Importing FLA Files

You can export files from Flash and import them in Harmony to transfer character rigs, props and backgrounds.

Flash import is available on all three editions of Harmony on Windows and Mac OS X. It is not possible to do so on Linux versions.

On the Flash side, users can work with these versions: Adobe Flash CS5 to Adobe Flash CC. Exports from older versions of Flash are not possible.

Preparing and Exporting Files from Flash

At the scene level (top timeline), you must have a symbol, such as a movie clip or graphic. Colour shapes, shape lines, drawing objects, groups and bitmaps at the scene level won’t be exported. If these elements are present, you will be prompted to perform a clean up of the scene level. For details on importing Flash files, see Guidelines for Creating a Flash File Before Exporting to Harmony

As part of preparing to import Flash files in Harmony, you must add an extension to Flash using Adobe Extension Manager. The extension is required in order for Flash to export files to Harmony. The extension is called Export to Harmony.zxp and is located here:

OS Edition Location
Windows Premium C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony [version] Premium\resources\flash
Advanced C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony [version] Advanced\resources\flash
Essentials C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony [version] Essentials\resources\flash
Mac OS X Premium Applications > Toon Boom Harmony [version] Premium Network > tba > resources > flash
Advanced Applications > Toon Boom Harmony [version] Advanced Network > tba > resources > flash
Essentials Applications > Essentials > tba > resources > flash
NOTE: Before installing the extension, you must remove all Harmony offline and database preferences.

It is important to use the correct version of Adobe Extension Manager:

If more than one version of Flash is installed on your computer, be careful where you install the extension. If it's added to Adobe Extension Manager of Flash CS6, the extension will only be added in this version and not the other.
If you have a previous version of the extension, you must remove it first and install the latest extension—see How to remove a previously installed Export to Harmony.zxp extension (if applicable).

When you export your files, a folder will be created that contains the stage.tpl and export.json files, as well as all the .swf and .txt files in your scene. The export.json file is used by a Harmony script to organize and construct the node system from your exported files.

Importing Flash Files in Harmony

When importing Flash files, the Scripting toolbar must be displayed, which should contain the Import Flash Scene icon. If the icon does not appear in the toolbar, add it to the Scripting toolbar. Note that you will only have to do this once. After that, you can import Flash files whenever needed.

Your Flash Scene in Harmony

Once the Flash project is successfully imported into Harmony, here's how the node system was constructed:

Each symbol has its own peg in which all the transformation information is stored.
Whenever there are more than three symbols nested inside a symbol, a Composite node is automatically created to group them all.
The pivot information is stored in the peg's Layer Properties (Pivot fields). The pivot information came from the rotation point of the symbol in Flash.
Registration point of the symbol in Flash represents the centre of the drawing space in Stage. Therefore, the position of the drawing inside a symbol will be exactly the same in Stage.

The imported node system is connected to the Composite of the scene, which contains the Write and Display nodes.
One colour palette is created for each Flash import. One colour swatch is created per RGB value. If you have more than one zone using the same colour, they will be linked to the same colour swatch.
If there are masks in your Flash project, they will reconstructed in Harmony using Cutter effects. Stage is now able to understand when more than one symbol share the same mask in Flash. Each symbol sharing the same mask will be grouped by a composite and connected to the cutter.