Did i do something wrong

[Master chief]

ok with all the help i got from you guys here i final had something going my final model was a giant ring with 8 crystals that shot lasers and it looked really cool , howevery during modification to make one of the laser track a target , then i got a code 35 error folowed by a looping save error and then finaly AM crashed alltogether , now that i open the project back up the models names are still there but there empty files and i dont have previous files versions. is there something i should make sure i do so that this does not happen again

[John Bigboote]

We've all been coaching each other here on the forum (previously the 'list') to learn how to save OFTEN and in increments. Meaning, every so often as you make major progress on a model do a 'SAVE_AS' operation...with a different name (ie: new model A...new model B etc) This way you can always go back to a safe version if the unwanted should happen.

 

REgarding your specific dilemma...try opening the project and immediately do a SAVE AS... then try opening the NEW project.

 

GOOD LUCK! Don't discourage.

[Rodney]

is there something i should make sure i do so that this does not happen again

 

Save often and incrementally.

 

What is meant by this?

When you save your files you generally should save them with numbers appended to the end of the filename; ProjectName001.prj.

Then the next time you save the file don't just save it but 'Save As' under a new name/number; ProjectName002.prj. Then you can return to earlier versions of the file should you need to recover a file.

 

You'll also want to consider whether to embed all the resources (models, materials etc) into the Project file or keep them separate. But save first... then you can explore your other options. There are other aspects to consideras well, such as where you keep all of those files and what to do with the images that aren't embedded with the projects.

 

Save often and incrementally... (and consider burning the folders/files to a CD as a backup)

 

Edit: What Matt said directly above!

[KenH]

Are the models actually gone? Try opening the project in notepad. What exactly were you doing when it happened? Saving?

[Caroline]

You'll also want to consider whether to embed all the resources

 

This 'embedding' is important to understand - on occasion I have been religiously saving my project as 0001, 0002, etc, but my model was not embedded. This meant that it was saved as a .mdl on disk, and each time I saved to a different project, the same model was being overwritten, so I could not go back in time.

 

Also, I keep accidentally overwriting the Hash data I have downloaded.

 

Now on my own small projects I am trying to click Project Menu > Embed All regularly. On a big project with lots of data and different projects using the same data, then that would be impractical, so a good back up system are worth their weight.

 

On my current project, to go backwards and forwards in time, I am using MOGware FileHamster, which keeps revisions of files every time they are saved. This seems to be working well enough for me, but I haven't tested it over a long time.

[Xtaz]

Meaning, every so often as you make major progress on a model do a 'SAVE_AS' operation...with a different name (ie: new model A...new model B etc) This way you can always go back to a safe version if the unwanted should happen.

 

 

Save often and incrementally.

Then the next time you save the file don't just save it but 'Save As' under a new name/number; ProjectName002.prj. Then you can return to earlier versions of the file should you need to recover a file.

 

We can't forget one of the amazing plugins from Steffen Gross... AUTOSAVE with it, my problems gone away