Animation

Drawing Level Types

Tahoma can create 3 image level types:

Raster Levels +

Raster levels provide a digital drawing experience that is the most similar to modern drawing software. This is the default drawing level type.

Best for:

painterly styles
sketchy/expressive lines
color blending & layering

Drawbacks:

no automated features
drawings/colors only editable by erasing, painting over, or copy/pasting over
only one layer in each drawing
only solid color fill options
pixel based levels do not scale up well

Smart Raster Levels +

Smart raster levels are color mapped so that painted colors (both strokes & fills) can be updated or animated.

Best for:

cel shading
sketchy/expressive lines
animating or updating colors
digitizing scanned artwork

Drawbacks:

no automated animation features
drawings only editable by erasing, painting over, or pasting over
only one layer in each drawing
color blending only available through compositing
pixel based levels do not scale up well

Vector Levels +

Vector levels use mathmatical formulas to keep track of data points that make up each drawing. This allows the drawings to be easily adjusted or resized at any time.

Best for:

cel shading
animating or updating colors/styles
automatic animation features
adjusting lines/shapes at any time
grouping & reordering within a single drawing
rendering at any size

Drawbacks:

saves too much data to use sketchy lines
saves too much data to "color in" with a brush
color blending only available through compositing

Each level type has strengths and weaknesses - the type that works best in one circumstance may not be the best choice in another. Choose what makes sense for your aesthetic, workflow, and time constraints but don't limit yourself to just one level type.

Other Level Types

Creating Levels

There are multiple ways to create new drawing levels directly in Tahoma. Creating levels with the Command Bar is often fastest.

With the Command Bar +

If the command bar is missing in the workspace, one can be added from the top menu under "Windows" → "Command Bar"

In the Timeline (or Xsheet), left-click an empty cell (where you want the first frame to start) - or (Timeline only) - click on the first cell of an existing level
Left-click on the new level button for your desired level type in the Command Bar (one of the 3 leftmost buttons)
Make changes to the New Level Pop-up as necessary (most of the defaults are fine, unless you need to change the level type):
1. Make sure to name the level very specifically (ie. Fred_head_profile), so that you can identify levels easily and quickly (avoid most symbols in the level names)
2. "From" and "To" refers to the range (number) of frames you would like to add to the level (this can be changed at any time)
3. "Step" refers to the number of times a frame is repeated consecutively (2 is the standard for smoother animation with a better pace)
4. "Increment" refers to the number of each frame (ie. a value of 1 would result in frames numbered 1, 2, 3... while a value of 2 would result in frames numbered 1, 3, 5...)
5. When your settings are adjusted as desired, select "OK" - or "Apply" if you want to make another new level directly after

In the Timeline/Xsheet +

Right-click on an empty cell (where you want the first frame to start) & select new level
- or (Timeline only) right-click on the first cell of an existing level & select new level

- or click on the new level icon towards the top left of the Timeline/Xsheet
Make changes to the New Level Pop-up as necessary and then press "ok"

With the Menu +

In the Timeline/Xsheet, left-click an empty cell (where you want the first frame to start)
In the program menu, go to File → New & then choose your level type
Make changes to the New Level Pop-up as necessary and then press "ok"

Loading or Importing Levels

Existing files can be loaded or imported from outside of Tahoma and from other Projects/Scenes inside of Tahoma. Loading a level creates a link to the existing file. Importing a level makes a copy in the Project's Extras folder. Whether you load or import external files can be set in Preferences.

