DXTBmp
General 16 bit Texture Manipulator for FS2000 and CFS2
Installation
DXTBmp is an mwgfx program and requires mwgfx.dll to be installed in order to function. If the package contains
the program mwgfxdll.exe then this can be run to install the dll into the Window System
folder. If you already have mwgfx programs installed on your system (Bmp2000, CfsClass, Show, TView.........) then
you will already have the dll correctly installed.
DXTBmp is a program for Windows 95/98. It is untested on WindowsNT, Windows2000 or WindowsME. It should work
on these platforms but this is not guaranteed.
Create a folder for DXTBmp and copy the program file (dxtbmp.exe) and the Help file (dxtbmp.htm) to that folder.
You will need to create your own shortcuts to run the program (just drag out dxtbmp.exe from Windows Explorer to
your desktop to create a desktop shortcut to the program)
16 bit Texture Formats in FS2000 and CFS2
FS2000 introduced several new texture formats for Aircraft and Objects. Expanding on the 8 bit Extended Bitmap
format introduced in CFS it added the increased colour depth of 16 bit (65536 colours) and larger texture sizes
(up to 1024x1024 and also non-square). These 16 bit textures came in 2 main variations - pure 565 for normal textures
and 4444 (4 bit transparency) for textures requiring an Alpha channel (mainly Clouds but also used for some objects
requiring transparent parts).
The Beta version of CFS2 introduced another format - 5551 (1 bit Transparency) which may also be supported by
FS2000.
The Release version of CFS2 replaced the 565 and 5551 formats with a new compressed format. Instead of four
565 "Normal" and four 5551 "Damage" 512x512 textures for each of the main Aircraft it uses
one DXT Opaque "Normal" and one DXT Opaque+Alpha "Damage" 1024x1024 texture for each Aircraft.
Because these are compressed they are each the same filesize as just one of the old 512x512 textures giving a saving
of several megabytes for each Aircraft.
Load Formats Supported by DXTBmp
Currently DXTBmp has 2 Load options in the File menu
| Load Extended 16 bit Image |
This will sample the chosen file and decide if it is one of the supported Formats ( DXT, 565, 5551 or 4444) and
load it if it is. If it is not recognised as an extended 16 bit image then you will be offered the option to load
it as a normal image. |
| Load Normal Image |
This will load any mwgfx-supported image file (use the "Any File" option in the file dialog to load non-bmp
images). The image will be resized so that it will be a valid "power of 2" size in width and height if
necessary. Further filetypes can be loaded if you have the extra mwgfx dlls installed. |
Save Formats Supported by DXTBmp
| Save 24 bit Image |
Will save the current image as a normal 24 bit Bmp. Useful if you want to take the image elsewhere for further
editing (reimport later using Load Normal Image) |
| Save DXT Texture |
This will save the current image as a DXT-Compressed Texture. How it is saved depends on the settings you have
selected in the Prefs/DXT Settings menu. Recommendation is to keep "Include Transparency" and "Include
Mips" selected for all DXT textures to be used in CFS2. With Opaque+Alpha all pixels painted Pure Green (0,255,0)
will be saved as transparent |
| Save Extended Bitmap (565) |
This will save the image as an FS2000 Format 16 bit Extended Bitmap complete with Mips. This format is also supported
by CFS2 but will be 4 times bigger than the equivalent image in DXT format. |
| Save Extended Bitmap (555-1) |
This will save the image as an FS2000 Format 16 bit Extended Bitmap complete with Mips and a 1 bit Transparency
channel. This format is also supported by CFS2 but will be 4 times bigger than the equivalent image in DXT (opaque+Alpha)
format. Pixels painted pure green (0,255,0) will be treated as transparent. |
| Save Extended Bitmap (444-4) |
This will only be available for images that loaded as this format. The separate 4 bit transparency channel will
be recombined with the main image. Mips will be saved with this format. It is supported by CFS2 and FS2000 and
mainly used for Clouds |
Settings for DXT Textures
For DXT images there are several Settings that can be made that affect the way an Image is saved in DXT format
| Include Mips |
If selected then images will be saved with reduced sized subimages (mips) included. Recommendation
ON |
| Include Transparency |
If selected then any pure green pixels in the Image will be saved as Transparent. All other pixels will be saved
