/Return key.
The looped sound appears after the current sound. They are indicated by their grey w aveforms, as
opposed to black.
W hen you loop a sound, the looped sections fill the cells in the sound element (column or layer)
until the next sound sample starts or until the scene ends. This means that the looping could be cut
if the next sound sample starts too soon or if the scene ends too quickly.

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Chapter 19: Sound

Mixing the Sound Volume
You can adjust the volume of an entire sound clip or modify the volume in increments by adjusting the fade-in
and fade-out times, otherw ise know n as sound envelopes. The fade edit only affects the playback; the original
sound file is not affected.

How to adjust the overall volume of the entire sound clip
1. Double-click on the sound layer name in the Timeline view or the sound column header in the
Xsheet view .
2. In the Sound Element section, select the sound you w ant to w ork on.
A more detailed version of the selected sound appears in the Current Sound section.
3. In the Current Sound section, use the Volume slider to adjust the volume.

4. Click the Playbutton in the Current Sound panel to verify the volume.

How to create the fade in/out effect on a sound clip
1. Double-click on the sound layer name in the Timeline view or the sound column header in the
Xsheet view .
2. In the Sound Element section, select the sound you w ant to w ork on.
3. In the Current Sound section, click on the thin blue line above the w aveform to add an envelope
marker.

4. Drag the envelope markers to adjust the volume at that frame and to create the time of thetransition. The line from the edge of the clip to the envelope marker identifies how the volume510

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increases (fades-in) or decreases (fades-out) over time.
Dragging the marker to the bottom of the channel mutes the volume, w hile dragging it upw ards
increases the volume.

NOTE
To create an even effect, be sure to adjust the envelope markers uniformly in both the left andright (bottom and top) channels.

5. Click the Playbutton in the Current Sound panel to check the fade envelopes.

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Chapter 19: Sound

Setting the Playback Range
To hear a specific section of the sound element, adjust the playback range in the Sound Element editor to startor stop at specific frames. This customized playback range does not affect the actual sound in the Soundelement.

How to change the playback range in the Sound Element editor
1. Drag the start or end range markers in the Sound Element section to the boundary frames you
w ant.

2. W hen you click the Playbutton to play back your sound in the Sound Element editor, it only

plays the sound w hich exists betw een the tw o markers.

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Adding an Empty Sound Layer
W hen performing sound editing tasks, it can be useful to chop up a sound sample into different layers. For
example, w hen performing a lip-sync, only a single view of the various mouth positions for a character canexist on one layer. Therefore, if you w ant to have a character turn its head from a profile view to a threequarter view and have mouth position changes to fit w ith the sound sample from these tw o different view s,
you w ould need to cut up the sound samples needed for the profile view mouth positions on one layer and thesound samples needed for the three-quarter view on another.
For this task, you w ill need an empty sound layer.

How to add an empty sound layer
1. In the Timeline Layer toolbar, click the Add Layer button.
2. From the drop-dow n menu, select Sound.
An empty (silent) sound layer appears in both the Timeline and Xsheet view s.

3. Rename the layers accordingly by double-clicking on the layer name and renaming it in the Sound
Element editor. Click Apply/Next to accept the change.

1. In the sound file you w ant to grab sounf frames from, click the cell w here you w ant to start the cut
and Shift + click on the final cell of the cut. The sample to be cut becomes highlighted.

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2. Drag the selection into the empty sound layer below .

4. You can now continue to cut-up and distribute the sound sample betw een the tw o layers or carryon to the lip-synching process for each layer and its corresponding facial view .

NOTE
If you need to duplicate your sound layer to keep an unedited copy for safety, select the
Duplicate Selected Layers button in the Timeline View toolbar. You must customize thetoolbar to display this button because it is not included in this toolbar by default.

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About Lip- sync
Adding a lip-sync to your animation is essential to making your characters seem alive. How ever, it is also aparticularly tedious part of the animation process.

To solve this problem, Harmony provides an automatic lip-sync detection feature. This feature analyzes thecontent of a sound track in your scene and associates each phoneme it detects w ith one of the mouth shapes
in the follow ing mouth chart, w hich is a standard mouth chart in the animation industry.

NOTE
The letters assigned to these mouth shapes are standard identifiers, they do NOT correspond to
the sound they are meant to produce.

This is an approximation of the English phonemes each mouth shape can be used to represent:l

A: m, b, p, hl

B: s, d, j, i, k, tl

C: e, al

D: A, E

l

E: o

l

F: u, ool

G: f, phl

X: Silence, undetermined sound515

Chapter 19: SoundW hen performing automatic lip-sync detection, Harmony does not create mouth draw ings. It simply fills thedraw ing column of your character's mouth layer w ith the generated lip-sync, by inserting the letter associatedw ith the right mouth shape into each cell of the column. Therefore, for the automatic lip-sync detection to
w ork, your character's mouth layer should already contain a mouth draw ing for each draw ing in the mouth
chart, and these draw ings should be named by their corresponding letter.

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Generating a Lip- sync Detection
There are several places w here you can perform a lip-sync detection: Layer Properties view , Timeline view ,Xsheet view and Sound Element editor.

How to generate a sound detection for lip- sync using the Layer Properties view
1. In the Timeline or Xsheet view , select the sound layer.
The options for that layer w ill appear in the Layer Properties view .
2. In the Layer Properties, click Detect.

Harmony analyzes the selected sound clips and assigns a lip-sync letter to each sound cell.
3. Click the Map button to open the Lip-Sync Mapping dialog box.

4. From the Destination Layer menu, select the layer that contains the mouth positions for thecharacter's voice track.

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Chapter 19: SoundNOTE
If the selected layer contains symbols, you can map the lip-sync using draw ings locateddirectly on the layer or use the symbol's frames. In the Symbol Layer field select Don't
Use Any Symbol if you w ant to use the draw ings or select the desired symbol from thedrop-dow n menu.

5. In the Mapping section, type the draw ing name or Symbol frames in the field to the right of thephoneme it represents. If your draw ings are already named w ith the phoneme letters, you can skip
this step.
6. Click OK.
7. In the Playback toolbar, enable the8. Press the

Enable Sound option.

Play button in the Playback toolbar to see and hear the results in the Camera view

How to generate a sound detection for lip- sync in the Xsheet or Timeline view
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Xsheet or Timeline view , right-click on the sound layer's cells and select LipSync > Auto Lip- Sync Detection.

l

From the top menu, select Animation > Lip- Sync > Auto Lip- Sync Detection.

NOTE
To show the mouth chart letters, if they're not already present in the Xsheet view , right-clickon the sound column and select Lip- Sync > Sound Display > Mouth Shapes.

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Harmony analyzes the selected sound clips and assigns a lip-sync letter to each frame. The X
markers in the frame are replaced by these designated letters.

How to generate a sound detection for lip- sync using the Sound Element editor
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

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

l

In the Xsheet view , double-click on the sound column header.

The Sound Element editor opens.
2. In Sound Element section, select the w aveform for w hich you w ant to generate a mouth chart.
3. Right-click on the sound file and select Auto Lip- Sync Detection.

A progress bar appears w hile Harmony analyzes the selected sound clips and assigns a lip-sync
letter to each sound cell.

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Mapping the Lip- Sync Detection
Harmony can automatically map Automatically maps draw ings in an element to the mouth chart you havegenerated for a sound. This can save time w hen you are lip-synching a voice track.
In the Layer Properties view , you can identify each lip draw ing of a character. Harmony then automaticallylabels all of the cells in the character's element w ith the appropriate name.

How to automatically map lip- sync drawings to a mouth layer
1. To open the Lip-Sync Mapping dialog box, do one of the follow ing:‣

In the Layer Properties view , click on the Map button.

‣

In the Timeline view , right-click on any cell in the sound sample layer and select Lip- Sync >Map Lip- Sync.

‣

From the top menu, select Animation > Lip- Sync > Map Lip- Sync.

The Lip-Sync Mapping dialog box opens.

2. From the Destination Layer menu, select the layer that contains the mouth positions for thecharacter's voice track.

3. If the selected layer contains symbols, you can map the lip-sync using draw ings located directly on
the layer or use the symbol's frames. In the Symbol Layer field select Don't Use Any Symbol if you
w ant to use the draw ings or select the desired symbol from the drop-dow n menu.

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4. In the Mapping section, type the draw ing name or Symbol frames in the field to the right of thephoneme it represents. If your draw ings are already named w ith the phoneme letters, you do nothave to do anything.

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Modifying the Lip- sync Detection
You can change the mouth position assigned to a frame if you think another position is more appropriate.
For example, you may have a character w ho says nothing for 10 frames betw een tw o speeches. Harmony
w ould normally assign an X image for the silent period. How ever, if you w ant your character's mouth to hangopen in astonishment for these 10 frames, you can change the lip assignment for these frames from an X to an
F.
If you modify the sound detection, you w ill need to remap the lip-sync to your animation—see Mapping the
Lip-Sync Detection on page 520.

How to change the mouth position assignment of a sound from the Sound Element
editor and Layer Properties view
1. Double-click the sound layer name in the Timeline view or the sound column header in the Xsheet
view to open the Sound Element editor.
2. In the Sound Element section, drag the frame slider to the frame you w ant to change the mouth
position assignment on.
In the Lip-sync image area, the image on top represents the lip position assigned to the current
frame.

3. To change the image assigned to the frame, click on the image of the mouth position you w ant frombelow the preview image. The preview image changes to the mouth position image you select. You
can perform the same operation in the Layer Properties view .

The position is updated in the Timeline and Xsheet view s.

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How to change the lip assignment of a sound in the Xsheet or Timeline view
1. Right-click in the cell that contains the mouth position you w ant to change.
2. From the pop-up menu, select Lip- Sync > Change Mouth Shape to and choose the letter thatreflects the mouth position you w ant to use for that sound. You can also select Animation > LipSync > Change Mouth Shape > the desired mouth shape from the top menu.

NOTE
Note that if you modify the lip-sync detection you must remap the detection to your mouth layer.

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Chapter 19: Sound

Manual Lip- syncing
You can manually create the lip-syncing for your scene by selecting w hich mouth draw ing should be exposedat each frame of your character's d ialogue. For this process, you w ill be using the Sound Scrubbing
functionality, w hich plays the part of your sound track at the current frame w henever you move your Timeline
cursor, allow ing you to identify w hich phonemes you should match your character's mouth to. You w ill also beusing draw ing substitution to change w hich mouth draw ing is exposed at every frame.

How to animate lip- sync using the Timeline view
1. In the Playback toolbar, toggle theSound Scrubbing button on.

2. In the Timeline view , drag the red playhead along the sound layer w aveform.
3. W hen you reach a frame w here a mouth position should go, for example, an open mouth w ith
rounded lips for an "oh" sound, click on that frame on your mouth shapes layer.
4. In the Parameters section, staying on your mouth shapes layer, place your cursor on top of thedraw ing name (often a letter) until it changes to the sw apping

pointer.

5. Pull the cursor to see the list of mouth shape names and choose the one you w ant. The current
draw ing automatically changes to the new selection.

How to animate lip- sync using the Library view
1. In the Playback toolbar, toggle theSound Scrubbing button on.

2. In the Timeline view , drag the red playhead along the w aveform of your sound layer.
3. W hen you reach a frame w here a mouth position should go, for example, an open mouth w ith
rounded lips for an "oh" sound, click on that frame on your mouth shapes layer.

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4. In the Draw ing Substitution w indow of the Library view , drag the slider to choose a mouth shape.
The current draw ing is sw apped for the one in the preview w indow .

How to swap drawings using the Drawing Substitutions view
1. Add the Draw ing Substitutions view to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

In the top-right corner of any existing view , click on the

Add View button and selectDrawing Substitutions.
l

In the top menu, select W indows > Drawing Substitutions.

2. In the Playback toolbar, toggle theSound Scrubbing button on.

3. In the Timeline view , drag the red playhead along the w aveform of your sound layer.
4. W hen you reach a frame w here a mouth position should go, for example, an open mouth w ith
rounded lips for an "oh" sound, click on that frame on your mouth shapes layer.
5. In the Draw ing Substitutions view , click on the mouth pose you w ant to expose at the current
frame.

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Chapter 19: SoundTIP
You can also press [ to substitute the selected draw ing w ith the previous draw ing and ] tosubstitute it w ith the next draw ing.

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Exporting Sound
At some point during the production, you might need to export a sound file to use it in another application,such as an editing softw are. Harmony allow s you to export sound files as a merged soundtrack or as a series
of individual files. The exported soundtracks are generated as *.w av files.

How to export a soundtrack
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Soundtrack.
The Export Soundtracks dialog box opens.

2. In the Output section, click Browse and specify w here you w ant to save the exported sound file.
3. In the Export Range section, select one of the follow ing options:l

All: Exports the sound over all the frames of your scene.

l

Frames: Sets the start and end frames in the corresponding fields on the right.

4. From the Options menu, select one of the follow ing:l

Process Soundtracks Individually: Each soundtrack from all layers is exported as
individual files.

l

Merge all Soundtracks: One single file is created, combining all the sound files you
imported in your scene. Note that it w ill only use the sound files in the selected frame
range set in the Export Range section. If you selected to export all the frames, all thesound files w ill be processed.

5. In the Sound Settings section, set the Rate, Size and Use parameters for the soundtracks to export.
It is a good idea to verify w hat is required by the softw are or device that you may w ant to use next
w ith the sound file.

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6. Click OK.
The generated sound files appear in the selected directory and are named according to the scene
name. Individual files keep their original name; only a prefix matching the scene name is added.

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Chapter 20: 3D Integration

Chapter 20: 3D Integration
Harmony is able to integrate 3D models into your animation. Like 3D-enabled elements, you can animate a 3Dmodel on its geometry by translating it, rotating it or scaling it on the X, Y and Z axes. Using a Subnode
Animation node, you can also animate the individual parts (subnodes) of a 3D model separately.

By default, a 3D model in a Harmony scene w ill be rendered using OpenGL, w hich is unlikely to render in thedesired quality. To properly render a 3D model, you must configure your scene to render the model through
Autodesk Maya. W hen properly set up, Harmony w ill seamlessly make Maya render the 3D model, thencomposite the rendered image into the final render of the scene. For more information, see 3D Rendering inHarmony on page 590.

TIP
As you w ork w ith 3D objects in Harmony, you w ill most likely w ant to integrate 2D and 3D objects
together. To learn more about manipulating 2D objects in 3D space, see Positioning Layers in 3DSpace on page 969 and About the 3D Transform Tool on page 963.

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Creating 3D Models for Harmony
The first step to integrating 3D models into a Harmony scene is to export the model into a supported format sothat it can be imported in a Harmony scene. Harmony can w ork w ith the follow ing types of 3D objects.
lFilmbox (.fbx)l

3DS Max (.3ds)l

W avefront OBJ (.obj)lAllembic (.abc)lCollada (.dae)

If you set up your scene to render through Autodesk Maya, Harmony w ill use the original Maya project tocreate the rendered image. Hence, even though these formats do not carry all the details of the original
project, your choice of 3D model type has no effect on the final render. An 3D model in Harmony can hence beconsidered a reference model. You can even export the model w ith optimizations, such as low er resolution
textures or reduced details in the geometry, so as to enhance performance w hen manipulating the object inHarmony. Note how ever that the exported model must be in the same size and position as the model in theMaya project.
How ever, if you do not plan to render the scene through Autodesk Maya, be aw are that the model w ill berendered as it appears in the Camera view , using OpenGL, and that the render w ill based strictly on 3D object
file imported in the scene, not on the Maya project. Hence, for that purpose, it is recommended to export yourmodel in Filmbox (.fbx) format, as that format can be exported w ith textures, and to not make texture orgeometry optimizations that w ould affect the quality of the exported model.
Otherw ise, even w hen rendering w ith Autodesk Maya, the Filmbox (.fbx) is still one of the most useful modeltypes to w ork w ith in Harmony. Since this format can be exported w ith its textures, this gives a more accurate
preview of w hat the rendered image w ill look like in the Camera view . Also, an .fbx model can be exported
w ith subnode animations, w hich Harmony can play in the scene.

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Another particularly useful 3D model type is Alembic (.abc). Although this type does not store any texture
information, it can store the baked in geometry of a 3D model that is animated w ith deformations. Harmony
can play the different frames of animated Alembic file in the scene, allow ing the animator to use the baked-intransformations of an animated model as a reference for animating other elements in the scene around it. If
exported from Maya, an Alembic (.abc) file can also store basic colour information (on a per-vertex basis)w hich Harmony can display and render.
At last, the Collada (.dae) format allow s artists to use models exported from SketchUp w ithout using
Sketchup Pro.
W hen importing a 3D model, you have the option to convert it to a Filmbox (.fbx) file before storing it in thescene. This is because Harmony converts the model to .fbx format internally so it can w ork w ith it, so
converting the file w ill allow Harmony to skip converting it internally every time the scene is opened.

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Exporting 3D Objects for Harmony
Before importing your 3D model in Harmony, you must export it in a format supported by Harmony. The
follow ing steps w ill explain how to export a 3D object in Filmbox (.fbx) or Alembic (.abc) format from
Autodesk Maya. Depending on the softw are and version you are using as w ell as the file type you w ish toexport, the instructions may vary. Please refer to the documentation of your 3D authoring softw are as needed.

NOTE
If your model is animated and you w ant its animation to play in the Harmony scene, you should
export it in Filmbox (.fbx) format if the animation does not use deformations, and in Alembic (.abc)
format if the animation uses deformations.

IMPORTANTW hen exporting a Filmbox (.fbx) file from Autodesk Maya, you must set the Type parameter toBinary and the Version parameter in FBX File Format panel to 2020.0.1/2020.2 to make sure it iscompatible w ith Harmony.

How to export a 3D object in Filmbox (.fbx) for Harmony
1. In Autodesk Maya, create your 3D object. Make sure your 3D object is ready for rendering byproperly creating its textures and setting up the lights in the stage. Harmony w ill use the original
Maya project to create the final renders.

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TIP
The animation done on the 3D object in Harmony w ill be applied to the Maya projectw hen rendering. To avoid moving the object out of its light source, it is recommended tomake the light source a child of the 3D object, so that the light moves along w ith it. In
Maya, you can make a layer a child of another layer by middle-clicking it and dragging itover the intended parent.

2. Save your Maya binary file *.mb as you w ill use it later on.

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1. From the top menu, select File > Export All.

The Export All dialog box opens.
2. In the Files of type drop-dow n, select FBX Export.

3. In the Animation section of the Options panel, check the Animation checkbox if you w ant thesubnode animations to be included in the model.

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4. In the Embed Media section of the Options panel, check the Embed Media checkbox. This w ill
export textures w ith the model.
5. In the FBX File Format section of the Options panel:a. Set the Type option to Binary.
b. Set the Version option to FBX 2014/2015.

6. Click on Export All.
An .fbx file w ill be created in the selected location.

How to export a 3D object in Alembic (.abc) for Harmony
1. In Autodesk Maya, create your 3D object. Make sure your 3D object is ready for rendering byproperly creating its textures and setting up the lights in the stage. Harmony w ill use the original
Maya project to create the final renders.

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TIP
The animation done on the 3D object in Harmony w ill be applied to the Maya projectw hen rendering. To avoid moving the object out of its light source, it is recommended tomake the light source a child of the 3D object, so that the light moves along w ith it. In
Maya, you can make a layer a child of another layer by middle-clicking it and dragging itover the intended parent.

2. Save your Maya binary file *.mb as you w ill use it later on.
3. From the top menu, select Cache > Alembic Cache > Export All to Alembic.

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The Export All dialog box opens.

4. In the Cache time range dialog box, select the range of frames that you w ant to export in the
Alembic (.abc) file:lCurrent frame: Exports only the current frame.

lRender settings: Exports the frame range specified in the Render Settings dialog.

lTime Slider: Exports the frame range covered by the time slider.

lStart/End: Exports the frame range specified in the Start/End fields below .

5. If you w ant to import the vertex colours of your 3D model into Harmony, scroll dow n to and expand
the Advanced Options section, then check the W rite Color Sets option.

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6. Click on Export All.
An .abc file w ill be created in the selected location.

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Importing 3D Objects in Harmony
There are tw o approaches to importing a 3D model in a Harmony scene:lImporting it as a 3D model allow s you to manipulate and animate the 3D model in all three
dimensions, to separate and animate its sub-nodes, and to render the 3D model through Autodesk
Maya using your preferred rendering engine w hen rendering your scene.

lRendering it as a 2D layer allow s you to render the 3D model from a fixed position and angle andimport it into your scene as a 2D bitmap layer. This is mostly useful if you intend to use the 3D model asa referenece to draw backgrounds, characters or props. This w ill keep your scene lighter.

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Importing 3D Objects in a Scene
Once you have exported a model using a 3D authoring softw are, you can import it into Harmony and integrate
it to your scene.

NOTE
You have the possibility to convert your 3D models to the .fbx format upon import to Harmony.
This w ill allow Harmony to render 3D files w ith the associated textures w ithout the need to copy
over the textures manually, provided that the auxiliary files are linked correctly and named
appropriately on your disk).

How to import 3D models
1. In Harmony, select File > Import > 3D Models.
The Import 3D Models dialog box opens.

2. In the Files field, click on Browse.
An Open dialog appears.

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3. Brow se to an select your 3D model, then click on Open.

NOTE
You can only import .osb, .3ds, .obj, .fbx, .abc and .dae type 3D models.

4. In the Layer section, choose your import options.
lCreate Layer(s): This option is selected by default. A new layer w ill be created for theselected files for the import. You have tw o choices:lCreate Single Layer Named: Imports all the selected files into a single layer. The
layer w ill be named after the name you enter in the text input field to the right.

lCreate Layer(s) Based on Filename: Creates a different layer for each file selected
for import. The layers w ill be automatically named according to the name of each file.

l

Add to Existing Layer: Imports the selected files into an existing 3D layer in the scene. Use
the drop-dow n menu to select w hich 3D layer to import it to.

5. In the Conversion section, select the Convert to FBX format option if your file isn't already a *.fbx
file and you w ould like it to be. This format incorporates all associated files, such as the texture
files.
6. Make sure the Convert to 2D options is unchecked.

NOTE
If you w ant to convert a 3D model to a 2D layer, see Importing a 3D Object as a
Rendered 2D Image on page 544.

7. Click OK.
The 3D model is imported into the scene.

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Importing a 3D Object as a Rendered 2D Image
You can import a 3D model as a rendered 2D image in a bitmap layer. This can be useful if you w ant to use a
3D model as a reference to draw 2D backgrounds, characters or props.
W hen you import a 3D model as a 2D image, you w ill be prompted to choose the point of view from w hich themodel is rendered. After that, the model w ill be rendered into a bitmap layer in your scene. Since the 3Dmodel w ill be rendered into a bitmap layer, you w ill not be able to make 3D manipulations on it.

NOTE
Later, if needed, you can adjust the point of view from w hich the model is rendered and render itagain—see Repositioning a 3D Model Rendered as a 2D Image on page 549.

How to import a 3D model as a rendered 2D image
1. In Harmony, select File > Import > 3D Models.
The Import 3D Models dialog box opens.

2. In the Files field, click on Browse.
An Open dialog appears.

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3. Brow se to an select your 3D model, then click on Open.

NOTE
If you w ant to import a 3D model as a rendered 2D image, you can only import a single
3D model at a time.

NOTE
You can only import .osb, .3ds, .obj, .fbx, .abc and .dae type 3D models.

4. In the Layer section, select Create Layer(s). W hen you import a 3D model as a rendered 2D image,
you must import it into a new layer. Then, choose one of the follow ing options:lCreate Single Layer Named: Imports the model into a layer named after the name you enterin the text input field to the right.

lCreate Layer(s) Based on Filename: Imports the model into a layer named after its filename.

5. In the Conversion section, check the Convert to 2D option.
6. Click OK.
The Render 3D Model dialog appears.

NOTE
For information on all the parameters in this dialog, see the Reference Guide.

7. If you w ant the model to fit inside the camera field, click on the Fit Model to View button justbeneath the parameters to the right.

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8. In the preview area, do the follow ing to adjust the camera's point of view relative to the 3D model:lEither click and drag on the vertical slider to the right or scroll the mouse w heel up or dow n
to adjust the distance betw een the camera and the model.

lHold Ctrl + Shift (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift (macOS), then click and drag on the preview
area to rotate the camera.

l

Hold Spacebar, then click and drag on the preview area to pan the camera laterally.

9. If you w ant to adjust the amount of perspective applied on the w ay the 3D model is rendered,adjust the Focal Length parameter. Increasing it w ill reduce the amount of perspective applied on
the model, and decreasing it w ill increase the amount of perspective applied on the model.

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.

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10. Adjust the Translation parameters until the 3D model is in the right position for the scene: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.

11. Adjust the Rotation parameters until the 3D model is in the right angle for the scene: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.

12. Adjust the Scaling parameters until the 3D model is in the right size for the scene:lLock Scaling Axis: W hen enabled, you can use the X scaling field to set the 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.

13. Once the model is in the right position, angle and size, click on Render to Scene.
The model is added to the scene, rendered into a 2D bitmap layer.

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Repositioning a 3D Model Rendered as a 2D Image
If you have rendered a 3D model in a 2D scene, and later decide that you need the model to be rendered froma different point of view , you do not need to re-import it into your scene. You can change the point of view of
the rendered model directly.

IMPORTANT
If you have draw n anything on the layer in w hich the 3D model w as rendered, updating themodel's position w ill discard the artw ork on that layer.

How to change the point of view of a rendered 3D model
1. In the Timeline view , right-click on the layer in w hich your 3D model w as imported, and selectUpdate 3D Model Position.

TIP
A layer in w hich a 3D model w as rendered as a 2D image w ill have a special icon
next to its name.

The Render 3D Model dialog appears. The 3D model is in the same position as the one in w hich it
w as rendered, allow ing you to tw eak its current position.

NOTE
For information on all the parameters in this dialog, see the Reference Guide.

2. If you w ant the model to fit inside the camera field, click on the Fit Model to View button justbeneath the parameters to the right.

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Chapter 20: 3D Integration

3. In the preview area, do the follow ing to adjust the camera's point of view relative to the 3D model:lEither click and drag on the vertical slider to the right or scroll the mouse w heel up or dow n
to adjust the distance betw een the camera and the model.

lHold Ctrl + Shift (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift (macOS), then click and drag on the preview
area to rotate the camera.

l

Hold Spacebar, then click and drag on the preview area to pan the camera laterally.

4. If you w ant to adjust the amount of perspective applied on the w ay the 3D model is rendered,adjust the Focal Length parameter. Increasing it w ill reduce the amount of perspective applied on
the model, and decreasing it w ill increase the amount of perspective applied on the model.

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.

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5. Adjust the Translation parameters until the 3D model is in the right position for the scene: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.

6. Adjust the Rotation parameters until the 3D model is in the right angle for the scene: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.

7. Adjust the Scaling parameters until the 3D model is in the right size for the scene:lLock Scaling Axis: W hen enabled, you can use the X scaling field to set the 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.

