Gaming is a huge part of today’s pop culture. Storytelling in games like Uncharted and The Last of Us can now rival the cinematic storytelling of great films. There are many parallels in the world of filmmaking and video-gaming culture. So much so, that gaming montages have become a staple of the online video and competitive gaming scene.
Whether a montage is used to show off your best skills, hype up a competition or parody gaming montages themselves, the time and effort put into them can create truly amazing results.
Plus, it’s a nice excuse to show off your mastery of that new XBOX or PS4 you got in December.
Here’s how to create your own gaming montage:
Step 1: Capture Gaming Video
The first step is to capture your gameplay footage. This is usually accomplished by using a video capture card. Once you have hooked everything up, you can start recording your gameplay footage. Try to think of the type of montage you want to create. For this video we’re going with a classic Call of Duty sniper montage.
Setup is relatively simple; however, how good you are at the game depends entirely on you.
Step 2: Import and Trim Your Video
Fire up your video editor of choice and import your captured gameplay footage. Gameplay footage is usually captured in .mp4 format so any modern editing software should be able to handle it well.
Start looking through your footage for your best gameplay. Trim out the dull and uninteresting bits until you have a highlight-reel worthy collection of clips.
Step 3: Choose Your Music
Like any good classic video montage, music plays an integral role in giving your video an energy and mood. You can make your gameplay look even more impressive by cutting to high points in the track.
Any gaming montage takes a page out of the action cam book of video editing. For this example, we’re going to follow suit and choose a dubstep style track.
We’re using a song called “The End is Near” from Youtube’s free Audio Library.
Step 4: Cut to Your Music
The benefit of using dubstep as our music is that dubstep tends to be very versatile when it comes to editing. Your video can be as slow or as chaotic as you want, while keeping a constant energy.
Make cuts at points where the music shifts and add intense transitions to the tune of the song. This will connect the on-screen action to the music and make for a better montage.
Step 5: Add a Cinematic Touch
It’s time to get creative. Be sure to have the latest version of TotalFX installed to make sure you keep your options open.
We’ll use this video for reference: A Call of Duty Sniper Montage
Right from the start, we can see this player’s use of vignetting, gradient tints, dream glows and a few video effects like bleach bypass and lens distortion.
As for transitions, they range anywhere from simple light dims to glowing transitions and dynamic zooms.
It’s a good idea to pepper your gaming montage with a few of these effects. Remember that these videos are meant to be fun. It’s also good to remember to add your own flair to these to set them apart from others.
Here is my result. Short and sweet:
Effects Used: Vignette, Gradient Tint, Tint, Diffusion, RGB Shift, Glow Pro
