# Blender to 3ds Max: Smoothing groups don't work as expected

**URL:** <https://blenderartists.org/t/blender-to-3ds-max-smoothing-groups-dont-work-as-expected/637244>\
**Category:** Other Software\
**Created:** [March 19, 2015, 4:53am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/blender-to-3ds-max-smoothing-groups-dont-work-as-expected/637244 "2015-03-19T04:53:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sersch](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/sersch/32/1358805_2.png) [@Sersch](https://blenderartists.org/u/Sersch)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 4:53am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/blender-to-3ds-max-smoothing-groups-dont-work-as-expected/637244/1 "2015-03-19T04:53:53Z")

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Hi guys,

I have to use 3ds Max to export meshes into our game, because we have a custom export plugin especially for Max. But neither fbx nor obj export the sharp edges in a way I can work with them. Here’s a picture of an obj export:

 ![](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/a/2/4/a24f12e83cec2464e6ec18866ec8bcc7161eeedb.jpg)  

The blender mesh is on the left, with sharp edges and an edge split modifier. When I export this mesh (without applying the edge split modifier, so my edges don’t break) I get different smoothing groups in Max for faces that share an edge, which is what I want. But the smoothing groups still touch at the corner vertices (right picture - the selected faces have the same smoothing group). For correct smoothing, faces with different smoothing groups shouldn’t touch at all, not even at their corners.

The only work around I came up with is to finish the mesh in Blender, set up the smoothing groups in Max and then export it. But that’s no real solution because every time I change something in the Blend file I have to redo the smoothing groups in Max.

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**Author:** ![Sersch](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/sersch/32/1358805_2.png) [@Sersch](https://blenderartists.org/u/Sersch)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 7:05am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/blender-to-3ds-max-smoothing-groups-dont-work-as-expected/637244/2 "2016-02-17T07:05:35Z")

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Just in case someone stumbles over this thread via Google, I’ve found a solution. Here’s how:

_Export from Blender_

- Use the same units in Blender and in Max (in my case meters)
- Apply rotation and scale
- Set all faces to Shade Smooth, mark your sharp edges, enable Auto Smooth and set it to 180°
- Export as FBX with the following settings:

Main

- Scale 1
- Forward: Y Forward
- Up: Z Up

Geometries

- Smoothing: Edge

_Import in Max_

- Activate Smoothing Groups in the Geometry tab

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**Author:** ![servapunk](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/servapunk/32/1306121_2.png) [@servapunk](https://blenderartists.org/u/servapunk)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/blender-to-3ds-max-smoothing-groups-dont-work-as-expected/637244/3 "2016-11-19T22:51:28Z")

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Thank you for the information I was also having this problem. But the bad thing about using fbx is that all the uvs that shares the same space get merged when I import them into 3dsmax. Do you have this problem? How could I solve it?. I dont have this kind of problem with obj export.