Model format?

i keep them all in a brown cardboard box. i''d like to store them in a locker, with a key for security and all, but i can''t afford one new and no luck so far on ebay.

How incredibly helpful!

Well, why limit yourself to one format? Why not support loading models from different types of formats...? Go ahead and ad support for .md2 and .md3 since there''s so many available on the eentarnet... (and, they do animations...)

Well the way I have it set up, I need it to support skeletal animation...

So I want to use SMD with MDL but I don''t understand how they work. And I have been scouring google for knowledge

Thanks for the help anyway

One idea is to come up with your own file type based on exactly what your program does. That way, you''ll be able to optimize exactly what kind of data you want your file to hold without bogging it down with stuff you''ll never use.

sorry, trying to be funny, not a dick.

I use Microsoft''s .x format. It supports soft-skinned bone animation and there''s a nice tutorial right here on gamedev that I based my code on. If you want to blend together different animations (legs walking, arms firing gun) then I believe DirectX9 can handle that with .x files. I''d suspect the Half-Life and Quake3 formats are about the same in flexibility and ease of use.

The tools you have available should be a big part of your decision though. I have only animated/modelled in Maya and I couldn''t find reliable exporters for any format besides .x, so that kind of sealed the deal for me. On an aside, as inexpensive and supportive of gaming formats as MS3D is, I have never figured out how to do anything in it beyond selecting vertices. If you don''t mind pirating then I''d kazaa for 3D Studio Max, you can find plugins to export from max to pretty much any format. If you''d prefer going a legal route you may want to look into Unreal2K3''s format, they apparently offer a plug-in that works with Maya Personal Learning Edition, which is terribly free and terribly awesome.

good luck

Try MD3. It can handle different animations on different parts of the body at the same time. Also, it''s very easy to use...


Here is a tutorial:

http://www.gametutorials.com/Tutorials/opengl/OpenGL_Pg5.htm

afaik, storing a different model for each different pose is called ''shape animation'', and as u probably already know, it doesn''t lend itself very well to interpolation or small file sizes.

i use .xsi files, but that''s only because i use softimage xsi. also, i have written my own loader to support anything and everything i need (and then some). i suppose writing your own loader is the way to go if u have enough time.

But the MD3 model format is a keyframe animation system - not very hardware friendly!

I think the Half Life format would be an excellent format to use, only I have found absolutely no information about skinning HL models; the only code I have found uses OpenGL and recalculates and uploads the vertex positions every frame.

....and there are loads of HL models available from the net whereas I found very few good biped models in the .x format.

maybe this page is helpfull_ http://www.wotsit.org/