To create game artwork for Team Fortress 2, we will be using Source Filmmaker because it is free and even better, it is catered and designed to create posters and movies for Source engine games. You can download it directly from the Steam here.

The next application I recommend is GNU Image Manipulation Program which is also referred to as GIMP. It is free and can be downloaded here[www.gimp.org]. GIMP will be used to fix and clean up clipping errors with your posters cosmetics and characters, such as a jacket being glitched into it's models arm. If you compare the first and the second picture of a Spy's belt, you can see that the issue was fixed and is covered up by using the eyedropper to get the correct colour, different brush sizes and opacity ranges between, 20-60% and creating the missing part of belt.

Pixelation is not cured by GIMP and is just a side effect of screenshotting before rendering. It may sound unappealing to fix things like this, but doing this will indicate the dedication you have!

• Source Filmmaker is referred to as "SFM".

• Viewports are referred to as VP's.

• The Animation Set Editor is referred to as the "ASE"

• The Timeline is referred to as TML

• The Motion Set Editor is referred to as MSE

• Field of View is referred to as FOV

• Ambient Occlusion is referred to as AO

A disclaimer; most of this sections content is introductory to the application.

First, launch Source Filmmaker and create a file, title it using the map, date, and a keyword- like "leaping" or even the class because after making 5 posters, you'll slowly lose track of which is which.

Then, right click the red "NO MAP LOADED!" and click load map. Load into a map of your choice, a great place to create portraits and loadout showcases is on the black void map.

Maps from in game are named by their game mode, for example; pl_Upward is a PayLoad map. Once you've loaded into a map, quickly switch to "motion editor" which is in the timeline.

Then, look under the Animation Set Editor which is usually on the top left of your screen but not always.

Remember, you can always change your programs layout and there are even layouts designed for different stages of making a poster. Under that Animation Set Editor, select the "+" and then select a model.

Once the app starts searching your computer, use the search to find what model you want to use.

Then, from the same "+", add a light. If you're in the dark void map, you should suddenly see your chosen model asserting dominance on you.

From the Animation Set Editor, drag the newly created light, titled "light1" into the Primary Viewport by clicking on the light and holding click to drag into the Viewport. Now, you ARE the Light, yes; you are the light- use "WASD" to move, and use "Z, X" to move up and down vertically according to the camera, not map. Move the light away from your model so the entire light hits or change the Field of View of the light by holding right click in the Prime Viewport and rolling your scroll wheel.

To add cosmetics to your model, begin in the ASE, and right click on the Model. Then choose "Add Team Fortress item" and search for your cosmetics. If you cannot find specific hats, do not worry; the SFM Workshop has you covered.

Head over there, search the cosmetic or weapon you're looking for and "Subscribe" to that item, hats from collections are not included in SFM.

Once you've added each hat to the model, make sure body groups are correctly set. For example, added a hat to a Sniper would require you to disable the Sniper's hat.

To do this, right click your model in the ASE and choose, "Set Body Groups". Then choose what you're trying to remove or add.

Examples of Body Groups include things such as the Scouts feet, the Soldier's helmet and many more. This makes it so that you can add cosmetics to those parts; like the Buck Turner All-Stars.

If you have a painted cosmetic, subscribe to Doc's Color Script. Once you've subscribed to it, right click the hat model you're trying to paint, and then unlock it's transforms. The lock next to it in the ASE should disappear to show you've done so. Then, right click the unlocked hat, drop down to "Rig" and hover on it, then select "setup_modelcoloring_Theta_pyside". Once it opens, choose the paint colour and apply it to the "Base Tint" under the colour picker. If you don't plan on moving the Model's and changing their positions; you can leave the cosmetics unlocked, but; I recommend that you lock it back on to the Class Model again so that if you do make slight movements, that the hat stays on the character.

Firstly, what locking a cosmetic to its model does, is it aligns parts of the cosmetic to parts of the Model's body.

If you hold control in SFM, you can see all those specific parts, which are also called "Bones". Locking an item to a Model is very simple.

In the ASE, click and hold your Model, for example; spy1 and drag that onto the cosmetic in the ASE, it should highlight what you are about to lock which is whatever is under your cursor.

Once locked, you can drag the locked Cosmetic to the Model by looking at the Procedural slider and sliding zero all the way to the right.

When you right click a Model, and you click Add Team Fortress item; the item you add will spawn automatically assigned to the Model it was assigned to.

Objects spawned as new Animation Sets are unassigned.