8. Click on Render to Scene.
The selected layer is updated w ith the 3D model as rendered from its new point of view .

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About the Scale Factor of 3D Objects
W hen importing a 3D object created in a 3D modeling application, such as Maya, Cinema4D, Blender orothers, the 3D object can appear much larger or smaller than intended inHarmony. Therefore, you may have toscale it up or dow n for it to be in the right proportions. This is because 3D modeling applications use different
base units than Harmony. For example, Autodesk Maya w orks in centimetres, and Blender w orks in metres,
w hereas Harmony w orks in fields.

To remedy this, you can apply a scaling factor to your 3D model. This has advantages over simply scaling
dow n your model w ith the Transform tool, such as:l

If you animate your 3D model, changing its scale factor w ill change its size in all of its animation
keyframes.

l

If you use the same 3D model several times in your scene, changing its scale factor w ill change the sizeof every instance of the 3D model.

lChanging a 3D model's scale factor does not affect its actual scale coordinate. For example, if your 3Dmodel's scale coordinate is 1, but you set its scale factor to 0.5, the 3D model w ill appear half its
original size, but its scale coordinate w ill still be 1. Hence, the scale factor servers to change yourmodel's default size.

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Setting the Scale Factor for a 3D ModelIf you have imported a 3D model into your scene, and you find that its default size is too big or too small foryour scene, you can adjust its scale factor. Adjusting a 3D model's scale factor affects its size throughout thew hole scene, even if it is already animated.

How to set the scale factor of a 3D model
1. In the Library view , select the 3D Models library.

2. Select the 3D model for w hich you w ant to set the scale factor.
3. Right-click on the 3D model and select Set Scale Factor.
The Model Properties dialog appears.

By default, the model's scale factor is set to 1.000 (or 1), w hich means the model is neither scaled
up or dow n.
4. Do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant the model to appear smaller, enter a value betw een 0 and 1. For example, tomake the model half of its original dimensions, enter 0.5.

l

If you w ant the model to appear bigger, enter a value above 1. For example, to make themodel tw ice its original dimensions, enter 2.

5. Click on the OK button.

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The model's new scale factor is applied to all its instances in the scene, throughout the entire
scene.

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Determining the Scale Factor for a 3D model
Before importing a 3D object, you must consider the scale factor to use. You can calculate the appropriate
scale factor for a 3D model by comparing the measuring units used by Harmony to the ones used by your 3Dmodeling softw are.
This can be done by importing a cube that is 1 unit in size, cubed, in your 3D modeling softw are, into Harmony.
Then, you can adjust this cube's scale factor until it matches a unit in Harmony.
To be able to match the size of the cube against a unit in Harmony, you can enable the 12 Fields grid. Units in a
12 Fields grid are shorter vertically than they are horizontally, to match the 4:3 aspect ration of legacy
standard displays, but you can use their horizontal size as a reference for square units in Harmony.

How to determine the right scale factor for your 3D models
1. In your 3D modeling softw are, create a cube that is 1 cubed unit in size (a cube that is 1 unit in
w idth, 1 unit in height and 1 unit in depth).
2. Export the model from into one of the formats supported by Harmony:lFilmbox (.fbx)l

3DS Max (.3ds)l

W avefront OBJ (.obj)lAllembic (.abc)lCollada (.dae)

3. Import the cube into your scene—see Importing 3D Objects in a Scene.
4. In the Library view , open the 3D Models library.
5. Right-click on the model and select Set Scale Factor.
The Model Properties dialog appears.

6. In the Scale Factor field, verify that the model's scaling factor is set to 1.0.
7. Click on OK.
8. In the Timeline view , create an empty layer—see Adding Layers in the Timeline View .
9. In the new layer, select the cell at the current frame.

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10. Do one of the follow ing to create an empty draw ing at the current frame:lRight-click on the selected cell and select Draw ing > Create Empty Draw ing.

l

In the top menu, select Draw ing > Create Empty Draw ing.

lPress Alt + Shift + R.

11. In the top menu, select View > Grid > Show Grid or press Ctrl + G (W indow s) or ⌘ + G (macOS).
The 12 Field Grid displays over the empty draw ing you just created.

NOTE
To display the grid, you need to have a draw ing selected. The grid is offset if the layer
in w hich the draw ing is offset, hence the need to create a new layer and an empty
draw ing.

12. Open the Perspective view .
13. W hile holding Ctrl + Alt, click and drag on the Perspective view to rotate it, so that you can clearlysee how the cube's vertexes align w ith the grid.
14. In the Library view , using trial and error, adjust the 3D model's scaling factor so that its horizontal
edges touch the vertical vertexes -1 and 1.

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Once you get the cube to fit in those vertical lines, your cube's scale factor w ill be adjusted toHarmony's coordinate system. You can use this scale factor on every model exported from your 3Dmodeling softw are.

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Setting the Default Scale Factor for 3D Models
To preserve the proportions betw een 3D models in Harmony, you should set all your 3D models to the same
scale factor. Once you've determined the ideal scale factor for your project, you can set the default scale factor
to apply to 3D models w hen you import a 3D model into a scene.

How to set the default scale factor for 3D models
1. In the top menu, select Edit (W indows/Linux) or Harmony Premium (macOS) > Preferences.
The Preferences dialog appears.
2. Select the General tab.
3. In the 3D Models section, in the Default Scale Factor field, type in the default scale factor for your
3D models.
4. Click on OK.
From now on, w hen you import a 3D model, its scale factor w ill automatically be set to the scale
factor your just entered.

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Using Animated 3D Models
By default, a 3D model imported in Harmony w ill appear static throughout the scene. How ever, a Filmbox(.fbx) or Alembic (.abc) 3D model that has been exported w ith animations in it and imported in Harmony canbe made to play out its animation in the scene, and to render w ith its animations later.
This is possible w ith tw o types of 3D objects:lFilmbox (.fbx) files can be imported w ith their subnode animations. This means the geometrictransformations on each subnode in each frame of the model can be imported and played out.

l

Alembic (.abc) files can be imported w ith their deformations baked into every frame. This is useful if you
need to use models that are animated w ith deformations. How ever, Alembic files do not have texture
and hence appear solid w hite in the preview .

In both cases, the 3D model w ill be rendered by Maya, using the original Maya project file. Hence, the result
w ill be the same in the rendered image. The difference is the kind of information that is visible in the OpenGL
preview of Harmony.

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Playing the Animation of a 3D Model in a Harmony Scene
Animated 3D models imported in Harmony w ill appear static at first. To play their animation in the scene, theframes of their embedded animation must be exposed in their Xsheet column.
The 3D model itself being a draw ing, typically named 1, that must be exposed throughout the scene, you can
indicate w hich animation frame inside the 3D model to expose in a given frame of the scene by entering, in acell in the Xsheet, the name of the draw ing follow ed by a comma and the number of the model's animation
frame to expose.
For example, if the model is named 1, and you w ish to expose the frames 1 to 15 of its animation in the scene,
the model's Xsheet column should have draw ings from 1,1 to 1,15 exposed, inclusively.

NOTE
In the example above, the first frame of the model appears as 1 instead of 1,1. Harmony w ill
alw ays display the first frame of the model as the model's name w ithout any frame number.

You can quickly fill the Xsheet column of a 3D model w ith its embedded animation frames using the Sequence
Fill dialog.

How to fill the Xsheet column of an animated 3D model
1. In the Xsheet view , locate the column of the 3D model.
2. In the column, select the frame range in w hich you w ant the animation of the 3D model to play out.
3. Do one of the follow ing:lRight-click on the selection, then select Exposure > Sequence Fill.

l

Open the Xsheet view menu, then select Exposure > Sequence Fill.

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

l

Press Ctrl + M

The Sequence Fill dialog box appears.

4. Check the Padding checkbox.
5. In the Padding field, enter the name of the draw ing name of the 3D model, follow ed by a comma.
For example, if the 3D model is named 1, enter 1,.

TIP
The text in the Padding field is used to prefix draw ing names by default. Optionally, the# character can be used to indicate w here in the padding text should the draw ing
number be inserted.

6. Depending on how the animation in the 3D model should play out, set the follow ing parameters:l

In the Starting Value field, enter the first frame of the model's animation that should play inthe scene.

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In the Increment field, enter the amount of frames that each exposure should increment by.
For example, if your model is animated on ones, but you w ant its animation to skip every
other frame to play on tw os, set this value to 2.

l

In the Hold field, enter the amount of frames each exposed animation frame should take.

l

If you w ant the animation to cycle, check the Cycle checkbox and enter enter the amount oftimes the animation should repeat in the corresponding field.

l

If you w ant the animation to stop at a specific frame rather than at the end of the selection,
check the End Frame checkbox and enter the number of the embedded animation frame at
w hich to stop the animation.

7. Click on OK or Apply.
The animation of your 3D model w ill play out in the selected frames.

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3D Object Manipulation & Animation
Once you have imported the 3D model into your scene, you can easily manipulate it to set up your scene. You
can even add keyframes, just like any other element, and animate it on a trajectory.

Using Peg Nodes to Control the Position of 3D Objects
You can use Peg nodes to control the position of 3D objects, and connect them as you w ould w ith 2D layers tocreate rigs.

Using Transformation Tools to Manipulate 3D Models
Once the 3D option is enabled, your transformation tools automatically become 3D transformation tools. Thismeans you can now manipulate them on the Z-axis as w ell. The Translate
are found in the Advanced Animation toolbar and the Transform, Rotateand Scale

tools

tool can be found in the Tools toolbar.

You can use these tools to set up or animate your 3D model.
You can also set up all these position parameters using the Layer Properties w indow —see About 3D
Parameters.

NOTE
Just like w ith 2D layers, if you're setting up the initial position of your 3D models, you should set
the Animate mode to

Animate Off in the Tools toolbar, then set it back to

Frame w hen you're ready to animate.

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About 3D Objects in Different Views
Before you can properly view and set up the 3D element in your scene, you w ill need to use the Perspective
and Camera view s together, as w ell as the Top and Side view s.

TIP
Using the Depth View mode can also be a useful tool w hen setting up 3D objects, see—Using theDepth View Mode on page 973.

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Chapter 20: 3D Integration

About 3D Objects in the Perspective View
In the Perspective view , you can see your scene in a complete 3D environment. In this environment, you canset up and animate your 3D model more easily. You can rotate the view on the three axes by holding dow n
Ctrl + Shift (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift (macOS), and clicking and dragging.

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About 3D Objects in the Camera View
You can preview the position of your 3D model in the Camera view and see w hat it w ill look like in the camera
frame. You can preview your scene in OpenGL

You can view your 3D objects in Render

mode.

mode, but only basic settings w ill be used to render the 3D

element. To get a fully textured and lit render, you can use Autodesk Maya. If you w ant to render using your
3D objects using Maya as a background process, before you can view your 3D elements in Rendermode,

you must add a Maya Batch Render node to your Node view and set up your system w ith the correct path to
the rendering utility you w ill be using. Note that you w ill need to add your Maya project inside the 3D object's
element folder in your Harmony scene. If you do not complete this setup, the 3D model w ill simply notappear—see 3D Rendering in Harmony.

If you w ant to override the order of your 2D and 3D elements to follow the Composite node ordering rather
than the Z-axis order, you can use the Flatten node—see the Reference guide .

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About 3D Objects in the Top and Side Views
The Top and Side view s help you position your element in the 3D environment. This can be really helpful for
precisely visualizing the actual position of your model w ithout perspective.

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About Translate Tool 3D Manipulation
Once you enable the 3D option, the 3D Translate tool becomes available. Direction arrow s appear around thepivot points to indicate the different axes.

If you click on a direction arrow , you can move a layer on only one axis. If you click anyw here else, the layer canmove freely on tw o axes at once. Once the arrow is selected, it turns pink.

If you move the layers in the Perspective view , it may be difficult to control the motion since you may not havethe optimum point of view on your stage to understand the setup. In this case, it is best to use the direction
ellipses.

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About Rotate Tool 3D Manipulation
Once you enable the 3D option, the 3D Rotate tool becomes available. A rotation sphere appears around thepivot points to indicate the different axes.

You can click on the direction ellipses to rotate your layer on one axis only. If you click anyw here else, the layer
rotates freely on tw o axes at the same time. W hen the ellipse is selected, it turns pink.
If you move the layers in the Perspective view , it may be difficult to control the motion since you may not havethe optimum point of view on your stage to understand the setup.

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About Scale Tool 3D Manipulation
Once you enable the 3D option, the 3D Scale tool is available. You w ill see one of tw o things:•

A scaling rectangle appears if your draw ing is flat.

•

A scaling cube appears if your object has some rotated layers around the pivot points, indicating thedifferent axes. If you click and drag on this scaling cube, it w ill scale proportionally on all axes.

Click on one of the three control points to scale the shape on one axis. Hold dow n the Shift key to scale theobject proportionally. W hen the control point is selected, it turns pink.

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About Transform Tool 3D Manipulation
Once you enable the 3D option, the 3D Transform tool become available. This tool is a combination of the 3D
Translate, 3D Rotate and 3D Scale tools.

To translate an element, grab the direction arrow s in the same w ay that you w ould w ith the Transform

To rotate an element, grab the rotation ellipses in the same w ay that you w ould w ith the Rotate

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To scale an element, grab the scaling control points in the same w ay that you w ould w ith the Scale
If you click and drag on the scaling cube, it w ill scale proportionally on all axes.

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Manipulating and Animating 3D Object Subnodes
A 3D model can be rigged so that different parts of it, referred to as subnodes, can be subjected to their ow ngeometric transformations.
Using the 3D Graph view , you can see the list of subnodes available for the selected 3D model. Each subnode
represents a part of the 3D model that can be transformed and animated independently, or even hidden. Likew ith peg hierarchies, subnodes that are children of other subnodes w ill be transformed along w ith theirparents. If you select a subnode in the 3D Graph view , it w ill be highlighted in the Camera view , and theTransform tool w ill be set to manipulate that subnode rather than the w hole 3D model.

NOTE
To learn more about the 3D Graph view , see the Reference guide .

You can also visually select a subnode in a 3D model by holding Ctrl (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) andclicking on a part of the model in the Camera view . The corresponding subnode w ill be selected.
W hen a subnode is selected, you can transform it using the Transform

tool the exact same w ay you w ould

transform the w hole 3D object—see 3D Object Manipulation & Animation on page 564.
If you make a transformation on a 3D model subnode directly, this transformation w ill be static. In order toanimate a 3D model subnode, you must connect the 3D object's node to a Subnode Animation node, w hichw ill store the animation information for each of the model's subnodes that you animate. In both cases, thetransformations and animations done on 3D model subnodes w ill appear in the final render, even if the modelis rendered through Autodesk Maya.
It is also possible to rig an element in the scene to follow the animation of one of the subnodes of a 3D model.

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IMPORTANT
If your 3D model has been imported in Harmony scene through a template or scene that has been
exported from Storyboard Pro 5.0 or Storyboard Pro 5.1, and a subnode in this 3D model has beentransformed or animated in Storyboard Pro 5.0 or 5.1, it is possible that this 3D model has extra
subnodes that are not in the original Maya project. This might cause errors w ith the position andvisibility of some subnodes w hen rendering the model. In this case, it is recommended to re-import
the original 3D model file in your Harmony scene before animating it.

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Disabling Subnodes
To hide parts of a 3D model, you can disable their corresponding subnodes in the 3D Graph view . This w illalso hide all their children.

How to disable subnodes
1. In the 3D Graph view , select one or multiple subnodes.

1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the 3D Graph view toolbar, click on the Disable SubnodelOpen the 3D Graph view menu

button.

and select Subnodes > Disable.

The subnode is disabled. It appears dark red in the 3D Graph view . Its children appear dark grey toindicate that they are not disabled, but that they are children of a disabled subnode.

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In the Camera or Perspective view the corresponding part of the 3D model is hidden.

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Enabling Subnodes
Disabled subnodes are invisible. To make them visible again, you can enable them in the 3D Graph view .

How to enable subnodes
1. In the 3D Graph view , select one or several disabled subnodes. Disabled subnodes w ill display indark red, and their children w ill display in dark grey.

1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the 3D Graph view toolbar, click on the Enable SubnodelOpen the 3D Graph view menu

button.

and select Subnodes > Enable.

The subnode and its children are enabled.

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In the Camera or Perspective view the corresponding 3D model part is displayed.

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Animating Individual Parts of 3D Models
A typical 3D model is comprised of several parts (subnodes) that can be transformed independently. Bydefault, transformations made on 3D model subnodes are static. If you need to animate the subnodes of a 3Dmodel, you need to connect the 3D model to a Subnode Animation node. This node w ill store the keyframes
for each subnode that you animate and w ill also make them available in the Timeline view .

IMPORTANT
If your 3D model has been imported in Harmony scene through a template or scene that has been
exported from Storyboard Pro 5.0 or Storyboard Pro 5.1, and a subnode in this 3D model has beentransformed or animated in Storyboard Pro 5.0 or 5.1, it is possible that this 3D model has extra
subnodes that are not in the original Maya project. This might cause errors w ith the position andvisibility of some subnodes w hen rendering the model. In this case, it is recommended to re-import
the original 3D model file in your Harmony scene before animating it.

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How to animate a part of your 3D model
1. In the Node Library view , select 3D in the sections list and locate the Subnode Animation node.

2. Drag and drop the Subnode Animation node from the Node Library into the Node view .
3. In the Node view , connect the Subnode Animation node under the element node of your 3D model.

The Subnode Animation node automatically appears in the Timeline view , under the layer of the 3Dmodel.

4. In the Timeline view , select the frame w here you w ant your first animation keyframe to be created.

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5. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform tool.

6. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera or Perspective view , click on your 3D model once to select the w hole object,then click again on the part you w ish to animate to select it.

l

In the 3D Graph view , select the subnode you w ish to animate.

1. Use the Transform tool to move, rotate or scale the individual part.

2. The subnode appears in the Timeline view .

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3. In the Timeline view , expand the subnode layer to view its properties.

A keyframe appears in the first frame, recording the movement that w as just made.
4. Continue adding keyframes and making changes to the properties values to animate the individualpart of the 3D model.

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Adding the Subnodes to the Timeline View
W hen you animate a subnode using a Subnode Animation node, the subnodes you animate w ill be
automatically added to the parameters of the Subnode Animation in the Timeline view , allow ing you tomanipulate its keyframes, and the parameters of subnodes that are not animated w ill remain hidden.
How ever, there might be situations w here you w ant to add subnodes to the Timeline view before animatingthem. For example, if you w ant to create a keyframe for a subnode in its default resting position, or if you w ant
to prepare a scene for an animator and only make subnodes that are intended to be animated visible in theTimeline view . This is possible using the 3D Graph view .

IMPORTANT
If your 3D model has been imported in Harmony scene through a template or scene that has been
exported from Storyboard Pro 5.0 or Storyboard Pro 5.1, and a subnode in this 3D model has beentransformed or animated in Storyboard Pro 5.0 or 5.1, it is possible that this 3D model has extra
subnodes that are not in the original Maya project. This might cause errors w ith the position andvisibility of some subnodes w hen rendering the model. In this case, it is recommended to re-import
the original 3D model file in your Harmony scene before animating it.

How to make properties available in the 3D Graph view
1. In the Node Library view , select 3D in the sections list and locate the Subnode Animation node.

2. Drag and drop the Subnode Animation node from the Node Library into the Node view .

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3. In the Node view , connect the Subnode Animation node under the element node of your 3D model.

The Subnode Animation node automatically appears in the Timeline view , under the layer of the 3Dmodel.

4. In the 3D Graph view , select a subnode that you intend to animate.

5. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the 3D Graph view toolbar, click on the Make Properties AvailablelOpen the 3D Graph view menu

button.

and select Insert > Make Properties Available.

The subnode appears in the Timeline view .

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6. In the Timeline view , click on the Expand

button left of the subnode to display its parameters.

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Applying the Animation of a 3D Subnode to an Element
It is possible to apply the animation on a 3D model's subnode onto other elements such as 2D layers, pegs orother 3D models in the scene, making the subnode act like parent peg to these elements. This can beespecially useful of a decal or an effect is meant to follow a specific part of a 3D model.

How to automatically setup 3D Kinematic Output nodes with your system
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Camera or Perspective view , using the Transform

tool, click on the 3D model toselect it, then on the part of the 3D model that you w ant to rig to another element to selectits subnode.

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In the 3D Graph view , select the subnode w hich you w ant to rig to another element.

2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the 3D Graph view toolbar, click on the Add 3D Kinematic OutputlOpen the 3D Graph view menu

button.

and select Insert > 3D Kinematic Ouput.

A 3D Kinematic Output node appears in the Node view , connected under the 3D Model's Subnode
Animation node. The 3D Kinematic Output node is named after the subnode, follow ed by -Output.

An asterisk appears right of the name of the subnode in the 3D Graph view , to indicate theconnection of the 3D Kinematic Output node.

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1. In the Node view , connect the output port of the 3D Kinematic Output node to the input port of theelement that should follow the subnode's movement. In this example, the layer fire w ill follow
the movement of the shell_37_Key subnode.

Any transformations made to the 3D model subnode w ill now also be applied to the draw ing.

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3D Rendering in Harmony
In order to properly render 3D models in Harmony scenes, the scene as w ell as your w orkstation must be
configured to allow rendering the model through Autodesk Maya. This is required to render the 3D models
w ith the same rendering quality as originally intended. Otherw ise, Harmony w ill use OpenGL to render the 3Dmodel, w hich might not give the expected results.

To perform this render, Harmony uses the original Autodesk Maya project, to w hich it applies thetransformations done on the model and its subnodes inside the scene, and sends it to Autodesk Maya for
rendering. Then, it takes the rendered image and composites it w ith other elements in the scene to create thefull image. This w orks just as w ell w hen outputting the final rendering images as w hen sw itching to Render
Preview mode in the Camera view .
Autodesk Maya can render using its ow n rendering engine or third party renderers. Likew ise, Harmony canmake Autodesk Maya perform the render using different rendering engines. Specifically, the follow ing engines
are supported by Harmony:
l

Maya

l

Mental Ray

lRenderman ReyeslRenderman RISlArnoldNOTE
It is recommended to use either Renderman or Arnold to render 3D objects through Autodesk
Maya, as those rendering engines w ill return deep texture images, w hich can be composited
relative to other elements in your scene w ith antialiasing. W hen using other rendering engines, 3Dmodels that clip w ith elements in your scene may have a hard pixelated seam at their intersection.

For rendering through Autodesk Maya to w ork, the follow ing conditions must be met:

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Autodesk Maya—and of the rendering engine, if not Autodesk Maya—must be installed and activatedon the w orkstation performing the render.

l

The path to Maya must have been set in Harmony's local preferences on the w orkstation performing
the render.

l

If rendering using the Renderman engine, the path to Renderman must have been set in Harmony's
local preferences on the w orkstation performing the render.

lA copy of the original Maya project file, along w ith all its texture files, must be in the element folder
w here the imported 3D model is located, w ith the same file name as the imported 3D model, but w ith
the Maya project file extension (.ma or .mb).

l

A Render Maya Batch node must be connected under the 3D model in the Node view and, optionally,
configured to select a specific rendering engine.

The follow ing topics w ill detail how to achieve this configuration.

NOTE
The Render Maya Batch node outputs a bitmap to your scene's node system. You can apply bitmap
effects to the rendered image.

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Setting 3D Renderer Paths
In order to render 3D models through Autodesk Maya, you must configure Harmony w ith the installation path
to Autodesk Maya.
If your 3D models are to be rendered using the Renderman engine, you must also configure Harmony w ith the
installation path to Renderman. This is because Harmony needs to use Renderman to read the images output
by the Renderman engine, w hich are in Deep Texture (.dtex) format. If you are using any other renderingengine, this step is not required.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, note that this preference is stored on your w orkstation, not inyour database user account. This is because Autodesk Maya and Renderman may be installed indifferent locations on each w orkstation. Hence, this must be configured on each w orkstation thatw ill perform rendering through Autodesk Maya.

How to set 3D renderer paths
1. Add the Scripting toolbar to your interface by doing one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Scripting.

l

Right-click on any existing toolbar or on the top space of any view in your w orkspace, thenselect Scripting.

2. In the Scripting toolbar, click on the Manage Scripts button to open the Scripts Manager w indow .
3. In the Files list of the Scripts Manager, select TB__Set_3dRenderer_Paths.js.

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4. In the Functions list, select TB_Set_3dRenderer_Paths.

5. Click on the Add

button to add the script to the Scripting toolbar.

6. Click OK.
7. In the Scripting toolbar, click on the TB_Set_3dRenderer_Paths script

button.

The Set 3D Renderer Paths dialog box opens.

8. In the Maya Installation Path section, click on the brow se (...) button.
9. In the Select Folder dialog, brow se to the root installation folder of Autodesk Maya on yourmachine. For example, by default, the installation path of Autodesk Maya 2016 w ould be
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2016.
10. Click on Select Folder.

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11. If you intend to use the RenderMan engine, click on the brow se (...) button in the RenderMan
Installation Path section.
12. In the Select Folder dialog, brow se to the root installation folder of Autodesk Maya on yourmachine. For example, by default, the installation path of RenderMan Studio 20.2 for Autodesk
Maya 2016 w ould be C:\Program Files\Pixar\RenderManStudio-20.2maya2016.
13. Click on Select Folder.
Harmony can now communicate w ith Autodesk Maya and, if needed, RenderMan.

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Connecting the 3D Model to the Renderer
At last, to render a 3D model using Autodesk Maya, you must connect the element node containing the 3Dmodel to a Maya Batch Render node. The Maya Batch Render node w ill take the 3D model as its input, render
it through Autodesk Maya, then composite the rendered image into the scene. The 3D model as rendered by
Autodesk Maya w ill appear in both the final rendered image and in the Render Preview

mode of the

Camera view .

TIP
W hen rendering using a 3D renderer, you can start Harmony from a command line terminal and to
display the Message Log view in your w orkspace. This w ill allow you to see the information
Harmony outputs about the rendering process, w hich could be useful to debug the process if any
problem occurs.

How to connect the 3D model to the rendering engine
1. In the Node Library view , select 3D in the sections list and locate the RenderMayaBatch node.

2. Drag and drop the Maya Batch Render node from the Node Library into the Node view .
3. In the Node view , connect the Maya Batch Render node under the node of the 3D model. If the 3D
object is connected to a Subnode Animation node, connect the Maya Batch Render node under the
Subnode Animation node instead.

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4. Repeat the previous steps for each 3D model node in your scene.
5. In the Camera view , click the Render View

button to verify that the 3D model is renderedthrough Autodesk Maya.

NOTE
The generation of the preview may take several seconds and make Harmony appear tohang for a moment.

You are now set to render your animation project.

TIP
You can apply effects on the rendered image by connecting effect nodes under the Maya
Batch Render node.

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Copying your Maya Project to the Scene Directory
In order to allow Harmony to render 3D models using Autodesk Maya, you must include the original Maya
project file in the element folder w here the 3D model w as imported, along w ith all its textures. The project
must be renamed to have the same file name as the imported 3D model, so that Harmony can locate it andsend it to Autodesk Maya for rendering.
Harmony w ill take the transformations done on the imported 3D model and its subnodes, and apply them tothe model in the original Maya project so that it is rendered w ith the animation done in Harmony. Hence, theimported 3D model must be in the same size and position as the model in the Maya project. How ever, it ispossible to use a 3D model w ith low er resolution textures or no textures at all, as w ell as less detail in thegeometry, in the Harmony scene, to help w ith performance w hen manipulating the 3D model in Harmony. Thisw ill not affect the rendered image, as the original Maya project w ill be used to render the scene.

