This is how we make Trailers at Coffee Stain Studios

Transcript (by Youtube)

0s	like to really like drive that feeling
2s	of like that dread like oh I need to go
4s	I'm about to sh my pants we've
7s	made a lot of trailers here at Cain over
10s	the years working on satisfactory and
12s	I've always wanted to make a video sort
13s	of explaining the process in how we make
16s	trailers So today we're doing exactly
18s	that I'm going to walk you through the
19s	process from ideation to post-
21s	production throughout the entire thing
23s	and uh we're going to have jolly time so
25s	let's dive into
27s	it so in this video I'd like to
29s	highlight like all the aspects to like
31s	how we make these trailers like how we
32s	make them why we make them and when we
34s	make them to sort of give you insight as
36s	to like how much work goes into these
38s	trailers and we're going to be using the
40s	release dates trailer for 1.0 or the
43s	toilet flush trailer uh as sort of an
45s	example or a use case uh for this entire
48s	video uh the reason for that is because
50s	I was the one directing that one so I
51s	know the ins and outs of that trailer
54s	specifically it's also a somewhat recent
56s	trailer so hopefully most things will be
58s	fresh in my mind as to like why and how
60s	we did things and it's also a short
62s	trailer with very few Cuts in it so it
65s	should be sort of easy to sort of
67s	demonstrate um so let's dive into it so
70s	when it comes to making trailers the
71s	first step for us is always ideation uh
74s	the first thing really is to figure out
76s	sort of what is the purpose of the
78s	trailer that you're about to make
79s	because most of our trailers serve very
81s	different purposes and they also have
83s	very different audiences some trailers
85s	are there to build hype for new players
87s	who've never seen satisfactory before
89s	some trailers we made are there to like
91s	explain the game for people who are have
93s	heard of satisfactory but are interested
95s	and want to learn more whenever we made
97s	our update trailers those are more
99s	catered towards our existing community
101s	and to sort of highlight like all the
103s	new things and give you you know make
106s	you excited to want to play the update
108s	basically and there's a ton of other
109s	reasons as to why you'd want to make a
112s	specific trailer like sometimes it's
113s	there to uh announce a game and make
116s	people interested in it it might be also
118s	there to like kind of bring in
120s	investment to a game that you're working
122s	on or you know Get Hype and build hype
125s	and all that stuff sometimes I get the
127s	question of like why are game developers
129s	making these cinematic trailers when
131s	like there's no gameplay footage so we
133s	have no idea what the actual game is
134s	about and you know they have different
136s	purposes uh cinematic trailers usually
138s	like that are there to make you excited
140s	about the concept and also to bring in
142s	some investment to Studios or even bring
144s	in Talent uh wanting to work on some
146s	games so yeah there's many different
149s	reasons as to why you'd want make a
150s	trailer for your game and one thing when
152s	it comes to our update trailers is that
154s	we put a lot of effort into our update
156s	trailers like sometimes they take months
158s	to make uh the 1.0 release trailer took
162s	more than a year to make I think um and
166s	it might be strange when you think about
167s	it because the trailer is just like a
169s	one minute two-minute video like why
171s	would you want to spend so many
172s	resources on making such a like small uh
176s	little thing but they actually have a
177s	pretty significant impact on you you
180s	know how we Market our game and like how
183s	people are able to sort of you know take
185s	a look at our game and and see what it's
187s	all about and the thing for us is like
189s	we put a lot of effort into our updates
192s	and we want that to be reflected in our
194s	trailers as well because if we have a
196s	trailer that you can tell we put a lot
198s	of effort into then that will also
200s	signify that like oh you put probably
202s	put a lot of effort into the update as
203s	well so that's why it's so important for
206s	us to have the sort of the quality that
208s	we have for our trailers uh whenever we
210s	release them because it's kind of wasted
211s	if you put a lot of effort into your
213s	game and you don't put a lot of effort
215s	into showcasing that game or you know
217s	putting that effort into your trailer
218s	then people are going to see that and
220s	they're it's not going to reflect good
222s	on it so you really want to match you
224s	know the quality of what you're making
226s	and there's a lot of things you have to
227s	take into consideration when you're in
229s	this ideation process of like figuring
231s	out like what is the purpose of the
233s	trailer you know there are questions you
234s	need to ask especially like you know do
236s	people know about your game like who is
238s	the trailer for and when you're figuring
239s	out the purpose of the trailer you also
240s	need to sort of figure out like what is
242s	the context behind the trailer you know
244s	like is this a thing where people know
246s	about the game beforehand or is this
248s	like a reveal trailer of sorts um you
251s	know is this a a game that's been out
253s	for a long time so people already know
254s	about the title uh you know all these
256s	kind of things kind of matter when you
258s	decide like how you make the trailer and
260s	like what's in the trailer and and
262s	whatnot and context is also important
264s	when it comes to the trailer in like how
266s	is it displayed like is this supposed to
268s	be at like a big event with like a ton
271s	of other reveal trailers as well or is
273s	it just supposed to live on your YouTube
275s	channel or like on social media um these
278s	also impact the trailer a little bit for
280s	instance if a trailer is just supposed
281s	to live on social media then it's really
284s	really really important that the first
285s	like 15 seconds really catch you so like
288s	if you're posting on social media it's
289s	harder to make like a cinematic trailer
291s	for instance where you have like a
293s	company logo that fades in for like 10
295s	seconds or whatever like on social media
297s	people typically click away if they're
299s	not hooked life within you know a short
301s	amount of time but like at events show
303s	and stuff like that that's a whole
305s	different ball game and then you can
306s	sort of create a different type of
308s	trailer um you know depending on on who
310s	you are and and you know what the
