Synide move uv's [Archive] - Bohemia Interactive Forums

Synide

Jan 17 2008, 02:24

I should point out as with all these 'tools' I'm releasing they are in no way 'refined'. They are just quick and nasty coding to get something working as fast as possible.

Ok,

Here's a we process + tools to...

1. 'Stitch' or 'Merge' Textures together.

2. 'Shift' the UV's associated with those textures in the model to the appropriate place.

synMoveUV.rar (ftp://203.97.251.53/synMoveUV.rar) (32 MBytes) Link is not 24x7.Sorry about the size.

Mirrored @<hidden> RKSL - synMoveUV.rar (http://synide.rkslstudios.info/synMoveUV.rar) (32 MBytes)

Mirrored @<hidden> ArmedAssault.info - synMoveUV (http://www.armedassault.info/download.php?cat=utilities&id=28)

Mirrored @<hidden> Combat-Prison.net synMoveUV (http://prison.tibet225.server4you.de/ww2pn/combat/index.php?mod=news_archiv&news_id=183)

Mirrored @<hidden> Armed-Assault.de - synMovUV (http://armed-assault.de/downloads/synmoveuv.html)

Mirrored @<hidden> Armaholic.com - synMoveUV (http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=2678)

It includes a small demo video etc... I can't be arsed making proper documentation and also the tool might produce premature balding... so use with caution.

BTW, Yes, that byte you have to edit in the .tga is at offset 17 - And, should be changed from whatever it happens to be to... 28 hex (40 decimal).

Note. Two of the tools included are from Nvidia's developer tools. They can be downloaded with there documentation, eula etc. from Texture_Atlas_Tools_1.0.0826.1700.exe (http://developer.download.nvidia.com/tools/texturetools/Texture_Atlas_Tools_1.0.0826.1700.exe) and DDS_Utilities_8.31.1127.1645.exe (http://developer.download.nvidia.com/tools/texturetools/DDS_Utilities_8.31.1127.1645.exe).

==================================================================

synMoveUV_NoVid.rar (ftp://203.97.251.53/synMoveUV_NoVid.rar) (16 MBytes) - No Video...

Usage Details for the version without the Vid...

1. Extract the .rar.
2. Move the synBodies folder to your root folder on your P:\ drive.
3. Goto the SynBodies\tx - Texture folder.
4. Run the dos batch file... MergeTextures.cmd
5. Delete the synSniper0.dds file.
6. Rename the synSniper000.tga to synSniper.tga.
7. Open the tga in a Hex Editor.
8. Change byte 17 from 0x20 to 0x28 and save. (you are now able to open in TexView2 - without this alteration you won't be able too...)
9. Open the synSniper.tai text file in a Text Editor.
10. Make the texture names at the bottom exactly the same as in your model.
11. place a comma between the first (current texture) and the second (new texture) and alter the second texture name to point to the appropriate place. in this example the file would originally look like...

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">
webbings_co.tga synSniper0.dds, 0, 2D, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.250000, 1.000000
spec_two_holster_co.tga synSniper0.dds, 0, 2D, 0.500000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.500000, 0.500000
hhl_34_co.tga synSniper0.dds, 0, 2D, 0.250000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.250000, 0.500000
hat_hands_co.tga synSniper0.dds, 0, 2D, 0.250000, 0.500000, 0.000000, 0.250000, 0.500000
[/QUOTE]

And, you need to change it too... NOTE:- you should'nt need to alter anything else apart from the texture names at the start of the lines and placing a comma between them...

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">
synbodies\tx\webbings_co.tga,synbodies\tx\synSniper.tga, 0, 2D, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.250000, 1.000000
synbodies\tx\spec_two_holster_co.tga,synbodies\tx\synSniper.tga, 0, 2D, 0.500000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.500000, 0.500000
synbodies\tx\hhl_34_co.tga,synbodies\tx\synSniper.tga, 0, 2D, 0.250000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.250000, 0.500000
synbodies\tx\hat_hands_co.tga,synbodies\tx\synSniper.tga, 0, 2D, 0.250000, 0.500000, 0.000000, 0.250000, 0.500000
[/QUOTE]

12. copy/move the synSniper.tai file to synBodies folder... where the model is sitting...
13. run the dos batch file 'MoveUV_1.cmd'.

14. Look at the results in the new synSniper_m.p3d.
15. You will note that in the UV editor the UV's associated with Hat & Hands are in the wrong place... Oh NO !
This is because that's where they are sitting in the original synSniper.p3d... instead of moving them there. We can simply open the synSniper.tai file and change...

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">
synbodies\tx\hat_hands_co.tga,synbodies\tx\synSniper.tga, 0, 2D, 0.250000, 0.500000, 0.000000, 0.250000, 0.500000
[/QUOTE]

to...

