Valve's Source Filmmaker

Kiya

Hello all,


Yesterday Valve announced the beta release of the Source Filmmaker.


For anyone who doesn't know Valve are the developers of games such as Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, Portal 2, Team Fortress 2, DOTA 2 and they are also the company that runs the incredibly popular Steam client digital distribution platform. The Source Filmmaker has been developed using the Source engine they use for all their games in house by people who used to work at Pixar.


Anyone who wants to can currently fill in a questionaire to put themselves forwards for the chance of a beta key here - you need to have the Steam client installed and running on your PC - the questionaire is a popup that will appear in the client when you click the button on the website.


But if people don't get chosen for the beta they don't have to worry as Valve have stated that once the beta is over the Source Filmmaker will be released completely free for anybody to use. :-)


According to the FAQ it should be possible to import custom models into the Filmmaker in the same way that Valve currently allow custom models to be added to Source Engine mods for their games - this requires models to be exported into SMD format from a modellilng editor that supports it.. Also if none of Valve's game assets are used in the creation of a film using the filmmaker then the results can be used commercially opening all sorts of possibilities.


What would be ideal in my opinion would be if somebody could create a plugin for Daz Studio so that some of the Daz3D models could be used in the Source Filmmaker without the need to go through a third party modelling editor. :-)


It's probably been about five years since I last posted in these forums *waves to anyone who might remember me* but I just wanted to see what thoughts any other Daz3D users might have.


A few more links...

Meet the Pyro - the latest Valve short created using the Source Filmmaker.
The Source Filmmaker documentation
The Source Filmmaker Steam forum.

Norse Graphics

Nice!! I remember the first time I used the Hammer Editor and made my own map. Valve has always been like DAZ3D in allowing people to use incredibly useful software for free (Valve = Source/Hammer Editor, DAZ3D = DAZ Studio) to create art.

And you don't need a game-license as you won't distribute mesh or textures, so it's a win-win.

Voodoo128

I'm definitely excited about this. This might actually be the straw that breaks my back and pushes me from simply rendering stills to actually creating animation. I signed up for the beta, now we wait and see.

Kiya

Norse Graphics said:

And you don't need a game-license as you won't distribute mesh or textures, so it's a win-win.

Exactly! If Valve and Daz aren't already talking to each other then I hope somebody picks up a phone because the possibilities here are just so awesome. A collaboration would surely benefit both of them. Valve themselves have an active user base of over 40 million gamers - source - they make that calculation by how many accounts have actually logged online to use the Steam client within a month.


@Voodoo128 - I would really like to get a beta key myself but I don't mind if I have to wait a bit - Valve usually give beta keys out in batches over several months, at least that's the way it has worked for the DOTA 2 beta. So if you don't get into the first lucky group there's still a chance you might get one :D


By the way - here's a load of tutorial videos they have put up on YouTube for the filmmaker if anyone hasn't seen them yet.

Norse Graphics

Thanks for the YT link.

Kiya

The Source Filmmaker just went into open beta - everyone who has signed up should now have it in their Steam library available to download!

Unfortunately I am rather busy for the next couple of weeks as I'm getting married on Saturday then off on my honeymoon. It makes a nice wedding present for me to look forwards to when I get back though. . :-)

Norse Graphics

Have a nice wedding, and enjoy yourself!