313s	context of it is I guess so it's really
314s	important to figure out the purpose like
316s	is this a reveal trailer is this an
318s	announcement trailer is it supposed to
319s	Showcase your game do you want people to
321s	be like Blown Away by some technical
323s	element of it or is it like a cinematic
325s	trailer where you're more aiming to like
327s	evoke a feeling or you know make people
330s	interested or excited so at the end of
333s	the day it's really really really
334s	important in the adiation process that
336s	you really figure out like what is the
337s	main purpose of the trailer because like
340s	I said context and effect matters a lot
342s	for trailers like if you want people to
343s	talk about your trailer or talk about
345s	the game then you need to sort of hit
348s	certain beats for it to make sense so
350s	once we figured out like the purpose or
352s	know why we're making this trailer or
355s	yada yada yada we start concepting sort
357s	of uh and start coming up with ideas as
360s	like what will happen in the trailer and
361s	like what is the format of the trailer
364s	um and yeah like based on the purpose of
365s	the trailer that really dictates what
367s	happens in it if we're making a trailer
369s	where we want people to sort of see
370s	something cool and be blown away uh we
372s	might do it in one way and if we want to
374s	make a trailer where we're like
375s	explaining the game and you know talking
378s	about the game it's it's one thing for
379s	instance we made a trailer a long time
381s	ago uh where it's basically me just
383s	explaining the game from start to finish
386s	in in in like a goofy way uh that was
389s	one way to make that trailer and that
390s	trailer was developed in a certain way
393s	uh because we wanted to do that and it's
395s	up to you to utilize all the resources
397s	you can find on that planet to create
399s	multi-story factories and connect those
401s	suckets with conveyor bels to create
403s	tasty conveyor Bel spaghetti so that you
404s	can produce all these cool items like
406s	that thing and that thing and whatever
408s	that is and some other trailers which
410s	are more cinematic um like the update 3
413s	trailer for instance um you know that
415s	one we really wanted to evoke a feeling
417s	and and you know bring the hype in but
419s	also to sort of showcase it in a real
421s	setting so yeah based on all these like
423s	parameters and and and whatnot that sort
425s	of drives the ideation and the
427s	conceptualization of your trailer and
430s	sometimes these ideas come immediately
432s	sometimes it takes a long time to figure
433s	some of these things out um and you know
437s	we usually sit down and brainstorm uh
439s	these ideas and and discuss this a lot
442s	uh and and sometimes it's external
444s	people coming in and pitching to us uh
446s	for certain ideas so this varies a lot
449s	for us but usually we just sit down and
451s	talk about the purpose and talk about
453s	like what could we make and sometimes it
456s	stays in the ideation face uh and
459s	sometimes that brings into the next step
463s	so in the case of the announcement
464s	trailer uh the purpose was obviously we
466s	wanted to announce the release date for
469s	satisfactory uh we actually also
471s	originally were going to announce
473s	console in this trailer but here's the
475s	thing too that also kind of affected the
477s	trailer a bit um we didn't know 100% if
480s	we could announce console at at when we
483s	made this trailer uh because of various
486s	different factors so we needed to design
488s	a trailer where we 100% were announcing
491s	the release date and we were like
493s	potentially announcing console uh so we
496s	really need to fit the trailer in such a
498s	way where if we needed to cut the
500s	console part portion of it then it
502s	wouldn't really affect the trailer that
504s	much and for the announcement trailer we
506s	originally were going to have it at an
508s	event uh we were originally pitching to
511s	have this trailer be showcased at an
513s	event the reason why we wanted to have
514s	an event is because we wanted to catch
517s	people that may have heard of
518s	satisfactory but didn't want to play it
520s	because they were waiting for 1.0 uh so
522s	we really wanted to like hit the old
524s	drum and let everyone know that like hey
526s	1.0 is coming out soon and it's coming
528s	out at this time uh so get your
532s	together and when you have a trailer at
534s	an event it's really important to think
536s	about the context here right because
537s	we're showcasing this trailer in a block
540s	of many trailers so there's a ton of
542s	other games U that are doing sort of the
544s	same thing that you're doing uh and some
547s	games are really really big like if Call
549s	of Duty was at the same event that we
550s	were you know most people would probably
552s	talk about Call of Duty or maybe not but
553s	like you know some other big game you
555s	know if Naughty Dog announces their new
557s	game then who will remember the
560s	satisfactory announ date reveal trailer
562s	you know so it was really important for
564s	us to like hook people uh in a block of
566s	other trailers to make you know this
568s	trailer kind of memorable so this event
570s	we pitched two trailers actually we
572s	pitched the regular 1.0 uh trailer that
575s	we released with 1.0 and we pitched this
578s	announcement trailer and uh we made this
582s	pitch for the release the the the one we
583s	actually made with the toilet flush uh
586s	after the event was like it's too
588s	generic like the the it's a cool trailer
590s	and all all that uh but there's no
593s	exciting new you know unveil or anything
596s	like that so they didn't think it was
598s	too interesting for us to have that
599s	there so that's why we sort of came back
601s	with them with this pitch we're like hey
602s	but what about it this stupid trailer
605s	and in the end we didn't end up having
607s	the trailer on that at that event but we
609s	really liked this idea of this trailer
611s	so we decided to pursue it on our own
613s	instead and the idea for like the
614s	announcement trailer like came like that
617s	uh actually so me and lenus the lenus is
620s	like our main uh trailer guy uh and I'm
623s	just like sort of the standin trailer
624s	guy that comes in here and there and
625s	make trailers uh we basically came to
627s	each other at the same time with the
629s	same idea and we're like we should do
632s	this so like for the announcement
634s	trailer like the idea of this trailer
637s	you know came to be immediately like the
639s	thing with the announcement trailer that
641s	we thought would make it stand out was
