A Winning Combination for 3D Rendering: Autodesk, Intel, and HP

What do all five 2017 Academy Award nominees for Best Visual Effects have in common? Their visual effects were created using Autodesk Maya 3D animation software along with other Autodesk solutions, including the Arnold renderer and Autodesk 3ds Max. Members of the Arnold research and development (R&D) team also won the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 2016 Technical Achievement Award. The award honors solutions that “demonstrate a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures.”

Arnold offers a highly optimized geometry engine and novel ray-tracing algorithms that unify the rendering of curves, surfaces, volumetrics, and subsurface scattering. These capabilities are why the Arnold renderer is now the integrated default renderer in both Autodesk Maya software and Autodesk 3ds Max software.

Maya and 3ds Max offer modeling, animation, materials, lighting, FX, and more. Maya software is one of the leading choices for 3D animation and visual-effects artists in the media and entertainment industry. 3ds Max software is one of the go-to choices for modeling and visualization of materials and buildings for architectural and engineering artists. 3ds Max also offers a more entry-level introduction to animation that can be useful for animation students.

Maya and 3ds Max require multi-core processors, and rendering requires strong processing power. To assess the difference in performance when rendering with Arnold in Maya and 3ds Max, Prowess Consulting ran a sample rendering workload on systems with Intel processors with different numbers of cores.

We expected to see Arnold render large projects faster and more efficiently when run on Intel processors with multiple cores—locally, or in the cloud—and we did. We used Intel processors because they enable running Arnold without adding a GPU card to servers or users’ computers, which can help keep costs down. And with today’s moviegoers, gamers, and educators demanding more every year, the ability to render faster and in real-time can be crucial. If you rely on Autodesk solutions for rendering, maximize your time to create and wait less with HP® workstations powered by Intel processors.