Before you start

The scripts are an open-source tool, Apache-2.0, in the sboardx repository. They are experimental and provided as is: they use Storyboard Pro's scripting interface, which Toon Boom can change between releases, and they have been exercised on a handful of real boards rather than on every project shape. Work on a copy of your project, keep the .sboardx file, and report problems as GitHub issues.

They need Storyboard Pro 24 or newer (developed against 27).

Installing the scripts

  1. Download the five .js files from the repository's toon-boom folder: TB_ImportSboardx.js, TB_ExportSboardx.js, sboardx_import.js, sboardx_export.js and sboardx_common.js.
  2. Copy all five into your Storyboard Pro scripts folder. They must sit in the same folder.
    • Windows: %APPDATA%\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Storyboard Pro\<version>-scripts
    • macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom Storyboard Pro/<version>-scripts
  3. In Storyboard Pro, open the Scripts toolbar's Manage Scripts and add TB_ImportSboardx and TB_ExportSboardx to the toolbar. Add only those two; the other three files are helpers they load.

From Upshot into Storyboard Pro

  1. In Upshot, export the board as a Storyboard Package (.sboardx) and get the file onto the machine running Storyboard Pro.
  2. Open, or create, the project that should receive it. Imported scenes are appended after any existing ones; nothing already there is deleted.
  3. Click TB_ImportSboardx and pick the file. A dialog summarises what came in; warnings go to the Message Log view.

You get scenes and panels with their durations (the project frame rate is set to the file's), every layer as an editable vector drawing layer with its name, opacity, visibility and lock, image layers as bitmap layers, notes and dialogue in the Notes and Dialogue captions, audio clips on sound tracks, and camera moves as scene camera keyframes.

From Storyboard Pro back to Upshot

  1. Click TB_ExportSboardx and choose where to save the .sboardx.
  2. Move the file to the iPad and open it in Upshot, or share it into the app. It appears in the library as a new board.

Layers come back as vectors. Bitmap layers, and vector layers painted with a bitmap texture, are rendered to images at the project resolution. Panel notes and dialogue, audio tracks and camera moves come along.

What survives the round trip

Upshot → Storyboard Pro Storyboard Pro → Upshot
Scenes, panels, durations Yes Yes
Layer art Editable vectors Vectors; bitmap layers become image layers, cropped to the frame
Layer name, opacity, visibility, lock Yes Yes (opacity of image layers is baked into pixels)
Layer blur Baked into a bitmap (no longer editable) Lost
Notes and dialogue Yes Yes
Audio clips and tracks Yes, trimmed and placed; replaces existing sound-track clips Yes; clip gain and mutes aren't readable from Storyboard Pro
Camera moves Yes; zoom easing is approximate Yes
Gradients Solid base colour Solid base colour

The import's audio step needs an interactive Storyboard Pro session; in batch mode whole files are placed without trims. The scripts can also run headless with -batch for pipeline use; the repository README has the command lines.

Getting help

Bugs and questions go to the sboardx issue tracker. Attach the .sboardx and the Message Log output when you can. The file format itself is documented on the open format page.