643s	the fact that we're kind of spoofing and
644s	paring how other trailers were made um
648s	and that's sort of how we wanted to
650s	stick out or stand out at this event uh
652s	because like the whole sort of premise
656s	of this trailer was really that like we
658s	wanted to highlight something really
660s	stupid which is the toilet flush
662s	functionality in in the game right we
664s	wanted to highlight something really
665s	really dumb and then have like all this
667s	cool stuff in the background if you know
670s	satisfactory you will know that like
673s	you're not really interested in the
674s	toilet flush you're interested in
675s	everything else around surrounding this
678s	solil flesh announcement right uh and
680s	for people who don't know about
681s	satisfactory they will just go like what
684s	the was
686s	that so like that was really the goal
688s	with this trailer is like we we had this
690s	running joke with our community uh and
693s	you can argue that like yeah but only
694s	people in your community will get this
696s	joke but I really thought that like no
699s	people will see the trailer and be
700s	confused and if people don't know about
702s	satisfactory they will be interested in
704s	learning about more about satisfactory
705s	and it will be easy to write about this
707s	because it will make dumb
709s	headlines uh because it'd be like
712s	satisfactory is adding toilet flush it's
715s	like that's easy to write about it will
716s	make for Sensational news and it will
718s	draw people in and make people
719s	interested and everybody will know that
721s	1.0 is coming out and all these like
722s	other implications that come with that
725s	uh the announcement trailer I in my
726s	opinion was such a good like instigator
729s	of the path to come for 1.0 uh because
732s	it was it had all these elements uh that
736s	really played into it the other thing
737s	with this trailer is that we had a
738s	really short amount of time to make it
740s	so we had to sort of reallocate
743s	resources that were really already
745s	working on a lot of other stuff uh for
748s	the main trailer and also the game
749s	itself self so it was it was rough
753s	making this trailer um we made it I
756s	basically made this trailer in like
758s	full-time in two months time uh while
761s	doing everything else at the same time
763s	uh don't recommend doing this but
765s	sometimes there's like opportunities in
767s	gameevil constantly and like we we
769s	really like this idea um and it it in
773s	the end it was really worth it because
775s	it it really paid off like the the
777s	amount of Interest we got from this
778s	trailer uh and it was like the fastest
781s	YouTube video we've like in terms of
783s	views we've ever had on the YouTube
784s	channel so like and I think there were
786s	over like 150 articles written about
788s	this announcement trailer so it really
791s	paid off making this trailer um but I do
794s	not recommend uh doing it the way we did
798s	it because holy it was rough but we
801s	got it done so yeah for us the the
803s	trailer would convey like the release
804s	dat for satisfactory it would show new
806s	content with the joke being that like
808s	we're highlighting something that's you
810s	know kind of useless which was the
811s	toilet flush but everyone would know
813s	about all the cool stuff behind it um
815s	you know all the new parts and all the
817s	new buildings and people would be really
819s	excited about that you know our
820s	community is really really good at uh
823s	you know picking up the pieces and
824s	figuring things out so we didn't feel
826s	that we needed to really explain too
828s	much with this trailer because people
829s	were going to see you know the new
831s	buildings and see the new parts and be
833s	able to piece things together and they
835s	really did there was so many videos made
837s	uh from Community Based on that
840s	trailer uh where people were figuring
842s	things out and it came in waves too like
845s	people figured some things out and they
847s	were like wait a second and then they
848s	made like follow-up videos on those
850s	followup videos and it was it was one of
853s	my favorite times working in this game
855s	ever seeing just like how people were
858s	were unpacking this trailer and creating
860s	all these like conversation pieces and
861s	it's it sparked so much joy and so much
864s	uh interest uh in the community for this
867s	trailer so that was really really cool
869s	so now that we have an idea we have a
870s	concept for trailer we start going into
872s	the pre-production phase of things uh
875s	and this is sort of where we tried to
877s	figure out like how are we making this
878s	trailer so is it an in-house trailer as
881s	in like we're making this trailer is it
883s	or is it someone else making this
884s	trailer for us uh I think every single
887s	trailer we've made have been inhouse um
890s	and been created like by the team so to
892s	speak there been a couple of external
894s	partners that have helped us out with
895s	some scenes and they've been super
897s	helpful so for instance the opening
898s	shots for the 1.0 trailer was made by an
900s	external studio and that was really nice
902s	like offboarding some of that work to
904s	them um so that we can focus on like
906s	more the the knitty greedy things that
908s	only we at cof stain and working on
910s	satisfactory would know uh for the most
912s	part lenus is the one who's making most
914s	of the trailers here at cof stain but
915s	sometimes I also jump in and create and
917s	make some of them so like the update 6
918s	trailer for instance and and the
920s	announcement trailer so one thing that's
922s	really really important for us uh for
924s	trailers is audio design uh almost every
927s	trailer that we made have always been
929s	like audio and music comes first usually
931s	what we do is we have we set a tone or a
934s	Vibe with our music and then we sort of
936s	build a trailer behind that and trying
938s	to like you know make the trailer fit
941s	the music so to
942s	[Music]
950s	speak but sometimes we have composers
953s	like Dennis uh whove made a lot of songs
955s	uh for from ghostwood Empire uh write us
958s	custom songs and there's there's a bit
961s	of a trade-off there when you license a
962s	song you can usually take a song that
964s	people already know about uh so they
966s	already have like a connection to that
968s	uh but the issue with that usually is
969s	that uh they can be really expensive and
971s	you can also only use them in like the
974s	situation that you're you're licensing
975s	for so like if we license a song we can
978s	only really use that song for uploading
