Creating Game Videos: Best Practices and Pitfalls to Avoid
Alconost is a localization company, but we also create videos for games.
We’ve been creating game videos since 2013, and in that time we’ve amassed considerable production experience that I think you’ll find useful. In this demo reel you can see what our experience is based on.
Videos vary considerably. But to produce any video, be it a trailer for a marketplace or a teaser for an advertising campaign, we use the same video production workflow for each project. You can easily follow the same process when creating a video on your own.
Our standard production pipeline is as follows:
Brief
Script
Storyboard
Music and voiceover
Animation
Sound design
Today I’m going to guide you through this process and give you some practical tips on how to end up with a game video that you can be proud of.
The brief: prioritize game features from square one
Everything starts with a short questionnaire that determines the framework. Our brief contains 12 questions, but I’d like to highlight four of them. What you decide here will influence the decisions you go on to make at subsequent production stages.
Select your goal: visit the game’s page vs. install the game
First, ask yourself: is your video intended to bring the users to the game’s page? Or is its goal to convert game page visitors into users? When you know the goal, and understand the context in which users will be watching your video, it will be easier for you to develop your ideas.
Select the audience: age, knowledge, cultural background, gaming experience, etc.
Next, think about your video’s intended audience. Their perception, their red lines, and whether they will understand the idea you wish to convey depends on factors like their cultural background, gaming experience, etc. This can affect your creative decisions regarding the concept and style of your video.
Requirements: technical and creative restrictions
Your decisions may also be influenced by the rules of the platforms where you are going to place your video. For example, if you need a video for the App Store, its duration must be from 15 to 30 seconds — no more, no less.
Moreover, to meet the App Store’s recommendations you need to focus more on showing actual gameplay than on telling your game’s universe story. So give the platform’s guidelines a close read to avoid having to redo your video significantly.
Prioritize your game’s key features
Finally, keeping in mind all of the above, prioritize your game’s key features. For example, if your target audience is users who are not overly experienced in gaming, it might be a good idea to focus more on basic functions than, say, to delve deep into combat tactics or other features that advanced players would appreciate.
In the screenshot below, you can see an example of how the prioritized list could look.
Of course, prioritizing isn’t as simple as it seems, because you’re a developer: each feature is like a child of yours, and it’s hard to choose what to omit. But this is an essential step in order to emphasize the features that have the best chances of grabbing your audience’s interest.
Once the framework has taken shape, it’s time to start thinking over the script.
Script: think of the scene’s function, the action in the frame, and the voiceover text simultaneously
Scriptwriting is an exciting process, but this excitement can cause you to lose focus. When your thoughts are scattered, a comprehensive approach can help.
Let’s have a look at the sample in another screenshot below.
This is a sample script structure that shows how each scene has its own function — for example, to elaborate on a specific game feature. And this function should be emphasized by more than just the visuals — the calls to action on the banners and the voiceover text should tell the same story, so that everything in the scene is connected.
To make it even easier for your audience to follow your thoughts, try to stick to the “one feature, one scene” principle. This will help keep the narrative clear, avoid overloading, and transition smoothly from one feature to the next.
Although working on scripts is riveting and absorbing, it’s crucial to remember what can affect the production in your particular circumstances. You may have a tight budget, limited manpower, a deadline, or all of the above.
So when thinking over the visual part of your video, ask yourself: what assets will comprise each scene? Would just actual gameplay footage be enough to demonstrate a specific feature? And if not, do you have the resources for a more complex demo of this feature? Give this question at least preliminary consideration. If you make a mistake, it will come out at the storyboarding stage.
Storyboarding: arrange your assets wisely
When developing a storyboard, remember that for some scenes you may need to design multiple stages. For scenes where gameplay capture is supposed to be shown, consider recording the gameplay at this stage, reviewing the captures, and making sure that they fully convey the idea of the scene.
If the capture doesn’t work as well as you thought, there are at least three options to avoid disaster. First, you can always come back to the script and revise it.
Another, arguably better, option is to allocate resources for building the scene in the game engine, make all the necessary adjustments, and record the gameplay not from the build but from the engine. One more option is to show the feature using animated graphics, be it new art that you design specifically for the video or preexisting game assets.
If you need a video in different aspect ratios, storyboarding for these extra versions isn’t a must, but it may still be something to consider. For instance, a given scene may not be understandable in a vertical version due to cropping. And you can conserve resources if you allow for variations in advance.
To simplify things for your production team, organize all your visual assets wisely. Select only the art that is necessary, and make this collection of assets easy to navigate.
Let’s look at an example of a video that required really well-planned storyboarding. It consists of scenes with animated graphics. And arranging all the art at the storyboarding stage was a good way to simplify the animation stage. Check out this teaser for the game Monster Hustle.
If the video you need for your game is along these lines, it may turn out that certain essential visual details do not yet exist in your assets, in which case you may need to draw them specially for the video.
When you are all set with the storyboard, it’s time to proceed… not to the animation just yet, but to the background music and voiceover track.
Music, voiceover, and why they go before animation
Let’s start with the music. The best solution is to select the background track before you start working on the animation. This will allow you to set your animation “dancing” to the tempo of the music, so that the audio and video sequences echo each other. This makes the watching experience more immersive and enjoyable.
Remember that you don’t have to stick to the in-game music. For instance, the ambient music from locations may prove too monotonous and unsuited to the dramatic structure or emotional load of your video. The solution is to either browse royalty-free markets or, if you work with a composer for your project, get them to write a custom musical theme for your video.
For voiceover, before you record the text with a native-speaking professional, record the voiceover on your own and try combining this draft narration with the storyboard and the music. This way you’ll be able to double check whether the voice and the picture support each other semantically and tell the same story. If you notice any deficiencies, at this stage it’s quite easy to correct them.
