Valve releases free tool for making in-game movies with Source

Newsbrief: Half-Life developer Valve Software has launched a closed beta for Source Filmmaker, a free tool allowing users to record and create movies inside its Source game engine. It's the same tool Valve has used to create promotional movies for its games. Source Filmmaker enables users to capture and edit animation using assets in a Source game. It's meant to condense various animation studio tools into a single suite, and even offers a facial animation system with lip-syncing. This news follows a couple of weeks after director Shane Acker (of the film "9") and Brown Bag Films announced that they are using tools and technologies based on the Source game engine for their upcoming animated film Deep. They also intend to release playable content to complement its movie with the tools. Information on signing up for Source Filmmaker's free beta, as well as a video demonstrating the tool, is available here. Valve will release the tool through Steam later this year.