Symbols

A symbol combines animation, artwork or layers into a single object that you can control in one layer. You can also create symbols out of each body part in your cut-out puppets.

You do not need to create symbols in order to create drawings or characters in Toon Boom Harmony.

When you delete a symbol, it will be deleted from your hard drive. You can use the Undo function to retrieve the data. The symbol cannot be retrieved once you close the application.

When you import a symbol from the library to the Timeline view it is linked to the original symbol in the library. If you import a symbol into your scene several times in the Timeline view, they will all be linked to the original symbol. If you modify one, they will all be modified.

If you want to edit a symbol without modifying the other instances, you must duplicate the symbol first. 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.

You can either edit a symbol from the Timeline view or from the Library view.

When you edit a symbol, the drawings contained in it are not placed at the centre of the stage, but are located in the position where they were created. The pivot is translated at the centre of the symbol.

When you enter a symbol to edit it, you are entering another scene with an independent timeline. You can nest many symbols one inside the other. To help you follow the hierarchy of your nested symbol, take note of the Editing stack at the top of the Camera view which displays the path to your symbol's location. You can click on the symbol's name to move up the chain.

You can share a symbol and use its contents (the drawings) in another scene. To do this, you must first convert your symbol into a template. This conversion breaks the drawing's link with both the original scene and symbol. It then becomes a separate entity that you can import into other projects.