How does one go about changing ALL of your AI aircraft's textures to mipmaps in one shot. I think that this has been disclosed before but I don't remember how to do it. I would like to write a batch file, (or something), to do this and not have to change the textures on each AI aircraft individually. So please advise and thanks!Mark

How does one go about changing ALL of your AI aircraft's textures to mipmaps in one shot. I think that this has been disclosed before but I don't remember how to do it. I would like to write a batch file, (or something), to do this and not have to change the textures on each AI aircraft individually. So please advise and thanks!Mark

Hi Mark,You could use ImageTool which is found in the FS2004 Limited Edition CD\FS2004SDK\TERRAIN_SDK\Terrain_Tools\imagetool. exeThere is a batch tool that will mip all the textures. Copy the textures into a clean folder and place the imagetool batch file that you wish to use and run it, then copy your textures back to FS2004. Make a backup of your textures before you do any work.

Hi Mark,You could use ImageTool which is found in the FS2004 Limited Edition CD\FS2004SDK\TERRAIN_SDK\Terrain_Tools\imagetool. exeThere is a batch tool that will mip all the textures. Copy the textures into a clean folder and place the imagetool batch file that you wish to use and run it, then copy your textures back to FS2004. Make a backup of your textures before you do any work.

Thanks for that. You know, I did something like that for Cloud9's KLAX awhile back. I reduced specific textures to 1/2 of their original size and then converted them to mipmaps. So that is a good idea but it begs the question are there any specific files that I need to convert while leaving others intact? I seem to remember that technique is key but cannot remember all of the details of what AI files need to change. I don't believe it's every one of the them. Do you know by any chance if that is the way of it?Mark

Thanks for that. You know, I did something like that for Cloud9's KLAX awhile back. I reduced specific textures to 1/2 of their original size and then converted them to mipmaps. So that is a good idea but it begs the question are there any specific files that I need to convert while leaving others intact? I seem to remember that technique is key but cannot remember all of the details of what AI files need to change. I don't believe it's every one of the them. Do you know by any chance if that is the way of it?Mark

As far as mipmapping goes you should only convert the "T" daytime files and leave the "L" night files alone.

As far as mipmapping goes you should only convert the "T" daytime files and leave the "L" night files alone.

Never heard that before, can you explain why please?regards,Joe

Hi Mark,You could use ImageTool which is found in the FS2004 Limited Edition CD\FS2004SDK\TERRAIN_SDK\Terrain_Tools\imagetool. exeThere is a batch tool that will mip all the textures. Copy the textures into a clean folder and place the imagetool batch file that you wish to use and run it, then copy your textures back to FS2004. Make a backup of your textures before you do any work.

Use care when batch converting DXT3 textures to mipmaps using ImageTool as it strips away the alpha channel which can lead to micro-stutters:Gary

Use care when batch converting DXT3 textures to mipmaps using ImageTool as it strips away the alpha channel which can lead to micro-stutters:Gary

Yep...thank you...I thought it was something like that. What I've been seeing is a rather large frame rate drop when looking in the direction of AI at any airport. Now that stands to reason, more textures to display, more movement to create, etc. When I reduce the AI traffic to zero %, there is zero frame rate loss at the same airport looking in the same direction where the AI used to be. So in many cases, the drop appears to be strictly due to AI traffic. The link you provided, (thank you), is one of the posts I had read which got me thinking that I needed to at least examine what textures I had on my AI aircraft. I think that I may have a some, (or more then some), DXT3 textures without an alpha channel because FS9 is loosing 10 to 15fps with only a 40% AI setting. Now that maybe normal...just the way it goes for a bit of realism and a bit of fun. So my thought was to simply find out what AI textures are supposed to be first, and then simply set ALL of my AI aircraft to that standard. Then see if it improves the frame rates. It would be quite an undertaking to examine each aircraft texture set individually because like may of us, I have quite a few.So if I have a DXT3 texture then it has to have an alpha channel. If it DXT1, then it doesn't need an alpha channel. mip-mapping and texture size reduction are your choice due to system capability and one's personal taste. Jim's approach seems like a good place to start. 1) Resize all AI textures down to 50% with nconvert.exe and convert to .TGA format at the same time.2) Use tga2bmp.exe to convert the TGA file to DXT3 leaving the alpha channel intactDoes this seem like a reasonable approach?Mark

Never heard that before, can you explain why please?regards,Joe

Hi Joe,As you have already read mipmapping adds to a file's size which takes more resources.

