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Troubleshooting

This section describes a collection of problematic situations and what you can do to diagnose and fix them. These include many common problems that are reported to Autodesk Product Support, and the things you can try in order to resolve the problems yourself.

When starting to diagnose a problem, by yourself or with the intent of contacting Product Support, you should take stock of the situation by answering the following questions.

  • What's changed since the last time I ran 3ds Max?
  • Has the 3ds Max display configuration been changed?
  • Was an updated video driver or new operating system service pack installed recently?
  • Has 3ds Max been running successfully without lockups or crashes?

Issues Addressed in This Section

Assertion Failed Errors

Merging Corrupt Files

Remember Backup Files

Boolean Objects Disappear

Creases or Ridges Show in Boolean Objects

Consecutive Booleans Results in Disappearing Components

Splines and Boolean Operations

Tips for Successful Boolean Operations

3ds Max Slows Down

3ds Max Doesn't Start Quickly

Files Take a Long Time to Open

Slow Response to Open or Drag Dialogs

Objects Disappear When the Camera Gets Close

Zooming and Panning Are Too Fast or Slow

Large Fonts and 3ds Max

Lost Dialogs and Windows

Missing Command Panel

Missing Transform Gizmos

Multiple or Missing Buttons on the Toolbars

Direct3D Failed to Initialize Message

Dual-Monitor Configuration

Spanning Across Monitors

Viewport Transparency

Using Tools Causes Crashes

Missing or Corrupted UI Elements

Topics in this section
  • Handling File Corruptions
    When you to open a scene and get an Assertion Failed error, File Open Failed error, or the file does not load. It often means that the file is corrupt.
  • Fixing Boolean Problems
    Boolean operations are a powerful addition to your modeling toolbox; however, they can sometimes give strange or unexpected results. The Boolean button is found on the Create panel in the Compound Objects list; it allows you to join, subtract, intersect, and cut objects. Following is a list of problem scenarios and steps you can follow to fix them.
  • Performance Issues while Running 3ds Max
    Slow or sluggish performance while running 3ds Max can usually be attributed to either a video configuration conflict or a memory allocation problem. The hard thing about performance problems is narrowing down the culprit.
  • Problems Caused by Unit Settings
    The unit settings of a model can often get you into trouble. Understanding some of the common problems can help you avoid them. This section addresses the two most common problems that modelers encounter.
  • User Interface Problems and Recovery
    This section addresses several common user-interface situations and how you can fix them.
  • Video Driver and Display Problems
    Because 3ds Max heavily relies upon the graphics card in your system, many problems that you might encounter while using 3ds Max can be attributed to the video. Such problems include slow performance, refresh delays, user interface discrepancies, and so on.
  • Command Line Error Codes
  • Licensing Error Codes
  • Problems Created by Corrupted User Settings
    Sometimes files are corrupted or have missing elements which cause problems like crashes when using tools, erratic Viewport manipulation, loss of keyboard shortcuts, missing or damaged UI elements, scene item linking issues, and so on. This section tells you how you can selectively restore defaults to address these issues.

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