I am experiencing extremely long merge and xref delays. It takes approximately 4 hours before 3dsmax (tried 2018.4 & 2019.3) returns. I have a large Revit model (approximately 18 million polys; 800 objects) in the scene that I have tried to xref out of the scene. The xref file only takes 15 minutes to save. I don’t know what is causing the long delay after that. When I try to merge a simple object, all of the standard merge dialogues come up quickly but, once merged 3dsmax locks up for hours.
I have tried this thread’s solution scripts, cleared retimers, ran a Cleaner script, check my units from scene to scene, reduced scene size, etc.
The scene itself loads, saves and renders with now major issue, minus the fact that it’s about 400mb compressed.
Could the Security Tools be causing the delay?
Any help would be appreciated!
PS. Sorry for posting a 3dsMax issue here but, honestly I have always received better support here on 3dsMax related issues (I have posted this to the Autodesk forum as well)
I heavily relay on vray mesh instead of Xref. That only works if you use Multisub mtls (I believe the export dialogue can create one if you didn’t). This has various advantages. Better ram management, low poly preview mesh and fast scene loading times.
The only downside is the export time and file size for deforming geo. So if I want to throw deforming stuff out of my scene I still use xref.
Convert everything to editable mesh might help if you want to stick to xref. Did you try to merge the ixrefed scene into a new scene? That can fix tings sometimes. 15 mins is a huge saving time Imo. I have scenes with 50k+ objects and 100m+ polys that save much faster..
I agree. I prefer vray mesh to Xref but the Revit model still needs a ton of things fixed on it, plus materials. Generally I keep the Revit model editable and proxy props/entourage. I’ve tried to convert the Revit to xref and I’ve tried to save select out the model and then xref it back in.
The issue is whatever is causing 3dsMax to hang for hours when I try to merge or xref. It eventually does it come back (hours later)…typically only to lockup/crash on save.
I avoid linking/xrefing revit files into max, and this is one of many reasons why. If the client hasn’t organized and built the file in the correct way you can run into problems importing. Live linking too, nope, avoid.
In my experience, the whole Revit to Max process feels poorly implemented and buggy so I always ask for an .fbx export instead. You will have to spend sometime with an .fbx in max attaching objects/organizing things into layers again, but it’s worth while, you will also be able to optimize the model so that it’s clean and void of any junk the Revit file may bring in with it.
What Dan said. I never link a Revit file. Especially when it’s a hospital or some huge building. It’s an enormous pain. I just received a revit file of a simpel semi detached villa and it took me a day to clean it up and make it workable, don’t make me mention how many objects I had to redraw, because forget using displacement on any BIM geometry. BIM models unfortunately are no VIZ models.
Yes the larger the project the bigger the issue. A 400mb Revit into max would cause problems imo.
This is my process…
Import an fbx instead, imports hundreds/thousands of objects; see layer explorer (max laggy, don’t orbit or click on anything)
Hide all (max smooth )
Unhide by Revit category in layers explorer one category at a time (should be clear by the names of objects in layers list)
Select the resulting visible objects → Convert Edit Poly
Attach
Weld if necessary
Hide
move onto next category.
It can take some time, it will get quicker as you porgress but the geometry is clean and max is smooth as butter by the end of it all. I rarely have to remodel anything, maybe a few glass panel at best. Depends on the complexity of the geometry.
I’m glad I’m not the only one! Yes, I should have mentioned the Revit models was exported to FBX files. I had to link the FBX because a direct import failed. Once they all came into Max I killed the links.
I’m in the process of gutting the model to see if in doing so the problem goes away. Thanks Ashley and Dan!
Possibly Polytrans by Okino could help here. I used it a loooong time ago, before Revit, though now it does have support for it.
I also found this Revit to Max Importer | ScriptSpot
Right Hemisphere used to offer something called Deep Exploration which is without a doubt the best conversion tool I have ever come across.
Of course, with all such brilliant stuff it was bought up by some other company who decided to not sell it. Bizarre.
It’s now SAP Visual Enterprise Author and seems not to be the same thing but maybe worth a look on it’s horrible site.
Been there/done that (with different datasets, all large) via Max only and if that’s your only option then
fbx and loading chunks by chunks is the only way to go I think.
To clarify, the main issue I have is with the general merging and xref function locking up, not with bringing Revit data into Max. Merging a simple cube into this scene, freezes Max for hours.
I noted that this scene has a Revit model, because Revit data typically causes long delays and “silly” things to happen. The Revit model came in with no major issue and Max is functioning correctly…except for allowing me to merge objects (furniture, plants, splines…a cube) into the scene.
So right now I have a large vacant building with no props/entourage…I guess I could always use the “high quality” Revit furniture. HAHAHA
It’s a long shot but are there ridiculous amounts of non-model data somehow hiding in the scene, like frozen stuff or things that have names but which are essentially empty items?
Another approach would be, from an empty scene, import random blocks from the import list, then merge your cube or whatever test object, to possibly isolate what may be causing this.
I guess you already tried importing, saving, then importing stuff into a fresh scene?
The joys of archviz, LOL. I’ll get back to this project tomorrow and I’ll update the thread if I find a cause or if it goes away for some reason. Fingers crossed. Thanks everyone!
I had my fair share of merging problems with colleagues, most of the time it were animation layers clogging the whole thing. You might want to try and use Prune Scene as well, to see if there are any left. Prune Scene - best cleaner for Autodesk 3Ds Max and to clean other things that might slow down the scene. There’s a paid and free version.
… I never have these issues when all of the work is my own. Getting files from clients is going to make me prematurely age. LOL