File type used for uvw mapping

[Fozzie]

The image file format type that you use within your materials depends on the medium that you will output your work to. For example with games you will use a couple of formats (dictated by your engine) while with TV/Film anything goes.

Sorry for the cryptic response but this is the best answer that you will probably get.

Foz

[TOMMY 3D FREAK]

Thanks for the reply, though cryptic indeed.

I'm into the world of 3d as in a hobby, and i want to make animated shorts. I want to achieve a high quality of my models. My aim is not photorealism, but with the tools that I have I want create a ambience, wich in my opinion is more than photorealism alone. But for example a scene of a hacienda with the use of radiosity. What type of file should I use. JPG, TGA or BMP?

And by the way, wy does max take surfaces with raytraced reflections not in account when calculating radiosity? Guess I have to use the override material?

thanks in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:bounce:

[Trambott]

bmp is the way to go in my opinion, reason being that i have never yet had a problem with creating textures using this file type and nore has max. Jpeg, compresses the files some what and can thus mean a loss in image quality, although very small it might be, and as for the other file format you mentioned i have never played around with that so i can't help ya there.

[TOMMY 3D FREAK]

thanks for the help...

I
O
U

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's create a world of our own, 3d is the key...

[Das]

Use TGA or TIFF. BMP is totally uncompressed (well, except for RLE, which is pathetic), and the files tend to be huge. Both TGA and TIFF use lossless compression, so your image doesn't degrade. I tend to use TGA for everything.

Stay away from JPG (lossy compression generates artifacts), and don't use GIF for color maps (limited color palette generates banding). You can use GIF for grayscale maps, if you really want to. Since GIF is limited to 256 shades, and grayscale maps are normally 256 shades of gray, it doesn't lose anything. I use TGA for everything, though. It's a strong, well-supported format.

[TOMMY 3D FREAK]

Thanks for the advice, in the future i will try to work with the tga format...



I
O
U


_______________________________________
Let's create a world of our own, 3D is the key...

:bounce:

[Bobo]

Originally posted by TOMMY 3D FREAK
Hi,
I was wondering, what is the best type of file to use in 3d max to map my objects, tga, jpg, jpeg, bmp, tiff?
:beer:

Historically, TGA was the format used by most 3D Studio users. Max has some unique capabilities related to TGA not available in the other formats, especially when using Max output (rendering) to generate your Textures.

TGAs can be losselssly compressed by Max and still opened by Photoshop if needed. No information is lost unlike with JPGs

TGAs can be saved with Alpha channel (BMP and JPG cannot).

TGAs can be saved with split Alpha channel (separate 24bit RGB and 8bit Alpha files). None of the other formats can.

TGAs can be saved with Pre-Multiplied Alpha or not. (None of the others can). This can be important when painting on Max-rendered images in Photoshop to generate your textures.

Max has (at least had) some problems with TIFF files related to large file sizes. In addition, TIFF is a very versatile format and while the general tagging rules are well-specified, there are too many flavours of TIFFs out there, not all compatible with the Max TIFF I/O plugin. Plus, Microsoft was involved in the development in both BMP and TIFF specs so some people don't trust them just to be funny ;)


For historical reasons (being a 3DS user since 1993), I still rely on TGA for 32bit imagery and mapping. YMMV.

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.