How do i edit the .zdata files?

[Dead]

How do i edit the .zdata files?
and what do they do?
I know that the starting animation in loz is in .zdata form
but how do you edit it, what programs do i need?

[Jason777]

I think u need the newest form of UoT, SVN 10.
Here: uot.googlecode.com/files/Utility%20of%20Time_SVN_R10.rar

someone correct me if im wrong plz

or u could always use a hex editor or learn ASM for MIPS haha

[nokaubure]

animations has his own format. You can edit throw hex but is dificult because you dont known the results if you dont play the game. Does this SVN 10 edit animations?

[Secant]

*facepalm*

Animations are, far as I know, part of the actor file. .zdata has nothing to do with animations in itself. Furthermore, as spinout has said before, the filename extensions (and, indeed, the file names themselves) have nothing to do with what's contained in said file. I don't think UoT can effectively edit animations yet. I know it's capable of viewing them, but as far as editing goes, even if it does have a tool to do it, I'd be willing to bet it's extremely buggy and likely to cause crashing.

[Dead]

Ok but how do you edit animations?
e.g tha one where link is riding on epona
and what are the .zdata files good for
if not for the animations and such!?

And btw
Don't download the file in the link It's a virus!

[Secant]

I don't even know if UoT CAN edit animations. My best guess dictates probably not, and it can only read them. Swapping animations between models with similar bone structures is possible and is actually quite easy (though the current method employed is a bit inefficient, involving the creation of a brand new actor and repointing said actor in the file table to locate it), but as far as creating brand new ones goes, I have no idea how that can be done.

Data files serve such purposes as being the foundation of the game's engine, rules, coding, etc. What, you didn't think a game could run without an engine, did you?

[Deleted]

The only way to edit animations is in a hex editor. Some animations are stored in the object file for the object that uses them (usually ones with unique bone structures), some objects share the same animation file (ones with the same bone structure) and some objects have their animations stored in a separate animation file (Link, Zelda, Ganondorf...). Most of the .zdata files contain the game's code/actor code, some contain animations, some contain model data, etc.
If you want to edit animations, you need to learn the animation and model format first, or wait until someone makes an editor (if that's ever going to happen).

[Dead]

Well i knew that some of the .zdata files are the games engine
but i mean the rest!?
some of them has to contain some interesting stuff^^

[Salvage66]

About swapping how so?(Yay learning lol

[Secant]

Basically, you want to find an animation used by an actor that has a similar/identical bone structure to the actor you want to add an animation to, copy that animation data (you can find where it starts in the actor file by using UoT to view it), then add that animation to the end of the actor file (and re-point the animation references to correspond to the new animation). To test it, load up the actor in UoT and check the replaced animation--if you did it correctly, it should work. You then have to paste the actor at some area in the Debug ROM where there's garbage data or whatever (0x3D50000 is a good spot) and re-point the actor in the file table. Now, whenever the animation that you replaced is meant to play, the actor will use that new animation.

It's also important to note that Majora's Mask uses pretty much the same system for animations, so you can even port animations, much as Zeth did in these two videos.

[Dead]

ROFL!
The redeads and gibdos are russian pedofiles! ^^
But now to the important part.......
I want to change the starting animation to show screenshots from the game and short video sequenses How do i do that?!