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">
synbodies\tx\hat_hands_co.tga,synbodies\tx\synSniper.tga, 0, 2D, 0.000000, 0.500000, 0.000000, 0.250000, 0.500000
[/QUOTE]

Save the text file and re-run the dos command batch file
'MoveUV_1.cmd'...

you should be all good to go... cheers.

PS. have a look at the batch files for how the various programs are run...

.kju [PvPscene]

Jan 17 2008, 07:59

Sincere thanks Synide!

This will prove very useful. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

RobertHammer

Jan 17 2008, 08:07

Synide U are great ! Finally i got merged http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/notworthy.gif
, but spotted little merge bug or what is :
When u got merged tex with model , u will see like texture detail going off . Unmerged textures are DETAILED ! http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wow_o.gif
I spotted this on Skaven's weapons pack or RHS weapons too , can somebody tell me why ?? http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/crazy_o.gif

Panda[PL]

Jan 17 2008, 09:02

u will see like texture detail going off . Unmerged textures are DETAILED ! http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wow_o.gif
The new texture is in higher resolution so depending on your texture settings it will be switched to next mipmap (or how you call it) sooner. Also texture settings affect the maximum texture resolution, the new merged texture is in higher resolution, so you see an automatic resolution dropdown while before merging you wouldn't. Which is one of advantages of merging.

Synide

Jan 17 2008, 09:38

Synide U are great ! Finally i got merged http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/notworthy.gif
, but spotted little merge bug or what is :
When u got merged tex with model , u will see like texture detail going off . Unmerged textures are DETAILED ! http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wow_o.gif
I spotted this on Skaven's weapons pack or RHS weapons too , can somebody tell me why ?? http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/crazy_o.gif
you got a 'little bug' with this process? or, are you talking 'in general' with merged textures?

i haven't ever looked closely at the paa format alogrithm's to see what degradation or quality loss one migth get from the process so i can really comment on it... might be just the mipmapping that's causing a little problem... you should have a look at your model's 'texel statistics' under 'Surface>Texel Statistics' for some clues... do a google for texels for more info...

some more indepth information from the developers wouldn't go amiss in this area.

RKSL-Rock

Jan 17 2008, 10:17

The above link is not 24x7 and is temporary. Sorry about the size.

If someone can provide alternative links, please do so... cheers.
Synide put it on the subdomain i gave you. Its there for your use. There is no bandwidth limit on my servers.

RobertHammer

Jan 17 2008, 10:30

Have a look this pics :
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/7710/armas2008011712220484gu2.jpg
1.On this pic is model merged and u see that texture blured or something
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1903/armas2008011712221535qm6.jpg
2. On this pic is model unmerged and u see that texture sharp and quality
Is possible to fix this ?? Is possible make merge with quality ?
http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/sad_o.gif

Synide

Jan 17 2008, 11:32

@<hidden> cool...

@<hidden> Hammer... hmmm... is that the output from the TextureAtlas tool? I see your point... Well, if it is, then try another tool... or Photoshop to create the actual merged texture... then all you need to do is create the .tai file by hand... there is a 'White Paper' on Nvidia's website about the problems facing 'atlased' or merged textures. That's all i can suggest I'm afraid...
oh, if the top image is from the TextureAtlas tool... you have merged the normal maps as well haven't you?

the important part of the equation from my point of view was that people were having problems creating and using the ptm functions in O2... if it doesn't produce very good quality results then it's probably not a good idea to use it... i just whiped it up as a helper... i don't have time to rigourously test the process for flaws i'm sorry...

Synide

Jan 17 2008, 11:32

double post - delete me

Jackal326

Jan 17 2008, 13:01

@<hidden>: It does that for many of my merged textures too, but only in Buldozer. It should look fine once you get it ingame. It seems that Buldozer runs on very low settings (to minimize lag and such), much like the old OFP Buldozer did, so hi-res textures look like crap. If anyone knows how to change the settings in Buldozer so the textures don't appear blurred let me/us know please http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif

Panda[PL]

Jan 17 2008, 14:03

Hey Synide. Cool idea, as allways.

As long as the tool can process the UVs themselves I am happy, merging the .paa files isn't really a must - it will take 10 minutes to do it manually.
What counts is the abbility to process UVs on dozen of models inside a pack withou the need to do it manually (via O2 UV Editor->scale->use upper left corner, lower left corner etc... repeat for each lod http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/sad_o.gif ).

And you have to merge your normals and AS maps aswell, modiffy the rvmats... Would be too much to expect you to code all of this. As I said - if it can do the p3d editing part I am fully satisfied.

I will surely try it over the weekend.

[FF]FriZY

Jan 17 2008, 14:11

@<hidden>

Quote[/b] ]If anyone knows how to change the settings in Buldozer so the textures don't appear blurred let me/us know please http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif
Maybe you should change video settings in default profil in ARMA.

