Mipmaps sorted out
Posted: 30 Dec 2008, 15:33
You may remember some time ago I was asking about the jagged appearance of RP's Hawk, which we decided was down to the DDS textures not having mipmaps in the file. Easily solved - I just resaved all the DDS files with mips. However, it left them with a blurry appearance that wasn't there before, as if some of the detail had been lost. The good news is, after a bit of digging, I've picked up a neat little trick in order to get rid of the jaggies by using mips, but also to keep the detail and sharpness in the texture. Some of you may know this technique already, but seeing as mips aren't widely used, this may come in handy to some of you who suffer the same problems.
Basically, you need Photoshop and the nVidia DDS plugin. When resaving as a DDS file, it'll come up with a little dialogue giving you all the options you need. Firstly, you'll obviously want to select "Generate MIP maps", if you haven't already, then click MIP map filtering... and select 'Catrom' under filter type. Note that this isn't strict, but it was just the filter that was used when I found out about this method, and it seems to work fine for me. Feel free to experiment, if you've really got the time or patience! Then click Sharpening... and choose 'Sharpening Soft' under the filter drop down menu (again, feel free to experiment). Save the DDS file.
First, textures with no MIPs on my video card - quite obviously suffering from jaggies, around the doors/markings, etc:
Now, two textures on the same aircraft - on the left is the sharpened MIP DDS, and on the right is the non-sharpened:
Not only does the texture on the left bring out more detail (and get rid of those jaggies), but it also seems to reflect the light better, and there's a pretty clear line that runs down where the light reflection just suddenly goes dull. The difference in sharpness is pretty obvious along the RAAF text.
I hope this helps anyone who's been suffering with the same problems as I have!
Basically, you need Photoshop and the nVidia DDS plugin. When resaving as a DDS file, it'll come up with a little dialogue giving you all the options you need. Firstly, you'll obviously want to select "Generate MIP maps", if you haven't already, then click MIP map filtering... and select 'Catrom' under filter type. Note that this isn't strict, but it was just the filter that was used when I found out about this method, and it seems to work fine for me. Feel free to experiment, if you've really got the time or patience! Then click Sharpening... and choose 'Sharpening Soft' under the filter drop down menu (again, feel free to experiment). Save the DDS file.
First, textures with no MIPs on my video card - quite obviously suffering from jaggies, around the doors/markings, etc:
Now, two textures on the same aircraft - on the left is the sharpened MIP DDS, and on the right is the non-sharpened:
Not only does the texture on the left bring out more detail (and get rid of those jaggies), but it also seems to reflect the light better, and there's a pretty clear line that runs down where the light reflection just suddenly goes dull. The difference in sharpness is pretty obvious along the RAAF text.
I hope this helps anyone who's been suffering with the same problems as I have!