Drag & Drop +

You can drag & drop into the Viewer, Timeline/Xsheet, and File Browser in order to load or import files into your scene. The process is the same:

In the Timeline/Xsheet, right-click an empty cell (where you want the first frame to start) - or (Timeline only) right-click on the first cell of the existing layer that should display underneath the imported level
Drag your file from it's location (in Finder, desktop or etc.) to either:
1. the Viewer
2. the Timeline/Xsheet
3. The Scene Cast (bottom right of the Browser Room)
Release your file
1. If this is your first time loading a file, select "Import" or "Load"
2. You can choose to always import or always load by checking "Always do this action" before making your choice
Make any adjustments to the level location in the Timeline/Xsheet if necessary

From the Xsheet or Timeline +

In the Timeline/Xsheet, left-click an empty cell (where you want the first frame to start)
Select "Load Level"
Use the File Browser to select your file and choose "Load"

From the Browser +

In the Timeline/Xsheet, left-click an empty cell (where you want the first frame to start)
Use the File Browser to select your file
Right-click on the file and select "Load"

From the Menu +

In the Timeline/Xsheet, left-click an empty cell (where you want the first frame to start)
Level → "Load Level"
Use the File Browser to select your file and then choose "Load"

Moving Levels

Levels or portions of levels can be moved in the Timeline/Xsheet through dragging and dropping with the dragbar. You can also use standard copy and paste commands, either through the menu or with the shortcuts:

Copy: CMD+C | CTRL+C
Cut: CMD+X | CTRL+X
Paste: CMD+V | CTRL+V
Delete: Delete (or Fn+Delete on mac laptops)

Moving a Layer/Column +

In the Timeline/Xsheet, left-click and drag the drag bar (on the left or top edge of the column header) to a new location
Release to drop the column into that new position

Moving Multiple Columns/Layers +

In the Timeline/Xsheet, click and drag across the layer or column headers to select multiple columns
Left-click and drag the drag bar of a selected layer/column (on the bottom or left edge of the header) to a new location
Release to drop the column into that new position

Moving Part of a Level +

Moving Part of a Level Without Keyframes

In the Timeline/Xsheet, select the cells you would like to move (Left-click + drag)
Click, hold and drag the drag bar (on the left edge of the cells) to a new location
Release to drop the selected cells in that new position

Moving Part of a Level With Keyframes

In the Timeline/Xsheet, select the cells you would like to move (CMD-Left-click + drag)
Click, hold and drag the drag bar (on the left edge of the cells) to a new location
Release to drop the selected cells in that new position

Deleting (or Unlinking) Columns/layers, Levels & Frames

Deleting resources from the Timeline/Xsheet or from the scene is actually unlinking instead of true deleting. The files remain available for the scene and project - even if they are not visible. To completely delete levels and frames they must be removed from the Timeline/Xsheet first, then the scene and lastly from the project.

From the Timeline/Xsheet +

Unlinking Frames

Entire Levels or just selected Frames can be unlinked from the scene.

In the Timeline/Xsheet, click and drag to select the frames you want to remove
Use the shortcut:
1. Delete - to remove the frames while maintaining the existing placement of surrounding frames
2. Cut (CMD+X | CTRL+X) - to remove the frames while leaving no empty space between surrounding frames

Deleting Columns/Layers

In the Timeline/Xsheet either:
1. Left-click on the Layer/Column Header:
  1. Use shortcuts:
    1. Delete
    2. Cut (CMD+X | CTRL+X)
2. Right-click on the Layer/Column Header:
  1. Select Delete
In the Stage Schematic:
1. Left-click on the Layer/Column node
2. Use shortcuts:
  1. Delete
  2. Cut (CMD+X | CTRL+X)

From the Scene/Project +

Once levels have been removed from the Timeline/Xsheet, they can be removed from the scene and from the entire project.

Removing Unwanted Levels from the Scene

In the Browser room, right-click in the "Scene Cast" (bottom-right)
Click on "Remove All Unused Levels"

Deleting Levels/Files from the Project

In the Browser room, find your unwanted level in the "File Browser" (top-right)
1. Vector and Toonz Raster levels will be located in the drawings folder
2. Raster levels and imported files (.psd, video, audio & etc.) will be located in the extras folder
Right-click on the unwanted level and select "Delete"

Saving Levels

Levels can be saved individually or altogether with all of the scene data. Be careful - if only the scene data is saved, you can lose a whole session of drawing.

