On this page, i will explain how to setup Valve's source filmmaker tools leftover in the beta, tricks you can perform with the tool and how to fix technical problems with the program. I will also periodically post my own films (Accidental Apocalypse Studios) or other SFM related works. If you have any tips or things you'd like posted here, e-mail me.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

SFM FAQ

Post your questions as comments or e-mail me. I might be using bits of "TerabyteS's" post to start it off.

56 comments:

  1. Hey ehrm i has a question i have downloaded a good one torretn..
    And i get an error when i wanna launch the hl2.exe it says:

    Setup file 'gameinfo.txt' doesn't exist in subdirectory 'hl2'.
    Check your -game parameter or VCONFIG setting.

    Plz helpl me cheers Whazaaaaa

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  2. you need to create the shortcut mentioned in Setting up the Source Filmmaker in the sidebar

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  3. Well i did created a shortcut to it with the code in it but it stil sais:

    Setup file 'gameinfo.txt' doesn't exist in subdirectory 'hl2'.
    Check your -game parameter or VCONFIG setting.

    So is it posible for you to make a downloadable gameinfo.txt plz

    cheers Whazaaaaa

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  4. Or is it posible yor you guys did get it to work to tell me wich download u had

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  5. Or is it posible yor you guys who did get it to work to tell me wich download u had

    sry did not typed who and i has FINALS_FIXX_ADVANCED dont i need FINAL_FIXX?

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  6. OK uys i fixed the problem i was very stupid in something xD

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  7. Ok hello.

    When i export my video in SFM and when its finished i wanna watch it but then the whole vid is fucked up its like it has lagg and all weird stuff so plz help me...

    Lionheart ;)

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  8. Well when i export the file to a .avi

    And i wanna play it in windows media player or any other mediaplayer. It like laggs the whole time and its like u dont see it moving.
    its pretty hard to explain actualy.

    Did i do somethign wrong with the export or video?

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  9. Hey, I need abit of help.

    I made a film yesterday and tried to export it as .avi, but it said I wasn't connected to a P4 server, whatever that is.

    Any idea on how to fix?

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  10. When I try to export, nothing happens, it doesn't freeze it just sits there.

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  11. When i got the shortcut and changed the target file i launched it and it started with the Valve head, but once it finished the game quitted and said Engine Error Couldnt load Library content.. help please

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  12. I have the same problem like Lionheart, pls help me!!

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  13. Uh, everything works fine until I try to load a map. It gets to the blackboard then crashes.

    I need sum dawg-gawn haelpz por favor. D;

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  14. i got problem: i load map selecvt dutstbowl and i has about 3 seconds with a standart tf2 board then its say "tf2 stopped working"

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  15. Same as LionHeart here aswell!, is the avi export glitched or ? Cause when i render it it renders really fast and feels like it skips 10 of the 24 framse each second. And the final result is not even half of the movie cause it freezes. I will try rendering without the motion blur and effects and get back.

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  16. Okay i got the solution, you just got to enable sv_cheats. Either that or try cutting away the part at the end when everything kinda just stands still ^^!

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  17. Everytime I start up SFM, after 15 seconds, it crashes. It doesn't crash when loading TF2 without SFM. Any idea what's causing it?

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  18. When I animate people, the animation goes as planned (mostly), but props like the guns they're carrying would be where they'd be if I didn't customise the animation.
    Probly a rookie question, but I looked around with no luck. How do I hide the gun from the take?

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  19. I had a feeling the guy running this place wasn't going to help.

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  20. When I hit export SFM just sits there no freeze nothing just nothing. Any help??

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  21. i finally got back into this thing for a school video project. I'm really sorry for disappearing again...but i'm back now!

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  22. CAN YOU PLZ ANSWER LIONHEART'S PROBLEM? WE R ALL HAVING SAME PROBLEM.

    If I run VLC, it will correct this problem, but only until I exit out. I've tried DIVX repair, and it said it's ok. So this is just buggin the CRAP outta me

    HUUUUURRRRRRRRHHhhhh...

    DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT

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  23. When i try to load any map, SFM just frezes. Any suggestions?

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  24. Its going REALLY slow, and crashes alot. And normal TF2 runs perfectly on highest settings. WTF?

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  25. Hey, anyone still reading this?

    I got a problem with the filmmaker. Its giving me a blob error, and mentions Karma. I had it set up perfectly before, and now it doesn't work. I tried to install the new DLL that allows more flashlights, but maybe that was it?

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  26. People that are having LionHearts problem, that's because the videos uncompressed and your computer cant handle a video of that size, to compress it you need to put the video into a editing program and render it again (like Sony vegas), if that doesnt work then it's just sfm screwing up.

    And if anyone could help me I would appreciate it, when I hit export SFM just freezes, I'm running it fullscreen if that changes anything.

