RANT: Why do people upload image .bmp ("bump") files

[Captain Cobra]

 

I like .bmp files.  Lets me have ultimate control over the quality of the .jpeg file that I'm going to convert it to.  I wouldn't trust the average pleb to make good jpegs anyways.

 

Have you heard of PNG? Lossless compression!

 

http://superuser.com/questions/386061/is-there-any-quality-difference-between-png-vs-bmp-image-formats

 

 

Lets see...

 

Screenshot @ 1680x1050

 

A .bmp would be 5.04MB

A .png would be roughly 2MB~4.2MB

A 99% quality .jpeg would be roughly 500KB~1000KB

 

...Depending on whats happening in the image, with no perceivable difference in quality between the 3.

[Kamen Rider Kuuga]

If you're smart enough to mod your game, you should be smart enough to know how to convert a file. It takes maybe 10 seconds to do it.

 

People are just lazy and in a rush to upload RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

[Captain Cobra]

BUT I NEED TO SHOW THE WORLD MY WAIFU HAREM NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!

[ElectricSheep]

I think i may have posted my first couple of pics bmp until someone kindly explained how much better posting in jpg or a smaller format for everyone sake. A little civility goes a long way, and not everyone spends so much time on their PC that such things are second nature to them. If the format is too large for convenient browsing why not send them a PM and ask them to repost. Assuming people are just plain lazy or stupid is the kind of intolerance i would expect at nexus and not here.  

It was as obvious to me 10 years ago, when I was still new to the Internet shit, as it is now that posing bitmaps and large images that takes minutes to load is annoying to other ppl. So really, it doesn't take "second nature", just a little bit of thinking.

 

Members of the Nexus are actually extremely tolerant (especially towards laziness and stupidity), tolerant to the point where tolerance turns into intolerance, because they freak out over any form of criticism or negativity.

 

But don't take me too seriously, I thought this topic was mostly for laughs. ;p

[gvman3670]

Uploading pics to an image sharing site/service is probably the best alternative. It keeps pics easily viewable in a way that's browser friendly and doesn't take long to download/display. It also keeps the info off the LL servers and not taking up space here.

 

Google/search for "Format Factory". It's a nice little formatting tool that's free. I've used it for several years. It will change any file format (images, videos or audio).

[Symon]

What you have to remember is that even very senior, highly paid professionals will attach twenty or more bmps into an email and then scream and shout that email is broken and that they just want to send pictures and their time is far too valuable to waste it learning anything about file formats and converting them.

 

A sense of entitlement goes along way to explaining a lot of commonly seen laziness.

[Earen]

i'd better ask why Skyrim devs didn't take care about that

 

[BoozeJunky]

Maybe part of the problem is that if you have a lot of pics you've saved, it can be a pain the ass to open each one individually and resave it as a .jpg... and a lot of the batch converter software out there (if you don't already know what you're doing) is either barely functional shovelware crap or adware/malware.

 

Personally, I've just been using .DDS Converter 2 as an impromptu batch converter, and it seems to work out well after tweaking the compression ratio to find a decent medium between quality and compression.

[maybenexttime]

Some people just don't know. Forgive them.

[Cynical Misanthrope]

Guilty! But considering I have 100/100Mbit I never think about anything. On the other hand, the only thread I occasionally post in, is in the "show us your desktop" thread.

[Captain Cobra]

Never.

[Lagoon0654]

Some men just want to watch the world burn.

[...0...]

I'm at a loss why people upload their images in the .bmp format. It takes up a LOT more space and usually isn't immediately viewable in the browser. Hello, Jpeg? Hello PNG?

 

That's there problem because i never watch them, i don't click BMP screenshots. Most of time i suggest convert into jpg or png if not i will never see those screenshots and i don't care.

[Akzyra]

 

I'm at a loss why people upload their images in the .bmp format. It takes up a LOT more space and usually isn't immediately viewable in the browser. Hello, Jpeg? Hello PNG?

 

That's there problem because i never watch them, i don't click BMP screenshots. Most of time i suggest convert into jpg or png if not i will never see those screenshots and i don't care.

 

 

Same. If they want people to watch it make it easier for them. You need to downlaod the image because its uploaded as a file. Annoying!

[Coopervane]

 

It was as obvious to me 10 years ago, when I was still new to the Internet shit, as it is now that posing bitmaps and large images that takes minutes to load is annoying to other ppl. So really, it doesn't take "second nature", just a little bit of thinking.

 

I suppose a lot of it is in the timing. Back when i cut my teeth on the internet and learned to use Jpg/Png/Gif it was a requirement, most were still on 56k modems (including myself), and if they were lucky they were on an ADSL or Cabel line that wasen't a whole lot faster than that. You learned to compress images really fast, as doing anything else was impractical to the point of beeing worthless.

 

It may not be as self-evident for people cutting their teeth on the net today, as quite frankly, most of us have connections more than fast enough that downloading a bmp is a trivial split-second affair.

 

i'd better ask why Skyrim devs didn't take care about that

 

There are still game-breaking bugs in Skyrim, not to mention the DLC's, that they never have and never will fix, and you think they would find the time to make screenshots auto-compress?

 

Bethesda is nothing if not willing to cut every corner and do a half-arsed job.

 

That's there problem because i never watch them, i don't click BMP screenshots. Most of time i suggest convert into jpg or png if not i will never see those screenshots and i don't care.

