𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐁𝐈𝐄'𝐒 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐅𝐌 (𝐅𝐀𝐐)(𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆)

[EmperorFaiz.wav]

*Search what you want by pressing Ctrl+F and search the keyword(s) related to your question/issue

Got pinned on 27 April 2018 by community moderator, Max. Thanks a lot!
~~How to unsubscribe from the discussion thread: https://i.imgur.com/zoqFTby.png ~~ This is just a joke btw

Well, well, well... You just download SFM and want to make an awesome 3D animation video. But wait, you don't know how to use and feel a little intimidated with an unfamiliar interface and worry that you might "break" SFM if you made a wrong move or SFM somehow messes up that you cannot do anything at all.
These are the list of the common issues, questions, solution and tips to save you from a headache.

**Say, is your SFM glitching like game mode running unusually fast or the playback is out of sync? RESTART SFM! Believe or not, that method could fix some of the bugs you’d encounter in SFM.**

▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ PART 1 █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▂ ▁

1. 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐎 𝐈 𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐒𝐅𝐌
   EDIT: This particular tutorial video is more straightforward than the official tutorials. Highly recommend watching this first.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDiifbVoGDw
   
   Firstly, go to SFM youtube channel and watch the tutorials provided to learn the basics like opening map, spawning model and more. You can't do anything if you know nothing about the basics:
   • Basics
     
   • Recording
     
   • Editing
     
   • Sounds
     
   • Manipulating
     
   • Time selection
     
   • Graph editor
     
   • Puppetering
     
   • Locks
     
   • Lipsync
     
   • Rigging
     
   • Lightings
     
   • Particle effect
     
   • Pose-to-pose animation - PART 1
     
   • PART 2
     
   • PART 3
   
   There are other YouTubers make their own basic tutorials too such as STEG and SIMBARINO and guide such as https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1826909237
   
   >If you’re looking for intermediate to advanced tutorials and animation-focused tutorials, skip to PART 4, #1 and #2 down below.
   
   >If you want to look for a deeper understanding of various SFM tools and functions, a quick reference, FAQ, and tips go to SFM DOCUMENTATION WEBSITE
   
   >Check this guide out to know about common technical issues/glitches and fixes that you will most likely faced during your journey in SFM. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2131043208
   
   TIPS: Pay F*CKIN attention to everything the videos say and show. Take note, take a screenshot or download the videos if you can.
   
   
   
2. ’𝐍𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍' 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐒𝐎 𝐈 𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 𝐃𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆
   When a "create a new session" window pops up, DON'T CLOSE IT! You need to create a new session file in order to do something. If you did close that window, go to the top of the SFM window, go to 'file> new' and create a new session.
   
   
3. 𝐈 "𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘" 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐘 𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍 / 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐅𝐌 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐖
   You see a little "X" icon at the corner of each of the layouts, DON'T TOUCH IT! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1441432181
   
   If the window is empty due to a bug or something else,
   -->CLICK HERE FOR MORE SOLUTIONS<--
   
   This is one of the most puzzling and stupidest mistakes newbies ever made. I mean seriously, why the hell did you close all the layouts for?! You gotta love ruining your own software to ruin your learning experience. Sorry, I have to vent this out cuz I've seen SO many noobs keep doing this for literally no reason at all. Seriously though, don't do that again!
   
   
4. 𝐒𝐅𝐌 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐏 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈 𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐓
   https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1948221979
   
   
5. 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐈 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐂𝐒:𝐆𝐎 𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝟐
   No, because only TF2 can be played in an in-game mode as it is part of SFM. Even if you own the games, there's no possible way to do other than making a manual animation.
   
   
6. 𝐒𝐅𝐌 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆/𝐒𝐅𝐌 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆
   There's no actual update as SFM has been abandoned by Valve since February 2015. What really happens is the SFM downloading all the DLC packs without you knowing it. The solution is at the library, go to SFM page, click the cog/gear icon at the right, properties, DLC tab and untick DLC packs you don't want.
   