Next, once you’ve made sure that the voiceover text is flawless, provide a professional voiceover artist not only with the text to be read aloud, but also with the storyboard, music, and specific instructions. For instance, elaborate on what kind of a storyteller you want them to impersonate: describe the desired manner of speaking, voice tone, and pace.
Last but not least, explain to them how your characters’ names or even the game’s title should be pronounced, including stresses. It may seem a small thing, but it really matters.
Once the music has been selected and the professional voiceover has been recorded, it’s time to move on to the animation stage.
Animating to the beat of the music
This is the stage where you focus on motion design. To simplify and speed up the production process, try assembling the video scene by scene. Animate one or two scenes and evaluate the intermediate result.
Remember that your team may have something to say as well. If you encounter mutually exclusive ideas, your task will be to reconcile the different points of view, structure your team’s comments, and provide a motion designer with consistent and coherent feedback.
When evaluating the intermediate result, remember that you need more than nice-looking animation — you need an attention-grabbing video. For this purpose, focus on how the viewer’s attention is being controlled. For instance, you can:
Zoom in
Make the camera follow a key moving object
Highlight this object
Magnify it
Add an animated pointer
This is not an exhaustive list. Tricks like these make the video easy to watch, which is something that doesn’t just happen on its own: it has to be embedded into the animation.
What should also be embedded is synchronization of the motion to the beat of the background music. To achieve this, create a metronome that will follow the tempo of the music and try showing key animated actions on the stressed beats.
Have a look at the example below. In the screenshot, you can see that the stressed beats of the metronome correspond to the beat of the track. Believe it or not, a simple thing like that can work really well as a skeleton for the animation.
Of course, there are many more details that can make the animation really terrific or, conversely, spoil the impression. But careful execution isn’t the only key to perfection. Consider the animation not simply as an embellishment, but as a means of transmitting ideas. Make your animation meaningful. Try to make the motion convey emotion. When the right ideas and the right emotions meet, the result is magic.
When the animation is ready, it’s time for the final stage: sound design.
Sound design and a convincing reason not to skimp on it
At this stage you may need to cut the music track to match the duration of the animation, and to match particular parts of the music to particular events in the video sequence.
Using sound effects you’ll be able to enhance specific emotions, be it excitement, suspense, or even fear. Actions such as scene changes, tagline fly-in, or the game logo’s appearance can also be emphasized with sound effects. But don’t go overboard. Use sound effects wisely, emphasizing only what needs to be emphasized.
There is one factor that may discourage you from investing in sound design for your video. The fact is, one to two thirds of users watch their videos muted. The game video creator’s job is to make the video ideal for both those who watch the video with sound and without. In the long run, since sound design won’t cost you an arm and a leg, it makes little sense to skimp on it.
As an argument in favor of giving attention to sound design, you can check out this video created for the game Infinitode 2, where the music and sounds are essential components.
Pitfalls & snags: 12 mistakes to avoid
Sometimes it’s not easy to tear a video to pieces in search of the secret ingredient that makes it cool. Usually it’s a combination of a well thought-out concept and flawless execution. However, if I had to rate the most common mistakes in game video production, I would mention these twelve points (see image below).
Those listed on the left have their roots in the conceptual part. It’s all about loose ends at the briefing and scriptwriting stages.
Others, listed on the right, are the result of imperfect production, like the absence of visual accents, camera shake, pixelization, and so on.
Lastly, the ones listed in the triangle in the middle are not deal breakers, but without them the video would have a more polished look. These include undue screen time for the game’s title or the studio logo at the beginning of the video, scene duration imbalance, and imprecise synchronization of the animation with the music.
On top of that, sometimes you wince at missed opportunities to send shivers down a viewer’s spine. Together, all these drawbacks sometimes just… don’t let the magic happen.
How not to fall into these traps? Of course, there’s no silver bullet, but let me give you a piece of advice: try to put yourself in the potential player’s shoes. Imagine the context in which your videos will be shown, and imagine that you need to explain your game to a person who knows nothing about it, and maybe has never played any game like this before. Help that person: motivate them to give your game a try.
Localization is everywhere. That is because the public can only enjoy entertainment products if they are able to understand them.
You cannot enjoy movie if you do not understand what the characters are saying or read a book if you do not understand the language, right?
The same applies to video games: titles have a much better chance of success in multiple markets when they are localized and adapted to them. This may appear obvious but often we don’t think about why this is the case.
This article details five reasons why localization matters based on statistical data, with practical examples to understand its power and how it can be used by video games developers and publishers to achieve their goals.
1. Make your game relevant
2. Improve user reviews
3. Engage communities
4. Leverage the power of local influencers
5. Achieve a wider reach
1. Make your game relevant
The first reason why localization truly matters may seem obvious but that does not make it any less significant: if we cannot understand something, it may as well not exist.
Boiled down to its simplest implication, if a game is not understandable for a player, it has no relevance for them. The game that players would enjoy and invest time and money in is completely unknown to them.
You may have spent thousands of hours on development and promotion to create a compelling experience to be loved by many but it will have all been for nothing if the audience cannot get past the title menu.
In essence, this is what localization solves for; much more than just translating content. It makes that content exist for the target audience. It makes it relevant to them.
Currently, most Western companies will develop their game in English to reach the maximum number of potential players from the start. This means they still think of localization as ‘English to other language’ which, as we will see, is far from being the only way to go.
When playing the English language versions of games, those non-native speakers who are not proficient enough might see their experience hindered. This has been shown to reflect in their perception and reviews.
Even if they were native English speakers, not localizing a title created in this language would mean it would only be comprehensible by a minority of the world’s population, leaving the majority outside your scope.
But of course, English is not the only language games are developed in. It is not even the language most people play games in.
