Saturn 4bpp Graphics Converter

A utility to convert between SEGA Saturn 4bpp graphic format and bitmaps.

After dumping both a 4bpp graphics file and its corresponding palette file from a SEGA Saturn game and identifying its dimensions, 4bpp-2-bmp can be used to convert said graphic data to a bitmap for editing. After editing the bitmap, it can be converted back to its original 4bpp graphic format using bmp-2-4bpp.

Current Version

Saturn 4bpp Graphics Converter is currently at version 1.0.

Usage

Note that the output filename of 4bpp-2-bmp will be the input filename with the .BMP extension appended (e.g., an input file named TEX.BIN will produce TEX.BIN.BMP).

Code:

4bpp-2-bmp <4BPP_FILE> <PALETTE_FILE> <PALETTE_INDEX> <WIDTH> <HEIGHT>

Note that the output filename of bmp-2-4bpp will be the input filename with the .BMP extension removed (e.g., an input file named TEX.BIN.BMP will produce TEX.BIN).

Code:

bmp-2-4bpp <BITMAP_FILE> <PALETTE_FILE> <PALETTE_INDEX> <WIDTH> <HEIGHT>

Example Usage

Convert a 64x16 4bpp graphic file named TEX.BIN to bitmap using the first palette index (i.e., 0) from palette file TEX.PAL.

Code:

4bpp-2-bmp TEX.BIN TEX.PAL 0 64 16

Convert a 64x16 bitmap named TEX.BIN.BMP to 4bpp graphic format using the first palette index (i.e., 0) from palette file TEX.PAL.

Code:

bmp-2-4bpp TEX.BIN.BMP TEX.PAL 0 64 16

Tutorial

Malenko published a fantastic tutorial on ripping and replacing SEGA Saturn graphic assets on the SegaXtreme forums. It also details how to extract palette data. Click the preview screenshot below to access it.

Note that Malenko also created a guide on the usage of the Saturn 15bpp Graphics Converter, which may prove helpful to those wishing to use Saturn 4bpp Graphics Converter.

Saturn 4bpp Graphics Converter 1.0