Toon Boom Animation Unveils Storyboard Pro 25 and Harmony 25: Flexibility, Stability, Innovation and Major Upgrades

Annecy, France — Toon Boom Animation released Storyboard Pro 25 and Harmony 25 at the International Animation Film Market (MIFA) today. The latest releases introduces powerful new tools supporting every stage of production; from thumbnails to animatics, ink & paint, rigged and keyframe animation, and interoperability with a wider range of CG pipelines.

Storyboard Pro is a versatile pre-production suite which empowers artists to structure sequences, refine visual storytelling, and pitch their boards on their own terms, while animation studios around the world rely on Harmony for productions which use traditional digital and 2D rigged animation techniques.

“This is our most ambitious release in a single year,” said Francisco del Cueto, Co-President and Chief Technology Officer at Toon Boom Animation. “And we didn’t just introduce new features, we also improved the speed and performance of project files in both Storyboard Pro and Harmony.”

The creative teams at Doodles and Golden Wolf partnered with Toon Boom Animation by providing demo assets for the launch drawn from Dullsville and the Doodleverse. The innovative short film, created using Storyboard Pro and Harmony, features characters based on the iconic illustrations of Burnt Toast (Scott Martin) as well as music by the legendary Pharrell Williams. To fully realize the ambitious vision behind the short, Doodles and Golden Wolf collaborated with teams around the world to build new 2D/3D hybrid production pipelines. Artists discovering new tools in Storyboard Pro 25 and Harmony 25 will be able to expand on their skills by following along with scenes inspired by the project.

The marquee new features in Storyboard Pro 25 include the Quick Thumbnailing Workflow and Non-Destructive Layer Effects, made possible by an enhanced Effect Stack view. The Quick Thumbnailing Workflow offers a brand new interface for drawing thumbnails; allowing users to quickly work on their first draft without distraction — or even print out a grid for thumbnailing on paper! When it comes time to pitch your boards or present an animatic, Non-Destructive Layer Effects allow artists to impress clients by adding cinematic effects. These effects include blurs, contrast adjustments and blending modes, which can all be keyframed and animated within Storyboard Pro.

Highlights in Harmony 25 include a new Breakdown Pose Assistant, support for importing Photoshop brushes, and an improved Pencil Retouch tool. The Breakdown Pose Assistant helps animators fine-tune animation on 2D character rigs with fewer clicks, as well as other keyframed assets. By including support for importing Photoshop brushes, animation artists can now draw, ink and paint consistently with the techniques used in their concept art. Meanwhile users can now adjust the opacity and thickness of existing lineart by drawing over with the Pencil Line Retouch tool, allowing for digital assets to more closely mimic physical media while ensuring flexibility throughout the ink & paint process.

Toon Boom Ember, introduced as a beta test in early spring, is now available as an add-on to users of Storyboard Pro 25 and Harmony 25. These opt-in AI tools allow professional teams to work with fewer interruptions, iterate faster and focus on the creative process. Rather than attempt to replicate the work which artists and animators contribute to a project, Ember’s purpose is to assist. In the initial release, Ember is able to intelligently create masks to separate objects from backgrounds onto new layers, upscale and add padding to existing backgrounds, and aid in the time-consuming scene setup process.

The most significant performance update in Storyboard Pro 25 and Harmony 25 may also be its most minimalist. Artists and studios can expect to see significantly reduced scene load times and file transfers with smaller project files. This was made possible by both optimizing the structure and compressing complex project files. Additionally, both Storyboard Pro and Harmony 25 have an option to save a project as a compact file structure, which is ideal for remote collaboration.

“Since 1994, our developers were early leaders in digital ink and paint,” said Colin Bohm, Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom Animation. “As we expanded the scope of our work across the production pipeline, we have always looked for opportunities to use emerging new technologies to assist studios and artists, wherever it makes the most sense. Everything we do is guided by a deep appreciation of the craft as well as ongoing communication with the animation community.”

New features in Storyboard Pro 25

• Smaller Project Files: Reduce scene load times and long file transfers with smaller project files in Storyboard Pro 25
• Import Photoshop Brushes: Draw with the same brushes in your storyboards that were used in visual development
• Pencil Line Retouch Tool: Adjust the opacity and thickness of existing pencil lines by drawing over with the Pencil Line Retouch Tool in Storyboard Pro
• Quick Thumbnailing Workflow: Draw your thumbnails in a brand new interface — or print out a grid for thumbnailing on paper and then scan your sketches back into Storyboard Pro
• Enhanced Effect Stack View: Adjust and keyframe a wide range of layer transformations and effects
• Non-Destructive Layer Effects: Apply blurs, contrast adjustments and blending modes, while retaining the flexibility to redraw elements in a scene
• Click and Drag to Enable or Disable Layers: Drag the cursor from the eyes icon to quickly toggle multiple layers at a time

Read the full release notes for Storyboard Pro 25.

New features in Harmony 25

• Smaller Project Files: Reduce scene load times and long file transfers with smaller project files in Harmony 25
• Universal Scene Description Compatibility: Universal Scene Description (USD) is an open standard for transferring scenes along a CGI production pipeline
• Import Photoshop Brushes: Draw with the same brushes in your animation that were used in visual development in Harmony Advanced and Harmony Premium
• Pencil Line Retouch Tool: Adjust the opacity and thickness of existing pencil lines by drawing over with the Pencil Line Retouch Tool in Harmony Advanced and Premium
• Breakdown Pose Assistant: Fine-tune your rigged character animation and other keyframed objects in Harmony Premium 25 using the Breakdown Pose Assistant
• Lock Timeline Ruler: Avoid accidentally adjusting the timing of finished scenes while scrubbing through your project by using the Lock Timeline Ruler command

Read the full release notes for Harmony 25.

New features in Toon Boom Ember

• Script Breakdown: Analyzes a screenplay and automatically identifies required scenes, characters, or background assets
• Mask Generation: Allows artists to quickly isolate elements in artwork by accurately creating masks, which can be selected and edited in seconds
• Image Eraser: Mark the area to be removed and Toon Boom Ember fills in the gap seamlessly by creating a separate layer ready to be used in a scene
• Expand Image: Adds padding to the borders of your image in a separate new layer, always keeping original assets intact
• Increase Image Resolution: Upscales the resolution of the original artwork, up to 8192 by 8192 pixels
• Rough Track Generation: Analyzes a screenplay, identifying characters, direction and dialogue, and inserts blank panels with scratch audio tracks on the timeline

Visit Toon Boom Animation’s website for more details about Ember.

“We are honoured to work alongside studios around the world to support ambitious 2D and hybrid productions,” said François Lalonde, Co-President and Chief Revenue Officer at Toon Boom Animation. “Our team can’t wait to see how artists in our community advance the craft of animation using Storyboard Pro 25 and Harmony 25.”

About Toon Boom Animation

For 30 years and counting, Toon Boom Animation has been the global leader in pre-production and 2D animation software with clients in over 140 countries. The organization has made its mark with products which include Harmony (end-to-end animation) and Storyboard Pro (storyboarding and layout), which continue to build upon their reputation for high performance tools which push the limits of creativity. Producer (production management) and Jump (drawing and animation tools for game development) are the most recent new products to join the line-up. Disney Television Animation, WildBrain Studios, Atomic Cartoons, Bento Box, Fox Television Animation, Dog Head, Golden Wolf, Toei Animation and Boulder Media are just a few examples of our high profile clients. To learn more about Toon Boom, visit: toonboom.com