So, I made a thing (Horizon ZD)

After finally buying a capture card and seeing all the other awesome things people were making with this game, I decided to buckle down and put my rusty editing skills to good use.

Here's the result:

A lot of people have shown off what this game is capable of looking like through photo mode, but for me the truly impressive stuff happens when the game is in motion. Hence, I imposed a few rules on myself:
-No shots using photo mode
-No shots from pre-canned cinematics

Fortunately the game lets you disable almost all HUD elements during non-combat, and most of them otherwise. The lack of a "wait until dawn/dusk" feature meant a lot waiting for the day/night cycle to pass to get particular shots.

I was trying to evoke the same sort of mood provided by the Halo 3 E3 2007 trailer. There aren't very many outstanding quotes in the game (which I kind of like - all the dialogue feels like something you would hear real people say), so I carefully clipped spoiler-free parts from a conversation that I really liked.

Like I said, I don't have a ton of editing experience, so I'm interested in feedback.

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Like I said, I don't have a ton of editing experience, so I'm interested in feedback.

In the Halo 3 trailer you linked, anybody watching that would know that it's Truth talking. Horizon ZD being a new game, hearing a voice without seeing the character or knowing who he is doesn't make that much sense. Keep in mind, I haven't played this game at all yet. I got the gist of it after a while, but a lot of that was lost on me. I was easily able to tell the female voice was the protagonist, but I'm left guessing about the other guy. A mentor I assume?

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Great work. Very well put together. Great choice of scenery & moments to showcase. Nicely paced. And just like the game, you've shown a lot of restraint. It's easy with these sorts of trailers (and when the game looks this gorgeous) to show way too much. But you kept it nicely contained.

I see Cody's point about the ambiguity of the voice-over. It didn't bother me, but I've also played the game so that's probably colouring my reaction. If you did want to provide a hint more insight into who is speaking, without actually giving it away, there is some dialogue that might work nicely. Aloy asks Sylens "who are you" and "what do you want" a few different times, I think. And Sylens has that line where he says "With everything you've just learned, THAT is what you want to ask me?" I think that moment does a good job of conveying the nature of their relationship without giving anything away.

But again, I don't think it needs anything added to it. Love it as is.

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Great work. Very well put together. Great choice of scenery & moments to showcase. Nicely paced. And just like the game, you've shown a lot of restraint. It's easy with these sorts of trailers (and when the game looks this gorgeous) to show way too much. But you kept it nicely contained.

I see Cody's point about the ambiguity of the voice-over. It didn't bother me, but I've also played the game so that's probably colouring my reaction. If you did want to provide a hint more insight into who is speaking, without actually giving it away, there is some dialogue that might work nicely. Aloy asks Sylens "who are you" and "what do you want" a few different times, I think. And Sylens has that line where he says "With everything you've just learned, THAT is what you want to ask me?" I think that moment does a good job of conveying the nature of their relationship without giving anything away.

But again, I don't think it needs anything added to it. Love it as is.

After reading yours and Cody's replies last night, I tried adding those parts of this conversation, but I couldn't figure out how to make the flow of those lines work without getting too spoilery. Meeting Sylens for the first time is a really cool moment, and I don't want to give away any more then I have to.

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This is a finer video game trailer than most professional video game trailers. Well done, sir!

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This is a finer video game trailer than most professional video game trailers. Well done, sir!

Coming from a "professional editor", that means a lot. Thank you!

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This is a finer video game trailer than most professional video game trailers. Well done, sir!

Coming from a "professional editor", that means a lot. Thank you!

I mean, I edit reality TV and game shows. Advertising (trailers especially) have always fascinated me, but I don't cut those professionally.

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I'm bookmarking things like this so I can look at it later.

I'm in black-out mode. I know I want to play this, and I want everything to be a surprise.

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I'm bookmarking things like this so I can look at it later.

I'll just say that he chose some great footage. It's worth bookmarking.

I'm in black-out mode. I know I want to play this, and I want everything to be a surprise.

Yeah, the less you know, the more you'll appreciate the storytelling of the game. It's great on a number of levels. I've written a novel on it, according to certain folks. ;)

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I'd say a few of the shots were a tad short -- it was closer to a teaser trailer than letting me see some of them fully. But then, I haven't played the game. Others who are more familiar with context seem to not mind.

Fantastic first stab at making a video -- it's very well polished!

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So, I made a thing (Horizon ZD) (Gaming)