Customize the name of the auto backup file for different sessions of 3dsMAX

[3d-labor]

When I work with two sessions of 3dsMAX the autobackup from one session overwrites the ones from the second session. So I lost an hour of work. There is a possibility to customize the name of the backup file, but what I search for is, that the name contains the name of the file which is open. If you use AutoCAD all different open drawings get their own backup files with the drawing name in it. Is there a sript or something else to do so in 3dsMAX? Have searched a lot but found nothing.

[tony.su]

Sorry, you cann't do it by now.

You can add the number of aoutbackup files.

 

I think you suggestion is good, you can post it to this forum.

http://3dsmaxfeedback.autodesk.com/forums/80695-general-feature-requests

[3d-labor]

This is a very good idea. To be honest, I didn´t thought that I can set it to 99. This will be enough. But, as mentioned, an included filename would be fine to prevent searching the right file.

[tony.su]

I agree with you.

[CAMedeck]

In the past, I've had the pleasure of working on some very large files that can take a couple of minutes to save (and autosave).  This has gotten me into the habit of just disabling the autosave completely.  Rather than save a backup every fifteen minutes or so, I just save my scene incrementally.  True, I may forget to save often enough sometimes, but I typically hit the Save (+) button I added to the toolbar every time I make a significant change to the model.  Every once in a while, I've got to go through and delete all but the final 5 or 10 files.  But I also like having a snapshot of where the model has been over the last couple days, and can merge in old geometry if I made a change that I can't undo.

[3d-labor]

This is also an idea, but as my experience with photoshop is (CS5, which has no autobackup) I would forget to push the button. Most time I work  in small MAX-files, which comes together in a "mother"-file with lots of xrefs. In my exporer (Directory opus) I have added a button for a batch file where I can save the whole project to another harddisk every day and in cases of important changes.

(BTW if you look for the perfect exlorer replacement - nothing could beat Directory opus)

[kinedix]

I am really surprised how stubborn ADSK developers are, C4D has name tokens, $prj for example, just making this option could solve multiple issues, Maya has it as well <RenderLayer>/<Camera> just an example. 

[MaxBlum]

Hi guys!

Long-long time ago I found this script on scriptspot and since that moment I always happy that I have it. 

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

What it does - it saves autobackup files for each file you're working on to separate folder, saving history of each file you opened. It is really great! You can keep the history of certain scenes as long as you want and it will not be replaced by backups of other files. This script saved my ass many times when I got Max crashes having multiple scenes opened in different Max windows. Besides that autosave process goes faster (IDK why, but it is so for me).
I started to use it in Max 2014, now I have it under Max 2021.3 and it works well. Thanks to Jiovanie Velazquez - author of this script!

[MaxBlum]

Forgot to mention that it names backup files according to the backuping file name (file_name.max => file_name-01(02,03,04...).max. Actually, this script does exactly what you need, 3d-labor.de

[kinedix]

Thank you @MaxBlum , yes I think I've used this script back in a days, it is sad, that such essentials features are rely on scripts.

[jon.bell · Accepted solution]

Reviving this thread to note that you can do the following to make sure your Autoback files don't overwrite each other:

1. Go to the Customize > Preferences menu > Files tab and increase the number of Autoback files from 3 up to 99.
2. For each version of 3ds Max, use the Customize > Configure Project paths menu to change the Autoback folder destination from your C:\users\username\documents\3dsmax\autoback folder to an Autoback folder inside each Max version. (So a Max 2022 autoback file won't save over a Max 2019 autoback file, etc.)
3. From the Customize > Preferences menu > Files tab, check Increment on Save. That way, you can periodically hit Control-S while you're working and save numbered versions of your existing scene names.

Hope this helps!

[kinedix]

@jon.bell Thank you for the advice, can not mark this as a solution, as this constantly require keeping in mind to set up the project, I think this has to be added to the core of the Max itself, I think 3ds max the only app which can rewrite autosaves, C4D creates backup folded atomatically, Ae does this as well, and no matter where I save 3ds max file, it just rewrites auto back files from the previous project if you forgot to specify the folder. I know your team probably thinking of all the best ways to save some HDD space or something like this. But please think about the artist's convenience, it is our problem to delete unnecassery files to save some space. 

Best,

Eduard

[3d-labor]

Hi all, I came back here to tell you that since some months  I use the script called GeOAutosave. It is mentioned above and it works like a charme. It saves up to 99 files per scene (not per session). So you can go back  in time according to your saving interval. And every time it saves it renames the older files by number so that the most recent file is file "***01.max" in every case. The only thing to consider is the space on your hard drive. If you work with many files and set the maximum files to save for a scene to 99 the space is filled up quickly. In my Folder for the autosaved files I have 62 GB. Have to clean it up...

[3d-labor]

GeoAutosave workes also with MAX 2025!