   
7. 𝐒𝐅𝐌 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐖/ 𝐋𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆/ 𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐅𝐏𝐒
   
   • Disable the ambient occlusion (AO) by right click the primary/secondary viewport, render settings and untick AO. Don't forget to re-enable it before rendering.
     
   • Disable lighting by right click the viewport and disable it and re-enable it later.
     
   • Make sure to shut down any running program that uses a lot of resources like a video game or 3D modeling software.
     
   • Close the secondary viewport because two viewports showing up at the same time forcing SFM to use more resources to render the scene twice more.
   
   If neither works, it means your PC doesn't meet the minimum requirements to use SFM.
   

   Processor: 3.0 GHz P4, dual-core 2.0 (or higher) or AMD64X2 (or higher)
   Memory: 2 GB (4 GB suggested)
   Hard disk space: At least 15 GB of space
   Video: NVIDIA GeForce 200–series card or better, or AMD Radeon 3000–series card or better (NVIDIA GeForce 400–series, AMD Radeon 5000–series, or GeForce GTX 580 with 4-GB graphics memory and 1.5-GB video memory recommended)
   Monitor: 1280 x 720 (1920 x 1080 at 72 Hz recommended)
   Audio: DirectX 9.0c–compatible sound card
   Mouse: Three-button mouse with mouse wheel
   Microphone: USB headset with microphone (recommended)

   
   
8. 𝐈 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐌𝐗 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐑 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄. 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏!
   That's not how it works! The dmx file is a session file where you can edit your session later on. You need to EXPORT into a file you want.
   
   
9. "𝐃𝐎𝐂𝐔𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄"
   Remove any symbol from the file name.
   Go to File> Save As, change the file name, add ".dmx" (Example: MyProject.dmx) at the end of the file name and save. If you must add a symbol, only use

   . , - _ 

   
   
10. 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐎 𝐈 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑/𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐄?
    
    
    **Via Image Export**
    • Go to Clip editor and stay still.
      
    • Right click Viewport - Render Settings - Set Number of Samples. Set three of them to 128 samples or above.
      
    • Wait for sample count (Bottom right corner of SFM window) to finish counting ('1 of 128' for example)
      
    • File > Export > Image
      
    • By default, the export path will be at "..game/usermod/elements".
      
    • Enter the filename (Refer to PART 1, #9 to avoid poster not being saved). Example, MyImage.png or MyImage.jpg (File extension must be added or file will not be created) and Click Save.
      (NOTE: The maximum resolution is 720p unless you set the custom resolution first. Refer to "To export at custom resolutions, up to 4K" down below)
      
      𝐎𝐑
      **Via Image Sequence Export**
      
    • Right click Viewport - Render Settings - Set Number of Samples. Set three of them to 128 samples or above.
      
    • File > Export > Movie
      
    • Choose "Image sequence" render
      
    • At "Output path" above, the default is "...game/usermod/elements/session"
      
    • Set the duration to "custom" and set the time interval preferably 0.033 seconds or one frame apart. For example, 1.00 and 1.033.
      (NOTE: The maximum resolution is 720p unless you set the custom resolution first. Refer to "To export at custom resolutions, up to 4K" down below)
      
      𝐎𝐑
      **Via Poster Export** (Not Recommended)
      
    • Right click Viewport - Render Settings - Set Number of Samples. Set three of them to 128 samples or above.
      
    • File > Export > Poster
      
    • Choose the preferable format like PNG or JPEG
      
    • At "Output path" above, the default is "...game/usermod/elements/render"
      
    • Set the image size. The size should be in 16:9 aspect ratio like 1920x1080 and 1280x720
      (NOTE: This option is quite buggy in some cases such as particle effects and bloom effect not appearing or the poster doesn't render at all. IMO, this option is not recommended if you want uncompromised, bug-free, high-quality poster rendering.)
    
