9 director creating animated film with Valve's Source tools

Newsbrief: Director Shane Acker (9) and Academy Award-winning studio Brown Bag Films are using new tools and technologies based on Valve's Source game engine for their upcoming film Deep. Brown Bag says Valve provided the studio with the tools, and claims that they enable "flexible cinematography and editing, a simplified character animation process, and economical lighting, sound, and visual effects." Valve has used the Source engine for some of the most popular game franchises, including Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Half-Life. Other developers have used it too, such as ACE Team (Zeno Clash) and Running with Scissors, Inc. (Postal III). Brown Bag notes that making Deep in Source also makes it possible to translate the production to a game format. It intends to distribute playable levels and additional content for the feature film on Valve's Steam service.