...but...while I prefer *.x by far,md3 can come handy for when making games for low specs machines. As no weights computation is needed, just an interpolation of meshes. Indeed, I mean md3 in a md2 style : single piece character meshes, not chunked ones to be melted in joints by the engine. that is, no need of tags. At least imho that'd be a great minimal support of it. While tags may be useful to others...but this days, imho as you can export a good md3 out both gmax, max and blender with no problems, would be a very nice format, much better than md2 (as md2 trembles in its vertices, has several ugly limits in polycounts and graphic features, and is only linear interpolation)..
like with md2, the artists need to hide the uv seams in non seen parts of the geometry. None of these formats support more than a uv vertex per 3d vertex, so it unwelds there, and create a mesh (and so) smoothing crease, usually terriibly ugly in your hardworked animated character... So, when u do an md3 or md2 (or *.3ds) u need very good planning when doing Uvs (and skilled in uv mapping, in general)
So, this is the biggest problem I see with the format...it breaks the mesh there, showing it ugly...is it hard to force the md3 loader to do a "weld coincident" vertices in the loading proccess ? As it'd plainly rock. And if so, it'd make md3 the perfect format for be loaded in very low machines. As allways, depends on your target audience, but having this option would simply rock.
Sorry , Niko, is not to add you more work, just a question
Well, there was someone who did the md3 loader...how hard would it be to make this? Dunno, it'd rock to force the loader to do that coincident vertex weld, and include the md3 format natively for all future releases...
many people like Gmax, and is practically the only format for char anims to be exported from there(thanks to Chris Cookson) That besides blender also has a working md3 anim export.(I tested both things to work perfectly, just not with Irrlicht.both where in the way I prefer md3 files: single piece, no tags, no shaders but keeping the spline (smooth and keeps the kind of "tempo" I gave while animating between keyframes... *.x does this , too.!) interpolation. the simplest concept of it, that is.)
Is the less-heavy option of exporting a weights and bones character animation, just no bones or weights to be computed ingame by the card or cpu ,software mode... Just a bake of vertices animation with the mentioned interpolation..(dunno if it keeps the curves motion interpolation, or simple does its own thing)
Not an strong matter, but i think would be good for the engine and the projects, as an added possibility
