TOON BOOM HARMONY 14.0
ESSENTIALS EDITION

Reference 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
9/12/2019
Copyright © 2017 Toon Boom Animation Inc., a Corus Entertainment Inc. company. All rights reserved.

2

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Contents
Toon Boom Harmony 14.0Essentials EditionReference Guide

1

Contents

3

Chapter 1: Reference7

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

9

Add Column Dialog Box

11

Add Drawing Layer Dialog Box

13

Create Function Step On Dialog Box

14

Create Palette Dialog Box

17

Export to Easel JS Dialog Box

18

Export to QuickTime Movie Dialog Box

20

Export to Sprite Sheet Dialog Box

21

Extend Exposure Dialog Box

24

Fill Cells Randomly Dialog Box

25

Import Images Dialog Box

26

Movie Settings Dialog Box

28

New Scene Dialog Box

29

Paste Preset Dialog Box

31

Paste Special Dialog Box

33

Preferences Dialog Box

35

Scene Settings Dialog Box

36

Resolution Tab

36

Scripts Manager Dialog Box

40

Select Colour Dialog Box

41

Set Ease for Multiple Parameters Dialog Box

43

Sound Settings Dialog Box

45

Standard Video Compression Settings Dialog Box

46

Timeline Scene Marker Dialog Box

48

Tint Offset/Blend Dialog Box

49

Toolbar Manager Dialog Box

50

Vectorization Parameters Dialog Box

51

Options Tab

51

3

Contents

Help Tab

53

Chapter 3: Menus

59

Main Menus

60

Animation Menu

61

Drawing Menu

64

Edit Menu

66

File Menu

68

Help Menu

70

Insert Menu

71

Play Menu

72

Scene Menu

73

View Menu

74

Windows Menu

77

Quick-access Menus

78

View Menus

79

Colour View Menu

80

Function View Menu

82

Library View Menu

84

Chapter 4: Nodes

87

Combine Nodes

88

Cutter Node89

Deformation Nodes

91

Bone Node92

Deformation Composite Node94

Game Bone Node96

Kinematic Output Node98

Filter Nodes

99

Blur Node100

Colour-Scale Node102

Glow Node104

Shadow Node107

Transparency

109

Generator Nodes

111

4Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Colour-Card Node112

Element / Drawing Node113

Move Nodes

115

Camera Node116

Peg Node

117

Transformation Tab

117

Quadmap Node118

Sound Layer Properties

120

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

121

Brush Tool Properties

123

Size and Smoothness Tab

124

Close Gap Tool Properties

126

Contour Editor Tool Properties

127

Cutter Tool Properties

129

Ellipse Tool Properties

130

Envelope Tool Properties

133

Eraser Tool Properties

135

Size and Smoothness Tab

136

Line Tool Properties

137

Paint Tool Properties

140

Pencil Tool Properties

142

Perspective Tool Properties

144

Polyline Tool Properties

145

Rectangle Tool Properties

147

Reposition All Drawings Tool Properties

150

Rigging Tool Properties

152

Mode

152

Options152

Operations

152

Select Tool Properties

153

Smooth Editor Tool Properties

158

Stroke Tool Properties

160

Text Tool Properties

161

5

Contents

Transform Tool Properties

164

Zoom Tool Properties

166

Chapter 6: Toolbars

167

Top Toolbars

168

Advanced Animation Toolbar

169

Deformation Toolbar

170

Edit Toolbar

172

File Toolbar

173

Game Toolbar

174

Playback Toolbar

175

Scripting Toolbar

176

Tools Toolbar

177

Workspace Toolbar

180

View Toolbars

181

Timeline View Toolbar

182

Xsheet View Toolbar

183

Chapter 7: Views

185

Camera View

186

Colour View

191

Drawing View

195

Function View

197

Integrated Help View

199

Layer Properties View

200

Library View

202

Message Log View

204

Script Editor View

205

Side View

207

Timeline View

209

Tool Properties View

216

Top View

217

Xsheet View

219

6

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Chapter 1: Reference
Harmony has several commands, dialog boxes, and buttons. The Reference section lists all of them along with thematching definition. To understand how to use these functions in a production context, read the User guide.
In the Reference guide, you will learn about the various parameters available in dialog boxes, menus, nodes,
toolbars, views, and windows.
The Preferences guide provides additional details about each individual preference.

7

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

8

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes
Dialog boxes contain controls such as options and lists through which you can carry out a particular command or
task. For example, in the Scene Settings dialog box, you must indicate the resolution and alignment. A typical dialog
box looks as follows:

Add Column Dialog Box

11

Add Drawing Layer Dialog Box

13

Create Function Step On Dialog Box

14

Create Palette Dialog Box

17

Export to Easel JS Dialog Box

18

Export to QuickTime Movie Dialog Box

20

Export to Sprite Sheet Dialog Box

21

Extend Exposure Dialog Box

24

Fill Cells Randomly Dialog Box

25

Import Images Dialog Box

26

Movie Settings Dialog Box

28

New Scene Dialog Box

29

Paste Preset Dialog Box

31

Paste Special Dialog Box

33

Preferences Dialog Box

35

Scene Settings Dialog Box

36

Resolution Tab

36

Scripts Manager Dialog Box

40
9Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Select Colour Dialog Box

41

Set Ease for Multiple Parameters Dialog Box

43

Sound Settings Dialog Box

45

Standard Video Compression Settings Dialog Box

46

Timeline Scene Marker Dialog Box

48

Tint Offset/Blend Dialog Box

49

Toolbar Manager Dialog Box

50

Vectorization Parameters Dialog Box

51

Options Tab

51

Help Tab

53

10

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Add Column Dialog Box
The Add Column dialog box lets you add a column in the Xsheet view.
By default, when you create a new scene, there is one drawing column in the Xsheet view and one corresponding
drawing layer in the Timeline view.
You can add an element for each drawing and it will appear as a column in the Xsheet view, a layer in the Timelineview.
How to access the Add Column dialog box
1. Do one of the following:l

In the Xsheet menu, select Columns > Add Columns.

lClick the Add Columns

lPress Shift + C.

button.

Parameter

Description

Name

Lets you give the new column a meaningful name.

Type

Lets you select a type of column to create. Choices include: Drawing, Timing,
Sound, 3D Path, 3D Rotation, Bezier Curve, Ease Curve, Expression andAnnotation.

Drawing Layer Options
Line Art

Creates a vector or bitmap drawing column in the Line Art layer.

Colour Art

Creates a vector or bitmap drawing column in the Colour Art layer.

Element
Create New Element

Creates an independent column with its own drawing folder.

Vector

Select this option if you want the layer to contain vector drawings.
Deselect this option if you want the layer to contain bitmap images.
Most of the time, the Vector option will be enabled.

Bitmap Format

Lets you select the type of bitmap image to insert in the column. Select SCAN
from the list if you are planning to scan drawings using the Toon Boom Harmony
Scan module.

Scan TypeIf you chose SCAN from the Bitmap Format list, select the kind of scanning you
want to achieve.

Field Chart

When importing traditional animation, lets you indicate the size of paper on which
the animation or background was drawn. If you are not using perforated animation
paper, leave the 12 field default value as is.

Use Existing Element

Uses drawings from an existing column in the new column. Both columns will be
attached to the same set of drawings, but their timing will remain independent
from one another. If you modify one of the drawings, it will be modified in bothcolumns. This is the same principle as the Clone column.

Name

Lets you select the column to which you want to link your new column.

11Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Add Column Dialog Box

Add and Close

Adds the selected type of layers to the Timeline view and corresponding column
in the Xsheet view and closes the dialog box. The names of the layers/columns
are automatically numbered incrementally.

Add

Adds the selected type of layers to the Timeline view and corresponding column
in the Xsheet view. The dialog box remains open for you to add as manylayers/columns as needed. The names of the layers/columns are automatically
numbered incrementally.

Close

Closes the dialog box.

12

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Add Drawing Layer Dialog Box
The Add Drawing Layer dialog box lets you add a drawing layer to your project.
By default, when you create a new scene, there is one drawing column in the Xsheet view and one corresponding
drawing layer in the Timeline view.
You can add an element for each drawing and it will appear as a column in the Xsheet view, a layer in the Timelineview.

How to access the Add Drawing Layer dialog box
1. Do one of the following:l

In the Timeline view, click the Add Drawing Layerbutton.

l

From the top menu, select Insert > Drawing.

l

Press Ctrl + R (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + R (Mac OS X).

Parameter

Description

Name

Lets you give the new layer a meaningful name.

Add and Close

Adds the selected type of layers to the Timeline view and corresponding column
in the Xsheet view and closes the dialog box. The names of the layers/columns
are automatically numbered incrementally.

Add

Adds the selected type of layers to the Timeline view and corresponding column
in the Xsheet view. The dialog box remains open for you to add as manylayers/columns as needed. The names of the layers/columns are automatically
numbered incrementally.

Close

Closes the dialog box.

13

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Create Function Step On Dialog Box

Create Function Step On Dialog Box
The Create Function Step On dialog box lets you hold the same value over a selected number of frames for
multiple parameters (pos x, scale y, etc.). This works well when you are animating drawings on 2s or 3s, forexample, and you want to hold the same value for a function over those two or three frames.

How to access the Create Function Step On dialog box
1. Add the Scripting toolbar to your interface:lll

Go to the top menu and select Windows > Toolbars > Scripting.
Right-click on the empty space near the top of the interface and from the quick-access menu selecting Scripting.
Right-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 window.

3. In the Scripts Manager, in the Files section, select the file TB_CreateStepsOn.js.
The functions associated with that file appear in the Functions section.
4. In the Functions section, select TB_CreateStepsOn.
The Add script to toolbar

button becomes active.

14

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

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 whose parameter values you would like to hold.
9. In the Scripting toolbar, click on the TB_CreateStepsOn script

button.

The Create Function Step On dialog box appears.

Parameter

Description

Settings
Every Number of Frames

Enter in the number of frames you would like to hold your functions.

Selection

First Frame

Enter in the frame number of where you would like the stepped holds tostart. The playhead location determines the lowest value you can enter for
the first frame. You need to move the playhead to frame one if you would
like to set frame one as the lowest possible starting value.

15

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Last Frame

Create Function Step On Dialog Box

Enter in the frame number of where you would like the stepped holds to
stop.

16

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Create Palette Dialog Box
The Create Palette dialog box lets you create a palette in Basic mode. For simple productions, it is recommended touse the Basic mode. This setting stores the palettes automatically for you and saves them at the Scene level. Whenyou use the Advanced Palette Lists mode, you can decide at which level you want to store your palettes:
Environment, Job, Scene, or Element.

How to access the Create Palette dialog box
1. From the Colour view menu, select Palettes > New or click the New PaletteParameter

Description

New Palette Name

Lets you enter a name for the new palette.

17

button.

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Export to Easel JS Dialog Box

Export to Easel JS Dialog Box
The Export to Easel JS window lets you flatten an image sequence of your animation. Even if you have a fully
rigged puppet or a single drawing layer with your animation sequence, the outcome will still be a flattened output
of each frame, grouped together in your sprite sheet. This allows for more flexibility and freedom of work as you
have access to any tools or effect modules you want to use. However, this can result in heavier files dependingon the length, complexity and export size of your animation.

How to access the Export to Easel JS window
1. Select Windows > Toolbars > Game.

2. Click the Export to Easel JS
Parameter

button.

Description

Select Directory
Save Path

The folder path where you want to save your export.

Save Name

The folder name in which you will save your export. This will also be the nameof your asset in Unity. Your scene file name will be used as the clip name.

Existing Clips in Folder

Displays the clips in the folder.

18

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Scene Options

Display

Here, you must select the Display of your character. This is the one that will be
used to render out all of the information attached to that Display node. If the
Unconnected_Display option is selected, all of the visual information in yourscene will be rendered out.

Sprite Sheet Preferences
Max Width
Max HeightThis is a value, in pixels, for the maximum width and height the exported sprite
sheet should be. By default, both values are set to 2048 pixels.

Expand Sprite Sheet

Uses the minimum size necessary up until it reaches the maximum resolution.

Fixed Sprite Sheet

Creates a texture of the specified size (Max Width and Max Height) even if it
does not fill it up completely by all the drawings in your scene.

Resolution Type

POT: Exports to sprite sheets with sizes that are a power of 2. For example:
1024 x 1024. This is optimized for many graphics cards, but consumes morememory.
NPOT: Some game engines are optimized specifically to render to non powersof two, so that it will avoid those numbers. Example: 1000 x 1000.

Reuse FramesThis option works in tandem with the Threshold option. The export willcompare the drawings in your project to reuse a maximum of similar drawings
and reduce the amount of information found in the sprite sheet, making it
lighter. The export will omit the creation of new drawings if the difference isless than the threshold percentage.

ThresholdCalculates the differences between multiple drawings. A 2% threshold will
prevent the creation of a new drawing if the drawing is too similar to an existingdrawing. For instance, with a 2% threshold, and my drawing is 100 pixels big,
only 2 of those pixels need to be different from my other drawing in order tocreate a new one. The higher the threshold, the fewer similar drawings you willhave.

Sprite Resolutions

Size of the render of the individual sprite, when it exports each drawing out.

19

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Export to QuickTime Movie Dialog Box

Export to QuickTime Movie Dialog Box
The Export to QuickTime Movie dialog box lets you export your animation as a QuickTime movie. If you want torender a QuickTime movie with lossless compression and transparency, you can use the Animation video codec
with the colour depth set to Millions of Colours +.

How to access the Export to QuickTime Movie dialog box
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Movie.
Parameter

Description

OutputBrowseLets you select a folder in which to save your movie and give it a file name forthe export.

Export Range
All

Exports the entire frame range.

FramesLets you enter the frame range to export.

Resolution
Resolution list

Lets you select a resolution ratio. If you select Custom, you can enter thewidth and height.

Width and HeightLets you specify the width and height of the resolution.

Options
Movie Options

Opens the Movie Settings dialog box in which you can set the the compression
settings for the movie you will export—see Movie Settings Dialog Box.

20

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Export to Sprite Sheet Dialog Box
The Export to Sprite Sheets window 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, andjump 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 whose drawings you can reuse for all the animations inthat character set. Each scene version will be displayed as an item in the list.
When you export an animation, only the drawings used in that scene are exported. All the drawings are exported
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 will reatlas the sprite
sheet to include all the drawings from all the animations in that folder, creating a new animation file, but reusing thesame skeleton.

How to access the Export to Sprite Sheets window
1. Select Windows > Toolbars > Game.

21

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Export to Sprite Sheet Dialog Box

2. Click the Export to Sprite Sheets
Parameter

button.

Description

Select Directory
Asset Path

The folder path where you want to save your export.

Asset Name

The folder name in which you will save your export. This will also be the nameof your asset in Unity. Your scene file name will be used as the clip name.

Existing Clips in Folder
Preview Window

Displays a list of pre-existing clips in the same export folder location, most
likely exported there from a previous time.

Use Scene Markers to
Export Clips

Uses scene markers to define the export range, instead of exporting the entire
scene.

Project Settings

Unit Scale

Lets you change the scale when exporting to Unity to accommodate the size ofthe export without it affecting the Harmony scene. This helps you resize
assets properly for Unity without having to resize them in Harmony. The basic
scale is one Animation Field for one Unity unit.

PresetLets you select the unit conversion from Harmony to Unity, by selecting one of
4 presets. Note: a field is a unit of measure in traditional animation grid.

Sprite Sheet Preferences
Max Width

This is a value, in pixels, for the maximum width and height the exported sprite
sheet should be. By default, both values are set to 2048 pixels.

Max Height

Makes linear values for interpolation. This increases the amount of memory
used but frees up the calculation so it is not done on the fly.

Expand Sprite Sheet

Uses the minimum size necessary up until it reaches the maximum resolution.

Fixed Sprite Sheet

Creates a texture of the specified size (Max Width and Max Height) even if it
does not fill it up completely by all the drawings in your scene.

Resolution Type

POT: Exports to sprite sheets with sizes that are a power of 2. For example:
1024 x 1024. This is optimized for many graphics cards, but consumes morememory.
NPOT: Some game engines are optimized specifically to render to non powersof two, so that it will avoid those numbers. Example: 1000 x 1000.

Reuse FramesThis option works in tandem with the Threshold option. The export willcompare the drawings in your project to reuse a maximum of similar drawings
and reduce the amount of information found in the sprite sheet, making it
lighter. The export will omit the creation of new drawings if the difference isless than the threshold percentage.

ThresholdCalculates the differences between multiple drawings. A 2% threshold will

22

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

prevent the creation of a new drawing if the drawing is too similar to an existingdrawing. For instance, with a 2% threshold, and my drawing is 100 pixels big,
only 2 of those pixels need to be different from my other drawing in order tocreate a new one. The higher the threshold, the fewer similar drawings you willhave.
Sprite Resolutions

Size of the render of the individual sprite, when it exports each drawing out.

Delete Existing Clips

Select this option to delete any pre-existing clips in the export location.

Bake Animation Curves

Makes linear values for interpolation. This increases the amount of memory
used but frees up the calculation so it is not done on the fly.

Clear Texture Folder

Removes any information from the texture folder within the Harmony file. This
has no incidence towards the Unity export but contributes to a lighter Harmony
file.

23

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Extend Exposure Dialog Box

Extend Exposure Dialog Box
The Extend Exposure dialog box lets you extend the exposure of a selected cell in the Timeline or Xsheet.

How to access the Extend Exposure dialog box
1. Select a cell and do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Animation > Cell > Extend Exposure.

lPress F5.

The Extend Exposure dialog box opens.
Parameter

Description

Extend to Frame

Lets you enter the frame up to which you want to extend the exposure. You can
expose the drawing in the frames and replace the drawings that were originally
there or move the subsequent frames forward in time.

Overwrite

Lets you expose the drawing in the frames and replace the drawings that wereorginally there.

InsertLets you expose the drawing in the frames and move the subsequent frames
forward in the Timeline view.

24Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Fill Cells Randomly Dialog Box
The Fill Cells Randomly dialog box lets you Lets you fill in random values over a selection. You can give a maximum
and a minimum value and create a range for Harmony to choose the random values from. The selection can be over
one cell or a cell range in one column or more or an entire column or many entire columns.
How to access the Fill Cells Randomly dialog box
1. Do one of the following:ll

Select Animation > Cell > Fill Cells Randomly.
In the Xsheet view, click the Fill Cells Randomly
toolbar to display it).

button (you may have to customize the

The Fill Cells Randomly dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Minimum Value

The lowest value to be used in the randomized exposure or keyframe value.

Maximum Value

The highest value to be used in the randomized exposure or keyframe value.

Hold

The exposure holding value.

Whole Numbers

If you are applying this to a drawing column, this option lets you avoid having
decimal points.

Add Key Exposure After

Inserts a key exposure on the frame following the last cell of the selection.

25

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Import Images Dialog Box

Import Images Dialog Box
T-HFND-007-011
The Import Images dialog box lets you import bitmap images and vectorize them, making the images editable.
Then you can use a variety of drawing tools to edit the image. Or you can always keep the original bitmap image
as is.
Also, you can choose to import bitmap images on bitmap or vector layers depending on your project..
How to open the Import Images dialog box
1. Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select File > Import > Images.

l

In the File toolbar, click the Import Imagesl

In the Xsheet view, right-click anywhere in the frame area and select Import > Images.

button.

The Import Images dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Files
BrowseLets you find and select images on your computer.

Create Layers(s)Create layers for imported images.

Create Single Layer
Named

Creates a new layer with the specified name and imports the images into it.

Create Layer(s) Basedon 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, this will create twolayers, one named "a" and one named "b". Layer "a" will contain the two firstimages and "b" will contain the third one.

Add to Existing Layer

Imports the images into the specified layer. Note that you can only import into

Layer

26

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

layers that are compatible with your import options. For example, if you're
importing images as vector drawings, you can only import them into vector
drawing layers.
Vectorization
Vectorize Image

Imports a drawing and converts it to a Toon Boom vector drawing.

ColourImports bitmaps as vector objects with their image as a texture.

Black and White

Vectorizes drawings with a solid black line. This creates a 100% vector-based
drawing and paints it with the Vectorized Line colour swatch from your scene's
palette.

Threshold

Determines what values in the scanned image will be considered as part of thedrawing, and what will be ignored and eliminated in the vectorized drawing. The
lower the value, the darker the image and vice versa.

SmoothDetermines how smooth the lines will be. The lower the value, the more detailwill be retained. The higher the value, the more polished and easy to edit thelines will be.

27

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Movie Settings Dialog Box

Movie Settings Dialog Box
The Movie Settings dialog box lets you set the compression settings for the movie you will export.

How to access the Movie Settings dialog box
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Movie.
2. In the Export to QuickTime Movie dialog box that opens, click Movie Options.
Parameter

Description

Video
Settings

Opens the Standard Video Compression Settings dialog box. This is where
you can set the video compression settings for the movie you will export—see
Standard Video Compression Settings Dialog Box on page 46.

FilterOpens the Choose Video Filter dialog box, where you can select from a rangeof filters to apply to your video export.

Size

Opens the Export Size Settings dialog box. The size settings are overridden by
the Harmony's scene settings.

Settings

Opens the Standard Video Compression Settings dialog box. This is where
you can you set the sound compression settings for the movie you will export—
see Sound Settings Dialog Box on page 45.

Sound

28

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

New Scene Dialog Box
The New Scene window lets you create a new scene.

How to access the New Scene window
1. Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select File > New.

l

In the File toolbar, click the NewlPress Ctrl + N (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + N (Mac OS X).

button.

The New Scene dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Name

Lets you type in a name for the new scene.

Location

Lists the locations you used most frequently for storing scenes.

BrowseOpens a browser in which you can specify a location for the new scene that is notlisted in the Location list.

Camera Size

Opens a list of resolutions.

+ (Create Custom Resolution)

Opens the New Resolution window in which you can create a custom resolutionthat is added to the Camera Size list.

- (Delete Custom Resolution)

Lets you remove a custom resolution from the Camera Size list.

Width

Indicates the width of the resolution you chose from the Camera Size list.

29

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Frame Rate

New Scene Dialog Box

Indicates the frame rate of the resolution you chose from the Camera Size list.

30

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Paste Preset Dialog Box
When pasting key frames and exposures, you can modify the existing presets to your liking. There are three presets
you can modify: the default presets for both key frames and exposures, key frames only and exposures only.

Parameter

Description

Drawings
Never create drawing files: When adding exposures to a drawing layer, drawing
files will not be created.
Only create drawing files when they do not exist: When adding exposures to a
Add/Remove Exposure drawing layer, new drawings will be created only when drawings with the same
name do not already exist in the destination.
Always create drawing files: When adding exposures to a drawing layer, newdrawings will always be created. If drawing files with the same name alreadyexist, Harmony will create a new name for the drawing.
Enforce Key Exposure

If there are key exposures that exist on copied drawings, they are preserved when
pasting. No key exposures are added. This is the default behavior when pasting.

Fill Gap with Previous
Drawing

Fills selected area in the Xsheet or Timeline view with the previous drawing.

Fill to Next Key
Exposure

Fills selected area till the next key exposure.

Keyframes
Motion: Copies the properties of the selected motion keyframe to the new frame.
Velocity: Copies the properties of the selected velocity keyframe to the newframe.
Add/Remove
Keyframes

Rotation: Copies the properties of the selected rotation keyframe to the newframe.
Scale: Copies the properties of the selected scale keyframe to the new frame.
Skew: Copies the properties of the selected skew keyframe to the new frame.
Force Keyframes at Function's Beginning and End: Adds a keyframe to the31Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Paste Preset Dialog Box

beginning and end of the pasted function, reproducing the source function.

