AOV Shaders

Enable AOVs on the Render Output
Examples

Further Reading
AOV Read and AOV Write shaders in the Arnold User Guide for the full shader documentation.
AOVs for information on adding AOVs in Houdini
Tutorials for tutorials about AOVs

Enable AOVs on the Render Output

Before writing to an AOV, you have to add the AOV in the Arnold ROP and give it the same name used in the AOV Write shader. The AOV type must also be set correctly.

Examples

AOV Write Int

The AOV Write Int node can be used to create an ObjectID AOV.



'ObjectID' added using the Attribute Create node



'ObjectID' added to AOV Write Int (AOV Name)

AOV Write RGB

The user data node collects the ObjectID attribute from the geometry and passes it to the ObjectID AOV.

Daisy-chain vs Passthrough

Each AOV Write has a passthrough, allowing multiple nodes to be daisy-chained together. However, it may be simpler to use the Passthrough shader, which allows parallel evaluation in a shader network. This will also make it easier to ensure an AOV has been written before being read by placing it further down the eval list.



Shader network using the Passthrough shader