3DS file format export problem

Hello. I have to export some models in 3ds format but ran into a problem. Blender splits edges on uv seams upon exporting. Is this normal behavior? Can this be avoided?

Cheers,
n1k

3ds is an ancient and severely limited file format.
AFAIK one of its many limitations is that it can’t handle two “UV vertices” per real “geometry vertex”. So, it’s not surprising if export automatically generates double vertices at the seams to bypass that limitation. Not splitting the mesh at the seams would mean losing/crippling the UV map, so…

Tnx man. You are absolutely right. I just tried exporting from max and it does the same thing as blender.

Cheers,
n1k