I am sure this has been covered, but I did not see the exact answer I needed. If I want to use the program DXTbmp (I think thats what it is), to covert the outer textures of AC, for instance on the PMDG 737 models, What is the exact setting. I used DXT3 in the past with no mips. Is this correct? I had alot of CTD problems on my other rig and I think part of it was bad textures? Also, What is the best conversion program to use. Thanks.

Darn it, I meant to post this at the painters forum, Sorry about that.

DXTBmp works great but you could also use ImageTool. It will roughly quarter the size going from 32bit to DXT3. Image quality will suffer marginally but should load a lot faster. On my old PC, I convert them to DXT3, on my newer gamer I don't have to. But, overall, dxt3 doesn't look much worse that 32bit. I usually use mipmaps too, but I guess it's a matter of preference.Adam

I've found that it's safer to convert to DXT3 without mipmaps, because for some planes the repaint textures have a brightly coloured background which shows up as a weird tinge when the aircraft is viewed from certain angles with mipmaps enabled.The easiest way to convert textures to DXT3 is to download one of David Maltby's aircraft (http://www.dmflightsim.co.uk/) which come with a batch file texture converter. By default it's set up to work for David's own aircraft, but it can be edited to automatically convert all the textures for the aircraft you are interested in.

Thanks for your reply guys. I mainly will use the PMDG AC to do the conversion on, as my products that use textomatic are easy. Even with my new system, the textures have a slight delay loading. I am mainly looking to improve the performance in the VC, so converting the exterior textures will help. I used to convert the VC interior textures as well, but like I said, my other system was giving me CTD's alot, so I think I will leave those alone for now. I have render to texture turned off if that makes a difference? Have a good day everyone.