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How to convert 3ds Max (.max) to LightWave (.lws,.lwo)?

PolyTrans|CAD+DCC performs mathematically precise CAD, DCC/Animation, GIS and BIM 3D file conversions into all key downstream 3D packages and file formats. Okino software is used and trusted throughout the world by many tens of thousands of 3D professionals in mission & production critical environments, backed by respectable personal support directly from our core development team.

3ds Max

3ds Max has been the flagship DCC/Animation system of Autodesk since its introduction in 1996. It replaced 3D Studio R1-R4 which was a DOS based variation. Both were developed by the Yost Group and licensed to Autodesk.

As is very little understood, no program on this planet can read or write 3ds Max ".max" files because the full geometry modifier stack of the 3ds Max software, and its various plugin modules, are needed in order to properly evaluate the file before it can be rendered. This is what forced Okino to write its PolyTrans-for-3dsMax system, which allows for all Okino 3D converters to run within 3ds Max itself. For example, if you want to convert to/from CINEMA 4D (.c4d files) then you would do so entirely inside of 3ds Max.

Okino has a very long history with 3ds Max as it got on board in 1986 when Tom Hudson (of the Yost Group) first released "CAD-3D" on the Atari|ST computer. That program morphed into 3D Studio on DOS (.3ds file format) and then into 3ds Max (.max file format).

Note: Please do not confuse the 3D Studio's .3ds format with the 3ds Max .max format. You will find throughout the 3D industry that some companies refer to .3ds as the "3ds Max file format" but this is not true. The native file format of 3ds Max is the .max format, whereas .3ds is just a legacy import/export file format ported over to 3ds Max by Tom Hudson during the transition from 3D Studio R4 back in the early 1990s. DO NOT use the .3ds file format to convert to/from 3ds Max but rather use Okino's dedicated PolyTrans-for-3dsMax plug-in system for 3ds Max.

LightWave

LightWave is a well known and respected DCC/Animation system which has been around since the early days of the Amiga. It continues to be developed by Newtek Inc.

Okino implemented the main system to read and write LightWave .lwo and .lws files as of 1993, with the peak demand for our LightWave converters being throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, after which other animation systems became more popular (3ds Max, Maya and Softimage).

Fortunately a copy of the LightWave software is not needed to convert to/from the .lws and .lwo formats (as otherwise is the defacto case for the 3ds Max and Maya animation systems). The general scene data is stored in the ASCII .lws scene file whereas the binary .lwo file contains the geometry and material information.

3ds Max import converter's overview

LightWave export converter's overview