Yes, as Eric pointed out, Gradient Ramps are an easy method. I'm not familiar with Modo, but my guess is that if there is something you can do in it, there is one to 10 ways to accomplish it in Max. One of the things to learn in Max is learning a bunch of the procedural tricks where one system can drive another. In this…
OK, that is a little different. In some cases, it might be as simple as turning on Edge Distance and/or turn off affect back facing. But in your example, it wouldn't help. Here is a method to produce the results (although a little odd). Select the desired sub object selection with Soft Selection OFF. Then with that sub…