MD2 to OBJ Converter
FileFlip converts MD2 to OBJ entirely inside your browser, using Assimp compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert an MD2 file to OBJ?#
- Drop your MD2 file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to OBJ and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 11.2 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs Assimp on your own machine.
- Save the OBJ file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting MD2 to OBJ lose quality?#
Not in the sense of pixels or samples. Converting MD2 to OBJ rebuilds the file in OBJ's own model rather than re-encoding it, so everything OBJ can represent comes through exactly and anything it cannot has to be dropped. Expect the geometry to be exact, and anything the target has no place for, such as a rig, to be left behind.
Is it safe to convert MD2 files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts MD2 files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What MD2 to OBJ actually does to the file#
Converting MD2 to OBJ runs on Assimp, downloads 11.2 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, rebuilds the file in the target's own model, and drops skeleton and animation.
| Engine | Assimp |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: MD2 → OBJ |
| Downloaded to your browser | 11.2 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Rebuilt in the target's model |
| You get back | One file, or a ZIP when the source carries separate materials or buffers |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
What survives the conversion
| What is in the file | This conversion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Materials | Sometimes | Survives for some files and not others. |
| Textures | Sometimes | Survives for some files and not others. |
| Skeleton and animation | Dropped | The target format has nowhere to put it. |
Worth knowing before you start:
- the result is a single file when the model has no external materials or buffers, and a ZIP when it does
- if the source carries a skeleton or animation, this target has no place to store it
What is an MD2 file?#
An MD2 file is a Quake II character or object model in which every animation frame stores a full snapshot of every vertex's position, quantized to a byte per axis, rather than any kind of skeleton.
Reach for MD2 only when working directly inside Quake II's modding pipeline or a source port that still loads it natively.
Convert an MD2 file to a modern interchange format when the model needs to move into current 3D software, since almost nothing outside Quake II tooling reads it directly.
What is an OBJ file?#
An OBJ file is a plain-text 3D geometry format that Wavefront Technologies designed for its Advanced Visualizer software, storing vertex positions, texture coordinates and normals as human-readable lines of ASCII text.
Use OBJ when a static mesh needs to move between two different applications with the least risk of anything being misread.
Convert away from OBJ when the model needs animation, a skeleton, or to travel as a single file without a companion MTL.
MD2 to OBJ questions people ask#
What is an MD2 file?
An MD2 file is the model format Quake II used for characters, monsters and pickup items, storing animation as a full vertex snapshot for every frame instead of a skeleton. id Software introduced it with the game in 1997, and it defined how a generation of vertex-animated 3D games moved.
Can MD2 files still be opened today?
Yes. Modern Quake II source ports like Yamagi Quake II load MD2 files exactly as the original game did, and general-purpose viewers such as Noesis and older tools like MilkShape 3D also read them for inspection or conversion.
Why does MD2 animation look choppier than modern game characters?
MD2 has no skeleton, so an animation is just a fixed sequence of whole-mesh vertex positions with interpolation between frames. That rules out the smooth blending and procedural motion a skeletal rig allows, which is the main reason id Software moved on to skeletal animation for Doom 3's MD5 format a few years later.
What is an OBJ file used for?
An OBJ file stores the geometry of a single 3D model: its vertices, faces, texture coordinates and normals, written as plain text. It's used to move a static mesh between applications, since almost every 3D tool on every platform can read it.