[Community Consensus] VTFEdit or PS/GIMP VTF Plugin for Texturing?

[TruBlu0014]

Hello all.

So, thanks to a reformat, I had to delete my Photoshop that I previously had on here. As a result, I also took the plugin with it. I used to use that particular plugin to make VTFs straight in PS. Now that I have reinstalled everything, I forgot that it only works on x32 bit. UGH! I have a x64 bit version. Now, I could just install the x32 bit version as well...but, this is a great opportunity to learn how to use VTFEdit, so that's what I have on my Desktop rn.

Thing is, after looking through some tuts on how to bring the texture from PS/GIMP into SFM, it looks like VTFEdit just adds one extra step to the mix and makes the workflow just that bit longer. Well, I would like to give the experienced SFMers a chance to "showcase" VTFEdit to me. I'm seeking opinions from the community this time on the following:

In regards to making textures (.vtfs) in SFM, do you prefer to use the PS/GIMP plugins or rather use VTFEdit to make them? Why?

Thank you to all that reply.

[TurnTwister]

Can you even draw with VTFEdit lmao

[Kumquat [Velbud]]

VTF = Valve Texture Format. You can edit the VTF file but you cannot really use VTFEdit to draw on the texture. :/ You can change some settings, but it's like the Microsoft Picture Viewer.

[TruBlu0014]

Originally posted by TurnTwister:

Can you even draw with VTFEdit lmao

Originally posted by Velikhi Maikeru Phys Exp:

VTF = Valve Texture Format. You can edit the VTF file but you cannot really use VTFEdit to draw on the texture. :/ You can change some settings, but it's like the Microsoft Picture Viewer.

Okay. Thank you for your input. I would be using PS to do the actually editing. I'm just wondering why a lot of users use VTFEdit. IMO, I prefer plugins, but I'm tryign out VTFEdit to see if it changes my mind. I wanted to give a chance for people who use the program to make their VTFs to explain to me if it's "better" or if they use plugins like I used to? That was the purpose of the thread.

[Marco Skoll]

Well, VTFEdit does have a batch conversion mode that can be helpful if you need to port a large number of already suitable textures, but a lot of the time things aren't that straight forward - diffuse maps often need to use different compression to normal maps, and several common formats need to be modified in an editor anyway before they'll work properly (for example, porting from XPS needs the specular map to be turned into the normal map's alpha layer, and the green channel of the normal map needs to be inverted).

So I normally end up ignoring it in favour of using PS or GIMP.

Of late, the only thing I've used VTFEdit for is my video playback project:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1128700370
(It has the frames of the video tiled 6x10 into textures, and then the playback model has 60 bodygroups that point to different parts of the texture, and 30 skins that point to different textures. By animating the bodygroups and skins, you can then play back video in SFM).

While I use imagemagick to automate the tiling (montaging frames 6 by 10 into 30 textures would be insane to do manually), it can't export to VTF, so I use VTFEdit to reprocess the PNG files into VTFs for SFM.

[Zappy]

Personally, I use VTFEdit for turning images/textures into VTF images/textures, but it's worth mentioning that my image editor of choice doesn't have a VTF plug-in for it, so I need to use something else to convert it to VTF, anyway.

As others have said, VTFEdit doesn't allow you to edit textures, it allows you to view and export textures, and then import and save textures, but the editing has to be done in an image editor.

[Kumquat [Velbud]]

If only we were allowed to upvote comments... actually, nvm.

[Pipann]

The only reason I use VTFedit is to change the code in the VMT. :')

[episoder]

gimp here. i only use vtf edit when gimp is closed and i gotta check a texture's format real quick or for texture versions that irfan can't load quick. i wish i hadn't tried to upgrade irfan right now. their vtf plugin is dead. good i have bak of a working version. developers these days deliver just crap. huh?

is there any other quick picture browser that supports vtf... btw? nothing that needs a whole suite to load. all that slow rubbish. i hate those.