major problems with dds files - HELP!!

[Reece]

Hi, I have attempted to work with many dds files in the past but have never had any success converting or saving either in Photoshop or converter programs, I have tried various plugin versions but get errors such as "too many channels" "unknown format" "file is locked"etc etc, other plugins come up with the following:
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h244/Reecehk/DDSproblem.jpg
as you can see the save button is greyed out, I have tried ticking & unticking all options but the save button is allways grayed out, the file is a 4.5meg tga or 8meg psd with 5 channels. I even uploaded a dds file altered it but cannot save, same problem.:oops:
Could someone please give some guidance.:yep:
Many thanks.

[tater]

I open them with paint.net and save, no problems. It;s free, too. You can always use that to convert if you are having PS issues.

[Reece]

What a shame I refuse to use .net! too many problems! but thanks, I have tried converting 4meg tga files to dds with converters but always ends up around 70megs!:damn:

[THE_MASK]

NVIDEA dds format version 8.23 works . Whats your version 3.02 ? I got the 8.23 version from here somewhere . Look for that one .

[Reece]

Thanks!:yep:

[John W. Hamm]

I Use Gimp 2, I was really skeptical about using it now I wouldn't want to be without it. it takes some getting used to but was well worth it. and its free.

[Reece]

For the life of me I was trying to remember that program John, I had saved it somewhere but couldn't remember. It may be the way to go as this version 6 of Photoshop is rather old, but I can't afford to upgrade, there are so many programs that need upgrading that I give in, thankfully most I have have been free old versions that come with magazines or packed with other apps & peripherals!:yep: My full version of Sony Sound Forge 7 should be upgraded but that is another $150, one just has to draw a line or go bankrupt!:lol:

Edit: I just found Gimp 2 but has a few files:
gimp-2.2.13-i586-setup-1.zip
gimp-gap-2.2.0-setup.zip
gtk+-2.10.6-1-setup.zip
gimp-help-2-0.11-setup.zip
Could you tell me the ones I need, I would assume the first & last.

[DrBeast]

I use DXTBmp (found here (http://www.mnwright.btinternet.co.uk/)). It opens up dds files, which you can then send to the editor of your choice as bitmaps, work on, reimport and save as .dds. Never could figure out the nVidia Photoshop plugins (I have both Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro :arrgh!:).

[Reece]

Thanks DrBeast, I will check this out!:yep:

[TheDarkWraith]

Reece,

When I was making (and still upgrading!) my FX mod for SH3 I used this handy little tool to convert SH4's DDS files to TGAs. It will convert to other formats also. It's called DDS converter v2.1. Here's a link to the install program I uploaded:

http://rapidshare.com/files/76892884/dds_converter_v21.exe.html

very easy to use also :up:

[Reece]

Yes I have that thanks Racerboy, I also have one done by Nvdrifter that is ok, but only for small or simple conversions, and all work ok from dds to tga but all fail from tga to dds!:damn:
I think it has something to do with mip mapping, I'm not an expert here! I can create various graphic files but can so far only work with tga, what I'm doing is to remove the dds file from SH4 and replace with tga, forces SH4 to use it, but would much rather use dds!:yep:

[TheDarkWraith]

Yes I have that thanks Racerboy, I also have one done by Nvdrifter that is ok, but only for small or simple conversions, and all work ok from dds to tga but all fail from tga to dds!:damn:
I think it has something to do with mip mapping, I'm not an expert here! I can create various graphic files but can so far only work with tga, what I'm doing is to remove the dds file from SH4 and replace with tga, forces SH4 to use it, but would much rather use dds!:yep:

I see. If I come across something I'll let you know :yep:

[TheDarkWraith]

what about this:

http://www.imageconverterplus.com/help-center/work-with-icp/examples/how-to-convert/TGA_dds.html

[Reece]

Tried that as well! ok for small files and fails from tga or psd to dds!:-?
I just tried DXTBmp to open the tga file, all I get is this error:
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h244/Reecehk/DXTBmperror.jpg
I ran out of memory!! Gee I only have 2gig! This file works as a tga file in SH3 & 4, I can open in Photoshop save as in any format but not dds!:cry:

Edit: @ DRBeast, files cannot be exported to BMP or will lose info such as Alpha channels & layers.

[FooFighters]

Tried that as well! ok for small files and fails from tga or psd to dds!:-?
I just tried DXTBmp to open the tga file, all I get is this error:
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h244/Reecehk/DXTBmperror.jpg
I ran out of memory!! Gee I only have 2gig! This file works as a tga file in SH3 & 4, I can open in Photoshop save as in any format but not dds!:cry:

Edit: @ DRBeast, files cannot be exported to BMP or will lose info such as Alpha channels & layers.

Hi Reece,

I see that your problem has not been fixed so far.
Can you please e-mail me or send me a download link of the file you are trying to convert.
Then I can see if its in the file or your PC

I have converted al lot of files.. I know it can be done.

Dennis

info@oldsmobile1958.com

[jaketoox]

If you have GIMP installed, you can try this DDS plugin...

http://registry.gimp.org/plugin?id=4816



Jake

[Reece]

I haven't yet Jake, But it is highly probable that I will, thanks.:yep:
I will take you up on your offer Dennis, the file is an old one that I made for SHIII (with permissions) & although there is a similar ones available for SH4 I would prefer to convert mine (used to it), I figure if I can convert this I should have no problems converting others!! The file is here:
http://files.filefront.com/Nav+Map+Bearing+Tool+v2+1rar/;6728979;/fileinfo.html
any of the tga files, they are all the same!:yep:
Cheers.