32

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Paste Special Dialog Box
The Paste Special dialog box lets you determine how templates and symbols are imported in the Timeline view.
When you import a template in the Timeline view, all layers are created as well as drawings and keyframes. You canchoose to import only the keyframes without the drawings or import only the drawings that are not already in yourlayers. You can adjust the behaviour using the Paste Special dialog box.When you import a symbol 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 will be
exposed. However, if you import it into an existing layer, you can use the Paste Special dialog box to adjust theimport behaviour to fit your requirements.Once you set the parameters, Harmony will reuse them each time you
import a symbol in the Timeline view’s right side until you set new parameters.
How to access the Paste Special dialog box
1. In the Library view, select the symbol or template to import.
2. Press Ctrl + B (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + B (Mac OS X) and drag the selection to the Timeline view.

NOTE: Drop the selection in the Timeline view before releasing the keyboard shortcut key.

The Paste Special dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Drawings
Do Nothing

Does not create or overwrite drawings.

Never create drawing files: When adding exposures to a drawing layer, drawing
Add/Remove Exposure files will not be created.
Only create drawing files when they do not exist: When adding exposures to a33

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Paste Special Dialog Box

drawing layer, new drawings will be created only when drawings with the same
name do not already exist in the destination.
Replace existing drawings. Create drawing files when they do not exist:
Replace drawings with the same names to update a scene with new modified
drawings and preserve the animation.
Tip: If you don't want to lose the existing animation when pasting atemplate, such as when placing new drawings after the animation,then delete the template's animation. It will still have updated thedrawings but not override the existing animation.
Always create drawing files: When adding exposures to a drawing layer, newdrawings will always be created. If drawing files with the same name alreadyexist, Harmony will create a new name for the drawing.
Symbols
Copy symbols if they
do not exist

This is the default setting for this operation and will prevent Symbols in an Action
template from being copied.

Duplicate symbols

Creates a duplicate of the symbol instead of linking the Symbol instance to the original one. The new Symbol is created in the Library.

Paste all Frames of thesymbol (full movie)

When enabled, the Paste Special command exposes all the symbol's frames
instead of only the first one.

Add Remove/Keyframes
MotionCopies the properties of the selected motion keyframe to the new frame.

Velocity

Copies the properties of the selected velocity keyframe to the new frame.

Rotation

Copies the properties of the selected rotation keyframe to the new frame.

Scale

Copies the properties of the selected scale keyframe to the new frame.

Skew

Copies the properties of the selected skew keyframe to the new frame.

Force Keyframes at
Function's Beginningand EndAdds a keyframe to the beginning and end of the pasted function, reproducing thesource function.

CyclesNormal (forward): Pastes your selection as is, starting with the first cell andending with the last.
Reverse: Pastes your selection in reverse, starting with the last cell and ending
with the first.
Cycle Type
Forward > Reverse: Pastes your selection as a yo-yo, starting with the firstcell, going to the last one and ending with the first cell.
Reverse > Forward: Pastes your selection as a reverse yo-yo, starting with thelast cell, going to the first one and ending with the last cell.
Number of Cycles

Lets you set the number of cycles.

34

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Preferences Dialog Box
The Preferences dialog box lets you adjust preferences to suit your work style, allowing you to work more efficiently.

NOTE: To learn more about the individual preferences, refer to the Preferences guide.

NOTE: Some preferences require you to exit and restart the application, or close a view and reopen it.

How to access the Preferences dialog box
Do one of the following:lSelect Edit > Preferences (Windows/Linux) or Harmony Essentials > Preferences (Mac OS X).

lPress Ctrl + U (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + U (Mac OS X).

35

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Scene Settings Dialog Box

Scene Settings Dialog Box
The Scene Settings dialog box lets you parameters for your scene.
When you created your new scene, you set up the resolution and the alignment. However, if you want to changethese initial settings later, you can do it using the Scene Settings dialog box. The different Scene Settings options
are separated into four tabs.

How to access the Scene Settings dialog box
1. Select Scene > Scene Settings.
The Scene Settings dialog box opens.

Resolution Tab
Parameter

Description
You can select your project’s resolution (camera frame size) from this preset
list.

‣ HDTV: High definition television delivers a higher quality image than
Resolution Presets

standard television (4:3) does, because it has a greater number of linesof resolution. To take advantage of the superior quality your output
device must be compatible with HDTV technology to make thisresolution setting useful.

‣ HDTV_Vertical: The "vertical resolution" of HDTV_Vertical refers to
how the images will be aligned in relation to the actual scene frame(default 4:3 grid). Note that the camera resolution and the scene frame
are not the same. When working with 12 or 16 field drawing grids, the36Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

grid is a different aspect ratio from the camera frame. When you fit
vertically, you fit the images with the top and bottom of the scene grid.

‣ film-1.33: Use this resolution setting for the academy film format that
conforms to the standard 4:3 aspect ratio.

‣ film-1.66: Use this resolution setting for the widescreen film format that
conforms to the 16:9 aspect ratio.

‣ film-1.66_Vertical: This is essentially the same as film-1.66. Refers to
how the drawing is fit into the scene frame. When working with 12 or 16
field drawing grids, the grid is a different aspect ratio from the camera
frame. When you fit vertically, you fit the images with the top andbottom of the scene frame.

‣ NTSC: This is the standard analogue television broadcasting systemused in North America and conforms to the North American standards
on how rectangular pixels are displayed for computer and televisionscreens.

‣ PAL: This resolution works best with the European format for televisionand computer screens, as the rectangular pixels are displayed at adifferent orientation.

‣ Low: This format is ideal for videos destined for the web, where sizeand fast download of a video file might take precedence over quality.

‣ Cloud Preview: This is the resolution used by Web Control Center tocreate its preview.
Selected Resolution Preset

Displays the selected resolution preset.
Click the Save Resolution button after you define your new resolution to save it
as a preset.
If you are working in Harmony Server, you will be prompter a dialog box asking
you to name the new resolution as well as the level at which you want to savethe resolution,conf file.

Save Resolution Setting

Displays the pixel dimensions for your project resolution.
Pixel Dimensions

Aspect Ratio

If you decide to type in the pixel dimensions, or use the up and down arrows tochange the pixel increments, you will have to save your custom selection inorder to save it as a new preset. It will then appear in the resolution selection
list. It doesn't modify the current resolution preset.
Displays the ratio between the horizontal and vertical dimensions of thecamera framing. Each resolution setting has a preset aspect ratio that cannot
be changed.

37

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Frame per second

Scene Settings Dialog Box

Sets the frame rate for your project. The higher the frame rate, for example 30
fps, the faster the animation will play. The lower the frame rate, for example 12
fps, the slower your animation will play. Avoid going under 12 frames per
second as your animation will have a choppy playback. The human eye
requires a minimum of 12 frames per second to perceive a fluid animation.
Use these options to define the FOV (field of view) of the camera (angle of thecamera cone) and how the drawing elements (and drawing grid) align to thescene grid. The drawing grid is always scaled proportionally to a 4:3 ratio(unless you change the scene alignment), therefore changing the Field of View
setting may not show a visible difference if your project resolution is also 4:3,
such as NTSC.
l

Horizontal Fit: The camera resolution is set to fit the left and rightedges of the scene grid.

Field of Viewl

Vertical Fit: The camera resolution is set to fit the top and bottom edgesof the scene grid.

38

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

NOTE: If you change your scene‘s alignment from 4:3 12 Fields to Square 12 Fields part way though your project, you may find that the animation grid becomes offset. To correct this, choose the following setting from theLayer Properties panel‘s Advanced tab: Alignment > Alignment Rule > Centre First Page.

39

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Scripts Manager Dialog Box

Scripts Manager Dialog Box
The Scripts Manager dialog box lets you link a script to a toolbar button for quick and easy access. Once you
select a script, you can add it to the toolbar, load a custom icon and add a tooltip.

How to access the Scripts Manager Dialog Box
1. In the Scripting toolbar, click the Manage Scripts

button.

The Scripts Manager dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Files

A list of the available JavaScript files.

Functions

A list of the available functions for the selected script.

In Toolbar

Adds the selected script to the toolbar.

ExecuteRuns the script you selected. Press Esc to interrupt the execution of the script.

Customize Icon

Lets you load a custom icon for the function. You can browse for a *.png,*.jpg or *.xpm file.

Customize Tooltip

Lets you type in a tooltip for the function. When you hover over the button in the
toolbar, your tooltip will appear.

40

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Select Colour Dialog Box
The Select Colour dialog box lets you set the colour of layers and columns. Using colours for layers and columns
helps to differentiate them visually, making them easy to identify.
You can select a colour by choosing from a basic set of colours, using the colour wheel or by specifying the HSV or
RGB values. Once you have selected a colour, you can adjust its intensity and save it as a custom colour that you
can reuse.

How to access the Select Colour dialog box in the Timeline view
1. In the Timeline view, click the Change Track Colour

button of the layer you want to modify.

The Select Colour dialog box opens.
How to access the Select Colour dialog box 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.
The Select Colour dialog box opens.

Parameter

Description

Basic colours

A basic set of colours to choose from.

Custom colours

Displays the custom colours you previously stored using the Add to Custom
Colours button.

Add to custom colours

Lets you add the selected colour to the Custom colours list above.

Colour wheel

Lets you select a colour by dragging the T-shaped pointer.

Value slider

Once you select a colour, you can drag the slider to change the intensity and see

41

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Select Colour Dialog Box

it previewed in the Colour Preview window below..
Colour Preview

Displays the colour you are currently selecting. To apply the colour, click OK.

Hue, Saturation, Value

Lets you set the hue (colour), saturation (amount of colour) and brightness (value)of the colour.

Red, Green, Blue

Lets you set the red, green and blue values.

42Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Set Ease for Multiple Parameters Dialog Box
The Edit Set Ease for Multiple Parameters dialog box lets you apply ease to multiple functions and keyframes. You
can display the function curve and modify the Bezier or Ease curve.

How to access the Set Ease for Multiple Parameters dialog box
1. In the Timeline view, select a keyframe on one or more layers.

2. Do one of the following: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.

Parameter

Description

Filters
Motion: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Position X, Position Y,
Position Z and 3D Path functions.
Rotation: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Angle functions.
MotionScale: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Scale functions.
Skew: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Skew functions.
Morphing: Applies the easing parameters to the selected Morphing Velocity
functions. Note that it applies to the Morphing velocity function found in the Layer
Properties window, not the basic morphing ease in the Tool Properties view.

43Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Set Ease for Multiple Parameters Dialog Box

Other: Applies the easing parameters to all the other the selected functions, suchas all functions created to animate effect parameters.
Left and Right Time Ratio

Lets you type the percentage value corresponding to the length of time you want
the easing to last. Stay between 0% and 100%. If you go beyond 100%, yourmotion will overshoot.

Left and Right Value Ratio

Lets you type the percentage value of how strong you want the easing out to be.
Stay between 0% and 100%. If you go beyond 100%, your motion will overshoot.

Apply/Previous

Applies the easing parameters to the selected keyframes and then selects theprevious keyframe in the timeline.

Apply

Applies the easing parameters to the selected keyframes.

Apply/Next

Applies the easing parameters to the selected keyframes and then selects thenext keyframe in the timeline.

Close

Close the dialog box. If you did not apply the modifications, they will be cancelled.

44Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Sound Settings Dialog Box
The Sound Settings dialog box lets you set the compression settings for the movie you will export.

How to access the Sound Settings Dialog Box
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Movie.
2. In the Export to QuickTime Movie dialog box that opens, click Movie Options.
3. In the Movie Setting dialog box that opens, click Settings in the Sound section.

Parameter

Description

Compressor

Lets you select a compression type. The default setting is None. This exports
your audio as is without performing any lossy compression or conversion,preserving its fidelity. Other compressors can be used if you need your movie'saudio track to be exported in a specific format, or if disk space or download speed
is critical, but they may impact the quality of your movie's soundtrack negatively.

Rate

Lets you select the audio rate at which to export. It is best to export your audio at
a rate that matches the rate of your original sound files. For example, if your file
has an audio sample rate of 48 kHz and you choose a conversion rate of 22.05
kHz, the sound will play at the same speed, but higher frequencies will be
missing, making it sound muffled. For reference, the standard sound quality is44.1 kHz for films, and 48 kHz for DVD. Lower rates are liable to impact thequality of your movie's soundtrack negatively, but they can be useful if disk spaceor download speed is critical.

Size

Lets you select the encoding size. Also known as Bit Depth, this determines theamount of precision used to record each wavelength in the soundtrack. The
standard size is 16-bit. If you choose 8-bit, the amount of disk space your soundtrack requires is halved, but the audio will sound muffled.

Use

Lets you decide whether to use the Mono or Stereo channel mode. Stereo soundhas a separate sound track for the left and the right speakers, allowing to makethe origin of each sound realistically match the origin of their corresponding
action. If you choose Mono, your sound track may use less disk space, but boththe left and right channels will be merged into a single track.

45

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Standard Video Compression Settings Dialog Box

Standard Video Compression Settings Dialog Box
The Standard Video Compression Settings dialog box lets you set the compression settings for the movie you will
export.

How to access the Standard Video Compression Settings Dialog Box
1. From the top menu, select File > Export > Movie.
2. In the Export to QuickTime Movie dialog box that opens, click Movie Options.
3. In the Movie Setting dialog box that opens, click Settings in the Video section.

Parameter

Description

Compression Type

Lets you select a codec. The availability of certain compression settings
depends on the Compression Type selected. For example, Animation is thedefault compression type and as a result the Data Rate option is greyed out.

MotionFrame Rate

Lets you select a frame rate. By default, it is set to match the frames-persecond (fps) of your Harmony project. If you choose a lower frame rate, yourexport playback will be faster than your actual project. The reverse is also true
for a higher frame rate.
Automatic:
Every: Inserts keyframes. This is the option is recommended by QuickTime.
For further details, refer to the QuickTime documentation.

Key Frames

All:
Frame Rendering:
Frames: Lets you set the number of keyframes to insert.

46

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Compressor
Depth

Lets you select a depth based on your movie’s needs. For example, Millions ofColours+ houses an alpha channel.

Quality

Lets you choose a quality setting. The higher the quality of the export, thelarger the resulting file.

Data Rate
Automatic: Lets the system automatically select the most optimal bit rate.
Date Rate

Restrict To: Lets you enter a rate to save space and allow for faster
downloading at a cost to the quality of the export.
Optimized For: Lets you select the intended viewing method.

Preview

Displays a preview of the movie to be exported.

47

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Timeline Scene Marker Dialog Box

Timeline Scene Marker Dialog Box
The Timeline Scene Marker dialog box lets you create and manage scene markers in the Timeline view. Scene
markers are visual indicators displayed at the top of the Timeline view in the frame counter area. You can use it todenote anything relevant to your work. You can indicate the frames you want to clean up, a change in action, an
impact, or where you intend to apply an effect. You can also add a note to a scene marker, which is displayedwhen you hover over the scene marker.
How to access the Timeline Scene Marker dialog box
1. In the frame counter area of the Timeline view, do one of the following:‣

Drag to select the frame range to mark.

‣

Right-click and select Scene Markers > Mark Current Frame.

Parameter

Description

Colour swatch

Opens the Mark Colour dialog box where you can select a colour for the scene
marker.

Note (Tooltip)

Lets you type in a name for your scene marker. Making the name meaningful
will help you to quickly identify scene markers especially when there are manyof them in the frame counter area of the Timeline view.

48

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Tint Offset/Blend Dialog Box
You can offset, blend, or mix the colours in a colour palette using the sliders and increasing the Amount value.

How to access the Tint Offset/Blend dialog box
1. From the Colour View menu, select Palettes > Tint Panel or right-click and select Tint Panel.
The Blend/Offset Tint panel opens.

Parameter

Description

OffsetOffsets the selected colours by the adjustments made using the HSB and RGB
sliders. Use the Amount slider to adjust the degree of offset. Use the Alpha slider
to adjust the opacity of the selected colour.

Blend

Blends the selected colours with the colour swatch in the top-right corner. Use theAmount slider to adjust the degree of blend. A blend of 100% turns the selectedcolours into the same colour as the swatch. Adjusting the HSB and RGB sliders
affect the swatch colour, which in turn affects the selected colours on the left.
Use the Alpha slider to adjust the opacity of the swatch.

Mixer

Select a Base and Tint colour to form a third colour swatch. Use the slider justbeneath to mix the Base and Tint colours by different amounts. This will affect themixed swatch whether it is selected or not. Select either the Tint or Base swatch
and use the HSB and RGB sliders to adjust its colour. This will affect the mixed
swatch colour, which in turn affects the selected colours on the left.

49Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Toolbar Manager Dialog Box

Toolbar Manager Dialog Box
The Toolbar Manager dialog box lets you customize the toolbar in any of the views. You can add your favourite
tools to a toolbar for an efficient workflow.

How to access the Toolbar Manager dialog box
1. Right-click on a toolbar in any view and select Customize. Note that the menu will not appear if you rightclick on a disabled icon.

Parameter

Description

Available Tools

Displays the complete list of tools available for customizing a toolbar.

Toolbar

Displays a list of the tools currently available on the toolbar.

Default

Restores the toolbar with its default items.

50

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Vectorization Parameters Dialog Box
The Vectorization Parameters dialog box lets you vectorize pencil drawings, along with any red, blue or green pencil
marks you may have used to indicate highlights and shadows. The drawing will be vectorized into pure red, blue,
green and black (RGB values), while creating colour art zones wherever lines connect. After painting in your tones
and highlights, change your pure RGB colours to transparent (0 Alpha) in the Colour Picker window and watch theindicator colour zone lines disappear.

How to open the Vectorization Parameters dialog box
1. From the top menu, select File > Import > From Scanner.
You can also open it from any other import option that allows you to customize the vectorization parameters(i.e. from the scanner).
2. In the Scan Drawings window, do the following: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

Options Tab
51

button.

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Vectorization Parameters Dialog Box

The Options tab contains the main vectorization settings. More settings are available in the Help tab.

Parameter

Description

Input

The input filters are applied to the bitmap image before it is vectorized.
One Pass

One threshold value is applied to both the Line and Colour Art. For drawings
with distinct vector-style lines of mattes, you only need one pass.

Two Passes

Applies a different threshold value to each layer. For greyscale drawings, you
may want to perform the vectorization process twice to apply different
threshold values to the Line and Colour Art layers.

Threshold

Determines which values in the scanned image are considered part of the Lineand Colour Art layer and what will be eliminated from the vectorized drawing;
0% is white and 100% is black. The threshold is between these two values.

Expand Bitmap

Lets you enter a value to scale the bitmap to detect small variations in the line.
Use this option if you scanned a greyscale image and want to preserve small
variations in the texture to apply to the line art.

Jag Filter

Lets you enter a value to scale back the bitmap to remove some of the line’sroughness. This is useless when you have a drawing that appears quite rough;the Jag filter will eliminate excess strokes in the final drawing.

Line Art Threshold (%)

Determines which values in the scanned image are considered part of the LineArt layer and what will be eliminated from the vectorized drawing; 0% is whiteand 100% is black. The threshold is between these two values.

Colour Art Threshold(%)

Determines which values in the scanned image are considered part of theColour Art layer and what will be eliminated from the vectorized drawing; 0% iswhite and 100% is black. The threshold is between these two values.

OutputThe output filters are applied during the vectorization process.
No Colour Art

Does not generate filling zones in the Colour Art layer.

No Texture

Does not generate texture in the Line Art layer in the final images. Select thisoption to create solid lines in the final line art.

Generate Matte in
Underlay Layer

Creates an opaque zone behind your drawing’s lines to avoid seeing throughthe layers.

Colour as Texture

Converts colour values into a texture layer.

Optical Registration

The optical registration options are used to automatically align drawings based52Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guideon the position of the peg holes on the animation paper. The peg holes must
appear in the scanned drawings for the optical registration to work.
DPI

Lets you enter the dots-per-inch value of your image. You must enter the samevalue as the DPI used to scan the image.

Peg Side

Lets you select the position of the peg holes on your drawings. Identify whether
they are on the top, bottom, left or right.
Determines how exact the location of the peg holes must be for the software torecognize them. There are two values to choose from:

Strictness

Strict: The peg holes must be in a tightly defined area to be recognized.
Loose: The peg holes can be recognized somewhere in a larger area. This is
the recommended setting.

Field Chart
Post Processing

Lets you indicate the size of the animation paper, 12 or 16.
The Post Processing filters are applied to the final vector images.

Remove Holes

Removes holes of a specified value that might make painting difficult.

Remove Dirt

Removes stray marks and dirt of a specified value. Try a value around 500.

Remove Hair Size

Removes small strokes that have no line art.

Remove Hair: Number
of Passes

The number of times the drawing will be analyzed to identify hair marks.

Miscellaneous
Close Gaps

Closes gaps in the Colour Art so you can paint it.

Smooth Passes for Line The number of times the smoothing operation runs before creating the triangles
Art Before Breaking
that break lines in the drawing. If unnecessary triangles are appearing in the
Triangles
drawing, increase this value.
Smooth Passes for Line The number of times the smoothing operation is performed after the triangles
Art
have been created. This further smooths the line art.
Preview
Show Strokes

Shows the strokes in the Vectorized Image panel.

Stroke Thickness

Shows the size of the strokes.

Help Tab
The Help tab contains the most advanced vectorization settings which you type in the Advanced Option fields at thebottom of the Vectorization Parameters dialog box.

53

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Vectorization Parameters Dialog Box

File IO Options-file <filename (including extension)> [ options ]-infile <filename (including extension)>; same as -file-outfile <filename>; alternate output file-informat <format>; the input format. Used if reading from stdin-debug; turn on debug mode
-noforce; don't force output if image is inconsistent-version; print version information and quit
-output_version <version>; output files of this version. Valid versions can be: 0 or 604-force_unamed_palette_for_texture; will generate a texture in TVG's internal palette

Registration Options-register <dpi side strictness>; perform optical registration.
•

Side can be one of left, right, top, bottom or l, r, t, b.

•

Strictness can be either loose, strict or l, s.

-register_center_peg_holes; will use only round holes in 16 fields page-rcph; short form of register_center_peg_holes-registration_looseness_factor <factor>; registration looseness factor (default 2.000000)-rlf; short form of registration_looseness_factor-rdebug; output registration debug messages-pegpitch <inch (default 8.000000)>; distance between peg bars
-threshr < (default 0.500000)>; threshold for optical registration; range 0.0 to 1.0-rmargin <inch (default 1)>; region size where to look for peg bars
-peg_distance_from_center <inch (default 5.25)>; peg distance from centre of the image

54

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide-pdfc; short form of -peg_distance_from_center-out_peg_position <side (default same)>; wanted position of the peg on the drawing.
•

Can be one of right, left, top, bottom (or r, l, t, b) or same.

•

A rotation will be performed if it is different from the side passed to -register.

-output_peg_matrix; output the peg transformation matrix on standard output.
-scanner_calibrate; < (default 1.0000 1.0000) > x and y scale factors to be applied to scanner image.

