The Art of Game Trailers by Jack Dalrymple - A Behind the Scenes Look at Industry Standards and...

The Art of Game Trailers

A behind the scenes look at industry standards and trade secrets

B y J a c k D a l r y m p l e C a pA n d C u t . c o m

The Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple 1

¤  Lead Video Editor, Technical Director at WB Games’ Turbine Studio for 10 years

¤  Built and managed one of the first live HD game capture studios in the world

¤  Over 265 trailers and marketing videos with over 9 million views online

¤  Founder of Cap And Cut, a Boston based trailer house and creative design studio

About Jack Dalrymple

CapAndCut.com The Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple

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Types of Marketing videos


¤  Pitch Videos: 60 – 120 seconds (30 second cutdown) ¤  Ingame Cutscenes: 15 – 30 seconds ¤  Developer Diaries: 180 – 240 seconds ¤  Viral Videos: 30 – 45 seconds ¤  Teasers: 15 – 30 seconds ¤  Trailers: 90 – 150 seconds

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The Evolution of the Trailer


Cuts Per Minute� �As time goes on t h e r e i s a consistent rise in the number of cuts per minute in trailers, due to the increase i n a u d i e n c e s ability to quickly c o n s u m e content.

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Interactive Source: http://www.wired.com/2013/06/online-trailers-cuts/

From Preproduction to Compression

Making a Game Trailer


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The Story Arc

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The Trailer Arc

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Preproduction (Before Shooting)


1.  Develop script around features/limitations 2.  Make a storyboard or a shot sheet 3.  Get tech into the game and loadfiles built 4.  Get a solid build and lock it 5.  Ingame location scouting 6.  Ingame character creation

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Production (Filming)


Setup

¤  Use best graphics card

¤  Fraps Settings: 30fps, Full-size

¤  Game Resolution: 1920x1080, Music: Off, SFX: On

¤  Test first clip and verify audio is recording and resolution is correct!!!

Shooting

¤  Move smoothly when operating camera

¤  Cover all shots from multiple angles

¤  If using actors: “No jumping!”

¤  Check shots off shot sheet

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Postproduction (Editing)


¤  Research sample trailers ¤  Find placeholder or final music ¤  Cut trailer to music ¤  Use “FPO” slugs ¤  Develop/buy/steal titles and logo stings ¤  Expect to have some pickup shots ¤  Do mographs last or inside of downtime

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Presentation is everything


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Quality is king

9 out of the top 10 YouTube videos per year are high quality & professionally produced.

Video is the Face of Your Game

The trailer or marketing video will likely be the only interaction the audience has with your game, So

show it off in it’s best light.

Shot killers


X  Clipping X  LOD’d deco X  Bad or flickering textures X  Horizontal tearing X  Bad or repeat animations X  Bad angle or composition X  Sudden camera movement changes

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Tricks For Editing


1.  Find the right music 2.  Get best shots on the timeline 3.  Open with hits and dips to black 4.  Use 3 acts with varied pacing in action 5.  Use flash frames for action transitions 6.  Exploit the rise at the climax 7.  Never resolve the story

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Finding Music 95%

Editing 5%

Edi tor ’ s H umor

Cheat when po$$ible

¤  audiojungle.net ¤  premiumbeat.com ¤  musicbakery.com ¤  freestockmusic.com

¤  videohive.net ¤  pond5.com ¤  revostock.com ¤  motionvfx.com


Music Titles and Logo Stings

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Compression Settings for Upload

Basic Video Settings:�Width: 1,920�Height: 1,080�Frame Rate: 29.97�Field Order: Progressive�Aspect: Square Pixels (1.0)�TV Standard: NTSC�Profile: High�Level: 5.1�Checkbox Render at Maximum Depth

Bitrate Settings:�Bitrate Encoding: VBR, 2 pass�Target Bitrate [Mbps]: 20�Maximum Bitrate [Mbps]: 35

Basic Audio Settings:�Audio Codec: AAC�Sample Rate: 48000 Hz�Channels: Stereo�Audio Quality: High

Bitrate Settings:�Bitrate [kbps]: 320

Advanced Settings:�Precedence: Bitrate


Video Audio

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Premier Export Settings�Format: H.264�Preset: HD 1080P 29.97�

Checkbox Both Export Video and Export Audio�Just Above Export Button�Checkbox Use Maximum Render Quality

Note: Make a version with Video Target Bitrate [Mbps]: 14 and Audio Bitrate [kbps]: 192 for the Press Kit.

The Press Kit, PR and Marketing

So Now What?


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Press kit checklist


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q  Screenshots – 6 to 12 screenshots of the best of the best of gameplay.

q  Video - Embedded YouTube and links to hires download.

q  Playable Demo – A must have to request press coverage.

q  Past Press Coverage - Every time someone writes a favorable blurb about your game, update your kit.

q  Game Info sheet - One page about the game and the team.

q  Fact Sheet - Links to your website, dev blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts, as well as your email address.

q  Logos and Awards – Tastefully use your logo and if you get awards add them.

q  Use presskit()

Partial Source: http://gamedev.tutsplus.com/articles/business-articles/promoting-your-indie-game-checklist/

PR and Marketing Resources


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q  Marketing Your Indie Game: http://is.gd/Rt0pxo

q  An Indie Game Developer's Marketing Checklist: http://is.gd/a6217g

q  How to Format a Press Release: http://is.gd/wAWHxM

q  How to Annoy a Games Journalist with a Press Release: http://is.gd/r361Q2

q  Free Press Release Distribution Sites: http://is.gd/AoXK8O

q  TIG Forums Topic: Press Release Distribution Services: http://is.gd/35Sx0c

q  20 Tips for Indie Game Developers Using Social Media: http://is.gd/UCjs9C

q  PixelProspector.com's The Big List of Indie Game Marketing: http://is.gd/cfd16B

q  Market Your Indie Game on a $0 Budget (Presentation): http://is.gd/C2K5oI

q  Using YouTube to Market Your Indie Game (Presentation): http://is.gd/gl3HRD

q  Developers: Stop Being Shit - Indie Game Marketing (Presentation): http://is.gd/S0EG9X

The Art of Game Trailers by Jack Dalrymple - A Behind the Scenes Look at Industry Standards and...

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