    【ＴＯ　ＥＸＰＯＲＴ　ＡＴ　ＣＵＳＴＯＭ　ＲＥＳＯＬＵＴＩＯＮＳ，ＵＰ　ＴＯ　４Ｋ】
    • Save and close SFM.
      
    • Right-click Source FilmMaker in your Steam library, choose Properties > Set Launch Options
      
    • Type-in command

      -sfm_resolution 2160

      or

      -sfm_resolution 1080

      if you only want 1080p max.
      
    • Reboot Source FilmMaker, load your session and ignore the resolution warning
      
    • Now you can render video and poster with additional resolution options you added.
      (NOTE: The performance would be slower and laggier during editing. So, it's best to apply the command when you are absolutely ready to render)
      
    • Right-click Source FilmMaker in Steam, choose Properties > Set Launch Options
      
    • Change current command to "sfm_resolution 720" to able to use SFM normally

▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ PART 2 █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▂ ▁

1. 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐘/ 𝐌𝐘 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐔𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐃
   Using the AVI option is a bad idea because it produces an uncompressed video file of 4GB in size even the video is a few seconds long. If you render a long video, the file size will exceed 4GB of memory which results in a horrible color and sound distortion on the second half of the rendered video. In addition to that, SFM would crash most of the time during rendering resulting in unfinished and/or corrupted video.
   
   Secondly, using MP4 and MOV options is also a bad idea as the render would create a video with mediocre quality at best like desaturated colors and darker look, and the Quicktime app which is required for MP4 render option is no longer updated for Windows and is a security risk to your PC[www.us-cert.gov]. It’s best to remove it once and for all for your PC's sake.
   
   If you really insist, install Quicktime Essentials component only as I'd discovered that it's the Quicktime Player itself that is problematic while the component itself is fine.
   -->Read this PDF to know how to install Quicktime Essentials<--[www.bitefx.com]
   Though, I won’t recommend it either especially if you want to render long video with no video quality compromised whatsoever and a low chance of crashing.
   
   The most recommended method is using the IMAGE SEQUENCES option for best video quality, faster render speed and far less chance of corruption and crash, and use software like Blender, Sony Vegas Pro, Adobe Premiere, OpenShot or VirtualDub to compile them into a video format you want. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=375229570
   Image sequence Cheat Sheet for Blender 2.8x
   
   Although rendering and encoding in different stages might sound like more work, image sequences are the standard for experienced artists (for pretty much any rendering program), as saving out frames to individual files to assemble later (rather than trying to encode the entire video at once) is much more stable and cannot completely pooch an entire time-consuming export if the program crashes mid-render.
   
   Note that it is (probably) fine to export as AVI, MP4, or MOV from your video editor of choice, as the problem is with how SFM handles these formats, not the formats themselves.
   
   
2. 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐆𝐌𝐎𝐃 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐅𝐌
   After you have subscribed to the models, you need a Gmad extractor to extract the models so you can port them into SFM. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=782484437
   PS:You need to own Gmod first. If you don't own the game, you can use {LINK REMOVED}Steam Workshop Downloader
   
   
3. 𝐔𝐍𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎.𝐓𝐗𝐓
   Launch SFM from your Steam Software Library. Instead of going straight into SFM, select Launch SDK. Once that opens, select Reset Game Configurations and click OK to the prompts. Close the SDK Close Steam, Reboot your computer and try SFM again.
   
   
4. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋 𝐈𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐘/ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐂𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 (𝐀𝐎) 𝐈𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐘
   The grainy look of the unrendered AO is expected during editing to save some performance. Furthermore, it requires a quite high rendering power to make it look good with proper settings. So, you can only see the full effect after rendering.
   
   Right-click the main viewport, render settings, and set the Depth of Field sample to 128 minimum and the AO will smoothen out but only in CLIP EDITOR to see the actual effect.
   It's best to temporarily disable the AO for better performance during editing and re-enable it before rendering.
   