Any developer neglecting to appropriately localize their game into Chinese, will be missing out on the chance to obtain revenue in the world’s biggest market.
Of course, for Chinese developers, the same applies and focusing on the domestic market only will make the product invisible to millions of potential players outside China.
The examples mentioned before are so paradigmatic not only because of the size of the markets, but also the very patent differences in language.
Not sharing alphabet may make it seem like these two languages have a wider gap to bridge between them. The truth is that to a French speaker, for example, English or any other language can be exactly as foreign and impenetrable if they have not learnt it before. They may recognize the letters if they share the alphabet but have no clue what they mean either way.
Obviously, no one can localize into every single language that exists.
Take a game that has been developed in English: localization into four target languages would pave the way to access the five biggest markets per revenue (China, Japan, South Korea, Germany). Four more languages and you would cover the entire list of the 10 biggest markets per revenue, making a game relevant to more than a billion potential players.
2. Improve user reviews
So, we have established that localization makes games content relevant for target audiences. Once that is achieved and players pick up the game, you obviously want them to spend time playing and, ultimately, investing money in it.
The obvious driving force that will keep them returning to a title is if they have fun while playing it. Measuring “fun” is not an easy task but we do have a useful tool to track user satisfaction directly from their own experience: user reviews. So, the question is, can localization affect how users review a title?
The answer is yes, it does.
One study analyzed thousands of user reviews in different stores and platforms and found out that roughly 16% percent of them mentioned localization in one way or another.
Most interesting is the correlation between how good or bad those players perceive the game — or how much they would recommend the game to others — and the presence of a good/bad localization, or none at all.
The finding is that more than 80% of reviews with positive localization feedback were also very positive overall.
When presented with quality localization, players tend to give higher ratings to games, thus positioning it higher in the charts or making it easier to earn the coveted “Overwhelmingly Positive” badge on Steam, paving the way for other players to decide to play the title based on other people’s reviews.
Speaking of Steam, discovery in the platform is one of the best promotion tools any company has for their title and, as seen in this recent article by Simon Carless, to make it into the store as a default game for a player in China, you need to localize into Chinese.
This will put the title in a “different store view” with much less competition, which is an incredible opportunity.
On the other hand, in the absence of localization, players can reduce the overall rating by up to 25% while requesting to have the game in their language. These reviews come from the frustration of players that have tried, and maybe enjoyed the game, but know they would enjoy it much more if it were in their mother tongue.
One could deduce that these players would spend more time and money and leave a better review if they did not feel this frustration.
Finally, it is worth noting not all localization efforts will do. In fact, players mentioning localization give a slightly worse rating to games with bad localization than those that request having the game in their language.
The latter expresses a wish for a game they already enjoy but it seems that bad localization hinders the experience in an even more tangible way.
The lack of professional review or text coming from bad machine translation engines without proper post editing are sure ways to obtain a poor localization that will drive reviews downwards.
3. Engage communities
We saw how localization is an essential tool to put your game on the radar of millions of players and how good localization can be decisive in improving user reviews.
But once you have the players’ attention and they have enjoyed your game, can localization help to keep them coming back? Absolutely.
Story-driven single player games are usually bought once but other models, from games-as-a-service to hypercasual mobile titles, rely heavily on two pillars to keep players engaged and active:
New content streams: Players will not be replaying the same content for too long, so providing a steady flow of new maps, characters, gameplay mechanics is essential.
Curated events and promotions: Those periods in between content releases need to be filled with items that retain attention, special events or tasks with rewards that keep players engaged.
Those events and promotions need to be aimed at specific audiences. The players could well be active only in a region to celebrate a local festivity but to truly engage with those specific audiences, you need to speak them in their language, using their codes.
The principle of localization shines the most in these circumstances, where you need to capture the essence of a culture and communicate so that player bases perceive you as part of their culture.
It will never be the same to offer a 20% discount to celebrate Rio’s carnival in a game that is not even translated into Portuguese, than making that same promotion with your game localized, maybe even using puns or local slang to better capture the positive sentiments of those players.
4. Leverage the power of local influencers
Another great way to engage specific communities is to leverage the influencers and thought leaders in that specific region. Although there are a few big names that appeal to the global audience, most of the time the ecosystem is populated by local stars.
If you look at the biggest names of some countries, it is easy to see they prefer localized games that they know their audiences can follow while watching, not to mention the fact that they may not even speak the original language the game was developed themselves.
Failing to get streaming time from these influencers means you could be missing out on millions worth of free publicity for your title.
An example of a very popular streamer and their power is Marmok, Russia’s No.1 gaming Youtuber with 15.6 million subscribers on Youtube. Marmok’s videos are all in Russian and playing games translated into Russian (see screenshot below). A game not localized into that language will probably fall outside his and, most importantly, his followers’ radars.
The Russian market is especially attractive for free-to-play games, as these accounted for 47% of the overall turnover in 2020 (for comparison, on average in Europe, this share is much less, 20%.)
Over in Brazil, YoDa is the No.1 gaming streamer, with 2.1 million followers on Twitch and 11 million hours watched. This young streamer is another great example of a profile with penetration in just one area of the world but with extreme influencing power thanks to a massive local follower base.
Again, by watching his streams you can clearly see he favours games localized into Brazilian Portuguese, so chances to land a spot on his streams probably will only come if you decide to make the game accessible to him and his audience.
According to the latest data by Newzoo, the battle royale genre is the main driving force of the Brazilian market, which in global terms is estimated to see $2.3 billion in revenue in 2021.
Brazil is a booming market for games with an audience with a low English proficiency, so localization and its power to attract influencers and the general audience is key to successfully land in the region.
These are just examples, but we could mention hundreds of similar ones in areas with emerging markets such as the Asia Pacific Region or other Latin American countries.
