losing mental ray materials from the material selector

[Stan Zaslavsky]

hi,

 

i've had something weird happen and i can't place why it did. i think the cause of it might have been installing a demo version of v-ray which then when i opened up max (i use max 2009 design) i lost mr materials from the listing in the material editor?

 

has anyone has this happen to them?

 

i've re-installed max to no avail, de-installed vray demo, and reset max to Max.mental ray UI and still the materials are not there?

 

thanks for your help in advance,

stan

[Macer]

May be a stupid question, but have you selected MR as the render engine?

 

If so, is there a file called: mrArch_DesignTemplates.mat in the material library folder (C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2008\materiallibraries)?

 

If you materials appear in the material editor but they are blank then you have more than likely overwritten this file. To fix it simply replace with the original mrArch_DesignTemplates.mat file - use a back up or you may be able to pull it from the installation disc. It always pays to back up files like the material libraries!

 

Your re-install should have fixed it though if this was the problem?

 

I don't know what else to try.....

[Stan Zaslavsky]

thanks for the response mark. Mr is definitely selected as the engine.

 

i've just restarted max and in the brand new file - the material editor works fine with all the right materials. next i opened a sample tutorial file that i've been working on and selecting material editor there - once again the mr materials have disappeared. and after resetting and opening a brand new file - still the same situation - no mr materials.

 

so it seems that max at start has all the right mat selections available - but i'm totally puzzled why opening another file may overwrite or take out those selections?

[Stan Zaslavsky]

mark - you were 100% right - i tried opening max again with that same tutorial file - and checking the render engine - it was selected as scanline.

once i selected mr - all the mr materials became available in the material editor.

 

thanks again for your help ... i feel a bit silly atm

 

cheers

[shaneis]

Tutorial, shared and downloaded files are notorious for futzing with settings and preferences. Whenever I open a file that was not set-up on my PC, I back up my preferences. It's also a good idea to set and save your preferences and then disable the ability for a file to overwrite your preferences.

 

It won't avoid specific in-file settings just like you experienced, but as I was reading the thread it came t mind so I thought I'd pass on the advice. I'm not a 3DSMax person, so I can't tell you where to find those options but you get the idea.

[Stan Zaslavsky]

thanks Shane - thats some solid advice. i used to do the same with AutoCAD - it never crossed my mind to do the same here.

 

cheers,