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Tip

Use the auto increment file number and Save button to save progressive versions of a scene. This is an easy version control system. If you need to backtrack to an earlier version, you can. •

The Application Button⇒Save As⇒Save Copy As menu command lets you save the current scene to a different name without changing its current name. The Application Button⇒Save As⇒Save Selected option saves the current selected objects to a separate scene file. If you create a single object that you might use again, select the object and use the Save Selected option to save it to a directory of models.

Tip

Another useful feature for saving files is to enable the Auto Backup feature in the Files panel of the Preference Settings dialog box. This dialog box can be accessed with the Customize⇒Preferences menu command, which is covered later in this chapter. •

Archiving files

By archiving a Max scene along with its reference bitmaps, you can ensure that the file includes all the necessary files. This is especially useful if you need to send the project to your cousin to show off or to your boss and you don't want to miss any ancillary files. Choose Application Button⇒Save As⇒Archive to save all scene files as a compressed archive. The default archive format is .zip (but you can change it in the Files panel of the Preference Settings dialog box to use whatever archive format you want).

Saving an archive as a ZIP file compiles all external files, such as bitmaps, into a single compressed file. Along with all the scene files, a text file is automatically created that lists all the files and their paths.

Opening files

When you want to open a file you've saved, you may do so by choosing the Open icon on the Quick Access toolbar or Application Button⇒Open (Ctrl+O), which opens a file dialog box that is similar to the one used to save files. Max can open files saved with the .max and .chr extensions. Max also can open VIZ Render files that have the .drf extension. Selecting a file and clicking the plus button opens a copy of the selected file with a new version number appended to its name.

Cross-Reference

The Application Button⇒Open menu also includes commands for opening files from Vault. Vault is a version control system for Max resources. It is covered in more detail in Bonus Chapter 4, “Using Asset Tracking.” •

If Max cannot locate resources used within a scene (such as maps) when you open a Max file, then the Missing External Files dialog box, shown in Figure 3.6, appears, enabling you to Continue without the file or to Browse for the missing files. If you click the Browse button, the Configure External File Paths dialog box opens, where you can add a path to the missing files.

FIGURE 3.6

The Missing External Files dialog box identifies files for the current scene that are missing.

Note

If Max cannot locate missing files, a similar warning dialog box also appears when you try to render the scene with missing files. •

If you open a file saved using a previous version of Max that includes features that have changed since the previous version, then Max presents an obsolete data format warning statement. Resaving the file can fix this problem. However, if you save a file created with a previous version of Max as a Max 2012 scene file, then you won't be able to open the file again in the previous versions of Max.

Tip

You can disable the Obsolete File Message in the Files panel of the Preference Settings dialog box. •

Note

You can also open files from the command line by placing the filename after the executable name, as in 3dsmax.exe myFile.max. You can also use the –L switch after the executable name to open the last file that was opened. •

Setting a Project Folder

By default, Max's Open File dialog box opens to the Scenes directory where Max is installed, but you can set a Project Folder that may be located anywhere on your local hard drive or on the network. All file dialog boxes will then