Toonz is a 2D animation software program. The base application is currently managed by Dwango as
open-source software
Open-source software (OSS) is Software, computer software that is released under a Open-source license, license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and Software distribution, distribute the software an ...
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 based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...
and
Rough Draft Studios
Rough Draft Studios, Inc. is an American animation production studio based in Glendale, California, with a sister studio Rough Draft Korea located in Seoul, South Korea. The studio was founded in Van Nuys, Los Angeles by Gregg Vanzo in 1991.
Rou ...
.
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 architecture, MIPS workstations and servers. It is based on UNIX System V with Berkeley Software Distribution, BSD extensio ...
operating system, ''Toonz'' was created and registered as a trademark. An exclusive distribution agreement was signed with Softimage, 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 crea ...
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 fro ...
for
traditional
A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...
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
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...
, 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 as 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 fo ...
, including a 2D
particle
In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscle 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 s ...
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 ECMAScript 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 software available under a Software license, license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software modified or not to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term ...
software as OpenToonz. The
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer.
Since a computer, at base, only ...
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 lic ...
to a
GitHub
GitHub () is a Proprietary software, proprietary developer platform that allows developers to create, store, manage, and share their code. It uses Git to provide distributed version control and GitHub itself provides access control, bug trackin ...
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 historical drama, historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Set in the Muromachi period of Japanese history, the film follows Ashitaka, a young Emishi prince who journeys west to cure his curs ...
Spirited Away
is a 2001 Japanese Anime film, animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was produced by Toshio Suzuki, animated by Studio Ghibli, and distributed by Toho.Howl's Moving Castle (film)''
* ''
Ponyo
is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Mitsubishi, and distri ...
Anastasia
Anastasia (from ) is a feminine given name of Greek and Slavic origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe.
Origin
The name Anastasia originated during the Early Christianity, early d ...
''
* ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...
''
* ''
SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
''
* ''
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 appearanc ...
''
* ''
Titan A.E.
''Titan A.E.'' is a 2000 American animated post-apocalyptic science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and starring Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo and Drew Ba ...
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 (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who lives with the Crys ...
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 Arthro ...