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need help with dds file formats


ashkingwulfharth

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I've been working on some new meshes and textures for a set of dragon bone weapons. I've got the dagger pretty well done, but I'm having trouble finding a decent tutorial on textures. I've got it how I want it to jpeg, and I have the dds plugin for photoshop elements 7 (that's what i use). But I have a few questions about how to save it to dds:

 

Do I need to create an alpha channel?

And if so, how?

How do I get the metal to reflect more than the bone and tooth (like the jagged crown)?

Is that something I do in max or photoshop?

What is the purpose of the _m.dds file that bethesda uses and how can I use that?

 

I want to get this dagger in-game, so I can start on the rest of the set. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Edited by ashkingwulfharth
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If I get anything wrong, someone correct me.

 

Do I need to create an alpha channel?

 

Yes.

 

And if so, how?

 

I don't know. What I do: I open a DDS file that already has an alpha channel, and Save As a different file name. You can resize this to suit your texture/mesh, if it's not the right size.

 

How do I get the metal to reflect more than the bone and tooth (like the jagged crown)?

 

This is done in specularity. If the weapon only has diffuse (i.e. the materials) and a normal (_n, i.e. the "bump" map) files, you'll find the specular in the alpha channel of the _n file. If the weapon has diffuse, normal, and _m files, you'll find the specular in the m file. The m file handles specularity. The whiter you paint something in the specular channel, the shinier it will be.

 

Is that something I do in max or photoshop?

 

Photoshop. I'm sure there's a way to do this in max, too, but I don't know it.

 

What is the purpose of the _m.dds file that bethesda uses and how can I use that?

 

It handles specularity -- that is, how lighting interacts with the object. Some objects use _m files for this; some just use the alpha channel of the _n files.

 

 

You have to sign in to Flicker to see your file. I don't have a Flicker account. Use Photobucket for your modding needs.

 

Edit: some links for you to read -- http://cs.elderscrolls.com/index.php/Choose_the_right_DXTC_compression_algorithm and http://cs.elderscrolls.com/index.php/DDS_Files

Edited by ooofbaer
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http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r602/ashkingwulfharth/daggerwithspecularmap.jpg

 

I think I have the format for my dds, normal, and specular maps correct now. This pic is with the 3ds max render, so it doesn't show the normal map, just the specular, but it makes a big difference so far.

 

Once I figure out how to run it through niftools properly, I'll try to get an ingame pic.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I finally figured out and accomplished getting these weapons imported into the game. Everything looks fine except that the entire models are glossy. I only want the metal to be glossy. I don't know if I should remove the _m maps or what. My guess is that I'm not setting up my textures correctly when I save them. However, they act appropriately in max, but not in the game.

 

I notice that the bonecrown has no _m file, but the armor does. It's probably my alpha channels. I don't know how to do anything (even find and extract from bethesda textures) with alphas in photoshop, so I'm kind of letting the nvidia plug-in create them for me (I think). It could also be something I'm doing wrong in nifscope. I really don't know where to start.

 

This is my last little speed bump to cranking out some models, so if anyone could help me out, I'd be eternally grateful. If you want to see my textures, the dragonbone dagger is on the nexus.

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Sounds like you need to turn down the "volume" on your normal map...

 

Put it though Photoshop and apply an 80% transparency, and about 90% on the areas that are bone...

 

Hope this helps

 

EDIT:

Ok just tried it (using Gimp) - applied a 20% opacity eraser to the metal and a 60% opacity eraser to the bone - looks ok, but the metal is probably still too shiney, what you think?

 

 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6270597/Skyrim/DragonBoneDaggerPreview01.jpg

 

 

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I finally figured out and accomplished getting these weapons imported into the game. Everything looks fine except that the entire models are glossy. I only want the metal to be glossy. I don't know if I should remove the _m maps or what. My guess is that I'm not setting up my textures correctly when I save them. However, they act appropriately in max, but not in the game.

 

I notice that the bonecrown has no _m file, but the armor does. It's probably my alpha channels. I don't know how to do anything (even find and extract from bethesda textures) with alphas in photoshop, so I'm kind of letting the nvidia plug-in create them for me (I think). It could also be something I'm doing wrong in nifscope. I really don't know where to start.

 

This is my last little speed bump to cranking out some models, so if anyone could help me out, I'd be eternally grateful. If you want to see my textures, the dragonbone dagger is on the nexus.

 

This is my first post on the Nexus. There's a huge amount of tutorials and threads, and I'm not sure which info is current and what's what, so I hope you'll forgive me for just jumping in and asking questions...

 

But are you at the stage where you can add your custom mesh as its own specific weapon (or weapon type) into the Creation Kit? That is, as opposed to just replacing all iron daggers with a new mesh.

 

Your work is extremely good, by the way.

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