RobertHammer

Jan 17 2008, 15:02

Quote[/b] ]Maybe you should change video settings in default profil in ARMA.
THIS WORKS , THX ! HAAHA http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/pistols.gif http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/rofl.gif

T_D

Jan 18 2008, 14:41

@<hidden>: It does that for many of my merged textures too, but only in Buldozer. It should look fine once you get it ingame. It seems that Buldozer runs on very low settings (to minimize lag and such), much like the old OFP Buldozer did, so hi-res textures look like crap. If anyone knows how to change the settings in Buldozer so the textures don't appear blurred let me/us know please http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif
afaik buldozer reads settings from ArmA.cfg

Stavanger

Jan 18 2008, 22:10

News + Mirror by Combat-Prison.net

SynMoveUV v1.0 by Synide (http://prison.tibet225.server4you.de/ww2pn/combat/index.php?mod=news_archiv&news_id=183)

best Regards,
Stavanger

USSRsniper

Jan 19 2008, 05:46

FriZY @<hidden> Jan. 17 2008,16:11)]@<hidden>

Quote[/b] ]If anyone knows how to change the settings in Buldozer so the textures don't appear blurred let me/us know please http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif
Maybe you should change video settings in default profil in ARMA.
WIll test this move UV when i get around to it, but looks interesting.

And question for you, where can i find this deafult profile in ArmA? IS it ArmA.cfg? Because i see nothing that deals with texture quality.

Synide

Jan 19 2008, 10:15

WIll test this move UV when i get around to it, but looks interesting.

I appreciate you taking the time to inform us that you will 'test' this tool out at some stage in your lifetime - we will all sleep alot easier knowing this.

You can launch ArmA in buldozer mode with many of the same commandline parameters as you would when you play a game. So, make a copy of your game profile and arma.cfg and alter your O2PE options to specify your duplicate profile and cfg.

Mr Burns

Jan 19 2008, 18:07

^^

Same here http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif

Mirror by Armed-Assault.de (http://armed-assault.de/downloads/synmoveuv.html)

Foxhound

Jan 19 2008, 20:18

Frontpaged at the Armaholic.com homepage (http://www.armaholic.com).

The Armaholic.com download page can be found here:
http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=2678

USSRsniper

Jan 20 2008, 17:26

WIll test this move UV when i get around to it, but looks interesting.

I appreciate you taking the time to inform us that you will 'test' this tool out at some stage in your lifetime - we will all sleep alot easier knowing this.

You can launch ArmA in buldozer mode with many of the same commandline parameters as you would when you play a game. So, make a copy of your game profile and arma.cfg and alter your O2PE options to specify your duplicate profile and cfg.
Welli did test, it and was getting sme problem as ROberhammer texture started to look low quality.

granQ

Feb 17 2008, 11:14

great tool..

however I have a problem, I did for learning the bis m2a2.

It makes a nice texture, however the last step isnt working.

Sometimes it merge one, most of the times not a singel one.
And when its merge its so wrong..

Any clues?

Getting desperate here, will have a look on lower/uppercase on names.. thats the only thing last I can think of.

Synide

Jun 3 2008, 00:21

Someone discovered a small problem with this tool not processing LOD's with no faces in them... eg. memory lod's
Here is a fixed version...

synMoveUV_v1.1.rar (ftp://203.97.251.53/synMoveUV_v1.1.rar) 7 Kilobytes (Link not 24/7)

synMoveUV_v1.1.rar (http://synide.rkslstudios.info/synMoveUV_v1.1.rar) 7 Kilobytes (from RKSL)

Cheers, Sy.

PS. btw, has anyone tested or tried out the .ptm Merge Textures function in the latest version of O2PE?

Foxhound

Jun 3 2008, 06:50

Just checking if everything is how it should be but the old version was 29MB. Is it correct this version is only so small?
Or is it a patch for the full (earlier released) version?

Synide

Jun 3 2008, 15:43

Oh hi,

Hmmm... the previous release included a whopping big Video on using the tool. The actual tool is only a couple of Kilobytes in size...

This is an updated version of the synMoveUV.exe.

One needs the previous release as well to be able to acquire the associated tools/information on usage. etc.

cheers...

PS. I'm not sure if it's even being used at all... but it's an alternative means to a ends... if people have problems with the .ptm process...

Foxhound

Jun 3 2008, 19:48

Thanks for taking the time to explain http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/thumbs-up.gif
I am sure people are using this, at least thats what I think looking at the number of downloads http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif

Frontpaged at the Armaholic.com homepage (http://www.armaholic.com/index.php?m=single&id=3291).

Thunderbird

Jul 2 2008, 10:49

Thanks for the interesting tool.
The only con I could find with it is the amount of parameters to adjust/predefine before merging the textures.

