AS322535 Rendering your Revit project with 3ds Max Arnold – The Basics Jean-Pierre van Gastel Tech Data – Datech Solutions Learning Objectives • Learn how to setup the Arnold render engine in 3ds Max • Learn how to render imported Revit lights and how to control the quality • Learn how to denoise your rendered images utilizing NVIDIA’s RTX technology • Learn about the Arnold Standard Surface parameters Description During this presentation, you’ll learn how to start using the Arnold rendering engine that is part of 3ds Max software. Lighting is a crucial element in architectural design. Based off an imported Revit file, you’ll learn what kinds of lights Arnold offers to help tell the story of your design. Besides exploring different Arnold lighting techniques, you’ll get a much better understanding of the most important Arnold render settings. This will include the advantage of NVIDIA’s RTX- based technology, which will help denoise your image in a split second. We’ll also explain the Arnold standard surface material to give you a much better understanding of the next step in the world of 3ds Max materials. The presentation will end with some smart vegetation techniques that don’t slow down your Arnold rendering at all. Speaker(s) I started using Autodesk products twenty-seven years ago. After learning AutoCAD 12 and 3D Studio DOS version 3.0 I started my long career as an AutoCAD draftsman. I became part of Autodesk distribution in 1995 and started delivering technical training and support for AutoCAD and 3D Studio resellers in the Benelux region. As it is today, I’m still part of Autodesk distribution and I do support Autodesk and the Autodesk resellers in Benelux, UKI and the Nordics. 3ds Max is the product where I’m currently focusing on. Page 1 Contents Rendering your Revit project with 3ds Max Arnold – The Basics ................................................ 1 Common Parameters in the Render Setup Dialog box ........................................................ 4 Arnold Renderer settings .................................................................................................... 5 3ds Max Scene Converter ..................................................................................................11 Arnold Buddy Script ...........................................................................................................12 Solving different errors/warnings ........................................................................................12 3ds Max Physical Camera Exposure Control .....................................................................16 VFB+ Render Frame Window Script ..................................................................................17 3ds Max ActiveShade in 3ds Max 2020 Floating Viewport .................................................18 Arnold Lights ......................................................................................................................18 Shader Override in Arnold 3.2.57 .......................................................................................19 Arnold Skydome Light ........................................................................................................20 Arnold Quad Light ..............................................................................................................28 Arnold Distant Light ............................................................................................................29 Arnold Cylinder Light ..........................................................................................................30 Arnold Disk Light ................................................................................................................30 Arnold Photometric Light ....................................................................................................31 Arnold Point Light ...............................................................................................................31 Arnold Spotlight..................................................................................................................32 Arnold Mesh Light ..............................................................................................................33 OptiX™ Requirements .......................................................................................................34 Apply on Beauty .................................................................................................................35 OptiX GPU denoiser in ActiveShade ..................................................................................37 Arnold CPU Denoiser .........................................................................................................40 Getting Started with Arnold GPU ........................................................................................46 Matching Noise on CPU and GPU .....................................................................................48 Textures .............................................................................................................................49 ActiveShade GPU Denoising .............................................................................................49 Physical Materials vs Arnold Standard Surface ..................................................................50 Arnold Standard Surface ....................................................................................................50 Energy Conversation .........................................................................................................51 Standard Surface Basic Parameters ..................................................................................51 Specular Reflections ..........................................................................................................52 Page 2 Transmission .....................................................................................................................58 Sub-Surface Scattering ......................................................................................................63 Emission ............................................................................................................................67 Thin Film ............................................................................................................................68 Special Features ................................................................................................................69 Sheen ................................................................................................................................69 Coating ..............................................................................................................................71 Coat Normal (Bump) ..........................................................................................................72 3ds Max tools and scripts ...................................................................................................75 Page 3 Learn how to setup the Arnold render engine in 3ds Max The Arnold render engine is included in 3ds Max since 3ds Max version 2018, although it’s not set as the default renderer. To change the 3ds Max renderer to Arnold you’ll need to open the Render Setup dialog box (F10). For best practices you should both set the Production Render and the Active Shade to Arnold. Both Production and ActiveShade mode set to the Arnold render engine Common Parameters in the Render Setup Dialog box In the Command Parameters tab, you won’t find any Arnold specific parameters. The two most important options are the Time Output (Single frame or Active Time Segment) and the Output Size (resolution of the rendered image). I’d like to set the output size to 1280 x 720 for test renders but that’s just a personal preference. Page 4 Arnold Renderer settings In the Arnold Renderer tab in the Render Setup dialog box you’ll find the most important Arnold render settings. MAXtoA Version The currently installed version of the Arnold renderer is showed in the MAXtoA Version rollout. If there’s a new version available you’re able to click on the new version link which will point you to the www.arnoldrenderer.com website. Arnold is a plug-in so there’s no need to completely uninstall 3ds Max. Installing the updated Arnold plug-in will do. Page 5 Sampling and Ray Depth roll-out In the Sampling and Ray Depth roll-out in the Arnold Renderer tab you control the quality of the rendered image. Quality is expressed in samples and higher samples will yield into better quality (less noise) but longer render times. Camera (AA) samples Supersampling control over the number of rays per pixel that will be traced from the camera. The higher the number of samples, the better the anti-aliasing quality, and the longer the render times. The exact number of rays per pixel is the square of this value. For example, a Camera (AA) samples value of 3 means 3x3 = 9-pixel samples. In practice, you may consider using a value of 4 for medium quality, 8 for high quality, and (rarely) 16 for super-high quality. This control acts as a global multiplier of all the different rays, multiplying the number of Diffuse and Specular rays. Motion blur and depth of field quality can only be improved by increasing Camera (AA) samples. Camera (AA) samples multiply Diffuse, Specular, and light samples after being squared. For example, 6 Camera (AA) samples and 6 Specular samples = 62 x 62 = 1296 rays per pixel