How to Add Exposure in Toon Boom Harmony?

Adding exposure in Toon Boom Harmony determines how many frames a specific drawing or cell is displayed for in your animation timeline, essentially holding the drawing on screen. This is a fundamental process in traditional animation workflows adapted for digital software.

You can increase the exposure of a drawing in Toon Boom Harmony using several methods:

Methods for Increasing Drawing Exposure

To extend the length that a drawing appears on screen, you need to add exposure in the Xsheet or Timeline view. Here are the common ways to achieve this:

• Using the Top Menu:
  Select the cell(s) you want to modify in the Xsheet or Timeline. Then, navigate through the main menu bar:

  1. Select Animation.
  2. Choose Cell.
  3. Click Increase Exposure.
     This action will extend the exposure of the selected cell(s) by one frame each time you use it.

• Using the Xsheet Toolbar:
  The Xsheet toolbar provides quick access buttons for common operations.

  1. Select the drawing cell(s) you wish to extend in the Xsheet view.
  2. Look for the Increase Exposure button in the Xsheet toolbar.
  3. Click this button. Similar to the menu command, each click will add one frame of exposure.

• Setting Exposure Directly in the Xsheet:
  For precise control over the number of frames, you can manually set the exposure length.

  1. Select the cell in the Xsheet view.
  2. Look at the bottom-right corner of the Xsheet view.
  3. You will find an input field or control where you can set the number of cells (frames) over which the drawing will be exposed. Enter the desired number of frames here.

• Using the Right-Click Context Menu:
  A quick method directly within the Xsheet or Timeline view is using the context menu.

  1. Right-click on the cell or selection of cells you want to increase the exposure for.
  2. From the context menu that appears, select Exposure.
  3. Choose Increase Exposure. This option typically adds one frame per use, similar to the menu bar and toolbar buttons.

These methods provide flexibility based on your workflow and preferred interaction method within the Toon Boom Harmony interface.