Thanks again @FrankieV, but I’m definitely looking towards actually animating the geometry and not using textures or materials to create a similar effect 
What I’m after is something like this:
(minute 9:34)
Being able to export such an animation would be awesome. However I’m not sure if it can be done, as the way the video creator is achieving that animation is purely within 3ds Max and without using any bones or skeleton. Are bones and skeletons needed for a skeleton mesh to get imported?