Unit 78: Exercise 4

UNIT 78: Digital Graphics for Computer Games.

Exercise 4:

File Extensions:

File extensions are very important when it comes to handling images. This is because specific file extensions limit the size, quality and the ability to customise if your uploading from a software such as photo shop. Customisation file types are very important in the game development industry because if someone was to create a digital graphics template with photo shop and save and send as a .JPG a co worker on the project will not be able to customise as .JPG flattens the image merging all individual layers into one. Where as if the template creator saves the image as a .PSD which is photo shops own file type the co worker will be able to customise as the file will be saved with the individual layers separated.  

Common types of File Extensions:

If you head over to last weeks work at the bottom I created a list of file types/extensions at the bottom of the page. How ever the image above shows an example of a few file types/extensions.

Image Compression:  

Image Compression is the process of lowering an images file size. This can be good in many ways as it allows you to take up less storage. However each time you compress an image the quality of the image lowers and if you leave it uncompressed it will not differ the quality. This is used on blue ray discs. It is used to upload big files onto something with small storage spaces. A good example of this is gaming within a mobile phone. An example of compression file types is .tiff. However you could also use file archives such as WinRAR and 7-zip to compress and un-compress files sizes. Another example of this is lossy. Lossy is the technique of compressing and removing unnecessary information/pixels are removed or deleted. 

Image Capture:

Image capture consists of many ways of saving a picture. It includes features like: Print Screen. This is a built in utility within your OS which allows you to screen shot what ever you see on your display system. To do this you simply press the "PrtScn" button that is placed somewhere within your keyboard. How ever you can be more manual and go out and take a picture even using hand hold devices such as a mobile or you could use a camera. However this doesn't save to your computer. To save it to your computer you can either upload it with a USB or have it scanned. However if you scan you must select high DPI to keep that image quality high. Another manual example of this is drawing. To plan for your graphic art you can draw it out and scan it to your PC. This is a really useful method as it allows you to upload your drawings to the PC and in software's like Photoshop you are capable of drawing on top of this with multiple layers.

Storage of image assets: 

Within storing images there are many factors to consider. This includes: The layout in which you are saving and the type and size of a file. Within the games design industry it is vital that you keep a neat lay out of your work so its easily accessible. This is because if you where to share your work with a co worker so he can apply some changes it will be easy for him to navigate through the files to find out what he or she needs to work on where as if you didn't stay organise your files it would be a lot harder. It is also vital that you save in the correct file types. For example many games designers in the graphical industry use Photoshop to work on their art. If they where to save a piece of work as a .JPG it will not be customisable after it is closed. Where as if you where to save it using Adobe's file type .PSD it will save the image with the layers unmerged allowing it to be customised upon uploading and closing.