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  27. Where do I find the "tools" file? I don't know if it's in the Downloaded files, or in the actual directory. I can't find them.

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  28. http://www.flamehaus.com/snakez/enginetools.zip
    Here the tools files. Put then under bin.
    Btw if you can't export a movie or a poster it's because you have to load sfm in admin mode!
    Does anyone knows how to use vdc files in sfm?
    Ask me anything you like and i'll try to answer!

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  29. oops i ment vcd files and anything related to animation stuff (custom animation stuff). Any idea?

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  30. Hi there,

    I've recently being trying to export something in Source Filmmaker, but whenever I try to do this, nothing happens. I checked the console and it displays the following message each time I try to export my project:


    Multiple calls (2) to CMovieDoc::OnDataChanged in a single frame, consider optimization 1 -> 'CreateAnimationSet' 2 -> 'Set Default Colors' CUndoManager::GetUndoDescInternal: undoable operation missing CUndoScopeGuard in application Context( CUndoAttributeAdd ) CUndoManager::GetUndoDescInternal: undoable operation missing CUndoScopeGuard in application Context( CUndoAttributeSetValueElement ) CUndoManager::GetUndoDescInternal: undoable operation missing CUndoScopeGuard in application Context( Change Head Time )

    I have no idea what this error message means, or how to fix this problem. I have had no problems with exporting before.

    If you think you have a solution to my problem, then please send me an email at pigott.jack@googlemail.com

    Any help would be appreciated.

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  31. http://www.flamehaus.com/snakez/enginetools.zip and other links are down. Can someone please send me the tools?

    mail me @ thomas.meijer123@gmail.com

    Thanks in advance.

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  32. here's another link for the tools
    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L6Z2JQMV
    Btw LemonMasta did you try do reainstall everything?

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  33. Hey , when i try to launch SFM , there is an error : Can't found GetCVarIF in the library of links ....

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  34. I keep getting the error message "Setup file 'gameinfo.txt' doesn't exist in subdirectory 'tf'. Check your -game parameter or VCONFIG setting." What am I doing wrong?

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  35. So I figured out that problem and got to the part where you put "-window -noborder -novid -tools" (I know there are no quotes) after the other stuff in target, but now whenever I open hl2 it just sits there like a quadriplegic.

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  36. Hi! When i record my first shot, the HUD disappears and i cant change my class, nor my team. How can i fix this?

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  37. do you use esc to stop the record?

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  38. yep, i press escape, and then, when i click record again, it spawns me with the same class, and no HUD... :(

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  39. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  40. you have to pay attention when you are setting the game. If you are not recording you have to go back to sfm by pressing f10 and f11 not esc. In case you loose your hud just type hud_reloadscheme in console. So enter the game with f11 and f10 then go where you want, exit with f10 and f11, then click record and exit with esc

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  41. well, i rarely make scenes, just test out animations, so i don't use f10 and f11 often, but i'll try anyway. Oh, and do i have to kill myself or type explode to change my class?

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  42. well, to change class go in game and change it or use "changeclass nameoftheclass". But after selection, if it doesn't work, yeah type kill or explode in console

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  43. To all people with lag in their video: open the video in Windows Movie Maker, and export it without touching anything. i export mine in .wmv and it works.

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  44. How do i disable the sounds that go on in the background while not recording? They really bug me when i try to lip sync.

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  45. Videos lag because it's raw format, and you need a really good pc to play them. Just convert them with a video converter program like yourmother said (sounds good! xD). Actually when i work i use lossless formats like lagarith, but just because i like to work with best quality (pain i da ass sometimes).
    And about sounds, try to delete or rename the folder "ambient" under "sounds" when you have to lipsinc, if it doesn't crash it should work for you.

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  46. When i start exporting my movie, it finishes in 10 seconds, and then it continues to export, the progress meter goes after 100%, and it says that it has a negative number of seconds left :O ive tried using Lagarith, exporting at 1080 and 720p, but nothing helped. Does anyone have any ideas?

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  47. That is normal, remember it was a beta at that time. Does the game crash? Or it was taking too long to export?

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  48. i managed to fix it... i just restarted sfm and enabled cheats :) and the exporting was too fast... like 10 seconds... and in the video my characters and sounds were gone :D

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  49. what do you mean for "and in the video my characters and sounds were gone"???

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  50. quick question:
    Theres anyway to delete the actors if you didnt like the scene, if so how?
    Or the only way is to close the filmmaker and start again?

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  51. Does anyone know why whenever I save I get a perforce (P4) error? Also, I'm unable to save any of my work so I can continue it later. I'd really appreciate the help.

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  52. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  53. Hey, I was just wondering, could you help me figure out why I have a white line going diagonally through it, and that the shadows/lights/colors don't seem right? Thanks in advance.

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