Since I can remember there have been people who sought out to combine their passion for gaming and their creativity to make something that was of their own, while paying homage to their culture. Today the internet is flooded with unique illustrations, handcrafted pieces of fandom, costumes and much more, though what always stood out to me was machinima.

Growing up with a passion for film making, I always found it amusing to find tutorials that worked around the limitations of certain games to achieve the best results. This was something I could identify with, as I did not have access to high end software at a young age. (Although it is quite recent in the grand scheme of things, a tutorial in particular that comes to mind is one by )

Valve recently launched the beta for Source Film Maker a tool that basically allowed you to create movies with Source engine assets, while making every element interchangeable. The idea of being able to adjust lighting after a scene was done blew my mind. Although there was a wide range of , it soon became clear that SFM was more than just a with a recording tool.

With Valve’s new program I believe we’ve reached the next step in machinima making. Before even trying it out I knew that the production value of fan projects would make an enormous leap, but after watching a short film today it hit me how far we’ve come from the bobbing heads in Red vs Blue.

When you watch “Practical Problems” you’ll notice that while this project doesn’t really top the quality of a , the sheer personality that is brought across through simple gestures is truly impressive. The second thing that comes to mind is that this tool has not been out for a long time, even when you consider that there was a private testing phase.

At the moment we are looking at the beginning of something great. What people could create with enough time and dedication leaves me anxious to see what will come next.