DM Editor

Overview

The DM Editor is an internal scene authoring tool developed by FSKY, built upon the 2007 June build of Valve's In-Game Filmmaker (IFM) — the direct predecessor to Source Filmmaker. While it retains the core scene composition and cinematic toolset of IFM, the DM Editor introduces significant extensions for handling live AI-driven entities and automated scene cleanup, making it considerably more powerful than its base for in-world scene work.

Unlike standard IFM or SFM workflows which operate entirely on pre-recorded animation data, the DM Editor is designed to work with active server-side entities that exist and behave in real time during a scene session. Scenes are stored in the .DME format and can be pulled from and pushed to the FSKY host server via the SourceBox ORD system.

DMNPCs

DMNPCs (DM Non-Player Characters) are one of the primary distinguishing features of the DM Editor over standard IFM. Rather than being pre-animated props or keyframed puppets, DMNPCs are alive entities — they move, react, and behave similarly to how a player in a VR headset would move through a space.

Behaviour

A DMNPC's movement is not scripted frame-by-frame. Instead, it is driven by a real-time input stream, meaning the entity's position, rotation, and physical reactions update continuously — similar to networked player input. This gives DMNPCs a distinctly natural, human-like quality of motion compared to standard NPC or prop animation, since their motion arises organically rather than from predetermined keyframes.

This makes them particularly useful for populating scenes with convincing background characters or for training AI models with realistic human-motion data, as their behaviour cannot be trivially distinguished from a real player's movement signature.

Types

DMNPCs are categorised internally by their role within a scene. The primary class used in most operations is the Siuef type, which handles standard scene population and AI training duties. Additional subtypes exist for specialised functions but are not documented in this version of the manual.

CAPTURE Unit

The CAPTURE unit (entity class: FSKY_CAPTURE_CBSGY) is a passive scene management entity that operates silently in the background of any active DM Editor session. Its sole function is to monitor the necessity of DMNPCs within a scene and quietly remove them when they are no longer needed.

When a DMNPC completes its role in a scene — whether it has finished its movement sequence, moved out of the active scene boundary, or been flagged as redundant by the scene state — the CAPTURE unit intercepts and removes the entity cleanly without disrupting the surrounding scene data or leaving orphaned entity references in the .DME file.

This process is intentionally silent and non-disruptive. There is no visible effect in the editor viewport when a CAPTURE event occurs; the DMNPC simply ceases to exist from the scene hierarchy. The only way to observe CAPTURE events in real time is through the SourceBox Tracker, which logs all FSKY_CAPTURE_CBSGY state changes and position data.

The CAPTURE unit itself is tracked by SourceBox's Tracker functionality. Its position, state changes, and all capture events are logged in real-time, and it is the primary entity monitored by the Tracker's default view mode. See the SourceBox Tracker documentation for more information.

MakeFace Origin

The DM Editor was not conceived through a conventional software development process. According to internal FSKY records, the editor originated from a graffiti spray decal processed through MakeFace — FSKY's early model generation tool that converts Valve Texture Format (.VTF) files into Source engine models (.MDL).

The specific spray in question was applied in-world and captured through the ORD_CAPTURE process, which generated the initial scene structure that later became the foundation of the DM Editor's architecture. The exact spray and its original author are not documented in current records.

Interface

The DM Editor's interface is derived directly from the 2007 IFM build and retains its characteristic flat, grey panel-based layout. The main window is divided into the following areas:

• Scene Hierarchy — Lists all entities in the active scene, including DMNPCs, props, cameras, lights, and DM-specific entities such as CAPTURE units and dm_trigger volumes.
• 3D Viewport — The main scene view. Renders the active camera perspective in real time. DMNPCs appear as standard player models within the viewport.
• Properties Panel — Displays and allows editing of entity properties. DM-specific parameters such as dm_node_id, dm_channel, and dm_trigger state are listed here.
• Timeline — Manages keyframe data for cameras and props. Note that DMNPC motion is not keyframed and does not appear on the timeline — it is driven live.
• Console Output — Displays real-time log output from the IFM subsystem, DMNPC state changes, and any CAPTURE events.

DM-Specific Toolbar Buttons

In addition to standard IFM controls, the DM Editor adds two toolbar buttons not present in base IFM:

• DM_RECORD — Begins recording all scene events, including DMNPC movement streams and CAPTURE triggers, to the active .DME file.
• DM_EXPORT — Exports the current scene state to a .DMX file compatible with the SourceBox ORD system for server-side rendering.

Commands

The DM Editor exposes a number of console commands for advanced scene management. These are entered via the in-editor console (~):

Warnings & Restrictions

If you encounter a DMNPC displaying NODE_?? as its node ID in the Properties panel, this indicates an unresolved trigger target — the entity's origin data could not be matched to a valid entry in the server-side .DME. This is a known edge case and should be reported.

For further assistance, visit the FSKY developer forums or contact server supervisors directly. — FSKY.