MikuMikuDance Model .pmx
MMD models. Rigged characters with morphs and physics.
What a .pmx file holds
PMX is the model format of MikuMikuDance, the free Japanese animation tool built around Vocaloid characters that grew into an enormous creative community. A PMX file carries a mesh, a detailed bone rig, facial morphs and rigid-body physics for hair and clothing. Geometry, materials and the skeleton convert cleanly; the physics rig is MMD-specific and does not.
Commonly seen in: MikuMikuDance, MMD community, Blender MMD tools, VRChat pipelines.
| Data | Stored in PMX |
|---|---|
| Geometry | Yes |
| Materials and colour | Yes |
| Texture maps | Yes |
| Animation and rigs | Yes |
| Scene hierarchy | Yes |
| Read here | Yes |
| Written here | No |
Tested against a real file
The last sweep loaded Alicia_blade.pmx from Assimp test models through the viewer on this site: 8,672 triangles across 7 meshes and 7 materials, in 2.6 seconds. Every format's result is on the test results page, run 2026-09-08.
Convert PMX to another format
Every pairing has a page saying what survives the trip.
Other things to do with a .pmx file
Questions about PMX
How do I open a .pmx file?
Drop it into the viewer on this site and it opens in the browser, with the scene tree, the materials and the mesh statistics. Nothing is uploaded. If you want it in another program instead, convert it to GLB, which almost everything reads.
Is PMX a good format to archive in?
PMX carries geometry, materials, textures and animation, so an archive copy keeps nearly everything. The usual caveat applies: a format is only as future-proof as the readers that exist for it, and .pmx is well served.
Does converting PMX lose quality?
Geometry is copied vertex for vertex, so the shape does not degrade. What gets lost is whatever the target format has no field for: convert to STL and the materials go, convert to OBJ and the animation goes. The comparison table on each converter page says exactly which.
Formats that hold the same things
Or go back to the full format reference.