   New to .X File Hierarchy Loading
  Hello everyone,This is my first post on gamedev.net and I'm pretty excited to learn from you guys who are experienced.I'm wondering if anyone has studied the tutorial at this link:http://www.toymaker.info/Games/html/load_x_hierarchy.htmlif yes, would the source code be a good study guide?and also I got plenty of questions about Track handling, Mesh handles, and etc relating to this project.-Thank you   
  Skimming over it, it seems to cover the basics OK.   ;  Hi, I Really suggest to read and understand all the theory, but thatsource code has some pivot problem with the combinationMatrix, thingi never could find, the problem i have was:Once you understand the theory, you'll be able to make your own implementation, but, if you want to study some code, check the Directx 9 SDK, there is oneabout skinning.Toymaker only cover software skinning, the SDK Sample covers indexed, non-indexed, ASM, HLSL and software. Witch one of those offer differentadvantages, the best i believe is HLSL, fast for instancing, you can useper pixel lighting, etc.Sorry my bad English   ;  I would also recommend reading Advanced Animation with DirectX by Jim Adams http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Animation-DirectX-Focus-Development/dp/1592000371His code is DX9b (I think) so a lot of the libraries he used have been superseded so his source code which he includes doesn't work (the executables run but the code doesn't compile) BUT its not that different. The new DX skinning stuff just does a lot of the work for you and hides it, so if anything this book opens it up for you allowing you to understand what DX is actually doing. Mixed with the DX SDK skinning example it's a very powerful tool, you can actually modify the book code to work if you have the patience.  He goes through the X file structure in massive detail and also explains how to load, use and blend animations from the X file which helped me write my own blend system and which I couldn't of done without this book. I would say it was a necessity if you ever wanted to ditch the DX helpers and write/load/use your own model system.   