Before we begin with what might give birth to a new Coppola, Kubrick or perhaps John Woo I'd like to say that this guide should in no way be taken as the definitive approach on how to make game movies. There are many ways to acomplishing a goal, and this is one such way.

I, like many others, find it entertaining not only to watch movies but also to make movies about what goes on inside our favorite games. I am also the kind of person who will answer any question about something I think I know something about with an as complete answer as I can. This is, I believe, somewhat reflected in this guide. It was originally not written on the request of anybody else, but is rather my attempt to try to share some of the knowledge I've gained about these things. It is also my hope that others will contribute with their knowledge, insights and commentary in order to provide even better conditions for movie making.

In this guide I have chose to use nothing but applications freely available for download via the internet. The reason is that I do not wish anybody to be left out because they either can't afford commercial applications or they do not wish to acquire such applications through doubtful means. This places some limits on what the guide touches upon. Aesthetically speaking no advanced tutorials will be given, since they usually require applications which seldom are free of charge.

Those who are interested in more advanced applications might want to check out the soon to be published basic Adobe Premiere guide I'm writing (or check the links section for tips on other sites offering help and tips) . That guide will build on much of the things described in this guide though. There are other advanced digital video editing applications such as for example Adobe After Effects and Sonic Foundry's Vegas and Apple's Final Cut Pro for the Macintosh users. Links to the sites of these applicatons are found in the links section. Often there is some form of demo which may be tried for free for a limited period of time.

I've chosen to call this guide Q3A-engine based games movie tutorial for basically two reasons. The first being that I originally started writing the english version of this guide before I started with the swedish version. That version, however, was completed before this one, but I decided to keep the name. The other reason is that the guide is usefull for many of the games based on the Quake 3 Arena engine. Like Return to Castle Wolfenstein as well as Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Call of Duty.

Finally I will admit that the guide is pretty lenghty, but I figured that when I took the time to write this guide I wanted to do it properly and leave a minimum of questions unanswered. The amount of text might be discouraging, but I want you to recall what your elementary school teacher used to say regarding your homework: "Yes, but there are alot of pictures as well." That might not have been true of your homework, but in this case it's actually true. I promise.
If there should happen to be any questions after having read this guide, and I hope there will be, I can be reached via the Contact / Forum section.

Ok, time to start making movies.

Record a demo -->