Is it possible to import/open directly .MAX file format in MicroStation?
3ds Max saves scenes to a proprietary binary format with the extension .MAX, which means that MAX is its native file extension. It contains all the data related to the Scene and extra ones such as, for example, radiosity values and stacked modifiers. The .MAX file format is proprietary and not published. It is therefore not possible to use this format outside of 3ds Max itself.
Some data of the .MAX file format cannot be extracted because they depend on the plug-in data used to build the scene itself. However, it is possible to extract basic data such as mesh vertices positions, mapping coordinates and others through the 3DS file format which is used to import/export files created in 3ds Max to/from other programs. Some extra data such as stack and editability, and all radiosity will be lost.
In Microstation it is possible to import 3DS format files (File>Import>CAD Files). In many cases, however, using the FBX file format or OBJ file format would be a better import/export option. The FBX format is one of the main 3D exchange formats as it is the common format to get data between Autodesk applications.
The OBJ file format is a text file format which means that the geometry is saved to a ASCII file which can be edited with any text editor. The FBX file format can also be saved in ASCII format. Both binary FBX files and ASCII FBX files use the .fbx filename extension.