Oct 13

Make Your Own Weighted Companion Cube!

Category: Miscellaneous, Video Games

Weighted Companion Cube

If you’ve played Portal, then you are most likely mourning the loss of your faithful companion: The Weighted Companion Cube. I know this isn’t a replacement for the real thing, but now you can make your own… out of paper.

It’s pretty easy to do:

  1. Download and print: Weighted Companion Cube Cutout
  2. Cut around the edges. Make sure you leave the tabs!
  3. Fold the tabs in (away from the printed side). Now fold the sides where the two box panels meet.
  4. Apply glue to the tabs and stick them to the appropriate side (you should be able to figure it out…)

And that’s really it. I know that it isn’t perfect, but I’m not a Master of Origami, so get over it.

EDIT: Yeah… so I’ve already found someone else’s printable version, and it is a lot better, if you are willing to spend the time to make it. Here’s what it looks like finished:

/po/’s WCC

As you can probably see, that is much better than mine. So if you’d rather build that one… I guess you can do that. You will need one of these files:

If you’re feeling lazy, however, mine is easier…

Thanks to the people of /po/ for their design.

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63 Comments so far

  1. Anthony Wang October 14th, 2007 1:17 pm

    Sweet I have one sitting on my desk, thanks!
    could u tell me where you found the other printout? (the one with the faceted edges)

  2. Greg Medding October 14th, 2007 1:21 pm

    Yeah, I just fixed it. I got it from /po/ (a board on 4chan, not a place I recommend visiting if you don’t know what it is).

  3. Anonymous October 15th, 2007 1:31 am

    I herd u liek mudkips.

  4. ORB October 15th, 2007 5:26 am

    Hey the second one looks very difficult.
    But your one will have holes right?
    anyway, i m going 2 try both ones

  5. Greg Medding October 15th, 2007 9:40 am

    Yes, the second cube is considerably more difficult.

    And yes, that is one of the flaws with mine. You can just cut in straight lines if the holes would bother you.

  6. Lord Bling October 16th, 2007 3:47 am

    SAGE goes in all fields. :)

  7. Anonymous October 16th, 2007 4:21 am

    needs moar desu

  8. Come Home My Friend October 16th, 2007 11:56 am

    [...] Link [...]

  9. Greg Medding October 16th, 2007 12:54 pm

    Yes… moar desu…

  10. Xiao October 16th, 2007 10:54 pm

    whats a free program that can opena pdf?
    I want to remeber my good friend too :(

  11. Greg Medding October 16th, 2007 11:00 pm

    Adobe Acrobat Reader:

    http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

  12. Anon October 17th, 2007 2:36 am

    adobe fails
    get foxit
    use google
    kgo

  13. Greg Medding October 17th, 2007 9:25 am

    Or you could be useful and provide a link:

    http://www.foxitsoftware.com/

    While I haven’t used Foxit, Adobe Reader is not my primary PDF reading application. But there are times that it is the only viewer that will display PDF files correctly.

    And here are some reviews I found of Foxit:

    Pff. Even the pro version has a cheesy gui. I switched to pdf-xchange viewer.

    I give it a 3 for the good old days. As someone pointed out, there are so many features that nag you that they are only available in the paid Pro version, alongside the banner, that this does not qualify as freeware anymore.
    If you do not want any of the pay-only features and nags, you’ll have to dig out versions prior to 2.0

    It may be smaller than Adobe Reader, muuch smaller, but it doesn’t render nor print nearly as well.
    I’m willing to sacrifice the memory for quality. I’m sticking with Adobe in the meantime.

    (NOTE: I have NOT used Foxit, these just seemed to be the most revealing reviews)

    So, if you want to use Foxit, feel free. I just offered Adobe Acrobat Reader for the people who weren’t going to use Google to find their own.

  14. Important Notice October 19th, 2007 9:55 am

    CAUTION: Mass of paper version of Weighted Companion Cube may not be sufficient to activate Aperture Science 1500-Megawatt Supercolliding Super Button.

  15. » Portal: I beat it, also some cool files to download - ScatteredGenius.com October 20th, 2007 1:06 pm

    [...] Cube. I know this isn’t a replacement for the real thing, but now you can make your own… out of paper. I’ve decided my freezer must become a Weighted Companion Cube. Why? What sort of question is [...]

  16. Weighted Companion Cube! October 27th, 2007 12:39 pm

    [...] enough, while I wait for the official plush to come out, I can mass produce an army of paper ones! Guide/links to printable cubes. Have fun with your weighted companion cubes! __________________ [...]

  17. Courtly October 28th, 2007 6:43 am

    I was so inspired by the papercraft, I just had to throw out my previous Hallowe’en costume and make my own cube out of cardboard boxes, about a foot on a side. The proportions are a bit off and the colours aren’t quite what I wanted, but I think it came out nicely for a night’s work:

    http://picasaweb.google.com/p.j.westergaard/CompanionCube

  18. nerdy guy October 29th, 2007 10:24 am

    I made the 3d one:

    http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/5292/cimg1042oi4.jpg

  19. Seth410 November 1st, 2007 7:56 am

    Looks great even without the ‘depth’ but I taped nickels onto each panel inside, I like my Weighted Companion Cubes to have a bit of weight.

  20. Greg Medding November 1st, 2007 12:42 pm

    Weight is a good idea… my cube was feeling a little light.

    *looks around for loose change*

  21. anonymous November 11th, 2007 9:10 am

    isn’t it funny that as soon as the word “4chan” is mentioned, someone bursts in and says something like:

    IMMA FAHRANG MAH LAZOR
    I’m in ur frigge eatin’ ur foodz
    shoop da woop
    I herd u liek mudkips
    pedo pedo pedobear!!
    serious business
    is it caturday already?

    or something of the kind…
    it’s like sdaying three times “beetlejuice” in front of a mirror, just that you only have to mention this once…

  22. Greg Medding November 13th, 2007 8:32 am

    …and no mirror is involved. But such is the world we live in…

  23. Farbror Fazer November 13th, 2007 1:24 pm

    Can someone plz make a steb-by-step guide on how to do this? (The second more difficult one)I’m to stupid to figure that out by myself and I guess I’m not the only one… :(

  24. Greg Medding November 14th, 2007 6:21 pm

    To be honest, I haven’t finished building the more difficult one yet (school keeps me busy…), but you could try /po/ for help. Just make sure you look around before you ask. I don’t know if /po/ is a very vicious place…

  25. Vtferret November 24th, 2007 9:57 pm

    wow, thanks dude
    i felt real bad when i had to incinerate my cube (didn’t we all)
    so, this really helps, cause i have a new cube!! but this one wont talk to me… or threaten to stab me….. :(
    any way, i made the 3rd one, added nickels as suggested above, and now it feels like my karma has been saved a little…

  26. GLaDOS December 8th, 2007 5:25 pm

    I just made this, but it tried to stab me, so i had to throw it into my home-edition incinerator

  27. Um dia na Liberdade com a câmera na mão (ou: Guia Continue de presentes gamer para este natal) - Continue » December 9th, 2007 7:01 pm

    [...] a algum game memorável. Quem é que jogou Portal, por exemplo, e não ficou com vontade de ter um Weighted Companion Cube em tamanho real, ou pelo menos uma miniatura pra colocar na mesa? Ou, para dar um [...]

  28. Greg Medding December 12th, 2007 12:47 am

    Roughly translated (using Google):

    [...]One memorable game. Who played portal, for example, and was not willing to have a Weighted Companion Cube in actual size, or at least a miniature to put on the table? Or, to make a [...]

    Just in case someone wanted to know. (I never liked going to a blog and not being able to read the comments. Fortunately the internet can solve this problem)

  29. n3wblog » Blog Archive » Best Game of 2007 December 15th, 2007 5:08 am

    [...] if you haven’t played Portal, go pick up your companion cube and get at it. (the rest of The Orange Box ain’t bad [...]

  30. Idetrorce December 15th, 2007 8:53 am

    very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
    Idetrorce

  31. Make Your Own Weighted Companion Cube » Spcook December 15th, 2007 10:57 am

    [...] http://greg.medding.net/blog/2007/10/13/make-your-own-weighted-companion-cube/ [...]

  32. TheOfficeFan007 December 16th, 2007 12:20 pm

    I am trying to make a real Weighted Companion Cube based on the dimensions of the one in Portal. Does anyone have any idea what those dimensions might be? Thanks…

  33. Greg Medding December 17th, 2007 3:45 pm

    I don’t really know what the dimensions are. Maybe if you could find an everyday object (which you could get the dimensions for) in the game and compare heights. You can use any cube in the game since they are all the same size.

    Another possibility is to use the source developer tools to find the cube. The problem would be that those tools might not show real-world dimensions…

  34. post_break December 17th, 2007 7:16 pm

    Holy crap this thing is difficult to make. I have been working on it all day and it looks like a wet piece of crap. I am about to just give up.

  35. Phoenix December 27th, 2007 3:55 pm

    Where did you get this wonderful graphic?

  36. Greg Medding December 28th, 2007 10:37 am

    The first came from in-game screenshots I took. The more complex cube came from /po/ (use the link in the article).

  37. Phoenix December 30th, 2007 2:45 am

    Not the cutouts, the cube in the post. ^_^

  38. Greg Medding December 30th, 2007 3:01 pm

    Ah, that (the big one at the top). I took a screenshot in-game of the cube from the angle I wanted. Then, using the magic of photoshop, I built this. It took a while to get that reflection right… but it works.

    So, the short answer is: I made it.

