lol @ The Nerd
Depends on what sort of cutscene ya mean? There's the pre-rendered sort, which are played back as a video clip. Alternatively there's the pre-scripted type, which is rendered in real-time by the game.
Either method can be done in 2D or 3D. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
Pre-rendered: You have to spend ALOT of time creating the animation sequence then rendering it (or playing the animation) and turn it into a video clip.
Obviously i wont go into every detail cause it depends on the project but making sure you have all the elements in place does take along time etc. So if ya make any dramatic changes you will probably have to re-render th entire clip or certain portions of it and then re-edit the video clip/s
A positive tho is those pre-rendered scenes that are done properly are brilliant to watch.
Pre-scripted: you have to spend alot of time scripting the camera, 'actors' (ie characters and objects) and special effects, but then u use your already up and running game engine to run the scripts and lo and behold a seemless cut-scene that looks and feels exactly like the rest of the game.
good thing about this is any changes u make to the script can quickly be viewed etc. a downside is if ya game graphics arent to die for, then the scripted cut-scene just wont look as polished as a pre-rendered.
So basically, it comes down to the tools and the time you have to create your cutscenes, what effect you are after and what you are capable of doing. Both methods have their own pro's and con's and what i mentioned above doesnt go into too much detail but it's better than nothing i guess.
Hopefully it helps