Posing your Model is one of the things that I, myself struggle with. It can be very hard to achieve a realistic finish and good looking stance for your poster. Always brainstorm ideas for poses then begin.

Once you have something in mind, get to work.

Some quick keys to get down are Q, W, E, and R. These keys can help you switch between movement and axis' of movement for chosen bones. You will primarily need to use modes: XYZ and Rotation.

• Q will set the mode to the animation viewer, where you can see where this specific selected part will move over time.

• W will set the movement type to X, Y and Z axis'. This is useful for moving objects or entire player Models from place to place. You can also move along XZ, XY, and ZY axis' which all come together for full movement along the map. Use this along with Rotation movement mode and you can create a realistic, and appealing pose.
  

• E will change the mode rotation axis'. You have 360 degrees of movement along several different plains. Rotation movement works phenomenally when posing a Model because it will not stretch the Model. It also is fantastic when moving loose parts of clothing, such as a jacket blowing in the wind. I think it's safe to assume this as the most important movement tool because of how it can turn a pose into a good pose.
  

• R will change you into Free Rotation mode. Free Rotation is good for rotating parts a model whilst also being able to move them using click and drag. You most likely won't end up using this feature as much.
  

Hold "Control" to see bones of the Model's and objects in the VP and click the specific bone your trying to adjust. When posing a Model who's wearing cosmetics, it's best to disable the bones in the cosmetics. You can do this in the ASE, by finding the specific item and clicking on the arrow which appears next to the name.

Without disabling the cosmetics, you might accidentally move parts of the cosmetic instead of the parts of the Model because their bones are placed onto each other because cosmetics are designed to fit like a puzzle onto a specific class or classes. You can also disable the bones in the Model when posing parts of the cosmetic, like a coat blowing in the wind.

If you want to pose something but there is an object in the way, you can click on the little eye symbol in the ASE and it will turn it invisible but you can still pose it. This is what that looks like,

Here are the Functions and Meanings of the 3 Symbols Appearing Next to Objects in your ASE.

• The Lock, appears if a object is locked to another

• The Eye sets the visibility of the object.

• The Pointer Arrow sets the visibility of the bones in the object.

Firstly, lighting is probably one of the most interesting things to master. Please take a look at this absolutely fantastic guide. Actually, The Meaning of Light guide was what inspired me to create this guide. It takes an in-depth look at things such as aspects of rim lighting, fill lights, and how and where to position them.

The Top Three Types of Lights:

Firstly, the most important; the Fill Light. The fill light enlightens the side of the model which is primarily in view as compared the other side. The Fill light is always going to be

Following the Fill Light, is the Key Light. The Key Light finishes whatever the Fill Light doesn't by lightening the other side of the model the Fill Light didn't hit. Usually, I keep the Key Light slightly dimmer than the Fill to create contrast between sides of the model.

Last of the three lights, is the Rim Light. The Rim Light is what separates the Model from its environment. Some features of Rim Lights is, they're positioned above the model and pushed slightly back. Then they're angled downward toward the Model. They also have a relatively intense light concentration so that it creates a highlight outline of the Model.

Put these essential three together, and they work together to form something like this,


Quick Tip: When aiming for precision and accuracy, you can right click sliders and insert number values to get the perfect amount of whatever slider is being altered.

In your camera settings, you should keep the tone of the map in sync with the lighting mood so that the sky doesn't look too bright or too dark for your poster.

I like keeping my map tone relatively low because personally, I think lower, dimmer posters are more dramatic. You will learn more about camera settings in that sub section.

Excess Lighting are lights which are not included in the three listed above. These lights are usually aimed at the environment. For example, I used volumetric lights to create a magenta purple background on this poster which was previously a dark absence of light.

If you're making a poster where there is not context, for example; a portrait, you can use bright colours, like on a void map. In this poster, I used some of my friends favourite colours because this was for them.
When creating scenes, you can use lights that reflect the what's going on in the scene. If there were an explosion, use a orange-yellow light to glow on the Model to further create a lasting effect. Here, the gate is being blown open by an explosion, so using yellow-orange lighting; that explosion is emphasized.

Particles can really add to your poster and in some cases they're almost required to convey a point in games. Such as particles of a minigun firing bullets; just imagine a Heavy facing the entire enemy team with his beloved, Sasha and not seeing the gun firing. Particles are quite simple to implement into your poster and here is how.

This video by drtyeyeball shows how Pyro's flamethrower is completely particle relient.