TIP
If you prefer, you can skip this step and make your scene render your Maya project from its original
location on your machine—see Linking a Maya Batch Render Node to an External Maya Project.

How to set up rendering
1. In a file brow ser, locate and copy the original Maya project file along w ith all its textures. The
extension of the project file should either me .mb or .ma.
2. Brow se to the folder of the scene's element in w hich the 3D model w as imported. This folder
should be located in the scene's root folder, in the elements subfolder. For example, if your scene
is located in C:\Documents\MyScene and the element is named LR_ship, the element folder
w ould be located in C:\Documents\MyScene\elements\Ship.
The 3D model that w as imported in the Harmony scene should be located in this folder.

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3. Paste the Maya project files and its textures in the element's folder.
4. Rename the Maya project file to have the same file name as the imported 3D model file, but
preserve its file extension. For example, if the imported 3D model is named Ship-1.fbx and yourMaya project file is named pirateship.ma, rename the Maya project to Ship-1.ma.

5. Harmony w ill now be able to use Maya project file w hen attempting to render the 3D model.

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Selecting a Rendering Engine
By default, w hen rendering a 3D model through Autodesk Maya, the model w ill be rendered using therendering engine its Maya project file is configured to use. How ever, it is also possible to select w hichrendering engine to use by selecting it in the layer properties of the Maya Batch Render node. It is important toalw ays use the rendering engine the model w as intended to be rendered w ith.

Harmony supports the follow ing rendering engines:
l

Maya

l

Mental Ray

lRenderman ReyeslRenderman RISlArnoldNOTE
It is recommended to use either Renderman or Arnold to render 3D objects through Autodesk
Maya, as those rendering engines w ill return deep texture images, w hich can be composited
relative to other elements in your scene w ith antialiasing. W hen using other rendering engines, 3Dmodels that clip w ith elements in your scene may have a hard pixelated seam at their intersection.

IMPORTANTThe selected rendering engine must be installed on the w orkstation on w hich Harmony isrendering the scene, or the model w ill not be rendered and w ill be invisible in the rendered image.

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How to select the rendering engine for a 3D model
1. In the Node view , locate the Maya Batch Render node, and click on its Layer Properties

button.

The Layer Properties dialog for the Maya Batch Render node appears.
2. In the Attributes tab, in the Renderer field, enter one of the follow ing values, depending on w hichrendering engine you w ish to use:lMaya's native rendering engine: mayasoftware or mayalRenderman (Reyes): renderman, rendermanreyes or reyeslRenderman (RIS): rendermanris or rislArnold: arnold

3. Click on Close.
4. In the Camera view , click on the Render View

button.

The 3D model w ill now be rendered in the new ly selected rendering engine.

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Linking a Maya Batch Render Node to an External Maya Project
If you prefer to keep the Maya project used to render the 3D model in its original location, you can configure
your Maya Batch Render node to render the Maya project from its original location rather than from the 3Dmodel's element directory in the scene. This is done in tw o steps:
1. Adding the Original Maya File Name field to the layer properties of your Maya Batch Render node.
2. Typing the path to the Maya project in the Original Maya File Name field.

NOTES
l

If you link your Maya Batch Render node to an external Maya project, you w ill need the Maya
project to remain in this location for your scene to render properly. This means you w ill be
unable to render the 3D model in your scene if you try render it from a different computer, or if
you move or delete the Maya project.

lThis procedure is entirely optional and is more technical than the default approach, w hich is tocopy the 3D model in the element folder of your 3D model. If you prefer to go w ith the more
simple method, see Copying your Maya Project to the Scene Directory

How to add the Original Maya File Name field to the layer properties of the Maya
Batch Render node
1. In the Node View, locate the MayaBatchRender node, and click on its Layer Properties

button.

The Layer Properties dialog for the Maya Batch Render node appears.
2. Click on the Specifications tab.
In the Specifications field, an XML script defines the input ports, output ports and attributes of the
Maya Batch Render node.

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3. Copy the line below :<attr type="string" name="OriginalMayaFileName" value="" tooltip="Write your project path

4. Paste it right above the </attributes> line:

You have now added the OriginalMayaFileName attribute to the Maya Batch Render Node.
How ever, you w ill not see it in the Attributes tab right aw ay.
5. Save your scene, close it and re-open it. Afterw ards, the OriginalMayaFileName property w ill bevisible in the Attributes tab of the Maya Batch Render node's layer properties, right under
renderer.

How to link the Maya Batch Render node to your original Maya project
1. In the Node View, locate the MayaBatchRender node, and click on its Layer Properties

button.

The Layer Properties dialog for the Maya Batch Render node appears. The OriginalMayaFileName
field should appear under the renderer field.

2. In the Attributes tab, select the OriginalMayaFileName field.

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3. Type in the path to the Maya project containing your 3D model. You must type the path to thedirectory as w ell as the name of the project file, including its extension. W hether you are using
W indow s, macOS or GNU/Linux, you must use forw ard slashes (/) to separate the directories.
For example, if your Maya project is stored in a folder named MayaProject in your Documents
folder and is named MayaProject.ma, and your username is username, you w ould type thefollow ing location to point to it:l

On W indows: C:/Users/username/Documents/MayaProject/MayaProject.mal

On macOS: /Users/username/Documents/MayaProject/MayaProject.mal

On GNU/Linux: /home/username/Documents/MayaProject/MayaProject.ma

Optionally, you can type in a relative path. The path is relative to the specific element folder of your
3D model, w hich is in a folder named elements inside your scene folder. So, for example, if you
w ant to store your 3D models in a folder named 3dmodels inside your scene folder, you can typein the follow ing relative path:../../3dmodels/MayaProject.ma
In a relative path, tw o consecutive periods (..) refer to the parent folder. So, by referring to theparent folder of the parent folder of the 3D model's elements folder, you get to the scene folder.

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Adjusting the Antialiasing of a Rendered 3D Model
Rendering engines such as Maya and Mental Ray output images in a format that uses a simple Z-buffer that
does not allow for proper antialiasing around the edges of the geometry. Hence, it is ultimately better forimage quality to render using RenderMan or Arnold if possible. Otherw ise, if a different rendering engine must
be used and there appears to be pixelated hard seams around 3D models, the Z Buffer Smoothing node can beused to smooth out the edges of the rendered model.

How to use the Z Buffer Smoothing
1. In the Node Library view , select 3D in the sections list and locate the Z Buffer Smoothing node.
2. Drag and drop the Z Buffer Smoothing node into the Node view .
3. In the Node view , connect the Z Buffer Smoothing node under the MayaBatchRender node of the
3D model.

4. Click on the Layer Properties

button of the Z Buffer Smoothing node to open its Layer Properties

dialog.

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5. Adjust the Histogram Range and Kernel Size parameters to achieve the optimal rendering of yourMaya models. In most cases, you w ill have to experiment w ith a balance betw een the histogram
range and the kernel size to obtain the best result.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting
Now that you've finished your animation, it's time to render your movie. Depending on w hether you plan tofurther edit your movie using a third party softw are, composite the movie in a larger body of w ork or put it up
directly on the w eb, Harmony supports several formats for all your rendering needs.

NOTE
The different editions of Harmony support the follow ing maximum render resolutions:lHarmony Essentials: 2K (2048x1556)lHarmony Advanced: 4K (4096x3112)

lHarmony Premium: Unlimited

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About Rendering W rite Nodes
W hen you render a scene in Harmony, w hat is actually rendered is w hat is connected to your scene's W rite
node. Rendering a scene's W rite nodes is the main w ay to export a scene into image and movie files for postproduction.
The Node view allow s you to branch out and merge elements of your scene in specific w ays. By default, ascene has a W rite node connected to its main composite, meaning all of the scene's elements are rendered.
How ever, a W rite node can be connected to any node in your scene that outputs image information, even adraw ing or an effect. A scene's renders are based on the image information that is sent to its W rite node, andnothing else. Hence, you can control exactly w hat gets rendered, w hich is especially useful if you w ant to haveelements in your scene that are only visible in the Camera view , such as a storyboard overlay or a camera
guide, w ithout having them appear in the renders.
You can also set up a scene to create multiple renders by connecting several W rite nodes to it. Your W rite
nodes can be connected to different elements of your scene, w hich allow s you to create separate renders fordifferent parts of your Node view every time your scene is rendered. For example, a scene can have a W rite
node for rendering the scene w ithout any annotations, so that render can be used in post production, andanother one for rendering the scene w ith its storyboard and annotations for review ing. A scene can also havemultiple W rite Nodes connected to the same composite, w hich can allow you to render the same image in
multiple file formats or locations at the same time.
Each W rite node can be configured to export individual frames as image files, a video file, or both
simultaneously.

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Adding W rite Nodes
The W rite node lets you render and output connected image information.

How to add a W rite node
1. In the Node Library, select the Output from the list of categories.
2. Select the W rite node and drag it to the Node view .

3. In the Node view , connect the final Composite node or any other node w hich outputs an image you
w ant to render to the W rite node.

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Exporting Image Sequences from the Node View
To export an image sequence, you must to adjust a few settings in the W rite node’s properties. The mostimportant one is the Draw ing Type parameter, w hich determines the image format in w hich individual frames
are exported.

How to configure the W rite node to export an image sequence
1. In the Node view , open the W rite node’s editor by clicking its square yellow properties button.

2. In the Output tab, select the Drawing option to create an image sequence.

3. Click Choose and brow se to the directory w here you w ant to save the output. You can also type ina directory name, w hich w ill be created in your scene's directory, or click on Default to export yourframes in your scene's frames subdirectory.
4. In the Drawing Filename field, type the image sequence’s name prefix. It is recommended to leave
the hyphen (-) at the end of the name to separate the image name from the image number.

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5. In the Colour Space drop-dow n, select the colour space in w hich you w ant the rendered frames tobe exported—see About Colour Space Management on page 780.

6. In the Start field, select the starting number for the image sequence.

7. In the Leading Zeros field, select the number of digits you w ant to see after the sequence prefix.
8. In the Drawing Type field, select the file format in w hich your project w ill output.

NOTES
l

A lot of formats are listed as their file extension, but some also have suffixes toindicate how they are encoded. For example, PNGDP4 means PNG: double
precision w ith 4 channels, w hich means the exported PNG images w ill have 16 bits
per channel instead of 8 bits, and w ill also have an alpha (transparency) channel.

l

For more information on supported export formats, refer to the Reference Guide.

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9. Click Close.

NOTE
The project w ill not start rendering at this point. This step only configures how yourscene w ill be rendered.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

Exporting Movie Files from the Node View
To export a QuickTime movie, you need to adjust few settings in the W rite node’s properties.

How to configure the W rite node to export a movie file
1. In the Node view , open the W rite node’s Layer Properties by doing one of the follow ing:lClick on the yellow squareat the left end of the W rite node.

l

Right-click on the W rite node, then select Layer Properties.

2. In the Output tab, select the Movie option to create a movie file.

A Movie Folder and Movie Filename field appear among the Draw ing Folder and Draw ing
Filename fields.

3. In the Colour Space drop-dow n, select the colour space in w hich you w ant the movie to beexported—see About Colour Space Management on page 780.

4. Right to Movie Folder, click Choose and brow se to the directory w here you w ant the movie file to
be exported.
You can also click on Default to set the output directory to frames. This w ill export the movie toyour scene's frames subdirectory.
5. In the Movie Filename field, enter the desired name of the movie file to be exported, w ithout its
extension.
6. In the drop-dow n right of the Movie checkbox, select one of the follow ing export types: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

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to choose among several video codecs.

NOTES
l

On W indow s, Apple QuickTime must be installed to allow Harmony
to export QuickTime movies. You can configure the export of
QuickTime movies to use any codec that is compatible w ith QuickTime,
including H.264, MPEG-4 and Animation.

l

On macOS, Harmony 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, besure to choose a codec that supports encoding w ith an alpha channel.

l

On GNU/Linux, Harmony uses the OpenQuickTime library to export
QuickTime movies. This only allow s you to export videos in nonproprietary formats such as Motion-JPEG, Photo JPEG, PNG or
Uncompressed (RGB).

l

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

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 Harmony w ill automaticallydow nload the library, then export the movie.

lThere are no encoding options for this format.

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

l

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

l

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

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

NOTES
l

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

lVideo players and editors on non-W indow s systems can generally notopen W indow s Media Video (.wmv) files.

7. If you w ant to configure the video and audio compression settings for the movie to be rendered,click on the Customize button next to Movie Options.

NOTES
l

For information on how to configure movie settings for a QuickTime Movie(.mov), see:l

W indows: Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on
W indow s on page 636lmacOS: Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on macOS on
page 640l

GNU/Linux: Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on
GNU/Linuxl

For information on how to configure the movie settings w hen exporting in
W indow s Media Video (.wmv) format, see Configuring Movie Settings for
W indow s Media Video.

l

W hen exporting in H.264/MPEG-4 (.mp4) format, there are no video andaudio compression settings.

l

If you are using GNU/Linux and are exporting in QuickTime Movie (.mov)format, there w ill be a button for the Video Options and one for the Sound
Options.

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IMPORTANT
If you are using Harmony Server, and not all the machines in your database's render farm use
the same operating systems as the one you are currently using, you should make sure themachines that w ill render your scene are compatible w ith your movie format and movie
options. Specifically, look out for the follow ing exception cases:l

If you configure a W rite Node to export in QuickTime Movie format and render the scene
on a W indow s machine that does not have Apple QuickTime installed, no movie w ill berendered.

l

If you configure a W rite Node to export QuickTime movies on one platform and render it ona different platform that supports exporting QuickTime movies, the default video and audio
compression settings for QuickTime Movie (.mov) files on that platform ill be used.

NOTE
The project w ill not start rendering at this point. This step only configures how your scene w ill berendered.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

About Multiple Renders
Harmony lets you simultaneously render many formats and resolutions for a scene. This saves a lot of time as
you do not have to return betw een each render to start a new one.
To use multiple renders, connect as many W rite nodes as needed to match the required number of exports.
Then, adjust each W rite node’s settings to create image sequences or movies.

NOTE
Each W rite node must be configured to export w ith different file names or in different locations. If
one W rite node is configured to export images or a movie file w ith the same file name as w ith
another W rite node, one w ill overw rite the other.

W hen you have multiple W rite nodes in a scene, it is useful to rename the nodes according to their output
settings such as: low_resolution_movie or HDTV_sequence.
To export different resolutions concurrently, you need to create a combination of the follow ing:l

W rite nodel

Scale-Output nodelCrop node

If you start w ith a higher resolution and w ant to crop dow n to a low er resolution, such as HDTV to NTSC, you
w ill need to combine the Crop node w ith a Scale Output node.
Once you know the type of render you w ant to do, you w ill need to retrieve your nodes from the Node Libraryand connect them to the scene’s netw ork.

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Adding Multiple W rite Nodes
Harmony allow s you to render multiple exports simultaneously. For example, you can export a version of yourproject, a full high-res version and an image sequence w ith a transparent background all at the same time.

How to connect nodes to export multiple renders
1. In the Node Library view , retrieve the necessary W rite, Scale-Output and Crop nodes.

2. Connect the final Composite node to the first W rite node. (Make sure you have a Display nodereading the same information.)
3. Open the W rite node’s editor by clicking on its square yellow properties button.
4. Name the W rite node according to the render type that you are planning to do.
5. Configure the W rite node's parameters—see Exporting Image Sequences from the Node View on
page 611 and Exporting Movie Files from the Node View .

6. Connect the other W rite nodes and repeat steps 2 to 5.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

7. Using the Alt key, insert the Scale-Output nodes betw een the final Composite node and theircorresponding W rite node.

8. Using the Alt key, insert the Crop nodes betw een the final Composite node and their corresponding
W rite or Scale node.

l

If the output from the Crop node has to be scaled dow n, use a Scale-Output node.

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9. Connect a Display node to each Scale-Output or Crop node to see each final image in the Camera
view .

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

Setting Up Scale- Output Nodes
Once your W rite nodes are connected, if you w ant one of your renders to be smaller than your scene's
resolution, but have the same aspect ratio and contain the same camera frame, you can use the Scale-Output
node to shrink the image output by your scene's composite before it reaches the W rite node.
You can use a Scale-Ouput node in conjunction w ith a Crop node to produce a render that is in a different
resolution and aspect ratio than your scene's. For example, if you w ant a scene in HD 1080p to render in
NTSC, you can use the Scale-Output node to scale dow n the image to 960 x 540 pixels, w hich matches the
NTSC resolution height, but has a greater resolution w idth to preserve the aspect ratio of HD 1080p. Then,
you can use a Crop node to crop the image to 720 x 540 pixels, cropping out the image in the left and rightedges to make it fit an NTSC screen.

NOTE
If you use a Scale-Output node to scale up the image, it w ill look pixelated. If you w ant to export ascene in multiple resolutions, you should set your scene's resolution to be the highest resolution in
w hich you w ant to render, and use Scale-Output nodes to scale dow n the output.

How to set a Scale- Output node
1. In the Node Library view , select Scale- Output from the list of categories.
2. Select the Scale- Output node and drag it to the Node view .

3. In the Node view , connect the Composite node to the Input port of the Scale-Output node.

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4. In the Node view , connect the Scale-Output node to the input ports of both the Display node andthe W rite node.

5. In the Node view , open the Scale-Output node’s editor by clicking its yellow square properties
button.

6. In the Layer Properties dialog box, do one of the follow ing:l

Under Customer Resolution, type in the W idth and Height of the resolution you
w ant to scale to, in pixels.

623

Chapter 21: Rendering & ExportinglUncheck the Custom Resolution option, then choose one of the available resolution
presets in the Resolution Name drop dow n list.

7. Click Close.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Setting Up Crop Nodes
Once your W rite nodes are connected, if you w ant one of your renders to be in a different aspect ratio thanyour scene's, you can use the Crop node. For example, if you w ant a scene w ith an aspect ratio of 16:9 toproduce a render in 4:3, you can use a Crop node to crop out the image on the left and right edges of thecamera frame.
You can use a Scale-Ouput node in conjunction w ith a Crop node to produce a render that is in a different
resolution and aspect ratio than your scene's. For example, if you w ant a scene in HD 1080p to render in
NTSC, you can use the Scale-Output node to scale dow n the image to 960 x 540 pixels, w hich matches the
NTSC resolution height, but has a greater resolution w idth to preserve the aspect ratio of HD 1080p. Then,
you can use a Crop node to crop the image to 720 x 540 pixels, cropping out the image in the left and rightedges to make it fit an NTSC screen.

How to set a Crop Node
1. In the Node Library view , select Output from the list of categories on the left.
2. Drag the Crop node to the Node view .

3. In the Node view , connect the Composite node to the Input port of the Crop node.

4. In the Node view , connect the Crop node to the input ports of both the Display node and the W rite
node.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

5. In the Node view , open the Crop node’s property editor by clicking the yellow square properties
button.

6. In the Layer Properties dialog box, type new resolution values to indicate the resolution to crop to.

7. You can manually enter the X -Y Offset, or move it in the Camera view . Select the right Display
node in the Display toolbar. In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select the Translate

tool andw ith the middle mouse button, move the crop area. If the Animate mode of the Tools toolbar is set
toAnimate Current Frame, the position of the crop area w ill be animated over time.

8. If you w ant to create a Pan and Scan effect (panning the cropped selection over time to show more
information), you can create a function to animate the cropped selection. Click the Function
button beside the Local dialog box to create a Bezier or ease curve.
9. If you created a function curve to animate the cropped selection, click again on the Function
button and edit the curve by adding keyframes and moving the selection box in the Camera view .If
you created a function curve to animate the cropped selection, click again on the Function
button and edit the curve by adding keyframes and moving the selection box in the Camera view .

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

10. If you w ant to draw a frame around the area to crop instead of actually cropping the image, enable
the Draw Frame option.

11. If you enabled the Draw Frame option, click on the colour rectangle to open a Colour Picker dialog
and adjust the colour of the frame to draw .

12. If you w ish to only use this Crop node w hen rendering your scene at specific resolution, click on the
Enabling tab.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

13. Do one of the follow ing to configure w hen your Crop node should be used for rendering:lSelect Always Enabled if your Crop node should be enabled every time the scene isrendered.

lSelect Enabled when resolution name is if you w ant your Crop node to only beenabled w hen rendering your scene in one of the available resolution presets. Then,in the Filter name drop dow n list, select the resolution preset at w hich your scene
must be rendered for the Crop node to be enabled.

l

Select Enabled when resolution isif you w ant your Crop node to only be enabled
w hen rendering your scene at a specific resolution. Then, in the X resolution and Y
resolution fields, type in the w idth and height of the resolution at w hich your scene
must be rendered for the Crop node to be enabled, in pixels.

14. Click Close.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Rendering from W rite Nodes
Once your W rite nodes are properly set up, you can render them using the Render W rite Nodes dialog.

How to render the scene's W rite nodes
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Render W rite Nodes or press Ctrl + Shift + Y(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + Y (macOS).
The Render W rite Nodes dialog appears.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Server, the Render W rite Nodes dialog w ill have a Batch
Composite Options section. Enabling this option w ill send your scene to batchrendering instead of rendering it locally. Simply disable this option and follow the steps
below . For information on how to use Batch Composite Options, see Batch Rendering.

2. In the Range section, select the frame range to render by doing one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to render all the frames in your scene, select All Frames.

l

If you w ant to render a specific sequence of frames, select Selected Frames then, in
the fields to the right, enter the number of the first and last frame of the frame
sequence you w ish to render.

3. If your production is intended for broadcasting on NTSC compatible televisions, enable Field
Composite Options.
l

To export a scene animated at 24 frames per second in 60 frames per second so thatthe frames can be combined w ith the 3:2 pulldow n technique, enable the Add
Pulldown option.

l

If you w ant Harmony to automatically interlace the exported frames to create a 30
frames per second sequence, enable the Automatic Combine option.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exportingl

By default, odd frames are interlaced on the first field (odd lines), and even frames areinterlaced on the second field (even lines). If you w ish to interlace odd frames on thesecond field and even frames on the first field, enable the Second Field First option.

4. Enable the Preview option to automatically preview the exported image sequence in Play once therender is done.
5. Click OK.
Harmony begins rendering the scene's W rite nodes.

If you enabled the Preview option, the exported images w ill load in Play once the render is done.
You can user Play to play the image sequence w ith the scene's soundtrack.

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Exporting a Movie File
T-HFND-010-013
Using the Export Movie dialog, you can export your animation as a video file. By default, Harmony w ill export
your entire scene in its full resolution. If you prefer, you can choose to export only a specific frame range inyour scene, or to export in a smaller resolution, w hich can be useful if you need to save on time or disk space.
Depending on the format in w hich you export your movie, you can also customize the video and audio
compression settings for quality or for disk space.
If you added burn-in information to your scene, it w ill be included in your exported file—see the Reference
guide .

How to export a movie file
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Movie.
The Export to QuickTime Movie dialog box opens.

2. In the Output section, open the Video Format drop-dow n and select the desired format for yourmovie file:631

Chapter 21: Rendering & Exportingl

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 Harmony
to export QuickTime movies. You can configure the export of
QuickTime movies to use any codec that is compatible w ith QuickTime,
including H.264, MPEG-4 and Animation.

l

On macOS, Harmony 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, besure to choose a codec that supports encoding w ith an alpha channel.

l

On GNU/Linux, Harmony uses the OpenQuickTime library to export
QuickTime movies. This only allow s you to export videos in nonproprietary formats such as Motion-JPEG, Photo JPEG, PNG or
Uncompressed (RGB).

l

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

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 Harmony w ill automaticallydow nload the library, then export the movie.

lThere are no encoding options for this format.

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

l

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

l

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

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTES
l

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

lVideo players and editors on non-W indow s systems can generally notopen W indow s Media Video (.wmv) files.

3. Click on the Browse button.
4. In the Save dialog that appears, brow se to the location w here you w ant to export the movie file.
5. In the File name field, type in the file name you w ant the movie file to have.
6. Click on Save.
7. In the Export From Display Node drop-dow n, select the Display node from w hich you w ant torender your scene.

NOTE
If there is no Display node in your scene, the only available option w ill be Display All.
This renders all the nodes in your scene, including ones that are not connected toanything. You can add other Display nodes to your scene and connect them under
specific parts of your scene to be able to render these parts only.

8. From the Export Range section, do one of the follow ing:lSelect All if you w ant to render the entire scene.

l

Select Frames if you w ant to render a part of your scene. Then, in the field to the right, typein the first frame of the sequence you w ant to export, and in the other field, the last frame ofthe sequence you w ant to render.

9. Open the Resolution drop-dow n and do one of the follow ing:lSelect Same as Scene Resolution if you w ant to export a movie w ith the same resolution as
your scene.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & ExportinglSelect 3/4 of Scene Resolution, 1/2 of Scene Resolution, 1/3 of Scene Resolution or 1/4 of
Scene Resolution if you w ant to export a movie that is smaller than the resolution of yourscene.

lSelect Custom if you w ant to manually set the export resolution. Then, in the W idth andHeight fields, type in the desired resolution for your movie, in pixels.

10. In the Colour Space drop-dow n, select the colour space in w hich you w ant the movie to beexported—see About Colour Space Management on page 780.

11. In the Options section, click on Movie Options if you w ant to configure the video and audio
compression settings for the movie to export.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTES
l

For information on how to configure movie settings for a QuickTime Movie(.mov), see:l

W indows: Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on
W indow s on page 636lmacOS: Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on macOS on
page 640l

GNU/Linux: Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on
GNU/Linuxl

For information on how to configure the movie settings w hen exporting in
W indow s Media Video (.wmv) format, see Configuring Movie Settings for
W indow s Media Video.

l

W hen exporting in H.264/MPEG-4 (.mp4) format, there are no video andaudio compression settings.

l

If you are using GNU/Linux and are exporting in QuickTime Movie (.mov)format, there w ill be a button for the Video Options and one for the Sound
Options.

12. Click OK.
13. In the Export to QuickTime Movie dialog box, click OK.
A progress bar appears.

14. Brow se to the location on your computer w here you exported your movie file, and double-click on it
to view it in your video player.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on W indows
On W indow s, it is possible to export QuickTime Movie (.mov) files using the libraries provided w ith Apple
QuickTime.
Harmony allow s you to customize the video and audio compression settings for your QuickTime movies via
QuickTime's ow n configuration interface. This makes it possible to export movies using any codec that iscompatible w ith the QuickTime framew ork.

NOTE
To export QuickTime Movies on W indow s, Apple QuickTime must be installed on your machine.

How to configure video and sound settings for QuickTime movies on W indows
1. Proceed to the Movie Settings dialog for the type of movie you w ant to export—see Exporting a
Movie File, Exporting Movie Files from the Node View or Exporting OpenGL Frames.

2. In the Movie Settings dialog:l

Make sure the Video checkbox is checked.

l

If you w ant your movie file to have an audio stream, make sure Sound is checked.

