Render your scene

You can render your groom using Arnold. The following procedures detail the basic steps for rendering. For further information on rendering in Wig, refer to Set onscreen properties within Wig. Also note that although static grooms can be rendered while unlocked, you must lock your groom before rendering if your growth surface contains any animation.

Note

You must have Arnold for Maya installed. Verify that it is installed in the Plug-in Manager or refer to the Maya documentation to install it.

Create and assign a shader

You must create and assign a shader to a Fur node to render your scene.

To create a shader:

  1. In the Maya menu, go to Windows > Rendering Editors > Hypershade.
  2. From the Create drop-down, go to Arnold Shader Surface > Ai Standard Hair. This creates an Arnold hair shader.
Note

You can also create a shader by opening the Hypershade window, going to the Create section, and selecting Arnold > Shader > Surface. Then select aiStandardHair from the menu.

To assign the shader to your Fur node:

  1. Select the Fur node.
  2. Open the Arnold section of the Attribute Editor.
  3. In the Maya menu, go to Windows > Rendering Editors > Hypershade.
  4. Do one of the following:
    • From the Materials section, select the aiStandardHair swatch and middle-mouse drag it to the Shader box in the Arnold section of the Attribute Editor.
    • From the Property Editor, copy-paste the name of the shader (aiStandardHair) into the Shader box in the Arnold section of the Attribute Editor.
  5. Press Enter. The shader is connected to your Fur node.

View and render your scene

You won't be able to view your rendered scene clearly if you don't add lighting beforehand. To add lighting to your scene, go to the Maya menu and select Arnold > Lights. Select the kind of lighting to add from the menu.

Tip

A simple lighting option to add to your scene is Skydome Light.

You can also add an HDRI image to your lighting attribute for more realistic lighting in your scene.

To render your scene:

  1. From the Maya menu, change the Modeling drop-down to Rendering.
  2. From the Maya menu, go to Render > Render Settings.
  3. From the Render Using drop-down, select Arnold Renderer.
  4. In the viewport, go to Renderer > Arnold.
Tip

Increase the speed at which your groom renders in the Maya menu. Go to Render > Render Settings, select the System tab, and in the Device Selection section, set the Render Device drop-down to GPU.