  39. Yuri December 31st, 2007 6:40 am

    I made it but it’s really small…. and I made it out of regular paper…. but it looks pretty good… how do I get it to be bigger

  40. Yuri December 31st, 2007 11:50 am

    I also am having trouble with the corner pieces on the harder one… how do I do those correctly

  41. Phoenix January 1st, 2008 2:21 am

    Yatta! I have been searching the information highways and byways looking for the origin of that graphic. Everywhere else the answer has always been the same “Oh, that? I nicked it from Google Image Search.” :-( Frustrating!

    But now I’ve found the beginning! You made it! So I can finally ask: are there any restrictions on its re-use?

  42. Griff January 3rd, 2008 11:17 pm

    I’m not sure I understand exactly what makes the second one harder. The textures on the cube are more detailed, to be sure, but wouldn’t it still be folded the same way as your own?

  43. Greg Medding January 6th, 2008 9:15 pm

    Yuri: If you want it bigger, you’ll have to use some image editing software to make it fit on multiple pages. Or you could try someplace like Kinko’s (they might be able to print it on larger paper)

    Phoenix: Feel free to use the image. I don’t mind. (I just checked Google Image Search… that image is #1 for “Weighted Companion Cube” I wouldn’t have known if you hadn’t asked about this.)

    Griff: The second one has corners and side pieces to make it have a more correct shape. My version just gets cut out and has holes in it.

  44. Hamst3r January 6th, 2008 9:21 pm

    Haha. :D

  45. ob5ious January 21st, 2008 7:27 pm

    Actually, its not that hard of a cutout, Ive done much worse ones. the trick is to GENTLY and LIGHTLY pre-score the fold lines so that they bend naturally. This leaves thin white lines at the seams as the score is made one the side that is printed. If your very patient you can use a hard straight edge (I use an aluminum ruler) to make the fold.

    Or you can cheat… if you have a the right shade of acrylic you can just fill the seam with the approriate color and it becomes invisible.

  46. ob5ious January 21st, 2008 7:28 pm

    Oh yeah, that only works with card stock, btw. but the result is much more resilient than paper.

  47. Stephan Sokolow’s Blog » More Portal Fun January 25th, 2008 6:44 pm

    [...] Papercraft: Make Your Own Companion Cube [...]

  48. IDK February 5th, 2008 11:07 pm

    this is awesome the /po/ one anyway, cant wait to try it and show it off to my friends

  49. IDK February 5th, 2008 11:07 pm

    by /po/ i mean the one with depth

  50. Severed Head (-_-) February 26th, 2008 12:18 pm

    2 things:

    What’s the best paper to use for this?

    Does anyone have INSTRUCTIONS? The cube part is easy, but the corners and other things are, well, much harder to work with.

  51. Greg Medding February 26th, 2008 12:36 pm

    You’ll probably want some thicker paper so it will be easier to fold and sturdier when complete.

    As for instructions, cut out pieces, fold tabs, apply glue and stick to cube. (I really can’t offer more than that. You could go check out /po/ at the link above, but I wouldn’t ask without lurking some first).

  52. Blog: timdream » The Cake is a Lie! March 28th, 2008 9:02 am

    [...] (????: Gerg’s Blog) [...]

  53. Anon April 20th, 2008 3:40 am

    Moar pooper

  54. ShearMe April 20th, 2008 6:47 pm

    Ok I think I’ve figured out the /po/ version (mostly) and I’ll post some images of how to fold it when I start on my second one. I still haven’t gotten the first one done and my printer is low on ink so it might be awhile before the instructions come out with the /po/ depth one.

    I agree with Greg that you shouldn’t go to /po/ if you don’t know what it is. I did and am still hurting from the confusion. :P

  55. ShearMe April 22nd, 2008 3:43 pm

    yeah… never mind… I’m just gonna make one out of Styrofoam…

  56. Ethan April 23rd, 2008 8:03 pm

    ShearMe

    do you have instructions?

  57. Greg Medding April 24th, 2008 10:42 pm

    ShearMe:

    It would be cool to see the results of your styrofoam cube. If you get a chance, post some pictures so we can see.

  58. turkause April 25th, 2008 12:20 pm

    i liked the non 3d version better its easier i did the other version for like 4 hours and it came out horrible.

  59. Greg Medding May 6th, 2008 2:15 pm

    It’s good to hear that you like the non-3d version. I just made it quickly before I found the other one.

  60. asdf May 11th, 2008 8:32 am

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  61. Lewiss May 23rd, 2008 9:51 am

    The cake is only a lie in the sence that you don’t get to eat it… But infact,the cake is real =P.

  62. Lewiss May 23rd, 2008 11:36 am

    =,(. I tryed the harder 1 because it look absoultely amazeing. But i failed at the first hurdal. im mean common! Its impossible to do!!! For the smaller pieces that go on the stright bit next to the corners, the tabs arnt even 1mm long!

    I was so exited that i would get my own WCC =,(. Why dose it have to be so hard?! Whyyyyyy!!!

  63. Squeaky Muffins May 26th, 2008 8:47 am

    Hey, do you know what kind of paper you use for this? Thanks.

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