Valve, the video game company, has launched a project dubbed Source Filmmaker, which gives users the power to edit scenes using video game action. And get this . . . it’s free.
The Source Filmmaker (SFM) is the movie-making tool built and used by us here at Valve to make movies inside the Source game engine. Because the SFM uses the same assets as the game, anything that exists in the game can be used in the movie, and vice versa. By utilizing the hardware rendering power of a modern gaming PC, the SFM allows storytellers to work in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get environment so they can iterate in the context of what it will feel like for the final audience.
I can see this being an effective storytelling tool for people wanting to sharpen their editing skills but lack source footage to work with, or maybe even as a pre-viz tool. Beyond that, I bet we’ll see some folks come up with rather entertaining stories built on the shoulders of video games.
That’s too cool! There’s going to be some wicked stuff coming out of this tool.