Making .dds files

[Miserableman]

I'm having terrific trouble creating a 4Kx2K texture for Mars. If I make it a jpg it's extremely slow, if I make it a png it's even slower. I decided to try making a dds, which is where the fun really began.

On downloading the source code for the nvdxt program, it wouldn't compile. I eventually tracked down the program itself, and it refused to load any pictures whatsoever. Finally I tried the Photoshop plugin, and that actually creates dds files. However the write process takes AGES (I assume this is what's supposed to happen), often fails, and only once has the outputted texture not crashed Celestia (it didn't look right, but it looked fabulously cool, like a translucent marble). I have twiddled all the knobs on the save dialog, and the output file can vary wildly in size (when it 'worked' it was 10MB, and it has been anything up to 36MB since), but so far the effort is fruitless.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? I have the picture as a 4MB jpg, and as far as I understand what mip maps are I don't want any. I'm a bit in the dark as to whether I want dxt1, dxt3 or dxt5 - as far as I'm concerned I don't have an alpha channel, so the minimum dxt1 will do okay.

But it doesn't work >:O/

[t00fri]

I'm having terrific trouble creating a 4Kx2K texture for Mars. If I make it a jpg it's extremely slow, if I make it a png it's even slower. I decided to try making a dds, which is where the fun really began.

On downloading the source code for the nvdxt program, it wouldn't compile. I eventually tracked down the program itself, and it refused to load any pictures whatsoever. Finally I tried the Photoshop plugin, and that actually creates dds files. However the write process takes AGES (I assume this is what's supposed to happen), often fails, and only once has the outputted texture not crashed Celestia (it didn't look right, but it looked fabulously cool, like a translucent marble). I have twiddled all the knobs on the save dialog, and the output file can vary wildly in size (when it 'worked' it was 10MB, and it has been anything up to 36MB since), but so far the effort is fruitless.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? I have the picture as a 4MB jpg, and as far as I understand what mip maps are I don't want any. I'm a bit in the dark as to whether I want dxt1, dxt3 or dxt5 - as far as I'm concerned I don't have an alpha channel, so the minimum dxt1 will do okay.

But it doesn't work >:O/

I cannot give you any info about photoshop, but on nvdxt.

nvdxt does not easily compile since many headers are missing...

Take nvdxt.exe, it works very well, the point is that it only reads .tga (targa) files! This is a lossless format similar to .png and supports an alpha channel.

So whatever you have, convert it to a rgb.tga file. Then the commands are

nvdxt -file rgb.tga -dxt1a

and after a while you find a file rgb.dds in the same dir.

With an 8bit alpha channel (specular reflections), you write

nvdxt -file rgba.tga -dxt3

that's it and do not forget to adapt the solarsys.ssc file!!

Good luck

Fridger

[Miserableman]

Fridger wins todays cake of approval :O))

Nvidia dxt tools win a lump of poo