Game trailers are often produced like short films: a publisher or developer supplies a brief and game-world references, then a studio such as DIGIC develops the story into a 3D animatic before building performances, characters, environments, effects, and final images. The exact balance depends on the project and how much creative latitude the client gives the studio.
How does a game trailer project begin?
DIGIC says a project may arrive as a treatment, storyboard, or complete script. Its account-management team coordinates with the client, while the creative team works out how the material fits the game’s world, characters, locations, tone, and marketing purpose. Some clients bring a detailed concept and specific character requests; others invite the studio to contribute ideas. DIGIC describes this range in its production-process interview.
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That collaboration matters because a cinematic is not simply a record of gameplay. It must communicate something about the game while respecting the owner’s vision. For the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla trailer discussed by DIGIC, the team considered the scenario’s historical setting, locations, characters, battle, and atmosphere as it planned the look and action. The studio does not claim that it always originates a trailer’s story or receives a complete set of finished game assets.
Why make a 3D animatic before full production?
Once the story direction is understood, the team can develop a 3D animatic: a rough animated version of the film that makes its structure visible before every shot is fully built. DIGIC describes preparation as including story development, previs, motion-capture shooting, 3D animation, and visual development. The animatic helps establish runtime, locations, events, cuts, and shots, so the client and production team can assess the film’s shape early.
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt cinematic offers a concrete example. Working from a detailed storyboard and game references supplied by CD Projekt RED, DIGIC blocked the major beats of a battle into an animatic. The intended story was not merely that Geralt defeats monsters: it was to show that monster-hunting is difficult and costly, in keeping with the game’s dark tone. The studio’s breakdown of the production describes how those choices informed the finished sequence.
How are performances created?
DIGIC says it uses motion capture in most of its films. Actors or stunt performers act out movement, often with directors shaping the choreography during the capture session. The recorded movement is then applied to digital characters; it is a performance resource, not a shortcut that eliminates animation or character work. DIGIC’s FAQ says its VICON T160 camera system is used mainly for its own films and that its motion-capture services can include recording, asset creation, data cleaning, and retargeting.
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For The Witcher 3, the studio describes using body capture, head-mounted facial footage, and voice timing to support the characters’ performances. Geralt’s design was guided by the game’s art direction and materials. The team adjusted the digital character to accommodate the stunt performer and capture-driven animation, with modeling and animation teams iterating together. The example shows why recorded movement still needs to be interpreted and refined to fit a specific character.
How do specialists build the finished images?
After the story and performances take shape, multiple disciplines contribute to the shots. DIGIC has described separate character, location, animation, effects, and compositing divisions. Depending on the film, that work may include modeling and texturing, environment construction, lighting, simulations, editing, and final compositing.
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Environments and effects
The Witcher 3 production combined traditional 3D with projection painting, scanned objects and ground patches, stock footage, and matte paintings, assembled in Nuke. The breakdown also describes Houdini for procedural environment and effects work and Yeti instancing for a particular dust effect. Those are techniques from one production, not a recipe used in every DIGIC trailer.
Camera, lighting, and compositing
A different brief can produce a very different visual language. In DIGIC’s Rainbow Six Siege: The Playbook case study, the film blended cinematic styles into a story of team conflict. Its director describes handheld camera work and rapid editing for the action; the lighting and compositing lead explains how the team kept a consistent tone across eight locations and used Nuke for grading and iterative changes. See DIGIC’s case study.
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Tools vary by task and project
DIGIC’s FAQ lists a broad toolkit: Maya for animation and some hard-surface modeling; ZBrush for organic modeling and sculpting; BodyPaint, Modo, and Photoshop for texturing; Mari for some 2.5D projection; Nuke for compositing; Arnold for rendering; FumeFX and Houdini for effects; Yeti, nHair, and Syflex for hair, fur, and simulations; Marvelous Designer and nCloth for clothing and cloth; Massive Prime for crowds; and Adobe Premiere and DaVinci Resolve for editing. The FAQ does not date each software disclosure, so this is the toolkit the studio lists there—not a verified inventory for every current production.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How long does it take to make a game trailer?
There is no fixed production duration. GamesBeat reports that third-party trailer work can begin around the middle of a game’s development, and quotes DIGIC head of creative István Zorkóczy saying, “Producing a high-quality trailer can span several months.” The article gives scope-specific examples: at least four to five months for a decent film, and as long as a year for a project involving 40–50 minutes of cutscenes. These are attributed estimates, not a minimum schedule for every short trailer. Runtime, the number of characters and environments, and overall complexity all affect the work. GamesBeat’s account of trailer production also distinguishes early marketing, launch, intro, and in-game-asset-based trailer formats, which have different production needs.
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Why do trailers from the same studio look different?
The brief determines more than what happens on screen: it shapes the camera language, pace, performance approach, and mix of visual techniques. The Playbook’s handheld, fast-cut action and multi-location grading serve a different assignment from The Witcher 3’s dark, story-led battle and capture-supported character work. A production may rely on motion capture, keyframe animation, or a hybrid, but DIGIC’s public accounts do not quantify how many shots use each method. Likewise, the choice between full 3D, scans, projection work, stock footage, matte paintings, and procedural effects is project-specific.
What does this process reveal about DIGIC?
DIGIC’s examples show a cinematic emerging through collaboration: the game owner’s materials and guidance establish the creative boundaries; an animatic makes the story’s structure reviewable; performers and animators shape character movement; and specialist teams build and finish the images. DIGIC describes itself on its portfolio page as a 24-year-old animation studio in 2026; that is the studio’s own description, not an independently audited founding date. DIGIC’s portfolio presents work across that period.
For viewers interested in watching the finished cinematics, DIGIC directs fans to its YouTube channel. The studio says it does not own rights to the cinematics or soundtrack music; soundtrack inquiries should go to the game’s publisher. DIGIC’s FAQ explains those rights and viewing pointers.
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