Source Filmmaker

The Source Filmmaker

The Source Filmmaker Beta is a powerful tool that works with the Source engine to create a flexible, modifiable 3D recording that can be exported as a movie or as a still image. The 3D recording you create in the SFM can contain recorded gameplay, models, cameras, lights, particles, animations, effects, and sounds—and the motion information for how each element changes over time.

With the SFM, you can essentially film "on location" in your favorite TF2 map—whether it's one that Valve released or one that you modded yourself. You can use the SFM's large library of maps, models, animations, sounds, particle systems, and effects, or you can import your own. Because you're working with a virtual world, and your recording stores all the 3D motion data for every element, you can modify any aspect of the recording at any time. This makes it easy to make the kind of last-minute changes that would be extremely expensive in a live-action studio.

The SFM is the actual internal tool Valve developed over the past several years to create its own trailers and other short films set in Valve's game worlds, and it's being shared with the public because we want to see what you can do with it.

We recommend that you read the documentation to familiarize yourself with the tool as much as possible before you dive in.

See also

• Source Filmmaker documentation
• Sourcefilmmaker.com