Toon Boom Harmony 14.0
Play 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® FileFormat (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
9/12/2019
Copyright © 2017 Toon Boom Animation Inc., a Corus Entertainment Inc. company. All rights reserved.

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Harmony 14 Play Guide

Contents
Toon Boom Harmony 14.0 Play Guide

1

Contents

3

Chapter 1: Play Module4

Launching the Play Module

5

About the Play Module Interface

6

Play Module Top Menu

7

Playback Toolbar

10

Loading Image Sequences

12

Loading Image Sequences from Folders

13

Loading Image Sequences from Databases

153Chapter 1: Play Module

Chapter 1: Play Module
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.
Launching the Play Module

5

About the Play Module Interface

6

Play Module Top Menu

7

Playback Toolbar

10

Loading Image Sequences

12

Loading Image Sequences from Folders

13

Loading Image Sequences from Databases

154Harmony 14 Play Guide

Launching the Play Module
Before using Toon Boom Play, you must start the program. You can run the software on Mac OS X orWindows/Linux operating systems. You can start Toon Boom Play from within Harmony to play back your scene,and see the effects and final images.
How to launch the Play Module
1. Do one of the following:lIn Harmony, select Play > Render and Play or in the Playback toolbar, click the Render andPlaybutton.

lWindows: Start > Programs > Harmony 14[Edition] > Playl

Mac OS X: Applications > Toon Boom Harmony 14.0[Edition] > Playl

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

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Chapter 1: Play Module

About the Play Module Interface

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

Play Module Top Menu

7Playback Toolbar

106Harmony 14 Play 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

Load From Folder

Opens the Find Directory
window where you can selectone or more images to load inthe player.

File > Load from Folder

Load From Database

If you are connected to the Database, this command opens theDatabase Selector window
File > Load from Database
where you can select an image
sequence to load in the player.

Reload Frames

Opens the Load Playback dialog
box and indicates which frames
are loaded. You can select theframes you want to reload. Use
the Reload command to loadFile > Reload Frames
frames that are currently open in
the player and that weremodified since they wereloaded.

Unload Frames

Opens the Unload Playback dialog box and indicates whichframes are loaded. You canFile > Unload Frames
select the frames you want tounload.

Quit Play

Exits the application.

Mac OS X: Mac OS X Play > Quit
Play.
Windows/Linux: File > Quit.

View Menu
CommandAction

Access Methods

Zoom In

Zooms in on the loaded images
to view them closer. In the lowerright corner of the interface, you View > Zoom In
can see the relative zoom level
Press Ctrl + =.
compared to the image’s originalresolution.

Zoom Out

Zooms out of the loaded images

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View > Zoom Out

Chapter 1: Play Module

About the Play Module Interface

CommandAction

Access Methods

to view them smaller. In thelower-right corner of the interface, you can see the relative
zoom level compared to theimage’s original resolution.

Press Ctrl + =.

ImageDisplays the images in normal
mode with all their colours.

View > ImageMatteDisplays the image’s matte(alpha channel). All transparent
zones are displayed in black andall fully opaque zones are disView > Matte
played in white. Zones that aresemitransparent are displayed ingrey.

Loaded Files Properties

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

View > Loaded Files Properties

CommandAction

Access Methods

Plays the animation from thecurrent frame to the last frame.

Play > Play Scene Forward

Play Scene Forward

Plays the animation from thecurrent frame to the first frame.

Play > Play Scene Backward

Play Menu

Play Scene Backward

Play Forward

buttonPlay Backward

buttonPlay > Stop
Stop

Stops playback.
StopbuttonRepeats 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.

Play > Stop Frame

Stop Frame

Controls the end frame of theplayback range. Opens the Set
Stop Frame dialog box.

Go to Frame

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

Loop8Loopbutton

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

In the Playback toolbar, enter
values in the Stop field.
Play > Go to Frame

Harmony 14 Play Guide

CommandAction

Access Methods

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 imagesequence.

Play >First FrameFirstbutton

Previous Frame

Sets the current frame to its prePlay > Previous Frame
vious frame.

Next Frame

Sets the current frame to its folPlay > Next Framelowing frame.

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 find usefulindexed and searchable information on the operation of theToon Boom Play module.

About

Access Methods
Help > Online Help
Press F1.

Windows/Linux: Help > About
Opens the About window which
Mac OS X: This command isdisplays information related tolocated in the Mac OS X Playthe application version.
menu.

9Chapter 1: Play Module

About the Play Module Interface

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 tothe first 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 islaunched 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 the playback range.

FPS

Enter a new value (in10Harmony 14 Play Guide

Interface Element

NameAction
frames per second) in thisfield to change the playback
speed.

Preroll

Select the Preroll option
and enter the number ofblank frames. Theseframes will be added at thestart of the playback.

Scale

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

11Chapter 1: Play Module

Loading Image Sequences

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

13Loading Image Sequences from Databases

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Harmony 14 Play 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.

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.

13Chapter 1: Play Module

Loading Image Sequences

6. Click Load to load the selected images.
7. Once the images are loaded, click the Play14

button to play back your image sequence.

Harmony 14 Play 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 adatabase. 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.

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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Harmony 14 Play Guide

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