Top 6 render farms for Arnold rendering
In this article, we will review and introduce you to the top 6 render farms for Arnold rendering. We will see if the render farms support Arnold fully with the latest version, and with all 3D software compatible.
Arnold is an advanced Monte Carlo ray tracing renderer built for the demands of feature-length animation and visual effects. This is an industry standard software for movies and theater, easily integrated into your pipeline, supporting many features and plugins. You will never be disappointed with the realism Arnold can achieve in your project. Arnold is used in many fields: realistic 3D characters, photorealistic designs, and complex scenes for film and TV, games, and design visualization projects. You can use Arnold on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Arnold can support both CPU and GPU. Autodesk has 2 versions, Arnold and Arnold GPU, with Arnold supporting CPU rendering, while Arnold GPU supports GPU and/or the CPU (from Arnold 5.3). You can easily switch between them.
Arnold works seamlessly with 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Houdini, Katana, Maya, Softimage. (Only till SItoA 4.0.0).
Table of Contents
Why use render farms for Arnold?
Render farm is a group of networked computers, used for rendering images, animations. There are two types of render farms – SaaS and IaaS. We have introduced them to you in our series of overview of render farms. You can see this article about choosing the most suitable platform for your project (SaaS vs IaaS render farm: which is better for rendering your projects).
Arnold, as said above, can run on both CPU and GPU. Even though it’s easier to buy a good CPU than buying a good GPU, it’s still not enough if your project is complex and needs to be processed within a short amount of time. Therefore, render farms exist to solve the problem of render efficiency.
Top 6 render farms for Arnold rendering
This list is not a ranking. We only introduce them in alphabet order. We will try to list the version of Arnold they support, the 3D software and other plugins you can use, and some advantages and disadvantages.
You should get used to the call of Arnold for each of these software:
- MAXtoA is the plugin for Autodesk 3ds Max which allows you to use the Arnold renderer directly in 3ds Max.
- C4DtoA is the plugin for Maxon Cinema 4D which allows you to use the Arnold renderer directly in Cinema 4D.
- HtoA is the plugin for SideFX Houdini which allows you to use the Arnold renderer directly in Houdini.
- KtoA is the plugin for Foundry Katana which allows you to use the Arnold renderer directly in Katana.
- MtoA is the plugin for Autodesk Maya which allows you to use the Arnold renderer directly in Maya.
- SItoA is the plugin for Softimage which allows you to use the Arnold renderer directly in Softimage.
Fox Renderfarm
Fox Renderfarm is from China, established in 2009. It’s a well-known render farm which is the choice of many 3D artists, and is the service for many hits and blockbusters. The approach is still SaaS, but you will proceed with the render on their website.
- Hardware: 16 cores (hyperthreading available), 64-128 GB RAM
- Pricing: free trial $25 credits, with discount for students. Price starts at $0.06 per core per hour.
- Arnold support: Because of its approach as SaaS, you will need to check if their Arnold version and 3D software match yours. Below is the list we have collected:
| Arnold version | 3D Software |
| MAXtoA 1.x-2.x-3.x MAXtoA 2.2.961 / 4.0.2.24 MAXtoA 2.4.43 / 3.2.660 / 4.x MAXtoA 4.x MAXtoA 4.3.3.21 / 5.0.4.4 | 3ds Max 2018 3ds Max 2019 3ds Max 2020 3ds Max 2021 3ds Max 2022 |
| C4DtoA 2.0.x C4DtoA 2.0.x C4DtoA 2.x C4DtoA 2.x C4DtoA 2.x – 3.x C4DtoA 3.x – 4.x C4DtoA 3.x – 4.0.0.1 C4DtoA 3.x – 4.x C4DtoA 3.x – 4.x C4DtoA 3.x – 4.x C4DtoA 4.2.x | Cinema 4D R16 Cinema 4D R17 Cinema 4D R18 Cinema 4D R19 Cinema 4D R20 Cinema 4D R21 Cinema 4D R22 Cinema 4D R23 Cinema 4D R24 Cinema 4D R25 Cinema 4D R26 |
| MtoA 1.2.3.4 MtoA 1.x – 2.0.1 MtoA 1.x – 2.x – 3.x MtoA 1.x – 2.x – 3.x MtoA 1.x – 2.x – 3.x MtoA 2.x – 3.x – 4.x MtoA 3.x – 4.x – 5.x MtoA 4.x – 5.x MtoA 4.2.x – 5.x MtoA 5.1.x | Maya 2014 Maya 2015 Maya 2016 Maya 2016.5 Maya 2017 Maya 2018 Maya 2019 Maya 2020 Maya 2022 Maya 2023 |
| HtoA 4.4.x – 5.x HtoA 5.x HtoA 5.x – 6.0.x HtoA 6.x | Houdini 17.5 Houdini 18 Houdini 18.5 Houdini 19 |
| KtoA 2.1.2 KtoA 3.1.0.0 KtoA 3.0.3.0 KtoA 3.x – 4.0.0.1 KtoA 3.2.2.3 / 4.0.0.1 KtoA 3.2.x – 4.0.0.1 KtoA 3.2.x – 4.0.0.1 KtoA 3.2.2.x – 4.0.0.1 KtoA 4.0.0.2 | Katana 3.0v3 Katana 3.2v1 Katana 3.5v3 Katana 4.0v1 Katana 4.0v2 Katana 4.0v3 Katana 4.0v4 Katana 4.0v5 Katana 4.5v1 |
Note:
- Have Fox Renderfarm Desktop app, which you can use on your own PC and don’t need to go on their website. You can see easily which version of Arnold that they support, which plugins they have and some software like above.
