Re: [Gimp-user] saving DDS files

[scott smart <75270 3703 earthlink net>]

On 8/3/2019 02:18, Sorceress99 wrote:
> > First your 'transparent' png.
> >
> > Go to Layer -> Transparency -> Add Alpha Channel  and if that is
> > 'greyed-out'
> > then the image has transparency. (You can also see in the layers
> > dialogue, a
> > layer **without** an alpha channel has a ** bold**  layer name)
> >
> > I will attach your image in what I think it should look like, as a
> > Gimp xcf
> > image and a screenshot comparison of a DXT viewer showing the exported
> > dds file.
> >
> > I did a bit of digging and found this about SkyRim.
> > https://kasprutz.tumblr.com/post/126812437384/dds-format-guide-for-skyrim.
> > No
> > Gimp mentioned but it looks like BC3 / DXT5 should be OK.
> >
> > However there is a PDF on the subject here that advises Alpha Exponent
> > (DXT5)
> > for quality
> > https://www.gimp-forum.net/Thread-How-To-Use-The-Gimp-DDS-Plugin?pid=6196#pid6196
> > right at the end of the PDF.
> >
> > Sorry I can not be much help but again I am not into those game
> > graphics and I
> > appreciate that most information is written for PS users.
> >
> > Attachments:
> > * https://www.gimpusers.com/system/attachments/1227/original/dds.jpg
> > *
> > https://www.gimpusers.com/system/attachments/1228/original/original.xcf
> Appreciate the input. I am enjoying the new Gimp2.10.12 much better than 2.8.
> Much more versatile and supports DDS files. As i mentioned earlier, I am a
> newbie with DDS files so much to learn. Mostly I aimed at retexuring armor and
> clothing. I want to take images from the net and convert them to DDS. Lof of
> images of lace that I want to use without losing the depth of color or
> sharpness. I did manage to convert a beautiful blue lace thru trial an error and
> It worked nice. But I cant remember how I did it so I know Gimp can do what I
> want. Most everyone I know uses Adobe and getting them to help can be an arduous
> process so I am hoping to be able to do for myself. Thanks again for you help.


It's been a few years since I worked with DXT5.  I always saved my 
source image data in tiff files as they seem to be easiest to 
manipulate.  The thing with DXT5 is that the compression breaks your 
image into blocks and stores info about the colors and alpha in each 
block.  There's only a few bits of alpha data per block so if you are 
starting with 8-bit RGBA image it could be the alpha has too much 
gradient and info is lost in the compression.  You might try extracting 
the alpha to a layer and working with it as a grey-scale layer to 
experiment on.


scott s.

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