Max textures won't reload

Yaniv Dekel

Hey guys, I ran into this random problem and hope you can help me.
In some cases after updating a texture max refuses to reload it and never updates (even after pressing reload / manually reselecting the texture). If I select a different file it switches just fine, but if after that I select the original file I want (the updated texture) it still shows the previous version of that texture. The only thing I can do is shut down max completely and relaunch.

Anyone knows anything about this issue?

I'm running 2012.

Obscura

Strange, because my Max (11) is updating the textures automatically. Because Its not "baking" it into the material, but as it looks like its reading it constantly from the texture's source path.

Yaniv Dekel

This is what's supposed to happen. As I mentioned this problem occurs only sometimes but is persistent when it does.

Yaniv Dekel

I found it has to do with the amount of geometry in my scene, after deleting a lot of it it started working properly, so it's some sort of a memory issue. However, I'm running 16 gigs so I really can't tell why it happens.

Yaniv Dekel

Still can't find a fix for this thing. Any ideas?

Memory

Because I haven't run into this problem, I can only offer advice that might lead you to a solution.

1. Try putting your texture in the same folder as your max file. Maybe Max is having difficulty finding the texture.

2. Make sure you're using a common single layer format like PNG as opposed to something that might be reading the layers incorrectly (PSD or TIFF.)

3. Check to see if the path to your file is correct in your asset tracker. To get there go to the big ass max button->manage->asset tracking.

If these or what others posted aren't working then it sounds like something is wrong with your max version...try the service packs etc.

It sounds like max is loading your texture from some sort of cache or temp directory, but I've never come across this issue. Maybe you could do a search of your hard drive while max has the INCORRECT texture loaded onto your model and see if max is caching it into a system folder.

Hope it helps.

thomasp

that's a classic and has been with max as long as i can remember using it. something snaps internally and it won't update a texture in the viewport, even if you go to the file browser and explicitly select a different one.
you also found a reliable workaround already (restarting max).

i usually limit myself to one large texture sheet in a scene at one time. everything that does not get worked on will be scaled down to a proxy size (i.e. 256, 512). that seems to keep it all manageable for a character.

the problem shows up earlier when using fx shaders utilizing various texture-slots.

for this reason for texturing actually complex assets i completely switched to marmoset toolbag years ago. i found you can feed it large images and it will update them as often as you want, no matter what. it also never crashed for me which is something max cannot claim.

monster

I also recommend viewing in the target game engine. If you are done with modeling and UVs. But try pasting this into a MaxScript Editor window and then going to Tools > Evaluate All:

(
	freescenebitmaps()
	gc light:true
	holdMaxFile()
	fetchMaxFile quiet:true
)

The only time I've run into this issue is when modifying bitmaps with maxscript, but the above code seems to reload them. IF the above does work, select the text and drag it near an existing button on the toolbar. This will make a new button you can press to reload the bitmaps.

cptSwing

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6jremskplugh920/Per128_AutomaticTextureRefreshFix.reg

grabbed it from one of your older posts a while back, perna

Yaniv Dekel

monster wrote: »

I also recommend viewing in the target game engine. If you are done with modeling and UVs. But try pasting this into a MaxScript Editor window and then going to Tools > Evaluate All:

(
	freescenebitmaps()
	gc light:true
	holdMaxFile()
	fetchMaxFile quiet:true
)

The only time I've run into this issue is when modifying bitmaps with maxscript, but the above code seems to reload them. IF the above does work, select the text and drag it near an existing button on the toolbar. This will make a new button you can press to reload the bitmaps.

Thanks. This does work, however it takes quite a while to kick in which is not optimal, and it kills my undo stack, but it's better than saving and reloading the file every time, that's for sure.

I tried the reg fix, no dice. I have no idea what's wrong with max.
Like I said before, the situation is quite bizarre. I'll try and describe it best like this:

Lets say i have two texture files. tex1 and tex2, and I have a material with tex1 assigned. If I update tex1 nothing updates in max. Not even after manually reloading. However, if I switch the assigned texture to tex2, it updates to tex2 just fine. Now, if I switch back to tex1 it will show the old version of tex1 and not the updated one.

Boggles the mind.