Filtering Options-pixel <pixel_shape (default '4x3')>; Valid values: 4x3-gap <worldUnits (default 10)>; close gaps up to this big-pencil; generate line art only
-keep_dirt; don't filter out dirt
-thresh <threshold (default 0.2)>; range 0.0 to 1.0-rmv_hairs <worldUnits (default 1)> <passes (default 1)>•

remove hairs of size smaller than "size" in "passes" passes-rmv_holes <area (default 7)>; remove holes smaller than "area"-rmv_dirt <area (default 1)>; remove dirt smaller than "area"•

try values between 100 and 500 for rmv_holes and rmv_dirt. The area is in world units squared-rmv_triangles <worldUnits (default 30.000000)>; remove triangles at "pixels"•

distance from each other. Use -no_break to remove all triangles-no_texture; don't generate textured strokes-color_as_texture; will vectorize the alpha channel and put the RGB colour in a textured colour-noclosegap; disable all gap closing algorithms-no_break; disable the breaking of line art-jag_filter <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap-expand_bitmap <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap-fit_errorc <error (default 1.000000>; fitting error for the colour art-fit_errorl <error (default 1.000000>; fitting error for the line art-smoothl <passes (default 1>; number of smooth passes for line art-smoothc <passes (default 1>; number of smooth passes for colour art-first_smooth <passes (default 0>; number of smooth passes for line art before breaking triangles-first_smoothl <passes (default 0>; number of smooth passes for line art before breaking triangles-first_smoothc <passes (default 0>; number of smooth passes for line art in colour art pass (needs -2pass)-2pass; specify two sets of parameters; one for line art "l", one for colour art "c"55

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Vectorization Parameters Dialog Box(-thresh, -rmv_holes and -rmv_dirt will be overridden by -threshl, threshc, -rmv_holesl,-rmv_holesc, -rmv_dirtl and -rmv_dirtc)-threshl <threshold for line art (default 0.5)>; range 0.0 to 1.0-threshc <threshold for color art (default 0.5)>; range 0.0 to 1.0-jag_filterl <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap for line art-jag_filterc <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap for colour art-expand_bitmapl <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap for line art-expand_bitmapc <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap for colour art-rmv_holesl <area (default 7)>; remove line art holes smaller than "area"-rmv_holesc <area (default 7)>; remove colour art holes smaller than "area"-rmv_dirtl <area (default 1)>; remove line art dirt smaller than "area"-rmv_dirtc <area (default 1)>; remove colour art dirt smaller than "area"
try values between 100 and 500 for rmv_holesl, rmv_holesc, rmv_dirtl and rmv_dirtc. The values are inworld units squared-margins <inch (default 0.25)>; remove margin around bitmap-top_margin <inch (default 0.25)>; remove margin at top of bitmap-bottom_margin <inch (default 0.25)>; remove margin at bottom of bitmap-left_margin <inch (default 0.25)>; remove margin at left of bitmap-right_margin <inch (default 0.25)>; remove margin at right of bitmap-remove_peg_bars; remove the peg bar holes-field_size <fields (default 12 or use value in scan file)>; set the drawing to this field size
-fs; short hand for -field_size-peg_bar_size <inch (default 1)>; the size of the peg bar region-noframe; do not put a frame around the colour art-frame_fields <default -1.000000>; put a frame of the specified dimension around the colour art-downscale_input <default 1>; downscale the raw input by this integer factor-downscale_texture <default 1>; downscale the output texture by this integer factor-buildmatte; generate a matte on underlay for line test
-buildmatte_colourart; generate a matte on colour art for line test

NOTE: -buildmatte and -buildmatte_colourart are mutually exclusive-copystrokes; copy original strokes when building matte.

56

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Options for bitmap that has no registration information-pixel_margins <inch (default 0)>; remove margin around bitmap-top_pixel_margin <inch (default 0)>; remove margin at top of bitmap-bottom_pixel_margin <inch (default 0)>; remove margin at bottom of bitmap-left_pixel_margin <inch (default 0)>; remove margin at left of bitmap-right_pixel_margin <inch (default 0)>; remove margin at right of bitmap-dpi <(default -1)>; dpi information of input bitmap

RGB Keying Options-rgb; generate separate zones for red, green and blue lines-rgb_alpha <value (default 255)>; generate red, green and blue colour with alpha of this value-no_red; ignore red colour in vectorization-no_green; ignore green colour in vectorization-no_blue; ignore blue colour in vectorization-flatten; flatten the drawing after generating colours-rmv_rgb_dirt <threshold area default 0.0>; remove red, green and blue regions smaller than area
-expand_bitmap_rgb <pixels (default 0>; expand the pixels in the vectorization bitmap for rgb-threshrgb <value> <threshold for rgb vectorization default 0.200000>;-threshsv <saturation threshold default 0.500000> <value threshold default 0.500000>; thresholds on saturation andvalue to consider a pixel to be grey

Colour Vectorization Options-color_vectorize; perform a colour vectorization-file2 <colour art filename>; specify the colour art bitmap-penstyle <center alpha (0.0-20.0)> <edge alpha (0.0-20.0)> <gamma (0-10)><centre pressure effect (0.0-1.0)><edge pressure effect (0.0-1.0)><texture bitmap downscaling (0.2-20)> <texture bitmap file (valid filename or "" if nofile)>; generate brush texture for the line art-pressure_variation <strategy (0, 1 or 2)> <min pressure (0.0-1.0)> <max pressure (0.0-1.0)> <max variation (0.01.0)>; specify a pressure strategy for the centre line.
-blur_radius <pixels (default 0)>; blur the penstyle texture generated-color_contour_smooth_passes <times (default 3)>; perform number of smooth passes on contour before
computing texture-ccsp <times (default 3)>; short for -color_contour_smooth_passes-color_rmv_holesl <world units (default 0.000000)>; remove holes of this size when computing texture-color_fill_holesl <world units (default 0.000000)>; fill holes of this size for colour line art

57

Chapter 2: Dialog Boxes

Vectorization Parameters Dialog Box

Bubble Usage (implemented only for colour vectorization's line art)-create_bubbles; add bubbles into the LineArt. Implemented for colour vectorization only
-bubble_gap <value (default 3)>; max number of colour art points between 2 bubbles-bubble_length <value (default 10)>; max number of circles in a bubble-min_radius <value (default 1.5000)>; min radius of a circle in a bubble relative to the line thickness (must be >=1.0)-max_radius <value (default 3.5000)>; max radius of a circle in a bubble relative to the line thickness (must be>= 1.0)-uniform_gap; the space between bubbles is constant

4 Colour Vectorization-4colours [key:value] ... [key:value] ; The key value list can be empty. The list of keys is:
rgbdiff:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]
dark:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]
grey:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]
white:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]
dirt:value ; dirt area. 200 is a good value
rt:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]
gt:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]
bt:value ; between [0.0-1.0] or [0-255]

NOTE: There must be no space between the colon and the key/value. For example: -4colours rgbdiff:20
dark:20 grey:120 white:250 dirt:200 rt:240 gt:240 bt:240

58

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Chapter 3: Menus
The Menus section covers all the menu entries available in Harmony. There are several types of menus in Harmony:main menus, quick-access menus and view menus. Menus contains most of the functions available. They may also
have a toolbar button or keyboard shortcut equivalent.
Main Menus

60

Animation Menu

61

Drawing Menu

64

Edit Menu

66

File Menu

68

Help Menu

70

Insert Menu

71

Play Menu

72

Scene Menu

73

View Menu

74

Windows Menu

77

Quick-access Menus

78

View Menus

79

Colour View Menu

80

Function View Menu

82

Library View Menu

84

59

Chapter 3: Menus

Main Menus

Main Menus
The main menu contain most of the commands. Depending on the view you're working in and the element, somecommands are available and others not. The main menu is always located at the very top of the interface.

On Mac OS X, there is also a Harmony Essentials category that contains the following commands: Preferences,
About, and Quit.
Animation Menu

61

Drawing Menu

64

Edit Menu

66

File Menu

68

Help Menu

70

Insert Menu

71

Play Menu

72

Scene Menu

73

View Menu

74

Windows Menu

77

60

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Animation Menu
The Animation menu lets you access tools, adjust animation timing, set and parameters, lock or unlock layers, andselect elements in the Xsheet and Timeline views.
How to access the Animation menulAt the top of the interface, select Animation.

Command

Description

AnimateEnables the Animate mode which records the position, rotation, scale,skew, etc. of objects as keyframes in the Timeline view. Turn off theAnimate mode to reposition objects for the entire scene. When the
Animate mode is disabled, keyframes are not created when an object's
parameters change.

Stop-Motion Keyframe

Sets a stop-motion keyframe which there is no computer-generated
motion between two keyframes. The segment is constant or flat. The
drawing remains still until the playback reaches the next keyframe,then the drawing pops to its new location.

Delete Keyframe

Deletes the selected keyframes.

Tools
Transform

Lets you create a global selection so you can reposition, scale, rotateand skew as one unit, which is useful for cut-out characters.

TranslateLets you move the selected element along the X and Y axes.

RotateTurns a selected element around its pivot point.

Scale

Increases or decreases the size of a selected element. You can scale
an object up to make it larger or down to make it smaller. Press Shift toscale the element while maintaining its proportions.

Skew

Slants the selected element.

Maintain Size

Keeps elements the same size aspect ratio in the Camera view as you
move them towards or away from the camera.

Spline Offset

Lets you reposition the visual trajectory without offsetting or modifying
your animation. By default, the trajectory is located at 0,0,0 fields. If
your elements were drawn in a different location than the centre of thedrawing area, it will look like the trajectory is not aligned with yourdrawing. Also, if you have several elements attached to one trajectory,
you might want your trajectory to be at a different location to represent
the group's motion better.

Increase Exposure

Adds one more exposure to a selected cell; repeating this action adds
an extra cell each time. This is an efficient way to extend a drawing's
exposure and is always set in Insert mode. Increasing an exposure
pushes the existing exposure forward.

Decrease Exposure

Decreases exposure of a selected cell by one; repeating this action
decreases one exposure adds an extra cell each time. This is an

Cell

61

Chapter 3: Menus

Main Menus

efficient way to shorten a drawing's exposure. Decreasing an exposure
pulls in the existing exposure.
Set Exposure toLets you set the exposure to 1, 2, 3 or a custom exposure.

Extend Exposure

Lets you enter the frame up to which you want to extend the exposure.
You can expose the drawing in the frames and replace the drawings
that were originally there or move the subsequent frames forward intime.

Add Key Exposure

Adds a key exposure to the selected cell.

Remove Key Exposure

Removes only the key exposure (key frames) not all the exposures.
The existing key exposure is replaced by the preceding exposure.

Remove Duplicate Key Exposure

When working with drawings to adjust the timing of a mouth in alipsync, for example, and forcing the use of specific key exposures,
unnecessary key exposures will be created. You can delete these
duplicates without affecting the rest of the drawing. The first drawing of
the selection will be used for the range.

NOTE: Duplicate key exposures may occur when pasting with the
Enforce Key Exposure option selected.

Fill Empty Cells

Lets you fill empty cells to extend the exposure of single frame
drawings to fill the range of empty cells after each one.When creatingdrawings on cells that are not side-by-side, the exposure of the firstdrawing no longer fills automatically. You must select the frame range
where you want your drawings to hold their exposure up to the next
drawing and use the Fill Empty Cells command.

Insert Blank Cell

Adds an empty cell between other cells.

Clear Exposure

Removes the exposure from the selected cell.

Clear Exposure and Pull

Replaces the exposure from the selected cell with exposures that
follow it.

Fill Selection

Lets you fill the same value over an entire selection. The selection canbe over one cell, a cell range in one column, a cell range over manycolumns, an entire column, or many columns. You can use numbers,
words, letters, or any alphanumeric value.

Sequence Fill

Lets you create a numbered sequence over a selection. The sequencecan be forward, backward, single, double or higher increment, as acycle, and so on. The selection can be over one cell or a cell range in
one column or more or an entire column or many entire columns.

Lip-Sync
Auto Lip-Sync Detection

Generates a sound detection for lip-sync.

Map Lip-Sync

Automatically maps drawings in an element to the mouth chart you
have generated for a sound. This can save time when you are lipsynching a voice track.

Flip

62

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Flip Horizontal

Flips the selection horizontally.

Flip Vertical

Flips the selection vertically.

Flip Scale X

Once your drawing layer is rotated, the original horizontal and verticalaxes change. The Flip Scale X and Flip Scale Y will perform a flip on
your drawing layer following its original axis.Remembers the original Xaxis of the layer and flips the element following it.

Flip Scale Y

Remembers the original Y-axis of the layer and flips the element following it.

Lock in Time

Indicates whether the point is locked to a specific frame (keyframe) or
only locked to a specific position and the curve can flow through it
freely as other points are being added, moved, or adjusted (control
point).

Substitute Drawing Previous

Replaces the drawing or cell's symbol on the current frame by theprevious drawing.

Substitute Drawing Next

Replaces the drawing or cell's symbol on the current frame by the next
drawing.

Go to Previous Keyframe

Goes to the previous keyframe.

Go to Next Keyframe

Goes to the next keyframe.

Select Child

Lets you select the first element parented to the selected peg elementin the Timeline view.

Select Children

Lets you select all elements parented to the selected peg element in
the Timeline view.

Lock
Lock

Locks one or a multiple selection of layers.

UnlockUnlocks one or a multiple selection of locked layers.

Lock All

Locks all the layers in the Timeline view.

Unlock All

Unlocks all the layers in the Timeline view.

Lock All Others

Locks every layer except the selected ones.

Reset

Returns the value of the selected element to the initial value of theactive tool. For example, if the Rotate tool is active, the transformation
angle will be reset to 0 and if the Transform tool is active, all thetransformation values will be reset.

Reset All

Resets all transformations on the current frame in a selected layer.
Your keyframe will remain, but all the values will return to the starting
value. All transformations are reset regardless of the tool you're using.

63

Chapter 3: Menus

Main Menus

Drawing Menu
The Drawing menu lets you access many tools related to drawing, painting, dirt removal, optimizing strokes, andmore.
How to access the Drawing menulAt the top of the interface, select Drawing.

Command

Description
Activates a drawing tool including:Drawing Tools

Select, Contour Editor, Cutter, Smooth Editor, Perspective,
Envelope, Reposition All Drawings, Brush, Pencil, Text, Eraser,
Dropper, Line, Rectangle, Ellipse, Polyline, Paint, Ink, Repaint
Brush, Close Gap, Stroke, Edit Gradient/Texture, Hand, Zoom andRotate View.
These drawing tools are available on the Tools toolbar.

ConvertPencil Lines to Brush Strokes

Converts the selected centreline pencil strokes into contour strokes
brush lines.

Brush Strokes to Pencil Lines

Converts selected contour strokes into centreline pencil strokes.
The brush stroke thickness will be lost.

Strokes to Pencil Lines

Converts the selected invisible line to a pencil line.

Break Apart Text Layers

Text is treated as a single drawing object. This separates the text soeach character becomes an individual drawing object you can selectand modify independently.

Optimize

FlattenMerges drawing objects and brush strokes into a single layer. If you
draw new lines to fix a drawing or line with many brush strokes, it
can be useful to flatten them all into a single shape. By default, lines
are drawn one on top of each other. If you intend to repaint the lines
or modify their shape, it will be easier if they are flattened.

SmoothSmooths selected drawing strokes and removes extra points.

Optimize

Reduces the number of layers, such as overlapping brush strokes,
in the selected drawing objects. Drawing objects will only beflattened and optimized if the selected objects do not change theappearance of the final image when they are merged.

Transform
Flip Horizontal

Flips the current selection horizontally.

Flip Vertical

Flips the current selection vertically.

Rotate 90 CW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees clockwise.

Rotate 90 CCW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

64

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Rotate 180

Rotates the current selection 180 degrees.

Arrange
Bring to Front

Moves the selected art to the front (on top).

Bring Forward

Moves the selected art one level forward (closer to the front).

Send Backward

Moves the selected art one level lower (behind).

Send to Back

Moves the selected art behind everything (bottom / back).

Create Empty Drawing

Creates a drawing in the selected cell, replacing any drawing that
may already be exposed in that cell and the following ones until itmeets another drawing, key exposure or a blank cell.

Duplicate Drawings

Lets you duplicate the drawing and work on a copy of it. This lets
you modify an existing drawing but retain the original. When
duplicating a drawing, the selected cell is replaced with the new
drawing. The exposure of the original drawing that was on thecurrent cell is removed. The original drawing is not deleted from the
project folder or other cells in which it is exposed.

Delete Selected Drawings

Permanently removes selected drawings. Once you save yourproject, these drawings cannot be recovered.

Rename Drawing

Lets you give a selected drawing a new name.

Select Strokes with Current Colour

Lets you select drawing elements and painted areas with the same
colour as the currently selected colour in your colour palette.

Previous Drawing

When a cell is selected in the Timeline or Xsheet view, displays theprevious drawing.

Next Drawing

When a cell is selected in the Timeline or Xsheet view, displays thenext drawing.

Previous Layer

When a cell is selected in the Timeline or Xsheet view, displays theprevious layer.

Next Layer

Once a cell is selected in the Timeline or Xsheet view, you cannavigate between the drawings, frames, and layers. Displays theprevious drawing, next drawing, previous layer or next layer.
When a cell is selected in the Timeline or Xsheet view, displays thenext layer.

65

Chapter 3: Menus

Main Menus

Edit Menu
The Edit menu lets you repeat and undo actions, cut/copy/paste selected objects, select and manipulate objects,
work with symbols, and access the Preferences dialog box.
How to access the Edit menulFrom the top menu, select Edit.

Command

Description

Undo

Removes the last change made to your project. Harmony supports
multiple undo, so you can undo changes you made in the order you
made them.

Redo

Redoes an operation you have undone. This command is active only
after you use the Undo command.

Cut

Removes selected objects. You can then paste the object or its properties to another object.

Copy

Copies selected objects and properties.

Paste

Places an object you cut or copied into the location you select in a
view.
Opens the Paste Special dialog box which lets you determine howtemplates and symbols are imported in the Timeline view.

Paste Special
There are advanced paste options for drawings, timings, keyframes,
layers, as well as palettes and symbols.
Paste Special Again

Pastes new drawings with the previous Paste Special settings.

DeleteRemoves selected objects.

Select All

Selects all drawing objects in the current drawing window in the
Drawing, Timeline and Camera views. This helps you manage
multiple objects as one when moving them.

Deselect All

Deselects all selected objects in the Drawing and Camera views.

Invert Selection

Deselects the currently selected items and selects all other items
that were not selected. For example, if some lines are selected in a
drawing, this command will deselect them and select any other lines
in the drawing that were not selected.

Create Symbol

Creates a symbol from selected drawing elements in the Drawing or
Camera view or a layer or cells in the Timeline view.
Extracts a symbol's contents and places it on the root timeline. Its
contents will be copied and inserted into the root timeline. The
symbol will not be removed from the Timeline view once it isexpanded.

Expand Symbol
The symbol's layers will be parented to it in case you createdmotions and transformations on the drawing layer that contain thesymbol. Breaking the hierarchy could result in the loss of any scaling
and animation you may have created.

66

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Duplicate Selected Symbol

Creates a duplicate of a selected symbol. If other symbols are nested inside the new symbol, they are not duplicated. If you modify
them, the original and other instances will also be modified.

Clone: Drawings Only

Creates a copy of the drawings in the selected layer in the Timelineview or column in the Xsheet view. The timing it not copied.

Clone: Drawings and Timing

Creates a copy of the drawings and their timings in the selected
layer in the Timeline view or column in the Xsheet view.

Duplicate

Duplicates a layer to have a copy of the drawings that are independent from the original ones, as well as an independent timing(exposure). When you need the drawings to be modified independently, you will want to duplicate the layer instead of cloning it.

Merge

Combines all drawings. Unused columns and layers will be deleted,but the original drawing files are still accessible.

Group
Group

Groups selected drawing objects in the Camera or Drawing view.

Ungroup

Ungroups a selected group of drawing objects in the Camera or
Drawing view.

Edit Drawing Mode

When the Auto-Get Rights to Modify Drawings option is selected in
the Preferences dialog box (General tab), the system automaticallygets the rights to modify drawings when you select a drawing.
Otherwise, you must manually get the rights to modify drawings.

Edit Palette List Mode

When the Auto-Get Rights to Modify Palette option is selected in the
Preferences dialog box (General tab), the system automatically getsthe rights to modify palettes and palette lists when you select acolour from a palette. Otherwise, you must manually get the rights tomodify a palette or palette list.

Get Rights to Modify Drawing

Manually releases the rights to modify a selected drawing.

Release Rights to Modify Drawing

Manually releases rights to modify a selected drawing.

This option is always available even if the Get Rights to Modify All
Force Release Rights to Modify Drawing Scene Assets option is not selected in the Database Selector dialog
box.
Preferences

Opens the Preferences dialog box where you can set yourpreferences for Harmony.

67

Chapter 3: Menus

Main Menus

File Menu
The File menu lets you open, close, save, scan, print, and import and export files.
How to access the File menulFrom the top menu, select File.

Command

Description

New

Creates a new scene while closing any scene already open. The
New Scene dialog box opens, asking for directory, name, andresolution information.

Open

Displays the Open Scene dialog box where you can browse for ascene file. You can open a new scene from the current one and theprevious scene will close.

Open Recent

Displays a list of the most recently opened scenes.

Clear

Clears the list of recently opened scenes.

Close

Closes the currently opened scene, but does not close the Harmony
application.

Save

Saves all changes made to the opened scene, drawings, palettes,
and palette lists.

Advanced Save
Rights to Modify Scene Version

Allows you to modify the selected version of the scene and accessthe version manager during the opened session

Rights to Modify Scene

Allows you to modify the currently selected scene version, but locks
access to the version manager during the opened session.
Determines which drawing files have been modified on disk since
you loaded them. All updated drawings will be reloaded.

Read Changed Drawings
NOTE: Reloading a locked drawing will discard unsavedchanges.
Manage Versions

Allows you to manage all the versions of the current scene.
Saves the current file with a different name and at a different
location.

Save As

Saves the current state of a scene as another scene. The Save As
window prompts you for a new name and a different location for thisscene before saving it. This will create a complete scene directory
for the new scene.

NOTE: The scene name cannot exceed 23 characters.

68Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Save as New Version

Saves the current scene as another version. The Save Version
dialog box prompts you to give a name for this new version. This will
create a new .xstage file in your current project directory.

AcquireFrom TWAIN

Opens the Acquire from Scanner window from which you can set
parameters before scanning.

ImportImagesImports bitmap images which you can choose to vectorize.

Movie

Lets you convert a QuickTime movie to an image sequence andaudio file.

Sound

Lets you import sound files into your project.

SWF, Illustrator Files to LibraryLets you import SWF files into your project.

ImagesExports a scene as a bitmap image sequence. If there is sound inyour scene, it will not be exported with the images.

Movie

Exports animation as a QuickTime movie.

ExportExports a Flash movie file.
SWF

Quit

The SWF export supports some bitmap effects (which can bepreviewed in Render View mode) and SWF Blend Modes (vector
effects which can be previewed in OpenGL View mode).
Closes the application.

69

Chapter 3: Menus

Main Menus

Help Menu
The Help menu lets you display the Harmony documentation, Welcome screen and end user license agreement,
as well as access the Toon Boom website, and identify the product name and version number.
How to access the Help menulAt the top of the interface, select Help.

Command

Description

Online Help

Opens the Harmony Help system, complete with instructions on
how to use the system. This requires an internet connection.

Getting Started

Opens the Harmony Getting Started Guide (in PDF format) in abrowser window. Requires Acrobat Reader.

