Hi,
Is there a way to list out all materials that has this error ? I am finding it near impossible to find materials I have in my scene/objects with this error node.
"unable to pack file, source path …
It appears similar reports of this error in this forum, but it appears none seems to describe clearly how to resolve this problem in finding the material with this error.
I am using Blender 3.3.1 and I was attempting to “external data>pack resources” and then “external data>unpack resources” that resulted in this error.
As I have used this specific blender files many times over, I just can’t the large number of materials that has this error now. Also strangely, I did not see any “pink” material appearing in any of my objects in the scene, that usually does happen if this error occurs in my past work in Blender environment).
hi @Okidoki
Thanks for your prompt response.
I suppose what I am after is in this “report missing files” it is current default form only shows info. shown in my image above but does not tell me which of my material (which I have hundreds in my blender file) are with this missing files??
Anyway to show material in Blender with missing files error???
IDK if this would help if the textures are actuall missing and you can’t find them with this info or the find feature… so someone could make such a script… but you have to do something about the missing textures anyway… or better can’t do if you don’t have them somewhere else
First, have you placed any texture files in a directory with the Blend file, or just in another location… Do you know where you put them?
It expects the materials to be in F: ( just scattered on a separate drive?)
Now then …What is Map #2 or any one of these? are they just Material Files? or are they Texture files?
I have seen a few things like this recently and it is a miss-naming of files or textures that are imported but gets renamed in the material so they get lost… Just bad texture/ material handling and /or naming of textures.
hi,
This “Map #2” and so on are no longer needed. And their files are gone not in my computer. The thing is … it is still in some of my materials, but it is very tedious to find them … (I have hundreds of material and this problem keep cropping up for many of my project work).
So my question is, if this “Map #2” file are no longer needed and I just wanted to track and remove them from the “relevant materials”, how can I list out materials that has node setup that uses them in my material … a lot is imported objects that was very old but reused but its material are no longer relevant for my scene.
Appreciate if you can advise quick tips (hopefully not via python as I don’t know how to write one).
That needs to be rectified now and changed so that you know where each and every texture used in a material is located…it will only get worse as time goes by …
Best to use a standard workflow where there is a folder…
Folder > 3d Model Files > Blend_Files you can do this a couple of ways…it just depends on what works for you…
I prefer to create Names folders for each Blend File, and in there I create a folder called Textures…and depending on the Model ( character files especially) separate folders for the various body parts as well as each piece of clothing.
You could also place the Blend file in the Blend_Files Folder and add a Named folder to hold that Blend’s Texture files…but I would also Pack the textures into the Blend, just in case…
ORGANIZING YOUR FILES is the best advice I can give you… Hundreds of Materials?
Try keeping track of 3, 2TB drives FULL of 3d models textures and Blend files…that equates to thousands of files…
Now as far as getting a list of what uses a material…no, there is File > External Data > Report Missing Files
as well as in the outliner there is Data API that list all about the file…
The report Missing Files will place a red bar across the bottom and if you click that it will open the log window…Data API is a DNA-looking icon under Display Mode in the top bar of the outliner…
Combine all this with File > Cleanup and the choices in there, you can purge and clean your Blend Files…
Does the .blend containing the packed file still render ok after purging everything unused?
If not, have you tried to append all object etc from the old file into a new and pack from there?
Sometimes this happens to me if I import and that contains materials. And very hard to find.
So I agree, there should be a way to create a list with a trace back to who the users are.
hi,
Well yes … I did a clean “factory load” new file.
Then append selected “collections” from my “old blend file”.
My “old blend file” has “packed material” and can render well with this missing files issue. This way I believe will be “clean” as you also suggested.
So this new blend file I created with “appended collection of objects” comes with material. So after I “pack resources” and “unpack resources” (which save all texture files into the current directory “Texture” folder), this missing file errors appears for this selected few.
Note that I can still render my new file … just this “irritating” error missing files is still there and difficult to find the material that uses them.
Also I did do the “clean” and “purge” (for orphan data" etc.) but still can’t rid of this irritating missing files.
Hope new version of Blender have utilities to help back track this problem so we can have “clean blender file” especially for huge scene with hundreds of materials.
Thanks all for chipping ideas how I could do better in managing my files, which I am already doing a few months back, but I still have lots of old blend files and imported files that are not exactly clean in view of materials applied always changed for the better when we learn new ways of improving them.
