29 réponses à ce sujet

[KigenBarzhad]

I'm in the process of making my own and edit some DDS files. Does anyone one know the correct/optium settings for DA?

I'm using Photoshop CS4 w/ the nvidia dds plugin.

Edit: Also it seems that whenever I open and try to save an editted dds from DA's files, it does not like the 42x42 pixel size.

Modifié par KigenBarzhad, 12 janvier 2010 - 08:50 .

[tmp7704]

KigenBarzhad wrote...

Edit: Also it seems that whenever I open and try to save an editted dds from DA's files, it does not like the 42x42 pixel size.

Graphics cards generally like the dimension of ther images to be "powers of two" i.e. numbers like 32, 64, 128, 256, 512 etc. On top of that some of DDS compression modes will take 4x4 pixel blocks so the dimensions of your image should be possible to divide cleanly by that number.

[Toryss]

As for the setting, DXT5 should work. You can also use TGA files; which is what I'm using, since the toolset doesn't seem to let me import a DDS texture.

[KigenBarzhad]

I found this is another thread (while trying to find out my my icons won't override)
http://social.biowar...72/index/428216

Magissia,

If youre using Photoshop: save the Icons, using the NVidia Photoshop DDS plugin and save as:

Format: "X.8.8.8 XRGB 32 bpp | unsigned"
Type: "2D Texture"
Choose: "No MIP maps"

Hope this helps, good luck, in need of any icon you having problems, let me know, Im here to help.

Best regards,

Ket

Edit: Anyone know how to override other .dds? Mine won't seem to override. They are placed in core///override//

Modifié par KigenBarzhad, 12 janvier 2010 - 11:45 .

[tmp7704]

The icons i've extracted from original files were saved in ARGB fromat with fully opaque Alpha channel. Saving the data in XRGB format theoretically skips the alpha channel data altogether and supplies one unused channel instead, no idea if that makes any difference for the game engine.

Modifié par tmp7704, 13 janvier 2010 - 12:26 .

[thebigMuh]

From my experience.



For icons, use 8.8.8.8 ARGB, no mip maps, drop them into AddIns\\<youraddin>\\core\\data



For textures, use DXT1 for diffuse\\specular\\tint, and DXT3 (NOT DXT5) for normal maps. The interpolated alpha of DXT5 makes for horrible horrible bump mapping artifacts. Check generate mip maps, too. Put the high resolution variation into AddIns\\<youraddin>\\core\\textures\\high, and a 50% downscaled version into AddIns\\<youraddin>\\core\\textures\\medium.



Ciao, muh!

[tmp7704]

thebigMuh wrote...

For textures, use DXT1 for diffuse/specular/tint

Do not use DXT1 for the diffuse maps at least, doing so can lead to Toolset render engine crash when attempting to load the model using such textures (can't remember offhand if other textures have the same effect on it) Not to mention the 1-bit alpha channel in DXT1 compression is often going to mess things up or be simply insufficient.

The native tint maps seem to use unsigned 16-bit format (a4r4g4b4) which  works for them since they don't use any real gradients to speak of.

The choice between DXT3 and DXT5 for the normal maps would depend on what sort of data is put in the alpha channel. If it has smooth gradients DXT5 is better suited for it. For sharp transitions DXT3 may be a better choice (the limitation of DXT3 compression is it can only record 16 brightness steps rather than 256. While DXT5 is similar to it in the worst possible case, it can offer better fidelity when your alpha channel doesn't cover full 0-255 brightness range)

Modifié par tmp7704, 13 janvier 2010 - 05:58 .

[KigenBarzhad]

wow thank you for all the info, I think I might post all this info on the toolset wiki

I hope you guys don't mind but I posted the information on the toolset wiki for easy reference.
http://social.biowar...Export_Settings

Modifié par KigenBarzhad, 13 janvier 2010 - 06:46 .

[thebigMuh]

tmp7704 wrote...

Do not use DXT1 for the diffuse maps at least, doing so can lead to Toolset render engine crash when attempting to load the model using such textures (can't remember offhand if other textures have the same effect on it) Not to mention the 1-bit alpha channel in DXT1 compression is often going to mess things up or be simply insufficient.

