How should I animate characters for my directX game? I''m awful handy with Maya and I can turn the models and animation into xFile (.x) format. However, documentation on such things is terrible and i am stuck with several resounding questions: - how much information is stored in the .x files? bones & skinning information along with keyframes? or just a series of frames, each with a different version of the model? or something else? - would the excess information bog down a game so horribly that no one in their right mind (even ones who want the fastest easiest solution) would use .x - where can i find help on animating .x files? i am scouring the internet now to little avail thanks in advace, check out the game so far (veryvery alpha) if you wish -- (i am not) your dogfood pony --

Take a look at the DirectX SkinnedMesh sample. It uses a bone system read from a .x file.