3ds max Scene doesn't export

[Thalenberghen]

As the title states, I currently try to convert a track to KRP, but since I importet the last batch of objects to the scene, the .map file doesn't want to export anymore.
The log stays like this all the time:

"NOTE:: Starting log.
Unit scale: 1.000000"

, and you can see very soon (after 20sec or so) that the exporter doesn't do anything anymore. You can just click away the log, but no output has been generated...I already tried alot of things, but I can't seem to get it working. I think the problem might be that my scene is very large (my last .map file that worked was around 120mb), and that this is causing some problems, because earlier, whithout all the track objects loaded, it worked flawlessly. Are there any limitations for the number of objects or materials the exporter can handle? Especially the trees seem to be a problem, as I really added alot of them lately.
Help would be really appreciated.... thanks 

[Schwoni]

A problem are too big pics ( resolution) but if u say your track is very big mabe it take some time. export .map take a bit time. How long u was waiting? when i export map files it take round about 30 sec. Track is 30 - 40 MB

[Thalenberghen]

Thanks for the fast reply. I will check about the texture size, do you know what size they can be? The waiting time is definately not the problem, as I can clearly see processing power going to 0% and 3ds max works just normal after you close the log, which isnt even posible aslong as the exporter runs. It seems more like it's getting interrupted by something, as it normally took way longer to export the track (like 5-10min or so).

*Update*: The problem might really be related to the textures, as the biggest textures indeed belong to the trees. The author packed multiple pictures in one file so the size is 2048x2048, but I don't think this should already cause such a problem, because this size is quite common

[Schwoni]

biggest is 1024x 1024 or maybe max 1mb per pic. Try do resize all TGA`s to half   1024x 1024 to 512x 512 and 1024 x 512 to 512x 256 for example use only the standard resolutions 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024....

[Thalenberghen]

Mhm tried going down to 1024x1024 for the tree textures, but that alone didn't solve it  The problem is still somewhere along this, as it worked again when I additionally deleted most of the trees. 400 trees seems to be too much for it  Thanks for the help anyway Schwoni, perhaps PiBoSo can give more details about the limits of the exporter, else I'll probably have to do alot of trial and error to get the track working correctly...

[PiBoSo]

Mhm tried going down to 1024x1024 for the tree textures, but that alone didn't solve it  The problem is still somewhere along this, as it worked again when I additionally deleted most of the trees. 400 trees seems to be too much for it  Thanks for the help anyway Schwoni, perhaps PiBoSo can give more details about the limits of the exporter, else I'll probably have to do alot of trial and error to get the track working correctly...

The limits are 1.000 textures and 20.000 objects.
There are no limits for textures size.
Which version of 3dsmax are you using?

[Thalenberghen]

Thanks for the clarification. I'm using 3ds Max 2011, but the students version doesn't seem to be very stable, it also runs out of memory very easily. The numbers you mentioned should normally not at all be a problem (they are quite alot bigger than what I have). Might the problem be related to the naming of the textures? Already tried to rename the trees textures with prefix CK_TREE but didn't help yet...

*Update*: Perhaps this might help. Sometimes I (randomly) also get the following log, but the log then proceeds way too fast:
NOTE:: Starting log.
Unit scale: 1.000000
ERROR: object with no matching parent.
ERROR: object with no matching parent.
ERROR: object with no matching parent.
NOTE:: Nodes parsed.
NOTE:: Map data
NOTE:: Vertices merge 0 0.0001
NOTE:: Normals smooth.
NOTE:: Using Smoothing Groups

[Thalenberghen]

After some further testing I came to the conclusion, that it definately must have to do with the total amound of data of some kind, and not individual objects: If I cut the scene in two, both halves will export correctly.

[Aritz]

I have two different computers and I use both for track conversions. In one of them, the process can last few minutes or even seconds, but with the other, the same conversion can last 1 hour! Both are standard/actual computers, in both I can play KRP with 100fps, so they are able to handle 3dmax, but I don't know why, the conversion is very slow on one.

Try to wait next time, maybe the work is done when you are sleeping

[Thalenberghen]

Thanks for the help, but I think the problem is not, that the conversion doesn't terminate. The problem is actually, that it ends way too early: If the exporting process fails, I can see that after 10 seconds or so, because 3ds max then just behaves normally, like you did nothing (which is very different to when I export a smaller scene, which takes like 5min). It's not doing anything after this small time, so waiting wouldn't help...
Sadly I also can't test it on a different PC as I only got one license....
Only thing I can say by now is, that it's not about the number of objects, because if I just delete half of the materials, it works. So it might have something to do with the textures...
I'd appreciate any further tips, as I really don't know more I can try 

*Update*:What puzzles me, is that with the whole scene loaded, not even the .trp file, which shouldn't have to do anything with textures, is created properly. Then there's a point were the .trp works, but the .map still doesn't and only when I delete half the scene objects-wise the .map works too...

[PiBoSo]

As the title states, I currently try to convert a track to KRP, but since I importet the last batch of objects to the scene, the .map file doesn't want to export anymore.
The log stays like this all the time:

"NOTE:: Starting log.
Unit scale: 1.000000"

, and you can see very soon (after 20sec or so) that the exporter doesn't do anything anymore. You can just click away the log, but no output has been generated...I already tried alot of things, but I can't seem to get it working. I think the problem might be that my scene is very large (my last .map file that worked was around 120mb), and that this is causing some problems, because earlier, whithout all the track objects loaded, it worked flawlessly. Are there any limitations for the number of objects or materials the exporter can handle? Especially the trees seem to be a problem, as I really added alot of them lately.
Help would be really appreciated.... thanks 

An exporter bug has been found and fixed. It seems to only happen on 32bits operative systems, though. Maybe it could solve this problem, too.

[Thalenberghen]

Thanks for looking into it, maybe it will really help . At the moment I avoid the problem, by using my brothers PC, so it's definately not a limitation of the exporter, but a bug that occurs on my pc. Would be nice to hear when the new version is up, thanks.

[Aritz]

Yes, I had the same problem and Piboso gave me the key to understand it. I use 32bit windows in my computers and I had exporter error almost everytime I wanted to convert the track. I was desperate and I tried on my girlfriend's computer with 64bit Windows; no problem at all with the same 3dMax file...

Piboso: Do I have to look for the new exporter file? I am using the same that I used months ago for the other track I made, is there a newer and fixed one? Thx

[maxrod]

If you are useing btb there my be problem with some of the textures or materials that are downloaded as xpacks,you need to make sure all texture are at the power of 2 the best way is to try to make most of you object,then when they are xpacked you will know if there is a problem, I use 32 bit and i have no problems with the exporter, you could use photoshop to look at textures image image size width hight eg 64x128.

[Aritz]

I often forget to resize the textures when I am doing tests of the track and the exporter gives a clear message warning you of the bad size. So the problem probably is not the size itself. I had crashes when the texture is heavy (7mb) but again, the problem could be my computer(s)