Missing vertices and geometry

[colbyroper]

I am having an issue with some vertices not showing up on the model. For some reason they show up on the backside of the geometry. Also having in issue where the geometry disappears from an object. If I click on the object it will come back, when I click off of it, the geometry fades away, but would like to see it all the time like you would normally.
I have had this issue in the past where I upgrade an old model. If I create new geometry in the same file everything works and displays properly. I am working on some old models, fixing geometry and making them look better to update my portfolio. I’ve tried converting to an editable poly again, tried converting to a mesh and back to a poly. Backface culling is not on. The ‘Show end result’ button is not clicked. I’ve gone into edit the object and show vertices, polys, objects. I have read through forums and watched videos and am not finding a solution. I would prefer not to spend months remodeling everything and see if there is a way to fix this issue.
I’ve attached one of the models that I am having this issue with, but I do have quite a few models I am working on. I would love some expert advice. Thank you.

[Diffus3d]

Sometimes they get hidden accidentally, go to edit poly -> vertex mode and click "Unhide All".  Usually that does it.

Best Regards,

[colbyroper]

Thanks for the reply Alfred.  I have already tried that and listed that in the description.  I tried unhiding vertices, polys and elements.

[Diffus3d]

My fault, I missed that before, but I see it now.  I should have read more carefully.  You didn't deserve that.  

I wonder if your normals are backwards.  Since you can see verts on the backside but not on the front, that makes me think it's somehow a normals issue. If you select the faces that don't have verts and 'flip', do they suddenly show up?  What about if you reset the normals?  (Normal modifier -> Reset.) 

Best Regards,

[dmitriy.shpilevoy]

Also try to reset normals, reset xform and to be sure attach model to a box converted to poly.

If none of that helps then problem might be with max not the model itself. In which case you might want to try the ENU deleting method.

[colbyroper]

No worries, thanks for getting back.  Flipping faces does not work.  I tried adding the 'Edit Normal' modifier - clicked reset - and collapsed the stack and didn't work.  I tried adding just the 'Normals' modifier and collapsing the stack and still didn't work.

[colbyroper]

Thanks for responding Dmitriy.  I tried attaching a box converted to a poly and didn't work.  I've tried resetting X-form from the Utilities menu and tried adding an X-form modifier and collapsing the stack and still didn't work.
What is the ENU deleting method?  I searched for it online and didn't see anything.
This has been a big problem with 3ds Max for the 20+ years I've been using it.  If you upgrade a model that is maybe 5+ years old these issues with the vertices and disappearing geometry happen and hope they would have fixed it by now.  Thanks.

[Diffus3d · Accepted solution]

Are all the problem files older files?  Edit poly and edit mesh get updated and they aren't always perfectly backwards compatible.  But that usually manifests as weird stray verts, not missing ones.  Does that same scene cause problems on other machines?

I have on occasion had to export a model as obj and reimport it to fix weird issues if the file was really old.  

Best Regards,

[dmitriy.shpilevoy]

Check the "To reset 3ds Max preferences manually" section.

https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Resetting-3ds-Max-....

Also you can upload a file that has problematic mesh for others to check.

[colbyroper]

Thanks for responding again Diffus3D.  I exported as an obj. and left everything with default settings – imported into scene and converted geometry to editable poly. I noticed that the modifiers stayed, so I clicked on every object and deleted the modifiers from each object one by one. Not sure if there is a faster way of doing it?
I exported as an OBJ again – Imported – and converted geometry to editable poly. Geometry looks good, verts are showing up correctly and geometry does not fade to a solid color after deselecting it. Now I can fix these old models with ease. That did the trick and good to know if something like this happens again in the future!!
These models were back from 2005-2010 and was working on my desktop and laptop at the time. Desktop had XP and Laptop had Vista. Even though I was using the same versions of the software I noticed weird things happening to my scene and geometry then. That may have been the initial source of the issue. Vista was a horrible OS with lots of issues.

Thanks for your help 🙂

[colbyroper]

Thanks for the tip dmitriy!  Exporting as an OBJ and importing did the trick.  Your advice is good to know if other solutions do not work.

[Diffus3d]

Nice!  Glad to hear it and thanks for the update!

I Actually skipped over Vista, using W2k  for far, far too long.  Skipped 8 too. Not a huge fan of updating OS's.  Still on 10 right now.  Those who know, know.  

Best Regards,