Workaround for GIMP not opening certain FO4 dds files?

[kevkiev]

I've run into the problem with GIMP that it can't open certain FO4 diffuse maps, apparently because of a new compression format. I tried Paint.Net, but it had the same problem. I tried a few DDS to PNG/JPG etc converters (i.e. to use GIMP to later convert the PNG or JPG back to a DDS) but they couldn't read the file properly either (they didn't fail, but the "read" dds file was 99% noise).

 

Does anyone know a workaround for this?

 

There's an Intel plugin that, apparently, solved the problem for photoshop here and I saw a Reddit post about using Microsoft Tools to convert the Intel plugin for GIMP. But I DL'd the supposed conversion program from here and couldn't make heads nor tails on how to use it for such a conversion.

 

Is the free trial version of Photoshop the only way around this?

[ehtyeci]

There's quite a few fallback tools if you can't open the DDS in your favorite program.

PS with Intel Texture Works

Gimp with the DDS plugin

Paint.NET with the DDS2 plugin

AMD Compressonator

I just use texconv.exe from the DirectXTex bundle:

texconv input.dds -ft png -f R8G8B8A8_UNORM

if all else fails, open the DDS in a hex editor like HxD and change the FOURCC.

Most of the time programs fail to open DDS because noone seem able to agree upon a common set of FOURCC for every subformat - everyone just loves using their own unique media identifier so it's no wonder every other program has trouble reading DDS files. DirectXTex is fairly bulletproof, though. I mean, it's developed by the same company that made DirectX.

[kevkiev]

Thanks for the reply, ehtyeci.

 

I have the latest Gimp/ DDS plugin but it doesn't work with the new compression formats. Seems to be a known issue with Gimp but, so far, no fix.

 

But, damn, I didn't see that DDS2 plugin for Paint.Net. Looks like that indeed would solve the problem.

 

Thought I'd try installing the Compressonator you linked, but during installation it wanted to change various of my NVidia files so I bailed out. (Perhaps nothing, but I'm always antsy about DL'g software and often bail at the first sign of weirdness.)

 

Also, the link you gave for the DirectXTex bundle looks like it's the same link as the "from here" one in my post. But where exactly do I get the texconv.exe that you use? I DL'd the bundle a few days ago, but can't see that file anywhere. In fact, I don't see a single .exe file anywhere in the files I extracted from the "DirectXTex-master" zip file that I got with the download (which is what really baffled me in the first place).

 

Thanks again, this problem is driving me nuts so I really appreciate the help.

[payl0ad]

As a further fallback, there are the Nvidia Texture Tools (NVTT) that can also encode/decode DDS, even the newer formats.

[kevkiev]

As a further fallback, there are the Nvidia Texture Tools (NVTT) that can also encode/decode DDS, even the newer formats.

Thanks, but I don't think the one that works for the newer formats can't be installed into Gimp? Or will one of the tools work independently such that could use it to open the offending DDS, save it into another compression format, and then load that into Gimp?

 

Edit: I found the texture tools here but everything just links to the "legacy" tools. I DL'd the DDSUtilities package and tried the various tools, but mostly nothing happened each time. (Literally... ran each as an administrator, got the windows sound I usually get, then... nothing.) The DDS Viewer actually ran, but got the same "unknown format" as I got with Gimp and the Nvidia DDS gimp plugin. Exactly which tool are you referring to that can read/write the newer DDS formats? Can you provide a link to its download? Thanks.

 

Edit2: no worries on the clarification, I was able to get what I wanted by (re)installing Paint.Net with its dds2 plugin.

[ehtyeci]

Thanks for the reply, ehtyeci.

 

Thought I'd try installing the Compressonator you linked, but during installation it wanted to change various of my NVidia files so I bailed out. (Perhaps nothing, but I'm always antsy about DL'g software and often bail at the first sign of weirdness.)

 

Also, the link you gave for the DirectXTex bundle looks like it's the same link as the "from here" one in my post. But where exactly do I get the texconv.exe that you use? I DL'd the bundle a few days ago, but can't see that file anywhere. In fact, I don't see a single .exe file anywhere in the files I extracted from the "DirectXTex-master" zip file that I got with the download (which is what really baffled me in the first place).

 

Thanks again, this problem is driving me nuts so I really appreciate the help.

Not sure what changes Compressonator would do. It's just a tool for converting and opening textures, and just recently added support for gltf. I've used it tons in the past, but unfortunately it doesn't do non-square textures well.

Whoops, my bad. Didn't check that link of yours. Github is like the opposite of CNET or whatever, downloads, or rather, compiled releases are hidden in plain sight:

the master is the source code and project files (for Visual Studio etc.) to build your own versions, either modified or just ones using the latest commits if you can't wait for a release.

[kevkiev]

Thanks much for that clarification ehtyeci, though for now I'll just be keeping it in my back pocket. I reinstalled Paint.Net and loaded up that dds2 plugin and... success! Saved it in another format and was able to load it into Gimp. Much appreciated!!

[payl0ad]

 

As a further fallback, there are the Nvidia Texture Tools (NVTT) that can also encode/decode DDS, even the newer formats.

Thanks, but I don't think the one that works for the newer formats can't be installed into Gimp? Or will one of the tools work independently such that could use it to open the offending DDS, save it into another compression format, and then load that into Gimp?

 

Edit: I found the texture tools here but everything just links to the "legacy" tools. I DL'd the DDSUtilities package and tried the various tools, but mostly nothing happened each time. (Literally... ran each as an administrator, got the windows sound I usually get, then... nothing.) The DDS Viewer actually ran, but got the same "unknown format" as I got with Gimp and the Nvidia DDS gimp plugin. Exactly which tool are you referring to that can read/write the newer DDS formats? Can you provide a link to its download? Thanks.

 

Edit2: no worries on the clarification, I was able to get what I wanted by (re)installing Paint.Net with its dds2 plugin.

 

 

 

When I had to actually use them because GIMP wouldn't read the file, I just converted the original DDS to BMP using NVTT, copied those pixels into GIMP and went from there. Not like you're losing anything, BMP is uncompressed and DDS is lossless compression.

 

You can create BC7 DDS using NVTT from the command line but I've never had the necessity to do that.

[ehtyeci]

I believe OP tried the legacy version of NVTT from 2006 - I don't think it even fully supports dx9. That said, I actually use the stitch tool from the legacy bundle, because I want full control over my first mips.

There's a newer version of NVTT maintained by one guy on github, although similar to texconv where it's all command line tools.

[kevkiev]

Thanks for the additional tips. Bookmarking this thread for future reference.

 

What's kinda weird is that the vanilla (gawdawful) version of the texture I wanted was in the new compression format (triggering a bit of hair loss and eventually this thread) but I just DL'd the High Rez DLC and the high resolution version, contrary to my assumption, is in the old format so is readable by GIMP and my (ancient) DDS viewer. Go figure. Still, some really good stuff here - glad I ran into this problem since I'm climbing a pretty steep learning curve with all this texturing stuff and am trying to gather a wide range of info.