Missing dll

[Garry]

Hi

I'm using Max 2021, Vray Next and Forest Pack Pro, all latest versions.

Whenever I try to use a model from the Library I get a 'Missing Dlls' warning for mrmaterialattribs.gup and all my Forest pack items appear grey.

I've never had this problem previously

[iToo]

Hi, "mrmaterialattribs.gup" is a compatibility plugin to handle Mental Ray attributes.
Scenes created with previous versions of 3DS Max include these attributes automatically (even if you didn't use Mental Ray), and requires the plugin to be open.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/3ds-Max-Mental-Ray-Missing-Dlls-warning-appears-when-opening-the-program-or-scene-files.html?_ga=2.106427459.1312378948.1589534224-1253900361.1528707226

As fas as i can see, "mrmaterialattribs.gup" is not included anymore in Max 2021, causing this error.
Forest libraries were saved with Max 2012, so it can be used for any Max version supported by the plugin.

Please, hold on. We must investigate more deeply this issue. I apologize for the inconveniences.

[Garry]

Hi,

Thank you for the detailed explanation, since I posted I've had it happen with some other files that I've tried to open in Max 2021. I've never used MR so I don't know where in the scene it's embedded itself, but I suspect the materials as I opened a file that caused the problem the was an extra note on the bottom of the material saying that there was a missing dll.

So it's a problem caused by Autodesk not Itoo. If I find a proper solution I'll post it here.

[Rokas]

Hi Garry

We have checked this issue, and it seems like there is a quick setting which makes life a bit easier.


Make sure to check option "Open Scene Converter...."
Let us know if that helped for You and thanks in advance for any further comments on this issue you can share with us / our user community (in case some user(s) will run into similar troubles).

[junglejuz]

This work-around is less than ideal. I had turned off this option so I wouldn't be pestered by the Scene Converter dialogue every time I open a scene.

[Nawras Ryhan]

Thanks for the workaround but I would  agree this is not an optimal solution tbh.
Another option :
under presets there is "Remove Invalid Legacy Elements" preset which will clean the file .
I would prefer if you guys batch clean the whole library so we don't need to do that manual every time we use Forest pack or Railclone .
Thank you

[Paul Roberts]

Thanks for the suggestions, we are investigating this issue. The problem is that we must save the files in 3ds Max 2012 format for compatibility, which immediately adds these dependencies back again. Hopefully we can fix it soon.

Many thanks,

Paul

[Bobby Parker]

3ds max 2021 doesn't have an NVidia folder so you need to point it to the 2020 version.

Go to "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\ 2021 - 64bit\ENU
find the Plugin.User.Settings

make sure it looks like this:

[Directories]
Additional MAX plug-ins=C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2021\PlugIns\
Additional MAX plug-ins NVIDIA=C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2020\PlugIns\NVIDIA\Plugins\
[Help]

problem should go away

[iToo]

According to our tests, this error is caused by the Mental Ray attributes, which are embedded in materiales created with Max 2016 and before.

The "missing DLL" error shows only when Scene Converter is disabled (as Rokas described in a previous post).
But even if that option is enabled, the attributes are inserted in the scene and you need to run Scene Converter to remove them.

Anyway, we just implemented a mechanism to bypass the error, and remove the attributes automatically when Library items are imported. It will be available in Forest Pack 7.