Murder Detective 2 Promo Video (short version)

Our client asked us to create them a video for Murder Detective 2.  This is the cut-down 1 minute version.  Originally the video was nearly 4 minutes – I thought I was Francis Ford Coppola.

The biggest hurdle for me initially was acquiring the game footage from the iPad.  I eventually discovered something called Reflector, a PC or Mac based tool that lets you capture the footage streamed by later versions of iOS.  I did have a number of problems with the software though, specifically related to the MP4 format it outputs.  Even with the right codecs installed, it was uneditable in Premiere Elements.  Also, I needed to rotate the footage.  I spoke to the guys who created Reflector, who were helpful – but unable to resolve the issues.  I figured out a work-around for these issues, something I will post when I get around to making a ‘how to’ section on this site.

The video was edited in Premiere Elements and overlaid to a static background drawn in PhotoShop.  The audio was the theme created by the guys at 93Steps studio.

The video shows some of the 3D animations I created for the game.  I created them using motion capture data sourced from Mixamo.  They’re quite basic, but I was quite pleased with how they turned out.  Incidentally, the guy carrying the body is me – probably the only chance I’ll get to appear in the movies.  If we do another one of these games, we intend to use motion capture data for everything, including any in-game characters.