It brutally appeared to me that DDS textures generation for MSFS are quite painful.

If you're working on a complete asset that you're going to build with the SDK anyway, it's not a problem. But if you're simply working on a livery, maybe you don't want to create a whole package and build it all the time. 

This toolbox uses "Compressonator CLI" (freeware available here https://github.com/GPUOpen-Tools/compressonator/releases) to handle PNG <> DDS conversions.

And "imagemagick" (freeware available here https://imagemagick.org/script/download.php#windows) to detect PNG channels depth (8-bit or 16-bit) and handle the Composite "Join" and "Split" operations. Go for this version : ImageMagick-7.1.0-portable-Q16-x64.zip which contains all the required executables.

PNG2DDS.ps1

You can convert a single PNG file or all the PNG files of a folder to apporopriate DDS textures + JSON descriptors:

• It auto-detects if the PNG source has an alpha layer and depending on the type of texture (Albedo, Composite, Normals), it selects the appropriate DDS compression (BC1, BC3, BC7, BC5_S) and writes the correct JSON tags.
• For now, 16-bits textures are ignored.

DDS2PNG.ps1

Exactly the opposite. Converts DDS files (a complete folder or a single file) to PNG.

DDS-JSON-Generator.ps1

You can generate a correct DDS.json file for a given DDS file or all the DDS files of a folder.

Join-COMP.ps1

Generates a Composite RGB file with Ambient Occlusion/Roughness/Metallic channels from any PNG given as input or any suitable files in a given folder.

• You can specify any of the 3 channels as the argument. The script will find the others if your files are named as expected and located within the same folder. (xxx_AO.PNG, xxx_ROUGH.PNG, xxx_METAL.PNG).

 Split-COMP.ps1

Separates the RGB channels of a composite PNG file to 3 standalones PNGs. Or does the same for all COMP files within a given folder.

• These files will be suffixed with _AO.PNG, _ROUGH.PNG and _METAL.PNG
• The script checks first if these files don't already exist and will throw an error if any of them is present.

• it works on Windows 10/11
• You need to be able to run unsigned PowerShell scripts
• You will need to have Compressonator CLI (freeware) and set the path to "compressonatorcli.exe" in the $compressonatorPath variable of PNG2DDS.ps1 and DDS2PNG.ps1.
• And finally, you need to have ImageMagick (freeware) and set the path to the folder containting all executables in the $magickPath variable of PNG2DDS.ps1, DDS2PNG.ps1, Join-COMP.ps1 and Split-COMP.ps1.

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MSFS Textures Toolbox

A comprehensive toolbox for MSFS texture management, allowing for seamless PNG to DDS conversions and handling of composite files. Utilizes "Compressonator CLI" and "imagemagick" for efficient texture processing. Includes scripts for converting, generating DDS files, and manipulating RGB channels. Requirements include Windows 10/11 and setting paths for Compressonator CLI and ImageMagick executables in the scripts.

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