5. Achieve a wider reach
One thing is certain: whenever a title is well-received by the public, localization ensues. If it had none before, it receives it, and if it did have some, it gets expanded.
We see from indie devs when they hit the spot with a game as well as with the bigger AAA players. This trend applies to every type of game, but it is particularly visible in those that require active communities and a steady following, such as esports.
The popularity and global reach of these can be measured by the number of hours watched on streaming platforms. Below you have a table of the 10 most watched esports on Twitch during April 2021, according to Newzoo. Looking into it, it can clearly be seen how a successful competitive game always has a significant localization effort attached.
One by one, these are the languages the first five are localized into (excluding English):
League of Legends: Text and audio localization into 14 languages
CS:GO: Text localization into 28 different languages
Dota 2: Text localization into 28 different languages
Rainbow Six: Siege: Text and audio localization into seven languages and only text into an additional 8. Total of 15 languages
Rocket League: Text localization into 12 languages
But this relationship between localization and popularity is not only seen in esports. Look at other major players in the industry such as King, who provides support into more than 20 languages, or think of the massive success of miHoYo’s Genshin Impact. It wouldn’t have been possible outside its native China without text localization into 12 languages and voice-over into three apart from Chinese.
All the big names and indie hits are trusting localization to expand their reach and keep their games engaging for players around the world. Anyone wanting to mimic their success might as well follow their lead.
So, you think the game you are working on just needs the right publisher to help you take over the gaming world. But how do you go about creating a pitch deck for your game which will be effective and help find the right publisher for you?
A pitch deck is only one piece of the puzzle, but it’s a key part, not only to have something to present or send to publishers, but also as a process to help sanity check the why, what and how for your game, and in particular identify any gaps in your planning.
At Fundamentally Games, we review a significant number of pitches every month. Previous to Fundamentally Games, I was a developer (and had to create pitch decks myself) and then worked as a consultant helping developers to raise money and helping investors to find and assess potential games.
When we review pitch decks, we see many developers facing the same challenges, so we decided to create a publisher pitch deck template to help address some of these, especially when pitching a living game. We’re not the first to create such templates, there are some great examples online from other publishers and individuals, and while ours is focused on living games and therefore has a specific angle, the advice is relevant to all games.
I do note however that raising equity investment into a company is fundamentally different to raising money for a game, and as such the pitch deck needs to be completely different.
Before we dive into the details, let’s look at the key topics you should be looking to cover:
What is your game and why is it for?
What do you want and where are you now?
Why should the reader trust that you can make this game successful?
Additionally, you should be thinking about taking the reader on a journey; don’t just think about content, think about flow as well.
The following are the key sections that we recommend you cover in a publisher pitch deck.
1. Title page (obviously!)
The title page should be simple, with your game name and studio name, but importantly, it needs to catch my eye. What visuals would you use on your marketing materials? Think about how to get me excited to read more through the images you share — and apply that throughout the deck, not just on this page.
2. Introduction (or executive summary)
I have seen a lot of debate around whether to include a summary slide at the start of your deck. My view is that it’s really important, because I want to know the basics before I dive into the detail. This is useful for two reasons — firstly, it helps me to understand the context of what I’m reading, and secondly, it helps me, as a publisher, check that the game actually fits our criteria.
Assuming you agree you should have an introduction, then this slide should have short bullet points of the basics… but really keep it short and easy to digest. Think about the key selling points as well as the key practical points that a publisher will need to know.
3. Show me the game
Now for the fun bit — this is where you tell the reader about the game itself. You need to explain your game clearly and make your reader care about it. The way we like to think about this is:
Immediate: help the reader understand your game in seconds, show what is special about your game and convince the reader that players will want to download your game.
Relevant: explain why players will keep playing your game, what is the progression? Explain how players will be onboarded and how they will master the game. Don’t just tell me what your key features are; tell me why those key features matter.
Gorgeous: this doesn’t mean AAA quality, but it does mean that theme and art style will appeal to your audience and meet expectations.
4. Why should this game exist now?
Everyone has a reason behind why they are making their game, however a common challenge we see is an assumption that there is a market, and audience need, for the game.
Firstly, consider your market. Your market isn’t the whole games market, it’s a specific segment. What are the trends in this market, where is there a gap? Are you sure it’s a genuine gap and not just something that you want to play? Who are your competitors, what are your biggest challenges entering this market considering the other games that are already there? What are the market norms — what expectations are there for games in this market?
Then consider your audience. Who are they? ‘Male 18-35’ is not an audience — an audience is one or more groups of people, defined to sufficient granular detail that you know where you can reach them and what messaging they will respond to.
Games will often have more than one audience group, we tend to think about this in terms of primary, secondary and tertiary audiences, all of whom will play your game for different reasons and in different ways. Personas are a common way of identifying each audience group, as is looking at other games that they are currently playing.
Finally, and most importantly, tie your market and audience assumptions back to your game design. How does your game meet a genuine market gap and audience need? What is it about your game that will appeal? How does your game’s lifestyle fit and mode of use match how, where and when your target audience play games?
5. The team
The team is always critical to any project, but every team presents a different risk. Your job throughout the deck is to demonstrate how you are reducing risk as much as possible, and to present an opportunity where the risk and potential reward is reasonably balanced. The team plays a key part in that — if you’re experienced, and you’ve had successful games before, that’s going to reduce risk more than if you’re a new team of graduates.
Whatever your team’s background, you need to explain their key skills and experience, and make sure that: your team + planned hires + help that you’re asking for in the deck = covering all the bases needed to make this game commercially successful.
It’s ok to not have all the skills in house, or to lack experience, but whatever you are missing, you need to show that you recognise it, and that you have a plan to address it.
