I've got the NVIDIA DDS plugin for Photoshop. I'm not sure how to save the file after I am finished editing. I select Save As and I leave the "Save Alpha Channel" box checked and I hit save. Then another dialog box comes up titled "NVIDIA dds Format (v.###)". There on the first drop down menu are a bunch of options I'm not sure of like "DXT1 RGB 4 bpp | no alpha" In fact I'm not sure about anything on that dialog box. Help would be appreciated.
How do you save DDS files with photoshop?
Débuté par
NytFantom
, oct. 20 2011 12:49
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#2
Posté 20 octobre 2011 - 02:57
DarthParametric
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For the most part, you want to save as DXT5 with "Generate MIP maps" selected. There are occasions where you may want to use DXT3 or even DXT1, but generally speaking every DA texture will need an alpha, and you'll want that alpha to be interpolated not explicit (i.e. smooth graduations, not sharp changes).
#3
Posté 20 octobre 2011 - 02:58
Quething
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A complicated question with a relatively simple answer, so long as you restrict yourself to Dragon Age.
Basically, if you're doing textures for Dragon Age, you want to use DXT3 for most color textures or textures with very sharp alpha transitions, or DXT5 for anything with a complicated, high-detail alpha channel with a lot of gradients. These are compression types designed for Direct X; the number basically refers to the level of alpha detail. Edit: Or what Darth said.
If you're working in Dragon Age 2, make sure you click the box to "generate MIP maps;" DirectX 9 in DA2 doesn't handle generating on-the-fly mip maps well and will make your textures kind of funky and sparkly if you don't.
Do note, any DXT* texture is going to need to be the right size - that is to say, powers of 2 - 128x128, etc - or it won't save properly.
If you're making icons, however, for abilities or other small GUI elements that just get projected onto the screen rather than mapped onto objects, you want to use "X.8.8.8 XRGB 32 bpp," unsigned, or "8.8.8.8" if you need areas to be transparent. Make sure you're not generating MIP maps for these files; it can crash the plugin.
What those numbers mean, if you're curious, is how many bits it's using for each pixel in order to record the alpha, red, green and blue channels, respectively. Hence, 8 per color per pixel is 32 bits.
Basically, if you're doing textures for Dragon Age, you want to use DXT3 for most color textures or textures with very sharp alpha transitions, or DXT5 for anything with a complicated, high-detail alpha channel with a lot of gradients. These are compression types designed for Direct X; the number basically refers to the level of alpha detail. Edit: Or what Darth said.
If you're working in Dragon Age 2, make sure you click the box to "generate MIP maps;" DirectX 9 in DA2 doesn't handle generating on-the-fly mip maps well and will make your textures kind of funky and sparkly if you don't.
Do note, any DXT* texture is going to need to be the right size - that is to say, powers of 2 - 128x128, etc - or it won't save properly.
If you're making icons, however, for abilities or other small GUI elements that just get projected onto the screen rather than mapped onto objects, you want to use "X.8.8.8 XRGB 32 bpp," unsigned, or "8.8.8.8" if you need areas to be transparent. Make sure you're not generating MIP maps for these files; it can crash the plugin.
What those numbers mean, if you're curious, is how many bits it's using for each pixel in order to record the alpha, red, green and blue channels, respectively. Hence, 8 per color per pixel is 32 bits.
Modifié par Quething, 20 octobre 2011 - 03:02 .