- Support many versions of Arnold
- Lacking support for Softimage
- Only Windows and Linux supported, no macOS or Linux
Garage Farm
Garage is a rendering farm from the United Kingdom, which has a history of 12 years in this industry. It’s also a SaaS render farm with their own app to help you work with their farm directly from your own desk. You can download their app renderBeamer to upload and render your jobs.
- Hardware: Intel Xeon E5-4669 v4 for CPU.
- Pricing: free trial $25 credits, with discount for students. Price starts at $0.015 per GHz per hour and $0.0025 per OB hour
- Arnold support: Below is the list we have collected:
| Arnold version | 3D software |
| Arnold 6.x Multi-User / Network NLM Arnold 7.x Multi-User / Network NLM | 3ds Max 2012 3ds Max 2013 3ds Max 2014 3ds Max 2015 3ds Max 2016 3ds Max 2017 3ds Max 2018 3ds Max 2019 3ds Max 2020 3ds Max 2021 3ds Max 2022 3ds Max 2023 |
| Arnold 6 Multi-User / Network NLM Arnold 7.x Multi-User / Network NLM | Cinema 4D R17 Cinema 4D R18 Cinema 4D R19 Cinema 4D R20 Cinema 4D R21 Cinema 4D R22 Cinema 4D R23 Cinema 4D R24 Cinema 4D R25 Cinema 4D R26 |
| Arnold 6 Multi-User / Network NLM Arnold 7.x Multi-User / Network NLM | Maya 2015 Maya 2016 Maya 2017 Maya 2018 Maya 2019 Maya 2020 Maya 2022 |
| Arnold 6 Multi-User / Network NLM Arnold 7.x Multi-User / Network NLM | Softimage 2011-2015 |
Note:
- Support some popular 3d software
- Only support Arnold 6.x and 7.x Multi-User / Network NLM
- Windows, MAC and Linux supported
- Lacking support for Houdini, Katana.
- Only support Arnold CPU rendering, no Arnold GPU rendering support.
- No support for single user license
GridMarkets
GridMarkets is a render farm from America, established in 2011. It keeps a low profile with more than 5.000 users from more than 110 countries around the world. However, the support for big 3D software and render engines is superb. It’s a SaaS platform, where you need to download their plugin and integrate it to your software, then send your files through their plugin and get back the rendered images.
- Hardware: minimum machine configuration is 12 cores (24 threads) at 3+ GHz with 64 GB RAM. GPUs are Tesla P100 and Tesla V100.
- Pricing: free trial $20 for new users. Pricing starts at $1.05 for On Demand, $707 for Daily Plan, and $500/month for Subscription.
- Arnold support:
| Arnold version | 3D software |
| Arnold 7.0.0.0 Arnold 7.1.2.0 | Maya 2020/2022 Maya 2022 |
| C4DtoA 4.2.0 C4DtoA 4.2.4.1 | Cinema 4D R21-23Cinema 4D R25 |
| HtoA 2.2.x HtoA 3.x HtoA 4.x HtoA 5.x HtoA 6.x | Houdini 16.0-16.5 Houdini 16.5-17.0.x Houdini 16.5-17.0.x Houdini 17.x-18.x Houdini 18.x-19.0.x |
| Arnold 7.1.1.1 | 3ds Max 2021 / 2022 / 2023 |
Note:
- Support many versions of Arnold for Houdini, other 3d software have limited support
- Windows, MAC and Linux supported
- Lacking support for software like Softimage, Katana
iRender
iRender is a render farm from Vietnam, established in 2019. It’s kind of new and still needs some more time for recognition of big names in the industry. However, its approach and development are really impressive.
The platform of iRender is IaaS, which means you can control and use their remote servers as your computer. Therefore, you can install any versions of Arnold (which run on Windows 10 or Linux), and any 3D software.
- Hardware: RTX 3090/RTX 4090 and AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO 3955WX/5975WX.
- Pricing: pricing starts at $5.76/hour/node to $42/hour/node. 50% bonus for students and educational purposes.
- Arnold support:
| Arnold version | 3D software |
| Arnold (all versions that can install on Windows 10 and Linux) | 3ds Max Cinema 4D Houdini Katana Maya Softimage |
Note:
- Support all 3D software for Arnold
- Support all plugins
- Support Linux remote server
- No macOS remote server. You will need to use your macOS to connect to their Windows or Linux OS remote server for using
- Need to install your app and transfer your license to their servers.
