Recipe for Making Your Video Game Trailer as a Solo Developer

2024-12-11

I recently made a new game trailer for eXoSpace Combat Engineer and thought I’d share a short recipe for creating a video, to help other solo game developers get up to speed. Crafting a good trailer takes time, so expect to spend several days on this at the very least!

Ingredients

Music: A royalty-free song of 0:30 to 1:30 minutes in length, depending on how long your video should be. I bought a dance track from AudioJungle, but there are many other platforms where you can find nice music. Does the music have a nice build-up or rhythm you can use? Ideally the music should be in the game's soundtrack as well, as people may expect that the music they hear will be in the game as well.
Lots of gameplay footage: Record plenty of shots that clearly show what it’s like to play your game. The goal is to showcase the core gameplay loop to potential players. Keep the user interface on (this helps viewers understand what the game is like). Record longer clips than you think you’ll need so you can adjust them in the video editor, such as syncing them with the music's beat.
Key art: You’ll need professional-looking art for thumbnails and likely for the call-to-action at the end of the video. The key art should match your other marketing assets, like the capsule art you use on Steam. If you haven’t already, consider hiring an artist for this.
Screen capture software: I used the open-source OBS tool, which is high-quality and easy to use.
Video editing software: I highly recommend the open-source Kdenlive tool. Another good option is OpenShot, though I found it somewhat limited.
Text animation software (somewhat optional): I couldn’t find a good enough open-source tool for this, so I used Adobe After Effects. The video editing tools also offer limited support for text animation.

Steps

1. Record gameplay footage

Start your screen capture tool and ensure it’s set to record in high quality. Typically, you’ll want to record at 1920x1080 resolution and 60 fps. In OBS, you can adjust this in Settings -> Video.

Preview your chosen music. Does it have a regular beat? The time between beats (or a multiple of it) is often a good shot length. Add a little extra time to each shot so you can fine-tune them in the video editor.

When recording scenes, don’t hesitate to make temporary changes to your game code to set up good shots—it can save you a lot of time. Being a developer means you can "cheat" freely—take advantage of this :)

Feel free to "fake" some elements if parts of the game aren’t complete. The goal is to show potential players what your game will be like, not necessarily its current state.

2. Mark the rhythm in the video editing software

Once you have a solid collection of gameplay footage, open your video editing tool. Import the music first—it forms the backbone of your video, and you’ll typically want to cut scenes to align with its beat.

Start by marking the beats. Manually place markers for the first few beats. In Kdenlive, you can press the "G" key or right-click on the timeline and select Add/Remove Guide. This can be tedious: you’ll need to listen carefully and adjust the markers until they’re spot on.

Once you’ve nailed the timing, you can generate the rest of the markers automatically. In Kdenlive, go to the Guides panel, click the "+", and use the Add multiple markers option.

Editing the video

3. Show the gameplay loop on the beat

With the beats marked, start showcasing your awesome gameplay loop. Capture the viewer’s attention in the first few seconds. Show the awesomest aspects of your game right away while giving a clear sense of what the gameplay is like.

Import your recorded clips and begin cutting and stitching them together. In Kdenlive, this process is straightforward (see tutorials here). Use the extra footage you recorded to adjust the start and end of each shot so they sync well with the beat. Drag the clip edges to trim them; they should snap to your beat markers automatically.

Here’s a quick checklist for your trailer:

Show the core gameplay loop or "hook" within the first 10 seconds.
Showcase as much variety as possible (to avoid making the game seem repetitive or dull).
Consider eye flow: is the viewer’s attention drawn to the right elements on screen?
End with a cliffhanger if possible, transitioning immediately into a call-to-action.

If you find you need more or better footage, don’t hesitate to go back and record additional scenes. Did I say this takes a lot of time?

4. Wrap it up with a call-to-action

Your final shot should include a call-to-action, such as the classic "Wishlist now on Steam." Pair this with animated key art or subtle background gameplay that doesn’t steal focus. The goal is to guide viewers to take the next step.

You may want to add text to the final shot. However, Kdenlive’s text effects are limited. I personally did this after rendering the video, in After Effects. I used "Bullet Train In" and "Explode Out" effects on the text. Avoid placing text at the bottom of the video, as playback controls in many video players can obscure it.

Before rendering your video, consider shifting the music backward by about 0:00:07. For some reason, the audio in my videos was consistently out of sync after rendering unless I did this. This issue occurred in both Kdenlive and Shotcut; I’m unsure why.

Render the project in high quality (1920x1080 resolution at 60 fps) in MP4 format. This results in a video file you can use pretty much anywhere.

The Result

Now that you’ve created your video, what’s next? Share it on Reddit, reach out to YouTubers, and contact gaming websites. Ask for feedback and improve your trailer accordingly. Be sure to save your video editing project—it’ll make future edits easier.

Here’s the trailer I made using this recipe: