Obj (If you can't open .3ds). First variant with fiew edits, but not final.

Ok with a .obj I could finally load it in blender to see what was going on.

Here is the before pic:

[attachment=32358:before.png]

Here, I cutaway all the polys around the smoothing group of interest. This was the diagnostic test I suggested earlier. It cures the problem. This suggests it is because of shared vertex normals between faces across the blade. :)

[attachment=32359:cut.png]

Solution, in blender, along with make sharp (which you already have done successfully), was to add an edge split modifier, set to split edges on the 'sharp' marked edges. This forces the geometry to be split, so there is more than one vertex normal along the edge. Thus the vertex normal can be closer to the face and doesn't have to approximate between 2 wildly different faces with different face normals:

[attachment=32360:edgesplit.png]

I'm sure there must be some setting you need to make in Max to get the smoothing group to 'do its thing' (I am not a 3d studio user), because it doesn't seem to be.

And here is a more clear explanation, I've set blender to show vertex normals. Here is the original file. The normals at the side of the blade are *shared* between faces pointing in opposite directions, so it just averages, which makes it look icky on a sharp edge.

[attachment=32361:beforesplit.png]

This is after the edge split, which splits the geometry so there is a separate vertex normal for each face on the edge. Notice how the normal now points more towards the face, so you get the sharp edge you are looking for.

[attachment=32362:splitnormals.png]

With "Smooth" Modifier you can achieve any type of smoothing of normals on a mesh. You can make subselections, have some flat, some not, etc.

But I am not sure wheather and how normals of mesh affect the "Smooth Mesh" modifier, and I believe they don't.

If geometry is correct, then a proper smooth group selections should do.

I remodel blade.

Heigh poly wire is a bit different.

Low poly wire with some artefacts[attachment=32371:low poly.jpg]

OBJ after max before maya [attachment=32374:max_obj.zip]

I decided to bake normals in Maya. (I have had to fip normals on hi-res mesh in maya to bake correct)

Virtex normals on low poly [attachment=32373:virt normals.jpg]

UV in Maya. I seam UV in the center, but, when i try to use shell command i have all UV's selected (I think that there are only one UV island will be selected). Besides that when I select one virtex i have selected 2. And only when i select faces by hand i have on oppotunity to move each UV island separatly.[attachment=32375:UV.jpg]

Bake options [attachment=32381:bake.jpg]

Normal map [attachment=32378:nm.jpg] [attachment=32382:nm.zip] are there some artefacts?... I don't like bad rgadients in different little parts.

lp OBJ after Maya [attachment=32383:LpMaya.zip]

Marmoset

No NM [attachment=32379:noNMmarma.jpg]

With NM [attachment=32380:MarmaNM.jpg]

Reflections are bad.. any another artefacts..? Just in the end of the writing this post i thought that mabye I must have correct speculap map for good reflections...

Thanks everyone. Your massagers were very useful for me.

FInal basic solutions

Heigh-poly model without smoothing groups

Don't forget about smoothing groups during export/import model in different software

UV on triangle mesh

UV splits by smoothing groups (except directly blades. It can be loops on low poly I think, but result is good without that in my oppinion) [attachment=32417:uv.jpg]

Backing in 3ds Max with cage

[attachment=32416:final.jpg]

On the base of your information I find some articles and videos, that explained me a lot of detailes. So, I can model other parts fast and easy now. Thanks everyone for help