 

Same. If the uploader coulden't be arsed to spend the few seconds extra to make the images browser freindly, then i can be lazy too, and simple won't look at it.

It's a simple and honest exhange of mutual laziness.

[Coopervane]

I think the only reason a .bmp should be posted is for trouble shooting. Those rare examples of a person showing something wrong with a texture or mesh and they want to show it in the best resolution possible. And if that's the case create a spoiler tag and a warning that it's linked to a .bmp image.  .Bmp images aren't a bad thing in and of themselves the issue is the application of them in a forum. Usually all we need to correct the bad application of a .bmp image is to just tell the person using them to re-format the image to something more browser friendly, it's a simple solution to something that is at most a minor annoyance. 

 

A .png would more than suffice for that, and doesen't require the mod-author to download the screenshot (which makes it a lot more likely that they will actually take a look at it, so it's also a benifit to the uploader).

 

But yes, a little bit of education goes a very long way.

[Guest Mogie56]

35 .bmp's take up 266mb of space

while 186 jpg's take up 56.3mb of space.

pretty much self explanatory.

I guess if your not concerned about space on your own drive you wouldn't be concerned of anyone else's space limitations.

[Guest]

All I know is I won't download an image posted on a forum unless I'm going to use it as a screensaver or something. So if people don't bother to post it in a browser friendly format, well I'll never see what it is they're trying to share. If they're okay with that then so am I.

 

Lone wolves and their fat assed .bmps...pfft

[BoozeJunky]

 

 

It was as obvious to me 10 years ago, when I was still new to the Internet shit, as it is now that posing bitmaps and large images that takes minutes to load is annoying to other ppl. So really, it doesn't take "second nature", just a little bit of thinking.

 

I suppose a lot of it is in the timing. Back when i cut my teeth on the internet and learned to use Jpg/Png/Gif it was a requirement, most were still on 56k modems (including myself),

 

 

Heh, when I started out we were still on 2,400 baud modems. Even the most horribly pixelated .jpgs took forever to download, and you didn't even know if what you were clicking on was any good because... well... who has the fucking bandwith to spare for thumbnails?!? Doesn't help that the whole "browser" was basically a dos-box. 

[Coopervane]

 

Heh, when I started out we were still on 2,400 baud modems. Even the most horribly pixelated .jpgs took forever to download, and you didn't even know if what you were clicking on was any good because... well... who has the fucking bandwith to spare for thumbnails?!? Doesn't help that the whole "browser" was basically a dos-box. 

 

Heh, i'm not even sure the Internet was comercially avalible here back when that was current gen tech

[BoozeJunky]

 

 

Heh, when I started out we were still on 2,400 baud modems. Even the most horribly pixelated .jpgs took forever to download, and you didn't even know if what you were clicking on was any good because... well... who has the fucking bandwith to spare for thumbnails?!? Doesn't help that the whole "browser" was basically a dos-box. 

 

Heh, i'm not even sure the Internet was comercially avalible here back when that was current gen tech

 

 

Does Prodigy count as internet?

 

We really didn't have "proper" internet out here either, but a local BBS had call-forwarding to a nearby collage campus and somebody leaked their login information. I used that to get onto MTV's Compuserve (or whatever service, I couldn't tell because the page was all fucked up without the GUI) site to download the POTUS Peaches video. It took like 6 hours over night and I got my ass whooped when the phone bill came in.

[Guest marieruth]

Because that's what the free version of FRAPS is limited to. :\

[Emberheart]

Many gamers are not tech savy. They upload BMP because that's how Skyrim exports screenshots by default and either don't know how to convert a file, or they are afraid that if they try to convert the image, they may somehow break it. Heck, some may simply have changed the extension of .BMP into .JPG in windows explorer, which didn't work and since then they don't dare touch the file in any way. If you tell them to open and re-save it as a JPG they'll plug their ears and panic.

 

When novice PC users don't know how to do something, they are quick to panic and not dare touch the subject with a 10-feet pole. Just ask someone who works at a support helpdesk how frustrating it is when you tell someone step by step to do something and the moment you tell them to open the command prompt, they see a lot of text and have a panic fit, refusing to take one more step. Thank goodness for remote desktop access nowadays with those people. I blaim console gaming and 'foolproof' operating systems that require no more user intervention. Touching the registry has become a taboo and the teens of today probably think that Auto X-ec Bat _{(actually AutoExec.bat)} must be the name of some fad new metal band. I think the average young PC user is not even 10% as savy as my/our generation used to be.

 

Blaiming people for not daring to change the format to JPG is a little bit like blaiming your grandma for buying an overpriced Dell or Compaq, because she's too afraid that a non-brand PC built by the PC store for half the price is too dangerous to use. I think in the coming years image sites will probably completely auto-convert files when people upload them for all those reasons.

 

 

Because that's what the free version of FRAPS is limited to. :\

 

[xgkf]

It sure would be nice if a site admin would see this and maybe disallow .bmp files from being uploaded and attached to posts.

 

*HINT HINT NUDGE NUDGE*

 

[Guest endgameaddiction]

This is off topic, but does anyone else use imgbox to host images? I'm asking because the past few days the bbcode does not work anymore. Thumbnail and full screen codes are showing up blank. I'm just wondering if anyone else if having this same problem.