6. Data, data, data
As the team can reduce risk, so can proving that there is actually an audience for your game. Think of a game design as a hypothesis, and data as proving (or disproving) that hypothesis. Without data, you’re asking someone to invest time (and maybe money) on a hypothesis. If your team has a track record of successful hypothesis (previous successful games), then you may get away with needing less data, but nothing will ever replace actual real players confirming that they will play — and spend money on — your game.
Firstly, consider what success looks like and how you will measure against it, and how you will use market norms as a line in the sand. Consider the types of data you will gather; this will depend on various factors including the type of game — a free-to-play mobile title will gather different data to a narrative indie PC game.
Secondly, tell me what (if any) data you’ve gathered to date. If you haven’t gathered any, why not?
Thirdly, tell me how you’re going to gather data going forward, what types of testing you will do, and how your production plan is designed to support this, i.e. how will your process allow you to act on your findings?
7. Community & marketing
Some games will have the intention of leaving this completely to a publisher, and for some games that’s fine (but if that’s the case, make sure that’s clear). However, most games need to build community, and in many cases the game benefits from the developer being at least involved in that process, if not running it.
So, assuming that you are planning on having at least some involvement in this area, then you should explain your plans. How will you engage and build a community, and how will you use that to improve your game? Why will anyone care about your game, what will your marketing strategy be? How will you build a rhythm of activity towards and post launch? If user acquisition is relevant to your game, how will you measure and test its effectiveness, what will your KPIs be?
8. Production
This is where you explain your budget, timeline, process and milestones. This information is usually best presented visually, I don’t need the full details, just they key aspects.
What budget have you spent to date and how much more do you need to spend to get to launch? How much do you need to get to the point where the game is revenue sustaining? What still needs to be built and what is your timeline? What are your key milestones, and what are the key risks or unknowns that could vary your plan?
You want to ensure the reader is left feeling like your plan is realistic based on the game, the team and the market norms.
9. What do you need?
Finally, this is where you tell the reader what you’re asking for.
You may be asking for money to fund production. If so, then clearly explain how much you need, what you’re going to spend it on and when you need it by, and make sure it ties back to your production plan.
It’s likely you will also need other support, so list those things too. You may want marketing support, but you may also need help, advice or support in other areas.
Additionally, consider who you’re pitching to. Every publisher is different, there is no point asking for an amount of money or a specific type of support that is different to what the specific publisher can provide. Tailor your pitch as needed to the publisher you’re pitching to.
Finally, make sure that what you’re asking for is realistic, that it will give you everything you need to make this game a success — asking for too little is just as bad as asking for too much.
We are very excited to be bringing back the MediaSilo brand, and the product previously known as Shift will be known as MediaSilo moving forward. Having the company AND product named Shift has led to some confusion and questions in the market. Changing the Shift product brand to MediaSilo allows us to better communicate who we are, streamline our product offerings, and tap into the trust and respect the MediaSilo name has represented for years.
The only immediate changes in the product are the logo and name. We’ll continue improving the interface and user experience, but you won’t be met with a completely new experience the next time you log-in.
The newest Shift updates let you shorten the time you spend on the sharing tasks you perform most often. From grabbing all the files you need at once, to flying through dialogs faster, to finding links at your fingertips – getting more of your time back is the biggest feature you’ll find in the latest release of Shift.
Newest features and improvements:
Now frequent sharers can fly through the sharing dialog quickly without digging through options they don’t need. The Share menu now offers basic and advanced views to streamline our most common user workflows, while maintaining advanced functionality for more in-depth workflows. The most common sharing settings are now presented first and set to the admin’s defaults when sharing, while advanced settings are easily available to users who want more granular control.
Customers can opt to add visible watermarks to specific, one-off instances of sharing assets in a Review Link, even if the project was not set up to require watermarking. If a file is coming from a watermarked project, the Share dialog will default to the project settings. What’s more, the original asset will remain clean and unmarked for other uses – but visibly protected in the specific link.
Mix and match file sharing
Instead of selecting only files or a folder, now you can multi-select combinations of files and folders to move all at once. Add the files and folders you select to the collection bin or playlist, share them via Review Links or Presentations, or delete them. Just hold down Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) to select whatever combinations of files and folders you need.
Sent Items Drawer
Finding previously sent items is now much quicker, making it easier for anyone who needs to review and edit the contents of Review Links. Just open up the left drawer of the Shift UI, navigate to the new Sent Links tab, and click into the Review Link you want to edit. You can reorder assets, drag in new folders and files, or remove items from the link. Open up and edit link settings from this space as well. Once you’ve edited the link, it’s automatically updated so prior recipients don’t need a new link.
Player Updates
Play video content in whatever way makes it easier for you to view – in a loop, auto-advance, with varied playback speed, a 5-second skip forward & back, and adjustable volume – with the new and improved player controls added to Shift. Your video setting preferences are saved and carried throughout the app, no more having to re-select showing duration every time you watch a video!
History Tab
Check out the newest addition to the sharing dialog – the History tab. See at a glance who has been sent a link, when it was sent to them, and who has had access to it in its lifespan – even on public and password-protected links. From there you can immediately re-send the link to them, or copy the link URL, with the click of a button.
For more information on how this release might benefit your team, or to discuss how to add watermarking to your account, reach out to your CSM or customersuccess@shift.
Big brands today deal with a significantly greater quantity of digital and video assets than ever before. As a result, these companies have had to find better and more efficient ways to manage their assets. To meet this demand, a number of different digital media management softwares have begun to crop up, offering companies of varying sizes the tools they need to effectively organize their video content. These digital asset management systems help companies consolidate their assets on one platform that is easily accessible and allows for better team collaboration, more streamlined workflow, and simple usability for employees and clients alike. Wiredrive is one such system, built specifically for companies in creative production who handle a great deal of video assets on a daily basis.