Toon Boom on the Web

Opens the Toon Boom website, which features a Support andCommunity > Forum section.

Customer Experience Improvement
Program

The Customer Experience Improvement Program allows Toon
Boom to collect usage information. The data does not contain any
personally identifiable information and cannot be used to identify
you. The data will consist of a basic hardware description, a projectsummary and usage information. The information is used only forsoftware improvement purposes, as well as for sharing with third
parties for the same reason.
This program is enabled by default but is voluntary. If you prefer not
to participate, you can opt out when you first launch the software, byusing a global preference, or by a command line argument.

About

Identifies the product name and version number.

Show Welcome Screen

Displays the Harmony Welcome screen.

Show End User License Agreement

Displays the End User License Agreement.

70

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Insert Menu
The Insert menu lets you create empty symbols in the Library view, different types of layers in the Timeline view,
keyframes and control points.
How to access the Insert menulAt the top of the interface, select Insert.

Command

Description

Create Empty Symbol in Library

Creates an empty symbol in the Library view to which you can edit (addcontent).

Bone

Adds a new Bone layer to the Timeline view.

CameraAdds a new Camera layer to the Timeline view.

Colour-Card

Adds a new Colour-Card layer to the Timeline view.

Drawing

Adds a new Drawing layer to the Timeline view and a column in the
Xsheet view.

Game Bone

Adds a new Game Bone layer to the Timeline view.

Kinematic Output

Adds dd a new Kinematic Output layer to the Timeline view.

Peg

Adds a new Peg layer to the Timeline view.

Quadmap

Adds a new Quadmap layer to the Timeline view.

Effects

Adds a new layer in the Timeline view with the effect you select: Blur,
Brightness-Contrast, Colour-Scale, Cutter, Glow, Shadow, orTransparency.

Keyframe

Adds a keyframe to the selected cell in the Timeline view.

Keyframe and Duplicate Drawing

Adds a keyframe to the selected drawing layer cell in the Timeline viewand creates a duplicate of the drawing, which sits on top of the original
drawing.

Control Point

Adds a control point to the trajectory of the selected element or peg in
the Camera view when the element or peg is in a 3D path. Note thatyou must have a 3D path in the peg portion in order to add a control
point.

71

Chapter 3: Menus

Main Menus

Play Menu
The Play menu lets you play back animation and sound. Use it to scrub the sound to create your lip-sync, loop theplayback, navigate through frames, and change the playback range and speed.
How to access the Play menulAt the top of the interface, select Play.

Command

Description

Play

Plays and stops the animation.

Render and Play

Creates a render of your scene to play back the final result including
the effects.

Test SWF Movie

Creates a SWF format movie and a report to test your result before
proceeding to the final movie.

Stop

Stops playback.

Playback Speed

Opens the Set New Frame Rate dialog box where you can set theframe rate at which the playback plays.

Loop

Repeatedly plays back your animation indefinitely.

Enable Sound

Turns on sound during playback.

Enable Sound Scrubbing

Turns on sound scrubbing during playback.

Start Frame

Opens the Set Playback Start Frame dialog box where you can set
the frame number on which to start playback.

Stop Frame

Opens the Set Playback Stop Frame dialog box where you can set
the frame number on which to stop playback.

First Frame

Moves the red playhead to the first frame.

Previous Frame

Moves the red playhead to the previous frame.

Next Frame

Moves the red playhead to the next frame.

Last Frame

Moves the red playhead to the last frame.

Go to Frame

Opens the Go to Frame dialog box where you can enter the frame
number on which the red playhead to be positioned in the Timeline
view.

Enable Playback
Top View

Plays back your animation in the Top view.

Side View

Plays back your animation in the Side view.

Perspective View

Plays back your animation in the Perspective view.

72Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Scene Menu
The Scene menu lets you set the scene length, add frames to the scene, view different displays of the scene, setrender options, access the Scene Settings dialog box and Elements Manager window, and verify the drawing andpalette files in your project.
How to access the Scene menulAt the top of the interface, select Scene.

Command

Description

Scene Length

Lets you set the length of the scene in frames.

Frame
Add Frames at Start

Adds the number of frames you specify to the beginning of the scene.

Add Frames at End

Adds the number of frames you specify to the end of the scene.

Add Frames Before Selection
Add Frames After Selection
Remove Selected Frames

Adds the number of frames you specify before or after your selection.
Deletes the selected frames from your scene.

CameraDefault Camera
Scene Settings

Lets you select a camera. If you only add one camera to your scene,
you will only see Default Camera in your list.
Opens the Scene Settings dialog box where you can set the resolution,alignment, bitmap resolution and many other parameters.

RenderAuto Render

Automatically recalculates the preview image whenever you modify aparameter. If your scene is heavy and you do not want the preview
rendered automatically, deselect the Auto-Render option and do the preview update manually.Note that this will slow down Harmony as it
takes resources to update every frame.

Cancel Preview Render

Cancels a render that was started.

73

Chapter 3: Menus

Main Menus

View Menu
The View menu lets you manipulate the view by zooming, panning, or rotating. You can also display the grid andchange its size, use the onion skin feature to help with drawing, and set the preview resolution.
How to access the View menulAt the top of the interface, select View.

Command

Description
Cycles through the following display modes:lToggle Full ScreenllNormal Full-Screen: The main application window becomesfull screen.
View Full-Screen: The selected view becomes full screen
and all other views are collapsed.
Normal: The main application window is restored to its original size and collapsed views are expanded.

Zoom In

Zooms in the view.

Zoom Out

Zooms out the view.

Rotate View CW

Rotates the Camera view 30 degrees clockwise, like an animationtable.

Rotate View CCW

Rotates the Camera view 30 degrees counter-clockwise, like ananimation table.

Reset Zoom

Resets the view’s zoom to its default position.

Reset Rotation

Resets the view’s rotation to its default position.

Reset Pan

Resets the view’s pan to its default position.

Reset View

Resets the view to its default position.

Grid
Show Grid

Displays the grid.

Underlay

Displays the grid under the drawing elements.

Overlay

Displays the grid over the drawing elements.

Square Grid

Displays a standard square grid.

12 Field Grid

Displays a 12-field size grid.

16 Field Grid

Displays a 16-field size grid.

Onion Skin

Show Onion Skin

Lets you preview the previous and next drawings. By default, the previous drawings appear in a shade of red and the next drawings are
displayed with a shade of green. You can change these colours in
the Preferences dialog box.

Add to Onion Skin

Adds a series of selected elements to the onion skin preview.

74Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Remove from Onion Skin

Removes a series of selected elements from the onion skin preview.

Remove Unselected from Onion
Skin

Removes all elements except the ones selected from the onion skinpreview.

Add All to Onion Skin

Adds all of the scene's elements to the onion skin preview.

Remove All from Onion Skin

Removes all of the scene's elements from the onion skin preview.

Onion Skinning by Drawing

In Camera view, the onion skin by default is per frame, this option
lets you set it by drawing so you don't see any exposure's onion skinfrom the same drawing.

Reduce One Previous Drawing

Reduces the number of previous visible drawings by one.

Add One Previous Drawing

Adds one drawing to the number of previous visible drawings.

Reduce One Next Drawing

Reduces the number of next visible drawings by one.

Add One Next Drawing

Adds one drawing to the number of next visible drawings.

Light Table

Turns on the light table so you can see the previous and subsequent
active layers in washed-out colours. It is useful for seeing the otherlayers when designing, animating or cleaning up your animation.

Show
Safe Area

Displays the TV safety zone and the centre of the camera frame.
The safe area adapts to the scene resolution, as well as the safetyzone and frame’s centre.

Camera Mask

Displays a black mask around the scene’s frame to avoid seeing theunnecessary artwork. This option is handy when you're animating
and setting up the scene. It allows you to see your scene’s composition better.

Control

Displays the controls of the selected element.

Current Drawing on Top

Displays the selected drawing on top of everything while you draw.
By enabling this option, each time you select a drawing tool, theselected drawing is displayed in front of everything in the Camera
view. The Timeline view ordering remain unchanged.You only needto enable this option once, it is not necessary to do it each time you
select a drawing tool.

Show Strokes

Displays the strokes in your drawings so that the invisible lines
stand out.

Hide All Controls

Hides the controls of the selected element.

Preview Resolution
Same as Scene Resolution
3/4 of Scene Resolution
1/2 of Scene Resolution

Lets you choose a resolution for previewing a scene.

1/3 of Scene Resolution
1/4 of Scene Resolution
CustomLets you select a resolution from a list of presets or enter X and Y
values for a custom preview resolution.

75

Chapter 3: Menus

Main Menus

Bitmap File Quality

Lets you change the quality of the preview of the bitmap file in the
Camera view. It will not affect the final render.

76

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Windows Menu
The Windows menu lets you customize your workspace to suit your working style, save it as a new workspace, andload it from the Workspace toolbar. You can also show or hide the different toolbars and views in Harmony.
How to access the Windows menulFrom the top menu, select Windows.

Command

Description

Restore Default Workspace

Returns modified workspaces to their original default layout if you do
not like the current modifications or inadvertently closed some
windows.

Workspace
Workspace Manager

Opens the Workspace Manager where you can modify, create, delete,rename and reorder your workspaces.

Workspace

Lets you open workspaces designed specifically for animating,compositing, hand drawing, scripting and the default workspace.

Toolbars

Lets you show or hide these toolbars: Playback, File, Edit, Advanced
Animation, Scripting, Tools, Workspace, Deformation, Camera View,
Xsheet View and Timeline View.

CameraShows or hides the Camera view.

ColourShows or hides the Colour view.

Drawing

Shows or hides the Drawing view.

FunctionShows or hides the Function view.

Layer Properties

Shows or hides the Layer Properties view.

Library

Shows or hides the Library view.

Message Log

Shows or hides the Message Log view.

Side

Shows or hides the Side view.

Timeline

Shows or hides the Timeline view.

Tool Properties

Shows or hides the Tool Properties view.

Top

Shows or hides the Top view.

XsheetShows or hides the Xsheet view.

Integrated Help

Shows or hides the Integrated Help view.

Metadata Editor

Shows or Hides the Metadata Editor view.

Script Editor

Shows or hides the Script Editor view.

77Chapter 3: Menus

Quick-access Menus

Quick-access Menus
A quick-access menu lets you open a list of the commands you will use most often.
How to access a quick-access menu
1. Right-click anywhere in a view.

78Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

View Menus
A view menu contains commands specifically related to that view.
How to access a view menu
1. In the top-left corner of a view, click the Menu

button.

Colour View Menu

80

Function View Menu

82

Library View Menu

84

79

Chapter 3: Menus

View Menus

Colour View Menu
The Colour View menu lets you access commands related to the Colour view such as creating new palettes,
adding new colour swatches, and displaying the Tint panel.
How to access the Colour menul

In the upper-left corner of the Colour view, click the menu

Commandbutton.

Description

Palettes
Creates a new colour palette.

New

By default, Toon Boom Harmony is set to the Basic mode. For simple
productions, it is recommended to use the Basic mode. This setting stores thepalettes automatically for you and saves them at the Scene level. When you
use the Advanced Palette Lists mode, you can decide at which level you want
to store your palettes: Environment, Job, Scene, or Element.

Link

Lets you access other palettes created in the project and link them to yourscene.

ImportImports a colour palette located on your hard drive.

RemoveDeletes the selected colour palette.

RenameLets you five the selected colour palette a new name.

Duplicate

Creates a copy of the original palette, using the same names and colour
values, but has a different ID and is independent from the original palette. This
ensures that both the duplicate and original palettes are completely
independent.

Clone

Creates a copy of the master palette. The colours in each palette have thesame properties. The colours have the same identification number pointing to
the same colour zones, but they can have different names and RGBA values.

Move Up

Moves the selected colour palette up one level.

Move Down

Moves the selected colour palette down one level.

Colour Editor

Opens the Colour Editor where you can pick and edit colour swatches.

Tint Panel

Opens the Tint panel where you can modify a series of colours to blend a tint inthem or offset their RGBA values.

Display Colour Values

Display the colour values beside their colour swatches in the palette list.

Colours
Cut

Cuts the selected colour swatch from the palette.

Copy

Copies the selected colour swatch which you can paste in a different palette.

Copy Colour ID

Copies a colour swatch's colour ID so you can keep a reference file of colour
IDs or use them with custom plug-ins. Example of a colour ID:
075cf5b552401130.

Paste Colour Values

Pastes the colour value of the copied swatch over an existing colour swatch.

80Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Paste As New Colours

Creates a new colour swatch from the colour value of the copied swatch.

Paste As Clones

Pastes a copied colour to a new palette as a clone of the original one. Bothcolour use the same colour ID. They have to be in different palettes.

New

Creates a new colour swatch from the colour swatch that was last selected.

Edit

Opens the Colour Picker window in which you can edit the selected colour
swatch.

DeleteDeletes the selected colour swatch from the palette.

New Texture

Lets you add a bitmap colour swatch to your palette. You can load photos andtextures and paint your drawings with it. The bitmap image must be a .tga or.psd file format.

Edit Texture

Opens the browser to replace the texture used in a textured colour swatch. Allzones using the swatch will be updated with the new texture.

Scale Down Texture

Lets you set a new maximum texture size or scaling factor.

Protect Colour

Locks a selected colour, so if you ever paint over it accidentally, the work
already done will not be affected. You can also block the filling colours if you
painted all of the animation in Line Art and plan to repaint the lines.

Swatch Mode

Displays the colour swatches with its corresponding name inside the swatch.
When this option is not selected, the names of the colour swatches are
displayed beside the swatch.

Independent Bitmap
ColourBitmap colour selection is independent from the vector colour selection.

Bitmap Colour Sliders
RGB

Displays the colour picking sliders as RGB (red, green, blue).

HSV

Displays the colour picking sliders as HSV (hue, saturation, value).

81

Chapter 3: Menus

View Menus

Function View Menu
The Functions View menu lets you do many things in the Camera view, including selecting and editing objects indifferent views, changing the display, setting morphing parameters, accessing tools and many more.
How to access the Function menul

In the upper-left corner of the Function view, click the menu

Commandbutton.

Description

Edit
Cut

Removes selected objects. You can then paste the object or its properties toanother object.

Copy

Copies selected objects and properties.

Paste

Places an object you cut or copied into the location you select in a view.

DeleteRemoves selected objects.

Select Next Keyframe

Selects the next keyframe.

Select Previous
Keyframe

Selects the previous keyframe.

Select Left Handle

Selects the left handle of the selected keyframe.

Select Right Handle

Selects the right handle of the selected keyframe.

Select All

Selects all objects in the Function view. This helps you manage multiple
objects as one.

Deselect All

Deselects all selected objects in the Function view.

Show Current Frame

Displays the current frame

Toggle Grid

Enables the display of the grid.

Reset Zoom

Resets the view’s zoom to its default position.

Reset Pan

Resets the view’s pan to its default position.

Reset View

Resets the view to its default position.

View

Function List
Auto Load Selection
Clear
Load Selection
Add Selection
Remove Selection
Show Motion:
Show

Show Rotation:Show Scale:82

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference GuideShow Skew:
Show Other:83

Chapter 3: Menus

View Menus

Library View Menu
The Library View menu lets you access commands specific to the Library view, such as opening a Library or
getting the rights to modify a library folder.
How to access the Library menul

In the upper-left corner of the Library view, click the menu

Commandbutton.

Description

View
List

Displays the contents of the selected folder as a list.

Thumbnails

Displays the contents of the selected folder as a thumbnails.

Details

Displays the details of the selected file.

Generate Thumbnails

Creates a thumbnail to display in the preview window.

Edit
Creates a new symbol from a drawing or part of a drawing in the
Drawing or Camera view, or a layer in the Timeline view.
New Symbol

If your selection is in the Timeline , the new symbol appears in the Symbol
folder. The current selection is not replaced by the new symbol. The new
symbol only appears in the library. You must drag it into your scene to use it.
If your selection is in the Drawing or Camera view, the new symbol appears in
the Symbol folder and in the Timeline view as a new layer.

Cut

Cuts the selected file in the Library view.

Copy

Copies the selected file in the Library view.

Paste

Pastes the selected file in the Library view.

DeleteDeletes the selected file in the Library view.

Delete Thumbnails

Deletes any thumbnails that were generated for display in the preview window.
Places you inside the symbol where you can edit it.

Edit Symbol

To return to the project's timeline, click the Top
button in the Camera
view's top-left corner, press Ctrl + Shift + E (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + Shift + E(Mac OS X).

Remove Unused Files

Removes any files not in use in the selected template.

Rename Template

Lets you rename a selected template.

Import Files

Imports vector files such as AI, PDF, and SWF. You requires the right tomodify the library in which you want to import the files.

Folders
New Folder

Creates a new folder in the Library view. Before you can create a new folder,
you must have the right to modify the folder in which you are creating the newfolder.

84

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

RefreshUpdates the view and its contents.

Open LibraryLets you open a library on your computer.

Close Library

Unlinks a library folder from your library list.

85Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

86

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Chapter 4: Nodes
The Node view uses a visual set of connections (nodes) to show how each element in the scene is connected andbrought to the final image. It allows you to add extra elements and effects, and to move beyond the possibilities
offered by the Timeline and Xsheet views. Each node corresponds to a layer in the Timeline view. Very few nodes
are only visible in the Node view.
The basic rules of the Node view are quite simple. Once you understand them, a lot can be accomplished.
Each node used to build a node system is available in the Node Library view as well as through the Insert menu in
the Node view. In addition, each time you create a layer from the Timeline or Xsheet views, the corresponding nodeis created in the Node view.
Combine Nodes

88

Cutter Node89

Deformation Nodes

91

Bone Node92

Deformation Composite Node94

Game Bone Node96

Kinematic Output Node98

Filter Nodes

99

Blur Node100

Colour-Scale Node102

Glow Node104

Shadow Node107

Transparency

109

Generator Nodes

111

Colour-Card Node112

Element / Drawing Node113

Move Nodes

115

Camera Node116

Peg Node

117

Transformation Tab

117

Quadmap Node118

Sound Layer Properties

120

87

Chapter 4: Nodes

Combine Nodes

Combine Nodes
The nodes found in the Combine category are used to take two or more elements are combine them into a newimage.
Cutter Node89

88

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Cutter Node
T-HFND-010-009
The Cutter effect cuts out a portion of an image. To accomplish this, it needs to be connected to the drawing it isintended to cut as well as to a matte layer. The cutter will take the shape of the drawing in its matte layer and cut thisshape out of the drawing layer. This is especially useful if you want to make a character disappear between abackground element, or if you want to cut out a hole in the middle of a character.
The Cutter effect has an Inverted parameter, which is disabled by default. When enabled, the Cutter will have therevert effect: Instead of cutting the matte's shape out of the drawing, it will cut everything outside of the matte's
shape out of the drawing, leaving only the parts of the drawing that are covered by the matte.
The Cutter effect can be used with 2D-3D integration. Rendered 2D drawings, integrated with 3D models, display
soft, anti-aliased edges, even where the Cutter effect is applied.

Refer to the following example to connect this node.

89

Chapter 4: Nodes

Combine Nodes

Properties

Parameter

Description

Enable/Disable

Enables or disables the selected node in the Camera, Timeline, and Nodeviews.

Colour Swatch

Changes the layer colour.

Name

Allows you to change the node's name.

Inverted

When this option is enabled, the Cutter node will invert the matte shape to cut
the drawing. Instead of cutting the image intersecting with the matte, it will cut
any artwork outside of the matte shape.

90Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Deformation Nodes
The deformation rigs are composed of several different types of nodes. Additional ones such as the Kinematic
Output node can be used to enhance the results.
Bone Node92

Deformation Composite Node94

Game Bone Node96

Kinematic Output Node9891

Chapter 4: Nodes

Deformation Nodes

Bone Node
The Bone node is one of the main nodes used to build a deformation rig. Each Bone node consists of a bone andan articulation. You can chain Bone nodes to create a skeleton chain for your character. The Rigging tool can beused to create and connect those nodes automatically.

Properties

Parameter

Descriptions

Enable/Disable

Enables or disables the selected node in the Camera, Timeline, and Nodeviews.

Colour Swatch

Changes the layer colour.

Name

Use this field to rename the node.

Resting Parameters Rest Offset(x) AxisThis is the bone x-axis (horizontal) coordinates for the resting position.

(y) AxisThis is the bone y-axis (vertical) coordinates for the resting position.

Rest RadiusThis is the articulation's radius value (articulation size) for the resting position.

Rest Orientation

This is the bone's orientation angle for the resting position.

Rest Bias

This is the articulation's bias (roundness and smoothness) for the resting position.

Rest Length

This is the bone's length for the resting position.

Deform Parameters Offset
2D PathWhen this option is enabled, the X and Y-axis parameters are controlled by thesame 2D path function.

Separate

When this option is enabled, the X and Y-axis parameters are individual one
from another.

92

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Path

When using a 2D Path, this field displays the name of the function.

(x) AxisThis is the bone X-axis (horizontal) coordinates for the animation position. Thisparameter can be linked to a function to be animated over time.

(y) AxisThis is the bone y-axis (vertical) coordinates for the animation position. Thisparameter can be linked to a function to be animated over time.

RadiusThis is the articulation's radius value (articulation size) for the animation position. This parameter can be linked to a function to be animated over time.

Orientation

This is the bone's orientation angle for the animation position. This parametercan be linked to a function to be animated over time.

Bias

This is the articulation's bias (roundness and smoothness) for the animation
position. This parameter can be linked to a function to be animated over time.

LengthThis is the bone's length for the animation position. This parameter can belinked to a function to be animated over time.

93Chapter 4: Nodes

Deformation Nodes

Deformation Composite Node
Just like a standard Composite node, the Deformation-Composite node is used to bring together all the elementsthat are connected to it, allowing you to customize parameters that will influence the result of the output. The
Deformation-Composite links the deformation chain to the graphic element to which it is related.

Properties
Parameter

Description

Enable/Disable

Enables or disables the selected node in the Camera, Timeline, andNode views.

Colour Swatch

Changes the layer colour.

Name

Use this field to rename the node.

Output Kinematic Only

This option is disabled by default, allowing the deformation chain to
output deformation and position information. This option should beenabled in order to output the chain information position only. This willallow you to connect a part to the hierarchy without it undergoing thedeformation applied to the rest of the chain.

Output Selected Port Only

This option is important if you have several deformation chains for
one element.
Lets you select a deformation chain option to use. This parameter isused when the Output Selected Port Only option is enabled.

Rightmost: Only the first chain connected to the right of the composite node will be used.
Output Kinematic Chain

Leftmost: Only the first chain connected to the left of the composite
node will be used.
Select: If you select this option, you can define which chain to output
according to the order they are connected from left to right.
Use First Connected Element’s Exposure as Key: Allows thedeformation effect to automatically detect which deformation chain touse (subgroup) by detecting the exposure of the first element con-94

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

nected to the deformation. This option is used in the case of a multiple
pose rig.
Use Parent Composite’s Connected Element Exposure: When
the Output Kinematic Only option enabled, the information from theparent element’s exposure is used to attach the child to the correct
chain, following which pose is exposed—see
When the Output Selected Port Only option is selected AND the
Select option is used as the Output Kinematic Chain setting, this fielddefines which deformation chain you want to use on your element.
Select the number which corresponds to the left to right order that the
chains are connected to the Deformation-Composite node.
Output Kinematic Chain Selection

You can attach this value to a function and enable different chainsover a period of time on specific frames. This value can be modified in
the Timeline view by using the Deformation-Switch layer. Since theDeformation-Composite node is only visible in the Node view, thelayer has a reference to this parameter enabling you to easily edit thevalue when working in the Timeline view.

