The Open Asset Import Library, or Assimp for short, is a portable Open Source library to import various well-known 3D model formats in a uniform manner. Written in C++, it is available under a liberal BSD license and there is also a C API as well as bindings to various other languages.
Assimp loads all input model formats into one straightforward data structure for further processing. This feature set is augmented by various post processing tools, including frequently-needed operations such as computing normal and tangent vectors.
I think the strength in the use of the Assimp library is that you don't limit your game meshes to be created in just a single format or program. You might have an artist who likes 3DS Max for making structures and buildings, while another prefers Blender for producing humanoid characters with animations. With Assimp you can accept all file formats but still have a consistent from inside your game engine.
I plan to have future posts on how my effort to integrate this into my Brainstorm engine goes. In the mean time you can download the Assimp library from here: http://assimp.sourceforge.net/main_downloads.html
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