BOOK CREATION NOTES BY A QUACK

[LongDukDong]

BOOK CREATION NOTES BY A QUACK
A LongDukDong Article

 

 

After releasing one of my latest versions of an Oblivion mod, one of the users noticed that the graphics was skewed.  He was using a different resolution than I while playing and the graphics did not resize to match as they do with other books or scrolls such as the "Mysterium Xarxes".  This was a problem and one I needed to solve.

Now I had graphics that I wanted to use within the pages of the book and had a program which could convert .PNG format graphics into .DDS (DirectDraw) format.  However ... IT SUCKED!!!!  Aww... fuckaduck!!!  (Wait... no... not unless you're a girl and pretty hot)  The resolution seemed to become grainy, so I opted to use .TGA (Targa) files and store them in a single custom Textures.  It worked for me.  But I was unaware of how the creators of Oblivion inserted their Book graphics and how it was set up to handle different resolution settings.  Unaware there was a system in place, I made an unconscious error.

So begins my investigation and analysis of the Book system.

* === * === * === * === *

 

I used a BSA browser to find the page graphics for the Mysterium Xarxes pages, and I discovered that each page was held within three folders.  Yes, you read that correctly... three folders for EACH graphic, and each bearing the same filename.  While there are only two graphics of blood-drawn symbols within the tome, there are actually six .dds files stored within three folders.  

 

Example:
  Textures\Menus\book\mysteriumxarxespg1.dds
  Textures\Menus50\book\mysteriumxarxespg1.dds
  Textures\Menus80\book\mysteriumxarxespg1.dds

 

This bore further examination and could explain the resolution scaling process performed by Oblivion.  As I extracted the images with my BSA Browser, I took note of the paths within the Textures folder as you can see above.  One image for page 1 was within the 'Textures\Menus\book' folder, another within the 'Textures\Menus50\book' folder, and the third within the 'Textures\Menus80\book' folder.  All three graphic files shared the same name.  And while the graphics were visually in appearance, they were not in size.  The differences were thus:

• Within the Menus\book folder:       The file was a 512x1024 image with a graphic within that was 490px wide and 650px deep
• Within the Menus80\book folder:  The file was a 512x1024 image with a graphic within that was 410px wide and 520px deep.
• Within the Menus50\book folder:  The file was a 256x512 image with a graphic within that was 245px width and 325px deep.

That's a lot to take in.  First, let's look at the proportions I described above, shall we?  The graphic file's 'image' stored in the 'Menus\Book' folder is 490x650.  The 'image' in the 'Menus50\book' folder is 245x512.  The second is literally 50% scaling.  That is easy enough to figure out.  But it took a little while to see that the 'image' in the 'Menus80\book' folder was scaled to 80% of the size of the one within the 'Menus\book' folder.

So... your master is the 512x1024 graphic file with a 490x650 image layer in the 'Menus\Book' folder, and your other two matching images are scaled 50% or 80% to match.

 

And now to remaster my graphics.

* === * === * === * === *

 

Now the program I had previously used to convert my .PNG files to DDS format was entitled "Easy2Convert PNG to DDS" ....   AVOID IT!  It sucks.  Thankfully, fejeena gave me a better suggestion, that being "Paint.Net" version 3.5.11.  Handy enough, this paint program also supports .DDS format as well.  There are newer versions, but he swears to this one.  And after trying it, I stand by his recommendation.

First, I acquired (or reacquired) the graphics I wanted to use, and touched them up as I saw fit.  After that, I scaled them to the size I wished them to be.  And as most of them were to take up an entire page, those particular graphics were scaled to a size of 490px in width and 650 px in height.  This set I just touched up and scaled would be my masters.

I then opened up "Paint.Net" and made my first 'set' of .DDS graphics, ones that would be used in the 'Menus\Book' folder.  Each was 512 x 1024.  And after having made these blank .dds files, I used "Paint.Net" to copy the contents of my Master graphics into each .DDS file.  When I hit Paste, the new layer appeared within the top-left corner of the DDS file.  Just fine by me as that is how the image 'should' be stored.

