INTRODUCTION TO 2D ANIMATION

Study material compiled by Prof. K. S. RAGAVA, M.Sc., NET

Unit V – INTRODUCTION TO TOON BOOM

Toon Boom Elements
Toon Boom Harmony is complete animation software allowing you to create all kinds of
creative animation projects. It comes with a very wide variety of tools and features.

1. Creating a Scene
As soon as you launch Harmony, you are greeted with the Welcome screen, from which you
can:
 Create scenes
 Choose your new scene's resolution
 Manage your scene resolution presets
 Quickly open recently opened scenes
 Browse for and open a scene you already created.

2. User Interface
When you start Toon Boom Harmony Essentials for the first time, the default workspace is
displayed. The workspace is divided in rectangular user interfaces which are referred to as
views, each of which has its own specific purpose.
The top and left side of the user interface, as well as some views, also contain toolbars, each
with specific functions.
Views
Views are small user interfaces that each has a specific purpose. They can be added to the
main application window, in which case they are “docked”, or can be opened as separate
windows.
Right of the tabs of each division in your workspace are the Add View and Close View
buttons, which allow you to stack more views or to remove the currently selected view from
this area of the workspace.

 Camera view
The Camera view is the centre of operations in Harmony. In this view, you can draw, paint,
animate, set up your scene, manipulate objects, open symbols and preview your animation.

 Drawing view
In Harmony, you can draw in both the Drawing or Camera views. Although the two views are
similar, there are some differences when it comes to drawing. 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.

 Tool Properties view

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.

 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.
 Timeline view
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 their simplest form. You can also see the layers and their names, as well as the
drawing’s exposure. The drawing name is displayed when you place your pointer over the
drawing’s exposure.

 Library view
The Library view is used to store elements such as animation, drawings, backgrounds and
character models so as to reuse in different scenes and projects. You can also use the Library
view to create and store symbols, as well as to store and import images and sound files.
Toolbars
The Harmony interface contains toolbars that quicky give you you access many useful tools.
You can add, move and remove toolbars in your workspace. Toolbars are separated in two
main categories:
 Workspace toolbars are toolbars that have a general purpose. For example, the File,
Edit, Workspace and Deformation toolbars at the top, as well as the Tools toolbar on
the left, are workspace toolbars.
 View toolbars are toolbars that are useful for a specific view. For example, the
Camera view has a Camera toolbar at its top.
 Tools Toolbar
The Tools toolbar contains the main tools you need to work in Harmony. In the default
workspace, this toolbar located on the left edge of the application window.

3. Working with Layers

Just like with traditional animation, Harmony uses layers to keep elements such as characters,
backgrounds and props separate from each other, allowing you to animate them
independently. When you create a new scene, your scene will have a default layer named
Drawing, in which you can immediately start drawing.
Layers can be selected and managed in the Timeline view. A scene can have as many layers
as needed. When your scene has several layers; layers higher in the list appear over lower
layers.

Basic Modeling using Toon Boom

1. Drawing in Toon Boom

When you create a scene, your scene comes with a default Drawing layer in which you can
immediately start drawing.
 In the Timeline view, click in the first cell of the drawing layer.
 Use the Brush tool or Pencil Tool for drawing.
 In the Presets list of the Tool Properties view, select a brush or pencil preset to use.
 Use the Maximum Size slider to select the desired size for your brush or pencil.
 To select a colour, click on the colour you wish to use in the Colour view.
 In the Drawing or Camera view, start drawing.
 If you are using the Brush tool and wish to makes changes to your brush, in the Tool
Properties view, click on the arrow button to open the Brush Properties dialog. In this
dialog, you can customize the size, shape and smoothing of your brush.

2. Painting in Toon Boom

Toon Boom Harmony Essentials has some very powerful painting features to add colour to
your drawings. W hereas some other software only allow users to work with one colour
swatch at a time, painting in Harmony is done by using palettes containing multiple colour
swatches that can be saved and reused as needed.
In the Colour view, you choose a different colour swatch for each colour you want to paint in
your drawing. You can add as many swatches as you want. You can also rename them and
modify existing ones.

