Developer(s) Valve Corporation Written in C/C++ Platform Source | Development status Ongoing (Public Beta) Operating system Size 12.32 GB | |
Source Filmmaker (abbreviated as SFM) is a video capture and editing application that works from inside the Source game engine. The tool, created by Valve Corporation, was used to create over 50 animated shorts for its Source games, including Team Fortress 2, the Left 4 Dead series, and Half-Life 2. On June 27, 2012, Valve released a free open beta version of the SFM to the gaming community via its Steam service.
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Overview
Unlike most movie-making tools, which only create a small part of a movie, the Source Filmmaker merges all animation and effect workflows onto a single PC. With SFM, one can create movies and posters by using assets and events from the video game world, providing creators with a "'what you see is what you get' environment".
SFM gives the user a "Work Camera" that enables them to see what they are doing without messing up the scene cameras. It also uses three main user interfaces for making films with:
SFM allows users to record and edit motion from gameplay or scratch, as well as record a character many times over in the same scene, creating the illusion of multiple entities. SFM can support a wide range of cinematographic effects and techniques such as motion blur, Tyndall effects, Dynamic Lighting, and depth of field. SFM also applies motion blur per-object. It also allows manual animation of bones and facial features, allowing the user to create movements that don't occur in-game (as in games, nearly all character animation sequences are stored in a set of different movements, and the amount of different animation sequences is limited).
Pre-release
SFM was developed internally at Valve from as early as 2005, forked from the Source engine's in-game demo playback tool and used to make Day of Defeat: Source trailers with experimental effects that could not be achieved in real-time. The tool's full potential was finally realized with the release of The Orange Box, particularly with the Meet the Team featurettes for Team Fortress 2. This version of SFM, which ran using Source's in-game tools framework, was inadvertently leaked during the public beta of TF2 in September 2007 and in use by 2010. Since then, the entire interface was re-implemented using Qt 4, and given its own engine branch for further development.
Before the SFM's official release to the public, Team Fortress 2 carried a simplified version of the tool called the Replay Editor; it is limited to capturing the actual events occurring over the course of a player's life with no ability to modify actions, repeat segments, nor apply special effects beyond those already used in-game. However, arbitrary camera angles are possible, like tracking the actions of other players in action at the time. Replay incorporates the ability to upload completed videos to YouTube.
Beta versions
On June 27, 2012, the same day as the final Meet the Team video, "Meet the Pyro", was released, the Source Filmmaker became available on a limited-basis through the Steam network. It has been in open beta for Windows as of July 11, 2012.
On April 1, 2013, Valve announced that the Steam Workshop now includes a section for Source Filmmaker assets.