One of the major blessings of recent updates was the way in which 3D models and 2D animation could harmoniously co-exist within the same workspace. On top of this overall improvement of the interface and processes there are four new areas worth exploring.
Toon boom harmony essentials review software#
For those who prefer to use ‘legacy’ processes for some of these tools so as to help acclimate to the new layout, simple, easily-applicable scripts are available in the software documentation. First off the bat is the degree to which pre-existing features have been fine-tuned, from cosmetic considerations such as nicer timeline to increased sophistication of tools such as brushes, colour/light shading and deformers. Rather than a continuously expanding list of arbitrary new features and effects (for which there’s a glut of outside OpenFX plugins that can be brought in with more ease than ever) one really gets the sense that Toon Boom’s highest priority is creating as comfortable and stress-free a workspace as possible for the user. Having had the opportunity to delve into their latest release, Harmony 14, I continue to be impressed by their software’s ever-evolving considerations. Toon Boom Harmony 14 retains the intuitive interface of prior editions that makes it an advisable first port of call for 2D character animation.
Embracing the current landscape of potential applications for 2D animation, highlights included a supremely advanced rigging system, automated lighting and shading capabilities that look startlingly organic and the addition of being able to create specially-rigged animations with specific considerations for video game and app development. The bevvy of new features offered in a Toon Boom Harmony 12 product demonstration around the time of its release turned me around on that point with three iterations of the package – Essentials (for those dipping their toes in the waters), Advanced and Premium to choose from, Harmony was clearly the way forward. As I mentioned in a recent review of Adam Philips’s Animate To Harmony, for a while I felt all of my major needs were met by Toon Boom Animate Pro, at the time a more reasonably-priced and sensible package for those going it alone creating short-form work, rather than being part of – or managing – a team for series/feature production. Truth be told, each new version of Toon Boom has proved to be increasingly self-contained to the point where many of the outside processes I’d turn to other programs for are now accommodated. What I’ve often found particularly helpful when it comes to Toon Boom is the ease of which it can slip into production pipelines that incorporate outside software for asset creation and post-production.
Its ease of workflow, naturalistic line/brush tools and largely intuitive workspace made it clear that it was an ideal option for generating content quickly and effectively, regardless of scale or scope of a project.
Beginning with a largely hand-drawn short back in 2010, simply using an earlier incarnation of Toon Boom for the digital inking and painting of the scanned art proved a revelation. While commissioned projects often have their own pipelines and softwares specified, for personal work Toon Boom has ranked particularly high for me in the last five years or so, starting around the time I finally embraced my Cintiq and (semi) retired my lightbox. As the subject of independent animation, both from an audience and creator’s perspective, is clearly close to my heart, the impulse to create personal work will always be with me. As some may already know, alongside my role as Managing Director here at Skwigly I am most often entrenched in the world of 2D animation and motion graphics, alternately as a freelancer and, when resources and circumstances allow, an independent director of auteur short films.
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