There are a number of ways of storing and loading skeletal animation information, depending on which implementation we choose. While we previously saw how to implement skeletal animation ourselves, there also exists dedicated skeletal animation software packages with game-engine-based plugins that work with this format, or use the standard FBX format. Mixamo (https://www.mixamo.com/) is one of the tools that export in FBX while automating most rigging as well as some animating tasks for 3D meshes.
To store and load skeletal animation information as well as anything else that might be relevant, such as meshes, textures, and other resources, FBX is really the format of choice. The Assimp library, which we integrated previously, can also import this format and allow us to extract the skeleton and animation information from it for our own use. FBX, as a format, integrates well with software such as Maya, which (like 3Ds Max) is often used for skeletal rigging, though...