Best Texture Format??

[mickyg]

Hi

Just wondering what the best texture format is to use with UDK.

Some people have mentioned PNG which I normally use with Max but I don't think UDK can natively import them? At least it's not in the drop down list and I get an error when I try.

What about DDS? Is this supported? What mode is preferred?

And finally, if I choose to use TGA, what setting s should I use for a good but small file size? At the moment my tga's are all over 3mb for 1024x1024, which seems quite high. I've saved them at 24bit depth with no compression.

Thanks heaps!

[Mr Evil]

Unfortunately DDS import is not supported (even though most textures are stored in that format once imported). Stick to TGA, 24 or 32 bit as appropriate. Compressed TGA is not supported.

[ambershee]

Basically, you want something uncompressed - so a non compressed TGA, or BMP is ideal.

[mickyg]

So I guess the large file size is unavoidable? It just feels weird knowing i've got like 50+ 3mb TGAs in my scene...

[ambershee]

The editor compresses them and generate mip maps when you import them. This is why you want it uncompressed.

[MattK]

Unfortunately DDS import is not supported (even though most textures are stored in that format once imported). Stick to TGA, 24 or 32 bit as appropriate. Compressed TGA is not supported.

Compressed TGA's are supported. RLE is lossless so you wont lose data anyway.

[elmuerte]

Basically, you want something uncompressed - so a non compressed TGA, or BMP is ideal.

No, you want either uncompressed or lossless compressed (lossless = no loss during compression) (like PNG). You don't want lossy compressed (lossy = not all original data is kept) (like JPG, or DDS).
PNG is the best image format as it has lossless compression, supports RGBA in 32bit, it widely supported.