🎬 Game trailer editor who made trailers for: Half-Life Alyx, Among Us, Psychonauts 2, Riven, Spelunky 2, Firewatch, Dead Cells, Viewfinder, Stray Gods, and more! He/him https://dereklieu.carrd.com
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indie devs, please share your best accidental marketing stories, I'm nosy!! our most recent one: CloverPit’s launch got delayed because of Silksong… and the delay announcement got way more attention than the actual release date announcement lmao (socials and press)
Good news about the cutting-edge AI tools from the $3-trillion-dollar company.
Results so stunningly clear they inspired this classic xkcd (xkcd.com/2400/):
Get well, Mr. Mayor. Whoever did this is dethpicable.
I love the smell of consequences in the morning. Thank you, @dragoncon.org
In my estimation, a lot of the people who have problems with Bluesky are so used to platforms just serving up the content buffet that they're unwilling to do the work to have a good experience here. That work is the social part of social media.
What this quote also says to me is: "I have no taste whatsoever." 🫠
I've seen an uptick in art and design tests essentially expecting an all-knowing all-skilled developer to land in their laps, resulting in people with incredible skills getting rejected because they just needed a little support in a single area. We are EATING OURSELVES if we hire like this.
in response to this there've been a lot of reactions proving my point, but i want to single out one thing: i've seen a rebuke that this is me advocating for them to "artificially inflate" the price. but all pricing on digital goods IS artificial, because you are selling an item you have infinity of.
Gonna link back to this but just start a Ghost blog or something at this point, its never been easier. aftermath.site/website-musk...
Currently watching a ton of vocal coach reactions/analysis videos for Kpop Demon Hunters and loving learning about all the creative and technical intricacies in both vocal performance and music production 😮😮😮
Just a heads up. I was able to schedule my COVID vaccine appointment. Online it will ask “do you have a condition that puts you at high risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19 virus.” Click yes and it will allow you to schedule an appointment. No questions asked. No proof required. Pass it on.
I recommend this place for a good grab and go thing to eat!
I haven't watched Episode 1 in a hot minute but I'm pretty sure this is about how it went down between Watto and Qui-Gon
CLAIRE
The time between reading this and seeing the search results were sheer bliss.
Lossless Cut is one of my favorite pieces of software, it's basically a wrapper for FFMPEG that lets you trim video files without reencoding them. I use it every day I updated it and it now features a watermelon icon that goes here. Happy to see that. mifi.no/palestine/
Hahahahaha amaaaazing 😂😂😂
This makes so much sense to me! I always thought that I was just doing something wrong and/or my perception was just weird—I never felt 100% confident when putting things "out of sync" 😅
I didn't know that! I sometimes will nudge the video so it starts 2 frames before the beat!
Hahahahahaha oh no
Anyway, watch the trailer for The Matrix Reloaded by movie trailer industry legend Phil Daccord. Tap your fingers to the beat to see when/where things sync and when they do and don’t cut on the music beat. Absolutely spectacular music sync and editing 🔥
The other way to cut to the beat is to sync up an action within a shot to a moment in the music. There’s a LOT of creative ways you can do this which make a trailer feel good. A mix of putting cuts on the beat and syncing music to things within a shot can make things very dynamic and unpredictable!
Pro editing tip: There are MANY ways to “cut to the beat" The first way most do it is cutting to a new shot on the beat. The problem is this can get predictable very fast. Also sometimes (at least for me) cutting on the moment the waveform peaks doesn’t look/feel right, but 2 frames off does.
It’s like looking into a mirror 🫠
Released a new tool: Blendo Video Tools github.com/blendogames/... Very basic gui for FFMPEG... so that I don't need to memorize any more command-lines... enjoy!! 🙌
Seriously though, the worst part of my job is I can’t casually listen to music for 98% of the process.
Late to the party, but yup that’s a darn good movie that really got me like 😭😍😭
then die
Hi authors! Please remember to file a claim!
cool country we've got here
I know a fair number of women who want to have kids but they can't find a decent single man to have them with. I think this is common. Although I find "raising the fertility rate" to be a bad, creepy goal, it's pretty clear to me that achieving that goal requires changing men, not changing women.
