What is Reddit's opinion of
Source Filmmaker?
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➔ Source Filmmaker website
By popularity on Reddit, this Service is:
14 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
Mirror:
>In just under a month, we'll start accepting entries for five-minute shorts made with the Source Filmmaker, Valve's filmmaking tool. You'll be able to submit in five different categories (Best Action, Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Original Universe and Best Overall) with the hope of taking home a Saxxy at the star-studded Second Annual Saxxy Awards. So if you've got an SFM opus in you, crack those knuckles and get creating — November 1st'll be here in no time.
>Also, a couple of quick changes for entrants:
>### We've Added a Replay Category
>The Source Filmmaker is the perfect resource for creators looking to dramatize the TF2 mercenaries' off-hours — but after we announced the Saxxy rules, we realized we'd under-represented some of the great dramatic, comedic or just plain violently entertaining moments in-game. So we've added a new category to celebrate all the creators out there who'd rather make their movie magic on the battlefield.
>### You Can Use Non-SFM Tools for Post-Production
>Because the SFM didn't ship with a few post-production features, like titling and transitions, we've decided to let people use other effects and editing tools for this year's contest.
>Remember, though, that nothing makes us happier than people using and giving feedback on the SFM. We want this tool to keep getting better and better, and to do that, we'll need creative folks like you pushing the SFM in new directions.
From the SFM FAQ:
Most tools only create a fraction of a movie: a renderer, a 2D video clip editor, a keyframer, a motion capture editor, a sound editor, etc. The SFM is a hybrid of all these workflows merged into a single system, where you can create an entire movie by reusing assets and events from the video game world.
It's free and it was turned into an open beta recently, so there are many people making new movies.
If you want to see more videos, visit the subreddit: /r/SFM
The Saxxies are technically already global to all Valve Source games (provided you can get the proper assets into SFM yourself if it's non-TF):
>You are free to use <strong>any Valve IP</strong>.
If someone wanted to make a Dota-exclusive movie, they could do so. CS:GO/CS:S oriented? That's fine too. The only real sort of stipulation is that your reward if you do win (the Saxxy) is only available in TF. There's a relatively small margin of Dota 2 players that also play TF (and an even smaller margin still for Dota 2, TF, and CS:GO), so it would make some sense to have the inclusion of a Dota item.
Storyboard Composer is awesome! I wish there was something similar on Android.
This is more for pre-viz than storyboarding, but Source Filmmaker is an amazing way to plan out blocking, lighting, camera placement, etc. And it's free!
Start with these videos, for certain. You can also find them here.
Once you've done those, however, be sure (read: absolutely certain) to check out the SFM wiki and documentation. It's the user manual to complement the video tutorials. Trust me, it's good to have.
Source Filmmaker. Be sure to check out the tutorials listed on their site. This program is... not very intuitive. Lots of respect for the people who go even further into animation and Element Viewer shenanigans.
Just throwing this out there, seems like Valve has released their Source Filmmaker tool for free today (open beta). It can be used to make animated movie using in-game footage or custom models. It is being used by Shane Acker (director of '9') for his next film.
So if somebody is interested in animation, they can check it out.
Source Filmmaker, it's a bit confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty fun! The easiest way to get started is to just look up tutorial videos on YouTube. I suggest getting the hang of posing before you try to animate, as posing is a crucial part of animation.
Official update: http://sourcefilmmaker.com/post.php?id=14158&p=1
>Ten years ago, a group of ambitious and talented volunteers decided to recreate and reimagine the original Half Life on the (at the time) brand new Source game engine. Two years ago, they released the first section of Black Mesa, which was subsequently greenlit by the Steam community. Today, we're excited to announce that they're sharing their assets with you, the Source Filmmaker community! The Black Mesa DLC includes maps, models, sounds, and particles, and is available under the same usage policy as the other DLC in the SFM.
>So if you've been wanting to return to the world of Black Mesa, back when humanity still controlled its own fate but vortigaunts were still slaves of the Nihilanth, get going! We can't wait to see why houndeyes make better pets than debeaked head crabs, or watch the events that led to Eli Vance losing his leg!
Fantastic work!
I was curious about how long this took, so I went back to look at the WIP video.
22 days ago, the 7-second-long WIP was submitted to Youtube (and got a mention on Valve's SFM Blog the following day. Kudos!) Assuming that the WIP was all that had been done on the video at that time (which is a fairly heavy assumption), this animation was expanded into a full 80-seconds-long sequence, using only the graph editor, over the next 3-4 weeks.
Out of curiosity, how many hours did you log in SFM while making this? I feel like this could be a standard-setting video in terms of the effort that went into it.
Source Filmmaker let's you do this stuff extremely quickly... though why it took 100~ hours to make a video of image stills with a camera flyby I do not understand.
Anyways here is a link to the source filmmaker if you like to give it a shot for yourself =)
Not sure if you've already found it - but here is a link. I believe you need Steam installed, which you can download from here if you don't already have it. (get in on the summer sale too!)
Make use of the time you have. I got into the beta, and I haven't been able to do a thing with it. It's a complicated tool, and the interface isn't very intuitive. If you're waiting, watch the tutorials here so you can actually do something with it when it's released.
Source Filmmaker - the same tool used to create "Meet the Team" videos, Portal 2 trailers, Left 4 Dead opening cinematics, etc. Valve provided the source files for "Meet the Heavy", so people can edit it any way they want.