Max 6 - Buggy or what?

[Ken Walton]

It seems like I spend more time generating error reports with Max 6 than working. I was crashing quite often during renders when using finalRender and I thought that might be due to my mixing material types and stuff. But now, even using the AEC objects (walls) is shutting the program down quite regularly for no apparent reason. I'm still running the demo although I've got the purchased copy right here (not installed yet). Is the full copy less buggy than the demo? Is anyone else experiencing these problems?

[nisus]

Hi Ken,

 

I'm running the demo for 28 days now and have only crashed ONCE (because I did everything to make max6 crash...) Imho, it's very stable...

 

rgds

 

nisus

[makai]

My new motto: "Save often, save many."

 

I've found max6 to be quite unstable, but hardware could be a factor.

 

I've partially traced the problem to radiosity meshing stored in the objects. It was allowing me to create multiple objects with the same name (via autocad import) then freaking out at render time...UNFORTUNATELY, it automatically saves the scene file when it crashes so it corrupts the file. I only saved my ass by merging the geometry into a new file.

 

Is there some special requirments of radiosity regarding unique names?

 

Unchecking 'calculate solution when necessary' in the render dialogu allowed it to render without recalculating for fast checks, but after a while it would "break itself" and even calc'ing the solution wouldn't fix it. Wireframe objects stopped working and it started to crash constantly.

 

Even the radiosity thing can't explain all the shakiness. It's been really iffy.

 

|\/| /\ |

[Fran]

If you are having frequent crashes with Max 6, check the display driver you are using (not for your system, but Viewport Configuration within max). If you are not already using it, try the Heidi software mode. If that stops the crashes, the problem is with the version of display driver your system is using for your video card. See if there is a version on the manufacturer's website that has been tested or certified to work with Max. Sometimes, the newest version of a driver is less stable.

 

There are known issues with Quadro4 cards and DirectX9.

[Jim Mann]

Following on from what Fran has said about Max and display drivers, I have had a years worth of problems from Max 5 and into Max 6 but this seems to have been resolved recently by switching display settings and drivers on the Quadro 4 card I am using. My machine would freeze solid when doing a really basic task for too long i.e. click and drag.

 

One problem I do keep getting with Max 6 that I never had with Max 5 is the program crashing when I put materials to the material editor from the scene. This only seems to happen when I have radiosity stored in the mesh. Its a pain but I don't let it spoil my day. All in all, I would say that I am happy with v6...

 

Jim

[Aaron]

I haven't been having trouble with MAX 6 crashing on me but I am getting frustrated with using it. If anyone has had the following problems I'm going to list and knows how to fix them please tell...

 

1) Numberic entries have a mind of there own. When typing in any field, the number automatically returns to the original set field. The only way to change it is to use the spinner and then, the increment varies. I set the spinner 'snap' to use 1 decimal and the value changes by multiple units. For example, trying to set the multiply field of a omni light, I would first try to enter it by hand and after I type it and press enter, the field goes back to what it originally was. Then I try to change it with the spinner and it changes but in random increments.

 

 

2) The pivot points of objects seem to be all over the place. and need to be manually set.

 

3) AEC objects are acting very strange. The default settings seemed to be magnified by a large number. For example, I'm getting windows with 62' frames. Also moving windows/doors linked to AEC walls cause havok. Sometimes they stay where you put them, sometimes they move to where they want to go.

 

These are the problems I'm currently experiencing. If anyone knows whats going on please help.

 

I am beginning to regret using the ADT 2004 / MAX 6

 

Thanks

-Aaron

[abicalho]

Aaron,

 

The problems you're mentioning seem to be related to Units.

 

What Unit are you working with?

 

I'd recommend keeping System Units = 1.0 Inches and changing the Display Units to match whatever you need.

 

Hope it helps,

 

Alexander

[kingeldar]

i have same crash problem when transferring material from library to edotir with radiosity!

 

i click on the material and tghe..

 

... my desktop...

no more max :-(

[Victor Erthal]

I had some problems a few days ago, and yes, Fran is right. Some trainee downloades a newer version of my display driver and that was the problem. Believe it or not, the old driver works much better! Thanks Fran! (I guess that with your new avatar the marriage proposals are still at a high number)

Another thing thats driving me mad is the net render! i had max 5 installed on 2 machines i use as a "renderfarm" (humble). After i upgraded to max 6, the net render is unable to complete one silgle image.

Did Anyone have the same problem?

[abicalho]

Victor,

 

All your systems should be upgraded to Backburner 2.2

 

Alexander

[Victor Erthal]

I have just cheked it, my systems are already running backburner 2.2. Do you have any other idea of what the problem might be?

[abicalho]

What's the error message you're getting? The more information you give us, the easier for us to help you.

 

Alexander

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Originally posted by Victor Erthal:

Thanks Fran! (I guess that with your new avatar the marriage proposals are still at a high number)

i still like her avatar from 2 versions ago. it was cropped so you only saw half of her face.

[Hazdaz]

I have MAX6 running on 2 machiens - one a brand new XEON PC (running Win2k) that never had MAX on it before, and my other PC (1800+XP running WinXP) that had MAX 4-5 on it. And I try to keep my PCs as clean as possible - in terms of extra add-on utilites/spyware and other junk like that.

 

Both seem to crash just as often as previous versions of MAX (thus not good), but they do seem to crash at odd/random times. Like I believe in MAX5 I could crash it at the same spot if I kept on doing the same thing. I THINK MAX6 doesn't act that way - seems to crash totaly at random. Neither situation is better or worse, but figured I'd mention that.

 

Seeing as how I haven't even touched the new 6 features at all, and have barely used any of the new featuers that came out with 5, I really would say that NEW features are way farther down my wish list for MAX7 then increased speed and stability.