AUTHOR PROFILE
Paul Hatton After graduating with a first-class computer science degree, Paul Hatton has spent nearly two decades working within the 3D visualisation industry.
+ PROS
Long-established renderer
Standalone and plugin options available
Good for amateurs and pros
- CONS
Mostly improvements rather than new features
Render times on the CPU can be long
ARNOLD IS WIDELY AVAILABLE
One of Arnold’s strengths is that it’s widely available. It is of course available on Autodesk’s flagship products, 3ds Max and Maya, but it’s also possible to get it for Cinema 4D, Houdini and Katana. If you’re already a 3ds Max or Maya user then you’ll find it built-in as the interactive renderer. Aside from plug-in options there is also a standalone version which runs on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.