[Tutorial] How to make/view/export your own Halo Spartans in Blender

[Jeffw773]

The following video will help users inexperienced/experienced with Blender quickly build their dream Halo Infinite armor set (as well as other armor sets from the other games at the bottom of this post). This can be helpful for brainstorming cool cosplay ideas, experimenting with paint jobs and attachment placement, zooming up close anywhere you want for cosplay references, and exporting the pieces you want straight to STL (or any other format you want).

The video above has timestamps to help guide you to the spot you are wanting to find and is aimed at people who have never used Blender before so that it is as accessible to everyone as possible. The pack shown in the video will be updated over time with added improvements like posing and future armor sets.

Helpful sections for cosplay:
00:00 Introduction on how to use the file and Blender and start building your Spartan (for cosplay planning)
05:23 Coloring your spartan armor pieces (To see how certain colors look on certain parts before painting them irl)

[TUTORIAL] How to export individual armor pieces as STL (or other formats)
1: Build the armor combo you like

2: Click the model you want to export

3: File > Export > (format of your choosing)

4: Make sure you check the "Selection Only" checkbox before selecting Export

5: Now you have extracted only the model you had selected (can work on multiple at a time for action figures)

Just repeat these steps until you have all the 3d models of your armor set that you need to begin getting them prepped for 3D printing!

Also, if you are wanting to know how to pose the Spartans in the Halo Infinite pack I made a quick rundown video on that here:

An additional video showing you how to easily create custom camo patterns with whatever colors you want is now here! (Includes link to over 1,200+ camo patterns to try on your Spartan)

I really hope this tutorial is helpful for you cosplayers out there. The 405th is amazing and I love you all!
Ping me on here or on discord at the Halo Archive for help.

Halo Archive Discord Invite Link:
Join the The Halo Archive Discord Server!

Big thanks to Surasia who put this pack together and Average Goblin Enthusiast who created the shader.

ADDITIONAL PACKS:
These packs listed below work very similarly to the Infinite pack shown in the video and should also help with Cosplay references!

[Halo 2A MP Spartans]
Created By Chiefster

H2A MP Spartans.zip

drive.google.com

[Halo 2A MP Weapons]
Created By Chiefster

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ncbk0667zzh21e4jDw5BHumGcdBjK-1X/view?

[Halo 3 Spartans]
Created By: @chiefster
"Halo 3 Spartans pack with all MCC armors (including pre-MCC techsuit), pre-setup textures, rig and shading. Preview render by qwerty-70 (trollface not included)"

Halo 3 Spartans.zip

drive.google.com

[Halo 3 Weapons]
Created by: @chiefster
"All Halo 3 MCC weapon skins with pre-setup textures, rigs and shading."

Halo 3 MCC Weapon Skins.zip

drive.google.com

[Halo 4 Spartans]
Created By: @chiefster
"Halo 4 Multiplayer Spartans with with all armors (including DLC), pre-setup textures, rig and shading.
Halo 4 Multiplayer Spartans.zip"

[Halo 4 UNSC Weapons]
Created By: @chiefster
"Halo 4 UNSC Weapons with pre-setup textures, rig and shading."

UNSC Weapons.zip

drive.google.com

[Halo 4 Covenant Weapons]
Created By Chiefster

Halo 4 - Covenant Weapons.zip

drive.google.com

[Halo Reach Elites]
Created by: @chiefster
"Halo: Reach Elites with all armors, pre-setup textures, rig and shading."

Reach Elites.zip

drive.google.com

[Halo Reach Spartans]
Created By: @chiefster
"Halo: Reach Spartans with all armors, pre-setup textures, rig and shading."

Reach Spartans.zip

drive.google.com

[Halo Reach Covenant Weapons]
Created By: @chiefster
"Halo: Reach Covenant weapons with pre-setup textures, rig and shading."

Covenant Weapons.zip

drive.google.com

[Halo Reach UNSC Weapons]
Created By @chiefster
"Halo: Reach UNSC Weapons with pre-setup textures, rig and shading."

UNSC Weapons.zip

drive.google.com

[Halo Infinite Marine Pack]
Created By Vat

https://mega.nz/folder/u5cGGRYC#sabZ1-uMaMkO-wL8FsXQwA

[Halo Infinite UNSC Weapons]
Created By: @joλquin
All UNSC weapons in Halo Infinite setup using Average Goblin Enthusiast's shader

Halo_Infinite_UNSC_Weapons.zip

drive.google.com

[Halo Infinite Banished Weapons]
Created By: SilentMeow aka Joquin

Halo_Infinite_Banished_Weapons.zip

drive.google.com

Halo 5 Spartan Pack (Likely lots of errors since H5 stuff can be goofy, but credit to ApexRainbow163 for putting this together!)

Halo 5 Armor Pack - Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[Arc64]

Very interesting! Will this work for MCC models, as well?

 

[Jeffw773]

Very interesting! Will this work for MCC models, as well?

It does! I can post links to those packs as well here in a few minutes so stay tuned!

 

[Jeffw773]

Very interesting! Will this work for MCC models, as well?

I have updated the post to also include other game-accurate Blender packs made by wonderful and smart people in my group to help with cosplay reference material!

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Wow. This is really cool.