   NOTE: You can only see the full effect along with motion blur and more at CLIP editor and stay still.
   
   
5. 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐁𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐒
   You can only move ONE bone at a time in the graph editor. To move the whole model, use rootTransform or the main bone-like prop_static, bip_pelvis or root bone.
   
   
6. 𝐈 𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋
   It's either:
   
   1. You're in the wrong shot. When you're in motion or graph editor, a light grey area on the timeline is the active shot you selected and you can't edit anything outside of said area. Go back to the clip editor and select the right shot.
      
   2. Make sure you're in motion or graph editor. If you hold Ctrl and see only the name of the model instead of bones, you're in the wrong editor.
      
   3. If you're stuck at 65 seconds or above, and can't move anything at all, you need to double-click the active shot(in clip editor), extends the channel clips (yellow bars that represent the animation sets) over the whole shot and click the return button (L-shaped arrow above) to return.
      —>Picture<—
      —>Guide<—-
      
      TIPS: After creating a new session, it's best to extend the shot to 300 seconds or above the estimate length of your project before you get started. You can remove the excess shot later on.
   
   
7. 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐅𝟐 𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒, 𝐌𝐀𝐏𝐒, 𝐓𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐒, 𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐒, 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄?
   From the previous point, SFM is no longer updated since early 2015 which includes TF2 content. So you have to manually import them from TF2 to SFM to get the latest stuff, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbfQ5_6kyuM
   If you want to update the "Add Team Fortress Item" dialog, copy and replace

   steam/steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/scripts/items/items_game.txt

   to

   steam/steamapps/common/SourceFilmmaker/game/tf/scripts/items/items_game.txt

   but even after doing that, not all Team Fortress 2 items will appear in the "Add Team Fortress Item" dialog, due to some items using a model filename format that Source Filmmaker doesn't understand.
   
   As for the maps especially the ones from TF2 Operation update and onwards, you need to decompress them to avoid a crash, https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=480267373
   
   Also, most of the models' names are not exactly as same as the in-game names like "short2014_all_mercs_mask_spy" instead of Bruiser's Bandana (Spy version). Refer to this guide,
   https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=395367659
   TIPS: While in the guide, press Ctrl+F and search the cosmetic name.
   
   
8. 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐎 𝐈 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐘/𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊 𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐅𝟐 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋? 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐎 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋 𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋?
   --->How to Add a Misc Item to a Model<---
   --->Locking Items To A Character<---
   
   
9. 𝐈 𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐒 𝐎𝐑 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐃 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆/𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏 𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆
   You need to enable the workshop folder. Close SFM, go to the library, open SFM SDK, select "Edit search path for selected mod", tick the "workshop" folder and OK.
   
   
10. 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐍𝐎 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐈'𝐌 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓
    By default, you'll be in game/usermod/particles folder where there is nothing in there. You have to click the up button above until you get to game folder and go to tf/particles folder.
    Please refer back to Particle Effects tutorial video from SFM official tutorials (PART1, #1).

▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ PART 3 █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▂ ▁

1. 𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐌 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐒, 𝐌𝐀𝐏𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄/𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐂𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐌 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋
   The SFM Workshop has tons of them.
   This guide shows all known SFM resources websites.
   
   To import the custom models (except from SFM workshop), follow this guide, -->HOW TO INSTALL A MODEL IN SFM<--
   
   
   
2. 𝐒𝐅𝐌 𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐔𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐃/𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐎 𝐈 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄?
   CLICK HERE
   
   
3. "𝐂𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐁𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑"
   Though this can have several causes, the most common one is that you have too many assets being cached into SFM and eating up its rather limited memory allocation.
   Try disabling the folders (mods) that you are not using for your specific project.
   