normally. Recommendation ON |
| Load DXT after Save |
If selected then the saved image will be reloaded when you save an edited image in DXT format. This lets you quickly
see what effects DXT compression has had on the Quality of the Image and can check the Mips for blemishes. |
| Pre-Smooth Mips |
If selected this will apply a smoothing filter to the image before scaling it to create the Mip subimages. |
| Post-Smooth Mips |
If selected this will apply a smoothing filter to the Mip image after scaling it from the main image. Can be at
the same time as Pre-Smooth. Experiment with Pre-, Post- or both if Mips are getting excessively sharpened or highlighted |
Editing an Image
Once an Image has been loaded into the program via any method it can be sent to any suitable Paint Program for
editing by selecting "Send to Editor" from the Image menu. The image will be passed over in 24 bit format
and can be edited using any of the paint programs tools. Once editing has finished you must "Save" the
changed image from the paint program. The easiest way to make sure the correct file is saved to is to close the
paint program and OK the box that will pop up saying "Do you want to save......"
Back in DXTBmp the changed image can be reloaded by selecting "Reload after Edit" from the "Image"
menu.
If the Image you originally loaded was in 444-4 format then an extra submenu will be available
in the Image menu. This will let you view the Alpha channel or send it separately to the paint program for
editing.
The default Paint Program when first installed will be MSPaint. You will want to change this!!! Recommended
paint program - PaintShopPro (but any paint program with good Photo-editing tools will do)
Special Remarks for working on DXT Images
| Always work in 24 bit |
Reducing colour depth while in the editor will not only confuse DXTBmp on reloading the image but will almost certainly
introduce a dithering which will react very badly with the DXT compression algorithm - resulting in a very poor
final image.
If the Painting is going to be a long job then it is better to initially save the original texture out as a 24
bit image then do all your editing outside DXTBmp. When happy just load the 24 bit image ("Load Normal Image")
into DXTBmp and save out a DXT version. Keep the 24 bit image safe in case you want to do further editing later. |
| Anti-Alias where possible |
Sharp edges will suffer when compressed with DXT. Use any Anti-aliasing or feathering tools you can to let your
additions blend in with the surrounding texture. Zoom in on parts of one of the default textures to see how heavily
the original images are anti-aliased. Plain shapes or lines done without Anti-aliasing will tend to go blocky (especially
in the smaller mip images where the down-scaling tends to accentuate parts of high contrast) |
| Check the Mips |
Because of the Compression used by DXT more care than usual needs to be taken with the Mip sub-images. You can
view the mips of a DXT image from the Image menu. Select "View Mip" then the number of the mip to view
and it will be displayed. To get the main image back View the Main mip.To attempt to stop degredation of the main
image when creating the mips there are 2 options on the Prefs/DXT Settings menu. These will apply smoothing before
and/or after doing the rescaling. Experiment with these to find which combination gives the best result with a
particular image. |
Changing the Editing Paint Program
When first run the default Editing program will be set as MSPaint. This is not really suitable for editing full
colour images so you will want to change this if you have a better Paint Program available on your system. Use
"Select Editor" from the Prefs menu to browse to a more suitable program and select the exe file (eg
psp.exe for PaintShopPro). Most paint programs should work
Menus
Copyrights
DXTBmp.exe and mwgfx.dll are Copyright (c) 2000 Martin Wright
You may use these files to Edit or Create Texture files for your own personal use or for distributing as Freeware.
No Commercial Distribution of Files created with DXTBmp.exe is allowed without prior permission.
Please bear in mind the Original copyrights belonging to any Image you edit. Image copyrights will remain with
the original creator.
No Redistribution of DXTBmp.exe is allowed in any form without permission
Updates
Any updates to Program or DLL files will be posted on the MWGraphics website http://fly.to/mwgfx/