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Application Menu > Export > Select File To Export dialog > Save As Type > 3D Studio (*.3DS)
3DS is the 3D Studio (DOS) mesh file format. You can export 3ds Max files to this format.
When you export a 3DS file, the following information is exported:
- Position, Rotation and Scale animation. If the controller is a TCB controller, the TCB, Ease In, and Ease Out values are also saved. If the controller is any other type of key controller, the keys are saved but the tangent information is lost. If the controller is not a key controller, only the object's transformation at frame 0 is saved.
- Basic material color/parameters from the Standard material.
- Single maps with their amount, offsets, scales, and so on.
- Auto-cubics and Mirrors.
- Target cameras, target spotlights and omni lights.
- Most "static" parameters for cameras and lights, and animation tracks for Roll, Falloff, Hotspot, and FOV.
When you export a 3DS file, the following information is not exported:
- Composite and procedural maps.
- Grouped object transformations. There's no concept of group hierarchy in the 3D Editor. Groups export to the Keyframer because the Keyframer understands hierarchies.
- Global shadow parameters.
When you export a 3DS file, the following occur:
- All non-mesh geometry, such as procedural primitives and patches, is collapsed to meshes before export.
- Objects are exported as they exist on the frame 3ds Max displays at export time.
If you want to output morph targets, go to each frame and export the target to a different file name.
- Meshes are saved with edge display information and smoothing groups.
- 3ds Max instances are saved as Keyframe instances.
- Modifier and morph animation is frozen at the current frame, collapsed, and exported as a simple mesh.
Also, because 3DS is a DOS format, file names are limited to 12 characters: 8 for the name proper, '.' (dot), and a 3-character file-name extension. If your scene includes textures with bitmaps whose name are longer than that, exporting the file truncates the file name. 3ds Max displays a warning about this:
The name of the actual file is not changed. If you later import the 3DS file, the bitmap name appears in its truncated form, and the bitmap is not loaded. To reassign the bitmap, you need to reassign it by hand. See Bitmap Parameters rollout.