loadReferenceDepth behaviour in Maya 2015

The command file -open -loadReferenceDepth “none” allows you to open your scene without any references loaded, it is very useful for debugging or just opening a scene faster and loading only what you need to for you to work.

But if you have opened your file with this command, there is a new behaviour in Maya 2015 regarding the loading of nested references after the initial loading of the scene.

• Pre-2015, if you load a top reference with the Reference Manager, it will automatically load all the nested references inside it.
• Starting with 2015, it won’t load the nested references, but will act the same way as the “topOnly” argument works. The nested references will have to be loaded manually, but this can lead to some problems in some setups (Remap Missing Namespace). One way to load the nested references automatically is to use the file -loadReference “yourRefRN” on the top one.

Sounds like a bug to me, but who knows?

For more information about the different ways of opening scenes, check this article by Owen Burgess on Maya Station.