Breaking Into the Counter-Strike Workshop

Starting From Scratch

Making the jump from Dota 2 to Counter-Strike in early 2015 meant starting from scratch with a whole different beast. The style demands, the animation requirements, everything was different.

I spent that entire year rebuilding my workflow from the ground up and figuring out video editing on the fly. The learning curve was brutal and I constantly felt like I was drowning, but looking back, the growth was insane. I hit milestones I didn't even know existed when I started. Every project forced me out of my comfort zone and made me figure things out fast. There were plenty of nights where I thought I was in over my head, but somehow kept pushing through.

Every project forced me out of my comfort zone and made me figure things out fast. There were plenty of nights where I thought I was in over my head, but somehow kept pushing through.

P90 Oni

This was our first real shot at the Counter-Strike Workshop. I jumped into handling the marketing strategy, which was completely outside my wheelhouse at the time. Looking at it now makes me cringe. The execution was rough around the edges, but you've got to start somewhere. This project taught me what worked and what didn't, setting the foundation for everything that came after. Sometimes your first attempt just needs to exist so you have something to improve on.

SSG08 Eagle Eye

Eagle Eye Our second Workshop project took the lessons from the P90 and actually applied them. We tightened up the workflow and cut out a lot of the unnecessary steps that were slowing us down. Everything came together more smoothly this time. We wrapped it up just weeks after the first one. The quick turnaround showed we were starting to get our act together.

Mac-10 Neon Rider

For our third project, I wanted the marketing to actually match what the skin was about. This became my After Effects playground where I could experiment and push my skills without worrying about breaking anything critical. The results weren't perfect, but they didn't need to be. What mattered was building a pipeline I could actually rely on for future projects. We were cranking these out at this point.

M4A1-S Lionheart

This was when I started taking Source Filmmaker seriously instead of just poking at it. I knew our showcase videos needed more polish if we wanted to stand out in the Workshop. The quality jump wasn't huge yet, but I was laying the groundwork for what would come later. Sometimes you need to invest time in learning new tools before you see the payoff.

MP7 Nemesis Mk. II

This project marked a real shift in how I approached these showcases. I wanted something more cinematic, something that didn't look like every other Workshop video out there. Getting there meant diving deep into Source Filmmaker and making it work for our needs. I converted Counter-Strike assets into formats SFM could actually handle and wrote a custom Python script to automatically apply IK controllers to the character rigs. Without that script, animating would've been a complete nightmare. The results weren't flawless, but they were good enough to set a new baseline for quality.

Desert Eagle Orochi

This showcase was where everything started clicking with Source Filmmaker. I spent a solid month pushing myself hard, experimenting with staging, lighting setups, and rendering techniques to get that cinematic feel I was after. The intro especially hit different, and my editing had finally reached a point where I could sync visuals and audio without it feeling amateur. This became the new standard. Every showcase after this had to at least match this quality or it wasn't shipping.

AK-47 Propaganda

Building on the momentum from Orochi, this showcase was all about reinforcing the weapon's theme through presentation. The goal was creating a complete cinematic experience where every element worked together to sell the skin's identity. Visuals, pacing, and tone all needed to support each other. No more just showing the weapon spinning around with some music slapped on top. Everything needed purpose.

FAMAS Gekko
This brought a major shift in focus. Instead of just making pretty videos, we started creating custom animations that could ship directly with the cosmetic skin. To make that happen, I developed a new workflow using Source Filmmaker that let us animate and export straight into the engine. No more janky conversion processes or losing quality between tools. This streamlined everything and raised the bar for what we could actually deliver.

SSG-08 Dragonfire

Dragonfire was where we finally nailed the balance between in-game and cinematic footage. The transitions were smooth, the pacing felt right, and everything flowed together naturally. We also fixed our audio design, which had been pretty weak in earlier projects like Propaganda. Looking back, this felt like everything I'd learned that year finally coming together. All the late nights and frustration paid off. It ended up being our most successful item, which validated all that effort.

NOVA God Complex

God Complex built on everything Dragonfire taught us. By this point, the workflow was solid enough that I could stop fighting technical problems and actually focus on the craft. The mix of cinematic and gameplay footage felt intentional rather than forced. This one was genuinely fun to work on, and I think that energy shows in the final product. When you're not stressed about whether something will work, you can actually be creative.

PP-Bizon Curse

This project brought a more focused and efficient approach. I refined the capture process by recording gameplay at extremely small timescales, which gave precise control over slow-motion sequences. This meant cleaner, more dramatic moments without adding complexity to the workflow. Sometimes the best improvements are the simple ones that just make your life easier.

AWP Railgun & UMP-45 Overdrive

The Railgun and Overdrive showcases were about refinement, not revolution. We had a solid system that worked, so the focus shifted to efficiency. We tightened the workflow, sped up production, and maintained consistent quality. These projects solidified a pipeline we could actually depend on. No more rebuilding everything from scratch for each project.

The Cost of Growth

By the end of this period, I had a bulletproof pipeline and a workflow I could execute in my sleep. But cramming that much learning into such a short span had consequences. The burnout was real, and there were days I couldn't even look at Source Filmmaker without feeling exhausted. Still, the progress was undeniable. I went from fumbling through basic edits to creating cinematic showcases that actually stood out in the Workshop. The foundation was built, even if it nearly killed me in the process. Sometimes you have to push through the exhaustion to get where you need to be, but the toll it takes is real.

It's funny looking back at all this nearly ten years later. The skills that nearly burned me out became second nature. This year taught me how to learn, how to adapt, and how to push through when everything feels impossible. Sometimes you don't realize you're building a foundation until you're standing on it years later.

#Workshop