Why does 3ds max still do this?

[Macker101]

File/merge sometimes (for reasons that are totally beyond me) loses bitmap paths and names so even scripts such as relink bitmaps won't find them as they don't know what file name they're looking for!

It's been happening for YEARS now and I can't believe it is still an issue!

The joke is, when this happens I re-import the offending object a second time (without changing how I've imported it) and it brings the bitmaps in as it's supposed to! Absolute lunacy.

[CiroCardoso3v]

That is so weird. Never happened to me, to be honest. If you open the Asset Tracking what does it say?

[RobH2]

That is strange. I don't think it's Max as a global issue. I've never seen it either.

All of our machine configurations are different. It's like some video player, thumbnail viewer or some other program is conflicting with Max. Developers try to make sure the conflicts don't occur but they can't anticipate the millions of variations that can exist on every machine.

Outside of the normal Windows file handling features, are you running other file handling, video viewing, thumbnail generation or image editing software (outside of Adobe and Painter) that might cause problems? Running any hacked or cracked software? 

[CiroCardoso3v]

One thing that could be is a virus on the 3ds Max scenes. I wonder, if that could be the case. Are you on 3ds Max 2022?

[RobH2]

@CiroCardoso3v makes an interesting point. I've never considered that our files could be infected but probably should have since we run scripts. But now that we have built in "Safe Scene Script Execution", a virus or something could be the cause I guess. I've been using Max since before version 1 and I've never experienced the issue @Macker101  is having. 

[CiroCardoso3v]

Me neither. But I heard first instance, that some these virus, will mess up the Undo button for example, saving, etc. Could be one of the issues.

[Macker101]

Heh, absolutely zero cracked software.

I have had this problem for years (I couldn't tell you when exactly, but I'd guess it goes back as far as max 2014), but it is one that is so sporadic it makes it impossible to reproduce. It's become known in our office as "3DS max's party trick".

I would note it generally only happens when the scenes in question (whether it's the scene you're working in/importing from I don't know) are fairly large - say 500mb+

It's such a weird issue, because without changing a single thing the second import usually brings the textures in just fine.

[RobH2]

Well, a lot of things have been eliminated as causes. I'm not a programmer or on the Dev team so I guess one of them is going to have to weigh in. I wish I could help more. Even as it's frustrating, it's not crippling and you can still work. 

[jon.bell]

Hi @Macker101,

Thanks for your question. When you're importing/merging Max scenes from a particular folder, are the bitmaps that the scene is being pulled from located in a separate folder that's pathed in your current copy of 3ds Max? (Via the Customize > Configure Project Paths menu?) Also, are you pulling them from across a network repository? The delay in being able to read these files may be the culprit (or they're being pulled from a drive that's not "woken up" from a sleep mode, or is being synced with some cloud software).

By default, 3ds Max pulls scene bitmaps from a.) the same folder from which it loads any given scene, b.) the folder(s) referenced in the actual scene (which you can review/repath from the Files > Asset Tracking menu), and c.) the bitmap paths added to your Configure Project Paths menu (themselves saved in your 3dsmax.ini file).

I do see this missing bitmap paths issue occasionally with merged files, but it can usually be fixed quickly by making sure that Max can always find the majority of your bitmap folder paths no matter what scene files you're loading. Please let us know if this information helps!

[Macker101]

So generally speaking I access files on our servers (NAS) over ethernet, but recently I've been working over VPN due to covid/working from home. I've experienced the issue with both ethernet and VPN though I would say it's more common with VPN.

A more recent development (within the last 10 minutes) is that this isn't localised to just the 3ds max bitmap map, it has just happened to me when using the vray bitmap also.

Again, reimported things just fine.