Arnold for Maya renderer

Visit the Arnold for Maya User Guide for comprehensive documentation on the MtoA plug-in.

Arnold for Maya is included with a default install of Maya via the mtoa.mll plug-in. This plug-in is auto-loaded, and Arnold is set as the preferred renderer in Maya.

In the case where Arnold is not loaded by default, you can manually load it via the Plug-in Manager (Windows > Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager) by enabling mtoa.mll.

Install Maya without installing Arnold

You can choose to opt out of the Arnold installation by disabling the Arnold for Maya option during the installation process.

Use existing Arnold licenses alongside Arnold for Maya

Pre-existing Arnold licenses are only consumed in situations where you need to render without a watermark; for example, during batch rendering. They are not consumed for interactive rendering with Maya.

To convert non-native Arnold shaders to the latest version of Arnold for Maya

Select Arnold > Utilities > Convert Shaders to Arnold from the Maya menu.

Difference between Arnold for Maya and Arnold

This local version of Arnold for Maya only works interactively within Maya. You can render a single frame or a sequence of frames interactively; however, batch rendering and calling from mayabatch.exe are not available and your images will appear with a watermark. See this support article Batch Rendering in Maya with Arnold Produces a Watermark.