Tip [3DS Max 8] Troubleshooting common errors/glitches

3DS Max 8 is an old program. On newer systems there are bound to be errors from time to time. Here is how you can resolve those issues if/when the pop up:

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DLL Error:

In random and rare cases when opening the program you may receive a DLL error. As far as NR2003 development is concerned it has no effect.



Solution: Close the Program and reopen it. If DLL error persists system restart usually cleans it up.


Right click viewport menu rendering glitch:

Sometimes when you are editing a model you may accidentally hit right click in the viewport, while this context menu is useful on some PC's after it is opened it will cause a permanent pixel bake on your screen, even if you minimize the program it still appears:



This occurs more often in scenes you have open that have a lot of model and textures.

Solution: Close the Program and reopen it.

 

[Mystical]

A new error I found when reinstalling 3DS MAX 8 on Windows 11:

Program hangs forever on Launch screen:

3DS Max 8 hangs on the splash screen getting stuck as it loads plugins. The program will never launch regardless of compatibility mode or restarting pc.


Solution: Observe the folder directory the splash screen is stuck on. It most likely is stuck on a file called 'mentalray.dlz'. To fix follow these steps:

1) Close 3ds max 8 via task manager killing the EXE

2) Go to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\3dsMax8\stdplugs and locate the file 'mentalray.dlz'

3) Either move this file out of the 3ds max folder directory or simply delete this file (most likely you will never be using this old program to do mental ray renders so its not important for NR2003 mod creation.

4) Start 3DS Max 8 again, program should finally load as expected.