Looking for Intro to MD3 files

I want to put some 3D meshes into my mod. This of course requires creating some MD2 or MD3 files. But unfortunately, I have no experience nor knowledge here. So I'm hoping someone can either direct me to a good tutorial that tells me what I'll need to know, or at least give me a run-down of the tools I would need.

I already understand some basics; I know that MD2 files are used in Quake 2 and MD3 are used in Quake 3, and as such the animations in MD2 are vertex animated but the MD3 files support skeletal mesh animations. And I understand that the textures are stored separately from the MDx file.
And based on things I've read recently, I guess the animations are stored as one long sequence, so if I want to play a character's running animation I'd need to play frame x through Y, and the idle animation is frames a through b, etc.
Beyond that I don't know much else about the formats. Like are there reasons to use MD2 over MD3, like perhaps it is still better for static meshes? Or can the MD3 format support vertex animations as well, so there is really no reason to use MD2 at all? What do MD5 files grant me? Is every frame a keyframe, and how are keyframes handled? And just any other "common" knowledge I ought to be aware of before making a wrong assumption.

I am NOT new to creating 3D meshes and animations. (Still pretty amateur, but not new.) I work with an old version of Maya I got several years ago. But out of the box, Maya doesn't seem to be able to read MD2 files.
So one of the primary questions I have is, what can I use to view and export MD2/3 files?
I've searched a bit online, and while I have found a few tools that will let me convert MD2 files into something I can open in Maya, I don't know what I can use to convert a mesh/animation I have made into an MDx file. The best I have seen are people mentioning a plug-in for Blender. And while Blender is free and I *can* get it, I still am not familiar with Blender, and I would like to avoid having to go through too many conversions and install too many tools just to get an MDx file created.
Also, I would like a simple ability to view an MDx file without having to convert it. (Some times things get lost in conversion.) A tool/plug-in that could do that too would be appreciated.

Marscaleb said:

MD3 files support skeletal mesh animations.

They don't.

Marscaleb said:

Are there reasons to use MD2 over MD3

No.

Marscaleb said:

What do MD5 files grant me?

As far as I'm aware, only 3DGE supports them.

Marscaleb said:

What can I use to view and export MD2/3 files?

You can use Misfit Model 3D or Noesis to view and export to/from MD2 and MD3 formats.

Not exactly a tutorial but close enough :}
Take a look at Enjay's Gene-Tech: Before the Storm
http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=46718

[edit]
To view the map, unzip the pwad.
Then load MAP01 from maps folder into GZDoom Builder and add njgtb4ts.pk3 as a resource.



[edit 2]
http://forum.drdteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6078&p=55209

MaxED said:

They don't.

Huh? I could have sworn I had seen this mentioned before.
Then what is the big difference between the MD2 and MD3 files?

@Kappes Buur
I fail to see how that is pertinent to what I asked.

Marscaleb said:

Then what is the big difference between the MD2 and MD3 files?

Some new features, including tags (used for attaching other models and effects).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MD3_(file_format)

The big difference that should be relevant to all engines that support the format is significantly decreased vertex wobbling. Not sure about other features.

I'm assuming you're talking about GZDoom?

When I first started implementing models into GZDoom, this page pretty much told me everything I needed to get started: https://sites.google.com/site/sicamoresshack/doom-stuff/the-art-of-3d-models