Toon Boom Harmony 16.0.1 Release Notes

Here is a list of changes in Harmony 16.0.1, build 14405.

Features

Drawing

Feature Description

Modifier keys for Stamp tool

The following modifier keys, which could be used when drawing with the Brush tool and Pencil tool, can now be used when drawing with the Stamp tool:

  • If you press and hold the Shift key before you start drawing, your stroke will be a straight line.
  • If you press and hold the Shift key while you're drawing, the part of your stroke from that point on will be a straight line until you release the Shift key.
  • If you press and hold the Shift and the Alt keys before drawing, your stroke will be a straight line in an angle that is a multiple of 15 degrees.
  • If you press and hold the Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key while drawing, your stroke will be a closed shape.
  • If you press and hold the Alt key, your tool will snap in a straight line to the nearest existing shape. This works on vector layers only.
Cut on several layers You can now use the Cutter tool on all visible layers simultaneously by holding the Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS) key.
Use the Perspective tool on several layers You can now use the Perspective tool on several layers simultaneously by selecting all the layers you want to work with in the Timeline view, then selecting the artwork you want to edit with the Perspective tool.
Use the Envelope tool on several layers You can now use the Envelope tool on several layers simultaneously by selecting all the layers you want to work with in the Timeline view, then selecting the artwork you want to edit with the Envelope tool.

Performance

Feature Description
Audio playback Audio playback performance has been significantly enhanced to prevent it from slowing down scene playback.

Scripting

Feature Description
Script permissions The File list of the Script Editor view now has a Permissions column, which indicates whether each script in the list can be edited or not—see Script Editor View.
Importing scripts and related files When importing a script, any user interface (.ui) or icon (.png) file that is in the same directory as the script and has the same file name will be automatically imported along with it—see Importing Scripts.
Testing scripts from global scope

It is now possible to test or debug a script from the global scope rather than through a specific function. This can be useful if you want to test code blurbs before structuring your script in functions.

To do this, when setting the target function to test in the Script Editor, select <Nothing> in the functions list—see Testing a Script and Debugging Scripts.
Exporting movies in batch mode It is now possible to use the exporter.exportToQuicktime() method when running a script from a command line interface—see Harmony Scripting Interface Reference.
Obtaining the full attribute keyword The new fullKeyword() method of the Attritube class returns the attribute's full keyword, including the keyword for each of its parents. For example, for the attribute with the keyword OFFSET.Z, the fullKeyword() method returns "OFFSET.Z", whereas the older keyword() method only returns "Z"—see Harmony Scripting Interface Reference.
Get column name of attribute The new columnName() method of the Attribute class returns the name of the column the attribute is linked to—see Harmony Scripting Interface Reference.
Higher decimal precision The node.getTextAttr() and column.getEntry() methods can now return up to four decimals of precision rather than three, which is the amount of precision supported by most input fields in the user interface—see Harmony Scripting Interface Reference.
Set and get tool properties

The ToolProperties class has the following new methods:

  • Methods to set and get all of the tool properties available in the user interface for every tool.
  • getAllGlobalProperties(), which returns an object containing all of the tool properties that are shared by at least two or more tool, as properties.
  • getAllToolSpecificProperties(), which returns an object containing all of the tool properties specific to a single tool.
  • setGlobalProperties(), which can set several tool properties that are shared between several tools by passing an object containing the new tool properties as its parameter.
  • setAllToolSpecificProperties(), which can set several tool properties for a specific tool by passing an object containing the new tool properties as its parameter.
  • toolNames(), which returns a list of the names of each tool available in Harmony. Those names are used to identify tools with the getAllToolSpecificProperties() and setAllToolSpecificProperties() methods.

For more information, see Harmony Scripting Interface Reference.

TIP It is possible to obtain an array of all the properties for an object by passing this object in the Object.keys() function. This can be useful to obtain the names of the properties in the objects returned by the getAllGlobalProperties() and getAllToolSpecificProperties() methods.

Enhancements

  • Until Harmony 15.0.0, pressing the Spacebar key would reset the angle of the bounding box when manipulating an element with the Transform tool. This behaviour has been restored in Harmony 16.0.1.
  • Views in the Windows top menu are no longer separated in two lists. They are now all listed together and in alphabetical order.

Fixed Issues

The following issues have been fixed in this release:

  • A blank welcome screen appears when opening a scene directly from Finder on macOS 10.14 (Mojave).
  • Glow effects are not rendered when chained with a Cutter effect.
  • 3D Path with control point becomes corrupted when moving element in Animate Off or Animate Onion Skin Range mode.
  • Several frames are skipped when playing a scene for the first time since opening it on macOS.
  • Double-clicking on the icon of a layer in the Timeline view does not open its Layer Properties dialog.
  • Impossible to use function keys (F1, F2, etc.) in keyboard shortcuts on macOS.
  • Harmony does not always display error messages when audio playback fails.
  • Colour of Colour-Card appears lighter when selecting artwork with the Select tool.
  • The Camera view does not immediately display drawings in their undeformed version when selecting the Rigging tool.
  • Plug-ins that are packaged with Harmony are not loaded when developing plug-ins with the Harmony SDK on macOS.
  • If a script in the scene directory has the same name as a script in the user preferences directory, attempting to edit and save the scene script may fail.
  • Icons and tool tips for scripts added to the Scripting toolbar cannot be customized.
  • 3D Path functions may end up with several keyframes in the same frame, causing their motion path to be corrupted.
  • When pressing and holding E to use the Eraser tool, the tip is always square-shaped regardless of which tip shape is currently selected.
  • When pressing and holding V to use the Stroke tool, the Draw Strokes as Straight Lines and Connect Line Ends tool properties are ignored.
  • The Auto-Flatten tool option of the Brush tool does not work when drawing with a semi-transparent colour.
  • Switching between the Perspective and the Envelope tool while having multiple drawings selected discards the selection and leaves only one drawing selected.
  • Pasting artwork with the Perspective or Envelope tool does not work if the Apply to All Frames tool property is enabled.
  • Animating in Animate Onion Skin Range mode does create keyframes on all of the element's functions.
  • The Set Target dialog of the Script Editor view lists script in Harmony's Plugins directory, which cannot be edited in the Script Editor.
  • The scene.checkoutLock(), scene.checkOutDate() and scene.checkOutUser() methods always return the default value.
  • When renaming a drawing layer, its name does not update in the Drawing Substitutions view.
  • The OK and Cancel buttons of the Add Frames dialog are in the wrong order on macOS.
  • The movie file types mov, mp4, mkv and wmv are listed in the File Type drop-down of the Export Images dialog in Harmony Essentials and Harmony Advanced. Attempting to export in one of these file types from the Export Images dialog did not do anything.
  • The Select Tool is Lasso preference is still present in the Preferences dialog of Paint. Since Harmony 16.0.0, this preference is updated by selecting either Lasso or Marquee in the Tool Properties view.