A template is a way to save assets that you’ve made in a project. For instance, you can save a puppet rig, an animation sequence, a scene layout, and the like.
The items will be saved in the interface’s Harmony Premium Library. Or, you can make your own library, which is saved externally from Harmony. You will therefore maintain a repository of specific assets, which you can add to other projects from time to time.
To begin your own library
Set up a folder in your computer hard drive.
You might want to call it <yourname_harmony_library>. Ideally, you should store it in a place that you will locate occasionally.
From Harmony, referring to the Library window, go to the pull-down menu at the top-left corner.
Choose:
- Folders > Open Library.
Follow the folder structure on your computer to find the individual library folder that you started.
Once you have done so,it will appear in the Harmony Library.
In order to access the folder, to either retrieve an asset or to add a new one, you will need to change the permissions for the folder. To do so, context-click on the folder icon and choose “Right to Modify.”
Doing so will unlock the folder. (You should notice that the lock on the icon disappears as a result.)
To add an asset to the Library
A good way to do this is to use the Node View.
If there are drawings, exposures, and timing that are meant to be part of the template, referring to the Timeline, be sure to use the Set Scene Length features (Main Menu > Scene > Scene Length) to bracket the range that you intend to capture.
Locate and select the drawing and peg nodes you intend to add. Do not include the Composite Node.
On selection, context click, or with key strokes, choose “copy selection.” Then go to the Library window. Click on it to make it active and then “paste.”
A “rename window” will open. It will ask you to give the template, or TPL, a name.
Sometimes, the asset is especially large, with many nodes. In that case, you should probably “group” the selection first.
Select the elements, context-click, and choose “Group Selection.”
Once a selection has been converted to a template, it will be saved in your Harmony Library, and It will appear in the folder that you’ve established on the hard drive.
To access a TPL from the Library and add it the project
In Premium, a good way to do this is to select and copy the template from the Library. Then, go to the Node View and “paste it.” Everything should then be added to the view window, ready for you to utilize.
You can then plug necessary nodes into the Composite.