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- Jul 28, 2013
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Hello, what is the best way to compress the skin and the model file?
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Model file compression
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- Sep 7, 2013
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- 235
For the model, you can save a lot of space by making all animations linear. However it will make animations less smooth, but it's often hardly noticeable.
You can do that easily in Mdlvis (in the "optimization" menu).
For the skin, the best way is to use in-game textures, then you don't have to import any texture.
If you need a custom skin, just decrease the size and/or quality of the texture (i usually use War3 Viewer to convert textures to blp, you can set the compression quality). However this will result in more blurry textures.
You can do that easily in Mdlvis (in the "optimization" menu).
For the skin, the best way is to use in-game textures, then you don't have to import any texture.
If you need a custom skin, just decrease the size and/or quality of the texture (i usually use War3 Viewer to convert textures to blp, you can set the compression quality). However this will result in more blurry textures.
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- Nov 11, 2004
- Messages
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For optimizing the model there are many things you can do like linearizing smooth animations, removing unused bones, mdl objects: reducing unseeable faces and squishing the MDX. You can also rescale the unwrap to reduce the image filesize by reorganizing cutting and resizing.
For optimizing the skin. Get a tool called blp lab, there's a type of blp compression called paletted blps. These kind of blps normally produce better quality/size ratios than jpg compressions when compressed by the map/mod. The downside of paletted blps is that they aren't too good for big image files and you need clean images to generate good results (no jittered images from a badly jpg compressed). They also reduce color quality but keep sharp edges perfect, pretty good for building textures. If your texture is very monochrome, the color reduction may not even apply.
For optimizing the skin. Get a tool called blp lab, there's a type of blp compression called paletted blps. These kind of blps normally produce better quality/size ratios than jpg compressions when compressed by the map/mod. The downside of paletted blps is that they aren't too good for big image files and you need clean images to generate good results (no jittered images from a badly jpg compressed). They also reduce color quality but keep sharp edges perfect, pretty good for building textures. If your texture is very monochrome, the color reduction may not even apply.
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2005
- Messages
- 110
Models:
Take care to crop out anything unnecessary, if you know the file system well the best way is to use notepad/notepad++ and edit the MDL files directly.
Afterwards, use MDX Squisher. It basically cuts off the last bits of the numbers, rounding them to a more fitting value. Don't expect to see any notable difference if you apply it only once. The effects only show after MPQ compression.
Link to MDX Squisher: http://www.wc3c.net/showthread.php?p=800246&fromattachment=800246
Textures:
There is a multitude of tools like the BLPaletter, which uses a color palette to reduce the size (making it more effective on images with a low variety of colors).
If you don't care about mac users, you can probably use all those tools. If you do, you should be careful though - macs seem to experience crashes when you use certain functions of tools like blplab, paletting etc.; I never got around to do detailed tests on what crashes them though.
If you wanna be safe, go for WC3Viewer and don't use batch conversion. When converting with WC3Viewer, you can set the compression quality which usually brings good results with values between 35 and 55, depending on how complex the image is in terms of color variety, sharpness etc.
Take care to crop out anything unnecessary, if you know the file system well the best way is to use notepad/notepad++ and edit the MDL files directly.
Afterwards, use MDX Squisher. It basically cuts off the last bits of the numbers, rounding them to a more fitting value. Don't expect to see any notable difference if you apply it only once. The effects only show after MPQ compression.
Link to MDX Squisher: http://www.wc3c.net/showthread.php?p=800246&fromattachment=800246
Textures:
There is a multitude of tools like the BLPaletter, which uses a color palette to reduce the size (making it more effective on images with a low variety of colors).
If you don't care about mac users, you can probably use all those tools. If you do, you should be careful though - macs seem to experience crashes when you use certain functions of tools like blplab, paletting etc.; I never got around to do detailed tests on what crashes them though.
If you wanna be safe, go for WC3Viewer and don't use batch conversion. When converting with WC3Viewer, you can set the compression quality which usually brings good results with values between 35 and 55, depending on how complex the image is in terms of color variety, sharpness etc.
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