ContentLoadException was unhandled

I’ve searched more then I’d care to admit, but every post I find redirects me back to the simple solution of making sure it’s a build action is Content, and making sure it copies it to the output. Here’s to hoping you guys know what I’m doing wrong.

Image of my Ship.fbx properties

Game1.cs

#region Using Statements
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Input;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Storage;
using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GamerServices;
#endregion

namespace GameName4
{
    /// <summary>
    /// This is the main type for your game
    /// </summary>
    public class Game1 : Game
    {
        GraphicsDeviceManager graphics;
        SpriteBatch spriteBatch;

        private Model model;
        private Matrix world = Matrix.CreateTranslation(new Vector3(0, 0, 0));
        private Matrix view = Matrix.CreateLookAt(new Vector3(0, 0, 10), new Vector3(0, 0, 0), Vector3.UnitY);
        private Matrix projection = Matrix.CreatePerspectiveFieldOfView(MathHelper.ToRadians(45), 800 / 480f, 0.1f, 100f);

        public Game1()
            : base()
        {
            graphics = new GraphicsDeviceManager(this);
            Content.RootDirectory = "Content";
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Allows the game to perform any initialization it needs to before starting to run.
        /// This is where it can query for any required services and load any non-graphic
        /// related content.  Calling base.Initialize will enumerate through any components
        /// and initialize them as well.
        /// </summary>
        protected override void Initialize()
        {
            // TODO: Add your initialization logic here

            base.Initialize();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// LoadContent will be called once per game and is the place to load
        /// all of your content.
        /// </summary>
        protected override void LoadContent()
        {
            // Create a new SpriteBatch, which can be used to draw textures.
            spriteBatch = new SpriteBatch(GraphicsDevice);

            model = Content.Load<Model>("Models\\Ship");

            // TODO: use this.Content to load your game content here
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// UnloadContent will be called once per game and is the place to unload
        /// all content.
        /// </summary>
        protected override void UnloadContent()
        {
            // TODO: Unload any non ContentManager content here
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Allows the game to run logic such as updating the world,
        /// checking for collisions, gathering input, and playing audio.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="gameTime">Provides a snapshot of timing values.</param>
        protected override void Update(GameTime gameTime)
        {
            if (GamePad.GetState(PlayerIndex.One).Buttons.Back == ButtonState.Pressed || Keyboard.GetState().IsKeyDown(Keys.Escape))
                Exit();

            // TODO: Add your update logic here

            base.Update(gameTime);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// This is called when the game should draw itself.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="gameTime">Provides a snapshot of timing values.</param>
        protected override void Draw(GameTime gameTime)
        {
            graphics.GraphicsDevice.Clear(Color.CornflowerBlue);

            //model.Draw();

            //DrawModel(model, world, view, projection);

            base.Draw(gameTime);
        }

        private void DrawModel(Model model, Matrix world, Matrix view, Matrix projection)
        {
            foreach (ModelMesh mesh in model.Meshes)
            {
                foreach (BasicEffect effect in mesh.Effects)
                {
                    effect.World = world;
                    effect.View = view;
                    effect.Projection = projection;
                }

                mesh.Draw();
            }
        }
    }
}

Exception Output

Could not load Models\Ship asset as a non-content file!

Output

'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'C:\Windows\Microsoft.Net\assembly\GAC_32\mscorlib\v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\mscorlib.dll', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled.
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.Utilities\11.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.Utilities.dll', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled.
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'C:\Windows\Microsoft.Net\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Windows.Forms\v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.Windows.Forms.dll', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled.
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'C:\Windows\Microsoft.Net\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Drawing\v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\System.Drawing.dll', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled.
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'C:\Windows\Microsoft.Net\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System\v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.dll', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled.
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.Utilities.Sync\11.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.Utilities.Sync.dll', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled.
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Debugger.Runtime\11.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\Microsoft.VisualStudio.Debugger.Runtime.dll', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled.
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'c:\users\nick\documents\visual studio 2012\Projects\GameName4\GameName4\bin\WindowsGL\Debug\GameName4.vshost.exe', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled.
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'C:\Windows\Microsoft.Net\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Xml\v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.Xml.dll', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled.
The thread 'vshost.NotifyLoad' (0x1964) has exited with code 0 (0x0).
The thread 'vshost.LoadReference' (0x1f64) has exited with code 0 (0x0).
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'c:\users\nick\documents\visual studio 2012\Projects\GameName4\GameName4\bin\WindowsGL\Debug\GameName4.exe', Symbols loaded.
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'c:\users\nick\documents\visual studio 2012\Projects\GameName4\GameName4\bin\WindowsGL\Debug\MonoGame.Framework.dll'
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'c:\users\nick\documents\visual studio 2012\Projects\GameName4\GameName4\bin\WindowsGL\Debug\OpenTK.dll'
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'C:\Windows\Microsoft.Net\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Core\v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.Core.dll', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled.
A first chance exception of type 'Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content.ContentLoadException' occurred in MonoGame.Framework.dll
'GameName4.vshost.exe' (Managed (v4.0.30319)): Loaded 'C:\Windows\Microsoft.Net\assembly\GAC_MSIL\System.Configuration\v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\System.Configuration.dll', Skipped loading symbols. Module is optimized and the debugger option 'Just My Code' is enabled.

There are 2 potential causes for this error:

Most likely is that you have not built the fbx file in a content project and then copied / linked the xnb to the “Content\Models” folder in your project.

Alternatively there was an issue compiling your fbx, in which case check your settings in your content builder project

It worked! I had to do a bit of extra searching to find a fix / update for XNA that worked on VS 2012.

XNA for VS 2012 and 2013