Hi everyone,
I'm in the middle of a texture project that I intend to add to my list of freebies (shhh! It's a secret!), and I'm just wondering.... how difficult is it to create a MAT file? I'd like to make one to save folks from a lot of extra work, but I've never done it before. I think I remember reading once that I'd need a way to manipulate the actual pz file. I've got Cr2Editor which works with all Poser files, if that helps. If anyone can recommend any tuts on this, I'd be much obliged. Thanks -

markbook...;)

markbook...;)

With the figure or prop you want to save a Material Collection for selected, go into the Material Room and hit the +, just like if you were saving a pose. When it asks if you want to save a single material or material collection, choose appropriately based upon whether the currently selected item has one or more materials.

It's really quite easy.  Create your material file in the Material Room and save into the Library.  Navigate to the material folder containing your .mc6 file, make a copy and open it with a text editor.  Wordpad works just as well as CR2Editor.  Go to the line mtlcollection and change it to figure.  Save the file, not 'Save as'.  Next move the file to the pose folder and change the extension to .pz2.  Done.  Create a .png thumbnail with the same name to complete the Mat file.  Check that it works correctly, then go back and delete your original .mc6.

That sounds really easy - thanks!

I'd recommend to NOT delete the mc6 file after making a MAT pose from it... Just let the user decide which they want...

Yep, cause some of us are fed up with MAT poses, including me, who invented them :) Really, the MC6 format is better now (there were a couple of things that MAT poses could do in Poser 3 and 4 that MC6 does not support, but they don't work in Poser 5/6/7/Pro anyway, thus losing any advantage over MC6 for the vast majority of Poser users).

This is very informative.  I to am working on a character for v4. I have created the textures. I did not know how to create the mc6 files in Poser manually so I used a script. Then I emailed the package to my testers who say that when they unzip the files into P6, the mc6 files dont even show up and they can not apply the skin textures or the makeups.

My folder is set up like this:
Runtime/libraries/pose/product name/

and all of my MAT.mc6 files are in there along with all of the inj/rem pose files.
But when these are extracted into P6, only the inj/rem poses work. The mc6 is no where to be found.
What did I do wrong?
And also ....this may sound dumb, but exactly how would one change the .mc6 file extension to .pz2??????

You make an MC6 file very simply, by saving into the materials library (which is only visible while you're in the material room, by the way). Choose "material collection" to get an MC6 which includes all the material settings for the thing you have selected at the time, or "single material" to get an MT5 which is just the one material you have selected.

Edited to add: MT5 / MC6 files have to live in the materials library.

Assuming you're running some version of Windows, you probably have extensions hidden which makes it difficult to change them. In Windows Explorer, go to Tools > Folder Options > View (this is for XP - may be different in other Windowses). Then uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types". After you've done that, you can rename the file in the usual way, by single clicking on it twice - or right click and select rename. 

LOL..oh my goodness....I had been sitting here all night banging my head against my keyboard, trying to figure out how to change the file extensions. I can't believe it was that easy. Thanks  :o)

Just some easy easy tuts :)

How to make a MAT Pose file

MAT Pose for a prop

Changing version number

I agree that the mtl collections are so nice now.  I still like the old MAT poses, tho...if nothing else, for the semi-logic you get out of MAT, MOR and MOD poses -- and perhaps the INJ and REM as well.  Of course it does clutter up the Pose library a bit!