Opening SME without libraries?

[TB_RIO]

My material editor keeps hanging when I open it, possibly because of a bitmap that's no longer on my network. I hangs before I'm able to disable material sample rendering and I can't switch to compact material editor either.

Is there a way of closing material libraries before opening SME, or to open it in a 'safe mode' as such, without the libraries, or without sample rendering?

[jon.bell · Accepted solution]

Hi TB_Rio,

Thanks for your question. Some suggestions:

1. Do you know which bitmap the Material Editor is trying to access? If so, then you might locate it on your network or local machine, then path to it via your Customize > Configure Project Paths > External Files tab so that the Material Editor finds it.
2. You mentioned that you can't switch to the Compact Material Editor. Could you please explain a bit more about this? Can you switch to it temporarily, open it, locate the missing bitmap in a loaded material, and either replace that bitmap or remove the material from being displayed/loaded?
3. If the Slate Material Editor is hanging upon launch, how long does it take before it completely loads? Can you let it finish loading, then identify the problem material, remove it from the editor and then re-close the SME?
4. Do you have a Maxstart.max scene file or workspace/template that contains your material editor settings? If so, can you rename the MAXstart.max file so it doesn't load, or create a new default workspace/template?
5. Finally, can you reset your 3ds Max preferences, if necessary, to clear out these settings, then load your material library manually and fix the offending material/map?

Please let us know if this helps, and we hope to hear from you soon!

[lynn_zhang]

Hello @TB_RIO  ,

Just checking to see if your problem has been solved. Have you tried the above suggestions from @jon.bell and did you have any success? If you find the suggestions helpful, please click on the "Accept as Solution" button in his reply so this helps other users in the community find the solution too. Thanks!