alpha channel

[mechine]

Okay so do we need any alpha channel in a base texture map.

 

 

 

From the way I understand, Alpha is like the opaque

 

 

 

There's DXT-1 which ignores Alpha allowing higher compression, twice as much

 

 

Okay so I have this base texture, it's 1024x1024, I downloaded it

 

the file size was 1.2Mb, openned it with paintnet, then saved it

 

DXT-1 is the default setting for paintnet, so the file size was cut in half to 600Kb

 

but they still look the same, however DXT-1 uses two 16 bit tables 32ish (didn't want to read into it)

 

 

Then the normal DXT 2 or DXT 3 which would save the alpha channel in there, is like 64 bit

 

idk

 

 

I know you have to use something like DXT 3, to save normal maps, which paintnet will cut the file size of a normal map

 

down from what GIMP saves it at, like 5Mb to 1.2Mb

 

 

 

What I was thinking though was using the DXT-1 for the base texture, which don't really need alpha

 

well not all of them, thereby cutting the file size in half, then having really good normal maps to make up the difference.

 

Mind you I can't really tell the difference between a base texture saved in DXT 1 or DXT 3

 

Then part of the whole normal map thing is to allow really basic meshes an textures, and here we are with some

 

textures going past 2048x2048.

 

 

 

 

It really only comes into play if you put a whole bunch of items in a cell, the Mb stack up an up until you drop FPS.