 

[KGSupreme]

I couldn't start posing anything from the Halo 3 Spartans pack, have not tried the others yet. Am I doing something wrong or has the rigging not been done on these? Willing to learn how to if needed

 

[Jeffw773]

I couldn't start posing anything from the Halo 3 Spartans pack, have not tried the others yet. Am I doing something wrong or has the rigging not been done on these? Willing to learn how to if needed

I will likely make a different video on rigging entirely, but all of what I've posted has been rigged. To enable rigging mode click the Armature object at the list on the top right of the Blender screen and you should see it highlighted now in the viewport. With your mouse hovered in the center area of the screen press TAB to go to Edit mode. Near the top left there should be an drop down menu that says "Object Mode". Change that to "Pose Mode". Now that you are in pose mode you can click on the various bone segments and use the Move/Rotate tool on the left side panel to move and rotate the body parts all about!

Hope this helps at all. It's a bit more advanced than clicking checkboxes and altering colors so I figured I'd leave that out for now. When I make a new video on posing I'll be sure to update this thread

 

[Waltimusprime]

super cool

 

[KGSupreme]

I will likely make a different video on rigging entirely, but all of what I've posted has been rigged. To enable rigging mode click the Armature object at the list on the top right of the Blender screen and you should see it highlighted now in the viewport. With your mouse hovered in the center area of the screen press TAB to go to Edit mode. Near the top left there should be an drop down menu that says "Object Mode". Change that to "Pose Mode". Now that you are in pose mode you can click on the various bone segments and use the Move/Rotate tool on the left side panel to move and rotate the body parts all about!

Hope this helps at all. It's a bit more advanced than clicking checkboxes and altering colors so I figured I'd leave that out for now. When I make a new video on posing I'll be sure to update this thread

At least for the Halo 3 Spartans, when I go into pose mode and try to move an arm or leg the skeleton moves but the armor stays in default T-pose.

 

[PlanetAlexander]

At least for the Halo 3 Spartans, when I go into pose mode and try to move an arm or leg the skeleton moves but the armor stays in default T-pose.

It seems to be working for me. Have a look at the modifiers tab with an armour part of the spartan selected. Does it have this modifier?

 

[Arc64]

So I'm not even getting the Halo 3 Spartans file to open. I get a greyed out, blank Blender window and then it closes. Is there a setting I need to look for to make it work in Blender or something?

 

[Jeffw773]

So I'm not even getting the Halo 3 Spartans file to open. I get a greyed out, blank Blender window and then it closes. Is there a setting I need to look for to make it work in Blender or something?

I would make sure that your Blender is updated. I just downloaded that linked file and opened it in my updated version of blender and it works perfectly

 

[Arc64]

I would make sure that your Blender is updated. I just downloaded that linked file and opened it in my updated version of blender and it works perfectly

Aha, there we go! I thought my version of Blender looked rather dated. Thank you!

 

[Jeffw773]

Aha, there we go! I thought my version of Blender looked rather dated. Thank you!

Figured that's what it was! Glad it's working now

 

[Arc64]

So a follow-up question regarding Reach visors; I've been looking around for a way to change the color of my ODST helmet visor but I can't seem to find the right shader path, would someone be able to point me in the right direction? I feel like it's something really obvious but I can't be sure.

EDIT: Found it!

 

[Jeffw773]

So a follow-up question regarding Reach visors; I've been looking around for a way to change the color of my ODST helmet visor but I can't seem to find the right shader path, would someone be able to point me in the right direction? I feel like it's something really obvious but I can't be sure.

EDIT: Found it!

For future users wondering this. The process carries over to almost all the packs.
1. Click the Shading Tab
2. Click the part of the armor you want to color
3. Go to the Material Properties tab
4. Select the Visor material layer
5. Find and change the color zones until you find the one that is the color of the visor

You can also go a step further and edit the Metallic and Roughness values directly underneath those color zones and it will make it look more reflective or plastic depending on what you are going for

 

[uwunice]

Hi! Thank you so much for sharing all these files! Save me quite the google on how to do it myself...haha.
I have a question though, Is there a way to export all the blender materials as textures?
I'm looking to grab one of the models and put it on unity...but I can't really find a way to "transform" the materials on blender into a 2d texture...
Is there a way? or am I gonna have paint them myself on a different software...I'm really interested, Cheers!

 

[PlanetAlexander]

Hi! Thank you so much for sharing all these files! Save me quite the google on how to do it myself...haha.
I have a question though, Is there a way to export all the blender materials as textures?
I'm looking to grab one of the models and put it on unity...but I can't really find a way to "transform" the materials on blender into a 2d texture...
Is there a way? or am I gonna have paint them myself on a different software...I'm really interested, Cheers!

There should be a way to export all the "packed" files in a Blender file by going to File at the top, then I think the tab you want is called "External Files".
Edit:

 

[KGSupreme]

At least for the Halo 3 Spartans, when I go into pose mode and try to move an arm or leg the skeleton moves but the armor stays in default T-pose.

I did end up updating my Blender, and now things work as I expected. All good

 

[WhiskeyHammer]

This is actually really awesome. I need to give this a try when I'm back on my PC. Been wanting to do this for a while now.