Dds converter 2.1 does not work. Add JPG files to Photo Converter

DDS the format contains textures, maps, and other types of data that are compressed using the S3TC algorithm. The DDS format was developed by Microsoft and used in DirectX 7.0, later in DirectDraw - a tool for accelerating graphics rendering in various applications.

Format PNG was developed as an improved alternative to the previously created JPG and GIF formats. PNG gained widespread popularity and was highly regarded due to its ability to provide good data compression without loss of quality and support for an alpha channel, which opens up a wide range of possibilities for creating effects.

How to convert DDS to PNG?

The easiest way is to download a good conversion program, such as Photo Converter. It works quickly and efficiently, allowing you to convert any number of DDS files at once. You will be able to quickly appreciate that Photo Converter can save a lot of time that you will spend when working manually.

Download and install Photo Converter

The photo converter is easy to download, install and use - you don't need to be a computer expert to understand how it works.

Add DDS files to Photo Converter

Launch Photo Converter and load the .dds files you want to convert to .png

You can select DDS files through the menu Files → Add files or simply transfer them to the Photo Converter window.

Select a location to save the resulting PNG files

Select PNG as the save format

To select PNG as the save format, click on the icon PNG at the bottom of the screen, or the button + to add the ability to write to this format.

Now just press the button Start and the conversion will begin instantly, and PNG files will be saved to the specified location with the desired parameters and effects.

Video instructions

Command Line Interface

Professional users can convert DDS to PNG using

Utility DDS Converter 2

• Author: Yannick "Bluehair" Leon
• Current version: DDS Converter 2.1
• Release date on the author's website: 08/13/2004
• Archive size: 1.16MB
• Contact the author: [email protected] or [email protected]
• The program can also be downloaded from the following locations:

• Latest version nvDXT can be downloaded from this link

Description

DDS Converter 2.1- a convenient program that allows you to easily convert various graphic formats to DDS format and vice versa.

At the dawn of computer games, you could often find textures in the format Bitmap(BMP), but that time is in the distant past. Computer game developers try to keep up with the times and use only the most reliable and compact formats for storing graphic images. Currently the most common format is DDS, which stands for Direct Draw Surface.

DDS-the format is quite complex, but, compared to other formats, it provides many additional opportunities for computer game developers. However, this also brings some inconvenience, since most graphic editors, including the famous Adobe Photoshop, categorically refuse to work with it without additional plugins.

This tool was released to solve this problem - DDS Converter, which allows you to convert pictures from DDS to one of the publicly available formats.

NVidia initially developed command line tools to batch generate textures using DXT compression from shared image files. DDS Converter in fact, it is a convenient software shell for these tools.

The program supports graphic formats DDS, TGA, JPG, BMP, PNG And PSD(you can import and export to any of these formats). This new version is truly a huge step up from the previous version v1.2. It has many more features and is much easier to use. In addition, it works much faster than the previous version.

The undoubted advantage of the program is its ease of learning and high functionality. The good news is that the program allows you to configure almost all available parameters for exporting and importing a DDS file - the degree and format of data compression ( DXT1c, DXT1a, DXT3, DXT5), using various filters and much more.

The only disappointment is that after the conversion process you need to close the program and restart it. A little strange behavior, but not very significant for its effective use.

You can use this program for other games (or programs) that need DDS files (for example, games like Doom3, Stalker etc.).

Read the file README to understand a little better some of the conversion options available in this program.

Working with the program

To convert a DDS format image to another format, you must:

• Select the graphic file you are interested in in the preview window.
• Determine the format for storing data from the list Output Format.
• Specify the directory to save the converted image (one left-click on the item Output folder).
• Next, click the button Convert and wait a few seconds while the converter resaves the image in the new format.

If you need to perform the reverse operation, then follow the same procedure, but do not forget to configure the export parameters DDS-file. To do this, click the left mouse button on the button Options:

Installation

Run the executable dds_converter_v21.exe and follow the installation instructions. In the folder with the installed program you will find the following files:

Changes compared to version v2.0

Improvements to the user interface:

• Completely reprogrammed and redesigned dialog box" Options".
• Disable in child dialogs using a key ESC.
• Added drag and drop support.

Improved DDS support:

• Alpha channel ( Alpha channel) will now be saved if the source file is one.
• Quantity mipmaps and their filtering methods can now be specified.
• Any command line options that are supported by nvDXT can now also be specified.

Notes

• The small ".\" button switches the position between the source and destination folders
• The "Convert" button is not available until the destination folder is selected
• "Opacity" slider does not work on Win9x systems
• The number of mipmaps reported doesn't include the image displayed in the previewer. The DirectX Texture Tool (included in the DirectX SDK) will add one to this number

• Problems and limitations:

• + nvDXT v6.60 does not read BMP/PNG files; PSD support doesn't seem to be great either
• + S3TC reads TGA only

• To bypass these limitations, DDS Converter 2 generates a temporary TGA file using DevIL to eventually have any file types converted into DDS. This means that nvDXT and S3TC will work faster when the sources are:

• ++ JPG/TGA and PSD files (not recommended) for nvDXT
• ++ TGA files for S3TC

• + DevIL ain"t a flawless library and may brutally fail to read or otherwise convert some files sometimes. DDS Converter 2 cannot predict those unreported failures and they could cause it to crash as well.