3. In the Video section, click Settings.
The Standard Video Compression Settings dialog box opens.

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4. In the Compression Type drop-dow n, select a video compression codec. It is recommended to use
one of the follow ing codecs, depending on your usage scenario:l

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 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.

TIPSl

You can export a video w ith transparency by selecting the Animation codec andsetting the Depth setting to Millions of Colors+.

l

You can export a video w ith virtually lossless compression by selecting theAnimation codec and setting Quality setting to Best.

NOTE
The availability of certain of the compression settings described below w ill depend on
the selected compression type.

5. In the Motion section, make sure the Frame Rate drop-dow n is set to Current. This w ill ensure thatthe video's frame rate matches the frame rate of your Harmony project.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

6. If you set the Compression Type to H.264, make sure the Key Frames option is set to All.
7. In the Quality section, if you set the Compression Type to Animation, select the desired colour
depth for your video in the Depth drop-dow n.
8. In the Quality section, use the slider to choose a quality setting.

NOTE
The selected quality setting w ill impact the movie's file size.

9. If you set the Compression Type to H.264, in the Quality section, select the encoding method:lBest quality (Multi- pass): This w ill extend the time required for the export, but optimize thequality of the video.

lFaster encoding (Single- pass): This w ill shorten the time required for the export, but may
sacrifice some video quality.

10. In the Data Rate section, select Automatic to let QuickTime determine the best bit rate for yourmovie, or Restrict to to set a maximum bit rate for your movie and limit its file size.
11. If you set the Data Rate to Restrict to, enter the maximum bit rate, in kilobits per second, in the text
field to the right.
12. If you set the Data Rate to Restrict to, in the Optimized For drop-dow n, select the intended
distribution method for your movie.
13. Click OK.
14. From the Movie Settings dialog box, click Sound Settings.
The Sound Settings dialog box opens.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

15. From the Compressor menu, select the algorithm to use to compress the movie's audio track.

NOTE
It is recommended to leave this setting to None, as other formats are likely to sacrificeaudio quality for negligible savings in disk space.

16. In the Rate field, select the desired sample rate for the movie's audio track

NOTE
Harmony cannot export audio at a higher sample rate than 22.050 kHz. If you select ahigher sample rate, your project's audio w ill be upsampled, w hich means it w ill takemore disc space w ithout increasing in quality.

17. Right of Size, select the desired bit depth for the audio track. This determines the amount ofprecision used to record each w avelength in the audio track.

NOTE
The standard bit depth is 16- bit. If you choose 8- bit, the amount of disk space theaudio track of your movie file requires w ill be halved, but the audio quality w ill besignificantly low er.

18. Right of Use, select w hether you w ant to export audio in the Mono or Stereo channel mode.

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.

19. Click OK.
20. In the Movie Settings dialog, click OK.

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Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on macOSOn macOS, Harmony allow s you to export QuickTime Movie files (.mov) using the Apple AVFoundation
framew ork, w hich is pre-installed w ith macOS.
Contrary to W indow s and GNU/Linux, Harmony uses its ow n user interface to let you configure thecompression settings for QuickTime Movies on macOS. Using this interface, you can choose to export yourmovie using either the H.264, the Apple ProRes 422 or the Apple ProRes 4444 video codec. You can also
configure the quality of the audio track, but the audio w ill alw ays be exported in uncompressed PCM format.

How to configure the video and sound settings for QuickTime movies on macOS
1. Proceed to the Movie Options dialog for the type of movie you w ant to export—see Exporting a
Movie File, Exporting Movie Files from the Node View or Exporting OpenGL Frames.

2. In the Movie Options dialog box, click on the Codec drop-dow n and select one of the follow ing
video compression codecs:

NOTE
The list of codecs available depends on the version of macOS being used.

l

H.264 Legacy: A very effective lossy compression algorithm that is commonly supported by w eb
brow sers and media players.

lH.265 Legacy: Same compression quality as H.264, but w ith a smaller compression size. This isuseful 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 commonly used for video
editing on Apple systems. This codec is optimized for preserving video quality, but not for
publishing or streaming.

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Harmony 22 Premium User GuidelApple ProRes 422 HQ Legacy: Preserves visual quality at the same high level as Apple ProRes
4444 but for 4:2:2 image sources (cleaner footage for things like green screening). Heavier thanApple 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 forenvironments w ith limited storage capacity and data rates.

lApple ProRes 422 Proxy Legacy: An even more highly compressed codec than Apple 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 commonly used for video
editing on Apple systems. Compared to Apple ProRes 422, this codec preserves more colour detailand supports transparency. How ever, it results in heavier file sizes.

3. If you w ant to export a video w ith transparency, check the Alpha option.

NOTE
This option is only available w hen exporting w ith the Apple ProRes 4444 codec. Other
codecs do not support transparency.

4. If you w ant your movie file to have an audio track, make sure the Sound checkbox is checked.
5. In the Rate drop-dow n, select the desired sample rate for the movie's audio track. The higher the
sample rate, the better the quality.

NOTE
Harmony 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 hichmeans it w ill take more disc space w ithout increasing in quality.

6. Right of Use, select w hether you w ant to export audio using the Mono or Stereo channel mode.

NOTE
Stereo sound has a separate track for the left and right speakers, w hereas monosound only has a single audio track for all speakers.

7. Click OK.

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Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime ProRes Movies
Harmony allow s you to export QuickTime ProRes Movie files (.mov).
In Harmony, you can configure the compression settings for QuickTime ProRes Movies in the Movie Options
dialog, w here you may export your movie using either the Apple ProRes 422 or the Apple ProRes 4444 video
codec. You can also configure the quality of the audio track, but the audio w ill alw ays be exported inuncompressed PCM format.

NOTE
Apple ProRes codecs are supported on both MacOS and W indow s.

How to configure the video and sound settings for QuickTime movies on macOS
1. Proceed to the Movie Options dialog for the type of movie you w ant to export—see Exporting a
Movie File, Exporting Movie Files from the Node View or Exporting OpenGL Frames.

2. In the Movie Options dialog box, click on the Codec drop-dow n and select one of the follow ing
video compression codecs:

NOTE
The list of codecs available depends on the version of macOS being used.

lApple ProRes 422: A nearly lossless compression algorithm commonly used for video
editing on Apple systems. This codec is optimized for preserving video quality, but not for
publishing or streaming.

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Harmony 22 Premium User GuidelApple ProRes 422 HQ: Preserves visual quality at the same high level as Apple ProRes
4444 but for 4:2:2 image sources (cleaner footage for things like green screening). Heavier
than Apple ProRes 422 for real-time editing performance.

lApple ProRes 422 LT: 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 forenvironments w ith limited storage capacity and data rates.

lApple ProRes 422 Proxy: An even more highly compressed codec than Apple ProRes 422
LT, intended for use in offline w orkflow s that require low data rates but full-resolution
video.

lApple ProRes 4444: A nearly lossless compression algorithm commonly used for video
editing on Apple systems. Compared to Apple ProRes 422, this codec preserves more colour
detail and supports transparency. How ever, it results in heavier file sizes.

lApple ProRes 4444 XQ: It is the highest quality version of Apple ProRes. It preserves thedetail in high-dynamic-range imagery for 4:4:4:4 image source and preserves greater
dynamic ranges. It features a target data rate of approximately 500 Mbps.

3. If you w ant to export a video w ith transparency, check the Alpha option.

NOTE
This option is only available w hen exporting w ith the Apple ProRes 4444 andApple ProRes 4444 XQ codec. Other codecs do not support transparency.

4. If you w ant your movie file to have an audio track, make sure the Audio checkbox is checked.
5. In the Rate drop-dow n, select the desired sample rate for the movie's audio track. The higher the
sample rate, the better the quality.

NOTE
Harmony 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.

6. Select w hether you w ant to export audio using the Mono or Stereo channel mode.

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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.

7. Click OK.

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Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on GNU/Linux
Harmony is able to export QuickTime Movie (.mov) files on all supported platforms. On W indow s, Harmony
uses libraries that are bundled w ith Apple QuickTime to export QuickTime movies. On macOS, Harmony uses
the AVFoundation framew ork, w hich is pre-installed w ith the operating system.
Because neither QuickTime nor the AVFoundation framew ork are available for GNU/Linux, Harmony instead
relies on a free and open-source alternative, OpenQuickTime, to export QuickTime-compatible movies on
GNU/Linux. OpenQuickTime comes pre-installed w ith Harmony, and is not bundled w ith any proprietary
codecs. Hence, it offers a more limited set of compression settings.

How to configure video and sound settings for QuickTime movies on GNU/Linux
1. Proceed to the Video Options dialog for the type of movie you w ant to export—see Exporting a
Movie File, Exporting Movie Files from the Node View or Exporting OpenGL Frames.

2. In the Video Options dialog, select the preferred video compression method in the codec dropdow n:lMotion- JPEG A: A very portable codec that performs lossy JPEG compression and interlaces
the frames. Motion-JPEG A compression is less efficient than Photo JPEG in terms of quality
and file size, but may be a more portable alternative for softw are that does not support
Photo JPEG.

l

Photo JPEG: Encodes the movie as a sequence of JPEG images. JPEG images have lossy
compression. This is the most efficient codec for file size.

lPortable Network Graphics (PNG): Encodes the movie as a sequence of PNG images. PNG
images have lossless compression.

l

Tag Image File Format (TIFF): Encodes the movie as a sequence of uncompressed TIFF
images. This codec is lossless.

l

Uncompressed (RGB): Encodes the movie as uncompressed bitmap data. This codec islossless.

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NOTE
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) and Photo JPEG are the only codecs in this list thatare natively supported by both Harmonyand GNOME's Totem Video Player. Other
codecs may require additional softw are to play on GNU/Linux w orkstations.

3. If exporting in Motion- JPEG A or Photo JPEG, set the desired JPEG quality for your video in thequality field. This setting ranges from 0 to 100, and is set to 85 by default. A higher setting
increases picture quality, but makes the resulting movie file heavier.
4. If exporting in Motion- JPEG A, set the desired field dominance in the fieldDominance field. Videos
encoded in Motion-JPEG A are interlaced. W hen set to 1, odd frames are encoded on the first field.
W hen set to 2, odd frames are encoded on the second field.
5. Click OK.
6. Open the Sound Options dialog.

7. In the Sound Options dialog, select the preferred audio compression algorithm in the codec field:lA- Law 2:1: This codec uses logarithms to compress audio data. The resulting audio stream
requires half the disk space of uncompressed audio data, but is of noticeably low er quality.

l

IMA 4:1: This codec compresses audio data to require a quarter of the disk space required
for uncompressed audio data. It is not supported by a lot of softw are.

l

Twos Complement - Little Endian PCM: A standard uncompressed audio codec.

lTwos Complement - Big Endian PCM: A legacy standard uncompressed audio codec. This
codec may be compatible w ith older editing interfaces.

l(mu)- Law 2:1: Similarly to A-Law , this codec uses logarithms to compress audio data. The
resulting audio stream requires half the disk space of uncompressed audio data, but is ofnoticeably low er quality.

NOTE
It is recommended to leave this option to its default value, Twos Complement - Little
Endian PCM, as it is commonly used for storing uncompressed audio. Other encoding
formats are likely to sacrifice audio quality for negligible savings in disk space.

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8. In the Sample rate drop dow n menu, select 22050. This is the only sample rate supported formovie export in Harmony on Linux.
9. Click OK.

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Configuring Movie Settings for W indows Media VideoOn W indow s, it is possible to export in W indow s Media Video format. This format is natively supported by
W indow s, and is offered in Harmony as an alternative for exporting in QuickTime Movie format, as the latter
requires installing QuickTime on W indow s.
W hen exporting in W indow s Media Video format, Harmony allow s you to select the video compression
quality as w ell as one of the preset sound compression profiles.

How to configure video and sound settings for W indows Media Video
1. Proceed to the W MV Options dialog for the type of movie you w ant to export—see Exporting a
Movie File, Exporting Movie Files from the Node View or Exporting OpenGL Frames.

1. In the Video section, select the desired Variable Bit Rate Quality for your video. A higher setting
w ill ensure a better image quality, w hereas a low er setting w ill reduce the size of your movie file.
2. If you w ant your movie file to have an audio track, make sure the Sound checkbox is checked.
3. Using the Profile drop-dow n menu, select the preferred compression settings for your movie's
soundtrack. Each profile has a combination of audio sample rate, sample size and channel mode,
w hich cover the follow ing options:lSample 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
Harmony 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 hichmeans it w ill take more disc space w ithout increasing in quality.

lSample size: Also know n as bit depth, this determines the amount of precision used torecord 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 track of your movie file requires is halved, but the audio
quality w ill be significantly low er.

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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 aseparate audio track for the left and the right speakers, w hereas mono sound uses a single
track for all speakers.

4. Click OK.

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Exporting an Animated GIF
You can export your scene, or part of your scene, as an animated GIF image.
Animated GIFs are a portable format commonly used for exchanging short animations and clips on the w eb.
They can be played in any w eb brow ser and in many image view ers.
Animated GIFs are a convenient sharing format, but they are not a publishing format. They are not as
optimized for fast dow nload and playback as movie files, cannot contain audio and, most importantly, can only
contain up to 256 different colours throughout the entire animation. Hence, if your animation contains texturesor gradients, it is likely to lose quality w hen exported as an animated GIF, as Harmony w ill have to limit theamount of different colours used in the exported image.

NOTE
For more information on the Export to Animated GIF dialog, see the Reference Guide.

How to export an animated GIF image
1. In the top menu, select File > Export > Animated GIF.
The Export to Animated GIF dialog box appears.

2. In the Output section, click on the Browse button.
3. In the Save dialog that appears, brow se to the location w here you w ant to export the animated GIF.

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4. In the File name field, type in the file name you w ant the animated GIF to have.
5. Click on Save.
6. In the Export From Display Node drop-dow n, select the Display node from w hich you w ant torender your scene.

NOTE
If there is no Display node in your scene, the only available option w ill be Display All.
This renders all the nodes in your scene, including ones that are not connected toanything. You can add other Display nodes to your scene and connect them under
specific parts of your scene to be able to render these parts only.

7. From the Export Range section, do one of the follow ing:lSelect All if you w ant to render the entire scene.

l

Select Frames if you w ant to render a part of your scene. Then, in the field to the right, typein the first frame of the sequence you w ant to export, and in the other field, the last frame ofthe sequence you w ant to render.

8. Open the Resolution drop-dow n and do one of the follow ing:lSelect Same as Scene Resolution if you w ant to export an animated GIF w ith the same
resolution as your scene.

l

Select 3/4 of Scene Resolution, 1/2 of Scene Resolution, 1/3 of Scene Resolution or 1/4 of
Scene Resolution if you w ant to export an animated GIF that is smaller than the resolutionof your scene.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & ExportinglSelect Custom if you w ant to manually set the export resolution. Then, in the W idth andHeight fields, type in the desired resolution for your movie, in pixels.

9. In the Dithering drop-dow n, select w hether you w ould like to use dithering to blend pixels ofdifferent colours in gradients and, if so, w hich type to use:lNone: No dithering w ill be applied. Each pixel rendered is rendered w ith the colour in thepalette that is the closest to its actual colour.

lDiffusion: Blends pixels in irregular patterns to blend pixels and simulate the colour as
closely as possible.

lPattern: Blends pixels in regular checkered patterns to simulate the colour w ithout createdclusters of pixels.

10. If you w ant the animated GIF to loop, check the Loop option. If you only w ant it to play once,
uncheck it.
11. Click on OK.
A progress bar appears.

12. Brow se to the location on your computer w here you exported your animated GIF, and double-clickon it to view it in your image preview er.

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Exporting Flash (SW F) Movies
Exports a Flash movie file.
Harmony supports exporting Flash movie files w ith a limited subset of vector and bitmap effects, the latterw hich can be preview ed in Render View

mode.

The follow ing can also be exported in Flash movies:l

Pencil line thickness, w hich are converted to brush strokeslAuto-Patch nodes, for patching the joints betw een different parts of a cut-out characterlBurn-in information, such as time code, frame number and scene information—see the Reference guide.

Before attempting to export a Flash movie, it is recommended to preview how your scene w ill render in Flashusing the SW F Preview command. To do this, do one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select Play > Test SW F Movie.

l

In the Playback toolbar, click and hold the Render and Play
Test SW F Moviemode, then click on the button again.

How to export a .swf movie
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > SW F.
The Export to Flash Movie (.sw f) dialog box opens.

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button to open its mode menu, select theChapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

2. Click Browse and select a file name and destination path for your movie.
3. In the Display Source section, select a Display node to read from in the Export From Display Nodemenu.
4. In the Export Range section, select one of the follow ing options:‣

All: To export all the frames of your movie.

‣

Frames: To export a frame range. Enter the frame range in the fields.

5. In the Options section, enter a Frame rate (fps). By default, it w ill be set to match the fps of yourHarmony project. If you choose a low er frame rate, your export playback w ill be faster than youractual project. The reverse is also true for a higher frame rate.
6. In the same section, select the JPEG quality:‣

100 = Full quality‣

50 = Average quality at about 1/5th of the size.

‣

25 = Medium quality w here loss of high image resolution starts to occur.

‣

10 = Low quality w here “macro-blocking” or large pixelation become obvious.

‣

1 = Low est quality w here there is extreme loss of colour and detail and the image becomes
nearly unrecognizable.

7. To prevent your movie from being imported into another application, select the Protect from
Import option.
8. For a lighter format, select the Compress Movie option. The movie may lose some quality, but thefile w ill be lighter.
9. To retain the thickness of pencil lines, select the Convert Pencil Lines to Brush Lines option.
10. In the Do Not Export section, select the effects you do NOT w ant to be rendered in the SW F movie.
Note that certain Harmony effects are not listed in this section as they are not compatible andtherefore not available for SW F export. These effects w ill not appear in the SW F render.
11. Click OK.
12. Brow se to the location on your computer w here you saved your Flash Movie and double-click on it
to view the export.

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Exporting OpenGL Frames
Because rendering scenes requires a lot of computer resources, and playback in Harmony does not alw ays
keep up w ith the scene's framerate, it may be difficult to decide how to preview your animation as you're
w orking on it. Exporting OpenGL frames gives a more convenient alternative.
OpenGL is the name of the engine used to display your scene's content as you are w orking on it. Hence,
exporting OpenGL frames basically means you're exporting frames as they are usually rendered in the Camera
view : W ithout antialiasing, compositing or effects. This is significantly faster than exporting your final frames,
and can allow you to preview your animation in real-time w ithout having to w ait for a render.

TIP
You can quickly and easily create and view an OpenGL render of your scene using the Record andPlay command. To do this, do one of the follow ing:l

In the top menu, select Play > Record and Play.

l

In the playback toolbar, click and hold the Render and Playbutton, select Record and Playto set the button to Record and Play mode, then click on the button again.

How to export OpenGL Frames
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > OpenGL Frames.
The Export OpenGL Frames dialog box opens.

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2. In the Output section, click Browse and select the directory w here you w ish to export the frames.
3. In the Filename field, enter a file name for the file to export. If you're exporting frames as individual
images, the specified file name w ill be used as a prefix, and the frame number w ill be used as asuffix. To use the default file name, click on Default.
4. In the Format section, select Frames if you w ant to export each frame as an individual image, orMovie if you w ant to export a QuickTime movie file.
5. If you are exporting frames:
a. Select a numbering format in the Suffix dropdow n. The numbering format determines how
many digits to use for the frame numbers. For example, if the Suffix is set to 001, the first
frame w ill be numbered 001, the second one w ill be numbered 002, etc.
b. If you are exporting frames, select an image format from the Drawing Type dropdow n.

NOTES
A lot of formats are listed as their file extension, but some also have suffixes tolindicate how they are encoded. For example, PNGDP4 means PNG: double
precision w ith 4 channels, w hich means the exported PNG images w ill have 16 bits
per channel instead of 8 bits, and w ill also have an alpha (transparency) channel.
For more information on supported export formats, refer to the Reference Guide.

l

If you are exporting a movie:a. In the Video Format drop-dow n menu, select the desired format for your movie file: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.

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NOTES
l

On W indow s, Apple QuickTime must be installed to allow Harmony
to export QuickTime movies. You can configure the export of
QuickTime movies to use any codec that is compatible w ith QuickTime,
including H.264, MPEG-4 and Animation.

l

On macOS, Harmony 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, besure to choose a codec that supports encoding w ith an alpha channel.

l

On GNU/Linux, Harmony uses the OpenQuickTime library to export
QuickTime movies. This only allow s you to export videos in nonproprietary formats such as Motion-JPEG, Photo JPEG, PNG or
Uncompressed (RGB).

l

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

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 Harmony w ill automaticallydow nload the library, then export the movie.

lThere are no encoding options for this format.

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

l

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

l

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

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NOTES
l

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

lVideo players and editors on non-W indow s systems can generally notopen W indow s Media Video (.wmv) files.

b. In the Options section, click on Movie Options if you w ant to configure the video and audio
compression settings for the movie to export.

NOTES
l

For information on how to configure movie settings for a QuickTime Movie(.mov), see:l

W indows: Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on
W indow s on page 636lmacOS: Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on macOS on
page 640l

GNU/Linux: Configuring Movie Settings for QuickTime Movies on
GNU/Linuxl

For information on how to configure the movie settings w hen exporting in
W indow s Media Video (.wmv) format, see Configuring Movie Settings for
W indow s Media Video.

l

W hen exporting in H.264/MPEG-4 (.mp4) format, there are no video andaudio compression settings.

l

If you are using GNU/Linux and are exporting in QuickTime Movie (.mov)format, there w ill be a button for the Video Options and one for the Sound
Options.

6. From the Resolution section, select a resolution for export. If you are running some quick tests,
then you might w ant to reduce the resolution to save on exporting time. You can also select theCustom option to specify the desired W idth and Height of your exported frames.
7. In the Range section, do one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to render all the frames in your scene, select All Frames.

l

If you w ant to render a specific sequence of frames, select Selected Frames then, in thefields to the right, enter the number of the first and last frame of the frame sequence you
w ish to render.

l

If you w ant to export the current frame, select Current Frame.

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If you w ant to export specific frames, select Selected Frames, then click on each frame you
w ish to export in the frames list to the right. You can also click and drag to select a range offrames in the list. If you w ant to remove a frame from your selection, simply click on it again.

8. In the Options section, select a Display node to use for rendering your OpenGL frames from. It is
recommended to render from the Display node located under the final Composite node, unless you
w ant to render a specific section displayed by a particular Display node.
9. In the Options section, select the Open in Player option to view the rendered frames.
10. Click OK.

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About PSD Layouts
Harmony allow s you to export the contents of your scene as a Photoshop Document (.psd) layout. This canbe helpful for scene setup, background art retakes, or even planning of animation.

Before exporting a layout, all the elements must be w ell positioned. For example, if you plan to include acamera movement in this scene, you should also set this up, as you can export the camera keyframes togenerate a clear and complete layout.You can also create all the layouts for your production in the same
Harmony project w hich can be imported later on w hen you start each scene’s project. This w ill help set up thescene and begin its creation. You can use the layout .psd files to create the background art of each scene andmake sure everything is correctly framed and at the right size. Finally, you can also have a layer w ith a draw ingof the rough poses of the character or action and generate your layout posing from there.

NOTE
Because the layout image is one static .psd file, only the first frame of your draw ing layers w ill be
exported—see Scene Staging on page 907 and Digital Animation on page 989.

NOTE
For information on importing a PSD layout, see Importing PSD Layouts on page 1207.

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Exporting a PSD Layout
T-LAY-006-001
You can export your scene's first frame as a PSD layout to modify and paint in an external image editing
softw are. The matching XLI file alw ays has to be w ith the exported layout file.

NOTE
For information on importing a PSD layout, see Importing PSD Layouts on page 1207.

How to export your scene as a layout
1. Before exporting your scene as a layout, position your background elements, and everything youneed as a reference in your scene, including a camera movement.
2. From the top menu, select one of the follow ing:lFile > Export > Layout Image to export all the elements in your scene to the layout.psd file.

lFile > Export > Layout Image from Selection to export only the selected elements.

The Export Layout Image dialog box opens.

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3. In the Export Layout Image dialog box, set the export parameters—see the Reference guide .
4. Click OK to validate the settings and export a .psd file of your layout.
The resulting image is a .psd file w ith one or tw o layers, each of w hich is contained in acorresponding group. These groups make the layout .psd file ready for a multilayer .psd import.

The Camera_Set group contains the camera draw ing layer. If you selected the Export Camera
option, this group and layer appear in your layout image.

The Layout_Set group contains a merged draw ing layer of all the content of your scene’s first frame
w hen you exported the layout image.

NOTE
An .xli file is exported along w ith your .psd file. This file contains all the necessary information
for correctly importing and automatically positioning your layout image in a Harmony project.
Do not delete the .xli file or rename it. Also, alw ays keep it at the same location as the layout.psd file.

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Exporting Sound
At some point during the production, you might need to export a sound file to use it in another application,such as an editing softw are. Harmony allow s you to export sound files as a merged soundtrack or as a series
of individual files. The exported soundtracks are generated as *.w av files.

How to export a soundtrack
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Soundtrack.
The Export Soundtracks dialog box opens.

2. In the Output section, click Browse and specify w here you w ant to save the exported sound file.
3. In the Export Range section, select one of the follow ing options:l

All: Exports the sound over all the frames of your scene.

l

Frames: Sets the start and end frames in the corresponding fields on the right.

4. From the Options menu, select one of the follow ing:l

Process Soundtracks Individually: Each soundtrack from all layers is exported as
individual files.

l

Merge all Soundtracks: One single file is created, combining all the sound files you
imported in your scene. Note that it w ill only use the sound files in the selected frame
range set in the Export Range section. If you selected to export all the frames, all thesound files w ill be processed.

5. In the Sound Settings section, set the Rate, Size and Use parameters for the soundtracks to export.
It is a good idea to verify w hat is required by the softw are or device that you may w ant to use next
w ith the sound file.

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6. Click OK.
The generated sound files appear in the selected directory and are named according to the scene
name. Individual files keep their original name; only a prefix matching the scene name is added.

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Batch Rendering
In Harmony Server, you can choose to render your scene locally or to send it to the render farm on yournetw ork so that other computers can render your scenes w hile you continue w orking on your station. This
option is not available in Harmony Stand Alone, as render jobs are sent to a Harmony Server database, andmachines that perform the render must be connected to this database.
There are tw o approaches to rendering a scene in Harmony Server:lLocal Rendering is done directly by your machine in your Harmony session. Hence, it uses yourmachine's resources and w ill prevent you from w orking on the scene until the render is done. You w ill
see the render progress in real time and w ill be able to preview the results right after it's finished.

lBatch Rendering is done by sending a scene to the server's render queue so it can be processed by therender farm. This allow s you to keep w orking on your scene w hile the render is being done. The
rendering progress can be monitored in Control Center and, w hen finished, the results can bepreview ed in Play. Batch Rendering gives you access to additional rendering options.

W hen sending a scene to batch rendering, it is not rendered immediately. Computers connected to theHarmony database that are configured to render scenes for the database check for new render jobs
periodically, and start performing the render job w hen they find one that isn't already being rendered byanother machine.

