I can't think of what can be done with smoothing groups that is impossible with hard edges. ALSO There is workaround in 3ds max to control hard edges: In editable poly turn Use NURMS subdivision on. Set iterations to 0 so it won't actually subdivide geometry. Now crease spinner controls hard edges: 1 means hard, 0 means…
Two points: 1) Often my models have normal maps and the smoothing is all in the same group, sometimes one group per separate object if there are multiple objects/elements. That doesn't mean I don't use smoothing groups, I do. I just don't use them for smoothing, heh. A hard edge on a high poly is often too hard and I would…