980s	a video on our YouTube channel and
981s	that's it uh whereas when you when we
984s	have like composers that make something
985s	custom for us uh we can sort of Make a
988s	Deal better and like have it so that we
990s	have more you know lenience in terms of
993s	like where we can use it and how we can
994s	use it and stuff like that so for the
996s	1.0 trailer for instance uh we
998s	originally was going to use a license
1000s	song uh but it was hella expensive and
1003s	it really limited Us in terms of like
1005s	where how we could use it and like this
1007s	the terms of that license meant that we
1009s	could only really use it on YouTube once
1011s	and that was it so it was a lot better
1013s	to just have ghost with Empire right a
1015s	track and I I'm glad we we went with
1018s	this route actually because I think that
1019s	song is a banger and the process there
1021s	is usually like that we you know send
1023s	them the composer a couple of tracks or
1025s	like some references that we have uh
1028s	just to get the vibe going and all that
1030s	stuff and they'll create something and
1031s	then we'll iterate on that stuff uh and
1034s	for the announcement trailer uh because
1036s	we were so tight on time making that
1038s	trailer from when we came up with the
1040s	concept versus like when we actually
1041s	needed to finish it um we had we decided
1044s	to reuse the song that we had for the
1047s	update 3 trailer um but we did ask
1050s	Dennis to tweak it a little bit so it
1052s	would better fit the timing and all that
1054s	stuff for the uh announcement trailer so
1057s	it was a little bit tricky to make it
1059s	work uh but I think we got it done and
1061s	it also ended up being like being that
1063s	we had to reuse you know that trailer it
1066s	was the same thing like we wanted to
1068s	make a trailer that's dumb and like epic
1070s	you know so we we we took like the most
1072s	epic song that we could find and that
1074s	was really that update 3 trailer song
1082s	so once we have the song we start
1084s	sitting down and making storyboards
1085s	which is are basically uh uh one of our
1088s	artists sitting down and drawing up the
1090s	frames showing sort of like what is
1092s	going to be in in each shot and which
1095s	shots are going to be in the trailer so
1097s	when we make storyboards we usually sit
1098s	and discuss first like this is what we
1100s	want to entail and then our artist sits
1102s	down and draws it and then we go through
1103s	all these shots and discuss like you
1105s	know does it make sense in this order or
1107s	should this be in the shot changeed this
1109s	and this and this um so the goal of this
1113s	really is that at the end of
1114s	pre-production we need to know exactly
1117s	how many shots we need and which shots
1120s	we are making uh so that we can better
1122s	estimate like how much time it takes for
1124s	us to make this you know if we need a a
1126s	lot of shots with a lot of big factories
1128s	that's going to take a long time versus
1130s	you know just close-ups of the pioneer
1132s	or something like that um and also if
1135s	like the shots are very intricate that
1137s	also plays a big part in like how much
1140s	budget we need to spend to be able to
1141s	make these trailers and there's also
1143s	elements like do we need custom
1144s	animation and and like that so like
1146s	storyboarding is such a powerful Tool uh
1149s	to be able to figure all this stuff out
1150s	so for the the announcement trailer we
1152s	knew which songs we needed and when we
1154s	make storyboards we also usually
1156s	typically try and put them in the
1157s	timeline in like Premiere or something
1159s	where we can sort of have it rolling and
1161s	like see and get timing and stuff like
1163s	that and since we knew which song we
1165s	were going to use for this trailer we
1167s	could just put that song in there and
1169s	sort of play it out and and see how it
1171s	goes and like see how much you know each
1173s	frame can be on screen uh at certain
1176s	amounts of
1180s	[Music]
1184s	time so once we have that storyboard uh
1187s	trailer we usually try and do a pass
1189s	where we do like a little bit of a
1190s	blockout uh in editor where we sort of
1194s	try and like make a quick mockup of all
1196s	the shots that we need to make and just
1198s	Place some basic elements in there just
1200s	to get a feel for what the framing will
1202s	be like in editor if there are any
1204s	limitations in game that we need to take
1205s	into consideration uh and we can also
1208s	take the Pioneer model if we have like
1210s	characters doing stuff and place them in
1211s	the world and and you know get some
1213s	poses in here and there and you know see
1215s	how things flows and then you play these
1217s	animations in the engine and real engine
1219s	also has this tool called control rig so
1221s	what control rig does is it basically
1222s	takes the rig that you created and it
1224s	adds a rig on top of that so you can
1227s	control the rig in
1230s	engine control rig it makes sense
1232s	doesn't it this is a really really
1234s	really powerful tool um from my point of
1237s	view because I'm not an animator uh but
1240s	I am able to create animations in engine
1242s	uh in the scenes and whatnot and this is
1245s	really really good for um when we're
1247s	making the blockout because I can just
1249s	take the Pioneer and I can create the
1250s	poses in the sequence itself uh really
1253s	really really quickly in fact I actually
1256s	made the entire intro sequence in the
1259s	update 6 trailer with control rig so it
1261s	is totally possible to make the entire
1263s	trailer using control rig uh but it does
1266s	have some drawbacks and whatnot which
1267s	makes it more suitable for like these
1269s	kind of basic blockouts things but it is
1271s	possible to to make a full thing in
1273s	sequencer uh in a real engine using
1275s	control rig and yeah I can't tell you
1278s	how much I love that tool because it
1279s	makes things so so nice for me as a as
1283s	like a creating these kind of cinematics
1285s	in engine and in the storyboard trailer
1286s	we can also use references to sort of
1288s	indicate like we're going for with
1289s	certain scenes when it comes to emotions
1291s	or or you know movement and whatnot the
1294s	running sequence in the announcement
1295s	trailer for instance is heavily based on
1297s	one uh scene from Sherlock Holmes where
1299s	they're running through the woods uh we
1301s	also had a lot of inspiration from Wes
1303s	Anderson with like the zoom in and all
1305s	that stuff and and how we compose the
1307s	shots and whatnot so all whatever
1310s	information you can convey in these like
