[KevveK88]

Hi Everyone!

Ok, i was just wandering if there is any program out there or any file converter that can allow me to view a DDS file as if i was in game.

I have already been able to open a DDS file in Photoshop CS4 to edit it, but i find it very difficult to edit it when its all in pieces. If you have ever opened or edited a DDS file yourself you should be able to understand.

- Thanks, Kev.

[Couriant]

The DDS file type is primarily associated with 'DirectX (Multiple Versions)' by Microsoft Corporation.
The Microsoft DirectDraw Surface (DDS) file format is used to store textures and cubic environment maps, both with and without mipmap levels.

This format can store uncompressed and compressed pixel formats, and is the preferred file format for storing DXTn compressed data.

This file format is supported by the Microsoft DirectX Texture tool (DXTex Tool), as well as some third party tools, and by the Direct3D extensions (D3DX) library.

There are plug-ins and add-ons to handle this format available for many different programs.

This is the information i have on the file extension. I am not sure if PhotoShop can handle DDS files correctly, but if you can find the DXTex tool, that should work.

[KevveK88]

Hmm ill try it out, thanks for the help. Apparently its in the DirectX SDK, ill download it over night and tell you what i can find out tomorrow.

[KevveK88]

I have got that, thats how i edit DDS files right now, but i am looking for a way to see the DDS as if i was ingame. Like, you can see the face, the shirt, the boots etc all in little areas when you open a DDS file in Photoshop, i want a program that can open the DDS file where all the parts are put together and it has the physical shape as if it was ingame. It would make DDS files so much easier to edit.

[RaMdOmDuDe]

I have a add-on for photoshop from Nvidia which allows .DDS files to be viewed. I used this to create custom meshes for Sims 3, and it does work.

[RaMdOmDuDe]

Heres the link http://developer.nvidia.com/object/p...s_plugins.html

[KevveK88]

Thankyou very much for the help and the links but i am not sure if you understand what i am after. Just to try and make more sense i will show you some screenshots.


This is how i currently edit DDS files:

http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l...eenShot1-9.jpg


It would be much easier to edit the DDS file in this view:

http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l...creenShot3.jpg


I found this on the net too:

http://i330.photobucket.com/albums/l...creenShot2.jpg



And yes, i do know the skins are different but just ignore the colors.

[Gulo Luseus]

I doubt you will get anywhere. the skin is a 2D overlay for a 3D mesh, and as you dont have access to the mesh, you cant overlay it.
Photoshop is also a 2D programme and cannot wrap the way you want it to. You may find a way to join vertices, but to be hones,t its going to be an awful lot of work. Might do it in Bryce, Poser, or Acad, at a pinch, but its a long job.

[KevveK88]

So there are no programs or DDS converters to allow me to do what i want?

[Gulo Luseus]

See above- there are 3 there that MIGHT do it.
YOU CANNOT CONVERT A 2D PICTURE TO A 3D PICTURE. It is that simple.You need the 3D object, which you do not have. You need to wrap the 2D picture around the 3D object, which you do not have.

all you can do is view the pic as is, and try and edit from there.

[KevveK88]

So humans say we are so advanced and so smart, but there is nothing out there that i can use to do something so simple ? Its 2010 for god sake.. Guess ill just wait another 10 years... Oh but do you guys know how to open anm files? Been wandering for ages now and everyone always gives me programs that can not run on Windows 7..

[Gulo Luseus]

Its not simple. why is it so hard to understand??
OK, a programme you can use to do it. get a copy of Daz3D here
http://www.daz3d.com/i/software/daz_studio3?_m=d

its free, no payment necessary.
Now get your DDS image and convert it to a jpeg, bmp, whatever format you want.
Open it as a texture in Studio.
Pull the vertices together to make the shape.
For a fairly simple shape it shouldnt take more than 5 or 6 hours, and it may look more or less as you want it. Next, export it, probably as a metafile as this is most likely to work. get a copy of Autocad. Import the exported metafile and tell cad you wish to mesh it. Use the nodal values of the vertices as a base, and work from there. Then use faces to create the look you want, remembering that if and when you need to hatch, you need to change the pattern and colour values. Bear in mind that this will not give shaded areas. Once done, unpick the vertices you had previously stuck together (thats why used them as vertex nodal values, as it gives you an axis to rotate on), and complete by giving it a zero thickness layer, then move all items to the zero thickness layer. export as jpg (I forget where it is, dont use it very often)

[KevveK88]

Its 2010, how come no one has made a program to do all that? I would buy it....