It would be great to further develop this tool in order to avoid to have to edit the TGAs hexadecimal codes or have to rewrite the paths as a whole.
In other words, it would be great to make this tool a pinch more user-friendly. ;]

Regards,
TB

Snake Man

Jul 2 2008, 12:07

It would be great to further develop this tool in order to avoid to have to edit the TGAs hexadecimal codes or have to rewrite the paths as a whole.
I just open the merged TGA image in Photoshop and save it again, works fine. Should work the same in paintshoppro(?).

Thunderbird

Jul 2 2008, 15:07

It would be great to further develop this tool in order to avoid to have to edit the TGAs hexadecimal codes or have to rewrite the paths as a whole.
I just open the merged TGA image in Photoshop and save it again, works fine. Should work the same in paintshoppro(?).
How didn't I think about it, cheers for the tip.

Concerning Synide's Tool, I do appreciate it but I keep using it alongside with the .PTM way since 'PaNTool' takes into consideration .PAA files as well, as it saves some time from converting .PAAs into .TGAs (Specifically when you have more than 438 textures to merge, heh).

Regards,
TB

Snake Man

Jul 2 2008, 16:01

Me, I'm jumping between Synide's method and pantool ptm method.

I really like Synide's method because it uses the native new p3dm mlod format editing. However I hate the nvidia atlastool as it fucks up so many times on making the merge .tai file for me, meaning the textures are all mixed up in the UV.

I like the pantool tetris puzzle when making the texture, you can choose how to place them... but I hate the fact that I need to use the old/first O2 export version to save into old p3d format, then use old o2 to do the merge and back to new O2PE again to finish it up with rvmats etc.

In a nutshell, if the atlastool would work OK then I would absolutely only use the Synide moveUV method alone. Right now I'm doing so as long as atlastool makes proper .tai file http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

Thunderbird

Jul 2 2008, 17:39

Indeed, for the same reasons, I keep using PaNtool.

Quote[/b] ]I like the pantool tetris puzzle when making the texture, you can choose how to place them... but I hate the fact that I need to use the old/first O2 export version to save into old p3d format, then use old o2 to do the merge and back to new O2PE again to finish it up with rvmats etc.

By the way, I experienced a little issue I would like to get some information about if you don't mind:

- If you have a model with 'Already Applied .rvmat' files (Linking to .rvmat files) and that you would like to get it have merged textures:
- Would you replace the .rvmat paths by nothing? [In oder words: Would you get ride of the .rvmat files and apply them later?]
- Would you attempt to merge the normals? [Knowing that it is almost impossible since every .rvmat file takes into account a texture as a whole].

Regards,
TB

vektorboson

Jul 2 2008, 17:57

Hi guys;

I'm doing something similar for OFP (see Flashpoint Germany-thread), and I'm planning to use the Texture Atlas-tool, too. But I'm not using DDS utilities, but ImageMagick (http://www.imagemagick.org/index.php) (specifically convert.exe). It can apply many transformations/filters and has many input/output formats (I'm using it to convert DDS to TGA/PNG), and it has the advantage that you're allowed to redistribute it.

Quote[/b] ]
In a nutshell, if the atlastool would work OK then I would absolutely only use the Synide moveUV method alone. Right now I'm doing so as long as atlastool makes proper .tai file

Could you explain, in which way it doesn't work (as I may find the same problems)?

Snake Man

Jul 2 2008, 18:48

Quote[/b] ]- If you have a model with 'Already Applied .rvmat' files (Linking to .rvmat files) and that you would like to get it have merged textures:
Well as much as I understand texture merging its only because 1) your porting OFP model. 2) some weirdo made ArmA model with many textures.

Heh, of course there is many situations, but its quite common that texture merging only happens on OFP ported models. Anyways...

Quote[/b] ]- Would you replace the .rvmat paths by nothing? [In oder words: Would you get ride of the .rvmat files and apply them later?]
I would think that if you merge 2 (or more) textures, you just create brand new _NOHQ and _SMDI textures for the new merged one(?), therefore you can just skip the old rvmats completely. Thats as far as I understand it.

Quote[/b] ]- Would you attempt to merge the normals? [Knowing that it is almost impossible since every .rvmat file takes into account a texture as a whole].
Yeah as I said, just make new _nohq/_smdi as its much easier.

Quote[/b] ]Could you explain, in which way it [atlastool] doesn't work (as I may find the same problems)?
Actually Synide could explain it more detailed (Synide: the vte_sampanbig demo model, tai.pdf, remember?). But in a nutshell the merged texture pieces or their coordinate information is not in proper locations on the .tai file, therefore synMoveUV.exe does its job on wrong .tai information, resulting a model that has the texture information mixed up.