1312s	storyboard trailers in the blockout
1313s	trailers uh from you as a director to
1315s	the rest of the team the better so that
1317s	more people sort of understand your
1319s	Vision as to what you're creating all
1320s	right so now that we're done with
1321s	pre-production you should have a list of
1323s	all the shots that you need to make uh
1325s	from there you can sort of pinpoint like
1327s	who's doing what what do we need to make
1329s	do we need make make custom animation
1331s	for this shot uh can we make this in
1333s	engine do we need something external
1334s	blah blah blah at this point you should
1336s	have gotten all your planning done and
1338s	that's when we head into production and
1340s	this is where the grind starts uh at
1342s	least for us from making satisfactory
1343s	stuff because for our trailers we
1345s	usually have a lot of factories uh in
1347s	our shots and making these factories
1349s	take a really really really really long
1355s	time H when we make trailers I kid you
1358s	not I think like 80% of the time uh
1361s	working on trailers is just building
1363s	factories um it it there's so much
1366s	effort that goes into that we also have
1367s	a tendency to keep like upping ourselves
1369s	I think in the in the beginning we
1371s	always made like very simplistic
1373s	factories and now we have like these
1376s	Citywide factories uh and it's kind of
1378s	your fault honestly because we see all
1381s	these cool builds within the community
1384s	and we see like wow that looks so cool
1386s	we need to sort of try and emulate that
1388s	um and yeah it takes so much time and as
1392s	an example here for the 1.0 trailer the
1395s	big Factory like at the end of that
1397s	trailer that one took Lena's 242 hours
1400s	to build just for those shots um so a
1404s	lot of time and effort goes into this uh
1407s	for those like seconds of of on screen
1411s	[Music]
1415s	time now you might be wondering like why
1417s	don't you just reuse like save files
1420s	from Community or you know like ask
1422s	someone else to build a factory and then
1423s	just you know use that in your trailer
1426s	um and you can do that sometimes uh and
1429s	we've done that in the past but for a
1430s	lot of times when we're making something
1432s	very specific you kind of want to build
1433s	the factory around the shot rather than
1435s	trying to build a shot around a factory
1438s	if that makes sense like when you're
1439s	composing these shots and we have a very
1441s	like specific framing in mind or a very
1444s	specific composition in mind it's very
1446s	very very difficult to uh place that in
1449s	an existing Factory usually what we need
1451s	to do is we need to build a factory
1453s	around the shot um and it's really
1456s	frustrating because it takes a lot of
1458s	time uh but we do get a lot better
1461s	results in fact for the announcement
1462s	trailer there's like four different
1465s	factories for like the same scene like
1467s	there's one Factory when then you see
1469s	like the the establishing shot with the
1471s	cof stain logo and then when we're
1474s	closer to the ground that's a different
1476s	Factory that I rebuilt and then when the
1478s	Pioneer starts running that's a
1479s	different Factory and then there's like
1481s	a different Factory based on like which
1483s	angle you're looking from
1485s	like the when we have something very
1487s	specific in mind we have to sort of
1489s	build the factories around the shots so
1491s	let's take a look at the announcment
1493s	trailer shots and and sort of talk about
1494s	them as well so here's what the game
1496s	looks like in engine usually when we
1498s	build factories for our shots we usually
1500s	just boot up the game like regular and
1502s	and you know have like Advanced game
1504s	settings on and unlimited build mode and
1505s	stuff like that and just build away uh
1508s	sometimes it's nice to build an engine
1510s	but the engine is a lot more expensive
1513s	to run than just the game in general so
1515s	we I at least try to avoid that as much
1517s	as possible uh but sometimes you do like
1519s	need references like sometimes it's nice
1521s	for instance this character down here
1523s	for instance I can pull I can whoops I
1525s	can move this around and place it
1527s	wherever I need it to instead of you
1528s	know being in the game and trying to
1530s	like place things down and figure things
1532s	out and figure scale out and all that
1533s	stuff so when we're working on shots we
1535s	have we used a tool called the sequencer
1537s	in Unreal Engine and the sequencer is
1538s	basically you know being able to create
1540s	a timeline and be able to have things
1542s	move in time and whatnot um and this is
1545s	what that tool looks like in unre engine
1547s	it's basically like a it looks like any
1549s	kind of timeline Tool uh where you have
1551s	like a playhead and whatnot um and you
1554s	can't see all the gizmos and whatnot uh
1558s	when we're in play mode um so like
1561s	usually you can see like where the
1562s	camera is in 3D space and whatnot uh so
1564s	you'll just have to imagine that um but
1567s	basically I can like create the camera
1569s	here you know and I can like uh see like
1573s	what it looks like when I'm playing and
1575s	moving it around um right now there's a
1577s	lot of optimization running um so for
1580s	instance the building lags a lot as you
1582s	may notice but yeah here I can basically
1584s	you know get an overlay of what the shot
1586s	will look like and you know move the
1588s	camera around and place it in the world
1590s	I can even like move around and it will
1592s	save this so like this will be a really
1594s	strange animation here so like whoa look
1597s	at that you know stuff like that so this
1600s	is the tool that we use when we create
1603s	all the shots for our trailers it is
1605s	very nice to use a sequencer because
1606s	it's very deterministic using the
1608s	sequencer we can really like play in
1610s	sequence and create these kind of shots
1612s	uh sometimes we record straight from
1614s	gameplay so like we'll play the game and
1616s	record footage and that's really useful
1618s	when we have like multiplayer sessions
1620s	where we like want to showcase like
1621s	first person shots of things happening
1623s	and very specific things going on that
1625s	are a little bit more complex to be able
1627s	to create in the sequence ER because in
1628s	the sequence you have to like manually
1629s	create all these things uh for instance
1631s	in the opening shot for the update 6
1633s	trailer you know the car coming in and
1635s	stopping I had to I had to manually
1637s	animate that sometimes it's nice to just