95Chapter 4: Nodes

Deformation Nodes

Game Bone Node
The Bone node is one of the main node used to build a deformation rig. Each Bone node consists of a bone and anarticulation. Chaining Bone nodes will create a skeleton chain for your character. The Rigging tool can be used tocreate and connect those nodes automatically.

Parameter

Descriptions

Resting Parameters Rest Offset(x) AxisThis is the bone X-axis (horizontal) coordinates for the resting position.

(y) AxisThis is the bone Y-axis (vertical) coordinates for the resting position.

Rest RadiusThis is the articulation's radius value (articulation size) for the resting position.

Rest Orientation

This is the bone's orientation angle for the resting position.

Rest Length

This is the bone's length for the resting position.

Deform Parameters Offset
2D PathWhen this option is enabled, the X and Y axis parameters are controlled by thesame 2D path function.

Separate

When this option is enabled, the X and Y axis parameters are individual fromeach other.

Path

When using a 2D Path, this field displays the name of the function curve.

(x) AxisThis is the bone X-axis (horizontal) coordinates for the animation position. Thisparameter can be linked to a function curve to be animated over time.

(y) AxisThis is the bone Y-axis (vertical) coordinates for the animation position. Thisparameter can be linked to a function curve to be animated over time.

RadiusThis is the articulation's radius value (articulation size) for the animation position. This parameter can be linked to a function curve to be animated overtime.

Orientation

This is the bone's orientation angle for the animation position. This parametercan be linked to a function curve to be animated over time.
96Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

LengthThis is the bone's length for the animation position. This parameter can belinked to a function curve to be animated over time.

97

Chapter 4: Nodes

Deformation Nodes

Kinematic Output Node
The Kinematic Output node lets you hook a separate element that you want to be linked to the deformation chain
but not be part of the deformation, such as a hand to an arm or an arm to the body. These elements will follow the
movement of the chain just like a regular cut-out character hierarchy piece without being influenced by the
deformation of the arm. If you don't use the Kinematic Output, the piece's pivot will not follow the deformation.
Connect a Kinematic Output node below the deformation node you want your drawing to follow.

98Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Filter Nodes
Here is the list of the main filter effects available in Harmony.
Blur Node100

Colour-Scale Node102

Glow Node104

Shadow Node107

Transparency

109

99

Chapter 4: Nodes

Filter Nodes

Blur Node
T-HFND-010-007
The Blur-Radial effect creates an effect that softens, fogs or obscures the image evenly in all directions. Thiseffect is useful when you want to make cloudy images not realistically seen in detail, such as a drawing object
that is farther back or in the background of your scene, usually blurry due to the laws of atmospheric perspective.
Other uses include the general softening of objects such as snow, stars and shadows that do not naturally have a
hard outline.

Refer to the following example to connect this node.

100Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Properties

Parameter

Description

Name

Use this field to rename the node.

Truck Factor

Activated by default, this option readjusts the blur when the elements undergo achange of depth or scale. When this option is deselected, the effect's values
remain unchanged regardless of any depth or scale changes. This option should
be deselected when multiple drawings are composited and attached to this effect.

RadiusSize of the blur. The larger the value, the greater the strength or reach of the blur.
The blur radius is affected by the drawing scale and camera position. Click the
Edit Curve button to change these values over time by adjusting the function
curve.

Quality

Select High for a slow and accurate operation or Low for a faster operation with amore raw look.

101

Chapter 4: Nodes

Filter Nodes

Colour-Scale Node
The Colour-Scale effect offsets an image's colours. This effect is useful in creating ambient transitions, such as
from daytime to nighttime.

Refer to the following example to connect this node.

Properties

Parameter

Description

Name

Use this field to rename the node.

Red, Green, Blue, Alpha

The red, green, blue and alpha used to offset the image.

Hue

The colour or hue to offset the image.

Saturation

The amount of colour to offset the image.

Value

Enter the value for the colour to offset the image. The actual colour values of
the image are not changed; instead, the channels are multiplied by a selectedamount. For example:

102

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

l

l

l

A value of 1 does not change the colour values.
A value greater than 1 brings the colour channel value closer to 255 (orwhite).
A value less than 1 brings the colour channel value closer to zero (0 orblack).

103

Chapter 4: Nodes

Filter Nodes

Glow Node
T-HFND-010-009B
The Glow effect turns your image into a glow area with a bright soft-edged light or diffuse light region around an
image. The Glow effect is useful for creating a shining rim around objects, such as the sun or stars. Clone yourlayer to display the original image on top of the glow.

Refer to the following example to connect this node.

104Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Properties

Parameter

Description

Enable/Disable

Enables or disables the selected node in the Camera, Timeline, and Node views.

Colour Swatch

Changes the layer colour.

Name

Use this field to rename the node.

Truck Factor

Activated by default, this option readjusts the blur when the elements undergo achange of depth or scale. When disabled, the effect's values will remainunchanged regardless of depth or scale changes. It is recommended that thisoption be disabled when multiple drawings are composited and attached thiseffect.

Blur Type

Radial: The edges of the matte are blurred evenly around points that make up theedge of the matte.
Directional: The matte is blurred in the direction you select.

RadiusEnter a value for the size of the blur. The larger the value, the greater the blureffect. The blur radius is affected by the drawing scale and camera position.
If you selected the Directional Blur type, you can set the direction of the blur byentering a value from 0 to 360 in this field.
0: Blurs the image to the west.

Directional Angle

90: Blurs the image to the south.
180: Blurs the image to the east.
270: Blurs the image to the north.
The distance where the blur fades from the edge of the image. Select a value
between 0 and 1.

Directional Falloff Rate
0: Makes the blur fade out slowly, distributing the blur evenly from the edge of thecharacter to the farthest edge of the blur.

105

Chapter 4: Nodes

Filter Nodes

1: Makes the blur fade out quickly. The blur is heaviest closer to the edge of theimage.
Invert Matte

Inverts the matte used to create the tone, shadow, or highlight.

Use Matte/Source Colour

Creates the shadow or tone using the matte shape's colour. Be sure that you are
in render mode
to see this effect and that your background is NOT white andthat you do NOT have a white colour card node attached to the composite. As thematte only gives colour information, but no alpha, the matte is automatically multiplied with the background colours. If there is no colour card attached and thebackground appears black, you will see the matte colour at full opacity. If it is multiplied with a white background, the colours disappear into the full 255.

Multiplicative

Multiplies the tone or shadow colours with the background.

ColourRGBAEnter a value to add or subtract from the colour channels in the drawings or attachthese values to function curves.

Colour Swatch

Opens the Colour Picker where you can specify the colour.

Intensity

Lets you set a value to determine the strength of the effect or attach a function toanimate the effect.

106Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Shadow NodeWith the Shadow effect, you can turn a drawing into a shadow. It doesn't matter if the drawing layer is a fully
coloured character. The Shadow effect will render it into a grey, semitransparent, slightly blurry silhouette. Clone
your image or connect it a second time to the final Composite node to see the original image displayed on top of the
shadow.

Refer to the following example to connect this node.

Properties
Parameter

Description

Enable/Disable

Enables or disables the selected node in the Camera, Timeline, and Node views.

Colour Swatch

Changes the layer colour.

Name

Use this field to rename the node.

Truck Factor

Activated by default, this option readjusts the blur when the elements undergo achange of depth or scale. When disabled, the effect's values will remainunchanged regardless of depth or scale changes. It is recommended that thisoption be disabled when multiple drawings are composited and attached thiseffect.

Blur Type

Radial: The edges of the matte are blurred evenly around points that make up theedge of the matte.
Directional: The matte is blurred in the direction you select.

RadiusDirectional Angle

Enter a value for the size of the blur. The larger the value, the greater the blureffect. The blur radius is affected by the drawing scale and camera position.
If you selected the Directional Blur type, you can set the direction of the blur byentering a value from 0 to 360 in this field.
0: Blurs the image to the west.

107

Chapter 4: Nodes

Filter Nodes

90: Blurs the image to the south.
180: Blurs the image to the east.
270: Blurs the image to the north.
The distance where the blur fades from the edge of the image. Select a value
between 0 and 1.
Directional Falloff Rate

0: Makes the blur fade out slowly, distributing the blur evenly from the edge of thecharacter to the farthest edge of the blur.
1: Makes the blur fade out quickly. The blur is heaviest closer to the edge of theimage.

Invert Matte

Inverts the matte used to create the tone, shadow, or highlight.

Use Matte/Source Colour

Creates the shadow or tone using the matte shape's colour. Be sure that you are
in render mode
to see this effect and that your background is NOT white andthat you do NOT have a white colour card node attached to the composite. As thematte only gives colour information, but no alpha, the matte is automatically multiplied with the background colours. If there is no colour card attached and thebackground appears black, you will see the matte colour at full opacity. If it is multiplied with a white background, the colours disappear into the full 255.

Multiplicative

Multiplies the tone or shadow colours with the background.

ColourRGBAEnter a value to add or subtract from the colour channels in the drawings or attachthese values to function curves.

Colour Swatch

Opens the Colour Picker where you can specify the colour.

Intensity

Lets you set a value to determine the strength of the effect or attach a function toanimate the effect.

108Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Transparency
T-HFND-010-008
The Transparency effect is used to make an image partially transparent. The Transparency effect is useful whenfading images in and out, such as a phantom or to make something partially see-through, such as a window.

AuthorChristina Halstead
2D Animator and Character Designer
shadowbrushcreations.com

Refer to the following example to connect this node.

You can enter a value in the Transparency field or change the transparency value over time by linking it to a function
curve. Entering a value of 100 in the Transparency field will make the element 100% transparent, in other words,
invisible. Entering a value of 0 will render the element completely opaque.

109

Chapter 4: Nodes

Filter Nodes

Properties

Parameter

Description

Name

Allows you to change the node's name.

Transparency

Lets you set the opacity of an element. Values range from 0 to 100. A value of
100 will make the element 100% transparent and a value of 0 will render the element completely opaque.

110Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Generator Nodes
The nodes found in the Generator category are nodes that generate an image on their without using any external
TVG or bitmap drawings. You can adjust the parameters to control the image outputted by these nodes.
Colour-Card Node112

Element / Drawing Node

113

111

Chapter 4: Nodes

Generator Nodes

Colour-Card Node

The Colour Card is a solid background the same size as the camera. The Colour Card lets you fill the scene's
background with a solid colour when there is no background image. If no background or colour card is added to thescene, the resulting export will appear with a black background.
By default, the Colour Card has a Z ordering value of 12 Backward. This puts the Colour card behind all elementsthat have a value lower than 12 Backward. Most of the time, the Colour card will appear automatically behind all
the scene elements as they are all set to 0 Backward, unless you have changed the Z ordering of the scene
components. If so, the Colour Card will be in front of the elements that are pushed back to more than 12 fields
backward.

Colour Card Properties
Parameter

Description

Depth

The value used to determine composition order when the Z value of two elements is the same.

Offset Z

The front-back position of the Colour Card layer in 3D space. This value can beverified in the Top view.

Red/Green/Blue/Alpha

The colour and transparency of the Colour Card. You can also attach theseparameters to function columns to change their values over time.
Click the colour swatch to open the Colour Picker window and select a colour.

Colour Swatch

Opens the Colour Picker window in which you can specify the colour.

112Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Element / Drawing Node
The drawing layer's properties is composed of the following tabs:
Transformation Tab
The Transformation tab contains parameters for adjusting the position, scale, rotation, skew and pivots of anelement.

Parameter

Description
3D Path: Lets you use a 3D path function to animate an element.
Separate: Lets you independently edit the different coordinate fields.
Path (x) Axis: Lets you type in a new East/West coordinate corresponding to thedesired position.

Position

Path (y) Axis: Lets you type in a new North/South coordinate corresponding to
the desired position.
Path (z) Axis: Lets you ype in a new Forward/Backward coordinate
corresponding to the desired position.
Velocity: When the 3D Path option is selected, lets you set the speed at which
Locked: Resizes the element while keeping its ratio. The X and Y axes scale
proportionally

Scale

Separate: Resizes the element allowing to modify the ratio (squash and stretch).
(x) Axis: Lets you type in the horizontal scale value.

113

Chapter 4: Nodes

Generator Nodes(y) Axis: Lets you type in the vertical scale value.
RotationAngle z: Lets you type in a degree value for the rotation angle. Note that you canenter values greater than 360 and -360 degrees. If you enter 720, the object will
rotate twice.

Skew

Skew: Lets you type in a degree value between -90 to 90 for the skew angle.
(x) Axis: Lets you type in a new East/West coordinate corresponding to thedesired position.

Pivot(y) Axis: Lets you ype in a new North/South coordinate corresponding to thedesired position.

114

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Move Nodes
The nodes found in the Move category are used to animate layers as well as camera motions.
Camera Node116

Peg Node

117

Transformation Tab

117

Quadmap Node

118

115

Chapter 4: NodesMove Nodes

Camera NodeYou can setup the camera position by entering coordinates and values in the Layer Properties view.

Parameter

Description

Enable/Disable

Turns the camera layer on or off.

Change Track Colour

The Change Track Colour button lets you change the colour of the exposed
frames; this helps you to quickly locate a layer in the Timeline view. Click the
Change Track Colour button to open the Select Colour window and choose a
new colour. You can modify the colour for any type of layer, such as group,peg, drawing, and effects.

Name

Displays the current layer name. You can rename the layer by typing in a newlayer name.

Position

Displays the current position of the camera layer using X-axis (East/West), Yaxis (North/South) and Z-axis (Forward/Backward) coordinates. To reposition
your camera frame, type in the new values corresponding to the desired position coordinates. You can also use the up and down arrows to set the value ofeach field.

Angle

Displays the current rotation value. To set a new rotation position, type in a
new angle value. You can also use the up and down arrows to set the newangle value.

Pivot

Displays the current position of the rotation pivot of the camera layer. The camera will perform a rotation taking the position of the pivot as its angle centre. Bydefault, the pivot is set at the centre of the camera frame. To reposition thepivot point, enter new X and Y coordinates values in the appropriate field. To
see the pivot's position, the Rotate tool must be selected.

116Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Peg Node
Find below a description of all the Peg node parameters.

Transformation Tab
Parameter

Description
3D Path: Lets you use a 3D path function to animate an element.
Separate: Lets you independently edit the different coordinate fields.
Path (x) Axis: Lets you type in a new East/West coordinate corresponding to thedesired position.

Position

Path (y) Axis: Lets you type in a new North/South coordinate corresponding to
the desired position.
Path (z) Axis: Lets you ype in a new Forward/Backward coordinate
corresponding to the desired position.
Velocity: When the 3D Path option is selected, lets you set the speed at which
Locked: Resizes the element while keeping its ratio. The X and Y axes scale
proportionally

Scale

Separate: Resizes the element allowing to modify the ratio (squash and stretch).
(x) Axis: Lets you type in the horizontal scale value.
(y) Axis: Lets you type in the vertical scale value.

RotationAngle z: Lets you type in a degree value for the rotation angle. Note that you canenter values greater than 360 and -360 degrees. If you enter 720, the object will
rotate twice.

Skew

Skew: Lets you type in a degree value between -90 to 90 for the skew angle.
(x) Axis: Lets you type in a new East/West coordinate corresponding to thedesired position.

Pivot(y) Axis: Lets you ype in a new North/South coordinate corresponding to thedesired position.

117

Chapter 4: NodesMove Nodes

Quadmap NodeThe Quadmap transformation layer lets you deform the shape of an element. For example, you can use it tocreate a drop-shadow effect on an element.

You can edit the Quadmap visually in the Camera view.
How to edit the Quadmap in the Camera view
1. In the Timeline view, click the Add Layerbutton and select Quadmap.

2. Connect the drawing you want to deformto the Quadmap.

3. In the Tools toolbar, disable the Animate mode to change the value for the Quadmap over the entire duration of the element.
4. In the Timeline view, click on the Quadmap layer to select it.
5. From the top menu, select View > Show > Control or pressShift + F11.
The quadmap handles appear around the element in the window. There is also a pivot point at the centre of
the quadmap frame that you can reposition.
6. In the Camera view window, use the Transform tool to move the points on the quadmap. Shift + click to
select multiple points.

118

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

The value of each point on the quadmap can be changed gradually. To do this, use the Quadmap node Layer
Properties to attach the points to function curves.
Only the X and Y values of each point in the quadmap can be changed.

Properties

Parameter

Description

Name

Lets you rename the node.

2D PathChanges the X and Y values simultaneously and control the velocity of thechange.

Separate

Changes the X and Y values separately. Each one can be attached to separate
function curves.

119Chapter 4: Nodes

Sound Layer Properties

Sound Layer Properties
When you select a sound layer in the Timeline view, the options related to that layer appear in the Layer
Properties view.

120Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Chapter 5: Tools Properties
Harmony has a wide variety of drawing and manipulation tools and each one of them has a series of options andmodes available in the Tool Properties view. This section covers these options.

Brush Tool Properties

123

Size and Smoothness Tab

124

Close Gap Tool Properties

126

Contour Editor Tool Properties

127

Cutter Tool Properties

129

Ellipse Tool Properties

130

Envelope Tool Properties

133

Eraser Tool Properties

135

Size and Smoothness Tab

136

Line Tool Properties

137

Paint Tool Properties

140

Pencil Tool Properties

142

Perspective Tool Properties

144

Polyline Tool Properties

145

Rectangle Tool Properties

147

Reposition All Drawings Tool Properties

150

Rigging Tool Properties

152

Mode

152

Options152

Operations

152

Select Tool Properties

153

Smooth Editor Tool Properties

158

Stroke Tool Properties

160

Text Tool Properties

161
121

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Transform Tool Properties

164

Zoom Tool Properties

166

122

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Brush Tool Properties
When you're drawing on a vector layer and select the Brush tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool
Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description
The Preview area lets you see a preview of the selected or customized
stroke. You can click on the Show Extended Properties arrow to display
advanced customization parameters.

Previewing the Stroke

Maximum Size

Defines the maximum size of your drawing tool. This parameter defines
the width of the stroke.

Smoothing

Defines the number of control points added to the centre line. The fewer
the control points the smoother (but less faithful) the line.

Brush Presets

Presets are created by saving the properties of the current tool to a newpreset, which you can reuse for repeated tasks. You can create as many
presets as you need.

New Brush

Allows to create a new preset.

123Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Brush Tool Properties

New Dynamic Brush

Allows you to create a new dynamic brush to clone custom patterns.

Delete Brush

Allows you to delete your custom presets.

Rename Brush

Allows you to rename a custom preset.

Import Brushes

Allows you to import a set of XML Harmony presets previously exported
via the Export Brushes command.

Export Brushes

Allows you to export Harmony presets to backup or import on a different
computer.

Small Thumbnail, Large
Thumbnail, and Stroke
View

Allows you to display the presets as small square thumbnails, large
square thumbnails or a list of stroke preview.
When drawing on vector layers, the Draw Behind mode lets you paintbehind existing art. By default, strokes appear over your work until you
release the tool.

Draw Behind

The Repaint Brush is used to repaint zones that have already been
painted, it will not affect empty zones or pencil lines. You can use thismode to paint tones or highlights onto your character.
Repaint BrushAuto-Flatten Mode

When enabled, the Auto-Flatten mode automatically flattens the new lines
created with the existing artwork as you draw in the Drawing or Camera
view. Brush strokes will flatten with brush strokes and pencil lines will
flatten with pencil lines.

Size and Smoothness Tab
You can access advanced properties by clicking on the Previewing the Stoke button in the Tool Properties view.

124Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Tool Name

Description

Maximum Size

Defines the maximum size of your drawing tool. This parameter defines the width of
the stroke.

Minimum Size

Defines the minimum size of your stroke as a percentage of the maximum size. If
you do not have pressure sensitivity from a pen table, the minimum size value will beignored.

Smoothing

Defines the number of control points added to the centre line. The fewer the control
points the smoother (but less faithful) the line.

Contour Smoothing

Defines the number of points on the contour share of your stroke. This will smoothout the bumps and waves on tour contour shape of your brush strokes.

Tip Shape

Lets you select a tip shape—from round and square ones to star shaped. This option
is disabled when using a textured brush.

125

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Close Gap Tool Properties

Close Gap Tool Properties
When you select the Close Gap tool, its properties and options appears in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Auto-Flatten Mode

When enabled, the Auto-Flatten mode automaticallyflattens the new lines created with the existingartwork as you draw in the Drawing or Camera view.
Brush strokes will flatten with brush strokes andpencil lines will flatten with pencil lines.

126Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Contour Editor Tool Properties
When you select the Contour Editor tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Lasso

Sets the selection mode to Lasso. Click and hold Alt totemporarily switch between the Marquee and Lassomodes.

Marquee

Sets the selection mode to Marquee. Click and hold Alt
to temporarily switch between the Marquee and Lassomodes.

Snap to Contour

Snaps your selection or point to any line you position it
on. As soon as you move it close enough to anotherline, your point or selection will snap to it.

Snap and Align

Snaps the selected anchor point to any existing line
while displaying temporary rulers as a guide that you
can also snap your anchor point to.

Show Contour Editor Controls

Use the Show Contour Editor Controls option to show
the contour editor controls. You can use these controls
to scale, reposition and rotate the selected anchor
points.

Smooth Selection

The Smooth operation lets you smooth out selected127Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Contour Editor Tool Properties

drawing strokes and remove extra points.
l128

From the top menu, select Drawing> Optimize> Smooth or press Alt + Shift + S.

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Cutter Tool Properties
When you select the Cutter tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Lasso

Sets the selection mode to Lasso. Click and hold Alt totemporarily switch between the Marquee and Lassomodes.

Marquee

Sets the selection mode to Marquee. Click and hold Alt totemporarily switch between the Marquee and Lassomodes.

Use Mouse Gesture

When using the Lasso selection type, the Use Mouse
Gesture option lets you automatically delete any extra
sections of line in your artwork by simply dragging yourmouse over it.

NOTE: For this operation to work, you lines
CANNOT be flattened.

Flip Horizontal

Flips the current selection horizontally.

Flip Vertical

Flips the current selection vertically.

Rotate 90 Degrees CW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees clockwise.

Rotate 90 Degrees CCW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

129

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Ellipse Tool Properties

Ellipse Tool Properties
When you select the Ellipse tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Size

Defines the maximum size of your drawing tool. This parameter defines
the width of the stroke.

Presets

Harmony provides a variety of presets and also lets you create andsave your own. It is a good idea to create and save pencils with precise
sizes and parameters when you draw and design for efficiency andconsistency.
All tools using pencil lines share the same preset list. Therefore, thePolyline, Line, Rectangle, Ellipse, and Pencil tools share the same
preset list.

New Brush

Allows to create a new preset.

Delete Brush

Allows you to delete your custom presets.

Rename Brush

Allows you to rename a custom preset.

Import Brushes

Allows you to import a set of XML Harmony presets previously
exported via the Export Brushes command.

Export Brushes

Allows you to export Harmony presets to backup or import on a130

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

different computer.
Small Thumbnail, Large
Thumbnail, and Stroke
View

Allows you to display the presets as small square thumbnails, large
square thumbnails or a list of stroke preview.
When drawing on vector layers, the Draw Behind mode lets you paintbehind existing art. By default, strokes appear over your work until you
release the tool.

