Toonz is a 2D animation software program. The base application is currently managed by

Dwango The Dial-up Wide-Area Network Game Operation, better known by the acronym DWANGO, was an early online gaming service based in the United States. Launched in 1994, it was originally known for its compatibility with '' Doom'', for which it functio ...

open-source software Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. ...

under the name OpenToonz. An extended commercial variant for professional individuals and studios, Toonz Premium, is being developed and marketed by Digital Video S.p.A. Toonz has been used by studios such as

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and h ...

and

Rough Draft Studios Rough Draft Studios, Inc. is an American animation production studio based in Glendale, California, with a second studio in Glendale and its sister studio Rough Draft Korea located in Seoul, South Korea. The studio was founded in Van Nuys, Lo ...

Release History

Toonz 3.0

Developed in 1993 for the

IRIX IRIX ( ) is a discontinued operating system developed by Silicon Graphics (SGI) to run on the company's proprietary MIPS workstations and servers. It is based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. In IRIX, SGI originated the XFS file system a ...

operating system, ''Toonz'' was created and registered as a trademark. An exclusive distribution agreement was signed with

Softimage Autodesk Softimage, or simply Softimage () was a 3D computer graphics application, for producing 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling, and computer animation. Now owned by Autodesk and formerly titled Softimage, XSI, the software has been predomina ...

, which distributed it as Creative Toonz. One year later, the product was used in some productions such as

Amblimation Amblimation was the British animation production subsidiary of Amblin Entertainment. It was formed by Steven Spielberg in May 1989, following the success of ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988), and after he parted ways with Don Bluth, due to c ...

's ''

Balto Balto (1919 – March 14, 1933) was a Siberian Husky and sled dog belonging to musher and breeder Leonhard Seppala. He achieved fame when he reportedly led a team of sled dogs driven by Gunnar Kaasen on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to ...

''.

Toonz 4.0

After Microsoft acquired Softimage, Toonz was optimized to run on Windows so that it could be marketed as Microsoft Toonz. Toonz underwent improvements on the tools and

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

for

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

cel animators. New features included the Pencil Test module, the Palette Editor, the Xsheet, the Ink and Paint module, and the Flip module, as well as more customizability by adding separate modules for scanning and rendering.

Toonz 5.0

Toonz 5.0 Harlequin now supported vector graphics, with continued support for raster graphics, either generated inside the program or scanned in from paper . Toonz was also made compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X for the first time.

Toonz 6.0 Harlequin and Bravo

Version 6.0 was made available as Toonz Harlequin, created in collaboration with

, for traditional (with scanned graphics) and paperless animation workflows; and Toonz Bravo for paperless workflows only.

Toonz 6.3 ML

Version 6.3 ML ("ML" for "multi-language") introduced non-English language support. Other new features included raster-vector conversion, palette styles, and options for rendering image sequences and video clips. More specifically, Toonz Bravo 6.3 ML got animation libraries for characters and props; palettes with linked styles and smart color models; animation levels with numerically controlled transformation, links and dependencies among pegbars, cameras and table;

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

, including a 2D

particle In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass. They vary greatly in size or quantity, from ...

engine; and batch rendering with render farms. Toonz Harlequin 6.3 ML also allowed paper drawings to be scanned, colorized, and refined within it.

Toonz 6.4 ML

Version 6.4 was still available as Toonz Harlequin and Toonz 6.4 Bravo!, with improvements on the Cleanup module and previewing, the new Black & White mode of scanning, editable DPI parameters, a new algorithm for the Raster-to-Vector Converter, the Interactive Color Editing and the Smart FX Schematic Editing.

Toonz 7.0

Version 7.0 introduced new features such as mesh deformation with bones, the ECMAScripts support for automation, new effects, drawing cleanup, symmetric backgrounds, 3D stereoscopic rendering among others.

Open-sourcing

On March 19, 2016, it was announced that Toonz would be released as

free and open-source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...

software as OpenToonz. The

source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the ...

of OpenToonz was released under the

BSD license BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses, imposing minimal restrictions on the use and distribution of covered software. This is in contrast to copyleft licenses, which have share-alike requirements. The original BSD lice ...

to a

GitHub GitHub, Inc. () is an Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, cont ...

repository on March 26, 2016. Digital Video will also continue to develop and market a Toonz Premium version. The source code has also been forked by other projects, such as Tahoma2D which focuses on ease of use, as well as a custom made version for the Morevna Project.

Usage

For films and TV

* ''

Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida ...

'' * ''

My Neighbors the Yamadas is a 1999 Japanese animated comedy film written and directed by Isao Takahata, animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Hakuhodo and Buena Vista Home Entertainment, and distributed by Shochiku. ...

'' * ''

Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Tohokushinsha Film, and Mitsubishi and distrib ...

'' * ''

Howl's Moving Castle (film) is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is loosely based on the 1986 novel of the same name by English author Diana Wynne Jones. The film was produced by Toshio Suzuki, animated by Studio Ghi ...

'' * ''

Ponyo is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Mitsubishi, and distribute ...

'' * ''

Arrietty ''Arrietty'', titled in Japan and ''The Secret World of Arrietty'' in North America, is a 2010 Japanese animated fantasy film directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi as his feature film debut as a director, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon ...

'' * ''

Mary and the Witch's Flower is a 2017 Japanese animated fantasy film co-written and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, produced by Studio Ponoc founder Yoshiaki Nishimura, animated by Studio Ponoc, and distributed by Toho in Japan. Based on the 1971 book ''The Little Broom ...

'' (OpenToonz) * ''

'' * ''Logobelly'' * ''

Anastasia Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning " resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the mo ...

'' * ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years ...

'' * ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American Animated series, animated Television comedy, comedy Television show, television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It ...

'' * ''

The Maxx ''The Maxx'' is an American comic book series created by Sam Kieth in 1993 and originally published monthly until 1998 by Image Comics for 35 issues, before being collected in trade paperback by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. The first appearance ...

'' * '' Titan A.E.'' * ''

Aida of the Trees ''Aida of the Trees'' ( it, Aida degli alberi) is a 2001 Italian musical adventure fantasy animated film written and directed by Guido Manuli with soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. It is the third movie produced by the studio Lanterna Magica after '' ...

'' * '' Asterix Conquers America'' * ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe ( Zach Callison), who lives with the Crystal Gems—magical, mineral ...

For video games

* ''

Discworld 2 ''Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?'' (released as ''Discworld II: Mortality Bytes!'' in North America) is a 1996 point-and-click adventure game based on Terry Pratchett's series of fantasy novels set on the mythical Discworld, and sequel to the ...

'' * ''

Claw A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus ...

References

External links

*
Website for Toonz Premium 7.2 and later

Historic website
for Toonz versions up to 7.1 * {{Animation editors 1993 software C++ software IRIX software MacOS graphics software Raster graphics editors Raster to vector conversion software Vector graphics editors Windows graphics-related software Formerly proprietary software Free 2D animation software