Deleting spotlight with light linking - files with references - causes crash during file save
Symptom
Deleting spotlights (and perhaps one other type of light) combined with referenced files means the file will crash when the user attempts to save the file.
Example – maya crash – student has file A referenced inside file B. They put a spotlight in file B, adjust the light linking, and do some work, then attempt to save the file. All is just fine. When they delete the spotlight and attempt to save, however, Maya crashes every time.
Example – works just fine – if there are not references in file B (geo has been imported, etc), then adding and deleting lights doesn’t appear to cause the same issues.
Cause
Known bug in the relationship between the lightlinker node and the reference object.
Solution
No known solution exists for this issue as it has been very recently documented as a known issue by Autodesk. However there is a workaround; It is recommended that the user turn off and hide the lights effectively getting the same result as deleting without crashing.