Draw Behind

Use the Automatic Filling option to automatically fill your shape with theselected colour as you draw. By default, the Shape tool creates theoutline of an empty shape that you can later fill using the Paint tool.
This option is unavailable for the line tool.
Automatic Filling

Snap to Contour

Snaps your selection or point to any line you position it on. As soon as
you move it close enough to another line, your point or selection will
snap to it.

Snap and Align

Snaps the selected anchor point to any existing line while displaying
temporary rulers as a guide that you can also snap your anchor point to.
Snaps your selection following the currently enabled grid.

Snap to Grid

When enabled, the Auto-Flatten mode automatically flattens the newlines created with the existing artwork as you draw in the Drawing or
Camera view. Brush strokes will flatten with brush strokes and pencil
lines will flatten with pencil lines.
Auto-Flatten Mode131

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Ellipse Tool Properties

NOTE:
Using the Select tool, you can use select and remove a segment offlattened pencil lines. Overlapping pencil lines drawn with the AutoFlatten mode are essentially cut into segments by the overlap andcan be treated as individual lines.

132

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Envelope Tool Properties
Selecting the Envelope tool displays its properties and options in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Width and Height

Increase the width and height values to add morecolumns and rows to the deformation grids.

Lasso

Sets the selection mode to Lasso. Click and hold Alt totemporarily switch between the Marquee and Lassomodes.

Marquee

Sets the selection mode to Marquee. Click and hold Alt
to temporarily switch between the Marquee and Lassomodes.

Snap to Contour

Snaps your selection or point to any line you position it
on. As soon as you move it close enough to anotherline, your point or selection will snap to it.

Snap and Align

Snaps the selected anchor point to any existing line
while displaying temporary rulers as a guide that you
can also snap your anchor point to.

Snap to Grid

Snaps your selection following the currently enabled
grid.

133

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Envelope Tool Properties

Show Advanced Controls

To display more controls,you can click on the Show
Advanced Controls button.

Flip Horizontal

Flips the current selection horizontally.

Flip Vertical

Flips the current selection vertically.

Rotate 90 Degrees CW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees clockwise.

Rotate 90 Degrees CCW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

SmoothYou can modify the central line smoothness of your line
using this option. This parameter smooths the deformedlines. Increasing the value will result in a smoother linewith fewer control points. The more you increase thevalue, the less details and curves you will get. Use theleft and right arrows to increment the value by one fullunit. Use the Up - Down slider to quickly increment thevalue.

134

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Eraser Tool Properties
When you're drawing on vector layer and you select the Eraser
Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool

Description
The Preview area lets you see a preview of the selected or customized
stroke. You can click on the Show Extended Properties arrow to display
advanced customization parameters.

Previewing the Stroke

Maximum Size

Defines the maximum size of your drawing tool. This parameter defines
the width of the stroke.

Smoothing

Defines the number of control points added to the centre line. The fewer
the control points the smoother (but less faithful) the line.

Eraser Presets

Presets are created by saving the properties of the current tool to a newpreset, which you can reuse for repeated tasks. You can create as many
presets as you need.

135Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Eraser Tool Properties

New Brush

Allows to create a new preset.

Delete Brush

Allows you to delete your custom presets.

Rename Brush

Allows you to rename a custom preset.

Import Brushes

Allows you to import a set of XML Harmony presets previously exported
via the Export Brushes command.

Export Brushes

Allows you to export Harmony presets to backup or import on a different
computer.

Small Thumbnail, Large
Thumbnail, and Stroke
View

Allows you to display the presets as small square thumbnails, large
square thumbnails or a list of stroke preview.

Size and Smoothness Tab
You can access advanced properties by clicking on the Previewing the Stoke button in the Tool Properties view.

Tool Name

Description

Maximum Size

Defines the maximum size of your drawing tool. This parameter defines the widthof the stroke.

Minimum Size

Defines the minimum size of your stroke as a percentage of the maximum size. If
you do not have pressure sensitivity from a pen table, the minimum size value willbe ignored.

Smoothing

Defines the number of control points added to the centre line. The fewer the control
points the smoother (but less faithful) the line.

Contour Smoothing

Defines the number of points on the contour share of your stroke. This will smoothout the bumps and waves on tour contour shape of your brush strokes.

Tip Shape

Lets you select a tip shape—from round and square ones to star shaped. This
option is disabled when using a textured brush.

136

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Line Tool Properties
When you select the Line tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Size

Defines the maximum size of your drawing tool. This parameter defines
the width of the stroke.
Harmony provides a variety of presets and also lets you create and saveyour own. It is a good idea to create and save pencils with precise sizes
and parameters when you draw and design for efficiency and consistency.

Presets
All tools using pencil lines share the same preset list. Therefore, thePolyline, Line, Rectangle, Ellipse, and Pencil tools share the same preset
list.
New Brush

Allows to create a new preset.

Delete Brush

Allows you to delete your custom presets.

Rename Brush

Allows you to rename a custom preset.

Import Brushes

Allows you to import a set of XML Harmony presets previously exported
via the Export Brushes command.

Export Brushes

Allows you to export Harmony presets to backup or import on a different
computer.
137

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Line Tool Properties

Small Thumbnail, Large
Thumbnail, and Stroke
View

Allows you to display the presets as small square thumbnails, large
square thumbnails or a list of stroke preview.
When drawing on vector layers, the Draw Behind mode lets you paintbehind existing art. By default, strokes appear over your work until you
release the tool.

Draw Behind

Snap to Contour

Snaps your selection or point to any line you position it on. As soon as you
move it close enough to another line, your point or selection will snap to it.

Snap and Align

Snaps the selected anchor point to any existing line while displaying temporary rulers as a guide that you can also snap your anchor point to.
Snaps your selection following the currently enabled grid.

Snap to Grid

When enabled, the Auto-Flatten mode automatically flattens the new lines
created with the existing artwork as you draw in the Drawing or Camera
view. Brush strokes will flatten with brush strokes and pencil lines will
flatten with pencil lines.

Auto-Flatten Mode

NOTE:
Using the Select tool, you can use select and remove a segment offlattened pencil lines. Overlapping pencil lines drawn with the AutoFlatten mode are essentially cut into segments by the overlap andcan be treated as individual lines.

Auto-Close Gap

When using the pencil tool, you can automatically close strokes with aninvisible stroke.

138Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

It is recommended to keep this option enabled when drawing with thePencil tool.

139

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Paint Tool Properties

Paint Tool Properties
When you select the Paint tool, its properties and options appears in the Tools Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Lasso

Sets the selection mode to Lasso. Click and hold Alt
to temporarily switch between the Marquee andLasso modes.

Marquee

Sets the selection mode to Marquee. Click and hold
Alt to temporarily switch between the Marquee andLasso modes.

Paint Modes

The Paint tool has three different modes available:lllApply to Multiple Drawings

The Paint mode paints everything it touches,
including empty and filled zones.
The Paint Unpainted mode paints only empty
zones. Any line or filled zone will remainunchanged.
The Unpaint mode unpaints everything ittouches, including empty and filled zones.

The Apply to Multiple Drawings option is used forfast painting in hand-drawn animation. When you
want to paint several drawings in a same layer atonce, such as a walk cycle, you can enable thisoption and make a selection in the Camera or
Drawing view. All the closed zones located withinyour Paint tool selection are painted with theselected colour swatch.

You do not need to enable the Onion Skin preview to140Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

use this option. The option will stay enabled only forthe next action. If you want to use it again, you mustclick on the Apply to Multiple Drawings button again,or press Alt + A.
Select Newly Painted, andUnpainted Contours/Lines

In the Paint tool properties, this option keeps aselection highlighted around the latest painted zone
after using the Paint, Unpaint, or Paint Unpainted
tool.

Close Gap

The Close Gap option has four modes available.
When the option is enabled, Harmony will consume
more resources while painting.

l

l

l

l

141

No Close Gap: The moment a zone has a gap
in it, the Paint tool will not fill the area.
Close Small Gap: If a zone has a small gap in
it, the Paint tool will fill the area. You canzoom out to make the gap appear smaller and
the Paint tool will paint.
Close Medium Gap: If a zone has a medium
gap in it, the Paint tool will fill the area. You
can zoom out to make the gap appear smaller
and the Paint tool will paint.
Close Large Gap: If a zone has a large gap in
it, the Paint tool will fill the area. You canzoom out to make the gap appear smaller and
the Paint tool will paint.

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Pencil Tool Properties

Pencil Tool Properties
When you select the Pencil

Icon

tool, its properties and options appears in the Tool Properties view.

Tool Name

Description

Maximum Size

Defines the maximum size of your drawing tool. This parameter defines
the width of the stroke.

Smoothing

Defines the number of control points added to the centre line. The fewer
the control points the smoother (but less faithful) the line.

Presets

Harmony provides a variety of pencil presets and also lets you createand save your own. It is a good idea to create and save pencils with
precise sizes and parameters when you draw and design for efficiency
and consistency.
You can export the pencil presets that you have created and importthose that others have created. This is a good way for you and project
collaborators to keep a consistent look for the project.

New Brush

Allows to create a new preset.

Delete Brush

Allows you to delete your custom presets.

Rename Brush

Allows you to rename a custom preset.

142Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Import Brushes

Allows you to import a set of XML Harmony presets previously
exported via the Export Brushes command.

Export Brushes

Allows you to export Harmony presets to backup or import on adifferent computer.

Small Thumbnail, Large
Thumbnail, and Stroke
View

Allows you to display the presets as small square thumbnails, large
square thumbnails or a list of stroke preview.
When drawing on vector layers, the Draw Behind mode lets you paintbehind existing art. By default, strokes appear over your work until you
release the tool.

Draw Behind

When enabled, the Auto-Flatten mode automatically flattens the newlines created with the existing artwork as you draw in the Drawing or
Camera view. Brush strokes will flatten with brush strokes and pencil
lines will flatten with pencil lines.

Auto-Flatten Mode

NOTE:
Using the Select tool, you can use select and remove a segment offlattened pencil lines. Overlapping pencil lines drawn with the AutoFlatten mode are essentially cut into segments by the overlap andcan be treated as individual lines.

143

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Perspective Tool Properties

Perspective Tool Properties
Selecting the Perspective tool displays its properties and options in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Lasso

Sets the selection mode to Lasso. Click and hold Alt
to temporarily switch between the Marquee andLasso modes.

Marquee

Sets the selection mode to Marquee. Click and hold
Alt to temporarily switch between the Marquee andLasso modes.

Snap to Contour

Snaps your selection or point to any line you position
it on. As soon as you move it close enough toanother line, your point or selection will snap to it.

Snap and Align

Snaps the selected anchor point to any existing line
while displaying temporary rulers as a guide that you
can also snap your anchor point to.

Snap to Grid

Snaps your selection following the currently enabled
grid.

Flip Horizontal

Flips the current selection horizontally.

Flip Vertical

Flips the current selection vertically.

Rotate 90 Degrees CW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees clockwise.

Rotate 90 Degrees CCW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees counterclockwise.

Selection Tool Options

144

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Polyline Tool Properties
When you select the Polyline tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Size

Defines the maximum size of your drawing tool. This parameter defines
the width of the stroke.
Harmony provides a variety of presets and also lets you create and saveyour own. It is a good idea to create and save pencils with precise sizes
and parameters when you draw and design for efficiency and consistency.

Presets
All tools using pencil lines share the same preset list. Therefore, thePolyline, Line, Rectangle, Ellipse, and Pencil tools share the same preset
list.
New Brush

Allows to create a new preset.

Delete Brush

Allows you to delete your custom presets.

Rename Brush

Allows you to rename a custom preset.

Import Brushes

Allows you to import a set of XML Harmony presets previously exported
via the Export Brushes command.

Export Brushes

Allows you to export Harmony presets to backup or import on a different

145Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Polyline Tool Properties

computer.
Small Thumbnail, Large
Thumbnail, and Stroke
View

Allows you to display the presets as small square thumbnails, large
square thumbnails or a list of stroke preview.

Snap to Contour

Snaps your selection or point to any line you position it on. As soon as you
move it close enough to another line, your point or selection will snap to it.
When enabled, the Auto-Flatten mode automatically flattens the new lines
created with the existing artwork as you draw in the Drawing or Camera
view. Brush strokes will flatten with brush strokes and pencil lines will
flatten with pencil lines.

Auto-Flatten Mode

NOTE:
Using the Select tool, you can use select and remove a segment offlattened pencil lines. Overlapping pencil lines drawn with the AutoFlatten mode are essentially cut into segments by the overlap andcan be treated as individual lines.

146

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Rectangle Tool Properties
When you select the Rectangle tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Size

Defines the maximum size of your drawing tool. This parameter defines
the width of the stroke.
Harmony provides a variety of presets and also lets you create and saveyour own. It is a good idea to create and save pencils with precise sizes
and parameters when you draw and design for efficiency and consistency.

Presets
All tools using pencil lines share the same preset list. Therefore, thePolyline, Line, Rectangle, Ellipse, and Pencil tools share the same preset
list.
New Brush

Allows to create a new preset.

Delete Brush

Allows you to delete your custom presets.

Rename Brush

Allows you to rename a custom preset.

Import Brushes

Allows you to import a set of XML Harmony presets previously exported
via the Export Brushes command.

Export Brushes

Allows you to export Harmony presets to backup or import on a different
computer.
147

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Rectangle Tool Properties

Small Thumbnail, Large
Thumbnail, and Stroke
View

Allows you to display the presets as small square thumbnails, large
square thumbnails or a list of stroke preview.
When drawing on vector layers, the Draw Behind mode lets you paintbehind existing art. By default, strokes appear over your work until you
release the tool.

Draw Behind

Use the Automatic Filling option to automatically fill your shape with theselected colour as you draw. By default, the Shape tool creates the outlineof an empty shape that you can later fill using the Paint tool. This option isunavailable for the line tool.
Automatic Filling

Snap to Contour

Snaps your selection or point to any line you position it on. As soon as you
move it close enough to another line, your point or selection will snap to it.

Snap and Align

Snaps the selected anchor point to any existing line while displaying temporary rulers as a guide that you can also snap your anchor point to.
Snaps your selection following the currently enabled grid.

Snap to Grid

When enabled, the Auto-Flatten mode automatically flattens the new lines
created with the existing artwork as you draw in the Drawing or Camera
view. Brush strokes will flatten with brush strokes and pencil lines will
flatten with pencil lines.

Auto-Flatten Mode

NOTE:
Using the Select tool, you can use select and remove a segment of148

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

flattened pencil lines. Overlapping pencil lines drawn with the AutoFlatten mode are essentially cut into segments by the overlap andcan be treated as individual lines.

149

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Reposition All Drawings Tool Properties

Reposition All Drawings Tool Properties
When you use the Reposition All Drawings tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

OptionDescription

Flip Horizontal

Flips the current selection horizontally.

Flip Vertical

Flips the current selection vertically.

Rotate 90 Degrees CW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees
clockwise.

Rotate 90 Degrees CCW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees
counter-clockwise.
Use the Offset X and Offset Y operation fields
to enter specific values and precisely
reposition the selected shape.

Offset X and Y

1. X: Type a value in this field to reposition your selection along the X-axis.
2. Y: Type a value in this field to reposition your selection along the Y-axis.
3. Up/Down arrows: Use the up anddown arrows to modify the value in the
X or Y value field.
Use the Width and Height operation fields toenter specific values to resize the selectedshape with precision.

Width and Height150

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

1. Width: Type a value in this field to resize the width of your selection.
2. Height: Type a value in this field to resize the height of your selection.
3. Up/Down arrows: Use the up anddown arrows to modify the value in the
Width or Height fields.
4. Lock icon: Click the lock icon to lockor unlock the ratio between the Widthand Height values.
The Angle operation lets you to enter specificvalues and accurately rotate the selectedshape.

Angle
1. Angle: Type a degree value in this field
to rotate your selection.
2. Up/Down arrows: Use the up anddown arrows to modify the value in theAngle value field.

151

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Rigging Tool Properties

Rigging Tool Properties
In the Tool Properties view, you can customize not only the behaviour of the tool but also the settings of thedeformers that you will create.

Mode
Name

ButtonDescription

Bone Mode

Sets the Rigging tool to create Bone deformers.

Game Bone Mode

Sets the Rigging tool to create Game Bone deformers.

Options
Parameter

ButtonShow All Manipulators(Show All Controls)

Description
Lets you immediately see the resting position in red (Setup)
and the animated position in green.

Operations
Name

ButtonDescription

Reset Deform (Reset Current Keyframe)

Copies the resting position of the deformation skeleton to
the current frame.

152

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Select Tool Properties
When you use the Select tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Lasso

Sets the selection mode to Lasso. Click and hold Alt totemporarily switch between the Marquee and Lasso modes.

Marquee

Sets the selection mode to Marquee. Click and hold Alt totemporarily switch between the Marquee and Lasso modes.

Snap to Contour

Snaps your selection or point to any line you position it on. As
soon as you move it close enough to another line, your point or
selection will snap to it.

Snap and Align

Snaps the selected anchor point to any existing line while displaying temporary rulers as a guide that you can also snap youranchor point to.

Snap to Grid

Snaps your selection following the currently enabled grid.

Select by Colour

Lets you select all the zones and lines in your drawing painted
with the same colour swatch.

Selection Tool Options

153

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Select Tool Properties

In the Camera or Drawing view, click on any zone or line in yourdrawing. All zones and lines of the same colour are selected.
Click the Select tool again to return to the regular Select mode.

NOTE: Only the zones painted with the SAME colour
swatch will be selected. If another zone is coloured with theexact same RGB value (same colour), but not painted withthe same colour swatch, it will not be selected.
Works on Single Draw- By default, when you draw a selection box in the Camera view,ing
the Select tool will select only the drawing strokes of the current
drawing. If you prefer the Select tool to select all the strokes on
all layers, you can disable the Works on Single Drawing option in
the Tool Properties view or disable the Select tool Works on
Single Drawing preference. To do this, go to the top menu, select
Edit > Preferences > Camera (Windows/Linux) or Harmony
Essentials > Preferences > Camera (Mac OS X) and uncheckthe Select tool Works on Single Drawing option.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Selection Tool Operations

154Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Flip Horizontal

Flips the current selection horizontally.

Flip Vertical

Flips the current selection vertically.

Rotate 90 Degrees
CW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees clockwise.

Rotate 90 Degrees
CCW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

SmoothSmooth out selected drawing strokes and remove extra points.

FlattenMerges drawing objects and brush strokes into a single layer. If
you draw new lines to fix a drawing or line with many brushstrokes, it can be useful to flatten them all into a single shape. Bydefault, lines are drawn one on top of each other. If you intend to
repaint the lines or modify their shape, it will be easier if they areflattened.

Create Colour Art
from Line Art

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 drawings 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.

Distribute to Layers

The Distribute to Layers option is used to separate the selected
art strokes and send them to new drawing layers. In the Camera
view, once you have drawn your artwork, you can select thestrokes you want to distribute using the Select tool and click on
the Distribute to Layers button; you can also select Drawing >Distribute to Layers. It will automatically take every stroke fromthe drawing selection made in the Camera view and separate
them into a different layer for each. If an artwork is composed ofseveral strokes, you must group them using Edit > Group >Group before using the Distribute to Layers option. This option
cannot be done from the Drawing view.

155Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Select Tool Properties

Pencil to Brush

Converts the selected centre line pencil strokes into contour
strokes brush lines.

Offset X and Y

Use the Offset X and Offset Y operation fields to enter specificvalues and precisely reposition the selected shape.

1. X: Type a value in this field to reposition your selection
along the X-axis.
2. Y: Type a value in this field to reposition your selection
along the Y-axis.
3. Up/Down arrows: Use the up and down arrows to modify
the value in the X or Y value field.
Width and Height

Use the Width and Height operation fields to enter specific values
to resize the selected shape with precision.

1. Width: Type a value in this field to resize the width of yourselection.
2. Height: Type a value in this field to resize the height ofyour selection.
3. Up/Down arrows: Use the up and down arrows to modify
the value in the Width or Height fields.
4. Lock icon: Click the lock icon to lock or unlock the ratio
between the Width and Height values.
Angle

The Angle operation lets you to enter specific values andaccurately rotate the selected shape.

1. Angle: Type a degree value in this field to rotate yourselection.
2. Up/Down arrows: Use the up and down arrows to modify
the value in the Angle value field.

156

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Adjusting the Pencil
Line Thickness

When you select a pencil line with the Select tool, additional
options appear in the Tool Properties view.
Use the Adjusting the Pencil Line Thickness operation field toresize the selected centreline strokes. This operation is not
permitted on contour line shapes, such as brush strokes or shapefills.

Adjusting the Text
Selection

When you select text with the Select tool, the tool properties will
display the Text tool options on the bottom of the view. You canalso press Alt + 9 to display only the Text properties in the Tool
Properties view—see Text Tool Properties on page 161.

157

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Smooth Editor Tool Properties

Smooth Editor Tool Properties
When you select the Smooth Editor tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

SmoothingStyle

The Smoothing Style options allow you to smooth a portion of your drawing by tracing asmoothing stroke over the zone to optimize or by selecting an area of the drawing with
the Marquee or Lasso.
Note that by default, the Smooth Editor tool colour is yellow, it was changed to orange
for screen grab clarity.

Show Control The Show Control Points option allows you to show or hide the Bezier points around
Pointslines. When the Bezier points are displayed, you can see the result of your smoothing
and the number of points left on the curve. When it is turned off, only the original artwork
is displayed.
Minimum
This is where you set the minimum and maximum sizes of your drawing tool which will
Size and Max- produce the thick and thin effect on your stroke. This works with the pressure sensitivity
imum Sizeof a pen tablet.
This options is available while using the Brush SmoothingllSmoothness

style.

Maximum and Minimum Size: Defines the maximum and minimum width of thestroke.
Up/Down arrows: Use the up and down arrows to set the minimum and maximum size value.

The Smoothness impacts the strength of the smoothing result. The higher the value, themore points are removed and the smoother the curve. The Smoothness range is from 0
to 100; the default value is 20.

158Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

ColourYou can modify the colour of the control points displayed on the artwork while working
with the Smooth Editor tool by double-clicking on the colour swatch.

159

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Stroke Tool Properties

Stroke Tool Properties
When you select the Stroke tool, its properties and options appears in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Draw Stroke as StraightLines

Enable the Draw Stroke as Straight Lines option if
you want the new strokes you draw to be a perfectstraight line. Disable the option if you want the stroke
to follow the mouse gesture.

Connect Line Ends

Enable the Connect Line Ends option if you want thestart or end point of your new stroke to connect toyour existing strokes to make sure no gaps are left inyour drawing.

Auto-Flatten Mode

When enabled, the Auto-Flatten mode automaticallyflattens the new lines created with the existingartwork as you draw in the Drawing or Camera view.
Brush strokes will flatten with brush strokes andpencil lines will flatten with pencil lines.

Smoothness

You can modify the central line smoothness of yourline using this option. This parameter smooths theinitial movement of your line. Increasing the value
will result in a smoother line with fewer control
points. Use the left and right arrows to increment thevalue by one full unit. Use the Up - Down slider toquickly increment the value.

160

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Text Tool Properties
Use the Text tool's properties to select the font type and other formatting options you want to apply to the text.
If you already wrote your text, you must first use the Text tool and select the text portion you want to format. You
can modify the parameters of an entire text box using the Select tool.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Font TypeUse the Font drop-down menu to select a font. OTF
fonts are supported.

Bold

Use this option to bold your text selection.

ItalicUse this option to italicize your text selection.

Left Alignment

Use this option to left align the paragraph.

