Sorry for my ambiguity. You are correct in terms of using the content pipeline, and this is an important distinction which I will need to keep in mind.

I've recently upgraded my coding and modelling workstation from DirectX8 era hardware to something new enough to work with XNA, and am still grappling somewhat with the changes and terminology. It seems for some reason I've also completely ignored the content pipeline and relied on exporters and importers to provide the correct formatting of model data which now seems archaic. I did realize some time ago that the model data is basically a collection of vertex information that can be manipulated in a number of ways into custom formats, but never made the connection that IS what the content pipeline is for.

Every time I seem to grasp a new theory or idea which takes me farther towards my goal, I find I'm almost at the start again with what still needs to be learned. This site will go a long way towards filling that knowledge gap!

In your question, when you say, "render", what exactly do you mean? In graphics, that term has the specific meaning of turning a scene into pixels, either to form a picture or to form the image that will be displayed on the screen. But… it doesn't sound like that's what you were actually saying. Are you just referring to using a content pipeline like system to manage content?

Assuming that's what you were asking about, the answer is yes. That kind of process is the most typical. XNA's content pipeline is a great example of that, but it isn't the only possibility. Getting content loaded from whatever program the artist used to create it, over into the running game, requires a fair amount of pushing and transforming data. A content pipeline is what does this work for you, and if you're smart about it, you can hook into an existing content pipeline (again, like XNA's) to add functionality for your own types of content.

If you look at the credits for most AAA games, you'll often see people who are called Tools Developers, or maybe Tool Chain Developers or something to that effect. This is one of the things they would work on. (Things not directly a part of the game code, but that are still software programs that are needed to get the game going.)

Of course, any code you've got that does this could be called a content pipeline unto itself, even if it is rudimentary. When possible, you'd probably want to use an existing content pipeline/content management system (and add on to it, in the areas that don't quite give you what you need) just for the sake of allowing you to spend more time on your game.

At any rate, taking the time to understand XNA's content pipeline will likely be meaningful and give you interesting insight, regardless of where you go in a game development career (or general software development career).

On a more serious note though, and anyone can answer this that happens to come through, am I right in assuming that most any serious game will render almost all of their 3D stuff with custom pipelines and content managers? From what I see, this seems to be the trend, and I'm trying to learn as efficiently as I can.

Thanks again, and great site!