Autodesk has released version 7.4.5 of Arnold, its production rendering engine. This update introduces tools for non-photorealistic styles, such as a line shader and a nearest points shader, useful for motion graphics. It also includes optimizations in volume rendering (clouds, smoke) on CPU and GPU, and a new Aperture Bloom option. It is available for the main DCCs.
Technical Optimizations and Extended Support in the New Version ⚙️
The improvements in volume rendering aim to speed up calculation times on both CPU and GPU, a key aspect for complex atmospheric effects. The inclusion of the Line Shader and Nearest Points Shader expands the aesthetic scope of the engine beyond photorealism. The update also refines integration with USD and OSL, and adds the Aperture Bloom function to control the light diffraction effect in camera apertures.
Finally, You'll Be Able to Render Those Clouds No One Will Notice 😏
THIRD PARAGRAPH: With so much emphasis on making smoke and clouds faster, it seems the mission is to let us generate generic atmospheric backgrounds in record time. Perfect for those shots where the director says put a boring sky there. At least the new Line Shader provides some relief: if the photorealistic render doesn't convince, we can always disguise it with a touch of cartoon drawing and say it was an artistic decision.