When working on a large production, you may want to centralize the backgrounds in one directory instead of duplicating the background several times in different scenes. As backgrounds are generally reused in many scenes, some studios like to save space on the server and link the different scenes to the background directory. Also, if they modify one background, it is modified everywhere at the same time without having to reimport it. To do so, you must use the Timing columns.
Timing columns are exposure sheet columns that link to files that are outside the scene’s structure. Because of these external links, care must be taken not to break the links by moving the scene’s location or the background directory’s location. Breaking a link will result in images not appearing in your scene.
If you are working with Toon Boom Harmony Premium Server and all your scenes are located on a centralized server, you can also use the Link to Images option.
How to link a layer to an external image
- From the top menu, select File > Import > Link to Images.
The Link to Images dialog box opens.
- Click the Browse button to select the image you want to link your scene to.
- Do one of the following:
- Select the Create Timing Layer option to create a new Timing column in the Xsheet view. Then select one of the following:
- Create Single Timing Named: Type the new column name in the text field.
- Create Timing(s) Based on Filenames: Creates file names based on the selected file's name.
- Select the Add to Existing Timing Layer option to insert the file into an existing Timing column.
- Select the Copy to Timings Directory option if you want to copy the selected file into the Timings folder located in the scene directory. Note that the Timing column will link to the Timings folder.
- Click OK.