DDS compression formats for GTA V and FiveM textures
Use BC1 (DXT1) for opaque diffuse maps where size matters most, BC7 for high-quality diffuse maps with or without alpha, BC3 (DXT5) where BC7 is unavailable in your tool and you need smooth alpha, and BC5 (ATI2) or BC3 for normal maps. Avoid uncompressed A8R8G8B8 except for tiny UI-like textures: it is four to eight times larger.
GTA V textures are DDS files inside .ytd dictionaries, and the compression format decides both how they look and how much memory they take. Picking the right one is usually the single biggest optimisation available to a texture artist — often without any visible difference.
#The formats
| Format | Also called | Bits/pixel | Alpha | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC1 | DXT1 | 4 | None or 1-bit | Opaque diffuse, large surfaces |
| BC2 | DXT3 | 8 | Sharp 4-bit alpha | Rarely used today |
| BC3 | DXT5 | 8 | Smooth alpha | Diffuse with transparency, some normal maps |
| BC5 | ATI2 / 3Dc | 8 | Two channels only | Normal maps |
| BC7 | — | 8 | Full, high quality | High-quality diffuse (with or without alpha) |
| A8R8G8B8 | Uncompressed | 32 | Full | Tiny textures only |
#What to use for each map
| Map | First choice | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Diffuse (opaque) | BC7 for quality, BC1 for size | — |
| Diffuse with alpha (decals, cutouts) | BC7 | BC3 |
| Normal | BC5 | BC3 |
| Specular | BC1 or BC7 | BC3 |
Normal maps store direction in their colour channels; BC1’s colour compression causes visible blocky shading on curved surfaces, which is why two-channel BC5 or 8-bpp formats are preferred. Look at how the vanilla weapon textures are stored in CodeWalker as a reference for each shader.
#Converting with texconv
texconv -f BC7_UNORM -m 0 -y -o out w_pi_mypistol.png
texconv -f BC1_UNORM -m 0 -y -o out w_pi_mypistol_s.png
texconv -f BC5_UNORM -m 0 -y -o out w_pi_mypistol_n.png-f sets the format, -m 0 generates the full mipmap chain, -y overwrites and -o sets the output folder. Paint.NET and GIMP can also save DDS with these formats. Then import the DDS into the .ytd with CodeWalker or OpenIV — see editing YTDs in CodeWalker.
#When the format is wrong
Textures that show pink or checkerboard in game usually mean a missing or mis-named texture rather than a bad format — see pink weapon textures. Washed-out or blocky results usually mean the wrong format or missing mipmaps.
Questions
Should I use DXT1 or DXT5 for FiveM?
Does GTA V support BC7?
.ytd files.What format should normal maps use?
Why not use uncompressed textures for best quality?
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