About 2D Animation workflows with Toon Boom Harmony

This article will help you become familiar with the different workflows found in animation pipelines in which Toon Boom Harmony is used. 

If you’d like to learn more about the animation pipeline, see About the Animation Pipeline.

What is an animation workflow?

An animation workflow includes the steps and the order in which they occur when creating your production. No matter which method you choose to create your project, the pipeline to follow will always be divided into three segments: pre-production, production, and post-production. 

The workflow is then determined by your animation method. For more information on animation types, see About Animation Techniques.

For a detailed breakdown of each animation workflow step, see About 2D Animation workflow steps.

Traditional animation workflow

Traditional animation is the original method of animation, it is also called cel or classical animation. Each frame of animation is drawn by hand on paper.

From the end of the 19th century to the late 1980s, the traditional workflow was entirely done manually. Only with the introduction of computers to the general public did some of the steps become automated. Now, with all the technology available, the colouring and compositing are achieved digitally. However, the drawing part is still done by hand on paper.

In this workflow, Harmony can be used in the Ink & Paint process.

Paperless animation workflow

Paperless animation consists of digitally drawing all of the images of an animation. It is similar to the traditional animation technique in that each frame is drawn by hand, but the process is completely digital.

This method of animation allows significant control over the drawings, a possibility for greater quality, and an infinite number of complex poses and rotations for the animated characters and objects. It also eliminates the paper used in traditional animation and gives you the opportunity to instantly see a line test. Paperless animation allows you to easily cut and paste parts of a drawing, undo actions in case of mistakes, and zoom in and out of drawings.

For this workflow, Harmony can be used for the Layout & Posing stage, and every stage from Animation.

Cut-out animation workflow

Cut-out animation involves the creation of a puppet or rig that consists of separate pieces which are moved frame by frame to animate the character. Originally it was done traditionally, similar to stop-motion animation but with paper parts. Now it is done with digital techniques, where each part is moved and keyframed in the computer software.

Since the characters and objects are composed of many parts, the animator does not need to redraw them on each frame, but can just move or distort the parts to create the animation, and the software can handle a large part of the in-betweening. It also eliminates the paper used in traditional animation and allows you to instantly see an animation test.

For this workflow, Harmony can be used for the Layout & Posing stage, and every stage from Character & Prop Breakdown.