   
   1. Open your Steam Library and set the filter at the top to 'Software'. SFM won't show up under 'Games'.
      
   2. Right-click on Source Filmmaker and select Launch SDK.
      
   3. Click Edit Search Paths for Selected Mod.
      
   4. Another window will open with a list of folders with checkboxes next to them.
      
   5. Uncheck the folders that do not have any assets that you are using for your current project.
      
   6. Close it and boot up SFM.
   
   If you've got this error and tried everything else to fix it with little or no luck, try checking how many workshop subs you have, I'd bet that if you have around 1100 subs, give or take a few, that this is probably your issue as well.
   How to Make a Backup of your Workshop Folder and follow this guide to learn how to back up the workshop folder. Finally, unsubscribe most of the mods to remove them from SFM.
   
   
4. 𝐌𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏 𝐌𝐎𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄/𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄
   Usually, when downloading a newly subscribed mod, a window pops up telling the user to want to override existing materials. This is a workshop bug. In the best case, just press "Yes to all" instead of other options.
   
   
5. 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋/𝐌𝐀𝐏 𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐈𝐒 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒
   Go to My PC, your hard drive (C:/ or D:/) where Steam files are located and go to Steam\steamapps\common\SourceFilmmaker\game\platform\config and delete 'ingamedialogconfig.vdf' and restart SFM.
   
   
6. 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐌 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐘 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐅𝐌
   —>Import Custom Sound Guide<—
   Music can be imported into SFM but... again, SFM is finicky with how long you can feed it so simply try and chop it into small segments and then just fiddle around in SFM to connect the segments together or... just use a video editing software to manually place in the song.
   
   
7. 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐀 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐓𝐅𝟐 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐏 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑?
   Go to TF2 Wiki Voice Commands or TF2 Wiki Responses and select the class such as Scout. Then, press Ctrl+F and type in a specific word you want such as "schematic" and search for the voice clip's line with the highlighted word you typed. Hover your mouse on it and see the link shows up at the bottom LIKE THIS[imgur.com] and you'll see the filename of the voice clip you're looking for.
   
   
8. 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐂 𝐎𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐗 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍?
   Short answer: Not gonna happen. Don't bother.
   Long answer:
   • Valve made SFM as a promotional tool for their own use. They make no profit out of the public version.
     
   • The public version of SFM hasn't been updated since February 2015.
     
   • It's built on a version of Source that only works on Windows.
     
   • Mac makes up only about 3% of Steam's user base (compared to ~96% on Windows)
     
   • Source 1 is now largely out of date.
     
   • Tools exist to emulate Windows programs on Mac.
   
   Basically, a Mac version would entail re-building SFM from the ground up, on an obsolete engine, to convenience only a very small number of people, with no financial return. Better get a Windows emulator like Wine or Bootcamp.
   
   
9. 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐏𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆?
   

   Originally posted by Pte Jack:

   Things to remember about posing:
   
   1) Think of your body when you pose something. Bones in arms and legs ROTATE, they don't stretch (Move).
   2) Shoulder bones MOVE more than they rotate. But they don't move far.
   3) Spine bones can stretch, but only a minute amount, they ROTATE more.
   4) Set your Rotation mode to Local mode and select bones in a path and rotate them together. Especially finger bones
   like this...
   https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1197181363
   5) To get good poses, do the pose you're looking for yourself, in front of a mirror, study it, then make it happen on your model in SFM.
   6) Sometimes a pose needs a little exaggeration to look good, a little offset in the bones.
   7) If your model allows facial expressions, use them. There's nothing worse than having a model all posed out and having the face in its deadpan expression. Even a snide sneer is better.
   8) and most of all, Just have fun with it.
   
