Source Filmmaker

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Revision as of 23:35, 10 November 2010 by Stabnrun (talk | contribs) (Recording with other games)
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Source Filmmaker

Source Filmmaker (SFM for short) is a tool used to create most of the videos running the Source Engine. Source Filmmaker is a video capture and editing application that works from inside the Source engine. It allows users to record themselves many times over in the same scene, creating the illusion of many participants, as well as supporting a wide range of cinematographic effects and techniques such as motion blur, Tyndall effects, Dynamic Lighting, and depth of field. (Motion blur has now been added to the games themselves, though only when the view is moving at high speeds—not per-object as in the film-maker.)

The tool hasn't been publicly released by Valve, but was leaked in the original Team Fortress 2 beta release. After a few years of TF2 community members working on it, they succeeded in creating a (mostly) stable version. Since then, many fan videos have been created with the tool.

Features

SFM allows you to:

  • Record footage into:
  • uncompressed AVI file
  • TGA files
  • Frames of Footage, user defined
  • Single Frame, similar to a ScreenShot
  • WAV files of sounds
  • All can be done simultaneously
  • Record yourself performing one part, then rewinding and record yourself performing another
  • Publish videos directly to Steam (option is available in-game, but nothing happens when selected)
  • This option was most likely used by Valve, does not work for current, unofficial version.
  • Control camera placement and movement
  • Add per-object motion blur and depth of field
  • Import choreography scenes
  • Ability to modify bone placement and facial expressions of characters

Recording with other games

By importing files from other Source games, it is possible to use Source Filmmaker with other Source games beyond Team Fortress 2. However, due to the complicated nature of the program, many problems may be experienced by users attempting to film with such games.

Gallery

External links

  • Source Filmmaker Wikia - Unofficial wikia dedicated to Source Filmmaker.
  • [1] - A site dedicated to archiving development and tutorials, made by Spwee1494