After that, I made a new set of .DDS files within the 'Menus80\Book' folder, each also 512x1024 in size.  But I temorarily scaled my Master graphics by 80%, or where most of them were 410px wide.  And when that was done, I again copied the contends of each master into each DDS file.  And then I did the same for the .DDS files that belong in the 'Menus50\Book' folder, DDS files of 256x512 in scale and Master graphics that were half the size they originally were.

And you know what????  It works.  When I brought up a command within my book that read:

<IMG src="Book/PageDuck.dds" width=490 height=680> <br>

It accessed and rendered the graphic file 'PageDuck.DDS', whether it needed the Menus, Menu50 or Menu80 file.

* === * === * === * === *

 

Got some questions?  I bet.

You may be thinking... "Can I use graphics wider than 490?"

Nope, not for books.  The system only recognizes that a book's maximum width is 490 pixels across, that so it can have space set aside for the book's center spine.  It also will not render anything past the 650 height limit, mainly to ensure the page numbers remain visible.  But there is a difference between incorrectly setting the width compared to setting the height.  Setting a height larger than 650 is not really that big of a deal as anything below will not be drawn.  However, setting a widht greater than 490 will crash the game and exit.  Tried and tested, even set to 491 will not work.

 

You noticed I mainly concentrated on books... "But what of the graphics for Scrolls?"

 

It is pretty much the same as for books.  However, the maximum size for a scroll graphic is the full 512px width and the maximum height is the full 1024 px.  Let's face it, scrolls don't have page numbers and do not have spines/folds in the center.

 

And.....   Where can I find "Paint.Net" ???

 

Ohhh yeah.  Version 3.5.11 of that paint program can be downloaded here:
http://paint.net.amihotornot.com.au/Download/Paint.Net_Versions/3.5.11/Paint.NET.3.5.11.Install.zip

.... All versions here:
http://paint.net.amihotornot.com.au/Download/Paint.Net_Versions/

 

See also:  Mod Spell Loading Notes by a Quack

 

 

[fejeena]

Pictures: The dds files save as DXT1 without Mip Map!   And no normal maps ( xxxx_n.dds )

[RapidWaterOver]

 

BOOK CREATION NOTES BY A QUACK

A LongDukDong Article

 

 

After releasing one of my latest versions of an Oblivion mod, one of the users noticed that the graphics was skewed.  He was using a different resolution than I while playing and the graphics did not resize to match as they do with other books or scrolls such as the "Mysterium Xarxes".  This was a problem and one I needed to solve.

 

Now I had graphics that I wanted to use within the pages of the book and had a program which could convert .PNG format graphics into .DDS (DirectDraw) format.  However ... IT SUCKED!!!!  Aww... fuckaduck!!!  (Wait... no... not unless you're a girl and pretty hot)  The resolution seemed to become grainy, so I opted to use .TGA (Targa) files and store them in a single custom Textures.  It worked for me.  But I was unaware of how the creators of Oblivion inserted their Book graphics and how it was set up to handle different resolution settings.  Unaware there was a system in place, I made an unconscious error.

 

So begins my investigation and analysis of the Book system.

* === * === * === * === *

 

I used a BSA browser to find the page graphics for the Mysterium Xarxes pages, and I discovered that each page was held within three folders.  Yes, you read that correctly... three folders for EACH graphic, and each bearing the same filename.  While there are only two graphics of blood-drawn symbols within the tome, there are actually six .dds files stored within three folders.  

 

Example:

  Textures\Menus\book\mysteriumxarxespg1.dds

  Textures\Menus50\book\mysteriumxarxespg1.dds

  Textures\Menus80\book\mysteriumxarxespg1.dds

 

This bore further examination and could explain the resolution scaling process performed by Oblivion.  As I extracted the images with my BSA Browser, I took note of the paths within the Textures folder as you can see above.  One image for page 1 was within the 'Textures\Menus\book' folder, another within the 'Textures\Menus50\book' folder, and the third within the 'Textures\Menus80\book' folder.  All three graphic files shared the same name.  And while the graphics were visually in appearance, they were not in size.  The differences were thus:

• Within the Menus\book folder:       The file was a 512x1024 image with a graphic within that was 490px wide and 650px deep
• Within the Menus80\book folder:  The file was a 512x1024 image with a graphic within that was 410px wide and 520px deep.
• Within the Menus50\book folder:  The file was a 256x512 image with a graphic within that was 245px width and 325px deep.

