Hidden gem of #3dsMax 2022.1. Apparently there is one important 2022.1 feature was undocumented in release note.
A new mechanism (came with a new SceneConverter API - AddSilentClassID ) was introduced in 2022.1 to allow to hide any missing plugin data (e.g., from MentalRay). In English, you wouldn't see this popup anymore. It doesn't matter if the missing plugin data is in xref or material library. The new feature will simply ignore them and will not show popups.
Here is detail from dev.
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By default, the scene contain only following types of MentayRay data which polluted scene even MentalyRay plugin was never touched wouldn't trigger MissingDLLs and SceneConverter dialogs on file open.
mental ray: material custom attribute
mental ray: Displacement Custom Attributes
mental ray: Indirect Illumination custom attribute
mental ray: light shader custom attribute
If you want to hide more plugin data for missing plugin cases (not limited to MentalRay plugins) on file open, you can:
Open 3ds Max 2022 Installation Folder\stdplugs\stdscripts\
SceneConverter.msAdd a maxscript call to SceneConverter.AddSilentClassID with the class_id you want to hide. E.g, hide MentayRay mr Area Spot light objects:
SceneConverter.AddSilentClassID #(0x0001b669L, 0x000875c2L) --mental ray: mr Area Spot
Restart 3dsMax
NOTE: On file open, all plugin data from missing plugins will be removed automatically if "Automatically remove missing legacy assets on File Open" is checked, otherwise, they will be kept in the scene, and you can use Scene Converter later to remove or convert them. Remove all SceneConverter.AddSilentClassID calls from
SceneConverter.ms will restore old behavior.