Simviation Forums

Hey,
I'm waiting for an FS2004 disk to arrive in the mail, so I decided to download some paint kits. The problem is, for some reason, I can't open the .bmp files. I can open other .bmp's, so this is a little odd. I'm running Vista 32 bit, but I don't think that would be a problem. Maybe it's the compression? Would the installation of FS2004 add some codec or something? I'm not sure what the problem is, but could someone give me some advice?

Download and install this program.

http://www.btinternet.com/~mnwright/programs/dxtbmp.htm


Then use it to open the .bmp files.   FS uses 'extented bit maps' which I don't really understand myself, but I do know that they must be converted to a 24bit bmp to be able to edit them in normal paint programs such as gimp, or PSP.

The above program, DXTBMP, will do this, and more.

Thanks.

FS uses 'extended bit maps' which I don't really understand myself, but I do know that they must be converted to a 24bit bmp

Think of bitmaps as being a class of image files. In that class are several different formats including several different types of extended bitmaps.

Some of the bitmaps used in FS are 24 bit and can be viewed by any image viewer. The panel bitmaps in the panel folder for the 2D panel are a good example.

The extended bitmaps used by FS for the 3D models consist of 8 bits per pixel for each RGB channel (Red, Green , Blue), for a total of 24 bits. This is the same as most common bitmaps.

Where the extended bitmaps differ is they also have 8 bits per pixel for the Alpha channel which controls reflections/transparencies.

What DXTBmp does is seperate the Alpha channel from the RGB into 2 seperate and editable images. When you save an extended bitmap with DXTBmp it combines those 2 images back into 1 extended bitmap usable by FS.

Hope this helps clear things up.
Joe

FS uses 'extended bit maps' which I don't really understand myself, but I do know that they must be converted to a 24bit bmp

Think of bitmaps as being a class of image files. In that class are several different formats including several different types of extended bitmaps.

Some of the bitmaps used in FS are 24 bit and can be viewed by any image viewer. The panel bitmaps in the panel folder for the 2D panel are a good example.

The extended bitmaps used by FS for the 3D models consist of 8 bits per pixel for each RGB channel (Red, Green , Blue), for a total of 24 bits. This is the same as most common bitmaps.

Where the extended bitmaps differ is they also have 8 bits per pixel for the Alpha channel which controls reflections/transparencies.

What DXTBmp does is separate the Alpha channel from the RGB into 2 separate and editable images. When you save an extended bitmap with DXTBmp it combines those 2 images back into 1 extended bitmap usable by FS.

Hope this helps clear things up.
Joe

Excellent explanation. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Thank you very much.