Bizzare vst3/AU plugin format compiled by Mac

[gorangrooves]

Hey folks,
I wonder if anyone else is experiencing the strange behavior with Mac-compiled vst3/AU plugins.

On PC, when you compile a plugin, you get a single file. It is what it claims to be.

On Mac, on the other hand, it shows and it looks like a vst3 plugin, for example: MyPlugin.vst3. When you click on the file and open file info, it says that it is a vst3 file.

However, it is actually NOT a file, but a folder (eg. MyPlugin.vst3), which inside contains the following file and folder structure:

Contents/MacOs/MyPlugin
              /Resources/RecentFilesMenyTemplate.nib
              /Info
              /Pkginfo

What is going on here?

You can't actually see that this is not a single file while viewing it on Mac. You only realize this when you access it on a PC or try to send it to someone. The same is true for AU plugins.

Did I not compile this correctly or is Mac really this shit?

[DanH]

@gorangrooves Yeah its annoying but I believe the file is fine. Mac files often appear as folders on PCs. What did you use to send it? Dropbox, for example, will make these types of files folders, so I zip them before sending.

[gorangrooves]

@DanH I used wetransfer.com. It zips folders if you drag them there. I only realized those were folders once I dragged them into wetransfer platform.

So, is this the default format for plugins on Mac?

[Lindon]

@gorangrooves - its the default format for a number of plugin formats on mac - vsts being one of them, AAX being a whole other can of worms...

[gorangrooves]

@Lindon Thanks for letting me know. That is so retarded, but it is good to know.

[DanH]

@gorangrooves Yeah WeTransfer probs uses PC/Linux to zip them and therefore changes them to folders. Zip them before dragging into WeTransfer and you shld be ok.

[gorangrooves]

@DanH For distribution I will create installers for the plugins, but I wanted to make sure that I am using the correct things.