Particles are usually associated with action, and intensity. They're a big part of making a scene from battle come to life. SFM has all of the default particles from TF2 already installed; but, there is so much more amazing ones created by other creators on the Workshop.

Using the Motion Editor, you can change what stage a particle is in by changing what time it is in the frame.

Doing this will help you get the perfect capture of, for example; a bullet leaving a Sniper's rifle because at 0.000 on the time frame, the animation for that particle set has not initiated yet.

If you plan on using particles that aren't constant; for example, gun shots because they last for a brief split second: then you should go to the correct time for that particle and begin posing models in that time frame.

What this does for you is, it adapts the poster to that particles short lifespan. You can also change particles loop settings when you first make them or by editing them.

Camera's and Lenses are a huge and crucial part to the final product of your art. Firstly, to maximize FPS in SFM, disable Ambient Occlusion when creating your poster and only enable it when testing different settings or when your finally ready to render.

To access camera settings like all the ones listed, you need to go to the ASE and add an animation set for a new camera and then drag it into the VP. The default camera doesn't give you access to the settings all the settings because it's not visible in the ASE.

Changing your Field of View is a feature to change the zoom of your camera lens. Usually the FOV you choose is up to preference but stays relatively higher than the default setting of zero because it helps create a focus on the target or targets. To change the FOV, hold click on your VP and use your scroll wheel to zoom in and out.

Bloom is a lighting effect which creates a glowing around parts of the model which would reflect light. I personally keep this disabled and almost all of my works but, using it with Australium weapons can make for a nice shiny effect. Here is what bloom looks like enabled on the Sniper. You can see the glow off his right cheek.

Focal Point & Aperature is a lens setting which is in charge of depth of field. Set the Focal Point then choose an aperture to achieve a desired blur. These settings create focus on what ever is the Focal Point. The Focus should be where the Focal Point is located. Change the Focal Point in the camera sliders with the one called "focalDistance". Change the intensity of the blur with the "aperature" slider.

Ambient Occlusion is a shadow setting that when enabled, allows a user to design the way light reacts and reflects light off of surfaces and can customize the way light glows of of surfaces like wrinkles in clothing and the way those factors effect shadows. Adjusting these 3 settings will change the way that AO is applied to the session. The most ideal settings for your camera is dependent on the lighting conditions of your poster. This in-depth guide to all camera settings which can help you figure out camera and lens settings for your work of art. Take a look at this Sniper and compare the lighting in both photos. or Now, in regards to reality, the first render wins because it has a darker, shadowy appearance compared to the brighter one in the second render. It is not wrong to be more inclined towards the brighter one because the entire topic of poster creation is very opinion based but hopefully you can now see and understand what Ambient Occlusion is and how it works. A very useful way to see what your ambient occlusion settings may produce is to right click your viewport, go to render settings and check mark Show Ambient Occlusion

GIMP makes fixing issues with your poster really simple. All you need to do, is open the poster in GIMP after having rendered it; then in the top left, click on Tools and create a new Toolbox. From there, use the paint brush tool and the eye dropper to get the correct colour and fix errors.

Double click tools in the Toolbox to open their settings and change things like brush size, opacity, and hardness. If you're filling a spot which had lighting problems.

This is how I keep my program laid out;
You can create more real looking shadows by using GIMP; to do so, use a smaller brush on a low opacity, take a dark shadow sample using the Eye Dropper and picking an existing shadow or a colour nearby and darkening it.

Then lightly shade on an Opacity between 5% and 60%, depending on the scenario. Using lower Opacity can make the picture more controlled and help you achieve what you want but takes a bit longer and more layering.

In pre-rendered pictures of this Spy, you can see that first I fixed the belt, and then shaded it so that it's darker because it was on the underside of the Spy. Here is an example which demonstrates what shading looks like on this Spies belt.



Learn to use key shortcuts to make editing your posters flaws out a lot more easy, and quick. Some of the basic ones include undoing with keys "CTRL + Z" and redoing with "CTRL + Y".

When going through the the Edit tab, you can see all key shortcuts to making this process faster. Usually fixing clipping errors and doing optional shadow adjustments takes less than an hour and more than thirty minutes.

Once you've finished all of these steps, you might very well have your own masterpiece. Show me what works of magic you've made and comment questions and suggestions below.

This guide took me approximately two weeks to complete, ratings and favourites are so well appreciated.

Head over to my profile to see some of my featured art, I can't wait to see what you've got to show me!

Thank you,