Texture Assembler

Texassemble Texture Assembler

This skill provides guidance for using the texassemble command-line tool to create DDS files containing cubemaps, volume maps, or texture arrays from individual images.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when:

• Creating cubemaps from six individual face images.
• Creating volume (3D) textures from multiple slice images.
• Creating 1D or 2D texture arrays from multiple images.
• Creating cubemap arrays from multiple sets of face images.
• Extracting cubemap faces into cross, strip, or tee layout images.
• Creating cubemaps from cross, strip, or tee layout images.
• Merging channels from two images into one output.
• Converting animated GIFs into texture arrays.
• Creating textures with custom mipmap levels from individual mip images.

Installation

winget (Recommended)

winget install Microsoft.DirectXTex.Texassemble

vcpkg

vcpkg install directxtex[tools]

Syntax

texassemble <command> [options] [--file-list <filename>] <file-name(s)>

Input files can be dds, tga, hdr, or any WIC-supported format (bmp, jpg, png, jxr, heif, webp, etc.).

The command-line uses Windows-style - or / for options. It also supports --version, --help, and GNU long-option style parameters with --.

Commands

| Command | Description |

| --- | --- |

| cube | Creates a cubemap from six face images (ordered: +X, -X, +Y, -Y, +Z, -Z) |

| volume | Creates a volume (3D) texture from two or more images (depth = image count) |

| array | Creates a 1D or 2D texture array from two or more images (requires FL 10.0+) |

| cubearray | Creates a cubemap array from a multiple of six images (requires FL 10.1+) |

| h-cross | Extracts cubemap faces into a horizontal cross layout image |

| v-cross | Extracts cubemap faces into a vertical cross layout image |

| v-cross-fnz | Same as v-cross but flips the negative-Z face |

| h-strip | Extracts cubemap faces into a horizontal strip image |

| v-strip | Extracts cubemap faces into a vertical strip image |

| h-tee | Extracts cubemap faces into a horizontal "T" layout image |

| cube-from-hc | Creates a cubemap from a horizontal cross layout image |

| cube-from-vc | Creates a cubemap from a vertical cross layout image |

| cube-from-vc-fnz | Creates a cubemap from a vertical cross layout (flipped -Z) image |

| cube-from-ht | Creates a cubemap from a horizontal tee layout image |

| cube-from-hs | Creates a cubemap from a horizontal strip image |

| cube-from-vs | Creates a cubemap from a vertical strip image |

| array-strip | Extracts a 1D/2D array into a horizontal strip image |

| merge | Creates a texture by merging channels from two input images |

| gif | Converts an animated GIF into a texture array |

| from-mips | Creates a 2D mipmapped texture from individual mip images |

| cube-from-mips | Creates a cubemap texture from individual mip images |

Common Workflows

Create a cubemap from six face images

texassemble cube -w 256 -h 256 -o cubemap.dds posx.jpg negx.jpg posy.jpg negy.jpg posz.jpg negz.jpg

Create a volume (3D) texture

texassemble volume -w 256 -h 256 -o volume.dds slice0.png slice1.png slice2.png slice3.png

Create a texture array

texassemble array -o array.dds frame0.png frame1.png frame2.png frame3.png

Extract cubemap to horizontal cross layout

texassemble h-cross cubemap.dds

Create cubemap from a vertical cross image

texassemble cube-from-vc -o cubemap.dds cross_layout.png

Merge channels from two images

texassemble merge -o combined.png color.png alpha_source.bmp

Merge with custom swizzle (roughness into alpha)

texassemble merge --swizzle rgbR -o packed.png albedo.png roughness.png

Convert animated GIF to texture array

texassemble gif -o animation.dds animated.gif

Create mipmapped texture from individual mip images

texassemble from-mips -o texture.dds mip0.png mip1.png mip2.png mip3.png

Options Reference

See reference/options.md for the complete options reference.

Quick Reference (most common options)

| Option | Description |

| --- | --- |

| -o <file> | Output filename (default: DDS based on first input, BMP for cross/strip) |

| -f <format> | Output DXGI format (e.g., R8G8B8A8_UNORM, B8G8R8A8_UNORM) |

| -w <n> / -h <n> | Output width / height in pixels |

| -if <filter> | Image filter (POINT, LINEAR, CUBIC, FANT, BOX, TRIANGLE) |

| -srgb | Input and output are sRGB |

| -y | Overwrite existing output file |

| -dx10 | Force DX10 header extension |

| -fl <level> | Target feature level (default: 11.0, max texture size: 16384) |

| --swizzle <mask> | Channel swizzle for merge command |

| --strip-mips | Strip mipmaps from input textures |

| -r | Recursive wildcard search |

| -nologo | Suppress copyright message |

Output Format

By default, texassemble writes DDS files. The output filename is derived from the first input file with a .dds extension. For cross/strip extraction commands, the default output is a .bmp file and you can specify any supported image extension.

Notes

• The tool does not support mipmap generation or texture compression. Use the texture-converter skill to further process the resulting DDS file.
• Any texture-compressed input file is decompressed on load.
• Partial cubemaps are not supported; all six faces must be provided.
• Cubemap face order is: positive-X, negative-X, positive-Y, negative-Y, positive-Z, negative-Z.
• Support for OpenEXR (exr) format requires building from source with USE_OPENEXR defined.
• Additional WIC codecs (HEIF, WEBP) work automatically if installed on the system.
• Texture arrays require Direct3D feature level 10.0 or better hardware.
• Cubemap arrays with more than one cubemap require feature level 10.1 or better.

Further Reading

• Texassemble Wiki
• DirectXTex Documentation