Toon Boom

Toon Boom Animation Inc., or just Toon Boom, is a Canadian software company founded in 1994 and based in Montreal, Quebec that specializes in the development and production of animation and storyboarding software for film, television, the World Wide Web, video games, mobile devices, training and education.

Toon Boom Animation Inc.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustrySoftware
Founded1994 (1994)
Headquarters
Montreal, Quebec
,
Canada
ProductsAnimation and Storyboarding software
Parent
Websitetoonboom.com

Its software, especially the Toon Boom Harmony, is used in over 130 countries and has been awarded many accolades, including the Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards in 2005 and 2012.[1][2]

History
2001
2017
Former logos

In 1996, Toon Boom purchased the software development business of US Animation Studio. Its animation production services were to be merged into CST Entertainment according to a premature press release from CST. That merger never took place, and USAnimation's studio changed its name to VirtualMagic Animation in 1996 and operated independently.[3] Toon Boom Animation continued the development of USAnimation software ,which became Toon Boom Opus. It has since become Toon Boom Harmony.

Founding President and Chief Executive Officer Jacques Bilodeau left the company in May 2003, and the company's board of directors appointed Chief Operating Officer Joan Vogelesang to take his place.[4] In 2004, Corus Entertainment, owner of Canadian animation studio Nelvana, acquired a 50% stake in the company.[5]

In 2006, Toon Boom acquired French company Pegs'n Co,[6] developer of the 2D bitmap animation software called Pegs. Since the acquisition, the software has not been updated and can no longer be purchased.

In 2009, Toon Boom acquired the British company Cambridge Animation Systems, developer of Animo.[7] Since the acquisition, the software has not been updated and can no longer be purchased.

In 2012, Corus acquired the remaining 50% stake of Toon Boom it did not already own, giving it full ownership.[5] Chief Executive Officer and President Joan Vogelesang stepped down in September 2014 after over 16 years at Toon Boom, and Paul Gardner was appointed as interim CEO.[8]

On March 9, 2016, Toon Boom acquired all the related IP for the TACTIC Studio product, an asset management, production tracking and review tool from Toronto-based Southpaw Technology and planned to re-launch the product as Toon Boom Producer.[9] On June 13, 2017, Toon Boom re-branded and launched Producer.[10]

On July 13, 2023, Corus announced that it would sell Toon Boom to International Media Company (IMC), a portfolio of private equity firm TPG Inc., for US$111 million (CA$147.5 million). Corus stated that the sale would be used to cover debt and "advance our strategic plan and priorities".[11]

Historical products
  • Toon Boom Opus (1996-2008) - formerly USAnimation, it was used in the traditional film/TV animation industry.
  • Tic Tac Toon (1996-2001) was succeeded by Toon Boom Studio.
  • Toon Boom Studio (2001-2015) is aimed at home users and individuals. Succeeded by Toon Boom Harmony Essentials.
  • Toon Boom Concerto (2004-2005)
  • Toon Boom Solo (2005-2007) is aimed at small studios. Succeeded by Toon Boom Digital Pro.
  • Toon Boom Digital Pro (2007-2009) was succeeded by Toon Boom Animate Pro.
  • Toon Boom Pencil Check Pro (2008-2014) is a line testing software product.
  • Toon Boom Animate (2008-2015) is aimed at professional animators, boutique studios, students, and educators. Succeeded by Toon Boom Harmony Advanced.
  • Toon Boom Manager (2009-2014) is a production tracking system for the entertainment industry.
  • Toon Boom Animate Pro (2009-2015) is aimed at animation studios and freelancers.
  • Flip Boom product line (discontinued in 2014): entry-level animation software
  • Garfield's Comic Boom (discontinued in 2014) is a comic strip or album creation software product developed with cartoonist Jim Davis. The application included built-in video tutorials by the cartoonist.

Products
Harmony (software)
Developer(s)Toon Boom Animation Inc.
Stable release
June 29, 2020 (2020-06-29)[12]
Written inC++ (Qt), Qt Script, JavaScript, Python
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows, macOS, Linux
Platformx64
Available inEnglish, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese[13]
Type2D animation software
LicenseProprietary, Trialware
Websitewww.toonboom.com Edit this on Wikidata

Harmony

Harmony contains the tools required to handle cutout (puppet), paperless frame-by-frame and traditional animation workflows from scanning to compositing and 2D/3D integration. Its toolset includes pencil lines with textures, deformation tools, morphing, inverse kinematics, particles, built-in compositor, 3D camera and 2D-3D integration. Users can also draw animation directly into the software, using a graphics tablet.

Harmony has been in continuous development since 2005 and has been used on productions like Curious George, The Simpsons Movie, Disney's The Princess and the Frog and Winnie the Pooh, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, My Little Pony: The Movie, Space Jam: A New Legacy, and The Bob's Burgers Movie among others. Harmony has also been used by content creators on YouTube.

Harmony Server

This software provides additional capabilities for teams of animators using Harmony who want to share files and manage assets from a central database that is located on a server. Its centralized database system allows the sharing of assets between scenes and enables the workload to be shared across a studio or between studios. It also includes production controls for managing rendering jobs and coordinating batch scanning of paper drawings. Harmony Server is available as an add-on for users of Harmony Advanced and Harmony Premium.

Storyboard Pro

This software is used in pre-production to create storyboards for a wide variety of project types including 2D and 3D animation, stop motion, and live action productions. Storyboard Pro contains all the tools required to create storyboards and animatics. Its toolset includes vector and bitmap drawing tools, pencils and textured brushes, a built-in camera, audio tools, a timeline for timing control, and a 3D toolset to integrate imported 3D models.

Producer

Producer is a web-based production tracking and digital asset management tool.

See also

References
  1. Mesger, Robin (September 11, 2005). "Creative Arts Primetime Emmys' winners" (PDF). Emmys. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 17, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  2. "Olivia Munn hosts the 64th Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards". Emmys. October 8, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  3. "Information International Inc (Triple-I)". excelsior.asc.ohio-state.edu. Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  4. Ball, Ryan (May 13, 2003). "Toon Boom Technologies Names New President". Animation Magazine.
  5. "Corus Entertainment signs deal to sell Toon Boom Animation subsidiary for $147.5-million in cash". The Globe and Mail. July 13, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  6. (June 6, 2006). "Toon Boom Animation acquires Pegs’n Co’s" [Studio Daily]. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
  7. Annemarie Moody (January 8, 2009). "Toon Boom Acquires Cambridge Animation". Animation World Network. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  8. Sarto, Dan (September 10, 2014). "Joan Vogelesang Steps Down as CEO of Toon Boom". Animation World Network. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  9. "Toon Boom Animation Acquires TACTIC Studio from Southpaw Technology". Toon Boom. March 9, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  10. "Toon Boom Answers Growing Demand for Animated Content". Toon Boom. June 13, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  11. Vlessing, Etan (July 17, 2023). "Toon Boom Animation Sold to Private Equity Firm for $111M". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  12. "Harmony 20 Premium Documentation: Home". docs.toonboom.com. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  13. "Harmony 15.0 Premium Documentation: Home".
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