The Picture Purrfect Update is out now! It’s FREE! On Switch, PC, XBOX, PS4 + PS5! GO GO GO! 🚨 🚨 🚨
Ah, darn. If the laptop and desktop specs are similar then that’s another thing to rule out ^^; If it’s across multiple video editing softwares then it would have to be some system related thing. Sorry I don’t have more helpful suggestions! 😓
Could it be a hard drive speed issue? Are you editing from very large MP4 files? Or what format are your video files?
Yeah it was super fun! The sequel looks like it'll continue the logical trajectory 🤪
To the trailer editor who synced the dog’s panting to the beat of the music, I see you 🐶
This seems like a @bestofdyingtwit.bsky.social post 🤪
LOL they could not indict a ham sandwich “Prosecutors Fail to Secure Indictment Against Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agent” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/u...
As a parent to a child who required intervention nearly three years ago bc she was teetering on the brink and needed us to step in… the rage I feel in my heart at this is very nearly blinding. Fuck ChatGPT. Throw it into goddamn Mt Doom. Destroy it. Destroy the culture around it.
Another thing about k pop demon hunters: if you make and market media directly for young women you will make insane money. But these things are only funded once in a blue moon &when they are a lot of old men in suits act surprised and then they will go back to funding something for men again
Situations like this are part of why I quit doing marketing consultations. Some devs ignore all reasonable advice and do whatever they want. They think they're are the exception and can get away with it 🙄 Later, they even apologize for not listening to me. Thinking I was personally attacking them 😮💨
We're not at the end of the year yet so there is still time for some surprises but here are four of the best game key arts unveiled so far in 2025. We'll vote for a winner in December so if you see any good new ones let me know! Not judging the games, but specifically the key art.
CW: suicide This is absolutely horrifying and OpenAI should be sued into the ground
basically: if you feel so strongly about a creative choice that you feel INTENSELY you have to ignore the advice of everyone around you, just go with it. if you don't feel strongly, you need to get to a place where you CAN before you can even make that decision
I think these trailers work so well because THEY GO SO HARD which seems to fit the vibe of the game. Most games’ vibes don’t give them license to do this and most people don't have the ability to execute to this level 🔥 Also, the logos are up suuuuuper quick and feed into the editing philosophy
this breaks my heart. when you're that young you don't know the difference. when you're that young, asking for help feels like reaching across an endless ocean.
Ages ago I started a blog post I never finished which had the answers to the questions I was always being asked for these assignments 🫠 The Zoom call idea is soooooo much better
It's that time of year again when I need to call out professors and teachers who keep asking their students to cold email developers to interview them for a class assignment. Stop assigning this to students. No really. STOP. Please stop. I have other suggestions for you- stay with me...
I trailer'd this! Be sure to check out My Child New Beginnings in November 🫂 youtu.be/ZohWAu2WaxA?...
omg I don’t remember this friendo, but I can’t wait to meet more in Silksong 😍
So OFFICIAL LOOKING 🤪
I made this fan trailer years ago because I thought the official trailers were terrible 🤪
Hahahahahaha
I’d love to do this with some AAA games 😅
As much as a good edit can work for you, a bad edit can work against you! Your audience might not understand editing but they FEEL it and if you have the budget, hiring or consulting an editor can make sure your game looks its best for the big debut I am available for hire 😅
Hawk's right, this is war. Panther's right, we can't kill civilians. Hawk's right- Panther's right- Hawk's- Panther's- Ha- Pan-
Mine was a Mac Plus inherited from my older sister who used it in college. It had no hard drive, so when playing "Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego?" I had to do a lot of floppy disk swapping. Later we got a 13MB hard drive and being able to install the game was such a sea change 😄
Yes! steamcommunity.com/games/593110...
Is anyone else watching more game trailers live on Steam store pages since Valve updated the video player? Before the update if I saw a Steam page linked here I’d go to YouTube to search for the trailer and watch it there rather than watch it in the native player 🤪
Was so fun to chat with @gothbosscat.bsky.social about marketing tips and future predictions!
I love making logos for games! I always try to design logos that are simple but cartoony, shiny and fun! Sometimes they're a bit scrappy and made in a rush (for a game jam for example)! I've made so many in the past MANY YEARS in games, from board games to mobile games! #gamedev
I think I started in 1st grade and likely ended after elementary school. I’d usually say “under guard” instead because “under god” is weird especially to a non-religious kid. But also, this Calvin and Hobbes strip gave me another alternative to rotate through 🤪
I just wanted to see how bad it really was. perfect, adobe. no notes. great tech.
