peg: We can direct computer aided animation using keyframes but we need a way to connect an element to many different types of keyed frame values as well as a way to specify the length of our connecting segments between each beginning and ending keyed frame pair. We also need a place to tie a velocity function curve to each connecting segment. In Toon Boom Studio we have a container for keyed frame values and inbetweening instructions and that container is called a peg. Looking back to the origin of the registration peg, we can see that pegs and peg bars were originally created as registration devices, and we are still using them in that way in our virtual version too. We are registering animation attribute values and instructions to art work elements for specified frame sequences.

In Toon Boom Studio beginning with version 3.5, we can have pegs in two forms. We can have them as independent element tracks in our timeline or we can have them as integrated parts of other element tracks where the peg is included inside of a drawing or image element track. The important point here is that any usage of pegs for containing information and instructional registration is a part of compositing and planning and therefore only useful in the timeline directly associating the pegs with Camera View for scene planning. Pegs have no real meaning with respect to the exposure sheet which is primarily used to manage drawing organization and Drawing View.

A peg, whether an independent element or integrated into a drawing or image element, can contain multiple different types of attributes of keyed frame values at each individual frame in a scene (location, scale, rotation, or skew values). TBS provides specific visual indicators on a timeline track display for each type of keyed value present at each single frame. Conceptually a peg element is a collection of pegs, each of which is a multi-valued container. Each frame position of a peg element is a peg container. For simplification we just refer to the peg element and its individual peg containers as a peg. So just like the term keyframe can be singular or plural depending on the context of our use, the same thing is true for the term peg. And a peg element can contain many connecting segments as defined by each occurrence of a starting and ending key framed value for the same type of attribute.

This means that even though three segments, one for scale and one for rotation and one for location, might all start at the same frame they don’t have to be the same length, they can each end on different frames. Each segment does not have to have the same type of inbetweening method either, some could be constant and the others non-constant, and each non-constant segment has its own unique velocity function curve that controls the in between image spacing. That’s a lot of flexibility for us as animators to be able to direct.


So to extend what we have learned so far, pegs are used to keyframe animate objects across time. You can attach one or more elements to a peg and you can attach pegs to other pegs to create complex hierarchies of control. Pegs are used to facilitate computer rendered inbetweening. So when you have elements attached to a peg, you can set keyframes and TBS interpolates inbetween those keyframes based on the values of those keyframes and the type of connecting segment used. And you can use velocity function curves to adjust the way the inbetweening is applied which is often called “custom easing” or "cushioning". Basically the curve specifies the rate of change between the images, their spacing.

Additionally, pegs can be controlled by motion paths which are 3D and those motion paths can have adjustable keyframes and they also can have frame independent motion control points. That allows you to have some motion control that has to happen at a specific point in time and other motion controls that are 3D space dependent and not time dependent. At this point, you should begin to see that TBS has some very sophisticated functionality that can provide a lot of flexibility for us as animators once we master the skills of directing this method of communicating instructions to the render engine. There is a new way to use pegs in v3.5 as each image or drawing element now includes a peg as part of that image or drawing element. This means that keyframing does not require attaching elements to separate peg elements as was the case in previous TBS versions. Of course the power and flexibility of separate peg elements still exists and so this new creation of integrated peg elements is not just a simplification but is also an enhancement.















On top of the many uses pegs have in the animation process, they can also serve as organizational devices, or folders of sorts, which can hold assets in your libraries and maintain them in a very orderly manner. For example, if you have a cut-out character, and want to save it in your global library, you could drag each individual element into the library, where each would become a template. However, this can easily cause a lot of clutter in your library, but we can use pegs as containers or folders to store all those elements and make them much easier to access later on. To do this all you need to do is take your cut-out character, and create a parent peg at the top of your timeline. Attach all of your elements to this parent peg, name it whatever you like, collapse it and drag that peg into your library. It will bring all attached elements with it, and they will keep their hierarchical relationships and any key frame values as well. This is a great way to store characters as well as groups of background elements or just about anything else you want to organize. When you need the assets again, simply drag your peg "folder" into your timeline, expand it, and you will have all the elements right at your fingertips in a new project.

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