Game industry veteran Jack Dalrymple gives a behind the scenes talk about the development and production of game trailers, including the evolution of the trailer, industry standards and trade secrets, as well as what comes after you have the perfect game trailer. Video Game Marketing Lecture: The Making of Game Trailers Inside the Game Development Process, Types of Marketing Videos, The Evolution of the Trailer, The Story Arc, The Trailer Arc, Preproduction, Production, Postproduction, Presentation and Quality, Tips and Tricks, Compression, The Press Kit and Marketing Resources About Jack Dalrymple Jack Dalrymple is an industry veteran at producing trailers and marketing games, Cinematics Director at Bit Fry, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Ape Law, and owner of Cap and Cut a Boston based trailer house and creative design studio. As Lead Editor and Technical Director at WB Games’ Turbine Studio from 2004 to 2014, he developed and edited more than $10 million in marketing trailers and ingame cutscenes with over 9 million views online and built and managed one of the first live HD game capture cinematics studios in the world. Jack mentors at MassDiGi, where he speaks and gives students direction and feedback on their game trailers. His all encompassing approach to design, presentation and consistency across brand is leading the marketing initiative to launch Ape Law’s first-person horror adventure game, Albino Lullaby (AlbinoLullaby.com). With Cap and Cut (CAPandCUT.com), Jack maintains the highest quality mobile capture rig in the Greater Boston Area and is available for game capture and game trailer production for indie and AAA studios across the region.

1. 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 eC a p A n d C u t . c o m
The Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple 1

2. ¤ 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.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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3. Types of Marketing videos
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
¤ 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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4. The Evolution of the Trailer
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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
in audiences
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/

5. From Preproduction to Compression
Making a Game Trailer
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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6. CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
The Story Arc
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7. CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
The Trailer Arc
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8. Preproduction (Before Shooting)
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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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9. Production (Filming)
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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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10. Postproduction (Editing)
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
¤ 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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11. Presentation is everything
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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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.

12. Shot killers
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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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13. Tricks For Editing
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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%
E di to r ’ s H u m o r

14. Cheat when po$$ible
¤ audiojungle.net
¤ premiumbeat.com
¤ musicbakery.com
¤ freestockmusic.com
¤ videohive.net
¤ pond5.com
¤ revostock.com
¤ motionvfx.com
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
Music
Titles and Logo Stings
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15. 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
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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.

16. The Press Kit, PR and Marketing
So Now What?
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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17. Press kit checklist
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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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/

18. PR and Marketing Resources
CapAndCut.comThe Art of Game Trailers • By Jack Dalrymple
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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