That's a lot to take in.  First, let's look at the proportions I described above, shall we?  The graphic file's 'image' stored in the 'Menus\Book' folder is 490x650.  The 'image' in the 'Menus50\book' folder is 245x512.  The second is literally 50% scaling.  That is easy enough to figure out.  But it took a little while to see that the 'image' in the 'Menus80\book' folder was scaled to 80% of the size of the one within the 'Menus\book' folder.

 

So... your master is the 512x1024 graphic file with a 490x650 image layer in the 'Menus\Book' folder, and your other two matching images are scaled 50% or 80% to match.

 

And now to remaster my graphics.

* === * === * === * === *

 

Now the program I had previously used to convert my .PNG files to DDS format was entitled "Easy2Convert PNG to DDS" ....   AVOID IT!  It sucks.  Thankfully, fejeena gave me a better suggestion, that being "Paint.Net" version 3.5.11.  Handy enough, this paint program also supports .DDS format as well.  There are newer versions, but he swears to this one.  And after trying it, I stand by his recommendation.

 

First, I acquired (or reacquired) the graphics I wanted to use, and touched them up as I saw fit.  After that, I scaled them to the size I wished them to be.  And as most of them were to take up an entire page, those particular graphics were scaled to a size of 490px in width and 650 px in height.  This set I just touched up and scaled would be my masters.

 

I then opened up "Paint.Net" and made my first 'set' of .DDS graphics, ones that would be used in the 'Menus\Book' folder.  Each was 512 x 1024.  And after having made these blank .dds files, I used "Paint.Net" to copy the contents of my Master graphics into each .DDS file.  When I hit Paste, the new layer appeared within the top-left corner of the DDS file.  Just fine by me as that is how the image 'should' be stored.

 

After that, I made a new set of .DDS files within the 'Menus80\Book' folder, each also 512x1024 in size.  But I temorarily scaled my Master graphics by 80%, or where most of them were 410px wide.  And when that was done, I again copied the contends of each master into each DDS file.  And then I did the same for the .DDS files that belong in the 'Menus50\Book' folder, DDS files of 256x512 in scale and Master graphics that were half the size they originally were.

 

And you know what????  It works.  When I brought up a command within my book that read:

<IMG src="Book/PageDuck.dds" width=490 height=680> <br>

It accessed and rendered the graphic file 'PageDuck.DDS', whether it needed the Menus, Menu50 or Menu80 file.

 

* === * === * === * === *

 

Got some questions?  I bet.

 

You may be thinking... "Can I use graphics wider than 490?"

Nope, not for books.  The system only recognizes that a book's maximum width is 490 pixels across, that so it can have space set aside for the book's center spine.  It also will not render anything past the 650 height limit, mainly to ensure the page numbers remain visible.  But there is a difference between incorrectly setting the width compared to setting the height.  Setting a height larger than 650 is not really that big of a deal as anything below will not be drawn.  However, setting a widht greater than 490 will crash the game and exit.  Tried and tested, even set to 491 will not work.

 

You noticed I mainly concentrated on books... "But what of the graphics for Scrolls?"

 

It is pretty much the same as for books.  However, the maximum size for a scroll graphic is the full 512px width and the maximum height is the full 1024 px.  Let's face it, scrolls don't have page numbers and do not have spines/folds in the center.

 

And.....   Where can I find "Paint.Net" ???

 

Ohhh yeah.  Version 3.5.11 of that paint program can be downloaded here:

http://paint.net.amihotornot.com.au/Download/Paint.Net_Versions/3.5.11/Paint.NET.3.5.11.Install.zip

 

.... All versions here:

http://paint.net.amihotornot.com.au/Download/Paint.Net_Versions/

 

 

 

About the different images:

The different folders are for different screen resolutions, so that a person who has a certain resolution can have the game pick the correct texture to use for the interface without having to do much scaling or adjustment. The regular folder is the regular size, the 50 folder the texture at half size, and the 80 one is 80% size (hence the naming   ).

 

About creating the textures, you can also get a normalmap and dds plugin for GIMP.