   When it comes to rendering time, map settings, map tone, lighting, camera angle, camera distance, the field of view, depth of field, aperture, motion blur all play a part in your finished result.
   
   https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=266412611

▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ PART 4 █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▂ ▁

1. 𝐈'𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍 𝐀𝐃𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐅𝐅 𝐍𝐎𝐖
   Good. I suggest you go the SFM guides section and everything you need to know are there. Also, check those channels out:
   • Jimer Lins (The best one yet)
     
   • Pte Jack (The Wise)
     
   • Argodaemon - Tons of general & basics tutorials
     
   • Raptorn - a mix of basic and advanced
     
   • Zachariah Scott - A lot of advanced stuff, the particle ones are very useful
     
   • Kungfubellydancer - A couple advanced/moderate tuts, though mostly tests and things
   
   
2. 𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐀𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐖!/ 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐎 𝐈 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
   WOAH! Hold your horses, Your Majesty. You can't just make a decent animation right after you learn SFM a bit. Making an animation, in general, is hard and tedious as many criteria other than pose to pose need to be considered when making a decent animation. It may take months or years to master the art of animation but it would be worth it as you can actually make an awesome SFM video like Winglet in the future.
   
   First of all, go back to watching the official tutorials "Pose to pose animation" consists of three parts for basic steps required to make an animation. Go back to PART 1, #1 for the links.
   
   Secondly, you need to learn and understands the 12 principles of animation. Then, look for tutorials that specialized in SFM animation such as Thomas Larson, Jesse Baumgartner, and Steam Guides like Basic Animation in Source Filmmaker and Animate my d;ck - the animation guide.
   Watch cartoon or anime, observe and study their movements and try to replicate the movements yourself. Start from simple bouncing ball to mildly complicated walk cycle.
   
   **BONUS STUFF FOR EXTRA KNOWLEDGE**
   • Disney - The Magic of Animation
   
   
3. 𝐒𝐅𝐌 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃!
   Well DUH!! Nobody says it's gonna be so easy that you can make Pixar quality animation with a simple press of a button. The professional and amateur SFM users took years or months to master rather than being a born with such skill. Focus on mastering the basics first, understand most of the interface and tools like motion editor, and be patient. If you refuse to invest lots of hours to learn and practice, uninstall SFM and forget all your dreams of making poster or animation.
   
   
4. 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐈 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐑 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓?
   Many recommend the newbies to make poster first before doing animation. This is pretty great advice as you can focus more on posing, scene building, lightings, particles and basic cinematography like the rule of third. These are essential in the animation process. If you mastered the art of poster making, I'm sure you have no problem migrating to animation.
   
   
5. 𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐍𝐎 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄
   Once in the while, our imagination juice would run out and couldn't think of an idea to make. Don't worry, it's pretty common for everyone including the pros. The best tips are watching your favorite movie, shows, anime, or cartoon for inspirations. Secondly, take a stroll outside like at the park because it actually helps our brain to think better and more clearly. Go look at the scenery, people, buildings, or props for inspiration. Thirdly, you can collaborate with your friends and brainstorm together.
   
   
6. 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐃𝐎 𝐈 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐅𝐌?
   Simple. Practice and practice. Seek some guidance, help, and tips at the SFM forum. Please browse the guides section often. Who knows that some of the guides you'd find could be helpful in the future.
   
   
7. 𝐈 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏
   Don't be shy to seek help here in SFM discussion forum. This forum is one of the least toxic of all the Steam forums in my experience. So, you'll get help and assistance in no time. Also, when making a thread, make sure you explain your problem thoroughly and clearly and it's highly recommended to include screenshots(use imgur.com), a step-by-step process where you'd encounter the problem, PC specs and/or video. Don't forget to be cooperative, patient and basically not being a d*ckhead to anyone who wants to lend a hand.
   
   DO:

   My SFM crashed. I was trying to open ctf_2fort map, then SFM was suddenly not responding for 5 minutes and crashes. I have 8GB RAM, GTX 960 and Windows 10. Please help

   DON'T:

   Muh SFM crashed. HELP ME PLZ FAM!!!!