NOTE
To configure a Harmony Server database and to set up clients to perform batch rendering jobs,
refer to the Harmony Installation Guide.

How to send a scene to the batch rendering queue
1. Save your scene.
2. In the top menu, select File > Export > Render W rite Nodes or press Ctrl + Shift + Y(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + Y (macOS).
The Render W rite Nodes dialog appears.

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Chapter 21: Rendering & Exporting

1. In the Range section, select the frame range to render by doing one of the follow ing:l

If you w ant to render all the frames in your scene, select All Frames.

l

If you w ant to render a specific sequence of frames, select Selected Frames then, in
the fields to the right, enter the number of the first and last frame of the frame
sequence you w ish to render.

3. Enable Batch Composite Options. This w ill send your scene to your Harmony database's batchrendering farm, w hereas disabling this option w ill make Harmony render your scene locally.

NOTE
W hen Batch Composite Options is enabled, the Preview option is not available. This isbecause Harmony does not track the progress of a render w hen it is performed by the
Harmony database's render farm. You can only enable the Preview option w hen
rendering locally.

4. If you w ant the machine that w ill render your scene to output detailed information about theprocess in its log, enable the Debug option.
5. If you w ant to split the render job for your scene into several smaller render jobs, so that the load
can be shared by different machines in the render farm, enable the Chunk option. Then, enter theamount of frames each chunk should render in the Size (Frames) field.
6. If you w ant to render the scene from a specific camera, select the desired camera from the Camera
drop dow n list. A scene can have several cameras added in the Node or Timeline view , and each ofthem can be animated independently.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

7. In the Resolution section, do one of the follow ing to select the resolution in w hich to render thescene:l

If you w ant to render the scene in its actual resolution, select By Name and, in the
resolution preset drop dow n list, select Default.

l

If you w ant to render the scene in one of the available preset resolutions, select ByName and, in the resolution preset drop dow n list, select the desired resolution
preset.

l

If you w ant to render the scene in a specific resolution, select By Value, then enter theW idth and Height of the desired resolution, in pixels.

8. If your production is intended for broadcasting on NTSC compatible televisions, enable Field
Composite Options.
l

To export a scene animated at 24 frames per second in 60 frames per second so thatthe frames can be combined w ith the 3:2 pulldow n technique, enable the Add
Pulldown option.

l

If you w ant Harmony to automatically interlace the exported frames to create a 30
frames per second sequence, enable the Automatic Combine option.

l

By default, odd frames are interlaced on the first field (odd lines), and even frames areinterlaced on the second field (even lines). If you w ish to interlace odd frames on thesecond field and even frames on the first field, enable the Second Field First option.

9. Click OK to start the rendering process.
A confirmation dialog box opens to inform you that the frames have been sent to the Render queue.

If the selected frames w ere already sent to the Render queue, but w ere not yet rendered, dialog
box opens to inform you that these frames w ere already in the queue, but that they have been
updated w ith the selected options.

TIP
You can also send scenes to batch rendering and check the status of the rendering queue
using the Control Center application.

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates
T-RIG-009-001
Using templates and symbols, you can share and reuse any elements you create in Harmony. The Harmony
library lets you store several different elements such as puppets, backgrounds, animations and key poses. In
fact, anything you create in Harmony can be stored in the library.

The Library view is w here you can store and reuse your artw ork and animation in other scenes or build props
and puppets.
The library is a storage centre for all production assets; the elements stored in the library are called templates.
Although it is mainly used for cut-out animation, the library is also useful for paperless and traditional
animation processes. The library can contain any asset used in a Toon Boom Harmony Premium production.
Using the library is as simple as dragging the content into the library to store your artw ork and then dragging
it to the Timeline or Camera view w hen you w ant to reuse it.
Additionally, the Library view 's Draw ing Substitution panel allow s you to quickly change the current frame's
exposure to one of the existing draw ings in a layer. This is especially useful for animating a cut-out character's
mouths, hands, eyelids and other such body parts w hich typically contain several draw ings to choose from.
W hen w orking on the database, the structure of the library differs from w hen w orking on Harmony Stand
Alone.

Harmony Server provides three default library folders:lSymbols: The only library folder containing symbols for your project. You can organize the symbols
library folder using subfolders, but you cannot create a second library for your symbols. This library is
local to your project.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Environment: A folder located inside the Environment folder. Every asset stored in this folder isaccessible from any job and scene contained w ithin this environment.

lJob: A folder located inside the Job folder. Every asset stored in this folder is accessible from any scene
contained w ithin this job.

NOTE
You can create a folder called library in the usa_db folder on the server to create a global library.
Once the Harmony application is restarted, a Global library folder automatically appears in every
user's library. Every asset stored in this folder is accessible from any scene, job and environment.

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates

About Structure
As you w ill probably create a large number of symbols and templates, you w ill soon realize they need to beorganized. You can create different libraries and subfolders to easily access your assets. For example, you cancreate a different library for each project and divide it into several categories, such as:lCharacters

l

Props

l

Backgrounds

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Creating Libraries
T-LAY-005-001
There are tw o w ays to create libraries.
l

Directly through your operating systeml

Using Harmony's interface

Although you can only have one symbol library folder, you can organize it by creating subfolders.

How to create a library folder through your operating system
1. On your computer, create a new folder w ith a relevant name in the location w here you w ant thelibrary to be stored.

How to create a library folder in Harmony
1. In the Library View menu, select Folders > Open Library.
The Brow ser w indow opens.
2. Brow se for the location w here you w ant to store your new library folder.
3. Click the New Folder button.
A new folder appears.
4. Name the new library folder w ith a relevant name and click OK.
The new library appears in the Library List section.

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates

Opening Libraries
T-LAY-005-002
Folders can be opened in Harmony w hen you require it. You can open any folder on your hard drive or netw ork
as a library. Opening a library means linking the folder to your Library view . You only need to open the library
once. The library folder is available every time you open the application until you decide to close the libraryand unlink it.

How to open a library
1. In the Library View menu, select Folders > Open Library.
The Brow ser w indow opens.
2. Brow se to the location of the library folder.
3. Select the folder and click OK.
The new library appears in the Library Folders section.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Closing Libraries
You may not alw ays require all the library folders in the Library List. If so, you can close the ones you do notneed. Closing a folder does not delete it; it only unlinks it from the Library view . If you w ant to reopen it, locate
it on your hard drive or netw ork and open it in the Library view .

How to close a library
1. On the right side of the Library view , select the library folder to close.
2. In the Library View menu, select Folders > Close Library.
The library closes.

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates

Creating Folders
T-ANIMPA-003-009
Symbol and template libraries need to be organized. You can create different subfolders on your hard drive orin the Harmony Library view , so you can easily access assets. By default, any new library you link to yourLibrary view is locked to prevent accidental deletion or modification of symbols and templates. You mustobtain the right to modify it before being able to add a new folder to it.

How to create a folder
1. On the left side of the Library view , select the library folder to w hich you w ant to add a subfolder.
2. In the Library View menu, select Edit > Right to Modify.
3. In the Library View menu, select Folders > New Folder.
The new folder appears in the Library. Click on the library containing the new folder and click theplus [+] sign to expand it.

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Deleting Folders
You can delete a folder from the library if its contents are no longer needed.

NOTE
All templates and symbols in the folder w ill be deleted from your hard drive. Once deleted, thedata cannot be retrieved.

How to delete a folder
1. In the Library view 's left side, select the folder to delete.
2. In the Library View menu, select Edit > Right to Modify or right-click on the selected library andselect Right to Modify.
3. In the Library View menu, select Folders > Delete Folder or press Del.

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates

Renaming Folders
Once you add a folder, you can rename it. This also renames the folder on your hard drive.

How to rename a folder
1. In the Library view 's left side, select the folder to rename.
2. In the Library View menu, select Edit > Right to Modify or right-click on the selected library andselect Right to Modify.
3. In the Library View menu, select Folders > Rename Folder.
4. Rename the selected folder.

5. Press Enter/Return to validate the operation.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Refreshing Libraries
If you update the content of your libraries through your operating system, you w ill need to refresh your libraryfolders in the Library view .

How to refresh a library
1. In the Library view 's left side, select the folder to refresh.
2. In the Library View menu, select Folders > Refresh or press F5.
The library displays the new content.

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates

Generating Thumbnails
W hen you display thumbnails in the Library view , the system generates a series of small images (thumbnails)
for you. You can generate template thumbnails yourself, if they do not display or if the process has been
stopped.

How to generate thumbnails
1. In the Library view 's right side, select the template in w hich you w ant to generate thumbnails.

2. In the Library View menu, select View > Generate Thumbnails.
The progress bar appears.

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Deleting Thumbnails
You can also delete thumbnails if you w ant to send a template to another user or studio and keep yourpackages small.

How to delete thumbnails
1. In the Library View menu, select Edit > Delete Thumbnails.
All the thumbnails contained in the library are removed.

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates

Searching in Libraries
W hen w orking on a movie or series, you w ill probably end up w ith many templates and symbols in yourlibrary. Using the Search tool, you can quickly find the templates and symbols in your folders.

How to use the Library Search tool
1. From the left side of the Library view , select the library in w hich you w ant to search.

2. In the Search field, type the name or partial name of the symbol or template you are looking for.

3. The arrow s have been replaced by X that appears on the right side in search bar to clear the field.
The Search engine w ill look for results w ithin the library master folder and its subfolders. It w ill not
look in other libraries.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

About Templates
T-LAY-005-003
W hen you w ant to reuse artw ork and animation from your project in other scenes, you must create a template.
A template can be seen as a portable scene or package that you can drag inside your project. A template is anindividual copy of the artw ork stored in the library w hich you can reuse in different scenes. Once a template isstored in the library, you can access it from any project.

Master Template
You can create a master template out of a cut-out puppet you created so you can reuse it throughout a single
project or a full production. A cut-out character's master template stores the entire rig, structure, draw ings,
and keyframes of the different poses of your puppet into a single asset.
Master templates are created from the Node view .
The Timeline view and the Node view display different information about a scene and its structure. To makesure a character's main template, also called the master template, is rigged exactly the w ay it w as meant to be
w hen it's imported into a scene, it should be created w ith all the connections, effects, composites, nodes, pegs,
groups, draw ings, timings, as w ell as all the other information in the scene it w as originally created in.
Because the Node view is the most faithful representation of a rig's structure, it is recommended to create
master templates from the Node view rather than the Timeline view . Templates created from the Timelineview may lose the extra connections, effects and groupings that are visible in the Node view but w hich aren't
properly connected to its main structure.

Action Templates
An action template, also know n as animation template, is created from the Timeline view . This template allow
you to reuse animations, key poses and part of an animation and contains mainly keyframes and draw ing
exposures. For example, you can reuse head positions or a leg animation from a w alk-cycle and place theminside other animations. W hen it is extracted from the Timeline view , it loses the extra connections, effects,
and groupings from the Node view .
An action template is used w ith a master template. It cannot be used on its ow n since it does not contain all
the information required to rebuild the puppet skeleton and advanced connections. The standard process is to681

Chapter 22: Library & Templates

first import the master template to the Node view or Timeline’s left side, and then slide the action template
into the Timeline’s right side. This allow s you to first build the skeleton and then give it the right pose.
The combination of master and action templates w ill function as long as the layer order and connections are
the same.
W hen you create an action template, be sure to name it so you can easily identify it as an animation.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Creating Templates
T-ANIMPA-003-010
You can create a template from both the Timeline and Node view s. W hen creating templates of 3D objects, allassociated textures linked to Maya files w ill be incorporated into the template.

NOTE
If you are creating a template from a character rig master template, you should collapse everythinginside a master peg and put a keyframe on the first frame before creating the template.

How to create a template from the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select some cells or layers.
You can create a template from a w hole hierarchy of layers by collapsing the hierarchy andselecting its root layer. This can be useful for creating templates based on character rigs or scene
backgrounds.
2. In the Library view , select a folder to store the template. By default, you w ill have a library named
Harmony Premium Library , w hich is stored on your computer, in the Toon Boom Harmony
Premium Library subfolder of your Documents folder.
3. If the library folder islocked , right-click and select Right to Modify.

4. Drag the selection to the chosen library folder.

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5. In the Rename dialog box, give the new template a name.
6. Click OK.

How to create a template from the Node view
1. In the Library view , select the folder in w hich you w ant to store the template.
2. If the library folder islocked , right-click and select Right to Modify.

3. In the Node view , select the nodes for creating the template and group them. It is very important togroup your cut-out character rig before storing it in the Library, so your files are organized.
4. From the top menu, select Edit > Group > Group Selected Layers or press Ctrl + G(W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + G (macOS). Make sure you have a composite under the connections
before grouping, otherw ise there w ill be numerous connections going outside the group.

5. In the Node view , click on the group node's yellow button to open the Layer Properties w indow .

6. In the Node view , select the group node and copy and paste it inside the template folder in the
Library view or press Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C and ⌘ + V (macOS).

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7. In the Rename dialog box, give the new template a name and click OK.

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates

Deleting Templates
To delete templates from your library, use the Library view . Harmony lets you undo the action if necessary.

How to delete a template
1. In the Library view , select the folder containing the template to delete.

NOTE
If the library folder is locked, right-click on the folder and select Right to Modify.

2. Right-click on the selection and select Delete or press Del.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Editing Templates
You can open a template and edit it just like any other project. If you w ant modify your templates, you can edit
them using the Edit Template command.

How to edit a template
1. In the Library view , select the folder containing the template to edit.

NOTE
If the library folder is locked, right-click on the folder and select Right to Modify.

2. Right-click on the selection and select Edit Template.
A new Harmony application opens.
3. Edit the template.
4. From the top menu, select File > Save.
5. In the top menu, select File > Quit (W indow s/Linux) or Harmony Premium > Quit (macOS).

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates

Importing Templates
There are several w ays you can import templates in your scene.
For greater control over how the action template behaves w hen brought into the Timeline view , you can use
the Paste Special feature—see Using Paste Special on page 710.

NOTE
Dragging a template into your scene copies the content in your Timeline and does not link it to theoriginal. You can modify this individual copy at any time.

How to import a template into the Timeline or Camera view
1. In the Library view , select the template you w ant to import.
2. Drag the selected template to the Camera view or to the left side of the Timeline view .

If you drop the template in the Camera view , its layers w ill be added at the top of your layers list. If
you drop a template in the layers list in the Timeline view , it w ill be inserted betw een the layers
w here you dropped it.
If your template has the same layer structure as a part of your scene, you can drop the template
directly onto the frames on the right side of the Timeline view . Instead of inserting new layers into
your scene, this w ill replace the draw ings and keyframes in your scene w ith the ones from thetemplate. This is useful for importing pose or animation templates for characters that are already inyour scene.

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How to import a template into the Node view
1. In the Library view , select the template or symbol you w ant to import.
2. Drag the selected template to the Node or Camera view or the left side of the Timeline view .

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates

3. In the Node view , connect your template to your scene's Composite node. To do this, click its outport and drag the connection to the Composite node until an in-port appears.

How to import a template with symbols
1. From the right side of the Library view , select the action template that contains symbols.
2. Hold dow n Alt as you drag it from the Library view to the right side of the Timeline view and drop it
next to a template w ith the exact same rig.
The Paste Special w indow opens.

3. Select the Advanced tab.

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4. Select one of the follow ing options from the Symbols menu:lCopy symbols if they do not exist: This is the default setting for this operation and w ill
prevent symbols in an action template from being copied.

l

Duplicate symbols: Makes copies of the symbols in your template.

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates

Opening Templates as Folders
Since a template is like a scene, you can open the template's folder and select elements inside it such as
draw ings.
Instead of importing the entire contents of a template, you may only w ant to import a few draw ings or apalette. In this case, use the Open As Folder command to import the items you w ant.
If you w ant to import a palette, simply drag the palette file into the Palette list section of the Colour view .

How to open a template as a folder
1. In the Library view , select the folder that contains the template to open. If the library folder islocked, right-click on the folder and select Right to Modify.
2. Right-click on the selection and select Open As Folder.
3. In the library list section, click on the template's folder to display its content.

4. Drag the content to the Timeline or Colour view .

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About Symbols
A symbol is a container used to build your props, puppets and looping clips. You can use symbols to containartw ork and animation and manipulate them as a single object. You can also use symbols as a placeholder inw hich you place a series of different draw ings for each body part of your puppets or w hen you have a
repeating cycle. How ever, symbols are not necessary for creating characters.

W hen a symbol is exposed in the Timeline view , the symbol's cells are represented as a movie strip.

W hen you enter a symbol to edit it, you are entering another scene w ith an independent timeline. You can nest
many symbols one inside the other. To help you follow the hierarchy of your nested symbol, take note of theEditing stack at the top of the Camera view w hich displays the path to your symbol's location. You can click on
the symbol's name to move up the chain.

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Creating Symbols
A symbol combines animation, artw ork or layers into a single object that you can control in one layer. You canalso create symbols out of each body part in your cut-out puppets.
To create a symbol, drag your artw ork to the Symbol library. W hen you drag a symbol from the Symbol library
into your scene, it w ill be linked to the original symbol. If you drag a symbol into your scene several times in
the Timeline view , they w ill all be linked to the original symbol. If you modify one, they w ill all be modified.

How to create a symbol from the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view , select the layer or cells from w hich your w ant to create a symbol.
2. Do one of the follow ing:‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Create Symbol.

‣

In the Edit toolbar, click the Create Symbol‣

Press F8.

‣

Drag your selection to the Symbol folder in the Library view .

button.

The Create Symbol dialog box opens

3. In the Enter Symbol's Name field, type the new symbol's name.
To rename a symbol once it is created, right-click on the symbol and select Rename.

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4. Click OK.
The new symbol appears in the Library view 's Symbol folder. The current selection is not replacedby the new symbol. The new symbol only appears in the library. You must drag it into your scene touse it.

How to create a symbol from the Node view
1. In the Node view , select the nodes from w hich you w ant to create a symbol.
2. Do one of the follow ing:‣

From the top menu, select Edit > Create Symbol.

‣

In the Edit toolbar, click the Create Symbol‣

Press F8.

‣

Copy and paste Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C and ⌘ + V (macOS) yourbutton.

selection to the Symbol folder in the Library view .

The Create Symbol dialog box opens.

3. In the Enter Symbol's Name field, type the new symbol's name.
To rename a symbol once it is created, right-click on the symbol and select Rename.

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4. Click OK.
The new symbol appears in the Library view 's Symbol folder. The current selection is not replacedby the new symbol. The new symbol only appears in the library. You must drag it into your scene touse it.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Creating a Symbol from a Drawing
You can create a symbol from a draw ing selection.

How to create a symbol from a drawing selection
1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Selector Cuttertool.

2. In the Camera view , select the draw ing elements to create a symbol.

3. From the top menu, select Edit > Create Symbol or press F8.
‣

Clicking the Create Symbol

button in the Edit toolbar w ill create a symbol from the entire

layer.
The Create Symbol from Draw ing Selection dialog box opens.

4. In the Symbol Name field, type the name of the symbol.
‣

You can also select an existing layer from the Symbol Name drop-dow n menu. It w ill add yoursymbol on the layer's current cell. If there is already an exposure on that cell, the symbol w ill be
added to a new layer.

5. You can choose to place the current selected artw ork in the draw ing or remove it:‣

To remove currently selected artw ork from the draw ing and place it in the new symbol, selectthe Cut Artwork From Source Drawing option.

‣

To keep currently selected artw ork in both the draw ing and in the new symbol, deselect the Cut
Artwork From Source Drawing option.

6. Click OK.

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The new symbol appears in the Library view 's symbol folder and in the Timeline view as a newlayer.

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Creating Empty Symbols
You can create a symbol w ithout any artw ork in it.

How to create an empty symbol
1. In the Library view , select the Symbol folder.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Library view 's right side, right-click and select New Symbol.

l

From the top menu, select Insert > Create Empty Symbol in Library.

The new empty symbol appears in the Library view .

The symbol is ready for you to edit (add content to). To go back to the root timeline, click the Top
button in the Camera view .
To rename a symbol once it is created, right-click on the symbol and select Rename.

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Deleting Symbols
W hen you delete a symbol, it w ill be deleted from your hard drive. You can use the Undo function to retrieve
the data. The symbol cannot be retrieved once you close the application.

How to delete a symbol
1. In the Library view , select the symbol to delete.
2. Right-click and select Delete or press Del.
‣

If the symbol is currently in use in the scene, a w arning message displays. Click OK to delete thesymbol from the library and scene.

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Editing Symbols
You can either edit a symbol from the Timeline view or from the Library view .
W hen you edit a symbol, the draw ings contained in it are not placed at the centre of the stage, but are locatedin the position w here they w ere created. The pivot is translated at the centre of the symbol.

How to edit a symbol from the Timeline view
1. Do one of the follow ing:‣

In the Timeline view , double-click on the symbol's cell to edit the symbol.

‣

In the Camera view , double-click on the symbol or press Ctrl + E (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + E(macOS)).

‣

Click the Edit Selected Symbol

button in the Camera View toolbar's extra buttons.

You are now inside the symbol and you are able to edit it.

2. Do one of the follow ing:
To return to the project's timeline, click the Top

button in the Camera view 's top-left corner, press Ctrl

+ Shift + E (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + E (macOS).
‣

In the Timeline view 's right side, right-click and select Symbols > Leave Current Symbol.

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How to edit a symbol from the Library view
1. In the Library view , select the symbol to edit.
2. Right-click and select Edit > Edit Symbol or double-click on the symbol.
You are now inside the symbol and you are able to edit it.

To return to the project's timeline, click the Top

button in the Camera view 's top-left corner, press Ctrl

+ Shift + E (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + E (macOS).

How to edit your symbol in the Node view
1. In the Node view , select the symbol you w ant to open and press Ctrl + E (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + E(macOS) to use the Edit Selected Symbol command.

2. In the Node view , inside the Symbol’s top node is the composition of your symbol. In this example,
a group node w as turned into a symbol.

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3. In the Camera view , edit your symbol.
4. In the Node view ’s top-left corner, click the Top

button to return to the top node. Or press Ctrl +Shift + E (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + E (macOS) to use the Leave Current Symbol command.

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Importing Symbols
There are several w ays you can import symbols in your scene.
W hen you import a symbol from the library to the Timeline view it is linked to the original symbol in thelibrary. If you import a symbol into your scene several times in the Timeline view , they w ill all be linked to theoriginal symbol. If you modify one, they w ill all be modified.

How to import a symbol in the Timeline view
1. In the Library view , select the symbol you w ant to import.
2. Drag the selected symbol to one of the follow ing:‣

The Timeline view 's left side to import it into the centre of the camera frame.

‣

The Camera view to place it at the location w here you release your cursor.

NOTE
This may be useful if you saved a character's body parts as separate symbols. If you dropped
them into the Timeline view , then they w ould all appear in the centre, haphazardly one on topof the other. It w ould be more efficient to arrange them into their correct places as you bringthem into the scene.

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Expanding Symbols
You can use the Expand Symbol command to extract a symbol's contents and place it on the root timeline. The
symbol w ill not be removed from the Timeline view . Its contents w ill be copied and inserted into the root
timeline. The symbol's layers w ill be parented to it in case you created motions and transformations on thedraw ing layer that contains the symbol. Breaking the hierarchy could result in the loss of any scaling andanimation you may have created.
You can also expand a symbol w ithin a group to avoid crow ding the timeline w ith a series of layers. W hen you
expand the symbols, the layers w ill be contained in a group node that you can expand to see the content.

How to expand a symbol
1. In the Timeline view , select the symbol to expand.

2. From the top menu, select Edit > Expand Symbol or press Shift + F8.

How to expand a symbol in a group
1. In the Timeline or Node view , select the symbol cell or symbol node you w ant to expand.

2. From the top menu, select Edit > Expand Selected Symbol in a Group.
3. In the Timeline view , click the plus sign (+) to see the group content. In the Node view , click the
Expand Arrow to enter the group.

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Converting Symbols to Templates
A symbol is local to the project and cannot be accessed directly from other scenes. To reuse a symbol's
content in another scene, you must create a template. This conversion breaks the draw ing's link w ith both theoriginal scene and symbol. It then becomes a separate entity that you can import into other projects.

How to convert a symbol into a template
1. From the Library view , select the symbol to convert into a template and drag it to the Camera orTimeline view . If you drop your symbol into the Camera view instead of the Timeline view , it w ill
not be placed in the centre of your camera frame, but rather w herever your cursor drops it w ithin
the camera frame.

2. In the Timeline view , select the symbol's cells or layer and drag it to the Stage Library folder or toany other library folder. Make sure you have the right to modify the library folder.

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3. In the Rename dialog box, rename the new template.

4. Click OK.

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Importing Files in the Library
Harmony lets you import sound files and images directly through the Library view . Simply open the folder
containing your files in the Library view and drag them directly from there.

How to open a file through the Library
1. In the Library view menu, select Folders > Open Library.
2. Brow se for the folder containing the files you w ant to import.
3. Click Open.
4. From the Library's template list, drag the file you w ant to import in the Timeline or Camera view .

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Chapter 22: Library & Templates

Using Paste Special
W hen you import a template in the Timeline view , all layers are created as w ell as draw ings and keyframes.
You can choose to import only the keyframes w ithout the draw ings or import only the draw ings that are notalready in your layers. You can adjust the behaviour using the Paste Special dialog box.W hen you import asymbol in your scene, its full length is exposed by default. If you import a symbol in the Timeline view ’s left
side, all the frames w ill be exposed. How ever, if you import it into an existing layer, you can use the Paste
Special dialog box to adjust the import behaviour to fit your requirements.Once you set the parameters,
Harmony w ill reuse them each time you import a symbol in the Timeline view ’s right side until you set newparameters.

How to open the Paste Special dialog box
1. In the Library view , select the symbol or template to import.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

W hile holding dow n the Alt key, click and drag on the template, then drop it on the Timelineview , over the layer and at the frame w here you w ant to paste it.

lPress Ctrl + C (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + C (macOS). Then, in the Timeline view , click on theframe w here you w ant to paste the template and press Ctrl + B (W indow s/Linux) or ⌘ + B(macOS)

The Paste Special dialog box opens.
3. In the Paste Special dialog box, select the desired parameters—see the Paste Special Dialog Box
topic of the Reference guide .
4. Click OK.

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Chapter 23: Gaming in Harmony

Chapter 23: Gaming in Harmony
There are tw o main pipelines for exporting data from Harmony to your game engine:l

Raw Game Data Export on page 713

lFrame-by-Frame Export on page 714

Creating Animation in Harmony
W hen creating character rigs and animation for games, there are a few things to think about before starting.
Artists and programmers should w ork together to make sure their needs are met.
l

W hat platforms w ill your game be create for? W indow s, Mac, Mobile, iOS, PS, XBOX, etc.

l

W hat game engine w ill you be using?

lW hat w ill be animation style used to create the look of the game? Hand draw n, cut-out, w ith textures,
etc.

