Rockstar released a new trailer for Grand Theft Auto V today, this time focusing on the robust functionality and features implemented into the video editor for the PC version. Gamers get to see what sort of tools will be at their disposal and just how complex they can make some of their movies.
Rockstar wasn't kidding about the director mode. I'll admit that I was somewhat cautious about the feature. I thought it was going to be a little more... janky? My expectations were set by the previous Rockstar video editor from GTA IV. I had trouble imagining that editor quickly switching out actors and props for recording purposes. However, based on this video, the director mode looks far more comprehensive than I originally imagined.
Players can essentially pull any of the characters out of the core GTA V experience and have them partake in any activities that they want. What's more is that you can even add special effects and modifiers to the director mode. For example, you can have characters hit other characters and spawn an explosion, or some other wacky effect. This could make it exceptionally easy to re-create over-the-top fight scenes from movies like The Matrix or Sucker Punch.
Another thing I was curious about was how the director mode would work with animals. It was previously mentioned in a press release that GTA V on PC would allow players to manipulate animals for the purpose of machinima, but I had no idea how that was actually going to work. As you know, animals have a completely different in-game skeletal and animation setup from the humans. In the past, there were a lot of glitches associated with getting some animals to work properly in GTA IV mods. It appears as though the animals are fully functional and operational within the video editor, though, and they're surprisingly convincing.
While some gamers have already been using GTA V to recreate some machinima with the home consoles, they had to jump through a lot of hoops to get it all working right and proper. At this juncture they'll no longer have to rely on needing several friends to work the camera dollies or setup various shots that are impossible to capture if you're playing alone.
If you already pre-loaded GTA V for PC you'll be able to dabble with the video editor starting at 7:00pm EST. If you're in Europe you'll be able to get your hands on the game at midnight heading into April 14th. If you were unlucky enough not to pre-load the game from last week, you'll have to download a massive 59GB installation. I imagine the Steam servers will be slowed to a crawl state over the next few days due to all the players trying to download the game so be prepared to wait.
