The 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.
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 gaming PC. With the 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".
The 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:
The Clip Editor is used for recording, editing and arranging shots, which can contain recorded gameplay and user-placed assets. The Clip Editor also allows the user to place and arrange sound files and video filters.
The Motion Editor is used for motion adjustments over time, such as seamlessly grafting two animations together. Motion presets (e.g. jittering, smoothing) can also be applied onto selected motion paths.
The Graph Editor is used for editing motion through creating keyframes; this is extremely useful in pose-to-pose animation.
The 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. The SFM can support a wide range of cinematographic effects and techniques such as motion blur, Tyndall effects, Dynamic Lighting, and depth of field. The 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).
Gallery of SFM work by BLF users: (
hint: we need things here, post stuff)
