[ART] DDS issues

[TheMrDonsantos]

After 48hrs i finally added a custom model to my CS! My very first one ever created, I did so by following Acies basic model guide. The first 20 tries with different models either made Maya crash at export, the model viewer crashed at import/open or anything else that could crash would crash.

My problem seemed to be the texture itself, not the model. I tried saving my UV-map by simply adding ".dds" in the filename when saving in Photoshop, this somehow corrupted the entire file I believe xD

I found no info on how to properly export .dds with the exception of that Nvidia plug-in which doesn't work for me (maybe cause of ATI card I dunno). So what I finally did was downloading a trial version of ""Image Converter Plus" where I converted my .iff files to .dds - applied them in Maya and suddenly all was fine and dandy

Now I have a few questions..
1.
Is there a better way for the .dds export thingy.. I probably did some stupid mistake in photoshop. Do you use any special software or is it as simple as adding ".dds"?... this converter adds a watermark to my images, a bit annoying

2.
The model shows up fine in model viewer, material viewer, model editor and in the game itself.. but in the level editor all I see is the wireframe for the model, no texture or anything. This could be problematic if I created walls for example - suggestions on how to fix this?

3.
I wanna start with simple models such as boxes, crates and work my way forward. Right now my model is simple a box 1x1x1m and is red/blue on all sides as this was my simple test in photoshop. But if I want some real serious textures of wood, should I simply google "2d textures" and add it to my UV?

Are there better programs/plug-ins that help me with adding diffrent textures perfectly. And where should I find theses textures..


4.
Let's say I do have a nice 2d texture of lets say tiled stone. And I want to create a plane in the level editor and use this texture. I somehow first must make it ".mat" How do I best go about this without adding it to a model first?

5.
In the "Outsourcers Guide to Modeling" they speak of the diffrent mappings.. like diffuse, specular, normalmapping. My model I believe simply has the diffuse mapping, I made 1 UV-Map and in the material editor it is selected under Diffuse.

I suppose I should add all the others as well for the most realistic look, do I do this in Maya and how?.. by copying the .DDS several times or something?

[Romulator]

Well, im no modeller, but if you save the file as a .jpg if you cannot use .dds on Photoshop, then open it with Paint.Net, then Save As a .dds from there

[TheMrDonsantos]

Well, im no modeller, but if you save the file as a .jpg if you cannot use .dds on Photoshop, then open it with Paint.Net, then Save As a .dds from there

Thank you, I had no idea you could save as .DDS in paint.net. That does help Scratch problem no.1 from the list

I also duplicated my "invisible" box in the level editor, and the duplicates were completely visible. So scratch No.2 as well

[OriginalUsername]

The easiest way is just to grab a texture, put it in a 512x512 or 1024x1024 or 2048x2048 (depends the detail you want/need) then export it in photoshop or GIMP (they both have a .dds plugin, google it) then save the file in a folder. Open that texture in your model program and apply it to your model. It's as easy as that!

Your problems:

3. Yes. Just download a 2d texture (http://www.cgtextures.com is a good site for this) open it in photoshop or GIMP (I use gimp because it's free and I'm against pirating) and change the size to one of the sizes I said above. Then use the .dds plugin to save it as a .dds format and save it in a folder (!important!). Then apply those .dds files to your model.

4. You don't need a .mat file until the very end. When you're done exporting it to a .dae file, you'll have to tell amnesia which textures it has to use. Amnesia uses the .mat files for this. So when you're done place the folder (with the .dae and .dds files in the entities or static objects folder. Then open the material editor, and select solidfuse. Select the .dds under the diffuse tab. If you have any other files (ao, spec, etc. The normal map has to be applied in maya itself!) you have to do the same with those. Then save it in that folder as a .mat file (it does this when you press save.) when you're done doing this for all your textures, open up the modelviewer and check if everything is right.

5. All those files add some realism to your texture. The normal map adds a little depth to your model. (like the spaces between wooden planks) I use the program crazy bump for this. Don't use it for anything else though! The specular map tells amnesia how much it should it shine, look up a tutorial how to do this. There are several more maps, just google them on what they do.

I hope this helped!

[TheMrDonsantos]

The easiest way is just to grab a texture, put it in a 512x512 or 1024x1024 or 2048x2048 (depends the detail you want/need) then export it in photoshop or GIMP (they both have a .dds plugin, google it) then save the file in a folder. Open that texture in your model program and apply it to your model. It's as easy as that!

