Thread: Re: [GD-Windows] Image formats (was [Algorithms] Scrolling starfi eld)
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From: Rich <leg...@xm...> - 2002-07-31 16:12:36
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Does PhotoShop have problems with TIFF and alpha channels? Personally I don't see that the artist must be required to use the same format for editing that the program eats during runtime. A simple batch file or script and ImageMagick can do the conversion between the artist pipeline and the program. -- Ask me about my upcoming book on Direct3D from Addison-Wesley! Direct3D Book <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/> izfree: Open source tools for Windows Installer <http://izfree.sourceforge.net> |
From: Rich <leg...@xm...> - 2002-07-31 16:16:59
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ImageMagick (<http://www.imagemagick.org/> has command-line arguments for everything under the sun, supports all formats I've ever seen in my life and can be controlled through scripts since its CLI is so rich. Hell, even PBMPLUS, which is free and over a decade old, supports scripting from batch files very well. Of course, PBM+ doesn't support those photoshop plugins and whatnot that is specific to PhotoShop, but for the kinds of operations I've seen applied in batch files or scripts it has always worked great. (I've written plenty of scripts with both tools myself.) It helps that they are both open source tools. Every tool set has its costs -- with a commercial toolset you hope that the vendor is responsive to your bug reports and your feature requests. Once a commercial vendor stops being responsive, then it is the worst of both worlds -- you're locked into a proprietary system which you can't change and they ignore your requests for change. With an open source system, usually there is noone you can complain to and get your requests honored, but at least you can do it yourself if you must. -- Ask me about my upcoming book on Direct3D from Addison-Wesley! Direct3D Book <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/> izfree: Open source tools for Windows Installer <http://izfree.sourceforge.net> |
From: Rich <leg...@xm...> - 2002-07-31 16:19:47
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In article <F23...@FR...>, Andrew Grant <ag...@cl...> writes: > Someone suggested PNG which looks good, but doesn't do palettised alpha > sadly :( Yes, it does. -- Ask me about my upcoming book on Direct3D from Addison-Wesley! Direct3D Book <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/> izfree: Open source tools for Windows Installer <http://izfree.sourceforge.net> |
From: Brian H. <bri...@py...> - 2002-07-31 16:39:45
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The problem with TIFF is that it's an extremely cumbersome and convoluted file format. TGA is one of the simplest, yet handling it robustly is still a pain in the ass because of the different origins, flips, etc. that are possible, in theory, but rarely encountered in practice. TIFF is about a zillion times worse. The problem with cooking PSDs directly is that most artists make very heavily layered PSD files, and from a single PSD may often generate multiple files. For example, they may make a GUI mockup consisting of 30-40 layers, and when you ask for a dialog, they just export that layer. Getting this to work automagically is trying, to say the least. The PS7 scripting _might_ be an answer to this. -Hook |
From: Rich <leg...@xm...> - 2002-07-31 16:44:57
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In article <F23...@FR...>, Andrew Grant <ag...@cl...> writes: > resources in their native format and that format also has to be supported by > 3rd party tools such as photoshop. Well it seems that the PS support is what's lacking here, even for something as brain-dead simple as TGA. > Ideally it'll also support palettised > images (with alpha) so we can allow artists to control colour reduction. PNG supports palettised images w/alpha, but the PS support is problematic, apparently. > Both TIFFs and PSD seem to fit these requirements which is cool, although > I'm eyeing PSD with suspicion it being an Adobe thing :) I don't know if TIFF supports palettised images w/alpha off the top of my head. Its been a long time since I looked at the TIFF 6 spec. -- Ask me about my upcoming book on Direct3D from Addison-Wesley! Direct3D Book <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/> izfree: Open source tools for Windows Installer <http://izfree.sourceforge.net> |
From: Javier A. <ja...@py...> - 2002-07-31 17:16:14
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Rich <leg...@xm...> wrote: > I don't know if TIFF supports palettised images w/alpha off the top of > my head. Its been a long time since I looked at the TIFF 6 spec. IIRC it does, while at HVS I used it for NBA Inside Drive 2000's GUI images. Javier Arevalo Pyro Studios |
From: Rich <leg...@xm...> - 2002-07-31 16:47:51
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In article <001101c238b0$e5038d50$6e01a8c0@HOOKDELL220>, Brian Hook <bri...@py...> writes: > TIFF is about a zillion times worse. Yep, that's why I prefer a simpler format like PNG over TIFF. But if PS support for PNG is flakey, perhaps TIFF as an exchange format is a workaround. When I have to write code that eats TIFF files, I use libtiff and that works well in handling all the weird TIFF variations (or at least the most commonly used ones) and if you need to dig deeper into the TIFF structure for some reason, that option is always there. I think when working in an art pipeline, you need to set some policies for humans that make it easier for the artists and the coders to work together, but that's just my opinion. Allowing too much free reign on either end can cause more problems than it solves. -- Ask me about my upcoming book on Direct3D from Addison-Wesley! Direct3D Book <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/> izfree: Open source tools for Windows Installer <http://izfree.sourceforge.net> |
From: Phil T. <ph...@mi...> - 2002-07-31 16:52:11
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That's an interesting point about the PSD. The flattened version in the file is of course just the flattened version of the layers that the artist has active at the time of saving the file. Another disadvantage of PSD files is that they can be very large (especially if you have those 30-40 layers). -----Original Message----- From: Brian Hook [mailto:bri...@py...]=20 Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 9:40 AM To: gam...@li... Subject: RE: [GD-Windows] Image formats (was [Algorithms] Scrolling starfi eld) The problem with TIFF is that it's an extremely cumbersome and convoluted file format. TGA is one of the simplest, yet handling it robustly is still a pain in the ass because of the different origins, flips, etc. that are possible, in theory, but rarely encountered in practice.=20 TIFF is about a zillion times worse. The problem with cooking PSDs directly is that most artists make very heavily layered PSD files, and from a single PSD may often generate multiple files. For example, they may make a GUI mockup consisting of 30-40 layers, and when you ask for a dialog, they just export that layer. Getting this to work automagically is trying, to say the least. The PS7 scripting _might_ be an answer to this. -Hook ------------------------------------------------------- This sf.net email is sponsored by: Dice - The leading online job board for high-tech professionals. Search and apply for tech jobs today! http://seeker.dice.com/seeker.epl?rel_code=3D31 _______________________________________________ Gamedevlists-windows mailing list Gam...@li... https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gamedevlists-windows Archives: http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_id=3D555 |