not the one I meant: http://graphics.uni-konstanz.de/~luft/ivy_generator/ and that one is standalone and compatible with all 3d applications because it exports OBJ files at the end.
It actually is a problem with the .3ds format. Since it is such an old format it doesn't support smoothing properly. You're better off using the .obj format if you can.
I thought microsoft's new ribbon stuff was meant to replace the toolbar and menu not be thrown down below it. Also, why is OBJ importing a "new feature" ?
If I get weird behavior in Maya, I always delete history and freeze transformations. If it still fails, I export the mesh as an OBJ, and reimport it (though that's a rare occurrence).
Using dDo? Bake OBJ space, convert with handplane to Unity tangent space for use in the 3Do previewer. You will get perfectly matching tangents, so no shading errors.
apply an edit mesh modifier and then export as an obj, should fix the issue. i've had it a few times, i can never replicate it but i know that fixes it for me.