3ds Max saved to the wrong drive

[D.Hudson1]

Hello, I think I have 3ds Max saved to the wrong drive. On my Windows 10 computer, it is saved to OneDrive-Personal > Documents > 3ds Max 2021. I get constant messages about there being no space left on the OneDrive. Recently, I watched a tutorial where the instructor said to go to the C: Program Files > AutoDesk > 3ds Max folder to do something in the plug-ins folder. 

I need to update 3ds Max anyway, should I and how do I change where it is located, and will this cause a mess with my rendering to Network? 

Thank you so much for any help.

[DarrenP]

is one drive where installed 3ds max or where your saving your files?

they are 2 separate things

[D.Hudson1]

Hi,

the OneDrive is where the 3ds max app is located. 

[DarrenP]

If that's the case the only to change the location is uninstall/reinstall

[D.Hudson1]

That sounds like it would work, but I am worried about my render to network setup. I had such a problem getting it to work after 3ds Max was initially installed. I contacted Autodesk and one of their tech specialists had a tough time getting it to work as well, but he finally got render to Network to work. 

[darawork]

Hi,

I get what you're saying, your /Documents folder for 3DSMax is set up to OneDrive. This could be accidental or on purpose by someone who doesn't really understand what they were doing. It happens.

Their OneDrive folder would fill up with all of this:

Each time you open 3DSMax it would be updating, loading and saving from the cloud.
This is all well and good, but unfortunately Autodesk do not own OneDrive. Microsoft do.
It's like a ticking timebomb of saving files to the Cloud, in a limited, paid for realm.

If you want to only save your renders or CGIs remotely on the cloud, it's best to set up your system to do it like that, through 3DSMax. Not OneDrive. They'll of course tell you your virtual space is running out.

C:\Users\YourUsernameHere\Documents\3ds Max 20** should always reside on your local C:/Drive

Whomever set up your System Paths to a Onedrive account, or worse still, Installed 3DSMax onto OneDrive, needs to be dragged outside and flogged.

Here is where my Paths are pointed:

These Buttons are used to set up your Project folder Paths:

Your /Documents folder, might be pointing to OneDrive here somewhere on your PC?
Have a look. And remove or change it.

Next thing I'd try is:

After that; The simplist thing to do would maybe be to uninstall the Product from your C:/Drive and (Or) OneDrive and reinstall properly.

Regards,

[D.Hudson1]

Hi darawork,

Thank you so much for your help. I will follow your suggestions. I am still worried about the network rendering issue. I feel I should I take screen shots of relevant information now, before re-installing 3ds Max, to help me reinstall to correct locations.  What information panels would I need screen shots of?

Thank you again

[darawork]

Hi,

What render engine are you using? It kinda all depends on which one.

And are you working remotely?

Who gets to decide how your machine is set up?

Loads different rendering engines act differently.

Regards, 

[D.Hudson1]

Hi Darawork,

I am using the Vray render engine. I do work remotely, but the computer that I am networked to is in another room of my house (its a loud computer). As far as who gets to decide on how the machine is set up, I hired a tech guy to help me network the 2 computers. Then when my trying Render to Network didn't work, I had help from an Autodesk guru to help get the connection to work.

[darawork]

Hi,

Ahh ok. I'm more used to setting up Corona distributed rendering networks myself, it's actually quite easy as there is a dedicated Distributed Rendering Server application that comes with the installation, a few clicks and it's up and running. Wheras with vRay it seems to be a bit more complicated: 

https://docs.chaos.com/display/VMAX/Set+Up+Distributed+Rendering

Having a quick scan over it, it's not that tricky, but still might take a bit of time to get up and running.

So, did we determine that 3DSMax is actually installed, the whole program, on your OneDrive, or just the /Documents part?

In either case it might be beneficial to just wipe everything to do with 3DSMax and start again, properly.
I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to install 3DSMax onto OneDrive, I'm amazed the licencing even works. 

Thinking about it now, I might know what happened;
When I formatted my home pc recently, with Windows 10 Home, OneDrive got installed as part of the main setup installation sequence. While it was installing it prompted me to agree to 'Backing Up' my documents folder, among other things on the Microsoft OneDrive servers. I quickly declined, as to agree to that would have been lunacy.

Here is the Advertisement for it. 1TB Backup online "We think you'll really like this" (Until it messes up everything)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/back-up-your-folders-with-onedrive-d61a7930-a6fb-4b95-b28...

Might OneDrive be perhaps 'Cloning' your Local/Documents folder online? If so, you can probably stop it syncing through the OneDrive Website online. Here's how: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/stop-syncing-a-library-with-the-onedrive-for-work-or-scho...

Have a look at that anyways,
Regards,

[darawork · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I forgot to say, you asked above for the location to take screenshots. 
This would be an important capture to take in the vRay settings if you did decide to ever wipe and reinstall your installation of 3DSMax and vRay:

This will show the IP address of your networked PC in the other room.
You'll need to know this info to reconnect to it in the future.

Regards,

[D.Hudson1]

Thank you so much, Darawork. You have really helped and I truly appreciate that. I love using 3ds max, but I am not a very computer literate person, so technical issues are a bit of a nightmare for me. Btw, 3ds Max is located on C: Users > One drive > Documents > 3ds Max. sigh. 😕

Anyway, thank you so much for your help. I'll read through the links you gave me and see what trouble I can get into.
Cheers

[darawork · Accepted solution]

Hi,
No worries. I hope I helped in some way.
If you do now decide to uninstall 3DSMax and reinstall to the correct location (C:/Program files/Autodesk) here are the instructions how to uninstall: https://www.autodesk.eu/support/download-install/individuals/manage/remove-autodesk-software

If you need help setting up the network rendering again, I suggest you try the people over at Chaos. They are very knowledgeable and usually quite speedy in their replies: https://support.chaos.com/hc/en-us/articles/4402148637969-How-do-I-contact-the-Customer-Support-

Best of luck 🙂

[D.Hudson1]

Thank you again, Darawork. You have been a lot of help, much appreciated.