Troubleshooting Asset Browser Database Issues

If you’re experiencing issues with your Asset Browser database loading or performance, follow these steps to manually reconnect, remove, re-add, and manage indexes on your databases.

Step 1: Reload Databases

1. Open the Asset Browser in Cinema 4D.
2. From the Databases menu, select Reload Databases.
   
3. If this resolves your issue, you’re all set. If not, proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Remove and Re-Add the Database

1. In the upper-right corner of the Asset Browser window, locate and click the icon that looks like three stacked discs —this opens the Databases panel.
   
2. In the Databases panel, right-click the database you want to remove and select Remove Database.
   
3. Confirm the removal in the pop-up window.
4. To reconnect, click the Databases menu again and select Connect Database...
   
5. Locate the database folder you created, select it, and click Open.
6. The database will now be reconnected.

Step 3: Delete Index Folder

In rare cases, a database index may become corrupt.

If this is the case, here is how you can quickly fix the issue:

1. Open your database's folder located on your system's hard drive 
2. Delete the _index folder and reload the databases as shown in Step 1

Step 4: Thoroughly Remove and Reset the Asset Browser Database

This step will completely remove your Asset Browser database, including any custom databases you’ve added and all Asset Browser cache files. This also deletes any assets downloaded through the Asset Browser, but don’t worry, you can easily re-download them again later.

1. Open Cinema 4D and go to Edit > Preferences.
2. In the lower-left corner of the Preferences window, click Open Preferences Folder.
   • This will open the directory where your preferences are stored. You’ll see folders named like Maxon Cinema 4D [version]_[random characters].
   • Some folders may have suffixes like _s, _c, _p, _x, or _w. These are related to other Cinema 4D components—open the folder without any suffix.
3. Close Cinema 4D completely before proceeding to the next steps.
4. In the preferences folder you opened:
   • Locate and delete the file named settings.userinstallation.json
     This file stores your database locations and tells Cinema 4D where to load databases from.
   • Next, in that same folder, delete the folders named dc and description.db

   • Finally, go up one level in the folder hierarchy (to the parent folder), then delete the folders named _assetcache and, if present, _assets.

     The _assets and _assetcache folder contains downloaded Maxon assets included with Cinema 4D.

This process completely wipes the Asset Browser database and cache, essentially giving you a fresh start.

After completing these steps, reopen Cinema 4D and reconnect your databases to see if the issue persists.

Create an Index (For Performance Improvements)

Creating an index can improve Asset Browser performance by speeding up search and navigation, though it does not directly fix connection issues.

1. Open the Databases panel.
2. Look for the small chip icon next to your database; if it appears grayed out, your database is not yet indexed.
   
3. Click the chip icon to create an index.
   After clicking, indexing will begin, and the icon will no longer appear greyed out
   
4. This process allows faster loading and searching within the Asset Browser.

**Important**
If you add new assets to your database, remember to re-index by clicking the chip icon again.

TIP: Hovering over the icon will display helpful tooltips explaining its function.

Remove an Index

If you ever need to remove an index:

• Hold Ctrl (on Windows or Mac) and left-click the chip icon.
• This will remove the index from the database.