[DrBeast]

Tried that as well! ok for small files and fails from tga or psd to dds!:-?
I just tried DXTBmp to open the tga file, all I get is this error:
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h244/Reecehk/DXTBmperror.jpg
I ran out of memory!! Gee I only have 2gig! This file works as a tga file in SH3 & 4, I can open in Photoshop save as in any format but not dds!:cry:

Edit: @ DRBeast, files cannot be exported to BMP or will lose info such as Alpha channels & layers.

Weird...I've only 1.25GB of RAM (slow, sluggish DDR, too) but I've opened 5+MB of dds files just fine (Foobor's Hi-Res Sub skins, for example). However, you might need some dll files found here (http://www.mnwright.btinternet.co.uk/) for the program to work correctly.
As for alpha channel being lost, no worries. You can export the alpha to the editor just as the main image. When you reimport and save as .dds, the program will recreate the mipmaps (dunno about layer manipulation though).

[FooFighters]

I haven't yet Jake, But it is highly probable that I will, thanks.:yep:
I will take you up on your offer Dennis, the file is an old one that I made for SHIII (with permissions) & although there is a similar ones available for SH4 I would prefer to convert mine (used to it), I figure if I can convert this I should have no problems converting others!! The file is here:
http://files.filefront.com/Nav+Map+Bearing+Tool+v2+1rar/;6728979;/fileinfo.html
any of the tga files, they are all the same!:yep:
Cheers.

Hi Reece,

I've downloaded the file, but there is only one file in it NSS_Uboat__shp.
Is this the one you want to convert ?

Is it right that all of the data/submarine maps are empty ?

edit : I tried to convert to DDS with DXTbmp and had no luck.
When I resized the TGA to 2048x2048 it did work.

So my guess is that the file is to big for whatever reason.
Please also make shure to use the right DDS compression when saving.
* DDS DXT1 for textures without alpha
* DDS DXT5 for textures with alpha layers

I will try photoshop tonight, I don't have it here at work.

[skwasjer]

Make the dimensions of the texture a power of 2, for example: 2^10=1024, 2^11=2048, 2^12=4096.

I was a bit confused about the texture though. The RGB channels make no sense, are they from a source bitmap you used to draw the alpha channel? Mind you, I'm a mod noob ;)

I had no problems converting it using the DirectX Texture Tool after resizing to 4096x4096, generate mipmaps, and setting surface format to 'DXT5'.

[Reece]

Please also make shure to use the right DDS compression when saving.
* DDS DXT1 for textures without alpha
* DDS DXT5 for textures with alpha layers Another bit of info - thanks,
Is it right that all of the data/submarine maps are empty ? yes, the readme explains that!
I tried to convert to DDS with DXTbmp and had no luck.
When I resized the TGA to 2048x2048 it did work. What was the created size, just curious, I bet it's about 70megs!
I will try photoshop tonight, I don't have it here at work. That would be very interesting!:yep:
I was a bit confused about the texture though. The RGB channels make no sense, are they from a source bitmap you used to draw the alpha channel? Mind you, I'm a mod noob ;) They are just taken from the original, though resized, tga file from SH3, I am a noob here as well, it worked in SH3 though!
I had no problems converting it using the DirectX Texture Tool after resizing to 4096x4096, generate mipmaps, and setting surface format to 'DXT5'. What program did you use & could you tell me the size of the created dds file please.:yep:

[FooFighters]

I tried photoshop but this gives the same problem as DXTbmp. The file is to large.
I can open it but saving takes ages and my PC stalls (also in 4096x4096).

When I resized to 2048*2048 it works fine. The DDS file is 5,33 mb

[Reece]

Wierd isn't it, and 4096x4096 is hardly big!:-? atleast you got the file size to be ok, the left side width needs to be larger, I was going to edit it.:doh:
I hope skwasjer replies.:yep:
Might be easier to just create a whole new one, but still not sure of the best tool for the job.:roll:

[jaketoox]

I tried photoshop but this gives the same problem as DXTbmp. The file is to large.
I can open it but saving takes ages and my PC stalls (also in 4096x4096).

When I resized to 2048*2048 it works fine. The DDS file is 5,33 mb

I had the same problem when i was working with seafoam....i did all editing in photoshop (mainly because that kind of job was easier for me to do in photoshop, becuse of alpha-channel), but i couldn't convert it to 4kx4k dds, and only one tool i could find to do the job, was GIMP with that dds-plugin....(oh well..you propably call me GIMP-zealot from now on..:damn::rotfl:)

I tried this too, i resized it to 4096x4096, and converted it to DXT5 dds with no mipmaps( i assume there's no need for mipmaps in this case)....file size is 16MB

Jake

[skwasjer]

Here is an example:

http://sh4.skwas.net/NSS_Uboat__shp.rar

DXT5, no mipmaps, 4096x4096, 16MB. I am unsure if the file can be made any smaller.

The DirectX Texture tool is a tool from Microsoft that comes with the DirectX SDK. The downside is you get more installed than this tool alone, but if you can live with that then all is good. As a developer, I need this SDK...

Hope this helps...

[edit] I don't consider 4096x4096 small. Uncompressed the file is 65MB, and this certainly adds a penalty to GPU memory and or main memory. While GFX cards compress textures as well, bigger textures do add to overall load. Keep this in mind!

[Reece]

Thanks skwasjer, I have downloaded the file & will check it out, as jaketoox mentioned Gimp may be the way to go, also my Photoshop is old (v6), I can't afford to keep upgrading stuff especially when a lot are package deals!:yep:
Cheers.