#color reduction advice
16 messages in this thread
I'm looking around for a program to convert 24-bit .tga files and 8-bit Mac
PICT files to DOS .gif format — controllable via batch files.
I'd like to get the best quality color reduction possible. Do any of you
have a particular favorite format conversion program you can recommend to
me?
Thanks in advance,
– G
Gary,
I'd use ChromaTools for the TGA->GIF, but I don't think they support
PICT (Of course, Pict files can be converted to .TGA using the Apple File
Exchange and Truevision's PICT->TGA script). Best color conversion I got
from .TGAs was with PHIPS, from Terravision, if they're still around.
Again, converting PICTs to TGA was done separately (Hijaak would serve).
Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates
Kevin,
PHIPS was sold to Computer Associates and has been reincarnated as CA
Cricket.
Dennis Bragg
I agree with you about Phips… it has the best color reduction that I've
seen. I'll probably use that for the tga->gif stuff I've got to do, since
I _think_ it supports batch files. I've got hundreds of files I need to
convert, so it's important to automate the process.
Thanks,
– G
2 cents worth (& in Cdn.):
For batch mode color reduction, I use Image Alchemy…prefer it to Phips,
which I used in the past…Paintshop Pro, though, produces the best single
image color reduction…
Phil Shaddock
I spent most of the afternoon with piclab, and had tremendously good luck
with it. I think I converted about 450 files in a few hours, and the
quality of the color reduction was excellent. Thanks for the feedback,
however. I've heard great things about Image Alchemy too.
– G
Gary,
If you're going to use PICLAB, and you haven't already done so, run it from
a ramdrive. You won't believe the performance kick. PICLAB makes 3
temporary files (for red, green, and blue) in the default path; so if that
path's a ramdrive, it really cooks.
Keep the source and target files on a physical drive, though.
Regards…
Terry
Yup, I figured that out (with help from a note in the piclab doc file). It
makes an INCREDIBLE difference.
That's a pretty cool program, actually. Not bad for free! <g>
– G
Well, I spent a little time with Image Alchemy this afternoon and was so
impressed that I called them up, gave them my credit card #, and downloaded
the "real" version from their BBS. It's extremely fast, and does MUCH
better color conversion than piclab. Thanks again for your suggestion…
it jogged my brain enough to give it a shot and I'm glad I did!
Mucho appreciado,
– G
You're welcome Gary,
The Multimedia Creations book I've just finished treats the subject of
shoe-horning a 640×480 targa image into a 640×480 16 color image in detail.
What works best is using Paint Shop Pro to do the color reduction of a
single image from an animation…and then using the palette from that image
to color reduce the whole series in batch mode using Alchemy i.e.
Generate palette.gif out of Paint Shop Pro
then,
alchemy -fpalette.gif -g pict01.tga
alchemy -fpalette.gif -g pict02.tga
etc.
Of course, if you're color reducing to 256 colors…then Paint Shop Pro is
probably going to be an unnecessary step.
Phil Shaddock
Gary,
You may want to try PICLAB, a shareware utility that has a bunch of options
and is run by script files. I know it supports tga and gif, not sure about
pict. You can find it in the GRAPHSUP forum.
I've also written a simple utility to convert between tga, pcx, and gif. It
has a dithering option which eliminates banding effects when going from 24
bit to 8. I'll be glad to upload it if you want to give it a try.
Dennis Bragg
I'll have to see if piclab does pict files. Thanks. I think I'm going to
go with either piclab or phips for the tga->gif stuff, but thanks anyway
for the offer.
– G
Gary, you might try HiJaak from Inset Systems. They have a DOS and a
Windows version. It converts a myriad of graphics formats, and can be run
from the command line for batch control. But it even lets you convert
entire directories within the program, so I seldom use the command line
mode. It does handle all types of TGAs and PICTS. You can reach them at
(203) 740-2400.
For a simple batch conversion of TGAs to GIFs with good palette control,
you might try TGAANI (Dave's Targa Animator). I just noticed a new version
in the COMART forum.
And of course there's always The Graphics Workshop (GWS) it will let you
tag a number of files for conversion. Its in the COMART forum also.
Although I don't care to much for Image Alchemy (the authors) because of
their insistant references to witchcraft… Something I don't take too
lightly.
-MM
Thanks Mike. I've got a copy of Hijaak around here somewhere, and I'll
pull it out and see if it can do the PICT->GIF thing. TGAANI or GWS might
be just the thing I need for the Targa->GIF stuff. Gracias!
– G
Mike,
Image Alchemy and Software Sorcery sound like they might be related, though
– isn't sorcery akin to alchemy and hence witchcraft?
Oh, BTW, the files you asked me to send you are pretty big (450k zipped) so
I would rather just mail it to you. E-mail you address if you want me to
regular mail them.
Martin
Sure, my address is:
Mike Morrison
7120 Shoreline Drive, Suite 2105
San Diego, CA. 92122
Thanks.
As far as the Sorcery name goes, its not serious. And besides, its more
towards "Source"ry as in Source Code. I got the impression years ago that
Image Alchemy was _serious_ about this stuff. They used to not request a
registration fee, only that you purchase and read a book called "The
Coven".
Believe me, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses I spend about 90+ hours a month
talking to people about the bible (door to door). And there are plenty of
serious Satan worshipers out there. If you don't believe me, just check
with your local police station.
-MM