I really couldn't export as DDS through Photoshop(or maybe I'm just stupid ), but that is solved b now using paint.NET

My progress so far:

My first try at a model was simply a huge box in blue and red 256x256 resolution. After the first replies in this thread I managed to create this 512x512 resolution exported dds through Paint.NET with extrudes edges and so on

Spoiler below!

I am finally getting somewhere!

4. You don't need a .mat file until the very end. When you're done exporting it to a .dae file, you'll have to tell amnesia which textures it has to use. Amnesia uses the .mat files for this. So when you're done place the folder (with the .dae and .dds files in the entities or static objects folder. Then open the material editor, and select solidfuse. Select the .dds under the diffuse tab. If you have any other files (ao, spec, etc. The normal map has to be applied in maya itself!) you have to do the same with those. Then save it in that folder as a .mat file (it does this when you press save.) when you're done doing this for all your textures, open up the modelviewer and check if everything is right.

- Ah yes, and with the .mat I get I can use that on diffrent Planes in the level editor. Thanks a lot!

5. All those files add some realism to your texture. The normal map adds a little depth to your model. (like the spaces between wooden planks) I use the program crazy bump for this. Don't use it for anything else though! The specular map tells amnesia how much it should it shine, look up a tutorial how to do this. There are several more maps, just google them on what they do.

I hope this helped!

I will google it and see if I can't add several of these layers, just experiment a lot

Great help

[WALP]

Actually you dont even have to create a .mat file yourself. if you exported it properly thenwhen opening it in the model viewer a .mat for each texture assinged to your model should be generated, which you can then edit afterwards.

[OriginalUsername]

Actually you dont even have to create a .mat file yourself. if you exported it properly thenwhen opening it in the model viewer a .mat for each texture assinged to your model should be generated, which you can then edit afterwards.

Does it add specular maps to the .mat file too? (just curious)

[Acies]

Look at this:
http://www.frictionalgames.com/forum/thread-20345.html

Better tutorial - Should answer a lot of questions. Anyway:
1. Download a dds plugin for Photoshop
2. It's either the resolution of the texture, the model isn't triagulated yet, multiple UV maps on the same mesh, incorrect type of texture file, incorrect naming
3. There is no "simple answer". There is a technique to everything. For wood I recommend a base color of brown, some shadowing using AO or displacement, an "image of wood from CG textures/google" overplayed with a low opacity, as well as extra details painted on top of that (could be scratches, dirt etc.) You might want to use the displacement to "layer color tones" of brown. I suggest you look at Traggeys texturing tutorial for some other ideas.
4. Open the material editor in your amnesia base folders. Select "soliddiffuse" in the drop down menu. Add textures. Save.
5. Crazybump is bad for generating normals on a model/texture. It will pick up "noise" from your image and generate that too - so your normal map will be very "messy", which make it look worse. Best would be to generate a normal map from a High poly and include a low opacity "crazy bump" normal map - for some random noise but perhaps that is for later (as in you are more experienced modeling).

To answer the other questions:
If you name you diffuse "WoodThing.dds" the normal map shall be namned "WoodThing_nrm.dds" and the specular "Woodthing_spec.dds" for Amensia Modelview to automatically create a .mat file including all of the textures. The main thing is to add your diffuse texture in your modeling program, as the rest of the maps/textures will be "looked after/upon" depending on the DIFFUSE MAP YOU LINK IN YOUR MODELING PROGRAM. You can adjust that later by opening .mat files in the amnesia materialeditor and manually adding textures.

Cheers!

[WALP]

Actually you dont even have to create a .mat file yourself. if you exported it properly thenwhen opening it in the model viewer a .mat for each texture assinged to your model should be generated, which you can then edit afterwards.

Does it add specular maps to the .mat file too? (just curious)

No it just creates a .mat with the name of the texture assigned to it in your 3d software, which is only the diffuse. You will have to open up the newly generated .mat in the material editor and assign your spec map manually. this goes for pretty much any map that is not the diffuse.

[Acies]

No it just creates a .mat with the name of the texture assigned to it in your 3d software, which is only the diffuse. You will have to open up the newly generated .mat in the material editor and assign your spec map manually. this goes for pretty much any map that is not the diffuse.

If it follows the "naming process" as I described above, found here:
http://wiki.frictionalgames.com/hpl2/tut...loutsource

The normal and spec should be added automatically ; )