SAND (File Format)

The SAND format appears in Metroid Prime 3. It stores various animation-related data, which is used by CHAR files. Most of the data in this format appeared in the ANCS format in Prime 1/2.

Format

Type	Count	Name	Notes
u16	1	Unknown	Always 0
u32	1	Transition Count	Number of animation transitions.
Transition	Transition Count	Transition Array	Array of animation transitions.
u32	1	Half Transition Count	Number of half transitions.
Half Transition	Half Transition Count	Half Transition Array	Array of half transitions.
Meta-Transition	1	Default Transition
u32	1	Additive Animation Count	Number of additive animations.
Additive Animation	Additive Animation Count	Additive Animation Array	Array of additive animations. Although any animation can be used as additive, this array allows for customizing the fade in/out time for each animation.
float	1	Default Fade-In Time	Fade-in time used for additive animations not listed in the above array.
float	1	Default Fade-Out Time	Fade-out time used for additive animations not listed in the above array.
u8	1	Unknown	Always 0
u32	1	Anim Event Set Count	Count of anim event sets. There'll be one set per animation that uses events (unless the animation has its events in the CHAR file).
Anim Event Set	Anim Event Set Count	Anim Event Set Array	Array of animation event sets.

Transition

Offset	Type	Name	Notes
0x0	u8	Unknown	Always 0
0x1	Asset ID (ANIM)	Animation ID A	ID of the animation being transitioned from.
0x9	Asset ID (ANIM)	Animation ID B	ID of the animation being transitioned to.
0x11	Meta-Transition	Transition	Meta-transition data.

Half Transition

Offset	Type	Name	Notes
0x0	u8	Unknown	Always 0
0x1	Asset ID (ANIM)	Animation ID	The animation being transitioned from.
0x9	Meta-Transition	Transition	Meta-transition data.

Additive Animation

Offset	Type	Name	Notes
0x0	Asset ID (ANIM)	Animation ID	ID of the animation that these additive settings apply to.
0x8	float	Fade-In Time	Fade-in duration.
0xC	float	Fade-Out Time	Fade-out duration.

Anim Event Set

Type	Count	Name	Notes
Asset ID (ANIM)	1	Animation ID	ID of the animation that these events apply to.
u32	1	Unknown
u32	1	Effect Event Count	Number of effect events in this set.
Effect Event	Effect Event Count	Effect Event Array	Array of effect events.
u32	1	Sound Event Count	Number of sound events in this set.
Sound Event	Sound Event Count	Sound Event Array	Array of sound events.
u32	1	User Event Count	Number of user events in this set.
User Event	User Event Count	User Event Array	Array of user events.