How to create your own Halo 2 Models/Renders

[Ephrum]

You're going to need the Halo 2 .map files... (which usually you would rip off your H2 disk from a modded Xbox)

*search google to find clean .map files from Halo 2... they're illegal to distribute... so you'll have to find them on your own*

You're gunna need a copy of Autodesk's 3DS Max 9 (30 day trial can be found at www.autodesk.com )

You're gunna need ADI v2.0.1 to extract the Halo 2 models (meshes) from the maps (mainly... you're gunna extract them from the mainmenu.map)
http://forums.halomods.com/viewtopic.php?t=19301

Along with ADI, you're gunna need the model extractor library for Halo 2...
http://forums.halomods.com/viewtopic.php?t=14577

Ch2r for extracting the bitmaps from the game...
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ch2r/

You're going to need the .dds plugin for Photoshop (so that you can open up the map's .dds texture files in Photoshop... you'll need to convert any .dds file that you want to use to a .bmp or a .jpeg using photoshop... 3DS Max doesn't handel .dds files very well)
http://www.bhmotorsports.com/download/6088

You're gunna want to get the .dds plugin for 3ds Max... as well as the Normal Map Plugins for Photoshop (normal maps are texture maps... they give your low-polly models an actual texture... it's what's used to turn MC's mesh from looking like this... (I would also recomend the .dds thumbnail viewer...)
http://developer.nvidia.com/object/n...ure_tools.html


(Roughly, I've smoothed out a looot of verticies between polygons in that mesh...

Into this...

That Normal map was provided by Jean-Luc from HaloMods.com and Yayap.com... he creates his own AMAZING normal maps and textures... his MC models blow my mind, and I was fortunate enough to get his normal maps before he took them down.


You're going to want to read up and try to understand at least the basics of these tutorials...

http://forums.halomods.com/viewtopic...767088&t=16932
(an elite model... but applying the textures and maps is going to be roughly the same... as well as rigging the model to have bones (envelopes is by far not the easiest way, but it's good to start out with... I'll make a tutorial on how to do it the way I do it in the next few weeks)

http://forums.halomods.com/viewtopic...767088&t=25830

This tutorial is done on a MC model... it's a lot easier to understand... the Elite one's written in semi-broken english... but as of now, it's pretty much the best tutorial out there as far as converting maps and applying them goes... which is kind of shitty. I'll be making my own tutorial eventually for everything, and going into more-detail on how to get your MC to work with the color change and emblem masks... but no need to worry about that now lol...

By no means will your first MC material or render look pretty, it's taken me a LOOOONG ASS TIME to get to where I am right now material wise, and I'm no where near done yet... every time I open 3DS Max and a MC model... I tweak the materials and try to get them to look better.

This is my MC's material as of now... unposed (in the same pose as the meshes above)



And this is what I've got as of now (posed)...


I'm about to start working on my in-game shaders (I've attempted this in the past haha, but every time I get distracted and try to make my MC look better/cleaner then the in-game models... lol)


I made this informational post because I get about 9 million IMs a day asking me what program I use, and how I do it, etc etc... people think it's just like a few clicks of a button, and it's not AT ALL lol... so I figured 'ahh...what the hell... I'll let those who want to learn learn... and if anything just show people what a pain in the ass it really is to work with this stuff'...

There are a few more programs that are better to use for certain things (Like Entity's Bump Map extractor)... but for learning, the Active_Camo_Bump.dds will work just fine until you can tone your materials well enough to really need the difference between the two in normal maps.

Anyway, have fun ****ers hahahahaha.

Post your questions in this thread, and I'll try my best to answer them/help anyone out. But make sure that you read the .txt doccuments that come with the programs and read the threads on HaloMods for how to install and use the programs from that site. If you ask a question that's already been answered by one of those threads/posts, I'm going to just delete it, because this is basically as far as I'm gunna go to help out lazy people who want instant results without taking the time to learn. Legitiment questions can go here... I may even end up making a FAQ section of this thread after a few good questions have been asked, we'll see.

Also... post your material progress etc in here.

www.tutorialized.com is a good place to start with getting to know the basics of 3DS Max 9. None of it is going to be Halo model related, but they will help you figure out the user interface as well as teach you little tips and tricks as far as material editing and application goes.

Good luck.

*also, please don't quote this thread, as I don't want this thread to be pulled out more then it needs to be. Simple replies will do the trick

[AMidgetAndAClub]

brain asplodes

Nice write up man.

[TH3DARKMARKET]

awesome write up.

I would tell the peeps asking what program you use, "I spent 200+ hours in Microsoft Vista XP PRO 2000 paint with my two button MS ball mouse, 30 gallons of Red Bull and two Viagra .. cause after a hard days work, you tend to loose excitement . "

again awesome write up man, this is gonna be the GO TO thread for a lot of peeps.

[IceMayne]

wow did u tak classes on this this is way 2 hard to just pick up

[Ephrum]

No, no classes, just a LOT of time and dedication...

And I edited the first post with more fitting pictures/descriptions.

[Ephrum]

Edited my initial post... distribution of .map files is illegal, you'll have to find them on your own...

*hint*SearchGoogleForHaloForDummies*hint*

[BL4CKOUT]

wow thats a lot ill upload a map if anyone wants it so you dont have to mod your box ( i already have all of them on my pc), and a All In One with all the programs

[Ephrum]

Originally Posted by BL4CKOUT

wow thats a lot ill upload a map if anyone wants it so you dont have to mod your box ( i already have all of them on my pc), and a All In One with all the programs

No... haha, that's illegal... lazy people can search.

[XxSniper HogxX]

Next Year I am going to take a 3D-Graphics/Animation Class, so hopefully I can do all of those cool things.

[I HAJDUK I]

thats sik im gunna try this