• Random thoughts if you experience trouble:

• + delete the INI file to reset the program settings to default
• + disable preview; Preview is not recommended for files with a resolution of 1024x768 and higher, because it takes time to read them
• + disable the transparency feature by setting "$default window transparency:" to 0 in the INI file

From the author (Bluehair)

• Copyright (c) 2004-2005 Yannick "Bluehair" Leon. All rights reserved

Select your JPG images in Windows Explorer, right-click on them, select Convert To, and then select Custom conversion

JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert Group) is the most common of the image formats. It is the default setting for most of the digital cameras. It provides lossy compression method meaning that the image data is compressed to make them small enough to be uploaded to the web. The image quality though is high, and only professionals may notice the difference between JPEG and other more advanced formats offering better quality. DDS (DirectDraw Surface) format is very different from JPEG. The main difference between DDS, JPEG and other formats is that DDS is a texture file, whereas JPEG is an image file. DDS files can contain information that other images won’t support: mipmaps, cube maps, volume textures. DDS was created specifically for the real time rendering applications such as 3D games.

ImageConverter Plus is especially useful when there is a texture problem. 3D games allow creating and editing characters, but this does not always work well – some textures may appear over the models, or black parts cover the screen. To avoid this one needs an image converter supporting DDS. ImageConverter Plus provides comprehensive support of the DDS format with multiple surface characteristics. The software makes it possible to generate mipmaps where applicable. Still, these options are mainly for advanced users. All the necessary parameters are set with the software by default, so you don’t need to worry too much about the conversion specifics. ImageConverter Plus is one of very few software applications available in the market supporting the DDS as an output format. This ability is really valuable for any texture problems that are more frequent than it seems.

Raster and Vector

There are two types of computer graphics – raster and vector. You probably know that vector graphics mean a set of individual dots of color called pixels creating an effect of a mosaic. Vector graphics use a different type of image reflection – mathematical. A vector image consists of geometrical shapes – straight lines, curves, multangular shapes, circles, etc. Processing these two types of images, for instance, changing their size, requires different approaches. If you significantly enlarge a raster image what you will see is a patchwork blanket with vivid pixels. Vector image will remain well defined. Each type of computer graphics has both advantages and disadvantages. Raster graphics are more popular. Raster images are widely used in everyday and professional life. Often there is a need to convert a vector image into a raster one. If for instance you are a designer and want to copyright your vector image, you should convert your vector image into a raster image. This conversion will be very smooth with ImageConverter Plus. Do not forget about one significant disadvantage of the raster graphics – the file size will be very large.

JPG is one of the most popular image formats in use today. Its main advantage is the ability to store good quality images in small files. This is possible due to the type of compression used. The mechanism of this type of compression prioritizes some parts of the image over others, preserving high-quality areas of the image that are most visible to the human eye.

DDS the format contains textures, maps, and other types of data that are compressed using the S3TC algorithm. The DDS format was developed by Microsoft and used in DirectX 7.0, later in DirectDraw - a tool for accelerating graphics rendering in various applications.

How to convert JPG to DDS?

The easiest way is to download a good conversion program, such as Photo Converter. It works quickly and efficiently, allowing you to convert any number of JPG files at once. You will be able to quickly appreciate that Photo Converter can save a lot of time that you will spend when working manually.

Download and install Photo Converter

The photo converter is easy to download, install and use - you don't need to be a computer expert to understand how it works.

Add JPG files to Photo Converter

Launch Photo Converter and upload the .jpg files you want to convert to .dds

You can select JPG files through the menu Files → Add files or simply transfer them to the Photo Converter window.

Select a location where to save the received DDS files

Select DDS as the save format

To select DDS as the saving format, click on the icon DDS at the bottom of the screen, or the button + to add the ability to write to this format.

Now just press the button Start and the conversion will begin instantly, and the DDS files will be saved to the specified location with the necessary parameters and effects.

Video instructions

Command Line Interface

Professional users can convert JPG to DDS using

Announcement

DDS Raster image file format

The DDS (Direct Draw Surface) container format, created by Microsoft, is a standard for storing compressed data using the S3 texture compression algorithm, which allows for lossy compression. Unzipping is carried out using GPUs and game consoles - for example, PlayStation and Xbox. This allows users to store textures, 3D terrain maps, etc. as data in both compressed and uncompressed formats. Later, such data can be used in game modifications, as well as for smooth launch of games. Additional features supported by DDS files include multiple mappings, texture arrays, and decoding using DDS-specific interfaces. The DDS format works closely with DirectX drivers.

Technical information about DDS files

After the release of DirectX 7.0 and DirectX 8.0, the DDS format was released, which made it possible to support new, three-dimensional textures. Although closely related to DirectX, DDS files can also be used with GLSL (OpenGL Shading Language) texture compression extensions. Direct3D 10 has expanded the capabilities of DDS files by adding more textures, as well as support for working with Direct3D 10.x and 11 texture formats. DDS formats support the DXGI_Format value. At the same time, the WIC DDS codec allows encoding using DXFI_FORMAT_BC1_UNORM, as well as formats adjacent to BC2 and BC3.

Additional information about the DDS format