Use care when batch converting DXT3 textures to mipmaps using ImageTool as it strips away the alpha channel which can lead to micro-stutters:Gary

Thanks for the tip Gary, I am going to look into converting my textures back to their original state.

I believe there is no DXT3 without an alpha channel. But imagetool, when the alpha channel is all white (255) will not set a flag in the bmp header that shows that alpha is present. I don't think the bmp header for FS9 is well-defined, and it isn't clear if that flag is really required by any spec, though certainly it could be that texture reading code in FS9 is looking at it. It does seem that if the alpha is all-white, it could be ignored in processing.DXT1 can have alpha, but it isn't explicit in the header -- the ordering of the pixel min and max color in each 16 pixel block determines if a (one bit) alpha is set within that block. I don't believe all blocks need to have the same alpha -- it is per-block.scott s..

Hello,You can download this:http://www.4shared.com/file/G9OYBum_/BatchConvert.htmlIt's a collection of bat for many batch conversions (with or without mips .. )Just put all the files in a work folder.For converting:Put all the textures you want convert and execute the bat of your choice :( Regards.Gus.

I believe there is no DXT3 without an alpha channel. But imagetool, when the alpha channel is all white (255) will not set a flag in the bmp header that shows that alpha is present. I don't think the bmp header for FS9 is well-defined, and it isn't clear if that flag is really required by any spec, though certainly it could be that texture reading code in FS9 is looking at it. It does seem that if the alpha is all-white, it could be ignored in processing.DXT1 can have alpha, but it isn't explicit in the header -- the ordering of the pixel min and max color in each 16 pixel block determines if a (one bit) alpha is set within that block. I don't believe all blocks need to have the same alpha -- it is per-block.scott s..

Ah...interesting. Thank you...that also helps.Mark

Hello,You can download this:http://www.4shared.com/file/G9OYBum_/BatchConvert.htmlIt's a collection of bat for many batch conversions (with or without mips .. )Just put all the files in a work folder.For converting:Put all the textures you want convert and execute the bat of your choice :( Regards.Gus.

Thanks so much Gus...I was planning on creating some of these command lines tonight too. You just saved me a ton of work! Always there with a quick fix :)Thanks again...Mark

HelloYou could save yourself a lot of grief by downloading the now free MYTraffic2006 the AI models are simple, (but perfectly adequate) I can use much more AI traffic than i used to before ,but with much better performance. I used to use JFs traffic 2005 (this is a fine package ,but the aircraft models are superior to MY2006 which probably accounts for less performance.)You will always get some drop in frames as you view parts of the airport where most of the AI is parked.But MYTraffic really does reduce this problem.cheers Andy

HelloYou could save yourself a lot of grief by downloading the now free MYTraffic2006 the AI models are simple, (but perfectly adequate) I can use much more AI traffic than i used to before ,but with much better performance. I used to use JFs traffic 2005 (this is a fine package ,but the aircraft models are superior to MY2006 which probably accounts for less performance.)You will always get some drop in frames as you view parts of the airport where most of the AI is parked.But MYTraffic really does reduce this problem.cheers Andy

Thanks Andy...I'll take that under advisement. The thing of it is, I not only have heavy traffic but I have a whole bunch of GA, military, and many, many specialized aircraft that I've add to the 1200 or so sceneries that I've installed. At last check, I had about 8500 aircraft and variations. So it isn't just replacing the heavies, it's replacing everything that I've added over the years. It's fun and I really like being at an airport and seeing a Harvard or a Stearman taking off :)Mark

Thanks Andy...I'll take that under advisement. The thing of it is, I not only have heavy traffic but I have a whole bunch of GA, military, and many, many specialized aircraft that I've add to the 1200 or so sceneries that I've installed. At last check, I had about 8500 aircraft and variations. So it isn't just replacing the heavies, it's replacing everything that I've added over the years. It's fun and I really like being at an airport and seeing a Harvard or a Stearman taking off :)Mark

Fair do's Sir.Andy

Never heard that before, can you explain why please?regards,Joe

Hi Joe,As you have already read mipmapping adds to a file's size which takes more resources.

As opposed to the resources required to render a 1024x1024 texture on something a few pixels wide on the screen...