Layering Elements

The layering order of elements determines how they are stacked (the composition order) when you playback or export your animation from each mode.

In the Exposure Sheet, columns on the left are rendered on top of columns on the right when you export an Exposure Sheet scene.
When you export a full movie or scene, elements in rows on top of the Timeline list appear layered on top of the elements below. Of course, when your elements change relative front/back position based on layout and pegged motion effects, that ultimately determines the composition order of the elements.

Any changes you make to your scene’s contents in the Exposure Sheet appears in the Timeline window, except for the show/hide status of the element.

There are eight element types you can add to your animation:

Drawing : vector drawing files you create or import.

Drawing elements appear in both the Exposure Sheet and the Timeline.

Image : bitmap graphics that you import into your animation.

Image elements appear in both the Exposure Sheet and the Timeline.

Sound : sound files you import into your animation.

Sound elements appear in both the Exposure Sheet and the Timeline.

Media : multimedia files that you link into your animation.

You use the media element type to make a link from your animation to a multimedia file.

Media elements appear in both the Exposure Sheet and the Timeline.

Peg : create motion, scaling, and rotation changes over time.

Peg elements appear only in the Timeline. You can modify peg elements in this view window.

Camera : As in traditional animation and film production, you use cameras to “film” the action in a scene. You can use camera elements to zoom-in and zoom-out on your scene by changing the field-of-view (FOV), create pans, move closer or farther (truck in and out) from the action in your scene.

Toon Boom Studio can film a scene with only one camera. You can add additional cameras as a reference, but Toon Boom Studio can only use the camera you select from the Camera List toolbar button to film your scene. You must create all of the camera effects you want to use for the final movie in one camera.

The default “scene camera” does not appear in the Timeline window, but any cameras you add will appear in the element list. You can modify camera elements in Sceneplanning view windows.

Color Transform Effects : change the color of element gradually from keyframe to keyframe.

Color Transform Effects elements appear only in the Timeline.

Clipping Effects : display only part of an image, using a mask to identify the areas on the image you want to “show through”. When you add this element, Toon Boom Studio adds a Mask parameter element to control the masking image.

Clipping Effects elements appear only in the Timeline.