Max 2017.1 long startup times (more than twice as long as 2016)?

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

At our shop we're looking to transition from 2016 to 2017 and found some significant load time differences:

First Launch (after reboot)
Max2016 takes 1:10
Max2017 takes 2:50

Second launch:
Max2016 30sec
Max2017 45sec

Machine Specs

Dual 3ghz Xeon

64GB Ram

Using these plugins in 2016 and 2017

Fume, Redshift, VRay, Forest Pack, XMesh

Is this the kind of performance we should expect from 2017.1 (over twice as long to load)? Or is there a post I've missed about 2017.1 regarding this matter?

I read this page:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2017/ENU/3DSMa...

But I'm hoping there's a more specific answer in this case.

-Eric

[jon.bell]

Hi Ehance,

Can you confirm that you have the latest updates for your 3rd-party plugins from the manufacturers? We're seeing several cases where plugins that haven't been properly re-compiled for 3ds Max 2017 have slowed down the program, so I'd like to check on that.

Is there a way you can load and test your scenes with some or all of your plugins removed temporarily? That might help narrow down these issues. Please let us know.

Best regards,

Jon A. Bell

Autodesk Technical Support

[Anonymous]

Hi Jon thank you for the follow-up.

I've checked to be sure we're using the latest 2017 designated versions of all plugins (major and minor). Here is a list of the major third party plugins on our install:

VRay for Max2017

vray_adv_34003_max2017_x64

FPPro
ForestPackPro520

FumeFX (also fixed AW ini issue)
FumeFX41R2017

Ornatrix
Ornatrix V4.5.5.8275_win64__342031352033333837

XMesh
XMeshLoaderMX_1.4.4_win64
XMeshSaverMX_1.4.4_win64

BonesPro
BonesPro_4.73.00

Krakatoa
KrakatoaMX_2.6.3_x64

Phoenix
phoenixFD_adv_30002_max2017_vray_30_x64

Is this a suspicion that's arisen from plugins from a certain vendor (I figured I'd list these just in case someone's known to cut corners)?

Also is launching 2017 with the "-p otherfile" (from the max wiki) a good way of testing max the way you want? (Right now its super slow even when loading an empty scene at first startup):

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2015/ENU/3DSMa...

Let me know what you think, thank you.

-Eric

[jon.bell]

Hi Eric,

Thanks for the list. I don't want to single out a specific vendor or plugin here, because I don't think that's fair to the developers. I can say that certain combinations of plugins seem to have caused more issues for people than others, but even these occurrences are hard to identify consistently.

(One thing I noticed in your list is VRay 3.4, which has now been updated to the new 3.5 version.)

This issue of slow loading times for 3ds Max 2017 is a major one, though, and our developers are well-aware of it (and AJ, Dominique and I talk to the developers and monitor Max defect status constantly.)

I'll keep poking around here and see what I can find. Thanks again for your patience on this.

Best regards,

Jon A. Bell

Autodesk Technical Support

[Anonymous]

Hi Jon, a quick followup:

Updating VRay from 3.4 to 3.5 seems to have slowed startup after a reboot a bit more (~10 sec) round it out at around 3mins.

Hoping to do some testing soon with no plugins...

-Eric

[Anonymous]

Hello, Just posting that I have the same issue, after I reinstalled Windows 10, updated all the drivers and installed 3ds max 2017 it takes ages to load. From 1 min to 2 min, scenes open and work so slow that I literaly started learning Blender.

What is wrong with max this days?

[Anonymous]

same problem here, with Maya 2018 instead, no third party plugins installed, just Maya right out of the box, starting up in 2.30 minutes.

My specs, CPU intel i5 3.6ghz, 32gb low latency RAM, 8gb amd r9 290x vidcard, ssd hD's.

My system loads any other software in a flash, but not Maya and Max.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to the fellow users reporting this issue as well... I still can't get a satisfactory answer to this question where Max is concerned, this is not good PR for Max.

We were hoping Max2018 might resolve this... (are you referring to Max or Maya 2018 in your post?)

-Eric

[Anonymous]

i do suspect that the plugins that where packed with Maya are the ones that are causing this, if i disable abcimport and export plugins Maya loads in 10 seconds.