These are just a few of the questions to consider before getting started. They all have an impact on how you
design, build, and animate characters.
For example, if you’re planning a mobile game for smart phones, then you w ill most likely w ant to keep yourgame under 50 MB, so it can be dow nloaded w ithout having to be on W i-Fi. In that case, your most importantconsideration is to create efficient characters w ith very tight sprite sheets and reuse a lot of the animation tokeep the file sizes small. During the process, you w ill need to:l

Rig and animate characters in Harmony.

lExtract the Harmony data.

l

Import the Harmony data into the game engine.

Keep in mind, if you’re w orking w ith a custom engine, you can also process the Harmony data that’s exported
and use it in a custom game engine. If you need assistance w ith adapting data for your engine, contact
store.toonboom.com/contact/support.
If you’re making a game for consoles, like the PS or Xbox, then you have the freedom to create larger textures.
You may w ant to animate frame-by-frame, or you may w ant to animate w ith a cut-out character.

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If you're simply going to export on a frame-by-frame sequence, then you can use all the tools in Harmony
w ithout limitations. You can then process an exported image sequence into a sprite sheet.

Raw Game Data Export

Raw game data export is appropriate w hen you w ant the file sizes to be as small as possible. Toon Boom lets
you extract all the data from Harmony to incorporate into a game engine. You can extract the skeleton
information, draw ing information, and keyframe animation data, as w ell as deformations (bones andarticulations only), cutter, transparency nodes, and timing columns.
lAdvantage: This is the lightest export, and w ill keep file sizes small w hich is ideal for mobile
applications.

lDisadvantage: You are somew hat limited in the tools you can use in Harmony. You can use tools like
Morphing as w ell as Curve and Envelope deformers, but you’ll need to bake it out to draw ings sothey're interpreted properly in the game engine. You can use Cutter effects (masking), but you cannot
cascade them, meaning you cannot have more than one in a hierarchy chain. The Game Bone deformers
can be used on your rig w ith having to bake it to draw ings.

How ever, even w ith these limitations, you can create really great cut-out character animation in Harmony andextract all the data. By moving, rotating, scaling, and skew ing the different draw ing layers, you can create
advanced looking animation.
W hen you extract the data, you'll have sprite sheets that contain only the draw ings of the body parts used inyour Harmony scene file. You can also support multiple animations, such as idle, run, and jump, and reuse thesame skeleton and draw ings w hen possible by simply exporting new animation data.
Toon Boom has fully integrated this solution w ith the Unity game development rendering engine. If you arecreating your game in Unity, you have a seamless pipeline w ithout the need to re-treat the data in your gameengine.

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Frame- by- Frame Export

You can export from Harmony using an image sequence, w hich can be recompiled into a sprite sheet.
Advantage: You can use any of the tools in Harmony w hen you animate!
Disadvantage: These sprite sheets can become quite heavy and end up as large textures to process in thegame. This may be fine for many games, like console games, but w hen you’re doing game development formobile devices, such as iOS or Android, you need to be very light on your texture space. Also, file sizes should
be kept under 50 MB to facilitate dow nloading w ithout needing to be connected to W i-Fi.
There is a script available in Harmony that allow s you to export your animation in frame-by-frame to the
EaselJS game engine EaselJS is a javascript w eb compatible game engine. It uses a json data structure to map
each frame to an entry in the sprite sheet. The data structure is easy to understand and can be adapted orconverted to a different game engine if you need to.
To export to EaselJS, you need to add the script in the Scripting toolbar (TB_ExportToEaselJS). This script isincluded in Harmony. See the Scripting guide for more information on how to add the script to your Scripting
toolbar and the interface parameters.

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About Game Asset Creation
In this section, you'll find guidelines for rigging, deformation, cutter and many useful animation tips.

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Game Rigging Guidelines
For complete procedures on how to rig a character, see Character Rigging.
The follow ing is a list of general guidelines to keep in mind w hen rigging your character. As you're planningthe character rig for your game, keep in mind the style of the character, and create your custom colour palette.
How ever, there are some limitations to consider if you plan to extract the game data:l

Set your Harmony scene to be a square resolution (e.g. 1024 x 1024). You can do this in the Scene
Setting dialog box—see the Reference guide .

lDraw the art on the Line Art and Colour Art layers only. The information contained in the Overlay andUnderlay w ill not be exported to Unity. It is how ever safe for using as a reference layer, just notanything that w ill be exported.

lCreate rigs in the Timeline view only. The Node view can have complex connections that are not alw ays
interpreted w ell by game engines.

lNudge layers in Z space if you need to reorder layers. How ever, significant Z offsets are not supported
w ithin a character rig.

lMake every layer in your game engine a separate scene in Harmony. If you have tw o characters at
different depths, put them in separate scene files.

l

Character rigs in groups at the root level of your Harmony scene w ill render to a single plane in Unity,
but use separate sprite sheet and animation data sets. Keep this in mind for scenes in w hich you may
have more than one character interacting w ith each other.

lDon’t use any effects. Effects like colour overrides are not interpreted by game engines. Use only direct
hierarchy, draw ing sw aps, and keyframe animation.

lDon’t use 3D space. If you w ant to set things up in 3D space, you can do this w hen you get to yourgame engine.

l

Set your pivot points on Peg layers using the Rotate tool to set the pivot on the entire layer. Peg pivots
are recommended over draw ing pivots. You should also set the pivot points on your draw ing layers,
even if you don’t animate on them, as this w ill allow you to retrieve the information later on in the gameengine if you need to put a locator on a draw ing layer.

lDon’t use Morphing. This is not yet supported in game engines.

lBoth Morphing and Deformations can be used and then baked out to individual draw ings. These
draw ings w ill then show up as new draw ings in your sprite sheet. Be w ary of doing this too often as it
w ill increase your texture space!

l

For your pegs, w hen you animate, use Bezier curves and set them to Separate. If you use 3D Path, it’sheavier than Separate.

l

Be mindful of w here you put your character before exporting. The master pivot of your exported gameobject w ill be the center of your Harmony scene (0,0).

l

Be sure to have a Display at the end of your hierarchy.

717

Keeping these tips in mind w ill allow you to create a tight, efficient 2D game character in Harmony w hile
taking advantage of all the great tools.
Here are some things you should do:lCreate a simple parent-child relationship hierarchy in the Timeline view .

l

Use peg layers to contain keyframe animation data, set to Separate Position.

l

Use draw ing layers to draw on, creating new draw ings w hen needed.

l

Use the Rotate tool to set the pivot points on the peg layers.

lName your layers properly so if you need to fetch a specific layer’s pivot point later on in the gameengine, you can easily recognize the layer you need. If you have a top-level Group A, w hich has a childgroup inside it (Group B), and the draw ing layer is a child of Group B, then the draw ing layer is exported
as A_B_Draw ingLayer.

l

Set your anchors and props, see—Setting Anchors and Props.

You can use any of the draw ing tools you w ant: Pencil and Brush tools, textured lines, solid areas, andgradients. Each individual draw ing w ill be rendered out and assembled into a sprite sheet later.

NOTE
Because the Unity game engine does not support Unicode characters, it is recommended to avoid
using it in scenes intended for games.

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Game Deformation Guidelines
Harmony can export deformations to the game engine XML format. Only hierarchies made of Game Bones canbe successfully exported. In addition, Kinematic Outputs w ere implemented to complement your gamebones—see About Game Bone Deformations on page 720.
Deformation in Harmony come w ith a w ide set of features. How ever, some of these features are notcompatible w ith the game engine SDK and must hence not be used for gaming. Hence, Game Bone deformers
do not support the follow ing standard Bone deformer features:lZones of influencelCurve and Envelope deformationsl

Having more than a single pose in the deformation hierarchy

The deformation in the game engine SDK does not behave exactly as the deformation in Harmony.
To comply w ith most game engines and maintain fast calculations, the SDK implements a linear base skinningalgorithm to linearly blend the bones at articulations. You may notice some differences depending on thecurvature of the articulations used.

NOTE* Not currently available in the Cocos2d-x implementation of the game engine SDK.

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About Game Bone Deformations
T-RIG-007-003
The Game Bone deformation is very similar to the Bone deformation. It allow s you to create a bone-likestructure in w hich each part is solid, but w ith articulations that are flexible. This is mostly useful for animatinga character's limbs, such as the arms or legs, or other parts that can be articulated such as torsos or fingers.
For example, a Game Bone deformation can be used to articulate an arm that is made of a single draw ing, sothat the upper arm and forearm can be moved independently, w ithout having to draw the upper arm and theforearm on different layers. Harmony w ill deform the draw ing to make it look articulated. The different parts ofa Game Bone deformation can be rotated around their joint, extended and shortened, giving you the same
capabilities as animating articulations on different layers, w ithout having to w orry about parts detaching, pivot
points, or clipping outlines.
The Game Bone deformation is different from the Bone deformation in w hich it is optimized for game engines
such as Unity. Hence, it is usually only used for game development and not in animated productions. The
differences betw een the Bone and Game Bone deformations are that Game Bone deformations do not have
Bias and Region of Influence properties. The articulation folds also look slightly more rounded.

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Game Cutter Guidelines
The cutter, or mask, operation in Harmony is used for cutting off draw ings w ith custom shapes. The gameengine SDK implements both cutters and inverted cutters w ith the follow ing limitations:l

For a sprite, only a single cutter draw ing can be applied w hen it is rendered. This also applies to acomposite of multiple matte draw ings. The game engine SDK w ill only use the first matte draw ing
during rendering and discard the others.

l

A deformed draw ing cannot be cut, but a cut draw ing can be deformed.

NOTE
Not currently available in the Cocos2d-x implementation of the game engine SDK.

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Creating Metadata Notes
As you create assets for your game in Harmony, you may w ant to make notes about the scene or specific partsof the character or props for the programmer. These embedded notes that w ill be exported w ith your assets toUnity are know n as metadata.

How to access the Metadata Editor viewlIn the top-right corner of a view , click the Add Viewl

In the top menu, select W indows > Metadata Editor.

button and select Metadata Editor.

How to create scene metadata
1. In the Metadata Editor view , in the Scene Metadata section, click on the plus

button to create a

new metadata entry.
The Add Metadata dialog box appears.
2. In the Add Metadata dialog box, enter the name of your new scene entry.

NOTE
For any anchor or prop information created w ithin the Metadata Editor, the naming
convention must alw ays use the prefix "game.". The term "game." is recognizedautomatically by Unity as a metadata information. For example: game.Armor001.

3. Click Add and Close if you only intend to add a single entry. Click Add if you intend to add multiple
entries. Continue adding multiple entries, clicking Add after each one. Click Close w hen you arethrough.
4. In the Metadata Editor view , double-click on the value field for the first entry to make it editable.
5. Enter the value information for this entry.
6. Continue adding value information for all your entries.
This information w ill be exported w ith your Harmony assets. Once in Unity, scene Metadata w ill
appear in Inspector view > Metadata w hen the asset is selected in the Hierarchy view .

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How to create node metadata
1. In the Timeline view , click on the layer to w hich you w ould like to attach metadata.
The name of the layer appears near the top of the Node Metadata section.

2. In the Node Metadata section, click on the plus

button to create a new metadata entry.

The Add Metadata dialog box appears.
3. In the Add Metadata dialog box, enter the name of your new node entry.

NOTE
For any anchor or prop information created w ithin the Metadata Editor, the naming
convention must alw ays use the prefix "game.". The term "game." is recognizedautomatically by Unity as a metadata information. For example: game.Armor001.

4. Click Add and Close if you only intend to add a single entry. Click Add if you intend to add multiple
entries. Continue adding multiple entries, clicking Add after each one. Click Close w hen you arethrough.
5. In the Metadata Editor view , double-click on the value field for the first entry to make it editable.
6. Enter the value information for this entry.
7. Continue adding value information for all your entries.
This information w ill be exported w ith your Harmony assets, more specifically, this information w ill
be linked to the selected layer. Once in Unity, scene Metadata w ill appear in Inspector view >Metadata w hen the asset is selected in the Hierarchy view .

723

Game Animation Tips
W hen animating for games, depending on the type of game you’re creating, you may need to limit youranimation. For example, if you’re creating mobile games and you w ant to keep the file sizes small andplayback fast on all devices, then limit yourself to simple keyframe animation w ith as few draw ing sw aps as
possible. If you’re creating console games, you have the freedom to create more draw ings and have a higher
complexity. You can explore w ith your programmer the limitations of the platforms you’re exporting to, andw hat your game engine supports.
Here are some tips for efficient, lightw eight animation:l

Use mainly transformations, such as move, rotate, scale, and skew .

lCreate additional draw ing sw aps w hen needed.

l

If you use Curve and Envelope deformers or Morphing, you’ll need to bake out the draw ings for export.
Be careful w hen doing this, as you may w ant to keep the number of draw ings small. Don’t bake out anentire sequence, just selected draw ings. You don't need to bake the Game Bone deformers.

l

The bigger the draw ings are in the Draw ing view , the more pixels they w ill occupy in the texture size on
the sprite sheet. W hen setting up your rig, make sure to not scale individual layers by using a keyframe
w ith the Transform tool. If you w ant to scale things up or dow n, use the Select tool. This w ill keep
things the same relative size on the sprite sheet. W hen you export the sprite sheets, in the script you
can also set the resolution of the sprite sheet so the draw ings can be scaled dow n for smaller devices.

l

Only draw ings w hich are exposed in the scene w ill be exported to the sprite sheet. For example, if you
have 10 draw ings in your Library view , but only tw o of them are show ing in your scene, only those tw ow ill be exported. This keeps the sprite sheet as tight as possible.

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Animating Multiple Sequences
You w ill alw ays have multiple animations for your characters. For example, an idle sequence, a run sequence,an action sequence, and so on. You need to w ork in a specific structure so you can export all of theseanimations to a single sprite sheet.
There are tw o different w ork flow s that you can use:l

W orkflow 1: Separate Scenesl

W orkflow 2: Separating Using Scene Markers

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W orkflow 1: Separate Scenes
First, create a scene file w ith the name of the character, such as Space Duck. This is the file w here you cancreate or import your game rig. In the top menu, select File > Save As New Version, and give this new version
the name of the animation. For example, Idle.
Every time you need to do a new animation using the same character, perform a Save As New Version. In theend, you may have something like this:Scene: Space Duck
Versions:
l

Idle

l

Run

l

Jump

l

Shoot

W hen you run the export script, it w ill export the draw ings from the current scene into the export folder. It w illalso let you know if there are any other scene versions that w ere already exported to that folder. If so, then it
w ill recompile the sprite sheet to include all the draw ings from all the animations. This allow s the maximum
possible reuse of draw ings.

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W orkflow 2: Separating Using Scene Markers
You can also create all of your character animations in a single scene, one after the other, such as idle, run,jump and shoot. Then use scene markers to mark and separate the individual animations, see—Creating a
Scene Marker on page 299.
W hen you are marking individual animation frame ranges, be sure that they start and end w ith a keyframe. Do
not create scene markers for a range of frames that starts or ends in the middle of an interpolated movement.

W hen exporting your sprite sheet, in the Export To Sprite Sheet dialog box, be sure to check the Use Scene
Markers to Export Clips option.

The animated clips are divided and listed in the stage.xml in the same w ay that they w ould appear if you had
exported each animated sequence from separate scenes to the same file location.

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About the Orthographic Camera
In Harmony, there are tw o types of cameras available:lPerspectivelOrthographic

The orthographic camera is specific to the gaming pipeline. It changes the camera type from perspective toorthographic. It becomes a camera w ithout vanishing points. This means there is no more perspective in the
Camera view . Objects, w hen moved on the Z-axis, w ill not change in size or scale.

The orthographic camera can be set in the Scene Settings dialog box. In order to create scenes w ith theorthographic camera, by default, you need to create a new custom scene resolution.

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Using the Harmony Game Previewer
If you are not a developer and w ould like to see if your animations and rigs w ill w ork once imported in Unity,
you can use the Harmony Preview er application. You can visualize your characters in the Unity game engine
w ith no programming required.

To get the latest version of the Harmony Game Preview er, visit our Gaming landing page:https://w w w .toonboom.com/games

How to use the previewer on W indows
1. Dow nload the Harmony Game Preview er for W indow s:lhttps://dow nload.toonboom.com/games/GamePreview er-11.1.0.0047-w indow s.zip

2. Extract the follow ing to your hard drive:l

GamePreview er-[version].exel

GamePreview er-[version]_Data folder

3. Copy your export from Harmony to this folder:l

GamePreview er-[version]_Data\StreamingAssets\HarmonyResources\

4. Start the Game Preview er application.
5. Select the export you w ant to preview .

How to use the previewer on macOS
1. Dow nload the Harmony Game Preview er for macOS:lhttps://dow nload.toonboom.com/games/GamePreview er-11.1.0.0047-macosx.zip

2. Extract the GamePreview er-[version].app.

729

3. Right-click on the GamePreview er-[version].app and select Show Package Contents.
4. Copy your export from Harmony to this folder:Contents/Data/StreamingAssets/HarmonyResources/
5. Start the Game Preview er application.
6. Choose the export you w ant to preview

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About Exporting to Unity
If you have a custom game engine, you can take the exported Harmony data and proceed w ith your usual
process. Or you can modify the export script to fit your convention.

Before exporting a scene:l

Be sure to set your Display as Display and not Display All.

l

Be certain to save your scene. Harmony makes the export based on the tvg files, any unsaved updates
you have added w ill not be exported.

l

Set your Harmony scene to be a square resolution (ex. 1024 x 1024). Select Scene > Scene Settings.

The Transparency parameter attached to the element node is exported along w ith the animation. You can set
the transparency through the Layer Properties w indow (Advanced tab).

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Clearing Scripts
If you w ere using Harmony 12.1 or earlier, it is strongly suggested that you clear your scripts before exporting
animation for the first time. This w ill ensure there's no conflict w ith previous versions of the scripts and you
have the most up-to-date script.

How to clear your scripts
1. Close Harmony if it is open.
2. Brow se to the script folder location:l

W indows:lToon Boom Harmony Premium: C:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Roaming\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony
Premium\1200-scriptslmacOS:
On macOS, the Library folder is a hidden folder. To display the display the folder, told
dow n the Alt key.
lToon Boom Harmony Premium: /Users/[user_name]/Library/Preferences/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom
Harmony/1200-scripts

3. Delete the 1200- scripts folder.
4. Restart Harmony and test the export.

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Setting Anchors and Props
Before exporting to Unity, you need to set your anchors and props.
An anchor is an attachment point you can use to bind one or several props to a specific location that ispredefined by the anchor.
A prop is a game item that w ill be attached to an anchor. It could be a stick held w ithin the character’s hand, ahelmet attached to the character’s head...the possibilities are endless. Props are easy to turn on or off, andeasily sw appable from w ithin Harmony or Unity.

How to set an anchor
1. Create a new Draw ing layer and rename it according to the anchor you are creating.
2. Inside the Layer Properties of your draw ing layer, make sure that pivot option is set to Don’t Use
Embedded Pivot or Apply Embedded Pivot on Drawing Layer. The Apply Embedded Pivot on
Parent Peg does not transition w ell to Unity and you w ill lose your pivot information.

3. Once this is done, you can use any of the animation tools to reposition the pivot point of your layer,such as the Rotate tool in the Advanced Animation toolbar. You should be able to see the pivot
coordinates from the Layer Properties of your Draw ing layer. If the pivot is not repositioned, its
default place w ill be at the centre of your Harmony scene (0,0).
4. Once this is set up, select the Draw ing layer and click the Toggle Anchor

button in the Game

toolbar. You can also make a multi-selection to set an anchor on multiple Draw ing layers
simultaneously.
The Draw ing layer is highlighted in red in the Timeline and Node view s. Your anchor can now be
used to attach a prop.

How to set a prop
1. Create a new Draw ing layer or take an existing prop on w hich you w ant to attach an anchor.
2. Position the Draw ing Pivot of the prop layer using a tool on the Advanced Animation toolbar, suchas the Rotate tool. The position of the prop’s pivot w ill align w ith that of the anchor. Make sure it ispositioned accordingly.
3. W ith the prop Draw ing layer selected, click the Toggle Prop

button in the Game toolbar. You

can also make a multi-selection to set a prop on multiple Draw ing layers simultaneously.
The prop Draw ing layer is highlighted in green in the Timeline and Node view s.

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4. Do one of the follow ing:lConnect the anchor and prop to the parent peg.

lConnect the prop under the anchor to create a parent/child hierarchy.

735

Exporting Sprite Sheets
The Export to Sprite Sheets w indow export to multiple resolutions, generating multiple .xml files and one or
multiple sprites sheets depending how many sprite resolutions you defined.
This saves different animations of the same character into the same name. For example, if there's an idle, run,and jump animation, these should all share the same Save Name. You can think of it as the overall collection ofanimations. Inside are the different saved scene versions w hose draw ings you can reuse for all the animationsin that character set. Each scene version w ill be displayed as an item in the list.
W hen you export an animation, only the draw ings used in that scene are exported. All the draw ings areexported individually first and then atlased together into a sprite sheet.
If you saved multiple animations to the same Save Name (i.e. SpaceDuck: run, idle), then it w ill reatlas the
sprite sheet to include all the draw ings from all the animations in that folder, creating a new animation file, but
reusing the same skeleton.

NOTE
Programmers may be interested to note that the XML data exported by Harmony can be converted
afterw ards to a more optimized binary data structure. To convert XML to Binary format, use the
Xml2Bin utility. This utility converts the XML data structure generated through the Toon Boom
Harmony softw are to a compressed binary data structure. This utility is available in the gaming
SDK under /HarmonySDK/Source/Utils/.
lUtills/macosx:-Precompiled binary for Mac OSX.

l

Utils/w in32: Precompiled binary for W indow s.

lUtils/Xml2Bin: Xml2Bin sources.

l

Utils/Xml2Bin/proj.mac/Xml2Bin.xcodeproj: XCode project for Mac OSX.

l

Utils/Xml2Bin/proj.w in32/Xml2Bin.sln: Visual Studio 2010 solution for W indow s.

The C++ code that handles the data structure can be reused and parsed in your ow n code if you
w ant to integrate w ith other game engines.

How to export sprite sheets
1. Add the Game toolbar, by selectings W indows > Toolbars > Game.

2. Run the script by clicking the Export to Sprite Sheets
The Export to Sprite Sheets w indow opens.

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button in the Game toolbar.

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

3. Set the Save Path to the correct folder in your Unity project if you w ant it to update automatically. If
not, you can save anyw here, then transfer the animation into your Unity project, or any other gameengine you w ant to use.
4. Set your sprite sheet preferences, see—the Reference guide .
5. Click Export.

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Exporting to Easel JS
The Export to Easel JS w indow lets you flatten an image sequence of your animation. Even if you have a fully
rigged puppet or a single draw ing layer w ith your animation sequence, the outcome w ill still be a flattened
output of each frame, grouped together in your sprite sheet. This allow s for more flexibility and freedom ofw ork as you have access to any tools or effect modules you w ant to use. How ever, this can result in heavier
files depending on the length, complexity and export size of your animation.

NOTE
Programmers may be interested to note that the XML data exported by Harmony can be converted
afterw ards to a more optimized binary data structure. To convert XML to Binary format, use the
Xml2Bin utility. This utility converts the XML data structure generated through the Toon Boom
Harmony softw are to a compressed binary data structure. This utility is available in the gaming
SDK under /HarmonySDK/Source/Utils/.
lUtills/macosx:-Precompiled binary for Mac OSX.

l

Utils/w in32: Precompiled binary for W indow s.

lUtils/Xml2Bin: Xml2Bin sources.

l

Utils/Xml2Bin/proj.mac/Xml2Bin.xcodeproj: XCode project for Mac OSX.

l

Utils/Xml2Bin/proj.w in32/Xml2Bin.sln: Visual Studio 2010 solution for W indow s.

The C++ code that handles the data structure can be reused and parsed in your ow n code if you
w ant to integrate w ith other game engines.

How to export to Easel JS
1. Add the Game toolbar, by selectings W indows > Toolbars > Game.

2. Run the script by clicking the Export to Easel JS
The Export to Easel JS w indow opens.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

3. Set the Save Path to the correct folder in your Unity project if you w ant it to update automatically. If
not, you can save anyw here, then transfer the animation into your Unity project, or any other gameengine you w ant to use.
4. Set your sprite sheet preferences, see the Reference guide .
5. Click Export.

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About W orking in Unity
The Harmony Gaming Animation Guide is a basic guide on how to import Harmony projects and configure
them, design and animate characters, and includes some tips. It is not meant as a guide on how to program
games.

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About the Sample Unity ProjectToon Boom includes a sample Unity project that contains all the scripts necessary to import the data exported
from Harmony. Inside this project is an Assets folder w hich contains the follow ing folders:lPluginsl

Scenes (demo scenes and a preview er)lScripts (all Harmony scripts)lStreamingAssets (this is w here all the Harmony scene files should be exported to)

By configuring the Harmony script, you can automatically export animations into the StreamingAssets folder.
This w ay, Unity w ill dynamically load the most up-to-date assets as soon as they appear in the folder. You canalso manually place exported Harmony data into this location.

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About the Unity Interface
Here are the main components of the Unity interface and their equivalents in Harmony:
Unity

Harmony

Description

Scene view

Perspective view

This is w here you set the scene, selecting and positioning
environments, the player, the camera, enemies, and allother GameObjects.

Game view

Camera view

The rendered view from the camera(s) in your game. It isrepresentative of the final, published game.

Inspector

Layer Properties

Displays detailed information about the selected
GameObject, including all attached Components and theirproperties.

Hierarchy

Layers in Timeline view

Displays the hierarchy of elements in the scene, and lets
you set up parent-child relationships for different gameobjects.

Project Brow ser---

Lets you access and manage a project's assets.

The main camera displays the scene and is located in the Hierarchy. To show a Harmony object, you must add
a special component. W ith the main camera selected, in the Inspector, select Add Component > Scripts >Harmony Camera.

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Importing Harmony Files into Unity
Once you've finished creating your artw ork and cyclable animated character movements in Harmony, it's time
to import them into Unity for game integration.

How to import Harmony files directly into Unity
1. Create a Unity 2D project.
2. The SDK Harmony project needs to be imported to your project in order for the assets to bebrought in. Do one of the follow ing:l

Go to the Unity Asset Store (assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/31211) and save theHarmony Game SDK file on your computer. Then import it in your project from the follow ing:
Top Menu > Asset > Import Package > Custom Package.

l

Search for the Harmony Game SDK in the Unity Asset Store, then dow nload and import the
package. You can access the Asset Store from the follow ing: Top Menu > W indow > AssetStore.

NOTE
For each new Unity project, you must repeat step 2 as it contains the necessary files
and folders to make the Harmony import process w ork.

3. Add the exported game object to the scene by going to Top Menu > GameObject > Harmony >lHarmony Object: Lets you brow se for the exported Harmony project folder. If
you’ve already saved this to your StreamingAssets folder, you can brow se to it
through there. Then it adds the Harmony scene to your Unity file, and sets up
the rendering, audio, and animation scripts you need to get going.

lHarmony Texture Object: Lets you brow se for the exported Harmony project
folder similarly to Harmony Object, but creates a Unity plane to render youranimation on it.

