Toon Boom
Harmony V15.0

Play Application User Guide

TOON BOOM ANIMATION INC.

+1 514 278 8666

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

contact@toonboom.com
toonboom.com

Harmony 15.0 Play 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 guide is covered by a specific limited warranty and exclusions and limit of liability under theapplicable License Agreement as supplemented by the special terms and conditions for Adobe®Flash ® File
Format (SWF). For details, refer to the License Agreement and to those special terms and conditions.
The content of this guide is the property of Toon Boom Animation Inc. and is copyrighted.
Any reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.
Trademarks
Harmony is a trademark of Toon Boom Animation Inc.
Publication Date
01-15-2020
Copyright © 2018 Toon Boom Animation Inc., a Corus Entertainment Inc. company. All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Table of Contents

2Play Application

4

Chapter 1: Launching the Play Module

6

Chapter 2: About the Play Module Interface

8

Play Module Top Menu

9Playback Toolbar

13

Chapter 3: Loading Image Sequences

16

Loading Image Sequences from Folders

17

Loading Image Sequences from Databases

192Harmony 15.0 Play User Guide

3

Play Application

Play Application
The Play module is designed specifically for playing back and viewing animated projects once they have been
rendered out into image sequences.

This module opens directly from your program menu to load your final render. It's also used when playing back ascene with effects in Harmony.

4Harmony 15.0 Play User Guide5

Chapter 1: Launching the Play Module

Chapter 1: Launching the Play Module
Before using Toon Boom Play, you must start the program. You can run the software on macOS orWindows/Linux operating systems. You can start Toon Boom Play from within Harmony to play back yourscene, and see the effects and final images.

How to launch the Play Module
1. Do one of the following:l

In Harmony, select Play > Render and Play or in the Playback toolbar, click the Renderand Playbutton.

lWindows: Start > Programs > Harmony 15.0[Edition] > Playl

macOS: Applications > Toon Boom Harmony 15.0[Edition] > Playl

GNU/Linux: /usr/local/ToonBoomAnimation/harmony_12/lnx86_64/bin/Play

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Harmony 15.0 Play User Guide

7

Chapter 2: About the Play Module Interface

Chapter 2: About the Play Module Interface
The Play Module interface is composed of two main components.

Play Module Top Menu

9Playback Toolbar

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Harmony 15.0 Play User Guide

Play Module Top Menu
In the top menu are all the necessary commands for loading and previewing image sequences.

File Menu
CommandAction

Access Methods

Opens the Find Directory
Load From Folder

Load From Databasewindow where you can selectone or more images to load in
the player.
If you are connected to theDatabase, this command
opens the Database Selector
window where you can selectan image sequence to load inthe player.

File > Load from Folder

File > Load from Database

Opens the Load Playback
dialog box and indicates

Reload Frames

which frames are loaded. You
can select the frames you
want to reload. Use theReload command to load
frames that are currently open
in the player and that weremodified since they wereloaded.

File > Reload Frames

Unload Frames

Opens the Unload Playback
dialog box and indicates
which frames are loaded. Youcan select the frames you
want to unload.

File > Unload Frames

Quit Play

Exits the application.

macOS: macOS Play > Quit Play.
Windows/Linux: File > Quit.

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Chapter 2: About the Play Module Interface

View Menu
CommandAction

Access Methods

Zoom In

Zooms in on the loaded images
to view them closer. In thelower-right corner of theinterface, you can see therelative zoom level compared tothe image’s original resolution.

Zoom Out

Zooms out of the loaded
images to view them smaller. Inthe lower-right corner of theinterface, you can see therelative zoom level compared tothe image’s original resolution.

Image

Displays the images in normal
mode with all their colours.

View > Zoom In
Press Ctrl + =.

View > Zoom Out
Press Ctrl + =.

View > Image

Displays the image’s matte

Matte(alpha channel). All transparent
zones are displayed in blackand all fully opaque zones aredisplayed in white. Zones thatare semitransparent aredisplayed in grey.

View > Matte

Opens the Loaded Files
Properties dialog box. Displays
the format, path and resolution
information of each loadedimage.

View > Loaded Files Properties

CommandAction

Access Methods

Play Scene Forward

Plays the animation from thePlay > Play Scene Forward

Loaded Files Properties

Play Menu

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Harmony 15.0 Play User Guide

CommandAction

Access Methods

current frame to the last frame.

Play Forward

Play Scene Backward

Plays the animation from thecurrent frame to the firstframe.

Play > Play Scene Backward

Stop

Stops playback.

Loop

Repeats the scene when it
reaches the last frame duringplayback.

Play > Loop

Play > Start Frame

Start Frame

Controls the starting frame ofthe playback range. Opens theSet Start Frame dialog box.

Controls the end frame of thePlay > Stop Frame

playback range. Opens the Set
Stop Frame dialog box.

In the Playback toolbar, enter
values in the Stop field.

Go to Frame

Sets your current frame to any
frame you input in the Go toFrame dialog box.

