3ds Max: Fix Slow Scene Opening & Large File Size (Orphaned Data)

Issue: Slow Scene Opening and Large File Size in 3ds Max

Are you experiencing significantly longer loading times when opening a specific scene in 3ds Max? Is the file size unexpectedly large, given the known contents of your scene?

Causes:

The delay in opening and the increased file size could be caused by the presence of empty or orphaned data within your scene. These orphaned elements can include:

• Orphaned animation, note, or mixer tracks
• A large number of empty layers
• Empty particle systems

Important Considerations:

• These orphaned items often arise when you import or merge elements from other scenes into your current project.
• Previous scenes may have contained tracks, layers, and particle systems that are now no longer in use but persist in the current scene.
• Deleting the original objects themselves doesn’t always remove the associated data, leading to these orphaned elements.
• Merging the contents of a scene into a new file can also bring in these orphaned items.

Solution: Purging Orphaned Data

Determine if the scene contains orphaned elements:

1. Save the current scene as a new file for testing purposes. This will help avoid any unwanted changes to your original project.
2. Delete everything in the scene.
3. An empty 3ds Max scene file should typically have a file size of around 700 KB. A larger file size indicates the presence of orphaned elements.

Steps to remove orphaned elements:

You can use a MAXScript specifically designed to remove animation layers, mixer tracks, and note tracks. To run the script, simply drag and drop it into your 3ds Max scene or go to Scripting > Run Script > Open option.

For other orphaned elements, a manual approach is necessary:

Empty layers can be deleted using the Layer Explorer panel.

Particle Events can be deleted from the Particle View panel.

Refer to the attached MAXScript (if available) for removing animation layers, mixer tracks, and note tracks.