How to improve render speed in Arnold

Arnold is an advanced Monte Carlo ray tracing renderer, built to stand up to the demands of VFX and animation production. It offers a powerful, yet easy-to-use rendering experience that delivers beautiful and predictable results, and lets you focus on being creative, rather than spending hours going through settings. 

In this article, let’s explore how to improve render speed in Arnold with iRender.

Why does the rendering process take a long time? You can know why it takes slow render time with the cause below:

• Unsupported Processor.
• Unsupported Graphics card (GPU).
• Outdated or unsupported Graphics card drivers.
• Render sampling higher than necessary.
• Outdated Arnold Plug-in.
• Updates missing from Maya.
• Large scene files.

Arnold rendering system requirements state that the processor (CPU) in use must support SSE4.1 instruction set. 

To determine if the processor meets this requirement, find the name of the CPU and search for it on the manufacturer website.

If a supported processor cannot be implemented, use a different renderer in Maya: Select a renderer.

Find the name of the graphics card, and confirm that the card is on the  System requirements for Autodesk Maya  list:

• Finding the Graphics Card Information for Windows
• Finding the Graphics Card Information for Linux
• Finding the Graphics Card Information for Mac

Once confirmed, ensure that the most current drivers are installed:

• Nvidia Driver Finder
• AMD Driver Downloads
• Intel Driver Downloads

Note: Mac automatically updates drivers with OS updates.

In the render settings, under the Arnold tab reduce the number of sampling set to the applicable fields. 

To learn more about appropriate sample settings, review the following resources:

• Tutorial: Intro to Arnold Sampling
• Solid Angle Guides: What is Sampling
• Solid Angle Docs: Samples
• Arnold Answers: Render Sampling 

Updates are published for Arnold more frequently than Maya. Use the following resources to ensure the latest update is installed:

• How to show the installed Arnold version in Maya.
• Arnold Downloads Page.

Where to download Arnold updates.

Maya updates are not included in the initial download of Maya, regardless of when it is installed. Updates are a separate installation process: 

• How to check what version of Maya is installed.
• Where to find Updates and Add-ons for Maya.

Whenever possible, use Arnold stand-ins to minimize overall size of the scene file: Solid Angle | Arnold Stand ins.

Previous versions of Arnold do not support GPU rendering. However GPU rendering is still supported with Arnold 6.0 and higher. So if you want to improve render speed in Arnold, you can refer to iRender’s server. We have servers with powerful GPUs to use.

Let’s register via this link and experience our service!

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