In order to use Steam Artwork Showcase a Steam profile of at least level 10 is required. A quick way to achieve Level 10 in Steam is by crafting game badges. Use this site[steam.tools] to determine which game badges are cheap to craft.

The background which will be used is the "Dota Ancients", purchaseable on the Steam Market.

This guide will explain how to obtain an ingame shot that works well with the background.

The result can be seen on my profile:
.
Tools used in this guide are:
OBS[obsproject.com]: Obtaining the ingame shot
GIMP[www.gimp.org] + GAP[lmgtfy.com]: Editing the shot and converting it into a gif.

This guide is built on top of this one. The guide will be about obtaining the shot, cropping it and turning it into a gif.

OBS is a software that allows you to stream or record yourself playing. I refer to YouTube or Google on how to set up OBS. You can also use different software to record. The output file should be 1280x720 @30/60 fps mp4.

In a recent update Valve added a few console commands with it it is possible to record gameplay at a constant framerate with the best quality even if you have low-end hardware. The relevant console commands are "startmovie", "endmovie" and "host_framerate".

More experienced user can use a different resolution however if done so the image later has to be resized which will affect the quality.

If 1280x720 is used the image will be exactly the desired size (506x506) when cropped, no resizing is required.


Launch Dota 2 with the following parameters: -windowed -w 1280 -h 720

-windowed is optional. I prefer it since it is easier to take a peak at the recording software.

It should be possible to play at a higher resolution and record at 1280x720 as long it is 16:9. I haven't however tried it. In the following chapter I'm providing a cfg script that definitely works with 1280x720.


You need to have the console opened. To use the console in Dota 2 go to the option menu, enable the console and bind the console to a key.

Save this pastebin[pastebin.com] as all files and name it artwork.cfg. The directory should be: <SteamApps>\common\dota 2 beta\game\dota\cfg

Now open the console and do the following steps:
1. Write "map dota_683"[i.imgur.com].
This will load the 6.83 map. You should not use the latest dota map since the buildings are located a bit different. If you use the latest map your shot will not be properly aligned with the background.
2. Wait until it finish loading then write: "jointeam good"[i.imgur.com].
This will spawn you on the radiant team. You can now pick a hero.
3. Write "exec artwork"
This will execute the cfg file you previously created. On your numpad you gained 4 keybinds.

1-key shows[i.imgur.com]/hides[i.imgur.com] the HUD, 4-key you can show[i.imgur.com]/hide[i.imgur.com] the fog of war, 2-key adjusts your camera for the shot. With the minus key it is possible to speed through the day/night.


You are now almost ready to take the shot. I assume you have already set up your OBS and are ready to record. To make sure things are properly aligned download this image[i.imgur.com]
This image is your reference. The image was cut out of "Dota Ancients" background and it was resized to 506x506. You can show and hide it in OBS. The space it occupies is exactly how you are going to crop your video later (given you record the video in 1280x720).


Should it be misaligned you can modify your camera by writing this into your console:
dota_camera_set_lookatpos -5315.687500 -5311.193848
Increase/decrease the second value until it is properly aligned. After each day/night cycle the camera gets a bit misaligned.

Now record your scene. The next step is editing your shot.

GIMP + GAP allows you to extract the frames from a mp4 video, edit it and then export it as a gif file. I refer to YouTube or Google on how to set up GIMP + GAP. You can also use a different software to edit your shot. The output file should be 506x506 gif.

First extract the video into GIMP. GAP allows you to do it.
Click on Video -> Split Video into Frames -> Extract Video Range[i.imgur.com]
Should this not work try to record a smaller video, <7 seconds when using 30 fps.

Click on Video Range and determine from which frame to which frame you want to import.
Tick "Create only one multilayer Image". If you make changes to one frame it will be applied to all frames. In this example the video has in total 156 frames. I only want to import frame 22 to 68 to achieve a nice looping effect.

If you recorded your shot in 1280x720 you should crop your image to exactly 506x506. The same size as the display of the Steam Artwork Showcase. Use the reference image to determine where to crop. The last image in chapter "making the shot" should give you a good idea.
You can reduce the height of your image but you cannot increase it. The width should be exactly 506 pixels wide.
Experienced photoshoppers can use the template (credits to this guide. In this picture I'm doing it freehand.
The result of this shot can be seen on Digda. Void was used to sync up all 5 Meepo's idle animation. By modifying cl_weather you can change the weather.

Optimizing the frames for difference[i.imgur.com] greatly reduces the file size[i.imgur.com].

You can now export it as a gif and upload it to your Steam Artwork Showcase.
If your scene was recorded at 60 fps the delay should be 16 milliseconds, at 30 fps 33 milliseconds.

This guide was inspired by this guide. It is detailed over there how you can upload the shot. Using the template over there you can make the remaining 3 smaller displays (100x80).

If you want to edit the map use this[puu.sh]. It is an uncompiled map with the old Roshan pit location. It can be opened with the Workshop Tools used for creating custom games. You can learn over at ModDota[moddota.com] how to modiy the map/import custom hero models if you want to go crazy.

In the screenshots you might notice that the area between the two towers is white. This is a texture bug. Hopefully Valve fixes it in the next update.

Before going through the workload of prettying up your gif (make it loop, optimizing it, etc.) you should export it as a png file and test the image if it is working properly.

Steam claims it accepts gif files up to 10 MB. From my experience the maximum file size is somewhere between 6-7 MB.

I will not answer questions about how to set up OBS or GIMP+GAP. I'll assume it is installed and can be used. If it isn't installed properly I won't be able to help you at troubleshooting it. You will have better result on Google or YouTube.

Prior to this I only knew how to record a video. Now I know how to turn a video into a gif. My photoshop skills are not very deep.

If something is unclear leave a comment. I try my best to give you a good answer.

Please share your result!