Archive republication: This article was originally published on 4 November 2020. It has been translated into English and lightly updated for clarity while preserving the original reporting and context.
Lower GPU Texture Memory Use
Arnold 6.1 adds partial texture loading for GPU rendering. Autodesk says this can reduce memory consumption by up to five times when rendering tiled or mipmapped textures, including files in the .tx format, although the reduction in GPU memory use may be less pronounced in some cases.
The release also expands GPU support for Arbitrary Output Variable groups in Light Path Expressions and adds light linking.
Imager Nodes
Arnold’s imager nodes let artists adjust imagery before it reaches the output driver. At launch, the available nodes cover tone mapping, colour correction, lens effects, exposure and white balance.
USD and Windows Performance
The Arnold USD procedural now supports UsdLuxShapingAPI, enabling point and IES lights in USD scenes. Autodesk also reports a general performance improvement of roughly seven to eight percent for Windows users.
Further Information
Full technical details are available in Autodesk’s Arnold 6.1 release documentation.
