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[MtoA] Hiding the image file statistics in the Arnold log
Here’s a good example of why you might use the User Options, and how it lets you set Arnold parameters that aren’t exposed by MtoA in Maya. If you set the verbosity level to Warnings + Info, you’ll get...
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[MtoA] The curse of pymel.log
PyMEL is great. But…if pymel.log can’t be accessed, any plugin that uses PyMEL will fail to load. And MtoA uses PyMEL, so every now and again I see a case where MtoA doesn’t load, and you get something...
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[Arnold] [MtoA] How to check if your processor supports SSE4.2
This blog post is for Google search to find; I’ve already blogged about the SSE4.2 requirement elsewhere. If your processor does not support SSE4.2, the Arnold won’t run on your computer. MtoA will...
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[MtoA] The renderer ‘arnold’ used by this scene, is not currently available
// Warning: file: C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Maya2017/scripts/others/supportRenderers.mel line 64: The renderer "arnold" used by this scene, is not currently available. The "mayaSoftware" renderer will...
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[MtoA] Unable to dynamically load : mtoa.mll The specified module could not...
I have another, more general, version of this post here. This one is for new Arnold users with Maya 2017. Here’s what to do if you get errors like this: // Error: file: C:/Program...
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[MtoA] What environment variables does MtoA use?
MtoA uses these environment variables: ARNOLD_PLUGIN_PATH is for shaders. MtoA and kick use this environment variable. Arnold doesn’t (when you write Arnold code that loads an ASS file, Arnold doesn’t...
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[MtoA] UnicodeEncodeError when rendering
If you get this UnicodeEncodeError when you render # Error: line 1: UnicodeEncodeError: file C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2016\bin\python27.zip\encodings\utf_8.py line 16: ascii # it’s probably...
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[MtoA] Getting the MtoA build ID
When you contact support or log bugs, it’s nice to provide the version number and build ID of the MtoA version that you’re using. This information is displayed in the Arnold > About box. But the...
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[MtoA] Using standins with MASH dynamics
Here’s a way to use standins with MASH dynamics: instance a low-poly mesh that has its Arnold Translator set to procedural. Use a low-poly primitive as a proxy for the standin In the low-poly...
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WARNING | unable to load dynamic library .\ai_renderview.dll: The specified...
kick checks the current working directory for plugins (shaders and procedurals). That means kick tries to load all .dll/.so/.dylib files in the current directory. So if you do this: cd...
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[mtoa] Running a silent install
On Windows, run the MtoA installer with the flags /S /FORCE_UNINSTALL=1 MtoA-2.0.2.2-2018.exe /S /FORCE_UNINSTALL=1 You can use /D to specify a different install location. On Linux, use the – – silent...
View ArticleSetting up Arnold render nodes
I’ve seen several variations of this question recently. Usually there’s some confusion about “Arnold standalone” and what’s actually required on a render node. If you rendering scene files from Maya,...
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Maya standins with Softimage ass files
If you want to export ASS files from Softimage and use them in Maya, all you have to do is add the SItoA shaders (eg SItoA\Application\Plugins\bin\nt-x86-64) to the Plugin Search Path ASS files from...
View ArticleRemoving MtoA from Maya scenes
If you don’t use Arnold, but someone has saved your scene files with MtoA loaded, then you’ll get some errors and warnings when you open that scene without MtoA. // Error: line 0: The camera...
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Not the Arnold you’re looking for
Don’t download Arnold from your Autodesk Account. That’s not what you need. It’s the Arnold SDK. You don’t need that. You need an Arnold plugin, like MtoA or MAXtoA or C4DtoA or HtoA or KtoA or SItoA....
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[OSX] Getting Arnold logs for batch renders
You can get individual log files for each frame: In the Arnold Render Settings, go to the Diagnostics tab. In the Verbosity Level list, click Warnings + Info. Click the File check box. Click the folder...
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[MtoA] Jittering color with user data
To jitter color with user data, you need to connect an aiUserDataInt to the data input parameter, like this: The user data is an mtoa_constant attribute on the shape. For example, if add an extra...
View Article[mtoa] Register failed for arnoldAOVChildSelector
If you see this error in the script editor # Error: Register failed for arnoldAOVChildSelector # that means your preferred render layer setup is Legacy Render Layers (so MtoA fails to register...
View Article[MtoA] Error: defaultArnold Driver can’t create file
You’ll get an error like this if your project path has characters like é or ü or Ô in it. // Error: [driver_exr] defaultArnoldDriver@driver_exr.RGBA: can't create file ".exr": OpenEXR exception:...
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[MAXtoA] Rendering XGen in 3ds Max
You can export an ASS file from Maya (with the XGen primitives) and then use an Arnold Procedural to load the ASS file into 3ds Max. You need to add these two folders to the system environment...
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