New 16k Earth Texture - Warning Large graphics inside!!

Tips for creating and manipulating planet textures for Celestia.
Guest

Post #61by Guest » 09.08.2003, 00:33

Sorry hank there is no osx version.

I have been having trouble getting virtual textures to work with dds format. have you managed to do this yet? Is the tiletype just "dds"?
Also is it just me or is the naming convention wrong for the tile textures.
I was always taught rows first then columns, not the other way around
ie tx_1_0 should be tx_0_1?

Topic author
Don. Edwards
Posts: 1510
Joined: 07.09.2002
Age: 59
With us: 22 years 2 months
Location: Albany, Oregon

Post #62by Don. Edwards » 09.08.2003, 05:53

I am happy to here that the Radeon cards are in fact working better with Celestia. Unfortunately we are all in the same boat when it comes to the normal-maps. I have yet to find a really good 8k much less a 16k that I can use with the 16k texture. There just aren’t any available for download at this time. Now I am able to use the 8k normal-map. But I can’t make a 16k at this point. I simply do not have the memory for it. The only way I can see to make such a big normal-map is to use the NVDXT tool and it craps out on me every time I try and make anything at 16k. I don’t now of any other way to make a good normal-map. I have read that there is a GIMP plug-in and I tried to download it. But all I got was the code for creating the darn thing. I don’t want to build it. I just want to plug it in and use it. So if anyone knows were I can get the pre-built Windows version of the Gimp normal-map plug-in let me know were I can get it and maybe I can finally make a good 16k normal-map for Earth and for Mars. That holds true for a really good specmap. I found a site that has a specmap of the size we would all like to have and with incredible detail but it would cost nearly $3000 to get it and I think that is just a tad out of my budget for the next 20 years.

Now as for the converting back and forth from a .dds file. I wouldn’t bother. It would be like trying to work with a lower quality .jpg.

Now I have found something that alarms me a little about pixel’s Big DDS creation tool set. It was brought to my attention by two of my texture tester that they found a very slight seam in my 16k Earth texture right at the Prime Meridian. I started to look over the master texture but couldn’t find what they were taking about in it. After further experimenting I found that if was being created by the BMP2DDS.exe tool. In the process of compressing the texture is must be splitting the texture in half and compressing them separately and then putting them back together in the end. Because the halves are compressed separately there appears to be a slight mismatch in the final texture as a result. This was brought to the surface even more visually when I created a 16k version of the totally flat Mars texture and after correcting it orientation. I made sure that there were no artifacts to make a seam. But after all the resizing and converting to .dds was done there was a very pronounced seam visible were I re-oriented the texture. So needless to say I have to remake this texture again. The above mentioned seam does exist in my 16k texture but fortunately you have to go way below the normal viewing level to find it. But it is there and I am not very happy about that. But at this point we will all have to live with it. If it were not for the BMP2DDS.exe tool we would still be playing at the 8k level for the most part. Pixel if you are out there and happen to read this and have any ideas as to how to keep the tool from making these seams any help would be great. We put allot of work into these things and to find in the end that when we finally get them compressed to a format everyone can use we have inaccuracy thrown into the things.

I will start to cut up the 16k texture into 4k x 4k chunks that should be easier to download for those that want to try the new virtual texturing scheme. All I ask is that once you have it put together a successful virtual texture, that you pass the scripted part of the virtual texture with instructions back to me so I can give it a try. I’m not sure if I am ready to try and script this all together by myself. I can do my part by suppling the texture parts. Now what I need to know is what format they should be in. I would think 4k x4k .dds texture pieces would be the best by far. If this works I can start work on that massive 32k version that is waiting on my hard drive. I think I would break it down into 8k x 8k pieces. So everyone that wants to try and make a virtual texture let me know what format and what sizes you want.

Don.
I am officially a retired member.
I might answer a PM or a post if its relevant to something.

Ah, never say never!!
Past texture releases, Hmm let me think about it

Thanks for your understanding.


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