EXR to DDS Converter

Encoding: the EXR uses none, RLE, ZIP, PIZ, PXR24, B44 or DWA, chosen per file; DDS uses block compression (BC1 to BC7, also called DXT) or uncompressed RGBA, and the download is an uncompressed 32-bit RGBA DDS texture with a single mip level, or DXT1 or DXT5 block compression if you choose it.

Bit depth: 16-bit half or 32-bit floating point per channel in the EXR; DDS allows 8 bits per channel for common texture formats, and the DDS written here has 8 bits per channel. Floating-point values are mapped to 8 bits per channel, and anything brighter than white clips.

Colour: scene-linear RGB, often ACEScg or linear Rec.709 in the EXR; DDS supports RGB(A); normal maps and packed masks store data rather than colour, written here as 8-bit sRGB.

Transparency: the EXR stores it as an A channel stored like any other channel; the DDS keeps it as alpha inside the compressed blocks (BC2, BC3, BC7) or a 1-bit cut-out (BC1).

Other images: the EXR can hold extra channels (depth, normals, render passes) and multiple parts; only the main image is converted.

Metadata: the EXR can carry named header attributes such as chromaticities, timecode and camera data; DDS can carry a 128-byte header (plus a DX10 header) describing the pixel format, nothing about the picture, but nothing is copied across.

OpenEXR is the high dynamic range format of film visual effects. It stores half or full floating-point channels in linear light, plus any extra render passes, and is the working format of compositing pipelines.

An EXR starts with the magic number 76 2F 31 01 and a version field, then a header of named, typed attributes (channels, compression, dataWindow, displayWindow) and a table of offsets to scanline or tile blocks.

EXR files usually come from 3D renderers and compositing in Nuke, Blender, Houdini, After Effects and DaVinci Resolve.

DDS is a GPU texture format used by DirectX games. It stores block-compressed textures (DXT/BC) and mipmaps that graphics cards decode directly.

A DDS file starts with 'DDS ' and a 124-byte header giving the size, mipmap count and pixel format: a FourCC such as DXT1 or DXT5, or 'DX10' followed by an extra header naming a DXGI format. The largest mipmap comes first.

DDS is the better choice for game textures and mods, while EXR suits visual effects, compositing and 3D render output.

DDS strengths: Loads straight into GPU memory; Mipmaps included. Drawbacks to weigh: Not viewable outside game tools; Lossy block compression.