The French company TVPaint Developpement did its best to make sure the software was perfect for almost any task. The program was released in 1991 and was designed to work with 2D and digital animation. In this article, we’ll take a look at the differences between the two software to figure out which one is best for a beginner. Still, there is a difference, and one program may be better suited for a particular task than another. To a beginner, the functionality of these products may seem indistinguishable. If you want to create 2D animation, you will definitely have a question, which program should I choose? Perhaps the most popular software in the industry right now are TVPaint and Toon Boom Harmony.
TVPaint or Toon Boom Harmony, which one a newbie should choose? Or leave it as it is now so CTRL+ALT rotate the canvas, and CTRL+ALT and pressing the Right-Click button on the stylus zoom in and out, but Move Canvas can be executed by either ALT (for those who prefer it ) or SPACEBAR then that would be even better.Reviewing two popular 2D animation software, TVPaint and Toon Boom Harmony. (and actually on Mac it should be CMD+Spacebar for Rotate Canvas, and CMD+Spacebar+Right-Click button stylus). If it was simply a matter of changing Move Canvas to Spacebar and Rotate Canvas to CTRL+Spacebar, and Zoom to Ctrl+Spacebar+Right-Click button on stylus then I'd be all for it. On the other hand, if changing Move Canvas in TVPaint to Spacebar would mean that we lose the keyboard shortcut to easily Rotate Canvas (animation disc) using CTRL + ALT (so convenient with them being next to one another) and also Zoom Canvas in and out by CTRL+ALT while pressing the RIGHT-CLICK button on the stylus ,then I would be sad to lose those combinations, because I use them frequently when I'm using TVPaint. For most keyboard shortcuts TVPaint allows the user to customize the shortcuts so the user can make the keyboard shortcuts in TVPaint as similar as possible to their preferred keyboard shortcuts in other apps, but ALT key to activate the Move Canvas (Panning tool) seems to be the exception. Your brain and hand build up "muscle memory" of the actions required. The whole point of keyboard shortcuts is to be able to execute common actions without having to think about it too much. This is mentally wearisome in a way that is difficult to explain or understand for someone who does not do animation or illustration for a living. Unless I'm on a project where I can use ONLY TVPaint, I do find that I always have to stop to think about it when I switch back to using TVPaint and often I'll press Spacebar to Move Canvas in TVPaint (even though I should know better!) from force of habit because all other apps I use have Move Canvas keyed to Spacebar. On the one hand, I agree with "my brain bugs me when I go back and forth between other applications.", because almost all (or all ?) other drawing/animation apps such as Photoshop, After Effects, Sketchbook, GIMP, Krita, Clip Studio Paint, Rough Animator, Toonboom Harmony/Storyboard Pro, OpenToonz use the SPACEBAR for Move/Pan Canvas, but TVPaint alone uses ALT for Move Canvas, so it does require the user to reorient their thinking about such a frequently used keyboard shortcut when using TVPaint and it contributes to a perception among many people that TVPaint is just a bit "odd" (eccentric).
It's a problem I've long wanted to solve, because my brain bugs me when I go back and forth between other applications. When I started using TVPaint, I consulted the developer about this problem, but the answer was "difficult".