Video production for games companies

What this is about

Capture depends on a build, and builds move. Placeholder assets, missing effects and debug overlays sit in the same scene you need for the hero shot, so the capture plan has to name a build version and a freeze date the studio can actually hold. The announcement beat is external: a showcase or a store update sets the embargo, and material cannot appear before it, which also governs who may see the cut. Platform holders add requirements for store assets — what a trailer must display, which rating marks belong on it, which claims are allowed. Spoiler control cuts across all of it, because narrative teams decide what the world may know at this point in the campaign.

Sector routine beats general experience: knowing the field's approval paths and constraints produces more realistic plans than more shoot days without that context.

What runs differently here

In planning terms, that means:

• Every capture session is tied to a named build: a hotfix between sessions changes lighting, UI or animation and breaks continuity across shots you already have
• Debug overlays, placeholder textures and unfinished effects have to be listed per scene before capture, because removing them in post is rarely possible
• Showcase and store embargoes decide when material may be shown and to whom — review links included, which changes how approval rounds are run
• Platform requirements for store trailers cover rating marks, legal lines and what must appear on screen, and a rejected asset delays a launch page
• Narrative teams gate spoilers per beat, so a level that is playable internally may still be unshowable in this campaign phase

What the plan has to deliver

A production plan is useful to this role when it provides the following:

• A named build version with a freeze window, agreed with the engineering lead before capture days are booked
• A capture spec per scene: resolution, frame rate, camera mode, HUD state and which effects must be final
• An embargo map showing which cut may be seen by whom, and which delivery goes to which platform

Common pitfalls

What most often goes wrong in practice:

• Capturing across two builds and cutting shots that no longer match in lighting or interface
• Promising a cinematic moment from a level the narrative team has not cleared for this beat
• Discovering platform asset requirements after the trailer is graded and mastered

With TillyGen

TillyGen turns the trailer briefing into a scene list with build version, capture spec and embargo status attached, so a hotfix or a moved showcase shows immediately which shots have to be recaptured.

Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.