Viewport Rendering

You can render with Arnold in the Maya viewport by changing the viewport Renderer to Arnold. Some of the Arnold RenderView options are available in the viewport:

  1. Start/stop Arnold in the viewport. Right-clicking this icon gives you the option to open the Arnold Viewport Settings or Update Full Scene.
  2. Define a crop window.
  3. Enable Accelerated Viewport to accelerate the viewport render using GPU rendering and DLSS denoising.
  4. Set the viewport render resolution.
  5. Set shading to debug mode.
  6. Select display channels (AOVs).

Arnold Viewport Options

Accelerated Viewport

Speeds up the viewport render using GPU rendering and DLSS denoising.

Viewport Playback FPS

Sets the target frame rate specifically for viewport playback and timeline animation updates during Arnold rendering. Unlike Set Target Interactive FPS, which controls interactive rendering responsiveness, this setting affects playback smoothness while the timeline is playing.

Set Target Interactive FPS

Defines the target frames per second for interactive rendering in the viewport. Arnold dynamically adjusts rendering quality to maintain this performance level during interactive sessions.

Heads Up Display

Show Status in HUD

Displays Arnold rendering information, such as render progress, sampling, and performance metrics, as a heads-up display (HUD) in the viewport.

Accelerated Viewport always displays the elapsed render time. Progress percentage is calculated differently than in the standard viewport to better reflect accelerated rendering.

Select HUD Color

Specifies the color of the HUD text and overlay displayed in the viewport. Useful for improving visibility against different scene backgrounds.

Select HUD Opacity

Controls the transparency of the HUD overlay.

Display Options

Enable Maya Background

Displays the Maya background (enabled by default) with the Arnold render enabled in the viewport.

Sync Wireframe to Render

Draws the selected wireframe directly on top of the rendered geometry so it stays aligned with the rendered object instead of appearing offset or floating above it. Enabled by default.

Parent page: Rendering