This makes a simple parametric surface:
surface =
ParametricPlot3D[{Cos[u], Sin[u], v}, {u, 0, 2 \[Pi]}, {v, 0, 1}]

This exports it in Maya format:
Export["cylinder", surface, "Maya"]
And this exports it in 3DS format:
Export["cylinder.3ds", surface, "3DS"]
I can't say why the example you gave didn't export. If you post the expression that created the surface, I can take a look.
Chris