Centered Alignment

Use this option to center align the paragraph.

161

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Text Tool Properties

Right Alignment

Use this option to right align the paragraph.

Justified Alignment

Use this option to justify align the paragraph.

Font SizeEnter a size for the text.

Kerning

Use the kerning field to modify the spacing between
letters and characters. You can select the Auto Kern
option to set the kerning automatically based on the
font’s predefined standard. A negative value decreases
spacing between each character, creating a letter
overlap and a positive value increases it.

IndentEnter a value in the Indent field to increase or decrease
the indentation on the first line of your text. A positive
value sets the first line of your paragraph farther to theright and a negative value sets it farther to the left.

162Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Line Spacing

Enter a value in the Line Spacing field to decrease or
increase the space between each line of text.

163

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Transform Tool Properties

Transform Tool Properties
When selecting the Transform tool, several options are available in the Tool Properties view.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Lasso

Sets the selection mode to Lasso. Click and hold Alt to temporarily
switch between the Marquee and Lasso modes.

Marquee

Sets the selection mode to Marquee. Click and hold Alt to temporarily
switch between the Marquee and Lasso modes.

Peg Selection ModeIn the Camera view, the Peg Selection Mode limits the selection to peg
layers instead of drawing layers. This mode is useful when you havecreated a character rig using peg layers for each drawing. That way, you
do not accidentally select the drawing layer when you want to animate
on the peg.
When disabled, the Transform tool selects the drawing layers.

Snap and Align

Snaps the selected anchor point to any existing line while displaying temporary rulers as a guide that you can also snap your anchor point to.
Snaps your selection following the currently enabled grid.

Snap to Grid

Hide Manipulator Controls

The Hide Manipulator Controls button lets you hide the bounding box andmanipulator controls from the Camera view when an element isselected.
Flips the current selection horizontally.

Flip Horizontal

You can also select Animation > Flip > Flip Horizontal from the top
menu or press 4 or 5.
Flips the current selection vertically.

Flip Vertical

You can also select Animation > Flip > Flip Vertical from the top menu
or press 4 or 5.

164

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Rotate 90 Degrees CW

Rotates the current selection 90 degrees clockwise.

Rotate 90 Degrees CCW Rotates the current selection 90 degrees counter-clockwise.
Use the Offset X and Offset Y operation fields to enter specific values
and precisely reposition the selected shape.

Offset X and Y

1. X: Type a value in this field to reposition your selection along theX-axis.
2. Y: Type a value in this field to reposition your selection along the
Y-axis.
3. Up/Down arrows: Use the up and down arrows to modify thevalue in the X or Y value field.
Use the Width and Height operation fields to enter specific values toresize the selected shape with precision.

Width and Height

1. Width: Type a value in this field to resize the width of your selection.
2. Height: Type a value in this field to resize the height of your selection.
3. Up/Down arrows: Use the up and down arrows to modify thevalue in the Width or Height fields.
4. Lock icon: Click the lock icon to lock or unlock the ratio between
the Width and Height values.
The Angle operation lets you to enter specific values and accurately
rotate the selected shape.

Angle
1. Angle: Type a degree value in this field to rotate your selection.
2. Up/Down arrows: Use the up and down arrows to modify thevalue in the Angle value field.

165

Chapter 5: Tools Properties

Zoom Tool Properties

Zoom Tool Properties
When you select the Zoom tool, its properties are displayed in the Tool Properties view.

Parameter

ButtonDescription

Zoom In

Zooms in

Zoom Out

Zooms out

Zoom Tool Options
Zoom in the Camera or Drawing view.
Perform Zoom In
The keyboard shortcut is 2.
Zoom out the Camera or Drawing view.
Operations

Perform Zoom Out
The keyboard shortcut is 1.
Reset Zoom

Restores the current zoom level to 100%.

Reset View

Restores the original display by resetting any
pan, rotation or zoom actions.

166

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Chapter 6: Toolbars
Harmony contains toolbars which, by default, are located at the top of the interface. Some views also have a toolbar
which you can reposition to suit your work style. You can show or hide toolbars, as well as customize it with thetools you use most often and hide the ones you don't.
Top Toolbars

168

Advanced Animation Toolbar

169

Deformation Toolbar

170

Edit Toolbar

172

File Toolbar

173

Game Toolbar

174

Playback Toolbar

175

Scripting Toolbar

176

Tools Toolbar

177

Workspace Toolbar

180

View Toolbars

181

Timeline View Toolbar

182

Xsheet View Toolbar

183

167

Chapter 6: Toolbars

Top Toolbars

Top Toolbars
Harmony has a series of toolbars that are added by default at the top of the interface. These toolbars can be
moved on the sides of the interface as well as within specific views.
All top toolbars can be added through the top menu Windows > Toolbars > desired toolbar .
Advanced Animation Toolbar

169

Deformation Toolbar

170

Edit Toolbar

172

File Toolbar

173

Game Toolbar

174

Playback Toolbar

175

Scripting Toolbar

176

Tools Toolbar

177

Workspace Toolbar

180

168

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Advanced Animation Toolbar
The Advanced Animation toolbar contains tools to position and animate layers. The Scale, Translate and Rotate
tools can be used to reposition the permanent pivot position of a layer. Unlike the Transform tool, each tool in the
Advanced Animation toolbar performs a single operation, either rotate, scale, translate or scale in relation to thecamera distance.

How to access the Advance Animation toolbar
1. Select Windows > Toolbars > Advanced Animation.
Icon

Tool Name

Description

TranslateLets you move the selected element along the X and Y
axes.

RotateTurns a selected element around its pivot point.

Scale

Increases or decreases the size of a selected element.
You can scale an object up to make it larger or down tomake it smaller. Press Shift to scale the element while
maintaining its proportions.

Skew

Slants the selected element.

Maintain Size

Keeps elements the same size aspect ratio in the Camera view as you move them towards or away from thecamera.

Spline Offset

Lets you reposition the visual trajectory without offsetting or modifying your animation. By default, the trajectory is located at 0,0,0 fields. If your elements weredrawn in a different location than the centre of the drawing area, it will look like the trajectory is not aligned withyour drawing. Also, if you have several elements
attached to one trajectory, you might want your trajectory to be at a different location to represent thegroup's motion better.

169

Chapter 6: Toolbars

Top Toolbars

Deformation Toolbar
T-RIG-007-009
The Deformation toolbar contains the various tools and options used to create a deformation rig. This toolbar isdisplayed in the default interface.
By default, the Deformation toolbar only contains the essential options. If you right-click on the toolbar and selectCustomize, you can add additional buttons.

Icon

Tool Name

Description
The Rigging tool is used to create a Bone deformation
chain. You also use it to set up the resting position.

Rigging Tool
To learn more about the Rigging tool's properties, see
Rigging Tool Properties on page 152.
The Show Selected Manipulators and Hide All Others
Show Selected Manipbutton hides all manipulators displayed in the Camera view.
ulators and Hide All OthOnly the manipulators of the selected deformation node are
ers
displayed
The Reset Current Keyframe copies the resting position,
the original setup of your skeleton before undergoing any
deformation, to your current frame. Once you have createda deformation chain, you can use the Rigging tool to adjust
Reset Current Keyframe
the position and appearance of the rig to fit the element.
When the skeleton is in place, you can use the Reset
Current Keyframe button to reset the current frame position
to the resting position.
The Enable Deformations button allows you to display yourdrawings in their original state or with deformations while
creating additional drawings. Depending on the artwork youneed to create, you might need to refer to the other images
either deformed or in their original position.
Enable Deformations
NOTE: Disabling deformations is only a display mode.
Although drawings will not appear deformed in the
Camera view, even in Render View mode, they will still
be deformed in the rendered images.
Remove All Keyframes

The Remove All Keyframes option removes all keyframes170

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guideon the selected deformation chain.
The Show All Controls button lets you visualize the resting
position in red (Setup mode) and the active position(Animation) in green at the same time

Show All Controls

171

Chapter 6: Toolbars

Top Toolbars

Edit Toolbar
The Edit toolbar contains common operations such as Copy, Paste, Cut, Undo and Redo. These options can also
be found in the Edit menu.

How to access the Edit toolbar
1. Select Windows > Toolbars > Edit.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Undo

Removes the last change made to your project.
Harmony supports multiple undo, so you can undochanges you made in the order you made them.

Redo

Redoes an operation you have undone. This
command is active only after you use the Undo
command.

Cut

Removes selected objects. You can then paste theobject or its properties to another object.

Copy

Copies selected objects and properties.

Paste

Places an object you cut or copied into the location
you select in a view.

Create Symbol

Creates a symbol from selected drawing elements inthe Drawing or Camera view or a layer or cells in theTimeline view.

172Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

File Toolbar
The File toolbar contains the common file operations such as New, Save and Open. These options can also befound in the File menu.

How to access the File toolbar
1. Select Windows > Toolbars > File.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

New (Harmony Stand
Alone)Creates a new scene while closing any scene alreadyopen. The New Scene dialog box opens, asking for
directory, name, and resolution information.

Open

Displays the Open Scene dialog box where you canbrowse for a scene file. You can open a new scene fromthe current one and the previous scene will close.

Save

Saves all changes made to the opened scene,drawings, palettes, and palette lists.

Save As

Saves the current file with a different name and at adifferent location.
Saves the current state of a scene as another scene.
The Save As window prompts you for a new name anda different location for this scene before saving it. This
will create a complete scene directory for the newscene.

NOTE: The scene name cannot exceed 23 characters.
Import Images

Imports bitmap images which you can choose tovectorize.

173

Chapter 6: Toolbars

Top Toolbars

Game Toolbar
The Game toolbar contains tools for setting anchors and props, as well as exporting to sprite sheets and Easel
JS.

How to access the Game toolbar
1. Select Windows > Toolbars > Game.
Icon

Tool Name

Description

Toggle Anchor

Adds the Anchor parameter to the selected layer.

Toggle Prop

Adds the Prop parameter to the selected layer.

Export to Sprite Sheets

Opens the Export to Sprite Sheets window where
you can export your animation as sprite sheets .

Export to Easel JS

Opens the Export to Easel JS window where you canexport your animation as Easel JS.

174

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Playback Toolbar
The Playback toolbar lets you play back animation and sound. Use it to scrub the sound to create your lip-sync, loop
the playback, navigate through frames, and change the playback range and speed.

Name

ButtonDescription
Plays and stops the animation.

Play

You can also select Play > Play Scene
Forward or Stop.
Creates a render of your scene to play back the
final result including the effects.

Render and Play

Repeatedly plays back your animationindefinitely.

Loop

You can also select Play > Loop.
Enables sound in the playback.
Sound
You can also select Play > Enable Sound.
Enables sound scrubbing in the playback.
Sound Scrubbing

You can also select Play > Enable Sound
Scrubbing.

Jog Frames

Lets you scroll through the playback’s frames.

Frame

Lets you move the playhead by entering a frame
number.

---Lets you change the start frame by entering a
new value in the Start field.
Start--You can also click on Start button to set the startframe at the current frame.
Lets you change the end frame by entering a newvalue in the Stop field.

Stop--You can also click on Stop button to set the end
frame at the current frame.

FPS

Lets you enter a new value to change the speedof the playback.

---

175

Chapter 6: Toolbars

Top Toolbars

Scripting Toolbar
The Scripting toolbar lets you import and access scripts for automating actions and operations.

How to access the Scripting toolbar
1. Select Windows > Toolbars > Scripting.
Icon

Tool Name

Description

Manage Scripts

Opens the Scripts Manager dialog box where you
can add scripts and functions to your Scripting
toolbar.

Stop Script

Stops the execution of a script launched from the
Scripting toolbar.

176

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Tools Toolbar
The Tools toolbar contains all the main tools you need to work in Harmony. In the default workspace, this toolbar
located on the left-most side of the interface. A small triangle at the lower-right corner of a tool indicates additional
tools under the main tool. To access these tools, hold down the left mouse button until the additional tools appear,then select one.

You can display the Tools toolbar horizontally if you find it more efficient for your workflow. Be sure to restart
Harmony in order to see the new position of the Tools toolbar.
How to display the Tools toolbar as a flat (horizontal) toolbar
1. Do one of the following:ll

Select Edit > Preferences (Windows/Linux) or Harmony Essentials > Preferences (MacOS X).
Press Ctrl + U (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + U (Mac OS X).

2. Select the General tab.
3. In the Options section, select the Flat Tool Toolbar option.

177

Chapter 6: Toolbars

Top Toolbars

4. Click OK and restart Harmony.

Tool Name

Icon

Description
Lets you select elements from the Camera and Drawing
views.

SelectCutterLets you cut a drawing area to move, copy, cut or delete it.

Reposition All
Drawings

Lets you reposition, scale, rotate or skew all drawing strokes
on every drawing included in a layer.

Contour Editor

Lets you add, remove or modify points on a vector line andcontrol them.

Pencil Editor

Lets you modify the thick and thin contours of a pencil line.

Smooth Editor

Lets you optimize contours and reduce the number of points
on a line.

Perspective

Lets you deform a drawing selection and alter its perspective.

Envelope

Lets you deform and warp part of a drawing using a gridenvelope and Bezier handles.

Edit
Gradient/Texture

Lets you modify the position of a gradient or texture colour
within a specific zone.

Brush

A pressure-sensitive tool for creating a contour shape with athick and thin line effect, as if created with a paint brush.

PencilA pressure-sensitive tool for drawing the final images, suchas character nodes, cut-out puppet and clean animation.
Creates a central vector shape.

Text

Lets you type text in your project using various fonts and text
attributes.

EraserA pressure-sensitive tool for precisely erasing parts of adrawing.

Paint

Lets you paint both empty and filled zones.
Ink

Lets you paint only the segment you clicked on between two
intersections to be painted.

Paint Unpainted

Lets you paint only empty zones. Lines and filled zones
remain unchanged.

178

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Repaint

Lets you paint zones except empty zones. Any zone that is
not painted remains intact.

Unpaint

Lets you unpaint empty and filled zones.

StrokeLets you draw stokes, connect line ends and flatten lines.

Close Gap

Lets you close small gaps in a drawing by creating small,invisible strokes between the two closest points.

Line

Lets you draw straight lines which you can then edit.
Rectangle

Lets you draw rectangles which you can then edit.

EllipseLets you draw ellipses which you can then edit.

Polyline

Lets you draw polylines lines which you can then edit.

Dropper

Lets you pick a colour directly from a drawing.

Drawing Pivot

Lets you set pivots on a characters, drawings and symbols.

Morphing

Lets you control a morphing sequence by placing different
types of hints to help Harmony morph the animation the way
you want it.

Hand

Lets you pan the Drawing or Camera view.
Zoom

Lets you zoom in and out of the Drawing or Camera view.

Rotate View

Lets you rotate the Drawing or Camera view just like with areal animation disc. Can also be used in Perspective view.

Animate Mode

Automatically creates a keyframe on the drawing layer. Usedto animate layers over time.

Transform

Lets you create a global selection so you can reposition,
scale, rotate and skew as one unit, which is useful for cut-out
characters.

Inverse Kinematics

Lets you pull on a character's extremities, such as the hands
and feet, and have the rest of the body follow. Can be usedon any piece connected in a hierarchy.

Onion Skin

Displays the previous and next frames of an animation.
Useful when animating cut-out characters.

179

Chapter 6: Toolbars

Top Toolbars

Workspace Toolbar
The Workspace toolbar lets you load other workspaces. The first time you start Harmony, the default workspace
is loaded. Other workspaces are available such as the Hand-Drawn Animation and Compositing workspaces;
these display different views and toolbars. You can access these workspaces and any you create, from theWindows menu and the Workspace toolbar.

How to access the Workspace toolbar
1. Select Windows > Toolbars > Workspace.

Icon

Tool Name

Description

Workspace List

Allows you to select an existing workspace.

Workspace Manager

Opens the Workspace Manager where you canorganize, display, and remove workspace from yourlist.

Save Workspace

When the Automatically Save Workspace preference is disabled, the Save Workspace button
becomes available. This allows you to manuallysave your new workspace configuration.

180

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

View Toolbars
Harmony has a series of view specific toolbars that are only available in a given view. These toolbars can be moved
only within their view.
All view toolbars can be added, as long as the view is visible, through the top menu Windows > Toolbars > desired
toolbar .
Timeline View Toolbar

182

Xsheet View Toolbar

183

181

Chapter 6: Toolbars

View Toolbars

Timeline View Toolbar
The 3D Graph toolbar works in conjunction with the elements in the 3D Graph view.

Button Name

Description

Set Ease TypeCreate Empty Drawing
Duplicate Drawing
Insert Keyframe
Delete Keyframes
Set Motion Keyframe
Set Stop-Motion Keyframe
Go to Previous Keyframe
Go to Next Keyframe
Add Key Exposure
Delete Key Exposure
Centre On Selection
Set Ease for Multiple Parameters
Fill Empty Cells
Paste Special
Enable/Disable

How to access the Timeline view toolbar
You can add the Timeline view toolbar to the Timeline view by:l

Going to the top menu and selecting Windows > Toolbars > Timeline view.

lRight-clicking on the space at the top of the Timeline view and selecting Timeline view.

182Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Xsheet View Toolbar
The Xsheet toolbar contains the common timing operations such as Add Column, Delete Column, Clone Column,
and so on. These options can also be found in the top menu.

183

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

184

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Chapter 7: Views
The Harmony interface is composed of different views, each one designed for a specific purpose. You can modify
the location of the views by adding a new view as a tab or as a window. You can also swap the location of a view.
When a view is active, a red rectangle appears around the view. Keyboard shortcuts and top menu options areassociated with the active view. If a menu option is greyed out, it means it does not apply to the layer, drawing orother type of selection or the option does not apply to the active view.
Camera View

186

Colour View

191

Drawing View

195

Function View

197

Integrated Help View

199

Layer Properties View

200

Library View

202

Message Log View

204

Script Editor View

205

Side View

207

Timeline View

209

Tool Properties View

216

Top View

217

Xsheet View

219

185

Chapter 7: Views

Camera View

Camera View
The Camera view is the centre of operations in Harmony. In this view, you will draw, paint, animate, create
animation paths and see your results. You can also move through your symbol’s hierarchy.
The Camera view has a top and bottom toolbar that you can use to navigate in the view, change the display
mode, or go back up your symbols hierarchy.

How to access the Camera view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Camera.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

Ico- Sectionnbutton and select Camera.

Description

Editing
Stack

The Editing Stack menu displays the names of the symbols and their hierarchy when you are
editing a symbol. You can click on the different names to go back up to the different parent
symbols or the top/current project.

CameraView
Toolbar

The Camera View toolbar contains all the tools and options you can use in the Camera view todraw, animate or set up the scene. The toolbar can be displayed or hidden by right-clicking on it
and selecting or deselecting the Camera View toolbar—see Camera View Toolbar.

Light
Table

When you have a drawing layer or drawing selected, the Light Table button button allows you tofade the colours of the other layers so you can see the current artwork better as you edit with a186

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

drawing tool. Note that the light table does not work when using a layer editing tool, such as theTransform tool.

Current When this button is enabled, the drawing that you are currently editing with a drawing tool is
Drawing temporarily displayed in front of all the other elements. The actual scene is not modified.
on Top

CameraMask

The Camera Mask button shows or hides Displays a black mask around the scene’s frame to
avoid seeing the unnecessary artwork. This option is handy when you're animating and setting
up the scene. It allows you to see your scene’s composition better.
You can also access this from the top menu by selecting View > Show > Camera Mask.

Safe
Area

The Safe Area button shows or hides Displays the TV safety zone and the centre of the camera
frame. The safe area adapts to the scene resolution, as well as the safety zone and frame’s
centre.
You can also access this feature from the top menu by selecting View > Show > Safe Area.

187

Chapter 7: Views

Camera View

Outline Drawings that are locked in the Timeline view (cannot be selected in the Camera view) are
Locked displayed as wireframes.
Drawing
s

Reset
View

The Reset View button resets any panning, zooming or rotation done in the Camera view andreturns the display to the initial settings. You can also press Shift + M.

Zoom
Menu

The Zoom menu lets you enlarge or reduce the Camera or Drawing view display.
To make the camera frame size always match the size of your view, select the Fit to View
option. Click the drop-down arrow and select a zoom level or press 1 and 2.

OpenGL The OpenGL View Mode button switches the Camera view to fast display, letting you see yourView
animation play in real time. The OpenGL display requires less memory. The final look of yourModeeffects is not shown in the OpenGL View Mode. You must switch to the Render View Mode to
see your effects.

188Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

RenderView
Mode

The Render View Mode button swithes the Camera view to a fully rendered display showing
the final image of the current frame. If a modification is done to your current frame or if you
move to a different frame, click the Update Preview button to update the display if yourpreview does not update automatically.The Render View Mode display lets you see the final
look of your frames including effects and antialiasing. You cannot play back your scene in
Render View Mode. To see your scene fully rendered and to play it back, you must press theRender and Play button in the Playback toolbar.

Matte
View
Mode

The Matte View Mode button switches the Camera view to a matte display showing the alphachannel of the elements in your scene. The transparency level ranges from 0 to 100 percent.
Zero percent is completely transparent and represented by black and 100 percent is completely
opaque and represented by white. Everything in between these extremes has a transparency
level somewhere between 1 and 99 percent and is represented in various shades of grey.
l

To access the Matte View mode, click on the Render View button and select Matte
View from the drop-down menu.

189

Chapter 7: Views

Depth
View
Mode

Camera View

The Depth View mode displays images in a relative white to black gradient scale. The object(s)closest to the camera are displayed in white 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 will still
remain black, so long as it retains its position as the object the farthest back. It does not matter
where that object is in 3D space, it just matters what its position is relative to the other object inthe same space. The objects closest and farthest from the camera set the range of the white toblack scale. All the other objects fall somewhere in between.

l

To access the Depth View mode, click on the Render View button and select Depth
View from the drop-down menu.

Drawing The Drawing Name field displays the name of the selected drawing, as well as the layer
Namecontaining it. If the cell does not contain any drawing, an Empty Cell text is shown in thefield.
Tool
Name

The Tool Name field displays the name of the selected tool. If you temporarily override adrawing tool using a keyboard shortcut, the tool’s name will be highlighted in red. You cantemporarily override a tool by holding its keyboard shortcut without the Alt key. For example,
the Select tool shortcut is Alt + S. If you hold down the S key, you will switch to the Select tool.
When you release the key, you will return to the tool you were using.

Frame
Number

The Frame Number field displays the number of the current frame.

Selected The colour swatch displays the currently selected colour in the Colour view.
Colour190

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Colour View
The Colour view is where you create colours and palettes and import existing palettes into your project. The Colour
view is also necessary for drawing, painting and creating colour styling.

How to access the Colour view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Colour.

lFrom any of the other views, click the Add View

Icon

button and select Colour.

SectionDescription

View Menu

The View menu contains all the commands and options
that you can use in the Colour view to manage colours
and palettes.

Show/Hide Palette List
View

The Show/Hide Palette List View button lets you
display the Palette List view in the Colour view. This
option is for the advanced user who wants to create
colour palettes for their props and characters.

191

Chapter 7: Views

Colour View

Add Palette

The Add Palette button lets you add a new palette to thebottom of your palette list.

Remove Palette

The Remove Palette button lets you delete the currently
selected palette. If the colour swatch is used in yourproject, zones painted with colour swatches which havebeen deleted will turn red, easily identifying them so you
can repaint them with another colour swatch.

