so besides using ultimate unwrap.... there is currently no direct pipeline between xsi and b3d? XSI does have a .x exporter, but I cant seem to get it to export the animations. If they exist... blitz is not recognizing them.
Blitz is DX7, so it can't load DX8 .x's. DX7 .x's don't support skeletal animation. Yes, you do need to use something to convert it, and Ultimate Unwrap is the best multi-format convertor I know of.