   ->Get Quicker Help On SFM Discussion Boards<-
   
   
   
8. 𝐈 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏. 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐈 𝐃𝐎?
   People that bash others for the content uploaded are rude and immature. If you as an individual don't have use for a model, just pass over it, don't download it, no one is forcing you to. Just because you have no need for it or you think it's useless, doesn't give you the right to bash something. You are not the only one in the community. The SFM community is comprised of people who have different tastes and requirements. Valve offered us a tool in SFM to animate models and did not put any restriction on what that animated content could contain other than using "their" game content for personal gain.
   
   When an author uploads a model, it is no different than what other people have uploaded, for example MLP, FNAF, any of the anime/MMD stuff, Mortal Kombat, Bioshock, XNALARA theme models, ports from Garrys Mod, and the thousands of NSFW models that are currently out there, or any of the other custom content that you might not have a need for. It is intended for use by people that want it.If an author has permission from the original model creator or permission is written into an EUA to use it, or an author goes to the asset source and gets permission to use it then the model is fair game here (for a port).
   
   Long story, short or TLDR: @Content Bashers: Suck it in and grow up!!!! If you don't like what others are uploading, buy out Valve/Steam and put up restrictions for uploaded content!

▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ PART 5 █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▂ ▁

SFM GUIDES COMPILATION 1

1. HOW TO COLOR COSMETICS?
   (Painting Items)
   (Override Material method gif version)[i.imgur.com]
   
   
2. HOW TO EDIT TEXTURE OF AN EXISTING MODEL?
   (Changing Texture With Override Materials)
   
   
3. HOW TO SCALE A MODEL/HOW TO MAKE A MODEL LARGER OR SMALLER?
   (How to add and use scale controls)
   
   
4. MY CUSTOM MODEL IS INVISIBLE/MISSING A TEXTURE/PINK AND BLACK CHECKERBOARD TEXTURE
   (My Model is nothing but Bones -- HELP IS HERE!!!)
   (My Model has CheckerBoarded Textures, How Do I Fix It???)
   
   
5. HOW TO MAKE A BETTER-LOOKING POSTER?
   (Checklist to Make Sure Your Poster Looks Good)
   (SFM Do's And Don'ts)
   
   
6. I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LIGHTING AND CAMERA
   (The Meaning Of Light)
   (Advanced Guide To Lights And Cameras)
   (How to Light Characters from the Ground Up (or something))
   
   
7. HOW TO MAKE MY POSTER/VIDEO LOOKS MORE CINEMATIC?
   (Source Filmmaker: Cinematic Looks)
   
   
8. HOW TO CREATE TRANSPARENT IMAGE PROPERLY?
   (How to make transparent renders without chroma-keying)
   
   
9. SOME TF2 MODELS BECOME TRANSLUCENT OR TRANSPARENT WHEN AO IS ENABLED
   (Repairing Translucent Models That Should Be Opaque)
   
   
10. CAN I MAKE GOOD LOOKING POSTER EVEN IF MY PC DOESN'T HAVE A GPU INSTEAD OF INTEL HD GRAPHIC CHIP?
    (Rendering Ambient Occlusion WITH an Intel HD Chipset!)

▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ PART 6 █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▂ ▁

SFM GUIDES COMPILATION 2

1. HOW TO FREEZE A SEQUENCE/HOW TO FREEZE AT A SPECIFIC PART OF THE SEQUENCE?
   (How to 'freeze' sequences in Source Filmmaker)
   
   
2. HOW TO MAKE SFM WORKS WITH 4K MONITOR?/ MY SFM WINDOW IS TOO SMALL BECAUSE I HAVE 4K MONITOR
   (4K SFM IS POSSIBLE)
   
   
3. HOW TO MAKE MY MODEL LESS SHINY?
   (How to fix Model Skin too Shiny error)

Any suggestion, feedback or question are welcomed.

