dds file extension

Greetings,

 

Not certain where to go with my questions

 

1 what is a (dds) file extension ?

2how can I open such a file

 

Many thanks for those that will reply

 

Gerry

NVidia has a Photoshop add-on to open .dds files

DXTBmp also processes .DDS files.

 

Other than being flipped vertically .DDS files are basically the same as the .bmp files you are used to in FS9.

 

peace,

the Bean

Greetings,

 

Not certain where to go with my questions

 

1 what is a (dds) file extension ?

2how can I open such a file

Many thanks for those that will reply

 

Gerry

 

Hello

I too have been puzzled by the DDS extension.

Its been a tale of good and bad news.

 

The bad .....I have had some strange results trying to convert these DDD files too either DDS minus MIPS or dxt3 etc .I have had textures vanish completely, or turn psychedelicy weirdly weird.

 

The good.......because I recently bought a new PC Its now not essential to convert to dxt3 as my new PC has enough horsepower to run the higher quality textures with no performance issues.I am still curious as to what these DDS thingies are however.

I use convimix by the way.There never was a DDS option in the older version, just a simple conversion from 32bit to dxt3.

 

The ugly......No ugly really, apart from the psychedelic weirdly weird.

 

Cheers Socks

There are are sime 30 different formats for .dds - far more that only the few FDX formats.

 

DXT3 formats are compressed and so can't be converted to higher quality ones.

DXT3 formats are compressed and so can't be converted to higher quality ones.

 

Sure they can, I have converted many DXT compressed files to 32bit.

 

The image themselves did not change, had to do that myself. However I had no problems converting formats.

 

peace,

the Bean

I too have been puzzled by the DDS extension.

 

DDS stands for Direct Draw Surface.

 

Technically speaking any texture used in FS on a 3D model is a DDS file because FS is a DirectX application.

 

In their infinite wisdom Microsoft decided not to use the .DDS extension opting for the .bmp extension.

 

As confusing as it is for some simmers to "get" .DDS textures, people from outside of the sim world are also confused by the lack of the .DDS extension in FS.

 

Prior to FSX Microsoft also modified texture behavior in that typically .DDS textures are flipped vertically from their mapped orientation. Textures with the .bmp extension have not been flipped. Perhaps this lack of flipping is why Microsoft decided to not use the .DDS extension. This all changed with FSX.

 

There is also commonly confusion about .DDS versus DXT. They are 2 separate things and are not dependent on each other.

 

The only practical difference in FS between .DDS and .bmp textures is that the .DDS textures have been flipped vertically. Programs like DXTBmp and the Photoshop nVidia plugin do this for us automatically.

 

DXT is a file compression method that can be applied to both .DDS and .bmp textures. Jpeg is another type of image compression that people are familiar with, though it does not work in FS.

 

The reason for using DXT compression is to get smaller files that reduce the load on FS allowing a better sim performance. As with any image compression, the cost of better performance is image quality.

 

If your PC has the horsepower you can use 32bit, non-compressed, textures for the best quality.

 

So, in a nutshell, .DDS vs. .bmp = flipped or not.

 

DXT vs 32bit = compressed or not.

 

peace,

the Bean

The size of a 1024 by 1024 bitmap is 4Mb. the size of a 1024 by 1024 DXT5 dds is 1 MB without mipmaps. The dds is compressed and has lost three-quarters of its orginal data from the bmp. That's why it can't be converted to a higher quality image - the data to do that has been thrown away - GIGO.