3ds Max 2016 SP2 - Bug in Arch and Design Material Template Access

By Dennis Collin 

UPDATE: 7 March 2016 -  This has now been fixed, please see this article.

It has come to my attention that the latest SP2 update in Max has caused the Arch and Design Materials to glitch slightly.

This has been confirmed as a bug by Autodesk and despite trying to repair, rename and replace the offending ‘meditfunctions’ script file the problem remains. It is reassuring to note the sample library files have been installed and are not missing!

The problem is apparent when trying to access material template samples from the Arch and Design material properties dialogue. Max just refuses to access the materials, due to some error in the aforementioned standard script. The function works fine in previous versions of max and apparently still works in unpatched versions of 2016 Max.

Max 2016 SP2 EXT2 (broken..)

Shortcut added to material library to access templates via conventional means.

A workaround can be found by manually looking for the Arch and Design templates in the standard material libraries folder off the Program Files subfolder. As shown in the above image.

The materials can then be added to the editor via normal means and customised as desired etc.

How the function worked in an earlier release; Max 2015

In this image notice the sub textures in the same material

Whilst this problem is a little annoying, the work around mentioned does work well enough, especially after bespoke material libraries have been setup and configured. The Slate Material Editor will remember the location between sessions and also become available on a right-click menu basis.. The sample material library can be located typically at “C:\program files\autodesk\3ds max 2016\materiallibraries\mrArch_DesignTemplates.mat” and not in the usual project specific ‘User’ directory structure.

As always as soon as I locate or hear of an available fix, I will advise in a future blog.