9

884 Appendix B: Troubleshooting 3ds Max
example, Autodesk Product Support once received
afilethatreturnedanAssertionFailederror
referencing a tab.h file. The scene recently had
an AutoCAD component imported that 3ds Max
couldn’t understand. However, after the support
technician clicked the Retry button 88 times, the
scene finally opened. After resaving the scene, it
opened without incident.
Merging Corrupt Files
If normal attempts to open a scene fail, another
thing you can try is merg ing the scene. If the file is
not too corrupted, you would be able to access the
Merge dialog which shows a list of the components
in the scene. This is a good sign because, w ith a
little effort, you can f ix the file yourself. You now
need to narrow dow n wh ich object, or objects, are
causing the load failure.
1. Start 3ds Max.
2. Choose File menu > Merge.
3. Browse to the folder containing the model,
selectthemodelandclicktheOpenbutton.
The Merge dialog is displayed, showing all the
components in the scene.
You’ll start by seeing if any of the objects or
shapes in the scene are corrupt.
4. In the List Types group, on the right, turn
off everything except Geometry, Shapes, and
Groups/Assemblies.
5. Click the All button at the lower left, and then
click OK.
If the objects appear in the viewports, you
knowthescenecomponentsarefineandyou’ll
have to repeat these steps with other List Types
turned on.
Iftheobjectsmergesuccessfully,andyouhaveto
try merging in other objects, be sure to first save
what you’ve just merged as a basis for rebuilding
the scene.
If you receive an error message, you k now one
of the objects is the offending item. Then, do as
follows.
1. Reset 3ds Max.
You now ha ve to narrow down exactly which
objectinthepreviouslistiscorrupt.
2. Once again, choose File > Merge and turn
off everything except Geometry, Shapes, and
Groups/Assemblies.
3. Selec t the first 10 objects in the list of
components and click OK.
Ifthoseobjectsmergesuccessfully,savethe
scene and repeat the Merge operation with the
nextsetof10objects. Eventually,oneofthe
sets of objects you try to merge will report the
error message.
4. Keep refining the number of objects you are
merging until you have singled out the object
that reports the error.
5. Once you’ve found the corrupt object, reset
3ds Max and merge all the objects and
components except for the object you’ve singled
out.