Others have shared that they are experiencing the same issue that I am experiencing. I will be working on a project, and it will work fine with no apparent issues, no kind of lag or such.  I stop and save the project. When I come back to start it up, the file starts to load normally, but just before completing, it stops and up pops the message "Failed to load file". 

This has happened repeatedly, with smaller project files as well as larger ones. It is difficult to figure out a common thread. I updated my Nvidia drivers, and I thought that helped, but then the issue started cropping up again. 

At one point I thought that the problem was possibly associated with using some old legacy animations, but even after I stopped using them, I continue to get the problem (though less often) 

It is extremely annoying to lose this work over and over. I have tried to compensate by only doing very brief projects with just a few seconds of animation, rendering that, then saving a version of the project with all the animation removed. But it's a pain in the neck, and piles up all these extra project files. 

I do think there is some issue with the way Iclone 8 saves animations that may be causing this "Failed to load file" issue.   The difference in size between project files saved with animations and the same one saved without animation is often much, much greater. 

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Hi, Cary B

I am so sorry to hear this, can you provide me one of your project file which cannot load into iClone 8, thanks

Luke

Hey Luke, thanks for the response. I'm happy to send a file. Where should I send the email with the link?

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Hi, Cary B

You can use the private message to send me the file link, thanks

Luke, I haven't heard from you, but I am assuming that the file I sent you could not help you locate the problem. 

Here is something that might. I have had this "Failed to Load File" error at random times, and have started saving two safety copies on two different drives. Yesterday I had the issue and it occurred on BOTH safety copies from both different drives. 

The changes between the versions of the project were very small between the previous file that had loaded successfully and the one that failed. I began to experiment. 

Eventually, I discovered that when I replaced a full CC4 character with a lower-poly LOD version of the character, and saved the project, that difference alone would cause the "Failed to Load File" error. I often will switch to smaller LOD versions of a character when I have completed all close renderings of the avatar, but still need the figure to be seen in the background. 

There must more involved, though. I tried this with just a single avatar in a project, switching back and forth to different versions, and had no issues. It may be that the project has to be a certain size before this error is triggered. My projects are often large with complex sets and a lot of figures. Or there may be some entirely different issue. 

But at least there is some direction to look into here. I will keep experimenting.

 Is no one else experiencing this problem? 






 

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More experimenting has shown that some avatars that have been created using the InstaLOD remesher in CC4 work fine and do not seem to cause the "Failed to Load File" problem. 

But others, even when they are the only thing in the project, will cause the issue. 

Here is a process that I have repeated with different avatars. Can others duplicate this? 

1. Load an old CC1 avatar into CC4
2. Upgrade the CC1 avatar to CC3 avatar
3. Apply the CC3 traditional facial expressions  (this new avatar will work fine in Iclone 8 and will not cause the "FTLF"  issue)
4. From this avatar create a lower poly version using the InstaLOD remesher (I don't think specific parameters matter, but I haven't tried them all)
5. Take the LOD avatar into Iclone 8. You can animate it, it works fine, though as an LOD model there will be no facial expressions. There is no indication of a problem. 
6. Save the project 
7. Attempt to load the project you have just created.  (I always get the "FTLF) error when I do.) 

I am still experimenting. Avatars that I created earlier using CC3 so far have not exhibited this issue. More soon.

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Further experiments show this apparently does not happen with the CC characters included with Iclone. It does happen with a number of my DAZ imported characters, which are mainly what I use. 

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That would happen to any characters which have at least one accessory (even CC4 characters like Camila).
Accessories are causing various problems with export/import since CC3. Latest related ticket: https://www.reallusion.com/FeedBackTracker/Issue/Reimported-Accessories-are-invalidated-after-detaching
And the issue you have described is another one in a chain.
You should open another ticket or add a comment at the above.

Thanks for the info on the ticket about the accessories. It certainly seems related. I will add a comment there and also create a new ticket, now that I have some understanding of the cause for all the "Failed to Load File" errors randomly occurring in my projects. 

This is such a relief to me because now I can at least test the different avatars and eliminate the ones that cause the problem. All those lost hours of work are now hopefully a thing of the past. and I no longer have to clog up my drives with so many multiple safety copies of the projects. 

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I am having the same problem.

I have lost a lot of work over the last 5 days due to this problem.

I am using LOD versions of characters and very similar to Cary B using Daz props, sets and characters, including poses for my sets. My project is a large scale project and I have to use LOD remeshing.

I have characters at the 'LOWEST' setting of exported iAvatars all created originally in CC3 but then I moved over to CC4  from where I did the exports as LOD files and exported them into iClone 8.

The problem has occurred on two different projects:

1. About 2.9 GB in size.
2. About 1.9 GB in size.

It is infuriating and frustrating with anxiety going through the roof every time I am saving now with the worry the file will not open again. I too am keeping backups and now the latest 2 backups will not work for the project (2).
Project (1) I had to re-create it all over again character by character.

This needs an urgent fix or workaround. I have a project with a deadline of 23/08/22. And now I am very worried I will not be able to complete it due to this huge loss of work and stress trying to find out why this is happening.

Can someone please help with this?

Regards,
Sam