Digital asset management systems such as Wiredrive offer big brands a platform capable of handling every digital asset that comes their way, regardless of size or format. With the growing popularity of 360 video and VR, many of these systems, Wiredrive included, have adapted to support these video formats as well. Having one universally accessible platform for all assets is crucial for big brands, allowing them to consolidate all of their content so that it is easy for all project members to upload, access, and organize their files.
It is essential too that large companies utilize a media management system that can be customized to their specific needs. Wiredrive allows users to create custom metadata categories, tags, and keywords to match the company’s specialized naming conventions, and gives users the ability to build custom folder structures to match specific workflows. Knowing that they can organize their video assets with customized metadata is a primary concern for big brands who want to be sure that content can be easy to locate and difficult to lose track of.
Implementing a video asset management system that is easy to use and has an intuitive interface is also key, especially for large companies dealing with many stakeholders all around the world. Wiredrive not only offers speedy and globally accessible service, but it also boasts a simple interface that all users will be able to navigate without any hindrances or need of additional IT support. Having a web-based video asset management system with no learning curve significantly cuts down time and cost, two factors that are very important to any big brand.
Large companies deal with a vast quantity of video assets with varying life cycles. To manage all of this content properly and efficiently, big brands also need to be sure that everything is properly archived in a manner that makes it quick and easy for an individual to locate specific files. Video asset management programs like Wiredrive make it easy to build corporate memory, giving users the tools necessary to create highly organized and detailed libraries so that members of the organization can find what they need and distribute it within minutes.
The on-air promotions team at FX Networks, the flagship general entertainment network from Fox, uses Wiredrive to streamline creative workflow for on-air communications that effectively promote the network’s programs and reflect the FX Networks brand. FX Networks is carried in more than 98 million homes, and are known for its growing roster of critically acclaimed series, including Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story: Coven, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League, and Louie.
Making time for work that matters
Creative services for on-air campaigns at FX Networks previously required a protocol that involved a sludge of meetings, which ultimately resulted in an increase in workload for teams. Wiredrive simplified their highly iterative process by allowing the team to cut back on meetings and focus more on meaningful projects.
“Before Wiredrive, we would have to set up recurring meetings to present concepts and progress in order to receive feedback. At times there would be a delay in receiving feedback so in order to fill time, we’d take on additional projects,” remembers Andre Carbonari, Creative Director of Broadcast Design. “The feedback process is quick and easy on Wiredrive. We speed through approvals and are more productive now that we can focus on one project at a time, rather than juggling multiple.”
“The feedback process is quick and easy with Wiredrive. We speed through approvals and are more productive now that we can focus on one project at a time, instead of juggling multiple.”
Maintaining a sense of teamwork
The FX Networks environment requires flexible communication systems for its increasingly mobile employees. With Wiredrive, teams feel more connected as a result of the solution that allows them to work the way they work best: anytime, anywhere, and on a wide-range of devices. “Our decision makers are constantly traveling, and want to promptly access projects and see progress on everything, such as how a graphic is appearing in a TV spot,” says Andre. “Wiredrive makes it easy to get things in front of people and signed off on. We simply send a link and distribute it to multiple people who can review it on their tablet or phone as soon as the project becomes available.”
Keeping things under wraps
With a dedicated following for many of its popular shows, it’s natural for FX to make sure footage doesn’t make it online in order to maintain that element of surprise for viewers. Wiredrive plays a role in ensuring they succeed in protecting sensitive media. “It’s nice to have peace of mind knowing that people won’t have a problem looking at a private link I send – it will play on any browser and device, and also get there reliably and securely.”
To learn more about the latest FX show’s, visit their site: www.fxnetworks.com
Leslie Osborne is the Assistant Manager, Worldwide Creative Content at Paramount Pictures. With a long title and an even longer list of responsibilities, Osborne is at the charge to create and oversee marketing content across some of Paramount’s largest feature films, including Interstellar, Transformers, The Big Short, and more recently, Arrival, Fences, and Silence.
Paramount is one of Hollywood’s most well established studios, founded in 1912 by early film pioneer Adolph Zukor. Over its evolution as a mainstay in Hollywood, it has produced films like Titanic, Forrest Gump, Iron Man, Indiana Jones, and Ghost, to name a few. With numerous blockbuster releases under their belt, Paramount’s marketing division works with many outside creative vendors, coordinating screenings, junkets, and events, and collaborating with key advertisers to make sure their film releases are as impactful as the movies themselves. Wiredrive helps keep all of their operations as efficient and user-friendly as possible.
Saving countless hours
Six years ago, Paramount moved their marketing division onto Wiredrive technology to help best manage workflow and ensure everyone was on the same page. With so many moving pieces on countless projects, the marketing team was quick to adapt to the new interface.
Before the advent of Wiredrive and sharing files digitally, managers like Leslie were forced to work around time-consuming analog solutions. “Back when we used tape delivery, we had to do everything from duplicating or sending tapes to making viewing CDs or DVDs. I was personally grateful for our company’s decision to use Wiredrive and embraced it right off the bat, because I was the person having to ship out tapes at 10 o’clock at night.”
The use of Wiredrive has not only allowed a more fluid workflow, it has freed up countless hours for Osborne and her team to focus on creative marketing activations, like the massive campaign around Office Christmas Party, the upcoming holiday release starring Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, T.J. Miller, and Kate McKinnon.
Developing as the industry grows
Collaboration is key to what Osborne and her team accomplish, and the more creative minds involved makes their product all the better. The nature of her business has changed drastically in the last decade or so, providing for much easier communication among a wider group of collaborators all excited to lend their hand in the game. While telecommunications and wireless have made notable advances, the importance of having a quick and secure assets sharing service was essential to the team and makes something as simple as an internal meeting that much more productive. “In meetings, like today, [a client] messaged one of the gals in my office and said, ‘I need all these promos ASAP.’ They hadn’t mentioned that beforehand but it came up in conversation, and it was like ‘well it would be beneficial if we can just look at it right now.’ So she was able to send him the link to the folder that had everything. Instead of having to set another meeting, they were able to cover it when it was being discussed in literally five minutes.”