Play > Go to Frame

Playback Speed

Changes the frame rate of theplayback. Opens the Set Speed
dialog box.

Play > Playback Speed

First Frame

Sets the current frame to thefirst frame of the loaded image
sequence.

Previous Frame

Sets the current frame to its
previous frame.

Play > Previous Frame

Next Frame

Sets the current frame to its
following frame.

Play > Next Frame

Stop Frame

buttonPlay Backwardbutton

Play > Stop
Stop11Loopbutton

buttonIn the Playback toolbar, enter
values in the Start field.

Play >First FrameFirstbutton

Chapter 2: About the Play Module Interface

CommandAction

Access Methods

Last Frame

Sets the current frame to thelast frame of the image
sequence.

Play > Last Frame
Lastbutton

Play Module Help Menu
CommandAction

Online Help

Opens Toon Boom Online
Help where you can finduseful indexed and searchable
information on the operationof the Toon Boom Playmodule.

About

Access Methods

Opens the About window
which displays information
related to the application
version.

12

Help > Online Help
Press F1.

Windows/Linux: Help > About
macOS: This command islocated in the macOS Play menu.

Harmony 15.0 Play User Guide

Playback Toolbar
Using the Playback toolbar (located at the bottom of the player interface), you can play your animation, loop
playback, navigate through frames and change the playback speed.

Interface Element

NameAction

Frame slider

Scrolls forwards or throughthe playback frames.

FirstSets the current frame to thefirst frame of the loaded
image sequence.

Play Backward

Plays the animation fromthe current frame to the firstframe.

Stop

Stops playback.

Play Forward

Plays the animation fromthe current frame to the lastframe.

Last

Plays your sound frame-byframe. This command is
only available when theapplication is launched fromHarmony.

Loop

Repeats the scene when it
reaches the last frame
during playback.

Sound

Includes the soundtrack
during playback. This
command is only available
when the application is13

Chapter 2: About the Play Module Interface

Interface Element

NameAction

launched from Harmony.

Sound Scrubbing

Plays your sound frame-byframe. This command isonly available when theapplication is launched fromHarmony.

Start Frame

Enter a new value to control
the starting frame of theplayback range.

Stop Frame

Enter a new value to control
the end frame of theplayback range.

FPS

Enter a new value (in frames
per second) in this field tochange the playback speed.

Preroll

Select the Preroll option andenter the number of blankframes. These frames will be
added at the start of theplayback.

Scale

Displays the ratio of theplayback size you are
currently viewing in Toon
Boom Play compared to theimage’s actual size.

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Harmony 15.0 Play User Guide

15

Chapter 3: Loading Image Sequences

Chapter 3: Loading Image Sequences
Loading image sequences is a common operation.
Loading Image Sequences from Folders

17

Loading Image Sequences from Databases

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Harmony 15.0 Play User Guide

Loading Image Sequences from Folders
You can import an image sequence from a folder stored locally.

How to load an image sequence from a folder
1. From the top menu, select File > Load from Folder.
The Find Directory dialog box opens.
2. Select the folder that contains the image sequence to load.
3. Click OK.
The Load Playback dialog box opens.

4. Click one of the following:‣Select All: To select all the files in the list.

‣

Select Loaded: To reload images that are already loaded in the player.

‣Select Changed: To reload only the images that were modified since they were loaded.

‣

Select Unloaded: To load all the images in the list that are not currently loaded in the player.

‣

Select an option from the Filter Current Selection menu to select a series of frames from the ones
selected. For example, to load one of six frames instead of the entire sequence, select Keep 1
Frame Out of 6 from the drop-down menu.

17Chapter 3: Loading Image Sequences

5. In the Load At menu, select the image resolution. To load images faster, or to fit them on your screen,load the images at a lower resolution.

6. Click Load to load the selected images.
7. Once the images are loaded, click the Playbutton to play back your image sequence.

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Harmony 15.0 Play User Guide

Loading Image Sequences from Databases
You can import an image sequence stored on the Harmony database.

How to load an image sequence from the database
1. From the top menu, select File > Load from Database. Note that Harmony Essentials cannot
connect to a database. This option is only for Harmony Advanced and Harmony Premium.
The Database selector dialog box opens.
2. Select the environment, job, scene and element in which your frames are located.
3. Select one or more frames to load.
4. Click Open.
The Load Playback dialog box opens.
5. Click one of the following:‣Select All: To select all the files in the list.

‣Select Loaded: To reload images that are already loaded in the player.

‣Select Changed: To reload only the images that were modified since they were loaded.

‣Select Unloaded: To load all the images in the list that are not currently loaded in the player.

‣Select an option from the Filter Current Selection menu to select a series of frames from the ones
selected. For example, to load one of six frames instead of the entire sequence, select Keep 1
Frame Out of 6 from the drop-down menu.

6. In the Load At menu, select the image resolution. To load images faster, or to fit them on your screen,load the images at a lower resolution.

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Chapter 3: Loading Image Sequences

7. Click Load to load the selected images.
8. Once the images are loaded, click the Playbutton to play back your image sequence.

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