Updating Assets in 3ds Max

Feature availability 🛈
✔️ Personal ✔️ Suite 🧩 Supported 3ds Max Versions

You can update assets already in your Connecter library to reflect changes made in 3ds Max. The update process replaces the existing asset file while preserving its location, linked previews, and metadata in Connecter.

Why Use the Update Asset Workflow?

While you can manually save over an asset file using 3ds Max's standard “Save” or “Save As” commands, the Update Asset workflow provides additional capabilities:

• Regenerate Custom Previews to reflect visual changes to the asset or improve preview quality and consistency with your library standards.
• Remove old previews and replace them with new ones.
• Access the same convenient external file management options available in the Add Asset workflow.

NOTE: The Update Asset workflow shares the same preview generation and external file management functionality as the Add Asset workflow. For detailed information about these features, refer to the “Adding Assets to Connecter” guide.

 

To Update an Asset

1. Start by opening the asset you want to update in 3ds Max, or select an object in your current scene that you merged from Connecter.
2. Make your changes to the asset.
3. (Recommended) Before initiating the update, manage any external file issues: 
   1. Select the objects.
   2. Open the "Manage External Files” option from the quad menu.
   3. Resolve any missing files or path issues. This prevents interruptions during the update process.
4. When ready to update, right-click in the viewport and expand “Add 3D Asset” or “Add Material” from the quad menu, then choose your update command (e.g., “Update Asset from Selection,” “Update Material from Editor Slot”).
5. If unresolved missing external files are detected, the “Manage External Files” dialog opens first. Resolve issues and click “Proceed to Update Asset.”
6. In the "Connecter | Update Asset" dialog that appears: 
   1. Verify the auto-filled "Update Asset" field shows the correct asset.
   2. Configure proxy and preview options, external file management, and other settings.
   3. Click “Update Asset.”
7. After updating, click the “See in Connecter” button in the notification to view your changes and further organize the asset.

Working With the “Connecter | Update Asset” Interface

The “Connecter | Update Asset” interface offers nearly the same functionality as the “Connecter | Add Asset(s)” one. The only difference is that with this workflow, you update assets that are already added to Connecter, rather than creating new ones.

NOTE: The following describes only the functionality specific to the Update Asset workflow. Refer to the “Adding Assets to Connecter” guide for more details on the other options common for both workflows.

• Update Asset: Here, you must specify the asset you want to update. Click the “...” browse button and select a single .max or .mat asset from the File Browser.

NOTE: The integration automatically suggests the last asset to merge, open, or add to Connecter as the asset to be updated. Ensure the asset you see in “Update asset” is the one you want to update. 

• Update existing proxy files: Click the checkbox to overwrite the asset’s existing proxy files with the newly created ones during the update. 

NOTE: Only the proxy files created with the current renderer and associated with the selected asset or based on your proxy settings, will be updated.

• Remove existing previews: Click the “Remove existing previews” checkbox to remove any existing custom previews linked to the asset you’re updating. This is useful when generating new custom previews for the updated asset.

NOTE: The actual image files, linked as Custom Previews to the asset, don’t get deleted from the file system – they become “disconnected” from the asset in Connecter and no longer show as its Custom Previews.