There’s no going back
“Wiredrive is a genius tool that not only revolutionized delivery within the film industry, but also continues to evolve in ways that are very advantageous for team collaboration and efficient workflow.”
Just as Osborne’s team continues to manage an ever-growing slate of blockbuster releases, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Meryl Streep-led Florence Foster Jenkins, the nature of their collaboration with Wiredrive has also evolved. What started as implementing a new system has drastically improved their operations across the board, with quick uploads and a cloud-based server to ensure that deliverables can be seen instantly anywhere in the world you need them. Wiredrive acts as the behind-the-scenes player to ensure that Paramount’s marketing teams can spend as little time delivering assets and still feel rest assured that everything is where it needs to be. “It’s a great tool for organizing things so that even if you aren’t aware of something you can go into the project and see what’s in there, because sometimes there’s so much going on that we may not all get the ability to sit down together and watch.” So besides the joys of not rushing out to overnight something before the store closes or hoping a postal worker arrives in time, Wiredrive’s digital asset management allows a certain security from very natural human errors by making everything you need available at just the click of a link.
Our guest Doug Sherin has been working as a director’s rep for advertisers for over 16 years. In that time, he’s seen the industry grow and change, and learned that the only way to move forward is to always be flexible.
Grace: Let’s start by introducing yourself — tell us about your career to this point.
Doug: I actually started off at the age of nine in front of the camera for commercials. I went from being a child actor to a talent agent assistant to a talent agent representing actors. I found myself one day applying for a scheduling position at a post-production company called Encore, and that’s where I started to be exposed to the other side of the business. I was a people person, and instead of scheduling the time I was representing these post-production artists and transferred to working at Riot Santa Monica. Working at Riot, I met Kimberly Griswold who is my business partner and life partner, and she was representing directors. She had the idea to quit our jobs and start our own company where we would represent directors, visual effects companies, and editorial. And we did it! We didn’t really think about it, but it turned out to be the best thing that we could have ever done, and that was in 2004.
Grace: Tell me more about the company you created 16 years ago — Options.
Doug: Over the years, the personality and the face of the company changes based on who you represent and how you’ve represented yourself in the marketplace. We don’t “sell”, I think it’s a misnomer that sales reps or director’s reps “sell”. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who you meet with, who you wine, who you dine, who you’re submitting — you still have to have an appropriate talent that’s right for the job. We’ve always booked jobs based on being an absolute resource, meaning seeing a brief and knowing who’s right for it, then putting that submission in such a valuable presentation that you hope the producer and creatives you’re submitting to can see the same vision. That’s the fulfillment that we’re in this business for, to fill those creative voids.
I think it’s a misnomer that sales reps or director’s reps “sell”. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who you meet with . . . you still have to have an appropriate talent that’s right for the job.
Grace: How do you describe your role in the greater ecosystem of the advertising industry?
Doug: It does begin and end with trust. You have to have the respect of your peers so that they look to you to be that resource. The role of the rep has really evolved in many different ways over the last two years. And with COVID especially, because it’s expedited a lot of ways of doing business differently. This business is a hands-on business, it’s a personal business. Personal meetings, personal dinners, personal one-on-ones. And so that aspect has been removed, it was already on its way to being removed, but with COVID and the advent of Zoom, now everything is on Zoom.
There has always been a weird and strange reputation that goes with being a rep. We’re actually an integral part of the process as a team member, not as a standalone. We’ve always operated as part of the process as a team member that has a set of eyes, and taste, and a business protocol that is proactive on behalf of our roster of companies. And that’s still in play. You need collaborative entities to attack this business. There’s a lot of hand-holding and collaborative effort with the rep, not only to come up with a strategy but also to identify who on the roster is compatible for their marketplace. We help identify targets and help our roster of companies have that blanket of respect and respectability that hopefully we, as Options, have instilled into the marketplace. Hopefully we can help open some doors and eyes based on that. There’s no guarantees, no matter what the process is.
Grace: How do you measure your success in the advertising industry?
Doug: You can’t just base it on monetary reward. It just can’t be that. We’re very grateful, being in this particular business and working for ourselves is a success. We’ve created our own environment, our own business platform, our own protocol of how we want to be a part of this business. And not everyone’s going to fit into that protocol as a potential client, and vice versa. But I deem us to be a tremendous success, each and every day that we’re working for ourselves. I don’t think a lot of people can say that. Especially during COVID it’s really hard to gauge success, because we’re all pretty much at a level playing field. So that’s the new level of gauging success, how do you adapt? How do you evolve your business? You have to evolve in order to survive, and there has been a tremendous evolution. It’s been going on for years, and COVID’s just pushed it fast-forward.
There’s another part of this business that’s been so wild and wacky, and that is there used to be a time where the freelance director was few and far between. And the industry has changed to the extent that I think there are more freelance directors than there are roster directors. It’s had a big effect on all production companies, at least through my examination. Because not everyone has the right director, so everyone is trying to dig into their back pockets of who they know freelance wise who could fill this void. I’ve heard upwards of 75% of jobs are being booked with freelance directors. It’s a new phenomenon in the sense that it’s a greatly accepted and normal protocol, where once there was a stigma to put on the freelance director. But as I stated at the beginning of this conversation, every job begins and ends with the right chosen talent for the job. Either they have what it takes or they don’t, and that’s the bottom line.
Every job begins and ends with the right chosen talent for the job. Either they have what it takes or they don’t, and that’s the bottom line.
Grace: Why are flexibility and adaptability such an important part of your job?
