Help - Geometry disappears after reloading linked .dwg in 3ds Max 2016

[jameskehl]

For the life of me I can't figure out how to get past this bug. Whenever I reload a specific linked file, even after changing the .dwg's file path or exporting the mesh geometry differently, all of the geometry disappears. This is very frustrating because it has been working for the past week and I've invested a lot of time in texturing all the geometry. When I re-attach or import the .dwg it comes in just fine, but for some reason it is not reloading for me, thus retaining all the textures I need.

 

Has anyone encountered this before and have some way of fixing the issue? Thanks SO much in advance.

 

J

[Jesper Pedersen]

James,

This won't be much consolation, but we gave up using linked files (ie dwg / max) several versions back as it was extremely "tempermental".

In general I would say don't be too quick to update to the latest version of 3ds Max when they release it. We've just installed 2016 and in our very first session we have discovered several things which either don't work or we need to relearn how to active them. (We cannot lock the movement for example to a single axis when in subobject mode ..very frustrating as this was really the key to modelling in max, without it.. well let's just say it needs to be fixed.

So, as I said not a fix, but just my advice.

 

Regards

Jesper Pedersen

www.pedersenfocus.ie

[jameskehl]

Hi Jesper,

 

Thank you so much for your reply. It is a bit disappointing that 3dsMax is so buggy. Well, do you mind if I ask how your company manages your projects in Max without linking? Do you have to reimport geometry whenever things change and reassign all your materials? Your work is beautiful by the way.

 

James

[Scott Schroeder]

Have you applied any sort of edit mesh/poly modifier to the linked geometry? If the vert order changes on any geometry on a refresh of the link, it explodes the mesh. Simply find the offending mesh (probably though the select dialog and if you don't name things properly, then you get to play a fun game of "Is This It?") and delete the modifier.

 

Link geometry works as well as expected provided you don't try to modify it, ie edit mesh/poly, and then reload new changes from the linked file.

[Jesper Pedersen]

Hi James,

 

Well, we're a relatively small studio, so communication is very simple and we generally model using a combination of AutoCAD and 3DS Max, so it's not that we wouldn't like an effective "live" update from AutoCAD, but as Scott I think mentioned, until this can handle updating all the adjustment / modifiers added in 3DS Max it really becomes risky to use. So while, the "brute force" method we are using is perhaps slower, it seems less likely to allow errors due to any adjustments not being caught in the linked update. Sorry if this is a little confusing. I suspect our setup would likewise become risky in a large organisation where several staff are working on projects and you therefore need to rely on perhaps a more automated approach. Whatever setup you use it is definitely important to have a methodical approach - logical structured work processes and file management setup. Specifically well organised library resources, file/folder setup, clearly organised filing system to handle design revision updates/alterations. I read a very good post on this recently (http://www.evermotion.org/tutorials/show/9296/3ds-max-working-with-big-scenes), I'm not sure if the approach described is the optimum one, but it is certainly very close to our setup here. Good luck.

 

Jesper Pedersen

www.pedersenfocus.ie