What are X Files?

The X file format refers to files with the .x file name extension that are used for storing complicated 3D Geometry. X files provide a template-driven format that enables the storage of meshes, textures, animations, and user-definable objects.

Support for animation sets enables you to store predefined paths for playback in real time. Instancing and hierarchies are also supported. (Instancing enables multiple references to an object, such as a mesh, while storing its data only once per file. Hierarchies are used to express relationships between data records.)The .x file format provides low-level data primitives on which applications define higher-level primitives through templates.

X files were introduced with DirectX 2.0. A binary version of this format was subsequently released with DirectX 3.0. DirectX 6.0 introduced interfaces and methods that enable reading from and writing to .x files. Although X files in text format consume more memory in applications than their binary counterpart they can be edited manually to suit your needs. Direct3D supplies two tools named "conv3ds.exe" and "XSkinExp.dle" to convert and export 3-D models to the .x file format.

X Files helps an application to achieve 3D Realism at the cost of extra memory. If memory is a severe problem for you then try to replace the 3D X files with Billboarded 2D Sprites.

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