Doug: If we’re going to keep doing things as we did 10 years ago, the advertising is vastly different. So not only do we have to think differently, so do the directors that we put up. There’s a lot of very talented directors out there that have been very successful for a long time, and adaptability may not be in their wheelhouse at this stage of the game. So what are you going to do? You could go with someone that you know is a superstar and was doing all the Super Bowl commercials several years ago, but now this Super Bowl commercial has 25% of the budget and three more spots to be delivered. So there are a lot of directors that have adapted. I think for the guys and gals that can adapt and have adapted, they’re going to survive. And for the up-and-comers that started off as editors and visual effects guys, they have a multi-discipline background from the start and they could bring all those tool sets to the director position. That’s a huge bonus for a lot of projects, not for every project, but for a lot of them. For these multifaceted creatives, it’s the right time and place.
Grace: What’s an example of a success story you’ve had at your time at Options?
Doug: I think there were several. And it’s not just inherent to a job, it’s in the submission process in general. That’s really the toughest obstacle, because I don’t know every producer, and every producer doesn’t know me and probably doesn’t want to know me because they have a pool of resources that they know and love. So even as recently as right now, I write producers all the time and it goes into a vacuum. And it’s usually the same producers over a period of time, and that’s okay. Like I said, they don’t know me and they don’t need to know me. But I try. And there are times when you just act as if you know what they’re looking for and you put it forward. And at some point, it is going to be in their hands. And you hope that a producer says, you know what, let me take a look at this. And then you know what happens? They write you! They liked it, they thought it was good.
And the next thing you know, we are bidding our guy or gal. And I just went from, you don’t me and don’t want to know me, to you love me! And if we get the job, that’s the success. We made the connections, we knew what we were talking about. We just needed you to hear us. It is persistence, it is luck, it is maybe that person finally deciding to be a bit more open-minded, or maybe they were at a cocktail hour and you shook hands. There are so many talented people, directors, and artists. There are so many loved and liked reps. There’s just a lot. And in a sea of “a lot”, it’s really hard for someone to see you.
Grace: Where do you imagine the advertising industry might go in the next 5-10 years? What comes next?
The one constant for the future is change, whether it’s our business or any other business. So who really knows what’s around the corner?
Doug:
I don’t know if there is an answer. It’s a constant whirlwind of change on an almost daily basis. We’ve seen a tremendous influx of brand-direct scenarios where the brands themselves are taking control of their marketing and ad dollars. That’s going to be a phenomenon that is going to continue. The traditional agency world is still going to survive, it’s going to be out there. I don’t know how it’s face is going to change. They too are becoming more adaptable, because there is going to be more of an ask from clients of deliverables against the dollars. The one constant for the future is change, whether it’s our business or any other business. So who really knows what’s around the corner? You just have to be prepared to be flexible, because otherwise you’re going to be left in the dust. There’s nothing that’s going to be left that is traditional.
Technology has advanced a million fold in the last 5-10 years, things are very different. I will tell you that I do appreciate this business, the opportunity that it’s given us, the career that it’s given us and will continue to give us for a while longer. It’s still fun, and it’s challenging, and it’s tough, and it’s hard, and it’s exciting, and it’s up, and it’s down and such is life! We’ll embrace it as long as it embraces us. This industry has that same mindset where I think everyone just loves to come up with answers. And that’s what we gotta do, just come up with answers.
As any media company will know, a streamlined and efficient workflow is dependent on sharing media files quickly, easily, and reliably. Wiredrive was created with this in mind, giving businesses one file sharing site for all their media assets. Having a single centralized platform for all your media file management needs will ensure optimum media sharing capabilities and increased production workflow.
Whether sharing media with team members or clients, your business needs a file sharing program that has versatile capabilities, reliable and speedy upload times, and built-in team collaboration and asset management tools. With a program like this put in place, your team will have all the tools needed to share media in a way that enhances and improves workflow. So how exactly does a tool like Wiredrive give your team the best way to share media?
Consolidation
Regardless of project scope or bulk of media assets being handled, having one platform for media sharing is essential for optimal workflow. Wiredrive allows you to upload and manage all of your files on one universally accessible platform, making it easier and faster for your team to work together. Using a cloud-based file sharing program such as Wiredrive means that your team members can have fast, web-based access to all their files no matter where they are. With all media assets located in one place, files can be labeled and organized and made visible to all participants in real time.
Wide Range Capabilities
Not all media files are the same, however to ensure a streamlined workflow, your business needs one file sharing program that can handle all types of assets. Leaving it to your team members to figure out how to share big files or different media formats, will only slow down the process and negatively impact productivity. Wiredrive allows you to share anything digital, whether video, image, audio or PDF format. Sharing big files is just as easy as sharing small ones, and your team members will be able to upload complex media rich files from any device, anywhere. Wiredrive also gives you options for how to share your media assets, offering your team everything from media galleries, to video reels, to media plugins.
Internal Collaboration
With all of your company’s media assets on one file sharing site, your employees and clients will need an easy way to review and track all projects. Wiredrive offers all of the metadata management tools and real-time updates necessary to ensure that your team stays on the same page and keeps moving forward. Comments, approvals, views, and forwards are all communicated to you via email notifications, guaranteeing that you don’t miss any updates along the way. All approvals are tracked, time-stamped and logged, helping streamline workflow for both works-in-progress as well as completed projects.
Media sharing is a key component to the workflow of any media company, regardless of scope or size. Without an effective media sharing program, the productivity and efficiency of your team will suffer and the long-term success of your company (as well as the happiness of your employees and clients) will be jeopardized. Wiredrive provides you with all of the tools your business needs to ensure that you are sharing your media assets in the best way possible. Ours is one of the fastest and easiest to use out there, designed with one goal in mind: to give you the best way to share media.
