MD2 File Format (.md2)
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.
MD2 at a glance#
| Full name | Quake II model |
|---|---|
| File extension | .md2 |
| Category | 3D Models |
| Developer | id Software |
| First released | 1997 |
| Compression | Lossy |
| FileFlip support | FileFlip reads this format but does not write it |
What a .md2 file can hold#
These are the things a MD2 file either supports or does not, and they are what decides whether a conversion keeps everything or quietly drops something.
| Animation | Yes |
|---|---|
| Textures and materials | Yes |
| Skeletons and animation | No |
Strengths and limitations of MD2#
What MD2 does well
- Each frame is a complete, self-contained vertex snapshot, so playback needs only interpolation between two frames and no bone or weight computation
- The tiny header and byte-quantized vertices kept file sizes small enough for Quake II to keep dozens of monster and player models loaded in memory at once
- The format's simplicity made it one of the most widely reverse-engineered and reimplemented model formats of its era
Where MD2 falls short
- No skeleton at all, so there is nothing to blend, retarget, or drive procedurally the way a rigged model can be
- File size scales directly with frame count, since every frame repeats the full vertex list rather than storing only what changed
- Vertex positions are quantized to 8-bit precision per axis, which caps how much geometric detail a frame can hold
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.
How to open a .md2 file#
A .md2 file opens in the programs below, grouped by the platform you are on. If you would rather not install anything, FileFlip converts MD2 into a format your machine already opens, and it does it in the browser tab rather than on a server.
| Platform | Programs that open it |
|---|---|
| Windows | Noesis, MilkShape 3D, Yamagi Quake II |
| macOS | Yamagi Quake II |
| Linux | Yamagi Quake II |
| Web | FileFlip |
MD2 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.
Converting MD2 files#
Convert MD2 to another format
FileFlip does not write .md2 files, so nothing on the site converts into this format. It works as a source only.
Every conversion runs inside your browser. The file is read from your disk, the work happens on your own machine, and nothing is uploaded. How FileFlip works names the engine behind each family and how to verify that for yourself.