How can I create files on my mac that work on both Mac and PC? I know of macconvertor but wouldn't that mean I'd have to distribute 2 sets of files? The downloads here that say PC/Mac only contain one set of files. Also, is there a way I can have prop libraries read the geometry from an obj in the geometry folder as opposed to embedding it in a pp2? This would allow people who don't have poser to use my files more easily, while still making it drag and drop easy for poser users.

Look in the Maconverter menu. It converts both ways! Yes, props can read external geometry files. But when Poser saves props, it doesn't do it that way. If you know what you are doing, you can edit the PP2 file to make this work.

I realize that mac converter works both ways, but if I CONVERT a mac file to a PC file, then it will be a PC file and won't work on Mac, right? So how do I distribute a set of PC/MAC files without doubling the download size with a seperate file for each system? There are lots of PC/MAC downloads here on renderosity. I downloaded a few and they all only have one set of files. Care to point me to some references on the pp2 file format so I can change it to work with obj files?

When Maconverter exports to the PC, it will convert it back to exactly the same set of files you started with. Since the vast majority of posted packages are PC .zip files, your Mac users will probably know how to use Maconverter anyway. So the best strategy will be to export to PC, .zip it and post it as PC/Mac. If you want to create a "ready to use" package for the Mac (without the need of your customers to use Maconverter) then you indeed have to post two packages.

I have wondered about this compatibility issue myself, I am a PC user. One issue it seems is that if Poser files are created on a PC path statements are written in the standard Win9X convention, that is delineated by back-slashes "", I think that Mac paths are delineated by colons ":", as the PC version of poser can read the colon delineated paths these should be used for both PC and Mac distributions. I think there is another issue, though I am a bit fuzzy on this point. I believe that PC's and Mac's use a different way of ending a line in a text file, PC's use a carriage return and line feed, I think and Mac's use only a carriage return. What happens if you try to read a carriage return only text file into a PC version of Poser I don't know. I'll try the experiment and see if my PC blows up!

OK, my text editor has a facility to convert text files to Mac format, so I tried that on Posettes cr2, then loaded it into Poser4. The PC didn't blow up, and in fact everything worked fine. Looks like you don't need to convert the text files generated on a Mac, the PC seems to handle them, but I suggest you get confirmation of that before you take it as gosple.

The conversion between Mac and PC is fairly simple really. Most of the wierdness stems from the diference in the way the two OS's handle extra information about files. Macs embed things like icons into a resource fork, which is something PC's do not have. Thus the .rsr was born, as a holding place for the preview icon on PC's. Why in the first place they didnt just use a little jpg or png like they do in propack is beyond me. Anyhow, if you view a cr2, etc with an rsr on a mac you will see the shruggin guy icon, and if your mac version is viewed on a PC without having first created an rsr you get the same issue. That is the primary problem when moving files cross platform. The file will still work but you get no preview icons. As someone above mentioned there is sometimes a problem with the / or : in a file path, but again, once you know the issue it is easy to fix. In the end, data is data regardles of what platform it is on. P4 just didnt get built to be comeplety cross platform in these little areas' Hopefully P5 will address these issues. So, if you are using a Mac get the Macconverter program. That and a zip file maker are all you need. If you are on a PC, Stenosofts P3DO explorer has some great and easy tools for converting rsr to png and back again, etc. And there are some other tools that will work as well.