Terrific game.
i don't know about you but i sure as hell didn't become a game dev to make money, so why are we the ones being punished by ceos and shareholders? who's going to be left to make the very product lining your big pockets you dipshits
dora is one of the loveliest people i've had the honor of working with, which is saying a lot because i've gotten to work with some amazing people. she's so brilliant and sharp, yet deeply empathetic and encouraging of her team. pls hire her!! 💖
If you haven’t played Clair Obscur yet, it’s really great for relatively short sessions! I’d play about an hour a night and feel like I got a nice amount of gameplay and story.
got this question on the steam forum the other day.... when the first screenshot for the the game.... store.steampowered.com/app/2666920/...
I'm seriously overbooked very often for my consulting for underrepresented devs, but I can 100% vouch for @richiedewit.bsky.social's knowledge. No harm in trying both of us, either, by the way. Take any perspective or information you can!
Yessssss, I love seeing more spotlights on game trailer making folks! Jason was in the Game Trailer Microtalks panel I put together at this year’s GDC 😄
“Plus, he can like, cut guns in half with his mind!”
Game dev cycles are epitome of the whole “It takes one person 10 months to gestate a baby. You can’t gestate a baby in 1 month with 10 people.”
"no wonder developers are afraid of admitting they use AI" good. be afraid. let that fear drive you to make better decisions in life than using AI
Folks reasonably assume footage from behind-the-scenes featurettes are "truth", but it is now standard practice for studios to alter footage from "making-of" videos. (These gray screens are actually blue screens on the set of "Superman" (2025).)
I watched my older sisters play it and it was TERRIFYING. The occasional random skull jump scares were downright evil 😅
Came here to say this, except for the black and white version of Uninvited on Mac 😱
Trump doesn't seem to see that some people are still immune to his threats. Jack White criticized Trump's Oval Office decor. The White House then called White a "washed-up, has-been loser... masquerading as a real artist." And White, undeterred, posted an absolutely blistering takedown in response.
And on the subject of #realartatters: AI poisoning tool NIGHTSHADE is now free for artists to use: venturebeat.com/ai/nightshad...
The first big publisher that decides not to spend $100m on one AAA game and instead spends $20m on five AA games, or even $10m on 10 games, is going to make so much money...and they'll all pretend it's some amazing new business model rather than just How It Used To Work Before You Broke It.
When people complain games budgets are out of control, look at where the money’s going
I’d take that but for Jacques Pepin ❤️ This is bar none the best of his videos 😄
👀👀👀
Whoa!
Shameless self plug, 14 years ago I used the MGS2 theme at the end of this fan trailer and transitioned into the MGS3 theme because OF COURSE. youtu.be/l7gr5XC31Rc?...
How on earth did the Metal Gear Delta trailers avoid using the finale of the MGS3 main theme!? IT’S RIGHT THERE BEGGING TO BE CUT INTO A TRAILER. youtu.be/WWZ6wOo19WQ?...
reposting the very old sad blanket dog even though there's another heat wave and i'm tired
this is genius @islandgardener.bsky.social @kateross.bsky.social
If you went to film school in the 2000s they issued the Spike Jonze/Chris Cunningham/Michel Gondry one to you like it was a rifle in the army.
Latest trailer work! A 3 player co-op dungeon crawler filled with mystery, monsters and puzzles (lot's of cooking as well).
If the AI bubble really is bursting, please take this lesson from it: Nothing marketed to you this relentlessly is ever worth it. If it was, they wouldn’t need to beg you.
Yessssss, I love seeing more spotlights on game trailer making folks! Jason was in the Game Trailer Microtalks panel I put together at this year’s GDC 😄
It’s true, but as a trailer maker I can’t help but want the finesse of the trailers to match that of their respective games 😅
Hahahahaha true true
lolol
YEAH! Tell press the numbers so they can write about them. Put them in your Steam description. But in a trailer it comes across as weirdly cheap! Best-case scenario, people think "cool, that's a big number", but worst-case scenario, it sounds like you're running out of selling points
Borderlands' ONE MILLION GUNS and No Man's Sky's 18 Quintillion Worlds are the only other exception, because they're so absurdly large it's saying something different than a game that says "40 bosses!"
Anyway, here's an old video I made about why quantifying your game's content in your trailer is not terribly compelling.