
Originally Posted by
geepster775
Yea, I've heard this schtick before. But most repainters here tend to start out with Ace files that have already been compressed somewhere along the line once before (they sure don't start with layered PSD files). Many of them turn around and compress their ace files again before uploading their repaints to a file library. Those users are not the "original artists". I'm not in the original artist pool, either, so I don't view it through that very particular narrow lens of "what works best for inventory control if I'm an original artist". If I were an original artist, my focus would be on preserving PSD files anyway.
If compression is cumulative with DDS, then why are file sizes exactly the same after 1 save or after 15 subsequent editing saves? My response is I don't think they are cumulative. If compression is cumulative, then why are the same dimension textures for different railcars always producing the same physical size files regardless of how 'busy' or 'weathered' or 'loaded' the original file was?
Either that, or it may be tool dependent. Who is to say that an authentic photoshop DDS Plug-in does not allow photoshop to reverse the applied compression algorithm once the file is opened in the photoshop editor (sure, one would be absent layers and history of the original files), and when it get saved again after changes, the same compression is re-applied. Think zipping and unzipping. Are all editing tools the same? We may be closer to a format one step down from a layered original that is very "TGA-like" already.
DDS has various compression algorithms that gets visually 'unsprung' once the file is passing through the video card. That tells me something with the compression is very structured or fixed, and potentially walked back with the proper tools.