Introduction to Zoom Player Definition Files


Introduction:
Zoom Player can remember information about previously played Media Files and DVDs and restore this information when the File/Disc is played again.


The ZDF File:
The "zplayer.zdf" file that resides in the Zoom Player folder controls which information is remembered when you save a definition file from within Zoom Player. This is a text file which can be opened with any text editor. For example:
Windows Start Button / Run / notepad.exe / NotePad Menu / File / Open / "c:\program files\zoom player\zplayer.zdf"

Or under newer versions of windows:
Windows Start Button / Run / notepad.exe / NotePad Menu / File / Open / "c:\ProgramData\zoom player\zplayer.zdf"

The file itself contains commented text explaining which data Zoom Player can be instructed to save (Aspect Ratio/Equalizer Values/Audio Volume/etc).


Definition File Settings:
Definition files can be saved for both DVD and Media files automatically. You need to enable this using the Advanced Options dialog settings. For DVDs, you may find the relevant settings under "Advanced Options / Playback / DVD / DVD Settings", for Media Files you may find the relevant settings under "Advanced Options / Playback" (Go through the entire list as there are several definition file related settings in there).


Keyboard Macros:
Even if you don't enable automatic loading and saving of definition files, you can still do it manually through several keyboard functions. Press F1 within Zoom Player to bring up the keyboard function list. For example:
Ctrl+"D" will save a definition file for the currently playing file.
Alt+Shift+"D" will load a definition file for the currently playing file (if one exists)


The Definition Files:
For Zoom Player to find a definition file it must have the same base name as the file you are playing, for example:
MyVideo.avi
MyVideo.df

With DVDs, the definition file must be named "disc.df" and it must be placed in the "DVD-Bookmark" folder within the folder specific to the disc you are playing (the folder is created automatically when you play the disc for the first time).

Zoom Player provides you with a sample definition file ("default.df") that describes in detail every information that can be stored in definition files. Simply use any text editor to open the file, for example:
Windows Start Button / Run / notepad.exe / NotePad Menu / File / Open / "c:\program files\zoom player\default.df"


Dealing with Media Files on Real-Only media:
By default, Zoom Player tries to save/load the definition file at the same folder as the media file you are playing. However, with Read-Only medias such as CD Discs, no new files can be created. In these cases, Zoom Player will automatically create a "Media-Data" sub-folder under the Zoom Player folder and create the files there. Zoom Player also looks for definition files in this folder if it can't find a definition file in the same folder as the media file itself.

Note that the actual folder structure file of a locally saved definition file would look like this:
C:\Program Files\Zoom Player\Media-Data\MyVideo.avi\MyVideo.df

The "MyVideo.avi" is actually a folder name as Zoom Player can also uses this path to save other information related to the media file (such as chaptering information).


The Default Definition file:
If you would like a default definition file to be loaded for Media Files or DVDs that do not have a definition file, you can specify a default definition file at "Advanced Options / System / Paths, Folders and Files - Default definition file".