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File Lost - jpg of it remains only


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God, I can't even begin to comprehend this.

 

 

I've been working on a voxel model all night, multiple nights. I never moved its save file, or did anything to it. I've been saving to that file since naming it a day, or so, ago. Yet, 3D Coat (version 4 beta 15A) locked up after I added an object, then tried to undo it -- it happens now and then, but no big deal -- and so I exited. I just saved before trying to add the object, so I had no reason to believe anything would be messed up.

 

 

Loading 3D Coat again, I clicked to open recent file, not realizing it listed a previous named version of the file. It opened, and I saw it was the old file, so I tried to open the right one. However, that file is GONE, just not there anymore! The jpg of it remains only.

 

 

Tell me this is just a dream, or there's a magic fix fro this, please. I've looked in every folder with 3D Coat -- I never save anywhere but on my hard drive, but even so I've looked in the user data folder, temp, all over... Nothing. I see data files and xml files that were saved right around the last time I saved my project. Can anything of that be used, somehow, to rebuild my poor lost model?

 

This is the worst! Please help! Someone :(

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This is a very serious issue. I'm sorry to hear this happened to you.

 

Please email Andrew directly at: support AT 3d-coat DOT com

 

 

I'll also send your message along to him directly, as well.

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Thanks. I've sent the message along to him.

 

 

I came across the temp.txt file, which is dated one minute before my last save. It starts off with "voxel tree branch" and then I assume code for the enture mesh and layers, maybe?

 

I wonder if there's a way to restore it using that. I've saved that elsewhere under a new name, just in case.

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Good idea. I'm sure Andrew will have some idea of what to do, I hope at least.

 

Just in case, I might turn on the incremental saving feature, and make it a little more frequent than the default.

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I can do that, but I was saving frequently. I saved right before adding the new voxel layer and trying to bring in the new primitive. Once it didn't work, I quit, thinking I saved anyway, so no harm done.

 

That's the thing that really added salt in the wound. I've screwed myself over too many times in other programs by not saving. Here, it didn't matter :(

 

Sigh, here's hoping. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

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Excuse for problem, I never seen that 3D-Coat may delete work file. What is the name of folder (full path) where it was saved? Was it not some sort of Temp folder? Or folder have some permissions limitations?

If file does not exist it is not possible to recover directly, but maybe there was some other copies? Like autosave for example? Seek all files with extension .3b in your UserFolder/3D-CoatV4/ and generally on hard drive. Try to open them.

Also seek file with complex extension .tempfile.3b - I am saving last save there and if save is successful, renaming file to correct name. During thids procedure old file is deleted and temporery file will be renamer. Possibly that temporary file was not lost, please check.

Generally I recommend using autosave (Edit->Preferences) - it keeps several last copies of your work and you will never loose it. Also saving to same file is not safe - if something will happen like crash or instant reboot, file will be lost even if I am saving thrugh temporary file. Also incremental save will help to keep history backups of your work (File->Save incrementally).

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Hopefully you can find a copy (maybe Auto-save was on and you didn't realize it), but saving to the same file for any longer than one hour's worth of work, is a risky move, no matter which app you use. I have to do the same thing in 3ds Max...you never know when you click the render button (F9) that a crash doesn't occur and possibly corrupt your file.

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Thanks, Andrew and AbnRanger,

As I mentioned to Andrew in the email, the location was on an external drive, no permission limitations. No temp files, .3b, or .temp.3b anywhere, unfortunately.

Hm, I guess I know now not to save to any one file for any extended period, and will probably be paranoid now saving to alternating files every time I save, along without he auto save option on. I usually do create new files for new major changes in different applications, just in case I ever want to go back to a previous state I liked, but never dreaming a program could just make a file disappear. Corruption is one thing, but this totally is gone, like it never was. The jpg of it 3D Coat saves along with the file remains, though -- as useless as that is to me.

I'm trying a data recovery program, just hoping it can find and reconstruct the file off of the drive. Not too hopeful after all of this, though.

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Update on this issue:

 

The data recovery software I tried actually worked! It was able to find all but the saves from the final hour I worke don it, so I will have to redo a couple of layers, but it's absolutely fantastic. The software was a bit pricier than I'd like, it's $99 -- the same as the license I bought for 3d Coat! So, I contacted them asking for a refund, or possibly a decrease in the price. I will pay for it fully, though, when I get the money. I'm just not able to right now. Hopeful to get a job after learning modeling a bit better :(

 

Anyway, a miracle. Thank God. I know I could redo the model, but this just eases my mind and still saves me time.

 

Thanks for the help. I know this wasn't something anyone could plan for.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Hi everyone!


I've got the same problem.


Sometimes when I make changes to a .3b file in 3D Coat v4, I don't want to save the changes and quit 3D Coat. When I do this, from time to time, the file I edited is lost. Only the preview picture (of "example.3b" called "example.3b.jpg") still exists. The .3b file is lost. The file is not moved to the trash. It is not stored somewhere else on my hard drive. It's just gone.