Never had problems with DXT1 so far. The minimal alpha channel helps save space on things like armor where you generally don't have transparent parts. The default content uses plenty of DXT1 textures.

The choice between DXT3 and DXT5 for the normal maps would depend on what sort of data is put in the alpha channel. If it has smooth gradients DXT5 is better suited for it. For sharp transitions DXT3 may be a better choice (the limitation of DXT3 compression is it can only record 16 brightness steps rather than 256. While DXT5 is similar to it in the worst possible case, it can offer better fidelity when your alpha channel doesn't cover full 0-255 brightness range)

The native normal maps use DXT5, but when I tried using that format for normal maps, the alpha channel developed serious acne. YMMV.

Ciao, muh!

[tmp7704]

thebigMuh wrote...

Never had problems with DXT1 so far.

Hmm this is weird. I ran into this problem with one of mods -- it had diffuse textures for some armour types recorded with DXT1 compression and it'd crash the toolset each time i'd try to open that. However i have just tried it with a DXT1 texture i made myself and it worked fine.

Guessing now it could have something to do with the tool used to generate the image in question -- the Photoshop plugin and the DxTex tool from directX SDK seem to work, don't know what the problematic texture was made with.

[thebigMuh]

I also think that my DXT5 aversion stems from a problem with the nVidia plugin. The original normal maps are all DXT5, but when I just open one of them and save it again as DXT5, the alpha channel looks like someone went to work on it with a cheese grater.



Weird stuff. DXT3 is quite a bit larger, but works for me at least.



Ciao, muh!

[Serissia]

NVM figured it out...

Modifié par Serissia, 19 mai 2010 - 07:07 .

[Dark_Ansem]

wky not making a compilation of plugins for Photoshop in order to make texturing for DA faster/simpler?

[Proleric]

I found that the Photoshop plugin recommended in the wiki works fine. There are some display issues with my old version of Photoshop, which are always resolved by refreshing the window (tab to another application, then tab back).

The bigger issue is knowing which DDS format to use for each application, which is resolved by examining existing textures.

I wouldn't entirely rely on the examples given above - for example, DXT1 is fine for slides, whereas heraldry textures have to be DXT5 with mipmaps.

Modifié par Proleric1, 07 septembre 2010 - 04:17 .

[Dark_Ansem]

what would be the consequences of not using the correct DXT?

[Proleric]

It depends on the application. Sometimes, the texture doesn't appear at all, or looks wrong at certain distances. In other cases, the texture still works, but may increase the download size by a large factor unnecessarily. Best to copy the format Bioware uses in each case.

[Dark_Ansem]

the wiki tells which format the textures must be, true?

[Proleric]

Not in every case. When doing something new, I use the utilities recommended in the wiki (and Photoshop) to discover the format and dimensions of an existing Bioware .dds texture, then take care to reproduce this exactly.

[Dark_Ansem]

is, by any chance, a tool that converts textures to the various DXT formats without changing anything else?

[Proleric]

The Photoshop plug-in gives you complete control over the output DDS format.

So, you can make any sort of DDS from any file that Photoshop can read (including a different DDS format).

Strictly speaking, there may be changes in fine detail, but these are rarely noticable in my experience.

If the texture has an alpha channel, Photoshop will scale and copy it blindly. In that case, the WTV viewer recommended in the wiki is invaluable. I hear that GIMP will allow you to edit the alpha channel, but I've never had to do that.

All this subject to the usual caveat of garbage in, garbage out.

[Dark_Ansem]

garbage in, garbage out?



alpha=transparency, how is this handled in DA?

[DarthParametric]

The alpha channel is actually rarely used for transparency in DA textures.

[Proleric]

Garbage In, Garbage Out in this case means that when a bad image is converted to a new format, the output will be at least as bad. So, if there's a choice, I always start from the highest quality version of an image.

You'll find various applications of alpha channels in DAO - see Heraldry, for example.

[Dark_Ansem]

what about resolution?

[Proleric]

Varies by application. IIRC, textures for things like icons and heraldry have to be exactly the size expected by the game, no more and no less, which is another good reason for copying Bioware assets as a starting point. I understand that the game is more tolerant about textures for skinning models - other people could probably give you some rules of thumb about suitable resolutions.