1639s	like play the game and just have it come
1641s	in and break but when you do that it's a
1643s	little bit more tricky to think get
1644s	things timed properly so working in the
1646s	sequencer is really like the preferred
1648s	way of doing things because when you're
1649s	work in the sequencer you know that you
1651s	get the shot um otherwise we'd have to
1654s	like get recording sessions running and
1656s	if you have multiplayer you need
1657s	multiple people so obviously that a
1659s	little bit tricky we actually have an
1661s	example of that uh with the 1.0 trailer
1663s	when we made the shot for the um trucks
1667s	uh coming into frame oh that looks good
1670s	oh this was oh this was the take guys
1672s	this was the take this was the best take
1674s	we've done holy so yeah here here
1677s	you have it here's the scene uh we can
1679s	actually fly around a bit you may not
1680s	have noticed that the logo for coffee
1682s	scene is an actual physical thing in the
1685s	world uh we decided to do this instead
1687s	of superimposing it imp post because we
1689s	felt like this saved a lot of time we
1692s	also had more it was easier to plac it
1695s	and it's also stuff like this where like
1696s	the Manta for instance over here like
1698s	that's also animated so I can control
1701s	exactly where it is in the frame and
1703s	whatnot and same thing with like all the
1704s	planets and all that stuff I can
1706s	position them perfectly in the world you
1707s	can see that like I have this planet
1709s	over here this is actually scripted so I
1712s	can actually like move this around so
1714s	that it's perfectly inframe so like here
1717s	I I set the actual like position of it
1720s	and whatever like how it's rotated in
1722s	the screen and where it is and and
1725s	whatnot so like all these things are
1727s	very meticulously planned out for the
1729s	sequencer uh to get the shot that we
1730s	want and the main thing I want to draw
1732s	your attention to here is like the
1734s	factory looks like this for this opening
1736s	shot and in the next shot it looks
1738s	completely different like suddenly
1739s	there's whole this thing here conation
1742s	wise it doesn't make much sense um but
1745s	the shot is like really nice uh you know
1749s	and uh yeah it's really important to for
1751s	us to like get the composition down
1754s	because like in the Heat of the Moment
1755s	you're not going to like see these two
1757s	shots and be like actually the factory
1758s	doesn't look exactly the same I mean you
1760s	will uh but that's not really important
1763s	the important thing is that the shots
1765s	tell what they're supposed to tell uh
1768s	and in this case it's the the Pioneer
1770s	going oh my little tummy um and
1773s	then we have this closeup of the pioneer
1775s	going like that and then we switch back
1777s	and the Pioneer like looks around and
1779s	obviously we have the shot where it's
1781s	does the zoom in maybe I'll load that in
1785s	and then the Pioneer runs away and like
1787s	here's the block out of that shot where
1788s	we just get like poses and whatever and
1790s	try to figure out and and you know
1792s	they're kind of similar like they have
1793s	the they don't have the exact same
1795s	composition um but you know you get the
1798s	point and especially this run
1800s	cycling perfect and there's a lot of
1802s	stuff going on as well like for instance
1804s	there's we've added a bunch of Lights
1806s	here to like make the background look
1808s	nice and like this purple light here
1810s	which like comes from the I already
1813s	forgot what this product is called but
1815s	like we try to Spruce it up a little bit
1817s	and and you know add a little couple of
1819s	Lights here and there to to make it uh
1822s	look nicer and you know add a little bit
1824s	of uh depth of field and that kind of
1827s	stuff um to make it look nice once we
1830s	finished all these shots and we have
1831s	them ready uh what we do is we just plug
1834s	them into this like kind of batch
1837s	program where we then uh run them and
1840s	render them so we take advantage of the
1842s	Unreal Engine render pipeline which
1844s	means that it will sort of like boot up
1846s	the game and then it will render out the
1848s	sequence now the the cool thing with the
1849s	render pipeline is that it is possible
1851s	to make sure that the game you know you
1853s	always get perfect like 60 FPS uh this
1856s	trailer was made in 24 FPS because 24 is
1860s	usually like a little bit more gets you
1862s	a little bit more like cinematic feel
1863s	rather than like gameplay feel but the
1866s	uh 1.0 trailer was made in 60 FPS uh
1869s	because we wanted that to like actually
1870s	look like the game and and play sort of
1872s	like the game in a way it wasn't as
1874s	important that it was cinematic as much
1876s	as you know showcasing the game itself
1879s	and the thing with the render pipeline
1880s	as well is that like you know everything
1882s	that we do for our trailers they're all
1884s	ingame like that we're using in-game
1886s	assets uh it's not like a it is is
1888s	pre-rendered but we're not like adding
1890s	things that you wouldn't be able to have
1892s	yourself in the game now granted we are
1895s	you know using the render pipeline to
1897s	build to have like no laoding for
1899s	instance so like everything looks crisp
1900s	in the background making sure that all
1902s	animations run perfectly you know we
1904s	might have humongous factories that are
1907s	going to run perfectly smooth in 60 FPS
1910s	when you render but maybe not on like
1912s	the same machine and this is a little
1914s	bit of like a
1915s	tricky balancing act that we have to
1917s	play with constantly because we want the
1920s	game we want our trailers to sort of
1921s	reflect what you're going to get when
1923s	you play the game uh but you obviously
1925s	won't have like this all these depth of
1927s	field and all all the Cinematic stuff uh
1930s	so it's a yeah it's a it's a line we
1932s	have to draw somewhere you know as to
1934s	how detailed we can make it look but
1936s	theoretically it is possible to make the
1938s	game look exactly like they do in the
1940s	trailers but you know realistically most
1943s	people probably won't have you know as
1945s	nice looking uh you know settings for
1949s	all this stuff and have it run this
1950s	smooth there's an argument to say like
1952s	oh this is a little bit deceiving and I
1954s	totally get that um this is something
1956s	that we constantly have to think about
1958s	especially also when we're doing like
1959s	post production and doing color grading
1961s	uh we also try to you know we want to do