[surfer171]

Darn…

[raptornx01]

Originally posted by EmperorFaiz.exe:

I was wondering how do you guys discovered sfm. Is it because of the popularity of TF2 SFM videos, recommendation from friends or reading TF2 news back in 2012 like I did?

this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyIiixA0ez0

what specifically drew my attention was celestia's lipsync. basic as it is. i think i had seen the models around in crap gmod videos but never gave them much thought. then saw that video and got me interested. i DLed it, watched the official tuts. and started going at it.

[EmperorFaiz.wav]

Originally posted by raptornx01:

Originally posted by EmperorFaiz.exe:

I was wondering how do you guys discovered sfm. Is it because of the popularity of TF2 SFM videos, recommendation from friends or reading TF2 news back in 2012 like I did?

this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyIiixA0ez0

what specifically drew my attention was celestia's lipsync. basic as it is. i think i had seen the models around in crap gmod videos but never gave them much thought. then saw that video and got me interested. i DLed it, watched the official tuts. and started going at it.

Damn that was one of the early SFM videos I've ever watched.

I 'member when MLP got so much hate here before FNAF existed. At least the former has lots of high quality videos unlike the latter.

[surfer171]

That's cause mlp, having to have quadruped stance (obviously) deals with a whole lot of timing between one hooves to another that if one is to animate them from scratch, I bet fnaffers can't do it or even reach that level of smoothness. Besides, having a model on quadruped stance means there's limitation to doing body language and it's all up to the animators to figure out how so, maybe via head tilt or eyebrows expression.

[EmperorFaiz.wav]

I have a hypothesis that the number of experienced artists are more abundant in older demographic than younger demographic and since MLP attracts the former more, you get the idea.

[surfer171]

I get the point

[surfer171]

Should we include level 2 stuff like I dunno, material override, advanced lighting tips, etc.

[EmperorFaiz.wav]

Originally posted by surfer171:

Should we include level 2 stuff like I dunno, material override, advanced lighting tips, etc.

Noted.

[surfer171]

Cool, thumbs up

[Parmesan_Seeker]

whenever i save it turns to a .dmx file which i cant post pls help

[Marco Skoll]

Originally posted by MollWill:

whenever i save it turns to a .dmx file which i cant post pls help

That's because if you want to share the result, you want to export rather than save*. See the above post's section on exporting.

*That said, save the dang thing too. You don't want to lose all your work.

[EmperorFaiz.wav]

Originally posted by MollWill:

whenever i save it turns to a .dmx file which i cant post pls help

Look for "how do I export video/poster" part.

PS: I should add "I can only save as dmx. file not as poster or video, help!".

[Marco Skoll]

Originally posted by EmperorFaiz.exe:

PS: I should add "I can only save as dmx. file not as poster or video, help!".

As far as things to add, I can't see the process of adding the workshop to the SDK search paths on the list.

[EmperorFaiz.wav]

Originally posted by Marco Skoll:

Originally posted by EmperorFaiz.exe:

PS: I should add "I can only save as dmx. file not as poster or video, help!".

As far as things to add, I can't see the process of adding the workshop to the SDK search paths on the list.

Noted.

[surfer171]

You know what... I think I wanna contribute a little bit of guide here especially for when one comes into a problem where their audio isn't playing (generally speaking)

Importing sounds properly into SFM

Every get that one problem where your audio you just imported over to SFM either played a snippet of it or flat out didn't play at all. Then you need Audacity to fix it, free, reliable and it's out there with a simple google search.

Anyways, SFM is a complicated piece of machine that even the sounds you want to include is like trying to give a kid to eat brussel sprouts. That brussel sprouts is MP3 format so in order to convert it to be SFM friendly, do the following:

1- locate your problematic sound
2- open with Audacity
3- in your audacity, check to see that the value of hz which is at the bottom on the window is set to 44100 hz (as far as i know)
4- export as wave 16-bit PCM

and you're done.

Music can be imported into sfm but... again, SFM is finicky with how long you can feed it so simply try and chop it into small segments and then just fiddle around in SFM to connect the segments together or... just use a video editing software to manually place in the song.