When you modify the colour of an existing swatch, it automatically updates all the zones
painted with this swatch throughout the entire scene. The colour swatch has a unique ID
number that associates it with the painted zones. This way, you can change the look of your
character at any time without having to repaint it!
Another advantage of this system is that you can create complete palettes for different
lighting situations. For instance, in addition to the regular palette for a character, you could
have one for that character in the rain using colours that are duller and less vibrant than the
dry daytime colours, or yet another for using in a night scene.
Using palettes linked to your character in this way allows you to instantly change its
colouring to suit the mood and atmosphere of the scene without having to repaint each
element.
Colour Palettes
In animation, specific colours are used to paint each part of each character. In order to
maintain absolute consistency, a base colour palette should be created for each character,
prop and effect in the production. This is referred to as a master palette.
Master palettes contain a colour swatch for each area to colour. Each swatch stores a colour
in precise levels of red, green, blue and opacity (the latter which is referred to as alpha).
Harmony uses palettes to hold all the colours needed to paint your elements, allowing
complete control and consistency in the painting process. A palette is created by assigning a
set of colours to each character, prop or effect. You will create a new palette and add a new
colour, known as a colour swatch, for each zone of the character, such as the skin, hair,
tongue, shirt, pants, and so on.

Animation using Toon Boom

1. Creating a Rough Animation

The first step to create paperless animation is the rough construction, which is the skeleton of
your animation. You would usually start by animating the most important part of a character's
action. For example, to animate a walk cycle, you will start with the torso motion and the
legs. Secondary animation such as the head, arms and clothes can be added afterward.
For a satisfactory animation, start by animating the main action with quick, rough sketches,
and then add the details when you're satisfied with the movement. If you start animating all
the details right away, you will lose a lot of time if you have to make corrections, and your
animation is likely to look rigid.
 In the Timeline view, select the cell where you want your first drawing to appear.
 In the Camera or Drawing view, draw the first key drawing.
 In the Timeline view, select the cell where your next key drawing will appear.
 In the Tools toolbar, click the Onion Skin button.

 This will display the previous and next drawings in a light colour in the Camera or
Drawing view, behind your current drawing, so that you can use them as
references to draw new drawings with accuracy.

 Ensure the onion skin displays your first key drawing, so that you can base your
second key drawing on it.

 Create a new empty drawing. In the Timeline toolbar, click on the Create Empty Drawing
button.
 In the Camera or Drawing view, draw your second key drawing.
 In the Timeline view, select a cell between the two key drawings.
 Using the onion skin markers, ensure the onion skin covers both your first and last
drawings.
 In the Timeline view, select a new cell and repeat the previous steps for each new
drawing.

2. Cleaning Up
When your rough animation is completed, it is time to clean it up and ink it. This step is also
called tracing. It consists of tracing solid and clean lines over the rough animation to close
any open zones. This is the final paperless animation step before the ink and paint step.
In traditional animation, cleaned up drawings are usually traced on a new sheet of paper with
the rough underneath, made visible using the animation disk's light table. Likewise, in
Harmony, you will need to add a new drawing layer on which to draw cleaned up drawings.
When you're done cleaning up, you can simply disable the layer containing the rough
animation so that it does not appear in the final animation. This approach also allows you to
keep the roughs and the cleaned up drawings intact and to manage them independently.
In the Camera view, you will see your rough animation while working on your clean up layer.
If you prefer to work in the Drawing view, you can enable the light table to display the rough
animation while tracing on your clean up layer.
Animating a Layer
You can animate a layer by placing it in different positions, angles and sizes at different
points across your scene's timeline. To do this, you can create animation keyframes on your
layer. A keyframe records the geometrical transformations on a layer at a specific point in
time. When two animation keyframes are on a layer at different points in your scene's
Timeline, Harmony will automatically interpolate the position, angle and size of the layer on
each frame between those two keyframes, creating an animation.
Importing Sound
If you wish to add sound to your animation, it is recommended to edit and mix your sound
files in sound editing software. Having full-length pre-mixed soundtracks ensures the audio
preserves its timing, mixing and quality should you use third party software for post-
production.
Another good practice is to keep your soundtrack separated in tracks for music, sound effects
and characters to make it easier to sync your animation with voices and sounds. Otherwise, it
is possible to clip sound effects and adjust their volume directly in Harmony when needed.