If you are running Maya in the Japanese language user interface and need to share Maya ASCII text files (.ma, .mel) with other users on other hardware platforms and operating systems, you’ll need to convert your Maya files to the correct text encoding appropriate for the target platform. Use the Save As feature of your favorite text editor or a utility like iconv. Text encoding is platform-dependent and Maya text files cannot be guaranteed to open correctly otherwise.

When Maya files are saved from the Maya Japanese language user interface in the .mb (Maya Binary) format, they can be shared between the various supported platforms and operating systems without conversion.

If you need to save and work with Maya text files containing Japanese (.ma, .mel), the text files must be saved with the following text encoding depending on the hardware platforms and operating systems: