Max 2016 xref units mismatch error

[saschaselent]

Hi everyone.

I found this article in the AUTODESK Knowledge Network:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/getting-started/caas/screencast/Main/Details/f587d289...

The problem:

"Any xref object that is in a different unit than the project file will prompt this dialogue box when opening the project. This is a problem when there are many xrefs in the scene (like vegetation). The dialogue box opens for each xref without knowing how many more boxes will open. This was never an issue in previous versions of 3d Studio Max. Apparently the default settings was to scale the object to the system units without having to hit the OK button. Is there a parameter setting hidden somewhere to make 3d studio automatically scale the objects like it previously did??"

This is exactly my problem. Is there any solution for this?

Thank you and kind regards.

Sascha

[dm220879]

I just noticed this after posting about it myself. I is really anoying when you have a lot of xrefs and it takes so long to open your file because you have to click OK over and over. There must be a way to stop this.

[saschaselent]

I get these mails from Autodesk asking if got the answer I needed.

Well, no, Autodesk, I didn´t.

Luckily this problem does not occur while network rendering or DBR - but it´s a real mess when openig files with lots of XRefs.

Please, Autodesk, I think it´s up to you to provide this answer.

Thanks and kind regards.

Sascha

[dm220879]

Agreed.

Also when duplicating xref objects, why do they snap to the origin?? very hard to work with in a large scene.

[jon.bell]

Hello,

I'm checking with our developers on this X-Ref units mismatch issue for a workaround, or an existing defect report, and if there isn't one, I will create one. I agree that this behavior is extremely frustrating, and I'll see what I can do to help.

Thank you for your patience, and I'll be in touch with you soon.

Best regards,

Jon A. Bell

Autodesk Technical Support

[saschaselent]

"Also when duplicating xref objects, why do they snap to the origin??"

This is because in the XRef Objects dialogue "Tracks" is set to "XRef" by default. You have to change this to "Merge". BUT: This is persistent. You have to change it every time you start Max. Maybe it can be saved to a workspace - I didn´t try this yet.

Older versions of Max "kept" this setting.

Sadly this is also persistent for yet imported XRefs. You cannot change this AFTER XRefing. You have to kill this XRef and re-XRef it with correct settings...

[spacefrog_]

---

@jon.bell wrote:

Hello,

I'm checking with our developers on this X-Ref units mismatch issue for a workaround, or an existing defect report, and if there isn't one, I will create one. I agree that this behavior is extremely frustrating, and I'll see what I can do to help.

Thank you for your patience, and I'll be in touch with you soon.

Best regards,

Jon A. Bell

Autodesk Technical Support

---

I've got a scripted solution underway - stay tuned -

will post a link later today

[saschaselent]

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@spacefrog wrote:

I've got a scripted solution underway - stay tuned -

will post a link later today

---

Spacefrog. PowerPreview 🙂

Hi.

Great, thanks!

[dm220879]

That was what I was looking for thanks!

[spacefrog_]

Hi guys - script is ready - and works pretty well

One issue i got with a "bonus" feature i implemented:

This very feature processes the "missing plugins" dialog too on scene load. Those dialogs can get similar annoying, because they appear with each loaded scene/object xref source file on scene load if they have missing plugins

The problem is, that i  experience crashes on scene load when many scenexref's with missing plugins are loaded in sequence. Seems Max does'nt like the rapid "auto confirming" of the missing plugin dialogs

I'll do some further research till tomorrow- and if no solution can be found, i simply will release tomorrow.

In that case without that feature or at least having this feature switched off by default....

[spacefrog_ · Accepted solution]

Finally i released SILENTIUM! ( the script i mentioned)

ust head over to scriptspot for the download

http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/silentium

Description is there too,  the script provides a drag&drop installation/uninstallation and even generates it's own menu (see below )

I hope everything works well and nothing explodes after installation

Would be happy for feedback and voting on scriptspot

This is what you get out of the box

Each dialog ( xref object system unit mismatch or missing plugin respectively ) should now only appear ONCE per scene load

When the "Never Prompt" option ( shown in the menu below) is enabled, even that first, inital dialog is suppressed

[CAMedeck]

Spacefrog, thanks for the script!  I did find one problem with it, though.  If I have an Xref Scene that has Xref Objects, the script does not suppress those dialog boxes.  

Is this something you can modify your script to handle?

[spacefrog_]

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@CAMedeck wrote:

Spacefrog, thanks for the script!  I did find one problem with it, though.  If I have an Xref Scene that has Xref Objects, the script does not suppress those dialog boxes.  

Is this something you can modify your script to handle?

---

I'll have a look at it , should - theoretically - not be too hard to fix .... So no promises 😉

Update:

I justed tested the script with the scenario you mention: a Xref Scene which itself contains Obj Xrefs with different system unit settings. I then create a master scene, in which i load that scene xref. As it turns out , in that case 3ds Max doesn't display that unit mismatch dialogs at all. So  there is no  a need to suppress those dialogs. Whether 3ds Max SHOULD display those dialogs in this case, is of course another topic, but this is a inconsistency in 3ds Max's behavior, i can't do anyhing about .

[CAMedeck]

My apologies, Spacefrog.  I recreated the scenario with some test objects, and it worked.  But I opened my old scene that I'd been working on, and it did not.  Weird, and I'm not exactly sure why it doesn't work 100% in that one scene, but otherwise it seems to be handling other files just fine.  I won't let one bad apple spoil the bunch...

A huge kudos to you for sharing this great script with us!  Thanks again!!

[IONE-K]

Hi,

I'm curios if you have found any solution for this? We are experiencing the same issue. We have the problem in 3dsMax 2016, but if we open the same scene in 2014 no mismatch error occurs .

Thank you!

/K

[dm220879]

We have been using spacefrogs script, "Silentium"

It works well, you just have to click Ok on the first mismatch window that comes up and then the script auto ok's the rest of them. 

[IONE-K]

Hi, Thanks for the fast reply.

Does this script "just" hide the pop ups?
Although it didn't seem to do the trick for us.

They still appear, and the most frustrating thing is that 3dsMax 2016 crashes after a couple of unit mismatch errors :o(

Any help here would be super. Thanks again!

[IONE-K]

Hi,

I'm wondering if there is a workaround found for this yet? We are planning to lift to 3dsmax 2017. We could not upgrade to 2016 due to the crashes that

We are planning to lift to 3dsmax 2017. We could not upgrade to 2016 due to the crashes that appear with units miss match pop up appears. Which means:

If units are made in inches and system settings is mm. When you import a x-ref or object with inches a pop up appears to point out it's a miss match.

Which cause 3dsmax to crash after several pop-ups. It worked fine in 2014 due to this was adjusted "behind the scenes"

So my question is there an option to disable the pop up window for " units miss match" so 3ds max won't crash.

THis is hindering us from upgrading to 2017

Thank you 

[rickard.juopperi]

Hej Jon,

Any news?

Thanks

Rickard

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @rickard.juopperi,

This is not a defect but it's annoying and the developers agreed in the tracker that there should be a method to turn this off.  That method is not currently finished but it's on the roadmap for the future.  In the meanwhile the Silentium script is very good and I use it myself at home and at work when diagnosing scenes.  I highly recommend it, please try it.

Best Regards,