Toon Boom Harmony review

Toon Boom Harmony is the most complete 2D animation package on this list and the one aimed squarely at studios. Toon Boom describes it as an all-in-one solution where artists share programs and project files from drawing roughs to rigging characters and compositing. Harmony Essentials covers fundamental drawing, painting and animation, Harmony Advanced supports full traditional paperless animation plus simple cut-out work, and Harmony Premium adds sophisticated cut-out rigs and unlimited special effects through the Node View. Recent updates add Attribute Controllers, which layer offsets on top of existing animation, and Skeleton Controllers in beta in Harmony 27.1, which apply one animation cycle to any character with the same skeleton. Harmony runs on Windows and macOS, with 32 GB of RAM recommended and 8 GB as the minimum. Pricing is by subscription and the shop showed only local currency from our location, so the USD price is pending. There is a 14-day free trial.

Who it is for

Professional studios and freelancers on series work

Price

See vendor pricing (USD check pending); Essentials, Advanced and Premium editions billed by subscription.

US price check pending. See the vendor pricing page.

Key features

• Three editions: Harmony Essentials, Harmony Advanced and Harmony Premium
• Traditional paperless animation and cut-out animation in one project
• Node View for advanced rigging and effects in Premium
• Master Controllers, plus new Attribute Controllers that add offsets on top of existing animation
• Skeleton Controllers, in beta in Harmony 27.1, that reuse one animation cycle across characters sharing a skeleton

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Covers drawing roughs, rigging and compositing in the same program and project files
• Strength: Premium supports sophisticated cut-out rigs and unlimited special effects
• Strength: 14-day free trial
• Weakness: Subscription only, with prices shown in local currency outside the US
• Weakness: Recommended specs call for 32 GB of RAM
• Weakness: The node-based workflow takes time to learn

Key facts

• Editions: Essentials, Advanced, Premium
• Free trial: 14 days
• Recommended RAM: 32 GB (8 GB minimum)

Where it ranks

Toon Boom Harmony is No. 6 in our Best 2D Animation Software verdict and No. 7 in Best Animation Software for Mac.