Solid Angle Maya to Arnold 5.4.7 (x64)

Enhancements

-Add layer_name parameter in AOV nodes :The ability to set the layer name for AOvs has been added to the AOV editor and the AOV nodes. This means you can declare the same AOV multiple times with separate names that will appear in output EXRs (MTOA-227)
-Various normal types for triplanar:The triplanar shader has a new parameter normal_type which can be used to select the type of normal to use for selecting the dominant axis for texturing. The options are shading, which is the previous behavior and uses the smooth shading normal (this normal includes bump), smooth_and_displaced is like the shading normal but without the bump, and finally smooth_before_displacing gives the smooth normal before displacement and bump. Note that smooth_before_displacing requires that autobump be enabled. (ARNOLD-15523)






-Improve interoperability between Arnold and MaterialX shaders:It is now possible to connect Arnold closure shaders such as standard_surface and openpbr_surface to MaterialX surfaceshader shaders such as mix. (ARNOLD-15238)
-Upgrade OCIO:OpenColorIO was upgraded to 2.4.0. (ARNOLD-15477)
-Update OpenSSL to 3.14 :Updated OpenSSL to include security fixes (MTOA-2174)

USD Enhancements
-shader_override in Hydra:Arnold scenes with shader_override set in the options can be exported to USD and rendered through Hydra now (usd#2119)
-Operators in Hydra:Operators are now represented as UsdShade primitives. Arnold scenes with operators that are exported to USD can now be rendered through Hydra (usd#2110)
-Updated Arnold schemas :Legacy Typed schemas were replaced with API schemas for the corresponding USD node types (usd#2088)
-First support for versioned schemas:Versioned schemas (such as DomeLight_1) can now be rendered in USD and Hydra (usd#2145)

API Additions

-Additional metadata for parameter grouping and types:New metadata added for most base types (such as polymesh, shape, light, and skydome_light to specify information about parameters. (ARNOLD-15674)
. ui.groups - Information on the grouping of parameters, useful for applications to automate the display of parameters. This metadata was previously available for some shaders only. It is in the form of Group Name 1:param_1 param_2,Group Name2:param_3 param_4
. ui.hide - This boolean hides a parameter in an interface
. ray_vis_type - A boolean metadata for parameters that takes a byte value that represents a ray-type mask, for example, visibility, sidedness

Incompatible Changes

-AiMakeTx without color conversion:When AiMakeTx or maketx are run on a texture that has the same color space as the rendering space, a TX file with the suffix "raw" is created, following the same convention as what auto-tx does at render time. (ARNOLD-15636)
-Correct narrow space with the OCIO env var:When the default color manager node is used with an environment variable OCIO pointing to a custom config file, Arnold now use a proper narrow space for 8-bit textures, instead of assuming a narrow space called sRGB. (ARNOLD-15634)

Bug Fixes
- MTOA-2009 - Crash if unloading MtoA
- MTOA-2182 - UsdPreviewSurface not translating
- MTOA-2164 - SD Frame set incorrectly for USD node
- ARNOLD-12112 - Appending render causes buckets to be added in the wrong AOV
- ARNOLD-15247 - Fixed crash on systems with vGPUs, or GPU in TCC mode under Windows
- ARNOLD-15433 - OIDN treats AtVector as float2
- ARNOLD-15488 - MaterialX published compound with promoted color port does not render correctly
- ARNOLD-15533 - Fixed ordering of parameters in kick info
- ARNOLD-15670 - Crash when modifying vlist on an instanced mesh
- ARNOLD-15645 - Texture resolving not working with search path or path mapping in some cases
- ARNOLD-15587 - Parameter reset on an instance node creates unnecessary array copies
- ARNOLD-15278 - Crash on interactive modification of light_group or shadow_group array
- ARNOLD-15668 - Resetting a procedural node should unload its children
- usd#2129 - Fixed crashes when instancers have empty / invalid positions
- usd#2131 - Wrong transform when an instanceable prim is not xformable
- usd#2133 - Fixed crash when the root primitive is invalid
- usd#2122 - RectLight doesn't take width / height into account with scenes exported from Arnold
- usd#1764 - ArnoldUsd schema was missing from Arnold SDK
- usd#2154 - Fix regression in Husk renders missing motion and velocity data

Arnoldis a physically-based, photo-realistic rendering tool that utilizes ray tracing techniques to produce high-quality renders for CG and VFX animation.Ray tracing is a mathematical algorithm (based on the Monte Carlo Path Tracing equation) that creates an image by projecting rays into a scene, reflecting them off surfaces and toward light sources to approximate the color value of pixels. Arnold utilizes computer hardware resources such as memory, multiple processor cores, and disk space to accomplish these tasks.
Arnold for Mayawas first conceived in Spain and coded by Marcos Fajardo, who co-developed it in collaboration with Sony Pictures Imageworks. Years after its creation, the well-known company Autodesk acquired the Arnold renderer in 2016. Since then, the software tool has evolved to function with different render engines and CAD software. Without Arnold, Maya was only capable of utilizing a single processor core at a time. This is why Arnold stands out as one of the fastest rendering tools available.

Creating Realistic Materials Using Arnold In Maya

In this Tutorial I'll show you guys how to Create Realistic Materials in Arnold for Maya, We Will taking a look at the different properties of the most frequently used materials and how to create them.
Solid Angleis leading provider of rendering software for animation and visual effects. The Arnold team believe that accurately and efficiently computing light transport in CG scenes is the best way to create stunning imagery for films and TV. Developers strive to provide clients with the best rendering tools to efficiently create realistic images. Solid Angle is a wholly owned subsidiary of Autodesk Inc, and has its offices in Madrid and London.