I cannot get any mat files to apply to any props, mats apply fine to figures...
I cant even get mats to apply to props I didn't make... However, props with textures already on them, load fine.

EX: Blossoms day umbrella is under props, I load it into scene, and go to pose to apply mats.... nothing happens and i get the 'error' ding from the computer....
I have restarted computer, reinstalled poser..... nothing works.

I'm using poser pro, have had it for a while but this is the first time this has ever happened.

Pbellows,
Why don't you open the pz2 (loacted in Runtime:Libraries:Pose:ect) file in question with WordPad and see where exactly the textures are supposed to be loading from?

Then make sure that indeed that folder structure and mapping exists.

do you get an error message ? if so what is it?

try parenting the umbrella to the figure then try the mat pose again . Does that work ?

I looked at the mat poses that MPE makes... and there is a texture there.....

        KdColor 0.8 0.8 0.8 1
        KaColor 0 0 0 1
        KsColor 0.6 0.6 0.6 1
        TextureColor 1 1 1 1
        NsExponent 10
        tMin 0
        tMax 0
        tExpo 0.6
        bumpStrength 1
        ksIgnoreTexture 0
        reflectThruLights 1
        reflectThruKd 0
        textureMap ":Runtime:Textures:! Digital Dreams:Chair:chair.jpg"

but its not applying. I'm not sure why ALL of my props are like this.... not just mine!

Mat poses don't load onto props unless they are parented to a figure in Poser as far as I know, I know its true up to poser 7 and assume the same is true in Poser Pro

"Mat Pose" files are a hack and not officially supported. They do not work for props that are not parented, just as wdupre said. They are officially "poses" not materials, and poses only apply to figures.

OMG! I feel sooo stupid!

.<
But.... I have made a chair prop... and cant apply textures to it.
How do I do this

They are blank in MPE, but are they still blank in a text editor?

Ahh, ok. How do I add MAT poses to things without using MPE?
It is the only thing I have ever used lol.

Previous to poser 6 if you had props that you don't expect users to parent to a figure you simply provided a pp2 prop file for each material option. after all prop files are not very large unless they have a lot of morphs. with poser 6 Efronteers finally added a multiple material file that will work on all content, its the material collection, and you can save and load them in the material room.  You can also convert a mat pose to a material collection fairly easily with a text editor, and I believe that EF included a python script which converted mat poses to material collections.

I've never had problems with textures, but then I ALWAYS apply my textures by hand, since I node them and alter them anyway.
DPH

ok, so if I load my textures in the material room..... how do I save? Can I not just save in the Material room?
Can someone point me to a tutorial for this?
This is the first prop I have ever made that is not parented to something ^_^.

Page 93 in the P6 manual outlines how to save a material collection. its a very simple process though. Once you have all your materials set, click the + button at the bottom of the library window, a selection window will pop up, select material collection, than click OK, that simple.

Hmm, Thats kind of what I thought.... but I don't have the plus sign to click on. Thats why I was wondering if there was a different proccess :D

look in the mat pose with wordpad and see what the first few lines read

there should be a line that reads figure  or prop xxxxxxxxx 
try changing that to actor $CURRENT and see what happens .

Why not copy the prop to the characters folder & change the extension to cr2, Poser can be fooled into thinking a prop is actually a figure in that way.

If there is a figure in the scene, the sugestion made by markschum should work, even if the prop is not parented to the figure. Just edit the line in the pz2 that says "prop SomeName_#" to read "actor $CURRENT". When there is no figure in the scene you won't be able to apply any pz2 to anything, but if you need to get round this restriction you can change the file extension of the pz2 to cm2 and place the file in a camera folder, cm2 file will work even when there is no figure in the scene.

The alternative, as wdupre said, is to create a material collection. But as you are not getting the + sign, that option seems ruled out for the moment. I don't know why you are not getting the + sign, you should be able to see it. Perhaps you have a camera selected as the active item instead of the prop, that would cause the + to be missing, or perhaps the bottom of the pallet has been dragged below the bottom of the screen, or is obscured by the Windows Task Bar?

To save a material OR a material collection you must be in the material room. Perhaps you're not?

thanks Les, I stole the suggestion from someone and its been very useful :)

Quote - "Mat Pose" files are a hack and not officially supported. They do not work for props that are not parented, just as wdupre said. They are officially "poses" not materials, and poses only apply to figures.

And, if you have two of the same prop, the Mat Pose usual ends up being applied to the first one, regardless of which catgirl collar you have selected.

Quote - And, if you have two of the same prop, the Mat Pose usual ends up being applied to the first one, regardless of which catgirl collar you have selected.

That's probably because one of the props will be named something like "Collar_1", and as no two props in the scene can have the same name, the other collar prop will be named "Collar_2". If the mat file uses the name "Collar_1", then obviously it won't work on "Collar_2". A  way round this is to use "actor $CURRENT" in the MAT file in place of "prop Collar_1".