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About Game Objects
GameObjects are the fundamental objects in Unity that represent characters, props and scenery. Basicallyeverything you create in Unity w ill be a GameObject. There are tw o main types of GameObject you can use toimport Harmony data:lCreate EmptylCreate Other > Plane

To understand the process fully, there are tw o examples using an empty GameObject and a plane
GameObject w ith the SpaceCat demo file. Everything you do w ill be based on the GameObject you create toload your Harmony data.

745

Using Empty Game Objects
An Empty Game object is a regular GameObject in w hich you can load the exported Harmony data. All theindividual body parts on the sprite sheet come in as separate elements, but are treated as one w hole object
w ith a dynamically created bounding box. If you put a transparency on this object, you w ould see theoverlapping transparencies of all the individual objects. This creates a higher-quality render and should be thedefault if you’re not animating the transparency of an object. W ith this option, direct rendering w ill read thedepth information in the scene but not w rite it. Note that w ith this option, the rendering cannot be customized.

How to use an empty GameObject
1. Select GameObject > Create Empty.
2. Rename the empty GameObject so it's clear in the Hierarchy. Since w e're using the SpaceCat demo
file, rename the GameObject to SpaceCat by doing one of the follow ing:lDouble-click on the name and rename it in the Hierarchy.

lSelect the GameObject and rename it in the Inspector.

3. At this point, it’s an empty object. Accessing Harmony data is done through scripts.
lSelect the SpaceCat GameObject.

l

In the Inspector, go to Add Component > Scripts > Harmony Renderer.

A new section appears in the Inspector called Harmony Renderer (Script).

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This w ill let you load an animation file. You must put the path of the asset relative to theHarmonyResources folder. Before this, you must export from Harmony directly to this folder, or
manually copy and paste the data here.
4. You exported a scene called SpaceCat. In the Project Folder, place HarmonyResources/SpaceCat
under the Transform information at the top, under Scale. Set the values to 0.01 for X, Y, and Z
because the default Harmony project is for an HD screen.
5. You w on’t see anything until you define a few parameters:l

Set the Clip Name Size to 1. A second field w ill appear, Element 0.

lEnter the clip name for the animation you w ant to load.

6. Double-check on the right Clip Name to put in Element 0; you can check the output you exported
from Harmony.
7. Double-check the stage.xml file, w hich w as exported to the folder you specified w hen exportingfrom Harmony. Our default export path is to StreamingAssets, so it w ill automatically load in thegame engine.
8. Look in the Project tab, under Assets > StreamingAssets > HarmonyResources > [ExportName].
You’ll find the data that w as exported. In this case, w e’re looking for SpaceCat. Select the filemarked stage to load the data you w ant to double-check.

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The text data appears in the Inspector.

The name to use for loading the object is the stage name. In this case, SpaceDuck_
SpaceCatIdle.
9. If your GameObject has animation in it, and you w ant it to load the animation data from theHarmony export, add one more component by doing the follow ing:lSelect the GameObject.

l

In the Inspector, select Add Component and select Scripts > Harmony Animation.

10. To loop the animation, you must set a GameObject to define it:lSelect GameObject > Create Empty and rename it: LoopAll.

l

Click the LoopAll GameObject to display its properties in the Inspector.

lClick Add Component > Scripts > Loop All.

W hen you play the animation, it w ill loop as it plays back. The Loop All command simply iterates
on all GameObjects on runtime and asks them to loop, w hich is useful w hen testing the animation.
W hen programming the actual game, you should w rite additional scripts to control the different
elements separately.

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Using Plane Game Objects
Renders the entire character to a plane. This renders your character to texture data. If you animate thetransparency of the plane, then the transparency of the rendered output is animated; you w on't see thetransparencies of the overlapping elements. How ever, you w ill have one static bounding box the size of theplane that you render to.
Use this option w hen you w ant to animate the transparency of a character in a scene. Also, you can w rite yourow n custom shaders. Simply set the Render Target to eRenderTarget. You can see an example of this in thesample project DemoRenderTarget.

How to use a plane GameObject
1. Select GameObject > Create Other > Plane.
2. Select Add Component > Scripts > Harmony Renderer.
3. Set Size to 1 and Element to 0 on the clip name as per previous instructions.
4. Set Render Target to eRender Texture.
5. Render Texture View port:l

X: To reposition the animation correctly; it should be -½ the w idth of your Harmony
project.

l

Y: To reposition the animation correctly; it should be -½ the height of your Harmony
project.

l

W : W idth of your Harmony projectl

H: Height of your Harmony project.

6. Use the custom Shader created by Toon Boom to have a transparent background w ith
premultiplied alpha channel. This is w hat produces nice, antialiased draw ings in your output.
7. W ith the Plane selected in the Inspector, go to Mesh Renderer > Materials. Under Element 0,
select UnlitTransparentPremultiplied.
8. If you're starting w ith the Toon Boom demo project, this renderer should already be loaded in yourlist.

You can also w rite your ow n custom shaders and use them here.

749

9. You must also add the animation component. Select the Plane. In the inspector, click Add
Component > Scripts > Harmony Animation.
Once your Harmony GameObject is imported, you should be able to see your character both in the Scene
and the Hierarchy view s. From here you can attach one or several props to an anchor.

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Attaching Props to Anchors in Unity
An anchor is an attachment point you can use to bind one or several props to a specific location that ispredefined by the anchor.
A prop is a game item that w ill be attached to an anchor. It could be a stick held w ithin the character’s hand, ahelmet attached to the character’s head...the possibilities are endless. Props are easy to turn on or off, andeasily sw appable from w ithin Harmony or Unity.

How to attach the prop to an anchor
1. Open up your character in the Hierarchy view to have access to both the props and the anchors.
2. Click on the prop you w ish to attach, and drag it onto the appropriate anchor.

751

3. Repeat these steps for each prop and anchor in your project.
4. In the Inspector view , under Frame, you can select w hich frame you w ish to show . If you only had
one draw ing in your prop, then you w ill not have multiple options.
5. If part of your character is cut off by the plane of the character, now that the props are show ing, you
w ill need to regenerate the mesh. To do so, select your GameObject. After this is done, go toInspector View > Render > Generate Mesh.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Placing Locators in Unity
In Unity, it's possible to assign a target to some part an imported Harmony animation. For example, in theSpace Duck scene, the character has a gun. You may w ant to attach some other action to this animated gun,such as shooting spheres and cubes out of its end. For this, you need to place a locator at the end of the gun.
You can see some examples of this in the provided Unity project. The first example is in the demo scene
DemoLocator, w hich show s a simple cylinder attached to the end of the gun.
The second example DemoCallback show s the gun shooting spheres and cubes.
You can access any draw ing layer created in Harmony later in Unity and use its pivot point to attach objects
and animated sequences. In Harmony, you should set the pivot points on your draw ing layers w ith the Rotate
tool.
You can also create an empty draw ing layer in Harmony, w hen setting up your character, to be used later inUnity. Use Create Empty Draw ing to create a blank draw ing, then use the Rotate tool to set the pivot point on
this draw ing layer. In the Space Duck example, an empty draw ing layer called hook_gun w as created on
w hich you can attach the locator in Unity.
W hen you access the imported Harmony character in Unity, you can access the data w ith a script.

How to set a locator to a part of a character
1. Select Game Object > Create Empty to add a new GameObject to extract the target's position,
rotation, and scale.
2. Drag and drop the new object so that it's a child of the character.
It becomes indented.
3. Rename the GameObject to: Hook Gun.

4. In the Inspector of the target object, select Add Component > Scripts > Harmony Locator.
5. Enter the name of the draw ing layer to w hich you w ant to attach.

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6. To find the exact name for the Locator Name, look at the skeleton.xml file in the Streaming
Assets folder. You can find it in Streaming Assets > Harmony Resources > Name of Harmony File> skeleton.

All the draw ing and peg layers are listed. In this example, look for space_duck_hook_gun.
Having draw ing layers w ith distinctive names makes them easy to recognize w hen you need toretrieve them.
You can copy the name of the layer into the Locator Name to see the Transform information
updating dynamically as you run the simulation.
7. Now you can attach anything as a child of this Locator Object. For testing purposes, you could
attach a cylinder for example. In a real example, you’d w ant something to shoot out of the end of
the gun, so you can see the Callback example to verify how that w orks.

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Setting Up Collisions in Unity
Extracting the bounding box information is useful w hen you w ant to make something collide w ith yourcharacter. W hen you put a 2D character into a 3D scene, you may w ant to use Physics to make the 2D
character collide w ith the 3D plane. To use the follow ing scripts, you w ill need Unity 4.3 or higher.
In the Demo scene, open the DemoPhysics example to see collisions and bounding boxes. In this example,
there’s a 3D plane and some 2D characters. The 2D characters have a collision defined w ith their boundingbox, and they're also reacting to the physics of the scene to fall w ith gravity.
Colliders w ere improved to provide several different types of colliders for use in Unity. You can select polygon
colliders and box colliders for a more accurate bounding box.

How to set up collisions
1. Select your imported character.
2. In the inspector, select Add Component > Physics 2D > Box Collider 2D.
3. To enable the Physics on the character, go to Add Component > Physics 2D > Rigid Body 2D.

NOTE
You can also use 3D physics on the imported files.

You can now adjust the variables and see the results.

755About W orking with Audio in Unity
W hen you create scene files in Harmony w ith audio, the audio is exported into the project folder. How ever it’s
important to understand how the game is built to determine the best w ay to handle audio.
W hen a game is built from Unity, it creates its ow n database for holding the assets. W ithin the export, theStreaming Assets folder is preserved intact. This is w hat enables the Toon Boom plugin to access those assets
on the fly, and render them in the camera to create the final animation you see on the screen.
How ever w hen it comes to audio, the game first looks for the audio in the Unity database. So this is the mostefficient place to store the audio for the real game.

If audio can't be found in the Unity database, then the game looks in the Streaming Assets folder to find theaudio. W hen it does, it copies the audio on-the-fly back into the Unity database. Since this action is quite
costly, don’t leave the audio in the Streaming Assets folder for the final game. It’s fine to leave it there w hile
you’re testing, but not for the final game.
The audio should be copied back into the Unity database, either manually or by automating this process w ith ascript.

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Harmony Unity SDKThis section w ill guide you how to import Harmony animations into Unity through the use of Harmony SDK.

PrerequisiteslInstall the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-dow nloads

l

NOTE
The SDK requires the latest version of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual
Studio. W ithout the above prerequisite, the native HarmonyRenderer.dll w ill fail to load andanimations w ill not appear in the editor or the player.

SDK Contents
Once the .unityasset package file have been imported, find a Toon Boom Harmony Game SDK folder thatconsists of:lHarmony Game Previewer: Assets for the preview er application.

lHarmony SDK: Assets for the SDK. This can be imported into another project.

l

Source: It contains source code for the native C++ library that processes Harmony animations.

How to import animations
1. Export Harmony animations w ithin Unity into an XML format from the Harmony game tools. Pleasesee <Inset link to game export docs page>.
Once exported, you w ill see a folder w ith the files as show n below . These files can be placed to thedesired location on your computer.

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l

audio folder: This is optional and unusedlspriteSheets folder: If exported as a sprite sheet.

lsprites folder: If exported as separate sprites.

lanimation.xml

ldraw ingAnimation.xml

lskeleton.xml

lspriteSheets.xml If exported as a sprite sheet.

lStage.xml

1. Import plugin inside Unity.
2. Create a new Harmony Project Import.

How to create Harmony Project Import
This is an asset containing the custom import settings for your Harmony project.
1. Right click in the project view or use the Assets menu and select Create Harmony Project Import.

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Harmony 22 Premium User GuidelHarmony Project XML Path: This is the path to the Harmony Project folder. Click Brow se tonavigate to the folder containing your Harmony project to import.

lOutput Path: This is the path to the Harmony Project asset that w ill be created and updated w hen
importing the asset. Choose an appropriate save location w ithin your Unity project.

l

Generate Prefab: If checked, the importer should automatically generate a prefab for this Harmony
project.

lExisting Prefab: This show s a reference to the prefab to update, if one exists already.

l

Frame Rate: The animation frame rate used by Unity's animation system to playback the Harmony
frames. This should match your frame rate in Harmony.

l

Stepped: If checked, the animations w ill pass betw een integer frames and thus not interpolatesmoothly. If unchecked, the animation w ill be played back betw een integer frames, for a smoothanimation.

lStrip Prefix: This is used to remove a prefix on the animation name. For instance, if w e w ant"W ishling_Idle" to become "Idle", w e set the prefix to "W ishling_". This is useful w here theanimation name for games is same for all the characters.

lAnimation Folder Name: The name of the sub-folder that contains the generated Unity animation
files.

l

Import: The button to trigger the importing process.

2. Click the Import button to start the import process and the prefab generation.

759

The importer w ill automatically generate a prefab that can easily be dragged into the scene to use as a Game
Object.

NOTEl

For large characters this can be a lengthy process.

l

If the sprite w ere exported separately, it w ill also generate sprite atlases for the asset.

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Asset Manipulation
This section consists of tw o new components Harmony Mesh and Harmony Renderer once the prefab iscreated..

Harmony Mesh
The Harmony Mesh component is used by the Harmony Renderer to create asset meshes based on the
exposed draw ings in your animation.

Harmony Renderer
Harmony Renderer is used to control the animation and rendering of Harmony assets as w ell as exposing
important variables you may w ant to change during runtime.

lProject: A reference to the Harmony Project Binary asset. This asset is generated by the importer andcontains the Harmony project data in an efficient binary format.

lRender Settings: The render settings are used to modify your asset, either by changing the resolution761

or the Shader used to render or the quality of the deformation.

l

Resolution: The resolution used to display this character. This matches associated sprite sheets names.

lMaterial: The material used to shade this character. Hardw are Skinning is the default unlit material
provided w ith the SDK.

l

Color: Option that multiply the selected color onto the asset.

lDiscretization Steps: Slider that defines the arrangement of all the deformed draw ings.

lClip Settings: The clips settings are used to see the animations w ithout opening the Animation
w indow . This only affects the project w hen in Editor mode, w hen you play the game, the Animator
overrules the settings inside the Clip Settings.

lCurrent Clip Index: A numerical clip index to display. It can be animated in the Animation
w indow .

lCurrent Clip: A drop dow n for selecting w hich animation to display. It matches the Current Clip
Index.

ll

Current Frame: The frame number currently being displayed.

Animation Settings: These settings are same as importing Asset settings. It is useful w hile importing or
re-importing asset modifications inside Harmony. Once modifications are done click Update Animator or
Update Current Clip in order to save your modifications.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guidel

Frame Rate: The animation frame rate used by Unity's animation system to playback the
Harmony frames. This should match your frame rate in Harmony.

l

Stepped: If checked, the animations w ill pass betw een integer frames and thus not interpolatesmoothly. If unchecked, the animation w ill be played back betw een integer frames, for a smoothanimation.

lStrip Prefix: This is used to remove a prefix on the animation name. For instance, if w e w ant"W ishling_Idle" to become "Idle", w e set the prefix to "W ishling_". This is useful w here theanimation name for games is same for all the characters.

lUpdate Animator: Click this button to update the entire set of animations on this character tomatch w hat is in the Harmony project. This w ill update existing animations w ith the new settings
you entered and add any missing ones.

llUpdate Current Clip: This w ill update only the currently selected clip.

Skin Settings: The Skin Settings allow you to change in real-time the skin you’ve exported from
Harmony. To change a skin you first need to press the + button to add a group, you need to add as manygroups as you had in your Harmony export. If you had no groups, just add one and leave it on all. You
can define w hich group you w ant to modify, and then w hich skin to assign to w hich group. You can thenremove a group by selecting any group and pressing the - button.

763

How to change a skin
1. Clickbutton to add a group/groups.

2. Modify the group, and assign the skin to group.
3. Remove a group by selecting any group and clicking

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Harmony Previewer
This section explains how to use the Harmony Preview er to view animations w ithout installing Unity.
You can find a build for W indow s or macOS inside the Harmony Game Preview er folder that you can justunzip.

NOTE
Do not unzip the build inside your Unity project, it is advised to unzip it in its ow n folder.

How to use the Previewer

765

1. Run the Harmony Game Preview er.exe or Harmony Game Preview er.app
2. Select w hich project to load from the loader menu. These projects are loaded from the Harmony
Resources folder in the same directory as the Harmony Game Preview er.exe or Harmony Game
Preview er.app
3. Navigate through the animations using Prev / Next button.
4. Adjust the Frame Rate, Tint, Discretization Step and Skin settings w ith the controls at the top left.
5. Click Go back button to return to the previous menu and load a different animation.

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Troubleshooting
Unity Questions
Q. My Harmony asset does not appear in the Unity Editor.
A. There are several possible reasons for this. Check the follow ing:l

Has the HarmonyRenderer plugin been copied to the Assets/Plugins directory? The plugin
is named HarmonyRenderer.bundle on macOS and HarmonyRenderer.dll on
W indow s.

lIs the clip name valid ? Make sure the clip name exists in the stage.xml file.

l

Are the binary files up to date? If you updated the Toon Boom Game Engine SDK to a
new er version, make sure to regenerate the binary files if you use them so they’recompatible w ith the SDK.

Q. My Harmony asset does not appear in iOS or Android w hen exported from Unity.
A. There are several possible reasons for this. Check the follow ing:l

Make sure the Harmony assets are copied in the StreamingAssets directory. Since theHarmonyRenderer plugin cannot use Unity’s asset database, the Harmony assets w ere
packaged as plain files so they are accessible to the plugin.

l

Is the plugin for iOS the same version as the one used for the editor? The plugin for iOS isin the Assets/Plugins/iOS directory.

l

Is the clip name spelled correctly? W indow s and macOS aren’t usually case sensitive filesystems, but iOS and Android are. This implies that an asset that is visible on the editor
w ill not appear on the mobile platform because it cannot be found.

lMake sure the size of your sprite sheets does not exceed the hardw are limit of the device
you're w orking on. Otherw ise, the texture might not appear at all.

l

Is the path to the project folder an absolute path? If it is, it might not w ork on the mobile
device as that path w ill not exist on the platform. Make sure to use relative paths to the
StreamingAssets directory.

Q. My Harmony asset does not composite properly w ith other 2D sprites in Unity. The 2D sprites alw ays
appear behind the Harmony assets even if I change the order index in the GameObjects.
A. The 2D sprites from Unity and the Harmony assets cannot currently composite together. There are,how ever, several solutions for w orking around this problem:
Use 2D textures instead of 2D sprites. The 2D textures, w hen attached to a geometry in Unity, w ill composite
like the other 3D elements in the scene and you can change the compositing order by incrementing or
decrementing the Z value of the transform.
Use multiple cameras to render your scene in parts. Here’s how :768

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

Harmony Camera
1. Create a new camera.
2. Make sure you set the Harmony GameObjects to a specific layer (top-right of the game object
inspector).
3. In the camera, set the culling mask to this layer (and the other layers you w ant rendered in the
background).
4. Add the HarmonyCamera component to this camera so the Harmony GameObjects render properly.
Sprite Camera
1. Create a new camera.
2. Make sure to set the 2D sprite objects to a specific layer.
3. In the camera, set the culling mask to this layer (and the other layers you w ant rendered in front of the
2D sprites).
4. Make sure to set the clear flags to Depth Only or Don't Clear.
5. Set the depth to be higher than the Harmony camera.
6. Afterw ards, if you move the camera, make sure to move both cameras simultaneously if you w ant tokeep Game Ojects in sync.
Q. How can you specify the frame rate of the animation? My animation does not play at the same frame rate inHarmony and in the Game Preview er in the Unity Editor.
A. The Game Preview er preview s the animation at a default of 24 frames per second. In your game, using theHarmonyAnimation component, you can schedule animations at the speed you w ant.
ExampleHarmonyAnimation animation = GetComponent<HarmonyAnimation>();if (animation != null){animation.PlayAnimation( frameRate, clipName );}Q. I cannot see my character in the Scene view in Unity. Is there any w ay to preview the Harmony asset?
A. Since the rendering of Harmony assets is implemented in a plugin, it does not update any Renderer
component in the GameObject, and so cannot be show n directly in the Scene view .
How ever, you should still be able to preview your assets in the Game view (even w hen not playing). To help
find and position assets, w e also added bounding box shapes rendered in the editor and the Game view .
Q. How is memory management handled in Unity for Harmony assets?

769

A. Most of the memory extensive algorithms are executed in the C++ plugin. The data structure is maintained
alive as long as a GameObject refers to it. This means you can instantiate as many clones of a characterw ithout reloading the data. Upon destruction, the GameObject w ill issue a clean-up call to the plugin anddelete its associated rendering object. The sprite sheet and animation data are kept alive as long as a single
GameObject uses them and a cleanup call is issued once they are destroyed.
Q. The Harmony assets memory does not appear in the Unity profiler. Can w e profile the assets memory?
A. The Unity profiler does not pick up Harmony assets in its traces. Since the Harmony GameObject refers to a
C++ plugin for its asset management and rendering, its memory cannot be recorded in the profiler. Profilers
such as the one provided w ith XCode or Visual Studio should allow you to track your application’s memory
including the Harmony assets and should also provide a more accurate result.

General Questions
Q. How can you specify the resolution used for the draw ings in the sprite sheet?
A. The draw ing resolution is not fixed in Harmony. Since you're exporting the scene to multiple sprite sheets in
multiple resolutions, every draw ing w ill have a different resolution in the end. You can use the Draw ing viewto see the resolution of a draw ing compared to the rest of the scene. By enabling the light table in the Draw ing
view , you w ill see all of the scene’s draw ings untransformed in the same proportion as they w ill appear in the
sprite sheet. More specifically, the resolution used in the sprite sheet for a draw ing is the size it appears
untransformed in the Camera view , scaled to the sprite sheet resolution ("Sprite Resolutions" in the Export
Sprite Sheet dialog box).
Once you know that, you can easily adjust the size of a single draw ing. Use the Select tool to scale dow n adraw ing and use the Transform tool to scale it back up so it does not change visually in the Camera view . Thisshould allow you to alter the size of draw ings in the sprite sheet.
Q. The assets take time to load on mobile devices. Is there any w ay to speed up the process?
A. Harmony exports an interchange XML format that is intended to be compatible w ith multiple game engines.
How ever, reading data from the XML files is slow and this is mostly intended to test the assets in your project.
At some point, they should be converted to a binary compact data structure that can be read into memory a lot
faster than the XML.
You can use the Xml2Bin tool provided w ith the game engine SDK to convert your XML files to binary. This
tool is in the Utils/Xml2Bin folder and a precompiled version for macOS is available in the Utils/macosx
folder.
Q. There are problems w ith the character I exported in the game engine. Pieces are not exported or are notshow ing in the proper order. W hat can I do ?
A. To integrate w ith the game engine SDK, all animations in Harmony must follow certain guidelines. Here aresome of the key points for building a character that is compatible w ith the rendering in the game engine SDK:l

Build your rig in the Timeline view . The game engine SDK data structure is similar to w hat
is displayed in the Timeline view and an advanced node system might not alw ays export

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properly.
lBecause every top level node in your scene w ill render separately in the game engine
SDK, they may not intersect. A top level node is also isolated in its separate sprite sheet toallow the artist better memory segmentation of the character. If you created a characterw ith top level nodes and this w as not the intended result, create a top level group or peg
to group them all together.

l

Use micro-Z ordering if necessary. W ith no Z ordering, a child layer w ill appear behind its
parent (as it does in Harmony). To change the ordering, add some Z offset to the childlayer.

l

The export script does not handle plain bitmap images. Toon Boom vector draw ings andToon Boom bitmap draw ings are supported though.

l

The export script does not handle symbols.

Q. There are some animation issues w hen playing the game, the animation w ill alw ays default tothe first animation in the drop-dow n list (usually Idle).
A. This is because Idle is set as the default state in the animation controller. Do the follow ing:l

You can edit the animation controller using W indow Animator.

l

You w ill see the animation state machine. Notice the arrow connecting Entry
to the Idle state.

lChanging the default state of the state machine to a different state, w illchange w hich animation plays w hile in play mode and move this arrow .

l

By right-clicking and choosing "Make Transition" you can link animations
together for playback.

l

The game developer is responsible for changing the animation statemachine to match the needs of the game.

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Chapter 28: Scripting Guide
T-ANIMPA-007-001 & T-HSCP-001-001
Harmony provides you w ith several scripting interfaces to allow you to automate and streamline certain tasks
as w ell as to add custom functionalities to the application. Those scripting interfaces use Qt Script, a scripting
language based on the ECMAScript standard w hich is very similar to JavaScript.
Harmony has four different scripting interfaces:lHarmony Scripting is the main scripting interface. Among many possible uses, Harmony scripts can
automate w orkflow s and functionalities in Harmony, create dialogs and perform batch operations on ascene.

l

The Extended Scripting Interface is a suite of modules for pow er users. It includes modules for editing
draw ings, for creating tools and toolbars and for executing Python scripts.

l

The Script Node is a special node w hich can take input from image or peg nodes, process its
information in a custom-made script and output the processed peg or image information in the desired
w ay. It allow s you to create nodes that have custom behaviours. For example, the Maya Render Batch
node is actually a Script Node configured to render your scene through an external rendering engine.

lControl Center Scripting allow s you to create scripts that can be launched in a command line interface
via the Control Center application. They can be used to perform batch operations on the different
elements of a Harmony Server database.

l

Python Interface is an interface displaying a Python representation of Harmony GUI and its current
project. This interface can be used to create custom tools and automation tasks using Python.

Harmony Scripting ReferenceThis section of the documentation explains how to use the Harmony Script Editor, but does not teaches how to
w rite scripts nor does it contain in-depth information about the classes and modules that are available in the
Harmony scripting interface. The reference guides for each of the Harmony scripting interfaces are located on
different documentation w ebsites. These reference guides document all the modules and classes that areavailable in the Harmony scripting interfaces, as w ell as all of their methods and properties.
To access one of the Harmony scripting interface reference guides, open the Help menu at the top of theHarmony user interface and select Scripting Interface Documentation, Extended Scripting Interface
Documentation or Script Node Documentation.
To access the Control Center scripting interface reference guide, open Control Center. Then, in the top menuof the Control Center user interface, open the Help menu and select Scripting Interface Documentation.

About Qt Script
Qt Script is an object-oriented scripting language based on the ECMAScript standard, like JavaScript andJScript. How ever, there are some differences that distinguish Qt Script from these other scripting languages,
w hich are familiar to w eb programmers.

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The Qt Script environment provides several standard classes and modules that are not documented in the
Harmony scripting documentation. For a reference of the QT development environment, refer to the Qt
Documentation w ebsite, w hich can be accessed at the follow ing address:
http://doc.qt.io/qt-4.8/index.html
For a tutorial on w riting JavaScript, refer to to the JavaScript Tutorial section of W 3Schools, w hich can beaccessed at the follow ing address:
https://w w w .w 3schools.com/js

NOTES
As of Toon Boom Harmony 10.3, Toon Boom Animation has changed its scripting language fromQSA script to Qt Script. Scripts are stored in plain text in files w ith the .js extension, instead of.qsa. This change to the API improves the softw are and gives access to 64-bit capabilities of thescripting interface.
Eery effort w as made to ensure backw ard compatibility w ith QSA scripts. Hence, simple functions
can be ported w ithout making any changes, but class definitions must conform to the Qt Script
syntax. Therefore, scripts that define classes must be updated. For detailed instructions on how to
update from QSA to Qt scripts, see the Moving from QSA to Qt Script documentation of the Qt
w ebsite, w hich can be accessed at the follow ing address:
http://doc.qt.io/qt-4.8/porting-qsa.html

Creating Scripts

774

Editing a Script Packaged w ith Harmony

778

Checking Script Syntax

780

Testing a Script781

Debugging Scripts

783

Using the Scripting Sandbox

785

Importing Scripts

786

Deleting Scripts

788

Restoring a Harmony Script

789

Using an External Script Editor

790

Storing Scripts in a Custom Directory

792

Adding Scripts as Toolbar Buttons

797

Accessing Node Attribute Names for Scripting

799

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Creating Scripts
T-HSCP-001-002
You can create scripts for Harmony by using the Script Editor view .