1963s	a little bit of color grading but
1964s	sometimes it looks too off and then
1966s	people notice that and you know yeah it
1969s	it's you need to like look at our
1971s	trailers and be like yeah that is the
1972s	game mostly we don't want to deceive
1974s	anyone but we do want to make it look as
1976s	nice as it can possibly be and like like
1978s	I mentioned before like all these
1979s	animations that I'm playing right now um
1981s	they've been created in Maya by our
1983s	animator and then I created like the
1985s	mockup animation uh in control rig but
1988s	at the end of the day it's our animator
1989s	sitting with Maya and then importing it
1991s	into Unreal Engine uh to make it fit and
1993s	whatnot and then we have like this shot
1995s	with the Pioneer running and all the
1996s	stuff in the foreg and whatnot um and
2000s	yeah this there's a lot going on in this
2002s	shot um for this I've added like
2005s	particles in the background so like when
2007s	the Pioneer jumps over over the the
2009s	thing for instance you can see the
2010s	particles in the background fly off
2012s	they're they look really nice with the
2014s	bokeh here the depth of feel and it's
2017s	there's like slow motion going on um and
2020s	then like this this get like the
2022s	particles from the hand playing here so
2025s	you can you see the smoke here going
2028s	off her hand is on fire one really nice
2032s	thing with the sequencer is that it's
2033s	really easy for me to compose with all
2036s	the elements that we have in the game
2038s	and sort of put them together so for
2039s	instance uh this shot where the Pioneer
2041s	is running um like the regular Sprints
2045s	animation here is is just the Running
2047s	Animation from the game that I've just
2048s	sped up a little bit it's been sped up
2050s	by like 15% basically and then when she
2054s	jumps that's like a custom animation uh
2058s	that was made with just the jump in and
2060s	then I just like tweak it and time it
2062s	into the Run
2064s	sequence um in the sequencer as you can
2067s	see so you can see see here like right
2069s	how it weighs into um you know and I can
2072s	I can move this around so like if I
2074s	wanted the Pioneer to jump earlier I
2076s	could move this over here and you can
2078s	see her like Fading Into the jump here
2081s	and completely missing the mark so so
2084s	it's really easy to like tweak these
2087s	things uh in engine and like you know
2089s	pin pinpoint animations and whatnot um
2093s	and the same thing here like she's
2094s	running and then we have a separate
2096s	slide animation here so B Bally just
2098s	time take like all these different
2100s	animations and and just like take what I
2102s	need and put them in the timeline and
2104s	time them up and and just pick and
2106s	choose what I need for the animation in
2108s	the whole sequence when you're playing
2110s	the game in general we do have a bunch
2112s	of effects here like going off when you
2114s	know it's building stuff but we needed a
2116s	bit more we needed to juice it up a
2118s	little bit more for the Traer so I added
2120s	a ton of like these Sparks effects um
2123s	that I made myself custom by the way uh
2126s	to like better high and like different
2128s	angle so it shows up better in the shot
2131s	uh you you'd be surprised how much you
2132s	need to cheat to make it look good and
2134s	like for this shot here um I've added
2137s	like VFX here to the right so you see
2138s	like the little Sparks um there's also a
2141s	ton of lighting change here so there's a
2144s	ton of like lights that turn on as she
2146s	gets closer to it uh and like there's a
2150s	spotlight on the Hub that also like
2152s	emphasizes the exposure so I turn down
2154s	the exposure a bit so that like the Hub
2157s	stands out a bit more
2158s	um I add like more chromatic aberration
2160s	as she gets closer to the hub like to
2162s	really like drive that feeling of like
2164s	that dread like oh I need to go I'm
2166s	about to my pants you know
2169s	um just like drive that further in and
2172s	also doing this like Hitchcock effect uh
2175s	where I am panning the camera back but
2177s	I'm zooming in and that gives this like
2179s	weird feeling where like things in the
2182s	background becomes smaller so you see
2184s	like these refineries in the background
2186s	um and it's sort of a similar situation
2188s	there like I had to build these
2190s	refineries in such a specific location
2192s	so that they would show up perfectly in
2194s	frame uh so I I I legit had to set up
2197s	this composition and then like build and
2200s	move these factories around to make sure
2202s	that when you get this Hitchcock effect
2205s	that like they would move properly and
2207s	and look weird and all that stuff um so
2210s	so yeah this this shot there's a lot of
2212s	stuff going on in this shot and then
2214s	like as she runs into the the frame we
2217s	have this other pioneer reacted to it
2218s	dead p uh fun fact this like running
2222s	thing here that's from the blockout we
2226s	didn't change that at all we F we
2228s	thought it was funny if like the turn
2230s	and this all looked so dumb so we just
2233s	kept it uh it kind of plays into the
2236s	whole goofiness of it uh because like
2238s	really like the whole trailer is so like
2241s	dramatic up until this shot and like
2243s	this shot is just like this is where you
2245s	know the punch line is so it's fine if
2247s	it looks weird and Goofy and and
2249s	whatever and like really when we're
2250s	making all these shots like we're just
2252s	going back and forth constantly uh with
2254s	everyone in the in the in the trailer
2256s	Task Force Team uh you know looking at
2260s	the shots you know having artists like
2262s	draw on it on the frame and be like it
2264s	would be nice if you move this uh the
2267s	composition is a bit weird uh we're just
2269s	like constantly iterating on these shots
2272s	not only animation but also composition
2274s	and lighting and you know all these
2276s	effects and just like constantly render
2278s	out shots and updating like our little
2281s	blockout video and eventually you know
2284s	our little temp video that we made with
2286s	storyboards are replaced with you know
2288s	shots that are in work work in progress
2291s	and then eventually they're replaced by
2292s	new shots and eventually you have a
2294s	trailer and just like keep it iterating
2297s	all these things um and eventually you
2300s	you get to the point where you just have
2301s	a trailer and and you know make
2303s	adjustments to make sure that the
2305s	lighting works for the shot so for
2306s	instance here in this shot I have a
2307s	little B of A Rim light on the Pioneer
