My .max file will no longer open - I get a Viz scene failed to open message.
I had just saved my file (fortunately after saving the final render) and used the HOLD feature to render some scanline passes. Viz crashed and asked if I wanted to try and save - having just saved the file I said No!
Save every hour with incremental numbers so youve always got old ones to fall back on, and set up an autoback for every 5 minutes with about 6 files to go to.
Try and merge the file in to a new file - you might be able to pull back part of it at least. Also check your autobak folder - you might have a version before it hung. Someone gave me a ring about an after effects project a few days back - he was working on an animation for around 2 months and the final was due in a few days, he had only ever saved one file and it got corrupted
I save as often as I need and often end up with over 100 saved files at the end of some larger projects. At the end I’ll delete all but the 10’s (save file 10,20…etc) and then zip all but the most recent file; Max files compress very well.