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Post by Chris B on May 9, 2006 12:08:42 GMT -5
Can anyone tell me what the different "save as" formats in DXTbmp mean pleas? I usually use only DXt3 without mipmaps and no dither and that works fine... But I tried "888 - seems to work, but gives a 4 meg file size. No prob... What's DXT5, what's DDS, what's ACE... and so on. But there are just so many and it's confusing...  Thanks in advance Chris |
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Post by windrunner on May 10, 2006 3:55:15 GMT -5
Well Chris, this is a nice argument and a little technical. Don't panic, and with a good beer between us, I'm sure this will be easily undertood!
Basically, all this formats are part of the history of development of different OS and the way they support graphics, since the basic 8 bit map of yesteryear to the the actual 32 bits (supported by Windows Xp and most sistems today; as you may know already, the next frontier is the 64 bits sistem,and Vista and FSX will run this new 64 bits technology). But, not to extend the discussion too much, I'll try to explain the little I understand about this bitmaps formats.
When you click on the "Save" options, you have nine different options, from DXT1 to Extended 256 colors. The ones that only have some interest for us repainters are:
DXT1: saves the RGB immage without alpha channel
DXT3: saves the RGB immage with its alpha channel REDUCED to 4 bits You can have reflections with this format! the alpha channel is a transparency and will reflect like that in the Sim.
DXT5: saves the RGB immage with the current alpha channel (in 8 bit)
Extended 32 bits:idem.
Default planes in FS9 are DXT3. This is a good solution for the AI planes, but not for a "High quality" repaint: in this case, it is always better to choose the 32 bits format, unleast you have a low perfomance sistem and you are always fighting with low fps. You prefer to save your repaints in the DXT3 format, and that's a good solution because it can be easily handled by many low sistems and at least allows you to add an alpha channel; a file of 1024x1024 will always be 1 mb size. If you save the same file with the Extended 32 bits option, you'll get a 4 mb flie size, and more details! so the choice is up to you. What I usually do, is to upload the 32 bits file, so the end user can choose if to leave it like that or change it to DXT3 (OK, I didn't do that with my SF260 repaints because the originals bitmaps were DXT3).
The other formats, DDS, ACE are not really important for us, and they are used on other sims (like train simmulator) and they have a different way of reading the graphics. For example, DDS immages are stored upside down and need flipping once loaded. But I never used this other types and I am very happy with the 32 bits format.
My own settings in DXTBMP are like yours, no mipmaps. Actually my videocard support mipmaps without problems. Mipmaps are multiple subimmages into each other. This gives you a higher quality immage: a 1024x1024 immage will contain another 512x512 immage, another 256x256 immage and so on untill 1x1. Not all video cards support mips very well, and the result will be a blurry immage. So. once again, it is always best to release the repaints without them, considerating other people's sistems.
And, what else? another beer perhaps?
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Post by Slide on May 10, 2006 6:34:32 GMT -5
Hey windrunner, that is a good summary!
Guess, I´d like a beer now ....
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Post by Chris B on May 10, 2006 9:00:30 GMT -5
Gret stuff, thanks Windrunner... so if I do an extended 32bit 888-8, that explains why I can see the image in windows explorer and still see it on the FS9 model? I think...
Must go and try...
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Post by Chris B on May 10, 2006 9:21:22 GMT -5
Windrunner... That was indeed a pretty good clarification. Here's a DXT3 shot of my latest paint (from yesterday)  and it is "OK" by my standards and I was happy with it. Then I followed your tips, converted the base image in Corel Photopaint to 1024 x 1024 at 128 dpi (OTT I know), but the only thing left from the paintkit are the panel lines and detail. Then I save with 32 bit 888-8 selected, added the alphas and even though the screenshots aren't too clear, the difference in sim is noticeable. Good for real photo texture even close up. Here's the after shot  |
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Post by Chris B on May 10, 2006 9:23:43 GMT -5
Windrunner, I'd send you a photocopy of the beer I drunk for you, but my scanner is offline...
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Post by windrunner on May 11, 2006 0:25:49 GMT -5
That's looking good! I myself have 32 bits for all my planes.One thing I do: if you want to paint a plane and there's no paintkit available, you can save the source immage in 32 bits format, so you will be able to paint it with your favourite paint program. Once you did your changes, save it again in the same 32 bits format. It also works if the source immage is in the DXT3 format.
Well, no beer, no party!
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Post by Roger on May 11, 2006 12:51:10 GMT -5
Great thread this! Just the sort of thing this type of forum is for  Well done with the explanation Windrunner...even I understood it, my problem is a total lack of painting talent |
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Post by Chris B on May 17, 2008 3:36:09 GMT -5
Update on Formats In FSX you can now make your textures as large as 2048 x 2048 pixels. Thing is, you don't want to make these 32 bit - you'll end up with 16MB sized textures! BUT if you make your textures 2048 square, dxt 5, dds files, then these new textures are a mere 4MB large - the same as a 1024 square 32bit image - but covering four times the area. There's other problems involved with such large images, but you only need to paint the most important textures this large. The level of detail in the end, is worth the effort. Take a look at the Sukhoi below. You can actually read the trophy text. The rivets no longer need to be drawn onto the skin.   |
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