DDS Unsupported DDS Image File in English

[Anonymous]

----------Well, I had to make this post again because It seems like nobody speaks spanish around here and I need to find a solution to my problem.------------

I started working with a new model a few days ago on which I rigged and now works perfectly and which I hoped to make a very good render.

At the beginning I could open the textures that this model has and they worked fine, but for some reason this message started to show everytime I wanted to use a DDS texture:

Honestly, I don't know what could have happened. The only thing I did was to open one of these textures with Photoshop CS4 to create a bump and a specular map with the same format. 

I hope you can help me with this! 

[Alfred.DeFlaminis · Accepted solution]

Hello @Anonymous and welcome to the community,

I don't have Photoshop installed here, but most likely what has happened is that it's using a header compression or format in DDS that Max doesn't understand.  I don't believe that PS has native DDS support, so the plugin you are likely using may have export options or save options that allow for different compression.  I have seen reports that ARGB/8(DXT3) works well. 

Can you please detail for me a bit more how you are saving them out and with which plugin?  Thanks!

Best Regards,

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

I just wanted to follow up here, any progress on this issue?

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

Hey @Alfred.DeFlaminis sorry I've been busy! It keeps happening, don't know why yet. Look, these are the settings of DDS for Photoshop:

When I opened my texture and made the bump and specular maps I used those settings. Since I did that, all started to happen. I didn't get to use the maps I created. because I didn't need them after all. 

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

Based on your screenshot I would try a few of the different 'save format' options at the top.  Currently you have ARGB (DXT3), see if there are other ARGB options you can select, such as DXT3.  According to this article there are many supported formats, but one of the options on that screenshot may also be interfering somehow.  

You may have to experiment with the formats or options until you find the one that is supported properly.  I don't have photoshop installed on my work machine so I cannot test it for you but I would if I could.  Thanks for trying that and please let me know how it goes.  I have photoshop at home so I will make sure to test this out this weekend for you.  

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

@Alfred.DeFlaminis hey, what would happen if I just convert the DDS texture to jpg or any other format? is there a difference?

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

DDS files are used a lot for games and things like that.  I figured that DDS was a requirement, but if it isn't using .jpg or .png would make life a lot easier for you in this case and would solve your issue almost immediately most likely.  Unless they are needed for a game, DDS files usually are not worth the time/effort.  Something about that exporter in Photoshop is compressing it in a way that Max doesn't like.  I didn't finish testing this weekend but I'll do more tonight.  

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

@Alfred.DeFlaminis I tried saving with ARGB 8888 but It didn't work. The weird thing is that I have another folder with dds textures for the same model and I can use them without problem! I don't know what's wrong with the main ones. 

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Yeah that is weird @Anonymous.  Something that is happening in Photoshop is rendering them unusable somehow, probably an option or something.  It would take some experimentation to nail down which one it is.  

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

@Alfred.DeFlaminis Hi again! well I converted them to jpg, but something happened:

They came this way...and this is how they looked before:

The second and the last textures changed. As I understand, the 2nd one is a specular map and I don't know about the last one, but they changed. Is there anyway to keep them like before?

PS: The conversions don't work as well 😛  

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

The conversions didn't work perfectly it doesn't look like, but it could be alpha channel settings (which jpg don't support but png do.)  That's not on Max though, something is happening in Photoshop.  I would look for a different app to convert those textures, but once they look the same Max will take them in those formats with no issue.  Your questions might be better suited for the Adobe or NVIDIA forums since that is where the problems are here.  I'm not really sure how to help with things outside of Max.  If you want to send me a link to one of the .dds files I can test it on my Max install here if you'd like.  It seems to me that DDS reader in Photoshop has a lot of problems...  

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

Wow, this became such a big deal. I should have never opened the texture on Photoshop at all. Since I opened them there, everything got messed up.

 Isn't there anything I can do to reset everything to default? 

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

Presumably these files came in an archive or folder, maybe just restore them from the backup.  If that doesn't exist, maybe see if you can get them again.  This seems fixable if you just figure out which export option is causing the problems as well.  

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

Okay, I tried to open a new scene and tried the textures and they worked just fine!! but when I tried to use them on my saved scene they didn't work. My scene is corrupted or something. 

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Weird @Anonymous, would it be possible for me to check out the file?  I could create a private folder for you to upload it to if you'd like, or you can PM me a link to download it.  I'll do whatever I can to help with Max problems and I am happy to do so.  I'm very interested in this issue.  Thanks!

Best Regards,

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

I tested all the textures in Max 2017 and they all worked except for 2.  ta_characterdetail_03_ns.chunk.dds and ta_characterdetail_04_ns.chunk.dds have invalid file headers but the rest were able to be loaded without issue.  Is that the same experience you had?  

I downloaded the NVIDIA texture saving app (looks different on my machine that your screenshot) version 8.55.0109.1800.  I tested DXT1, DXT3, and a few others.  The RGBA/8888 was a 32bit per channel format in this version and didn't work, but DXT1-3's saved out and could be read by Max with little issue. 

So, I wonder if the problem is that your version of that application is a bit outdated, maybe try redownloading it and updating to the latest version to see if that helps.  Regarding the 2 textures listed above that wouldn't open, those wouldn't open for me in Photoshop either.  I believe they are corrupted somehow.  If those are the two that you saved over, you may want to check your hard drive for disk errors.  Otherwise, I think the problem might be caused by an out of date version of the DDS plugin for Photoshop. 

EDIT: I editing my previous posts to list DXT3 as the preferred format since it seems to be the best one here, though many of them worked for me.  

Best Regards,

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

I just wanted to follow up here, any progress on this issue?

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

Hi @Alfred.DeFlaminis how are you doing?? I don't know what else to do. All the textures work fine for me using them on another scene, but they don't work with the scene I sent you. 

[Anonymous]

This is what I mean:

This is my saved scene (the one I sent you):

See what happens? It doesn't work. But when I open a new scene and import the model again: 

I can use them! and I can even see them in the "Selection Box" unlike my saved scene. It's like my saved scene ran out of memory or something. Maybe It's corrupted. 

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

That does sound strange.  Let's just merge him into a new scene, can you please try that?  That scene worked fine for me, but if it's not working for you and does in new scenes are maybe try that.  File->Import->Merge

Are you opening this off a thumb drive or something like that?  

Best Regards,