Create an Experience Trailer

Your Experience trailer is a way to tell the story of your Experience, but it can also tell part of the story of a universe of Experiences or your brand.

SHOW YOUR TRAILER TO THE WORLD

Upload your trailer and add it to the banner or image carousel of your free Experience Page.

Trailer Types

Build in Game Maker & Record

This type of trailer will be the focus of this documentation since it explores using Game Maker to create footage.

In-Game Walkthrough

The easiest, fastest way to make a trailer is to record footage from the game itself.

Example: Sports Land

Build in Third-Party Software & Record

This type of trailer requires third-party software that will not be detailed in this documentation.

Motion Design

Example: Rabbids Lunar New Year

Motion design involves CGI renders, compositing, narrative, and a pro workflow.

Assets made in VoxEdit must be exported in a standard 3D format and imported into third-party motion design software. Then you must build animated cinematic scenes to resemble parts of your Experience, place cameras, and record the raw videos. Finally, complete the editing process.

Some creators use Adobe After Effects, Cinema 4D, etc. Refer to documentation provided by your third-party software of choice.

Guidelines

Technical Specifications

1920x1080 or higher

1080p or higher

30fps (60fps is best)

Record video clips on a high quality device to ensure there is no lag in your trailer.

Design Recommendations

Length: At least 30 seconds

Format:

• Intro - game title/logo and studio/creator name (Optional: Include The Sandbox logo after your studio/creator name)
• Gameplay clips - directly show gameplay or represent it clearly so players know what your Experience is about (Optional: Include a small The Sandbox logo in an empty corner)
• Optional text and overlays - titles and graphical overlays to emphasise the action or characters of your game, assets that will be minted and sold on the Marketplace, etc.

  

  No overlay

  

  Overlay and titles added
• Outro - studio/creator name (Optional: Include The Sandbox logo on the final screen)

Tips:

• Ensure many players are in the video if it's a multiplayer Experience

• Avoid too much traveling with flycams

Tools:

• Dynamic audio

  • Many free options (with or without attribution) - YouTube's Audio Library
  • Affordable choices - Audio Network
• Free high quality video software

  • OBS (Open Broadcast Software) - recording
  • DaVinci Resolve - editing

Camera Shots Using Game Maker

Time-Lapse Building Video

Speed Building in GM

This is sometimes useful for a gameplay trailer, but most often used for a "making of," or dev diary video. The steps below create the illusion of decisive, quick building.

1. Build a scene

2. While recording, deconstruct the scene without moving the camera

   1. When removing blocks, have the same block selected so it appears natural

   2. When removing assets, lift them vertically before deleting so it feels "picked up"

3. Reverse the video to make it appear like it is being built and objects are naturally placed, remove any long pauses, and increase the speed

Setting Up and Using "Flycams"

Smooth Dynamic Camera Movements

Rather than gathering video with a static camera, try these tips for smooth translations that feel more dynamic. These methods work well from normal shots or revealing epic views.

Change settings in Game Maker's Editor mode and record in Play mode:

1. Open the Gameplay menu and set the Camera to First Person . Set the Place on Head toggle to False and adjust the Camera Altitude as you like. Altitude 50 works well for many shots, but variety is best.

2. Set up desired movements at various heights and distances:

   1. Vertical shots (slow climbing) - Vertically stack long walls or ladders each with a Climbable component and set them as invisible. Add a Spawn Point asset, apply Spawn Point & Avatar's Feature behaviour, and open Avatar Input Configuration to adjust the player's climb speed.
   2. Vertical or horizontal/angled shots (slow platform) - Add a flat object with Basic Platform behaviour and reduce the speed to be very low for a smooth recording. The start to end movement in the shot should tell the story of the scene well. You may hide some detail at the start and reveal it by the end, for example.

      1. Slight zoom - Rather than move perpendicular to the direct front of the scene, set the platform to move toward or away from the scene a small amount with larger movement left or right.

      2. Slight rise/fall - Rather than move perpendicular to the surface of the land, set the platform to move up or down a small amount with larger movement left or right.

      3. Slight zoom and rise/fall - For a strongly dynamic video clip, move in all three dimensions, with the largest amount of movement left or right.

Avoid moving through buildings and keep in mind far away items may "pop in" when you get closer to them. Adjust the camera location and scenery accordingly to get the content you want in your shots.

Points of View

Various Points of View

• Combine contrasting shots - Record two videos of the same scene and movement setup with two different zoom levels using the 🖱️ mouse scroll wheel, then edit the videos for a quick zoom in or out to emphasise something in the scene, make a bold statement, tease something epic, etc.
• Combine multiple perspectives - Record your scene 3 or 4 times doing the same thing from different camera angles and altitudes, and with different motions with the platform method, running, walking, etc.