Q:
Do I have to save a "moving" texture map as a .FLI (or .FLC)?
They sure are BIG files....even rendered at 320 x 240. Is there any other
format I can save (using 3D studio rel #4) a little texture animation in?
A:
If 256 colors are enough for you, FLI/FLC for an animated texture
remains the best choice. A whole animated texture at 320x240 and
hundreds of frames could be many times smaller than a single truecolor
Targa. If you need 24bit color pictures, you might try a JPG sequence -
the lossy compression might not be visible since the maps are filtered
and blurred. Plus: you can control the Quality/Compression level.
You can create an .IFL (Image File List) - an ASCII file that lists the
pictures you need. There is a program called MAKEIFL that creates such a
file automatically.
Still you will have to compare this two methods to see which gives you
less disk space lost and best texture quality...
Addition:
You can also enter a wildcard name in the Material Editor like ATXT*.TGA. This will make the Targa sequence ATXT0001.TGA, ATXT0002.TGA... an animated texture. But an IFL file is more flexible.