TIP
To help familiarize yourself w ith Harmony scripts, you can open the Script Editor view and look
into the TB_sceneCreated script. This script is automatically executed w hen you create a scene.
By default, it sets the scene's length to 60 frames and creates a basic layout containing a single
draw ing layer. You can customize this script to automatically set up scenes you create to fit yourproject's needs.

NOTE
W hen using Harmony Stand Alone, user scripts are stored in the follow ing location:l

W indows: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Toon Boom Animation\Toon
Boom Harmony Premium\2000-scriptslmacOS: /Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Toon Boom Animation/Toon
Boom Harmony Premium/2000-scriptsl

GNU/Linux: /home/[username]/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom Harmony
Premium/2000-scripts

W hen using Harmony Server, user scripts are stored in the follow ing location, depending on thelevel at w hich you save them:lUser: /USA_DB/users/[username]/Harmony Premium/2000-scriptslJob: /USA_DB/jobs/[job_name]lEnvironment: /USA_DB/environments/[environment name]lGlobal: /USA_DB/scripts

How to create a script
1. In the top-right corner of the Camera or Draw ing view , click on the

Add View button and selectScript Editor.
The Script Editor view is added to your w orkspace. It lists all the scripts packaged w ith Harmony as
w ell as any script you previously created.

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2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Script Editor toolbar, click the

New Script button.

l

In the top-left corner of the Script Editor view , click on the

Menu button and select selectFile > New Script.
The New Script dialog box appears.

3. Type in a name for your script and click on OK.
A dialog prompts you to select the location in w hich to create the script.

4. In the drop-dow n menu, select the location in w hich you w ant to create the script:l

User: Saves the script to a directory in your user preferences directory. You w ill be able torun and edit the script from any scene as long as you are logged in as the same user.

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NOTE
If you are using Harmony Stand Alone, the script w ill be saved to thepreferences for your account on your computer. if you are using Harmony Server,
the script w ill be saved to the preferences for your Harmony database user.

lGlobal: If you are using Harmony Server, select this option to save the script to the Harmony
database's global script directory. Anyone w ho is logged in to the database w ill be able toedit and run this script.

lEnvironment: If you are using Harmony Server, select this option to save the script to thecurrent scene's environment. Anyone w ill be able to edit and run the script as long as they
are w orking on a scene inside this environment.

lJob: If you are using Harmony Server, select this option to save the script to the current
scene's job. Anyone w ill be able to edit and run the script as long as they are w orking on ascene inside this job.

l

Scene: Save the script to the scene's scripts sub-folder. Anyone w ill be able to edit andrun the script w hen w orking on this specific scene.

lSystem Variable: Save the script to the directory in the TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_
LOCATION environment variable. This option is only available if this environment variable isset.

Your script is added to the list of scripts in the Script Editor.
5. Select the script your just created in the list.

You can now start editing your script in the Script Editor.
6. Click on the text field in the right area of the Script Editor and start w riting your script.
The follow ing is an example of a script that w ill display a message box saying "Hello W orld!"
function HelloWorld(){
MessageBox.information("Hello World!");}776

Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

NOTE
For information on how to use the Qt scripting language in Harmony, see Scripting Guide on
page 772. You can also open the scripting reference guide directly from the Script Editor byclicking on the

Menu button in the top-left corner and selecting Help > Scripting Interface

Documentation.

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Chapter 28: Scripting Guide

Editing a Script Packaged with Harmony
Harmony comes pre-installed w ith several scripts. These scripts are stored in a read-only location among
other files that are packaged by Harmony. Hence, by default, they cannot be edited.
To edit a script that w as installed w ith Harmony, you must copy it to a location w here it can be edited. This caneasily be done by using the Make Editable button of the Script Editor view . This button creates a copy of thescript and stores it in a location w here you can make changes to it. Meanw hile, the original copy of the script
remains untouched, and it is possible to revert to it later if you w ant.

IMPORTANT
Some buttons and menu items in the Harmony user interface run scripts that are packaged w ith
Harmony. Hence, making changes to scripts packaged w ith Harmony may impact its functionality.

NOTE
If you make unw anted changes to a script that w as packaged w ith Harmony, you can restore its
original version—see Restoring a Harmony Script on page 789.

How to edit a script that is packaged with Harmony
1. In the file list of the Script Editor, select any of the scripts that are packaged w ith Harmony.

TIP
Scripts that are packaged w ith Harmony have Application Resources as their location.

2. Under the script editor, click on the Make Editable button.
A dialog prompts you to select the location in w hich to copy the script.

3. In the drop-dow n menu, select the location in w hich you w ant to copy the script:l

User: Saves the script to a directory in your user preferences directory. You w ill be able torun and edit the script from any scene as long as you are logged in as the same user.

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NOTE
If you are using Harmony Stand Alone, the script w ill be saved to thepreferences for your account on your computer. if you are using Harmony Server,
the script w ill be saved to the preferences for your Harmony database user.

lGlobal: If you are using Harmony Server, select this option to save the script to the Harmony
database's global script directory. Anyone w ho is logged in to the database w ill be able toedit and run this script.

lEnvironment: If you are using Harmony Server, select this option to save the script to thecurrent scene's environment. Anyone w ill be able to edit and run the script as long as they
are w orking on a scene inside this environment.

lJob: If you are using Harmony Server, select this option to save the script to the current
scene's job. Anyone w ill be able to edit and run the script as long as they are w orking on ascene inside this job.

l

Scene: Save the script to the scene's scripts sub-folder. Anyone w ill be able to edit andrun the script w hen w orking on this specific scene.

lSystem Variable: Save the script to the directory in the TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_
LOCATION environment variable. This option is only available if this environment variable isset.

4. Click on OK.
In the file list, the location of the selected script is updated to the one you selected.
Under the script editor, the Make Editable button is replaced w ith the Save button. This means thatyou can make changes to the script and save those changes.

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Checking Script Syntax
You can verify the syntax of your script before you attempt to run it.

How to verify the syntax of a script
1. In the File list of the Script Editor, select the script you w ant to check.
2. Under the editor, click on the Verify button.
A dialog appears and displays w hether or not it found a syntax error in the script, and if it did, thelocation and type of error.

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Testing a Script
You can test a script using the

Run command, w hich is available in the Script Editor toolbar and menu. The

run command can execute a specific function in one of your scripts, or an entire script. W hat the Run commandis set to run is called the target.
To select w hich function in w hich script the Run command should execute, you must use theSet Target

command, w hich w ill prompt you to select a script and a function. Once you've done this, every time you use
the

Run command, it w ill execute the function you set as your target. If you need to test a different function

or script later, you w ill have to use theSet Target command again to change the target script and function.

This allow s you to w ork on and repeatedly test one script or one function at a time w hen w orking on a script.

NOTES
l

If you use theRun command w ithout setting a target first, you w ill be prompted to set atarget. The selected target w ill persist until you use theSet Target command to change it.

l

The target script and function is also used by the

Debug command.

l

To run a script from the global scope rather than running a specific function, you can select<Nothing> as the target function.

l

Although you can run a script at the global scope, you cannot create a toolbar button that runs
a script at the global scope. Toolbar buttons can only run specific functions w ithin a script.
Hence, running a script at the global scope should be done for testing purposes only.

How to test a script
1. If you are currently editing the script you w ant to test, save it by clicking on the Save button
underneath the editor.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Script Editor toolbar, click on thel

In the top-left corner of the Script Editor, click on thePlay/Debug > SetTarget.

781

Set Target button.
Menu button and selectChapter 28: Scripting Guide

A dialog appears listing all the scripts as w ell as all the functions in the current script.

3. In the Files list of the dialog, select the script you w ant to test.
4. In the Functions list of the dialog, select the function you w ant to test.

NOTE
If you w ant to test the w hole script from the global scope, select the <Nothing>
function.

5. Click on OK.
6. Do one of the follow ing to execute the target function:l

In the Script Editor toolbar, click on thel

In the top-left corner of the Script Editor, click on thePlay/Debug > Run.

782

Run button.
Menu button and selectHarmony 22 Premium User Guide

Debugging Scripts
T-HSCP-001-003
If you are having issues w ith a script you're w orking on, you can debug your script using theDebugcommand. W ith the Debug command, you can run a specific function in your script, or an entire script, througha debugging interface.
To select w hich function in w hich script the Debug command should debug, you must use theSet Target

command, w hich w ill prompt you to select a script and a function. Once you've done this, every time you use
theDebug command, it w ill debug the function you set as your target. If you need to debug a different

function or script later, you w ill have to use theSet Target command again to change the target script andfunction. This allow s you to w ork on and repeatedly debug one function at a time w hen w orking on a script.

NOTES
l

If you use the

Debug command w ithout setting a target first, you w ill be prompted to set atarget. The selected target w ill persist until you use theSet Target command to change it.

l

The target script and function is also used by the

Run command.

l

To debug a script from the global scope rather than debugging a specific function, you canselect <Nothing> as the target function.

l

Although you can run a script at the global scope, you cannot create a toolbar button that runs
a script at the global scope. Toolbar buttons can only run specific functions w ithin a script.
Hence, debugging a script at the global scope should be done for testing purposes only.

How to debug a script
1. If you are currently editing the script you w ant to debug, save it by clicking on the Save button
underneath the editor.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Script Editor toolbar, click on thel

In the top-left corner of the Script Editor, click on thePlay/Debug > SetTarget.

783

Set Target button.
Menu button and selectChapter 28: Scripting Guide

A dialog appears listing all the scripts as w ell as all the functions in the current script.

3. In the Files list of the dialog, select the script you w ant to debug.
4. In the Functions list of the dialog, select the function you w ant to debug.

NOTE

5.

If you w ant to debug the w hole script from the global scope, select the <Nothing>
function.

6. Do one of the follow ing to execute the target function:l

In the Script Editor toolbar, click on the

Run button.

l

In the top-left corner of the Script Editor, click on the

Menu button and selectPlay/Debug > Debug.
The Qt Script Debugger opens. In it, you w ill find standard debugging controls.

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Using the Scripting Sandbox
The sandbox is a space in the Script Editor in w hich you can type or paste code snippets and test or debug
them on the fly, w ithout having to put them in the context of a function, and w ithout having to create a scriptor to modify an existing script. It's also a useful tool to get yourself familiarized w ith the Harmony scriptinginterface.

How to use the Script Editor sandbox
1. In the File list, select << Sandbox >>.
2. In the text field of the script editor, type in your code.
The follow ing sample code w ill display a message box saying "Hello W orld!"
MessageBox.information("Hello World!");3. Do one of the follow ing:l

To verify the syntax of your script, click on the Verify button under the text field.

l

To test your script, click on the

Run button in the Scripting toolbar or, in the top-leftcorner of the Script Editor, click on thel

To debug your script, click on the

Menu button and select Play/Debug > Run.

Debug button in the Scripting toolbar or, in the top-leftcorner of the Script Editor, click on the

785

Menu button and select Play/Debug > Debug.

Chapter 28: Scripting Guide

Importing Scripts
T-ANIMPA-007-002
If you w ant to use scripts w ritten by other users, you can transfer the .js files from their computer to yours,
then use the Script Editor to import the .js files from w here they are stored on your computer.

NOTES
l

W hen you import a script, any user interface (.ui) or icon (.png) file that is in the same
directory and has the same filename as the script w ill also be imported.

l

W hen using Harmony Stand Alone, user scripts are stored in the follow ing location:l

W indows: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Toon Boom
Animation\Toon Boom Harmony Premium\2000-scriptslmacOS: /Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/Toon Boom
Animation/Toon Boom Harmony Premium/2000-scriptsl

GNU/Linux: /home/[username]/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom Harmony
Premium/2000-scripts

W hen using Harmony Server, user scripts are stored in the follow ing location, depending on
the level at w hich you save them:lUser: /USA_DB/users/[username]/Harmony Premium/2000-scriptslJob: /USA_DB/jobs/[job_name]lEnvironment: /USA_DB/environments/[environment name]lGlobal: /USA_DB/scripts

How to import scripts
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Script Editor toolbar, click on

Import Script.

l

In the top-left corner of the Script Editor view , click on the

Menu button and select File >Import Script.
An Open dialog appears.
2. In the Open dialog, brow se to the location of the script you w ant to import. Select it, then click on
Open.

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Harmony 22 Premium User Guide

A dialog prompts you to select the location in w hich to import the script.

3. In the drop-dow n menu, select the location in w hich you w ant to import the script:l

User: Saves the script to a directory in your user preferences directory. You w ill be able torun and edit the script from any scene as long as you are logged in as the same user.

NOTE
If you are using Harmony Stand Alone, the script w ill be saved to thepreferences for your account on your computer. if you are using Harmony Server,
the script w ill be saved to the preferences for your Harmony database user.

lGlobal: If you are using Harmony Server, select this option to save the script to the Harmony
database's global script directory. Anyone w ho is logged in to the database w ill be able toedit and run this script.

lEnvironment: If you are using Harmony Server, select this option to save the script to thecurrent scene's environment. Anyone w ill be able to edit and run the script as long as they
are w orking on a scene inside this environment.

lJob: If you are using Harmony Server, select this option to save the script to the current
scene's job. Anyone w ill be able to edit and run the script as long as they are w orking on ascene inside this job.

l

Scene: Save the script to the scene's scripts sub-folder. Anyone w ill be able to edit andrun the script w hen w orking on this specific scene.

lSystem Variable: Save the script to the directory in the TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_
LOCATION environment variable. This option is only available if this environment variable isset.

4. Click on OK.
The script is copied to the chosen location and can now be edited and executed in the Script Editor
view . It can also be added as a button to the Scripting toolbar—see Adding Scripts as Toolbar
Buttons on page 797.

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Deleting Scripts
You can delete custom scripts from the Script Editor.

IMPORTANTW hen you delete a script in the Script Editor, the file containing this script is permanently deleted
from your file system.

NOTES
l

You cannot delete a script that is in the Application Resources folder. Those scripts w ere
installed w ith Harmony and are read only.

l

If you made a script that w as packaged w ith Harmony editable by copying it to anotherlocation, you can delete your version of the script. This w ill restore the original version of thescript to the File list.

How to delete a script
1. In the Script Editor, in the File list, select the script you w ant to delete.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

From the Script Editor toolbar, click the

Delete Script button.

l

In the top-left corner of the Script Editor view , click on the

Menu button and select File >Delete Script.

TIP
If you have deleted one of the scripts that are packaged w ith Harmony and w ish to restore it,
see Restoring a Harmony Script on page 789

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Restoring a Harmony Script
If you made a script that w as packaged w ith Harmony editable so you could make changes to it, you can easily
revert to the original version of the script at any time by using the Restore to Default button of the Script
Editor view . This button deletes your copy of the script and restores the version of the script that w as installed
w ith Harmony to the File list.

IMPORTANT
Restoring a Harmony script to its original version w ill permanently discard any changes you madeto it.

How to restore a script packaged with Harmony to its original version
1. In the File list of the Script Editor view , select a script that w as installed w ith Harmony and tow hich you made changes that you w ant to revert.
2. At the bottom of the Script Editor view , click on the Restore to Default button.

A prompt w ill ask you to confirm discarding the changes you made to the script.

3. If you are sure you w ant to permanently revert the script to its original version, click on Yes.
The script is restored to the original version that w as installed w ith Harmony.

NOTE
W hen restoring a script to its original version, its location is set to Application
Resources and it becomes read-only, as it w as before you made changes to it. If you
w ant to make changes to the script again, you must make it editable again—see Editinga Script Packaged w ith Harmony.

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Using an External Script Editor
T-HSCP-001-004
If you are more comfortable editing your scripts using another text editor or syntax highlighter, Harmony
allow s you to set an external script editor and use that one instead.

NOTE
On W indow s and macOS, if you try to open a script in the external editor w ithout setting it first,
Harmony w ill open the script in the default editor for JavaScrtipt (.js) files on your machine.

How to set an external editor
1. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Script Editor toolbar, click the

Set External Editor button.

l

In the top-left corner of the Script Editor view , click on the

Menu button and select Editor> Set External Editor.
The Set External Editor w indow opens.

2. Select Browse... and use the file explorer to locate the text editing application you w ant to use.
3. In the external editor, type the complete and absolute path to the text editing application you w ant
to use, including its name and extension. For example, if you w ant to use notepad++ on W indow s,
you could type:
C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
On macOS, if you w ant to use an application that supports the AppleScript Open Document
protocol, simply typing the name of the application might w ork, for example:
TextWrangler
Typing the name of the application you w ant to use w ill also w ork if that application has its path in
the PATH environment variable, such as notepad on W indow s or gedit on GNU/Linux.
4. Click on OK.

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How to edit a script in an external editor
1. In the File list, select the script you w ant to edit.
2. Do one of the follow ing:l

In the Script Editor toolbar, click theOpen w ith External Editor button.

l

In the top-left corner of the Script Editor view , click on the

Menu button and select Editor> External Editor.
3. In the external editor that opens, make the desired changes to your script, save the script and closethe external editor.
4. In Harmony, the changes you made to your script in the external editor w ill not appear immediately.
You can load those changes by selecting another script in the File list, then selecting the script you
changed again.

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Storing Scripts in a Custom Directory
By default, in Harmony Stand Alone, you can store custom scripts either in your user preferences or in ascene's scripts sub-folder. In Harmony Server, you can also store scripts in the folder of a scene's job or
environment, or in a folder for the entire Harmony database.
If you prefer, it is possible to store your scripts in a specific custom location on your file system. This is done byadding the path to the custom location in the TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION environment variable.
W hen this environment variable is set, Harmony w ill look for JavaScript (.js) files in that directory and addthem to the list of scripts in the Script Editor, w ith System Variable as their location.
Additionally, w hen you create a script, import a script or make an original Harmony script editable, you w ill get
to store the script in the directory in the TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION environment variable byselecting System Variable in the prompt asking you w here to store the script.
If you are w orking in a collaborative environment, you can make this directory read-only so that only people
w ith special privileges can add or edit scripts in this directory. Harmony w ill check w hether it has privileges toedit scripts in this location before allow ing users to make changes to them. Otherw ise, Harmony w ill only
allow the user to run them.
The method for setting an environment variable varies depending on the operating system you're using, as
w ell as w hether you w ant the environment variable to be set for everyone w ho uses the computer, or only thecurrent user.

How to set the path to the custom scripts directory for the current user on W indows
1. Open the W indow s Control Panel:l

On W indows 7: Open the Start menu and select All Programs > Accessories > System
Tools > Control Panel.

l

On W indows 8.1 or W indows 10: Open the Start menu and, in the programs list, selectW indows System > Control Panel.

2. Select User Accounts, then User Accounts again.
3. In the left pane, select Change my environment variables.
4. Under the User variables list, click on New.
The New User Variable dialog appears.
5. In the Variable Name field, type TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION.
6. Click on Browse Directory.
A Brow se for Folder dialog appears.
7. Brow se to and select the directory in w hich you w ant to store scripts, then click on OK.

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8. In the New User Variable dialog, click on OK.
9. In the Environment Variables dialog, click on OK.
The next time you launch Harmony, you w ill be able to create, load and edit scripts in the directory
you set as a custom script location.

How to set the path to the custom scripts directory for all users on W indows
1. Open the W indow s Control Panel:l

On W indows 7: Open the Start menu and select All Programs > Accessories > System
Tools > Control Panel.

l

On W indows 8.1 or W indows 10: Open the Start menu and, in the programs list, selectW indows System > Control Panel.

2. Select System and Security > System.
3. In the left pane, select Advanced system settings.
4. Open the Advanced tab.
5. Click on Environment Variables.
6. Under the System variables list, click on New.
The New System Variable dialog appears.
7. In the Variable Name field, type TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION.
8. Click on Browse Directory.
A Brow se for Folder dialog appears.
9. Brow se to and select the directory in w hich you w ant to store scripts, then click on OK.
10. In the New System Variable dialog, click on OK.
11. In the Environment Variables dialog, click on OK.
The next time you launch Harmony, you w ill be able to create, load and edit scripts in the directory
you set as a custom script location.

How to set the path to the custom scripts directory for the current user on macOS
1. In a Terminal, type in the follow ing command to create a launch agent for your user:$ vi ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.toonboom.global.script.location.plist

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2. Press the i key to enter insert mode and start editing the file.
3. Add the follow ing text to the launch agent, replacing <path to scripts directory> w ith theabsolute (full) path to the directory w here you w ant to store scripts:<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0/EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertList-1.0<plist version="1.0"><dict><key>Label</key><string>com.toonboom.global.script.location</string><key>ProgramArguments</key><array><string>sh</string><string>-c</string><string>launchctl setenv TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION "<path to scripts directory>"</st</array><key>RunAtLoad</key><true /></dict></plist>4. Press Esc to exit insert mode.
5. Type in :wq and press Enter to save and quit.
1. In the terminal, type the follow ing command to enable the launch agent:$ launchctl load -w~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.toonboom.global.script.location.plist

How to set the path to the custom scripts directory for all users on macOS
1. In a Terminal, type in the follow ing command to edit the login script for all users:$ sudo vi /etc/profile
2. Press the i key to enter insert mode and start editing the file.
3. Add the follow ing lines at the end of the script, replacing <path to scripts directory> w ith
the absolute (full) path to the directory w here you w ant to store scripts:
export TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION="<path to scripts directory>"launchctl setenv TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION "<path to scripts directory>"

4. Press Esc to exit insert mode.
5. Type in :wq and press Enter to save and quit.

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How to set the path to the custom scripts directory for the current user on GNU/Linux
1. In a Terminal, type in the follow ing command to edit the Bash login script for your user:$ vi ~/.bash_profile
2. Press the i key to enter insert mode and start editing the file.
3. Add the follow ing line at the end of the script, replacing <path to scripts directory> w ith
the absolute (full) path to the directory w here you w ant to store scripts:
export TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION="<path to scripts directory>"

4. Press Esc to exit insert mode.
5. Type in :wq and press Enter to save and quit.
6. In the same Terminal, type in the follow ing command to edit the CSH login script for your user:$ vi ~/.login
7. Press the i key to enter insert mode and start editing the file.
8. Add the follow ing line at the end of the script, replacing <path to scripts directory> w ith
the absolute (full) path to the directory w here you w ant to store scripts:
setenv TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION "<path to scripts directory>"

How to set the path to the custom scripts directory for all users on GNU/Linux
1. In a Terminal, type in the follow ing command to edit the Bash login script for your user:$ sudo vi /etc/profile
2. Press the i key to enter insert mode and start editing the file.
3. Add the follow ing line at the end of the script, replacing <path to scripts directory> w ith
the absolute (full) path to the directory w here you w ant to store scripts:
export TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION="<path to scripts directory>"

4. Press Esc to exit insert mode.
5. Type in :wq and press Enter to save and quit.
6. In the same Terminal, type in the follow ing command to edit the CSH login script for your user:$ sudo vi /etc/csh.login

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7. Press the i key to enter insert mode and start editing the file.
8. Add the follow ing line at the end of the script, replacing <path to scripts directory> w ith
the absolute (full) path to the directory w here you w ant to store scripts:
setenv TOONBOOM_GLOBAL_SCRIPT_LOCATION "<path to scripts directory>"

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Adding Scripts as Toolbar Buttons
To use scripts in your regular w orkflow , you can add them as buttons to the Scripting toolbar. You can add
buttons to the Scripting toolbar that are configured to run ax specific function in a script and, if you w ant, givethese button a specific icon and tool tip.

NOTE
For more information on the Scripting toolbar and the Scripts Manager dialog, see the Reference
Guide.

How to link a script to a toolbar button
1. Add the Scripting toolbar to your w orkspace by doing one of the follow ing:l

From the top menu, select W indows > Toolbars > Scripting.

l

Right-click on any toolbar and select Scripting.

The Scripting toolbar is added to your w orkspace.

1. In the Scripting toolbar, click theManage Scripts button.

The Scripts Manager dialog box opens and displays the available scripts.

2. In the Files list, select the script file containing the function you w ant to add to the toolbar.
The functions in the selected script appear in the Functions list.
3. In the Functions list, select the function that you w ant to add to the toolbar.

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4. Betw een the Functions and In Toolbar list, click on the

Right Arrow button.

The selected function is added to the In Toolbar list.
5. If you w ant to add a custom icon to the toolbar button for your script, click on the Customize Icon
button and, in the Open dialog that appears, brow se to and select the icon file that you w ant the
button to have.
You can use .png, .jpg, .xpm or .tvg files as toolbar icons.
6. If you w ant to add a custom tooltip to the toolbar button for your script, click on the Customize
Tooltip button and, in the dialog that appears, type in the tooltip for your toolbar button.

7. Click on OK.
A button for the selected function is added to the Scripting toolbar. If you click on this button, thefunction your selected w ill be executed.

TIP
You can stop a script w hile it is running by pressing the Esc key or clicking on the
button on the Scripting toolbar.

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Accessing Node Attribute Names for Scripting
If you w ant to make scripts that manipulate elements in your scene, you must use the proper methods andnaming conventions to access the attributes of nodes in your scene via the scripting interface. For example, if
you have a peg node named Drawing-P at your scene's root, you can obtain the position of a peg node on the(x) axis w ith the follow ing steps:

var sNode = "Top/Drawing-P"; // The full path to the node.
var wAttr = node.getAttr(sNode, 1, "position.x"); // The attribute for this node's position on the (xvar myAttributeValue = wAttr.doubleValue(); // The value of the attribute.

The same can be done in a single line.
var myAttributeValue = node.getAttr("Top/Drawing-P", 1, "position.x").doubleValue();

You can easily get similar examples of how to access any attribute for any note by enabling the Show
Attribute Information option of the Node View . W hen this option is enabled, in the Layer Properties dialog,
each attribute w ill have a button allow ing you to view the full path to the node, the real name of the attributein the scripting interface, the type of the attribute as w ell as a code example of how to obtain the attribute's
value.

How to obtain information for accessing a node's attribute via the scripting interface
1. In the top-left corner of the Node view , click on the

Menu button and select View > Show

Attribute Information.
2. In the Node view , locate the node w hich you w ant to manipulate through scripting.
3. Click on theLayer Properties button for this node.

The Layer Properties dialog for this node appears. Right of each attribute is aInformation button.

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4. Click on theShow Attribute Information button next to the attribute w hich you w ant to accessthrough scripting.
The Attribute Information dialog appears and displays information on the attribute, as w ell as asample script to access the attribute.

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