Ranch computing
Ranch is a company in France that provides high-performance 3d rendering services. It’s a well-established farm which has a long history of 15 years in this industry. They provide a SaaS platform, with a plugin integrated to your modeling software called RANCHecker. It will help you to check if your project is okay. If it’s okay, it will upload through RANCHecher. Then you go to their website and submit it. And now it’s their job to render for you and notify you when it’s done.
- Hardware: Up to 192 CPUs or 56 GPUs, 128 or 156 GB RAM
- Pricing: pricing starts at 0.008€/OB.h and 0.016€/GHz.h. Free trials are $36 and you need to apply for it.
- Arnold support: Ranch supports some versions of Arnold (both CPU and GPU), along with a number of 3D software and plugins.
| Arnold version | 3D Software |
| MAXtoA 4.3.1.20 (both CPU and GPU) MAXtoA 5.2.0.46 (both CPU and GPU) MAXtoA 5.3.1.5 (both CPU and GPU) MAXtoA 5.3.1.5 (both CPU and GPU) MAXtoA 5.3.1.5 (both CPU and GPU) | 3ds Max 2019 3ds Max 2020 3ds Max 2021 3ds Max 2022 3ds Max 2023 |
| C4DtoA 2.4.0.1 C4DtoA 2.6.0 C4DtoA 3.0.3.1 (both CPU and GPU) C4DtoA 3.3.3 (both CPU and GPU) C4DtoA 4.2.4 (both CPU and GPU) C4DtoA 4.2.4 (both CPU and GPU) C4DtoA 4.2.4 (both CPU and GPU) C4DtoA 4.2.4 (both CPU and GPU) C4DtoA 4.2.4 (both CPU and GPU) | Cinema 4D R17 Cinema 4D R18 Cinema 4D R19 Cinema 4D R20 Cinema 4D R21 Cinema 4D R23 Cinema 4D R24 Cinema 4D R25 Cinema 4D R26 |
| MtoA 4.2.1.1 (both CPU and GPU) MtoA 4.2.4 (both CPU and GPU) MtoA 5.1.3.1 (both CPU and GPU) MtoA 5.1.3.1 (both CPU and GPU) MtoA 5.1.3.1 (both CPU and GPU) | Maya 2018 Maya 2019 Maya 2020 Maya 2022 Maya 2023 |
| HtoA 6.1.2.1 (both CPU and GPU) HtoA 6.1.2.1 (both CPU and GPU) HtoA 6.1.1.1 (both CPU and GPU) | Houdini 18 (beta support) Houdini 18.5 (beta support) Houdini 19 (beta support) |
Note:
- Support both Arnold and Arnold GPU
- Easy to use
- Support a limited version of Arnold
- Support for Houdini is in beta
- Lacking support for Softimage, Katana
- Obscure information about hardware
Rebus render farm
Rebus is a company in Germany that provides high-performance 3d rendering services. It has more than 15 years of experience in the field of 3D rendering, and gets the trust of many big studios and companies. They provide a SaaS platform. They develop tools called Rebusdrop which can be added to your own software and you can just render from your software.
- Hardware: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X (32Core) and Intel i9-7980XE CPU; NVIDIA’s Quadro RTX 6000 GPU
- Pricing: pricing starts at 1.28 cent/GHzh for CPU and 0.48 cent/OBh for GPU rendering. Free trial $26.66, student discount 50%.
- Arnold support: Rebus supports many versions of Arnold, along with some popular software
| Arnold version | 3D Software |
| Last stable version | 3ds Max |
| Last stable version | Cinema 4D |
| Last stable version | Maya |
Note:
- Support some popular 3d software
- Many Plugins supported
- Obscure information about Arnold version supported
- Lacking support for Houdini, Softimage, Katana.
Final words
From what we see, the popular software like 3ds Max, Cinema 4D and Maya are supported by many farms, whereas Houdini, Katana and Softimage don’t really get that much attention. If you use an unpopular combination of Arnold with Houdini, Katana, Softimage, you will not have many choices.
A thing you should pay attention to is CPU and GPU rendering. Although Autodesk develops Arnold GPU rendering, the support for it cannot compare to CPU rendering. Sometimes, Arnold GPU cannot go smoothly with flickering, noise in the result, or it cannot render at all due to lack of VRAM. You should choose a render farm where it can support both CPU and GPU rendering, or use many render farms at the same time.
Hope that this article can help you choose a powerful render farm for your Arnold project. If you use CPU rendering and want to take advantage of many CPU servers at the same time, you can select Rebus or Garage which will help you access the power of the CPU farm. If you use Arnold GPU which can use GPU to render, a farm like iRender or GridMarkets will be suitable. Moreover, don’t forget to pay attention to plugins that the render farm can support. Of all the render farms above, Fox, iRender and Rebus will be easier to find support for plugins.
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