2309s	to just make her stand out a little bit
2311s	better against the background uh and
2313s	stuff like that and and we just go
2315s	through scene by scene and add all these
2317s	like little tweaks here and there to
2318s	make sure that everything works and then
2320s	once we have all these shots set up in
2323s	sequencer we just put it in the render
2325s	queue and then we set uh start the
2328s	render and when we start the render it
2329s	will sort of uh apply all these like Max
2332s	settings to the render to make sure that
2333s	it looks neat um and like it will do its
2337s	own anti-aliasing pass so it kind of
2340s	upscales the image and then uh renders
2343s	it at a higher resolution and then down
2344s	scales it and stuff like that so we get
2346s	like maximum quality on the render and
2349s	this takes absolutely forever and it's
2351s	really stressful because when you're on
2353s	a tight deadline and you constantly have
2355s	to wait for renders uh it it it's really
2359s	stressful you know running the game at
2361s	these like high settings and like
2363s	loading in so many things is quite
2365s	taxing on the system and as an example
2369s	uh the last shot for the 1.0 trailer
2371s	took 21 hours to render and it failed
2374s	twice during that render when we were
2376s	doing that um and it was really clutch
2380s	the final render for that shot was made
2383s	it was finished on the same day as it
2385s	released um 1.0 so
2390s	uh yeah it's oh boy clutch so for a lot
2395s	of stuff that we make for the trailers
2397s	we usually just use Onre engines tools
2399s	uh We've also made some custom tools for
2401s	our trailer specifically so uh for
2403s	instance in the 1.0 trailer we had this
2405s	like time lapse running we actually made
2407s	a custom time-lapse Tool uh to be able
2409s	to like spawn factories and have them
2412s	kind of play out as if they were made in
2415s	and in the game and we were just
2417s	recording it but actually those were
2419s	made in the sequencer and they were
2420s	created in engine and we also had a
2422s	similar tool where we were able to like
2424s	record ourselves running around in first
2427s	person and then uh importing that into
2429s	the sequencer and have it play out as if
2431s	we were playing to make it you know seem
2433s	natural and seem like actual gameplay um
2437s	but in in truth it was all made in
2439s	sequenc so after all that grind making
2441s	all these shots in editor and creating
2443s	all the sequences and rendering them and
2445s	whatnot uh we take all these clips and
2447s	we pull them into Premiere and we start
2449s	editing and we actually uh add a little
2452s	bit of leeway in every clip that we make
2453s	so that we have some editing power uh
2456s	because sometimes a lot of things can
2458s	actually change in the edited and uh
2461s	sometimes we realize that we need
2462s	something else or another shot um once
2465s	we start editing it so it's nice to like
2467s	edit as you go uh in fact like we almost
2470s	have like a an edit ready before we even
2473s	have all these shots rendered um just so
2476s	we know like timing wise what we want to
2478s	do and and whatnot so we edit it up and
2481s	tighten it up and once we get to the
2482s	point where we can uh freeze the edit as
2485s	in like say like okay we're not touching
2488s	the edit anymore this is when we send it
2490s	off to the audio people so that they can
2492s	add audio design um and you know tweak
2495s	up anything that may be needed with
2497s	music and and whatnot and let me tell
2500s	you this uh when you've made the edit
2504s	and you send it over to the audio people
2506s	when you get the audio back that's when
2508s	it starts feeling like an like a trailer
2510s	like audio design adds so much to the
2512s	trailers they're so uh underutilized in
2516s	a lot of stuff I would would say uh
2518s	audio is so important in anything cuz
2521s	without audio our trailers are kind of
2523s	lame I would say like it really needs
2526s	the music and the sounds and everything
2527s	to make it all come together um so yeah
2530s	it it's just it's such a gratifying part
2533s	of the process when you've made all the
2535s	stuff and you send it off to them and
2537s	then you get audio passes back and it's
2539s	like H now it feels like a trailer and
2542s	then we have a little bit of an
2543s	iteration there like tweaking up
2544s	anything we want to change or any audio
2546s	effects that we want to add sometimes we
2548s	also do a little bit of a color grade at
2549s	this point where we you know maybe tweak
2551s	some saturation values in here and there
2553s	or do something uh else that is needed
2557s	like a post-processing effect or
2558s	something but for the most part we try
2559s	not to do too much because like I said
2561s	before um we typically want the trailers
2565s	to sort of look like the game so we
2567s	don't want to you know change too much I
2569s	I found sometimes when we made two harsh
2571s	color grades in the past people have
2572s	commented like oh the game looks
2574s	different now and we don't want that we
2576s	don't we want the trailer to reflect
2577s	what the game looks like so that you
2579s	know you know what you're getting and
2580s	last but not least we add these like
2581s	title cards or end cards uh that
2583s	actually have a lot of effort put into
2585s	them as well uh almost every update
2587s	we've made have had some kind of like
2589s	really neat like design to the title of
2591s	each update to make them look good and
2593s	they also animate well and and that kind
2595s	of stuff and for the toilet flush we
2596s	wanted to make this like dumb D toilet
2599s	flush letters flowing in fly like
2602s	letters flying in and crushing the thing
2604s	and like cool sound effects and whatever
2606s	and timing to the music music and uh
2609s	yeah really neat and the titles and like
2611s	all this like cool graphics they're
2612s	usually made in After Effects by uh one
2615s	of our UI artists and that is the entire
2617s	process of how we create trailers here
2619s	at Cain all the way from ideation up
2622s	until the point where it reaches your
2624s	screen so thank you so much for sitting
2626s	down and watching this video and I also
2629s	want to mention that this is actually
2630s	going to be the last video that I make
2633s	here on this channel so I want to say a
2636s	big thank you to everyone watching
2637s	watching my videos over the years on
2639s	this channel and uh until I see you all
2642s	again take
2644s	[Music]
2651s	care all right let's let's get out of
2653s	here
2661s	[Music]

Transcript (by Youtube)

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