Link Palette

The Link Palette button lets you access other palettes
created in the project and link them to your scene.

Order Palette List

The Up and Down arrows let you reorder the selected
palette. When using clone palettes (colour styles), thehighest palette is the list will override its clone locatedlower in the list.

Add Colour

The Add Colour button lets you add a new colour
swatch to the bottom of your colour list.

Remove Colour

The Remove Colour button lets you delete the currently
selected colour swatches. If the colour swatch is usedin your project, the Delete Colour dialog box will appear
asking you to confirm the operation. Click OK to
confirm the operation or Cancel to cancel it.

192

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Zones painted with colour swatches which have been
deleted will turn red, easily identifying them so you can
repaint them with another colour swatch.

Add Texture

The Add Texture button lets you add a bitmap colour
swatch to your palette. You can load photos andtextures and paint your drawings with it. The bitmap
image must be a .tga or .psd file format.

Colour Swatch Name

Each colour swatch available in the Colour view canhave its own name, making it easy to identify which
colour is used to paint what part of your character orbackground.

Two colours can have the same name.
Colour Swatch

A colour swatch is a specific colour used to paint a
certain zone of a character or background. Colour

193

Chapter 7: Views

Colour View

palettes are composed of colour swatches. They canalso be called colour pots. When you paint a zone with acolour swatch, the zone is linked to the swatch. So if
you update the swatch’s tint, the zone will be updated
along with it. This allows you to modify your animation
colours even after it is completely painted.

194Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Drawing View
In Harmony, you can draw in the Drawing or Camera view. Although the two views are similar, when it comes todrawing, there are some differences.
Only the selected drawing is displayed by default in the Drawing view. You can use features, such as the light table
to display the current drawing of all the enabled layers of your scene in washed-out colours, or the Onion Skin to
display the previous and next drawings of the currently selected drawing layer.

How to access the Drawing view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Drawing .

lFrom any of the other views, click the Add View

Icon

button and select Drawing.

SectionDescription

Drawing Area

This is the main space in the Drawing view. It is where195Chapter 7: Views

Drawing View

you draw and where the drawings are displayed.
Zoom Menu

The Zoom menu lets you enlarge or reduce the Camera
or Drawing view display.
To make the camera frame size always match the sizeof your view, select the Fit to View option. Click thedrop-down arrow and select a zoom level or press 1 and2.

Drawing NameThe Drawing Name field displays the name of theselected drawing, as well as the layer containing it. If
the cell does not contain any drawing, an Empty Cell
text is shown in the field.

Tool Name

The Tool Name field displays the name of the selected
tool. If you temporarily override a drawing tool using akeyboard shortcut, the tool’s name will be highlighted inred. You can temporarily override a tool by holding its
keyboard shortcut without the Alt key. For example, theSelect tool shortcut is Alt + S. If you hold down the S
key, you will switch to the Select tool. When you
release the key, you will return to the tool you wereusing.

Frame NumberThis field displays the current frame of the animation
you are working on.

Cursor Coordinates

This indicates the position of the your pointer in thedrawing area.

Colour Picker

The Colour Picker allows you to select a colour for
drawing.

196

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Function View
The Function view lets you edit function curves and parameters. It contains a visual graph for adding, removing, andediting keyframes, as well as adjusting the velocity. The Function view allows you to display multiple functions in
the background as a reference.

How to access the Function view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Function.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

button and select Function.

How to display functions in the Function view
1. Open the Function view.
The Function view is blank until you select the layer containing the functions you want to display.
2. To display a function in the Function view, click on the layer containing the functions to adjust in the Timeline
view.

197

Chapter 7: Views

Function View

3. To select the functions you want to edit, select them in the Function list.
Parameter

Description

Function List
When selecting a layer in the Timeline view, all the corresponding functions are
displayed (if any). Select the functions you want to see and edit, and hide theones you don't.

Display Toolbar

Allows you to modify how the editing area is displayed. You can hide the grid,disable the synchronization with the current frame, reset the zoom level andnormalize the function display by stacking them one over the other to comparethem regardless of their value range.

Current Frame

Displays the current scene frame.

Selected Keyframe Value

Displays the value of the selected keyframe.

Display Advanced Parameter
Values

Displays the Projection, Bias, Tension and Continuity parameters to adjust the
curve around the selected keyframe.

Keyframe, Velocity and Interpolation Options

This toolbar lets you add and delete keyframes, adjust the velocity curve,
adjust the segments to motion or stop-motion keyframes and set the velocity
to create steps instead of a constant progression.

Function Types

This toolbar lets you click on the different function types to enable or disable all
the listed functions of that type.

Value Scale

Displays the value range for the displayed editing area. It can be referenced toknow the value of a keyframe.

Selected Keyframe

The selected keyframe is displayed in red. When selected, the keyframe values are displayed in the corresponding fields.

Bezier Handles

The Bezier handles let you adjust the ease in and ease out of each keyframe.
The more the handle is pulled out horizontally, the slower the animation will be.
The more the handle is pulled out vertically, the faster the animation will be.

Function Curve

The thin line going from keyframe to keyframe is the actual curve. The sectionof a curve located between two keyframes is called a segment.

Frame Scale

The Frame Scale displays the frame range for the displayed editing area. It canbe referenced to know the current frame of a keyframe.

198Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Integrated Help View
Use the Integrated Help when you are unsure about what a certain menu item is or the function of a specificpreference in the Preferences panel,
If you keep the Integrated Help window open for the entire duration of your work session, then you can use theforward and backward arrows to scroll through a history of the help information that you called up during yoursession.

How to access the Integrated Help view
1. Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Integrated Help.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

button and select Integrated Help.

199

Chapter 7: Views

Layer Properties View

Layer Properties View
The Layer Properties editor or view lets you adjust the properties of a layer in the Timeline view The Layer
Properties can be viewed as a floating window or as a view (docked).
Each layer has its own set of properties that can be modified, including effect and peg layers. Display the Layer
Properties editor or view if you want to modify some of the layer’s properties, such as the name or the antialiasing
quality.

NOTE: To know more about the parameters displayed in the Layer Properties view, see Nodes.

How to access the Layer Properties view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Layer Properties.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

200

button and select Layer Properties.

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

How to access the Layer Properties editorlDouble-click on a layer in the Timeline viewlRight-click on a layer in the Timeline view and select Layer Properties.

l

Select a layer in the Timeline view and press Shift + E.

201

Chapter 7: Views

Library View

Library View
The Library view is used to store elements such as animation, drawings, backgrounds and puppets to reuse indifferent projects. You can also use the Library view to create and store symbols.
To reuse an element from another project, you must create a template from your drawings. A template is a mini
scene that you import in other projects. A template has no link to the original scene. When you create a template,the full content of your selection is copied in the template.
Additionally, the Library view's Drawing Substitution panel allows you to quickly change the current frame's
exposure to one of the existing drawings in a layer. This is especially useful for animating a cut-out character's
mouths, hands, eyelids and other such body parts which typically contain several drawings to choose from.

How to access the Library view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Library.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

Icon

button and select Library.

SectionDescription

View Menu

The Library menu lets you access commands related to
the Library view, importing .swf movies and Illustrator
files, add a new folder, and refresh the library’s content.

Preview Window

The Preview window lets you see the content of thecurrently selected template or symbol in the
Template/Symbol list.

202

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Preview Playback

The Preview Playback button lets you play back thecontent of the selected template or symbol if it contains
more than one frame. Press the Play button to play backthe preview.

Library Folder List

The Library Folder List displays all the folders linked to
the Library view.

There are two default folders:llSymbols: This folder is the only folder containing
symbols. You can organize it by adding subfolders
inside.
Harmony Essentials Library: This is a default
folder found on the hard drive in your user documents. This folder can contain templates, but nosymbols.

You can link new library folders to the Library view andorganize them with subfolders.
Library Search tool

When working on a movie or series, you will probably end
up with many templates and symbols in your library.
Using the Search tool, you can quickly find the templates
and symbols in your folders.

Template/Symbol List

The Template/Symbol list displays the templates orsymbols contained in the selected library folder. You candisplay the templates by right-clicking the symbols’
thumbnails and selecting View > Thumbnails.

203Chapter 7: Views

Message Log View

Message Log View
The Message log view displays information gathered during a render task, such as which frames and at what timethey were each rendered. The view also contains a list of the colour recovery operations.

How to access the Message Log view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Message Log.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

204

button and select Message Log.

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Script Editor View
Qt Script provides access to many of the functions supported in the interface. With Qt Script, you can automate anumber of Harmony functions to speed the completion of various repetitive tasks. The Script Editor view allows you
to edit existing scripts and create new ones. Refer to the Scripting guide to learn more about scripting with Harmony.

How to access the Script Editor view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Script Editor.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

button and select Script Editor.

Parameter

Description

Script list

On the left side of the Script Editor view, all existing script files are listed and canbe modified in this view. The script format is JavaScript. Click on a file to display
its content in the Script Content window of the view.

Script content

On the right side of the Script Editor view, the contents of the selected script are
displayed and can be edited.

205

Chapter 7: Views

Script Editor View

Search toolbar

The Search toolbar allows you to search a string within the selected script
content. You can use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate through theresults.

VerifyThis function verifies the syntax of the currently displayed script and lists any
errors found.

Save

Once you are satisfied with the modifications made to the script, click Save
Changes to save the modifications.

206

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Side View
T-HFND-008-015
The Side view is used mainly for multiplane scenes and to position elements in 3D space. It allows you to see ascene’s stage from the side. This lets the camera cone and spacing between the elements to be seen.

How to access the Side view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Side.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

Icon

button and select Side.

SectionDescription

Thumbnails

A thumbnail of each drawing layer in the scene. The
order of the thumbnail images is based on eachelement’s FB position in the scene space. You can see
a representation of the FB position of each layer in thecamera cone.

Camera Cone

The camera cone represents the camera’s position andfield-of-view (FOV).

Axis Reference Arrows

The axis reference arrows let you maintain your orientation when navigating in the view.

Show/Hide Camera

Shows or hides camera frame in the Perspective view.

207

Chapter 7: Views

Side View

Reset View

Resets the pan, rotation, and zoom of the Perspectiveview.

Zoom Menu

This field displays the current zoom level in the
Perspective view. You can use the Zoom level dropdown menu to select a specific zoom level from the list.
Zoom levels from 2.5% to 6400% are available; you canalso select Fit To View to automatically use a zoom
level that lets you see all your scene layers andinformation in the Perspective view at once.

Layer Name

This field displays the currently selected layer and drawing name.

Tool Name

This field displays the currently selected tool.

Frame NumberThis field displays the currently selected frame of youranimation.

Colour Swatch

This field displays the currently selected colour in thepalette.

208

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Timeline View
T-HFND-006-002
To set your animation timing, you will mostly work with the Timeline and Xsheet views. It's extremely useful to
become familiar with the Timeline view, how it works, and its interface.
The Timeline view is the main view used when adjusting the timing of drawings, adding keyframes and ordering
layers. The Timeline view displays layers, effects, sounds, keyframe values, scene length, layer names, drawings,
keyframes, timing, and frames.
The Timeline view allows you to read your timing from left to right. It represents the scene’s elements in theirsimplest form. You can also see the layers and their names, as well as the drawing’s exposure. The drawing name isdisplayed when you place your pointer over the drawing’s exposure.

How to access the Timeline view
Do one of the following:209

Chapter 7: Views

Timeline Viewl

From the top menu, select Windows > Timeline.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

Ico- SectionnModel View
Toolbarbutton and select Timeline.

Description
The Model View toolbar contains all the tools and options you can use in the Model view tonavigate through and manage models.

Enable/Disab The Enable/Disable All button lets you show or hide layers.
le AllWhen you deselect a layer in the Timeline view, the corresponding column is hidden in the
Xsheet view. When a column is hidden in the Xsheet view, the corresponding layer isdisabled in the Timeline view.
To disable a layer, click the layer's Enable/Disable All button or press D.

To enable a layer, click the layer's Enable/Disable All button or press A.

Solo

The Solo button lets you view drawing or sound layers in the Camera view. You can enable
this mode on multiple layers. When the Sole mode button is deselected, everything isvisible in the Camera view. When one or more layers are soloed, only those layers appear
in the Camera view.

Onion Skin

The Onion Skin button enables the Onion Skin option on a particular layer. If you want to
see the previous and next frames of a specific layer, go to the Timeline view and click theOnion Skin button for that particular layer. Blue arrows appear on both sides of the playhead. Drag the blue arrows to add more frames to the onion skin display.
To activate the general Onion Skin preview, in the Tools toolbar, click the Onion Skinbutton.

210

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Lock/Unlock
Layer

The Lock/Unlock Layer button lets you prevent the selection or editing of a layer in the
Camera view. To select some of the layers without selecting others, in the Timeline view,
lock the layers you do not want to select. When a layer is locked, its name is displayed inred.

In the top menu, there is a series of locking options. Select Animation > Lock > select oneof the following:l

Lock: Locks the currently selected element.

l

Unlock: Unlocks the currently selected element.

lLock All: Locks all the elements in the Camera view.

l

Unlock All: Unlocks all the elements in the Camera view.

lLock All Others: Locks all the elements in the Camera view except the currently
selected one.

You can display the locked drawings as outlines in the Camera view to quickly find out
which drawings are locked.

ChangeTrack Colour

The Change Track Colour button lets you change the colour of the exposed frames; thishelps you to quickly locate a layer in the Timeline view. Click the Change Track Colour button to open the Select Colour window and choose a new colour. You can modify the colour
for any type of layer, such as group, peg, drawing, and effects.

211Chapter 7: Views

Timeline View

Add Layers

The Add Layers button lets you add new layers to the Timeline view. When you click the
Add Layers button, a menu appears displaying the layer types available. You can add
several different types of layers:lCameral

DeformationlDrawingl

Generator

l

Group

l

Transformationl

Effectsl

Sound

DeleteLayersThe Delete Layers button lets you delete the currently selected layers in the Timeline view.

Add Drawing
Layer

The Add Drawing Layer button lets you automatically add a new drawing layer to theTimeline view. By default, the layer is named Drawing.

Add Peg

The Add Peg button lets you add a peg layer to the timeline. If several layers are selected,
a peg is added and parented to each layer.

Expand/Colla The Expand/Collapse button is used to display the children layers of a parent layer. Once apselayer is parented to another layer, it is indented to the right and the Collapse/Expand
Children button appears on the parent layer allowing you to show or hide the child layer.

212

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Show/Hide
Functions

The Show/Hide Functions button lets you display the functions embedded in each layer.
The functions are the different coordinates and values used to record a layer’s parametersat each frame. This information is stored on the function curves using keyframes.

Parameters

The Parameters section lets you add, remove or modify a keyframe at the current frame.
You can show or hide the Parameters section by clicking the Show/Hide Parameters
button.

Add Keyframe

Adds a keyframe at the current frame.

Delete Keyframe

Removes an existing keyframe at the current frame.

Hand Cursor

Lets you change the current keyframe or drawing exposure. When you hover the cursor
over the value, the hand cursor appears. Drag left or right to change the value. Or doubleclick on the keyframe value and enter a new value.

Previous Key- Lets you navigate through the previous keyframes.
frame
Next KeyframeLets you navigate through the next keyframes.

213

Chapter 7: Views

Timeline View

Show Function Menu

Displays the Function menu where you can link a layer to an existing function or create a
new function.

Keyframe

A black or red square is displayed in the Timeline view when a keyframe exists. You canselect these keyframes and drag them wherever you want on the timeline. You can also
copy, cut, and delete them.

NOTE: To delete a keyframe without deleting the drawing exposure, go to theTimeline view and select the keyframe to be deleted and then select Animation >Delete Keyframe from the top menu or press F7.

When a parent layer is collapsed and a child layer contains a keyframe, a white square will
be displayed.
Split

The Split button lets you split the Timeline view in two sections, allowing you to see twodifferent portions of the Timeline view. This way, if your scene length is very long, you can
see the beginning and the end at the same time.

Drawing
Exposure

In the Timeline view, when a drawing is exposed, it is represented as a grey block. If thedrawing is exposed for several frames, the block is extended. When a second drawing is
exposed, a new grey block is displayed.

The exposure’s colour can be changed. To pick a new colour, click the Change Track
Colour button in the corresponding layer.
View Modes

The View Modes button lets you streamline the process of working with elements in theTimeline view. There are three different view modes you can choose to work in. With eachmode you select, certain elements may or may not be visible in the Timeline view.
Depending on your workflow, this can be useful for quickly hiding elements when you want
to focus on specific ones. To select a view mode, use the drop-down menu in the bottomleft corner of the Timeline view.

Show/Hide
Additional
Links

The Show/Hide Additional Links button lets you display links associated with a layer. For
example, if you connect a mask to more than one effect such as a Tone and a Highlight,
you can see these connections in the Additional Links section.

214

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Zoom

The Zoom tool increases or reduces the width of the frames in the Timeline view. Move theslider right to increase the width or left to reduce it. You can also press 1 and 2. Reset thezoom by click the Reset Zoom button.

215

Chapter 7: Views

Tool Properties View

Tool Properties View
T-HFND-004-002
The Tool Properties view contains the most common options and operations related to the currently selected tool.
When you select a tool from the Tools toolbar, the Tool Properties view updates.
For example, if you choose the Select tool, the Tool Properties view will display the options and operations
related to it, such as Snap to Contour, Apply to All Drawings, Flip Horizontal, and Flatten.

NOTE: To learn more about the options appearing in the Tool Properties view, see Tools Properties on page
121.

How to access the Tool Properties view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Tool Properties.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

216

button and select Tool Properties.

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Top View
T-HFND-008-014
The Top view is used mainly for multiplane scenes and to position elements in 3D space. It allows you to see thescene’s stage from above. This lets the camera cone and the spacing between the elements be seen.

How to access the Top view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Top.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

Icon

button and select Top.

SectionDescription

Thumbnails

A thumbnail of each drawing layer in the scene. The
order of the thumbnail images is based on eachelement’s FB position in the scene space. You can see
a representation of the FB position of each layer in thecamera cone.

Camera Cone

The camera cone represents the camera’s position andfield-of-view (FOV).

Axis Reference Arrows

The axis reference arrows let you maintain your orientation when navigating in the view.

Show/Hide Camera

Shows or hides camera frame in the Perspective view.

217Chapter 7: Views

Top View

Reset View

Resets the pan, rotation, and zoom of the Perspectiveview.

Zoom Menu

This field displays the current zoom level in the
Perspective view. You can use the Zoom level dropdown menu to select a specific zoom level from the list.
Zoom levels from 2.5% to 6400% are available; you canalso select Fit To View to automatically use a zoom
level that lets you see all your scene layers andinformation in the Perspective view at once.

Layer Name

This field displays the currently selected layer and drawing name.

Tool Name

This field displays the currently selected tool.

Frame NumberThis field displays the currently selected frame of youranimation.

Colour Swatch

This field displays the currently selected colour in thepalette.

218

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Xsheet View
T-HFND-006-003
The Xsheet view lets you read the timing vertically, displays the drawing layers as columns, and shows thedrawing’s name. You can also see the functions and keyframes of the motion paths in the Xsheet’s function
columns. The value of each keyframe is shown in the Xsheet view; these are displayed as black squares in theTimeline view. The Xsheet view contains more detail than the Timeline view, and is faster and easier to read.

How to access the Xsheet view
Do one of the following:l

From the top menu, select Windows > Xsheet.

l

From any of the other views, click the Add View

Icon

button and select Xsheet.

SectionDescription

View Toolbar

The view toolbar contains all the tools and options you canuse in the Xsheet view to manage columns and timing.

Xsheet Main Section

The Xsheet view has three sections. By default, only themain section is visible. It displays the drawing layers, also
known as drawing columns.

219

Chapter 7: Views

Xsheet View

When using advanced compositing and animation
techniques, unconnected functions (motion paths) also
appear in the main section. Unconnected functions meanthat some motion paths are not attached to any particularlayer.
When you reconnect functions to a layer, they are stillvisible in the main section.

Functions Section

The Functions section is used for more advanced
techniques. This section displays the functions (paths)
related to the selected layer in the Timeline view. By
default, the Functions section is hidden.
In the Xsheet view, click the Expand button located on theright side of the main section. Click on the same button tocollapse it. You can also use the Show Column List buttonin the Xsheet View toolbar. If you select a drawing column
in the main section of the Xsheet view, the function
columns will not be displayed. You must select the layerfrom the Timeline view.

220Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

Column List Section

The Column List section allows you to show and hidecolumns in the Xsheet view. When you hide a layer in the
Xsheet view, it is also disabled in the Timeline view.

You can use the Column List to hide individual columns or
hide an entire column type (drawing or function) from the
Xsheet view. By default, the Functions section is hidden.
In the Xsheet view, click the Expand button on the right sideof the main section to show the Functions section. Click on
the same button to collapse it. You can also use the Show
Column List
button in the Xsheet toolbar.
Go to the Xsheet view menu and select View > Show
Column List. Click the Expand button on the right side of
the Functions section to display the Column List section.

Column Header

Each column available in the Xsheet view has a header

221

Chapter 7: Views

Xsheet View

displaying the column’s name. The column’s name is thesame as the corresponding timeline layer. If you rename
one or the other, they will both be renamed.
A quick access menu is available when you right-click. Thismenu contains the command affecting an entire column
such as renaming, changing the default colour, or deleting acolumn.
The tooltip that appears when you hover at the top of each
Xsheet column shows the folder path to the source
drawings for that column.

In Harmony, the column header shows the layer’s name andthe name of the drawing folder to which it is linked. If thename of the layer is the same as the drawing folder, thedrawing folder’s name will not be displayed. To modify thename of the element folder independently from the column
and layer name, you must select the Advanced Element
Mode option preference in the Advanced tab of thePreferences dialog box.

Current Drawing

A drawing selected in dark red indicates that the drawing iscurrently displayed in the Drawing and Camera views. The
current drawing selection is not linked to the drawing
displayed in the Camera view since drawings from each
visible layer are displayed at once.

Current Frame

The darker frame appearing in the Xsheet view represents
the current frame.

Drawing Exposure

In the drawing columns, you can see the drawing names
and their exposure. You can use any alphanumeric symbol222

Harmony 14 Essentials - Reference Guide

to name your drawing. When a drawing is exposed overmore than one cell, a vertical black line is displayed toindicate the continuity of the exposure. When there is no
drawing in a cell, the cell will be blank.

Frame Numbers

On the left side of the Xsheet view, the frame numbers areshown indicating where you are. These read verticallyinstead of being displayed horizontally as they are in theTimeline view.
ll

To go to a particular frame, click the frame number.

To select an entire range of frames, click and drag aselection downwards.

Current Frame Display

At the bottom-right of the Xsheet view, you can see thecurrent frame number, as well as the column containing thedrawing currently displayed in the Drawing view.

Functions Column

The functions columns are displayed in the Functions
section of the Xsheet view. They represent the motion androtation you applied to a drawing layer.
A function column can also be related to an effect. Selecting
the effect layer shows you the corresponding function
column in the Xsheet view.

223

Chapter 7: Views

Xsheet View

The function columns display the position value or effectvalue on each cell. If there is a keyframe on a cell, a blacksquare is displayed. Holding the same value for several
frames displays a vertical black line.

Increase/Decrease
Exposure

You can quickly increase or decrease the exposure of theselected cell by clicking on the up and down arrows in the
Increase/Decrease Exposure field.

Overwrite/Insert Modes

The Overwrite/Insert button allows you to decide the way
the values are inserted into the Xsheet.

224