Auto-save

Auto-save can save the scene and level data at the same time. If something goes wrong, auto-save can save the day.

Turn on Auto-save in Preferences → General
7 minutes is often a good starting value.

Save-All Shortcut

Use CMD+S | CTRL+S to save both the scene and the level at the same time

In the Menu

Level → "Save Level"

Save a copy of a level:

Level → "Save Level As"
Name your level with a descriptive name(but no apostrophes) and select "Save"

Converting Levels

Converting to Vector*

Toonz Raster to Vector +

In the Timeline/Xsheet, select the level (or frames) that you want to convert
1. Click on the left edge of the frames to select the whole level
In the top menu, go to Level → Convert to Vectors
Adjust the conversion settings as desired
1. Toggle on preview (the eye icon)
2. Mode → Centerline
3. If there are fills, make sure to check "Preserve Painted Areas"
4. Other settings can be adjusted if necessary
Click "Convert"

Raster to Vector +

For Raster levels drawn only with black:
1. In the Timeline/Xsheet, select the level (or frames) that you want to convert
  1. Click on the left edge of the frames to select the whole level
2. In the top menu, go to Level → Convert to Vectors
3. Adjust the conversion settings as desired
  1. Toggle on preview (the eye icon)
  2. Mode → Centerline
  3. Other settings can be adjusted if necessary
4. Click "Convert"
For Raster levels that include colors:
This does not give an exact copy of the drawings but instead creates outlines around the different strokes of each drawing
1. In the Xsheet, select the level (or frames) that you want to convert
  1. Click on the left edge of the frames to select the whole level
2. In the top menu, go to Level → Convert to Vectors
3. Set mode to outline
4. Toggle on preview (the eye icon should be yellow)
5. Adjust the conversion settings as desired
6. Click "Convert"

Vector to Simplified Vectors +

Converting to simplified vectors sometimes makes a vector level easier to fill.

In the Timeline/Xsheet, left-click + drag to select the cells in the Vector level that you want to simplify
In the top menu, go to Level → Replace Vectors with Simplified Vectors

* Converted Vector levels are not directly compatible with the Level Strip's Inbetweener functions

Converting to Toonz Raster

Vector to Toonz Raster +

In the Timeline/Xsheet, left-click + drag to select the cells in the Vector level that you want to convert
In the top menu, go to Level → Vector to Toonz Raster

Raster to Toonz Raster +

Follow the "Cleanup" directions to convert from Raster to Toonz Raster. More details coming soon.

Converting to Raster

Vector or Toonz Raster to Raster +

At this point converting to Raster is possible but very time consuming. Each frame has to be converted individually.

In the Timeline/Xsheet, select an individual frame from the vector or toonz raster level you would like to convert
1. In the viewer, use the select tool to select the entire drawing
2. CMD+C | CTRL+C to copy
In the Timeline/Xsheet, select the corresponding frame in the raster level
1. CMD+V | CTRL+V to paste
Repeat for as many frames as you want/need to convert

Learn to Animate

Tahoma Levels

Drawing Level Types

Best for:

Drawbacks:

Best for:

Drawbacks:

Best for:

Drawbacks:

Other Level Types

Sub-Xsheet Level

Audio Level

Note Level

Mesh Level

Creating Levels

Loading or Importing Levels

Moving Levels

Moving Part of a Level Without Keyframes

Moving Part of a Level With Keyframes

Deleting (or Unlinking) Columns/layers, Levels & Frames

Unlinking Frames

Deleting Columns/Layers

Removing Unwanted Levels from the Scene

Deleting Levels/Files from the Project

Saving Levels

Auto-save

Save-All Shortcut

In the Menu

Save a copy of a level:

Converting Levels

Converting to Vector*

Converting to Toonz Raster

Converting to Raster