32 Bit Textures
- Thread starter Willy
- Start date
nigel richards
Charter Member
Good reminder about those ghastly "mips", falcon409.
Also, willy - if you're making use of Alphas, Extended 32 bit 888-8 works pretty well for me (via DXTmp). :salute:
Also, willy - if you're making use of Alphas, Extended 32 bit 888-8 works pretty well for me (via DXTmp). :salute:
Mick
SOH-CM-2025
I used 32-bit textures exclusively for years before I retired from paining planes. They are far superior to DXT files, because they're sharper to begin with, and especially because they don't deteriorate a little bit each time you open and close them, like DXT files do.
There's only one thing you have to watch out for. The files are relatively big, so if you have a plane with a complex model file and a gazillion texture files, and you have a slow computer, you might sometimes find that the textures load slowly enough that you can catch a brief glimpse of the untextured model when you first go to Spot view.
One solution, which will reduce the processing load on all computers, not just slow ones, is to only make the main external textures 32-bit, and leave the rest in DXT or even 256-colors.
Better solution: get a faster computer!
I always painted for myself, and while I was always happy to share my work with those who shared their work with me, I never felt compelled to use lower quality textures or go out of my in any other manner just to accommodate those who didn't have decent computers. My own rig was nothing special, so if something worked on my system, I figured that must be good enough for the vast majority of simmers, and certainly for those who were into the hobby enough to make stuff that they shared - and those were the only ones I cared about.
As it happened, I only ever ran into a handful of planes that had such complexity or so many textures that 32-bit files presented an issue. I'm sure that those with better systems - which is probably most simmers - would have even fewer issues.
There's only one thing you have to watch out for. The files are relatively big, so if you have a plane with a complex model file and a gazillion texture files, and you have a slow computer, you might sometimes find that the textures load slowly enough that you can catch a brief glimpse of the untextured model when you first go to Spot view.
One solution, which will reduce the processing load on all computers, not just slow ones, is to only make the main external textures 32-bit, and leave the rest in DXT or even 256-colors.
Better solution: get a faster computer!
I always painted for myself, and while I was always happy to share my work with those who shared their work with me, I never felt compelled to use lower quality textures or go out of my in any other manner just to accommodate those who didn't have decent computers. My own rig was nothing special, so if something worked on my system, I figured that must be good enough for the vast majority of simmers, and certainly for those who were into the hobby enough to make stuff that they shared - and those were the only ones I cared about.
As it happened, I only ever ran into a handful of planes that had such complexity or so many textures that 32-bit files presented an issue. I'm sure that those with better systems - which is probably most simmers - would have even fewer issues.
Matt Wynn
Charter Member
for FS2004 i use DXT3 and 32-bit, DXT if it is split up into a lot of parts to speed up loading time, but 32-bit primarily... in FSX you use DDS DXT5 or DDS 32-bit, of course always without mips... i find the difference between DXT3 and 32-bit to be marginal... sure there's a loss of quality, but sometimes you want loading time over graphics. ie, Ai Aircraft or cockpits (again this may be in part on the other PC, some can run everything 32-bit as their computer can keep up, others can't so it's DXT3), in the long run there is no 'right' or 'wrong' format... it all comes down to tailoring what's needed at that time... looking back at Ai aircraft... look at the load times on say 50 Ai aircraft, each calling for a 4mb 32-bit file... compared to DXT3 format... but as i say... horses for courses at the end of the day... :salute:
Blackbird686
SOH-CM-2025
I use 32 bit textures mostly. If a model loads slower or as mentioned above, the ramp is filled with "ghosts"... I'll use DXT3. No mips either way, I find them to be quite distracting.
I have a specific gaming machine that has alot of 'guts'. On that machine I run FSX occasionally, but FS9 primarily. I use DXT5 as well as DDS 32 bit for FSX. Getting that PC to "flinch" is nearly impossible.
I reckon it's what you like as well as what results you achieve, that work the best... given your video card, and the power of the machine you run your flight sim of choice on.
BB686:USA-flag:
I have a specific gaming machine that has alot of 'guts'. On that machine I run FSX occasionally, but FS9 primarily. I use DXT5 as well as DDS 32 bit for FSX. Getting that PC to "flinch" is nearly impossible.
I reckon it's what you like as well as what results you achieve, that work the best... given your video card, and the power of the machine you run your flight sim of choice on.
BB686:USA-flag:
Thanks guys! I'm just flying FS9. I used to paint everything in DXT3, but with this newer machine, it handles 32bit a lot better. Good tip about the mips. The paint I was working on when I started this thread had the fuzzies in the sim and resaving without the mips worked. And like others here, I paint what I like and interests me.
Now I guess it's time to learn how to use PSP and layers...
Now I guess it's time to learn how to use PSP and layers...
Matt Wynn
Charter Member
if you need any help buddy us PSP/PS/GIMP users will be here to assist... layers, thankfully, are all pretty much the same across platforms... just give us a shout...
+1 :salute:
AussieMan
SOH Staff .."Bartender"
Willy, painting with layers terrified me until I decided to paint some of the WBS Mustangs for FSX. It was that easy I wondered why I hadn't tried it earlier.