Also, I have to say that, since I encountered this problem for the first time, it happens frequently.


Hopefully, this can be solved somehow consistently?


For now, I have tried storing backups of the files in different folders. But the problem really complicates working big-time, especially when you don't always look into the folder the files are stored in. Once you go back into the folder, sometimes even multiple files are deleted that have been edited at some point. It's very hard to work like that because you never know when there may be data loss.


Also, I don't really want to make new files all the time I want to save the project, because if I do this, it will generate huge amounts of data on my hard drive.


 


:(


 


Many thanks in advance,


Greetings,


Shu


Edited by Shu
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Oh wow. This is sounding like a real bad issue :( And yes, I am not a fan of the multiple files all over creation aspect of trying to get around it happening again. Luckily, it hasn't happened again, but now the fear is always there. Are you also on a Mac, by the way? I was when it happened. I've recently changed to a new PC, but I'm curious if it might be only happening on the Mac end. You never know...

 

Anyway, also notify Andrew of this at the    support  @ 3d-coat.com    address.

Edited by pgson
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but now the fear is always there.

Absolutely. I've got many files now taking about 9GB disk space. But I'm unsure how many I should keep for backup purposes.

For now, I just keep saving frequently and keep all the files until I'm ready to export the finished model.

 

And yes, it also happened in Mac OS.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I don't know which software pgson used, but there are many applications for that.

Google, for example, gives you many names of software you could buy.

You could also take a look into the app store.

As far is I'm concerned, I only used recovery software on Windows quite a time ago. And I can tell you, this kind of software can really be useful from time to time. But on the other hand, you should still be aware of the risk that comes with it. You can never be sure that a file can be recovered. And even though it may look fine, it can be damaged and you might not even know. Your computer will overwrite free space at some point when new files are generated. Then, if your computer chooses to overwrite the "free space" your file once used, the file will be damaged or completely gone.

So, all you should know: Software like that can be very useful but when it comes to data you really don't want to lose, you should not depend on it.

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Indeed. What I used was Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery. None of these programs are cheap. This one was more than I bargained for, so when I realized it cost so much I asked for a refund. I was lucky to have it active for the moment I needed. It is priceless to have as a backup (ironic wording, yes), so I do intend on purchasing something like this for an emergency in the future.

 

Letting you know which one worked since I know how frustrating this is losing your file. Sorry I didn't see the reply earlier.

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  • 3 months later...
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ok this same exact as above- just happened to me too - Mac user- 10.6.8 using version 4.0 .11 only jpg left over and 3b file is GONE -not in trash -exactly as others here describe

 

even though I have been saving this since this morning

Would say have lost about 5-6 hours of work today - not to mention my file was my final /at least another day's worth

( always do incremental saves so have ealier versions)

I probably will try the data recovery listed above

Am going to log this in on the beta thread since seems to be best place for it.

Hoping can retrieve it with the other software- 

this is first big issue ever had in 3dc - usually most stable program I use in terms of the Auto backup on crash feature etc. 

rather shaken by this

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NO one has responded on this issue!! I'm pretty upset. I spent 5 hours trying to recover my file but it is simply GONE.

I bought the expensive recovery software but it didn't work. ZERO.

 

There is nothing except the preview jpg. I do think this is a major SOS problem.

Please someone give some assurance that this problem has been or is being addressed.

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OK Javis- I'm going to report the bug as critical . I am moving on and not going to try to recover the file at this point. I figured

probably could have redone quite a bit of the work yesterday instead of wasting time trying for Data recovery. 

 

However, I will write to Andrew to see if it is solved. It is going to make my working hours full of paranoid incremental saving and backups if I don't think it has been addressed.

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Hi Ellie!

 

I've had similar happen in the past, losing hours or days of work is never fun. :(

 

I also use frequent incremental saves, and it does add up pretty quickly. The solution I've found is after a few days, or after the project is complete, I keep the last few files and trash the rest. Might be workable in your situation, so thought I would mention it.

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now that I know about this problem I'm being safe- saving incrementally etc...agree will prob trash alot of the old files later

also saved the most important layers-(my User folder looks crazy right now!!)

 

for me 3dc has never really crashed a lot...(slow sometimes)

if it does crash- I get the auto back up file with everything inside

-am assuming this is a fairly rare bug

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  • 1 month later...
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Well, I am rather new to 3D-Coat and I can tell you, I have experienced this bug multiple times.

So I guess, it's not that rare. Or maybe I'm just having bad luck.

Also, at least from my experience, it seems to have something to do with exiting 3D-Coat.

I haven't seen a file being lost _while_ actually working on it.

 

But, of course, frequent saving seems to be the best solution to this.

If you've got enough space on your hard drive, knock yourself out!

You can always delete files later on when you don't need them any more.

 

I tend to save every 5 to 10 minutes and most of the time I even create multiple save files then,

so that if one of them is lost, I don't get thrown back.

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