Save file corrupted? rendering problem?(I mean really, what?)

[GoogleyGareth]

Alright guys here's a big one. I have NO idea what the problem is after basically trying to remove all the variables.

Problem: When I load my save on sfm it crashes.

Details: The save takes place in the hotel map of left 4 dead 2. It contains l4d2 models, 4 lights, and 3 tf2 models (maxxys ones, material has also been custom changed)

So I saved this yesterday and I have been loading the save before then, so the problem must have been created when it saved last night. No special models have been added to the project. it's just the same things that I had loaded beforehand.

What I've tried: My first idea was to verify the application cashe. I thought "If I cant edit the save at all, may as well." So by doing that, it changed the gameinfo back to normal. Which means the 'Game...left4dead2' and such that I had mounted had been removed. Not a big deal, I just need to type that in again so it can find the files. Before I did that however, I tried loading the save again. It "Worked, but I had no map loaded. I could edit everything, except I couldn't see anything. So I thought "well that isn't much of a big problem. I can access the animations and such, all I need to do is load another map and that will be that.". So I choose a map that I know wont cause any problems, blackvoid.

Nope. Same problem. It loads for a while, then crashes without warning. I was thinking that if it isn't the map that is causing the crash, maybe its the left 4 dead 2 models still in the project that I have spawned. It may be trying to load them and, because it cant find them, it could be causing this crash. So I restart sfm and load the project with no map again. I delete all the animation sets that are used in l4d2 and try again. Same-Problem. (Anyway it should come up with an error sign over the model because I tried this with another save with l4d2 assets and it was fine)

This is already confusing me. Not only does it crash when I load another map, but when I remove anything related to l4d2 it crashes.

My only assumption is that it has nothing to do with l4d2 at all (I assumed it was this because its the most dodgy, having being mounted then having its materials from another directory and such via fix.) so the next thing I thought was that if this problem was recent, it must have something to do with the recent takes I created. so I loaded it up again, keeping the left4dead2 directory in the gameinfo removed (because as soon as it loads any map, it crashes) and, just to be safe, deleted all the takes apart from the first one, one I haven't edited since I started about a week ago, that I have loaded since then. I then tried to load a map. Crash.

I can only assume after I stopped flipping out that it was a rendering problem. One of the models (apparently not the l4d2 models) are having trouble rendering. The only thing that was left really was the maxxy models. The ones I spent the most time animating. The ONLY reason I care about the project so much is their animations I spent so much time on. I loaded other projects with all three of them in it absolutely fine, I even created a new project with the same map and roughly the same models, then save/quitted and then loaded back and it worked fine. It's just this one save that doesn't want me to touch the tf2 models. Yes, I deleted them from the project and then loaded it, same problem.

Guys, I [B]desperately[/B] need a reasonable explanation for this. Even if I cant get the animations back and there is no solution, I just need to know what the problem is, because it's pissing me off so much that I might have to spend 2 weeks animating the same shit again.

Yours sincerely

A Pissed-off animator.

[Noob©]

Try reading the console command when you load our save and see if you get a WHOLE load of red text.
SFM constantly fucks up me on so I had to reinstall it once every couple of months (3-5) so this doesn't happen.

Once a file gets cluttered with stuff, things can get real unreasonable. I once had to wrestle with SFM for 3 days just to get it to load properly so I can attempt render.

Why don't you make a copy of the save file, then try deleting that maxxy model?