Now I've (finally) completed a custom model class, using the Custom Model sample to lean on. I have a few observations I'd like to share:

- How über cool! Now I can do anything I want with models, and the code doesn't feel ugly with things stuck in a Tag object.

- Looking back on it, I would recommend anyone with C# skills writing their own custom model class at least once instead of just using Model, because it makes a lot of pieces of the XNA puzzle fall into place - even if Model is the hammer you need.

- The documentation is far from complete on this and related subjects and it would have taken me weeks to figure out all of the logic that goes on behind the scenes using Reflector + trial-and-error, if it hadn't been for the Custom Model sample. Even with that, a lot of questions needed to be answered. For instance, the difference between the data types used in a ContentProcessor and the GPU-ready data types used in a finished model class isn't really something that the documentation explains. Or how the Processor -> ContentWriter -> CustomModel"Content" side of the equation works with the ContentReader -> CustomModel -> Game side.

- I understand why you, Shawn, think that creating a custom model class is easy. It's because you know the intricacies of the XNA framework and have been through it all before :-) But the documentation isn't thorough enough for us outside the XNA team. Maybe it's because the XNA environment is only a year old, but really this was also a problem with the MDX documentation. Example code snippets on "deep subjects" and some more thoroughly explained diagrams would go a long way.

- Maybe someone has asked this before and there is a good explanation to the current situation, but I'll stick my head out anyways: Why not create some sort of wiki on this site, like what's being used with great success on www.ogre3d.org ?

Just my $0.02 :-)