Multiple 3ds Max instances open + Saving = Lag

[DGTLTWNS]

Hi,

I have a few reports of people with 3ds Max 2020, 2022, 2023 (haven't tested 2021) slowing down our workstations, when multiple instances of 3ds Max are open and (auto)saving.

I have recorded a video of this here: https://youtu.be/zzsiOCMhHr8

First part of the video is me saving with only one instance open. Second part (00:18) is with a second file open in another instance. As you can see my workstation grinds to a halt and my cursor is barely moving. It seems I'm not the only one. This started happening a couple of months ago. Maybe a Windows update caused this or something. I looked at my Windows 10 update history in the last half year and most of them are .NET updates.

Can people with the same experience confirm, and could Autodesk investigate this please, because this is super annoying.

Thank you.

[DGTLTWNS]

I tried with Max 2020, 2022 and 2023. All have the same problem. Minimum installed plugins are: V-Ray, ForestPack and RailClone. 

The weird thing is that even when you have one instance of 2020 and one of 2022 running for example, this also happens.

I will try on a vanilla install of 2023 first to see if it has anything to do with extra plugins are something. I'll see if there are BIOS updates or whatnot but I have almost no hopes because I have this on 2 threadripper workstations with different motherboards. Might be AMD, might be 128GB RAM (not quite eager to remove some DIMMs to test out this theory though).

[info2V35E]

 I personally did not have this problem with 2021. I skipped 2022.

Did you get this problem with 2021/2023 BEFORE you installed 2023?

[Diffus3d]

That's fair.  There's a lot of guesswork here.  

Best Regards,

[info2V35E]

Got a response from Autodesk and so far, the advice has worked. Curious to see if it works for others.

My steps:

- Ensured windows was 100% up to date.

- Rolled back Nvidia drivers to 512.59 as per Chaos's recommendation. 

- Deleted all files from %temp% (that could be deleted, that is).

Followed the steps in this article: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/3ds-Ma... (FYI my QT_ANGLE_PLATFORM variable ended up as d3d11)

Tried these commands before closing a scene

gc()
Runs a garbage-collection routine.

freescenebitmaps()
Frees up the memory allocated to bitmaps.

clearundobuffer()
Clears the Undo/Redo buffer. Be very sure the scene is as you want it before you invoke this function!

[DGTLTWNS]

Thanks I'll try the Env. Variable 'hack' and recommended Nvidia Drivers to see if it improves. I'm curious. Will report back ASAP.

[info2V35E]

I would suggest clearing your %temp% folder too. Mine had some 26,000 odd files in there from years ago...

[DGTLTWNS]

So tried cleaning temp (although quite clean), updating recommended Nvidia Drivers, and setting the env variables (dx11). Still the same, opening and saving files with more than one Max open =  serious lag. No improvement whatsoever.

[DGTLTWNS]

So I'm almost scared to say, but I did extensive testing and the issues have been resolved with turning off: Deferred Plug-in Loading as the article suggests. 

So for anyone with the same or similar problems, this does the trick. I have the impression with this off, everything loads somewhat faster as well. My god this feels like a relief. Thanks all for the help.

EDIT: after a week or two, the problem is back. So might have been a temporary solution.

[info2V35E]

Great to hear!

[RobH2]

Alfred, thanks for jumping on to this. Looks like you guys may have solved it. 

[DGTLTWNS]

After a few hours of work, I can safely say that is indeed the solution, I'm so glad, this was seriously annoying me and slowing me down.

Although that option might be there for a reason and in the last 10+ years I have never touched it. So I wonder what broke that this doesn't work anymore. 

[Diffus3d]

You all have done some great work here, thank you for posting your updates and solution.  I never would have thought of that.  I wonder which plugin is causing the problem.    Anyways, nice job all!  

Best Regards,

[RobH2]

I glad to see that it was most likely caused by configuration or 3rd party code. My initial thought was that it was not a Bug. I can confirm that I had 'Load Plug-Ins When Used' turned off. And now as I see this as the solution here, I do recall an issue a few years ago that was somewhat similar and I learned to turn this off. Wish I had thought of it sooner but it looks like everyone is back to normal.   🙂

[DGTLTWNS]

Unfortunately the problems resurfaced and I didn't change anything since the time being, except for updating the Pulze Scene Manager plugin. I'm going to do some more investigating if I find the time but I have a lot of deadlines coming up. So that will be in a few weeks I think. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up.

[info2V35E]

I'm not using pulze and I'm having some resurgence of lag too, so it's
likely not that. Could you try clearing your %temp% folder and seeing if
that does anything? Perhaps the increasing size of that has something to do
with it.

[DGTLTWNS]

Thanks for the reply. I cleaned the temp folder (was only 9 GB). I then rebooted (there was a windows update that took a good 5 minutes). First impression it is fixed again. Quite strange. My SSDs are nowhere near full and the temp wasn't that big. Seemed solved again. Will keep you guys posted if anything changes. 

[RobH2]

@DGTLTWNS 

I'm back with a test. I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to Windows 11. I hope it wasn't a mistake but so for so good. 

I followed your test exactly in your first post. I can't reproduce the issue. My Windows 11 is and upgrade over my existing and healthy Windows 10 installation. It's not fresh. If it were, I'd think that the issue might be caused by something along the way changing settings what were seemingly ok in a fresh install. But you can't infer that from my test. 

However, I can say, that upgrading Windows 10 to Windows 11 in my experience, does not create the issue. So far, I can't conclude that it's a Windows 11 issue created by some conflict it causes with Max 2023 at least. I didn't test Max 2022. 

[DGTLTWNS]

Hi, 

Thanks for replying. I'm still on Windows 10, and I'll keep it that way for a couple of more years. So Windows upgrade isn't the issue here. 

The issue however, is back after a while of working. Last time it was back, I emptied the %temp% folder (9GB) and rebooted. That did the trick. But now it started doing it again. I'm going to do another test of doing this exact same thing when I'm done with my deadline (today). The %temp folder is now 5GB.

I'll keep you posted. If this helps. Then there's something weird going on with temporary files and 3dsMax. The SSD (NVMe) that my OS is on, still has around 50% of free space, so that's not it. 

[RobH2]

Ok, good enough. I hope the Temp folder fix continues to work.

I have a routine of emptying that folder each day. I've always been under the impression that those files are supposed to, by design, automatically delete themselves at some point by the OS. But, mine just gets larger and larger if I ignore it. So I have a shortcut on my desktop and I'm constantly hitting that and deleting everything in it that's not locked and being used. 

[DGTLTWNS]

Sadly, I can't get it to work anymore. The environment variables are still set up, the %temp% directory is/was clean (used ccleaner to clean it up) and the load plugins when used, is off. The lag is back...Not sure if the solution of last time was purely coincidental or if something else changed in the meantime, but I'm out of ideas.