A short introduction to SFM animation.

 Hi Charlie,

For this first article, I will talk about something that has never been discussed on this blog before (yes it is a risky move but 

Memes apart, let's start by some simple questions.

First, what is SFM ? 

 

SFM or Source Filmmaker is a free 3D animation and editing software available on Steam where you can donwload video games and softwares ( creating a steam account is free). It is powered by the Source engine, which is used on most of videogames developped by Valve like Half-Life,  Portal, Team Fortress 2. 

Now that you know what SFM stands for, you may ask yourself what is SFM Antmation? (prepare yourself for the BIG chunk of text)  

SFM Animation is the general term used to describe any 3D animation made using the SFM software. From 2012 to 2017 Valve organized an annual SFM animation contest called the Saxxy Awards where the animators would make an animated short based on one of Valve’s games, Team Fortress2. The winners would receive an in-game item called a « saxxy » and the best contestant of the competition would win a tour of Valve’s headquarters at Seattle. (I warned you).

 

2015 best overall saxxy awards winner

Ok,I know the first parts were boring but now is the fun part (I hope that it will be). What you can do with Source filmmaker.  (but first prepare for more text)

Originally, SFM animation only revolved around Team Fortress 2, but you can actually use any 3D model, voicelines, effects and soundtrack you want (some of them can be found on this website ). That means that you can create your very own stories using almost any video game character or your own ones that you created using other softwares such as Blender or Garry’s mod (both are available on Steam and Blender is free). 

If that did not convince you of the potntial of SFM, here are some examples:

Here are some  videos of an SFM animator ( he did some tutorials and won some saxxy awards) :

 

One of the best SFM crossover on my opinion

 

 

Some pieces of advice if want to get started

A tutorial series if you want to start doing SFM Animation.

And this is the end, I hope you enjoyed (and didn't get bored by my text).