Arnold AO Light Filter

So, what is the Arnold AO Light filter and what does it do?
- The Arnold Light filter overlays Ambient occlusion on all surfaces.
- Makes it possible to get good spacial sense while rendering very fast in any interior-like situation.
- If you combine it with Optix and switch to a RGBA ( denoised ) you get faster renders for dailies or even finals.

Check list:
- Click here – to get the newest public build of Arnold installed on your system.
- 3DS MAX 2018, 2019,2020,2021 running Arnold 6
- Maya, Houdini, C4D supported as well running Arnold 6
Download:
3DS MAX 2018 – 2021, running Arnold 6 | Download |
Maya, any version running Arnold 6 | Download |
Houdini, any version running Arnold 6 | Download |
C4D, any version running Arnold 6 | Download |
Sample files archive for: 3DS MAX 2020, Maya, Houdini, C4d, Alembic | Download |
Instructions:
3DS MAX
- Download the light filter for 3ds max.
- unzip the archive and drop the .dll file into c:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\MaXtoA_*Your version*\ ( the image below shows MaXtoA_2020 )
- Start 3DS MAX
- Open the Material Editor and find the light filter under Arnold Maps in a category called AOLightFilter
- Add an Arnold Skydome to the scene.
- Turn Shadows OFF on the Skydome.
- Add an Arnold Light filter on top of the skydome light.
- Drag and drop the AOLightFilter to the Light filter slot.
- Work with the AO Distance till it looks like what you want. ( Tip for interiors, set Far Clip to half the height of the room to favor speed and looks )
MAYA:
- in maya the best way is to create a folder(LightFilter) with 2 subfolders(ae & bin)
- AOLightFilter.dll & AOLightFilter.mtd in bin folder
- AOLightfilterTemplate.py in ae folder
- Then add ARNOLD_PLUGIN_PATH & MTOA_TEMPLATES_PATH variables
- ARNOLD_PLUGIN_PATH = C:\LightFilter\bin
- MTOA_TEMPLATES_PATH = C:\LightFilter\ae
HOUDINI:
- in Houdini create a folder (LightFilter) with 2 subfolders(ae & bin)
- AOLightFilter.dll & AOLightFilter.mtd in bin folder
- AOLightfilterTemplate.py in ae folder
- Then add ARNOLD_PLUGIN_PATH variable
- ARNOLD_PLUGIN_PATH = C:\LightFilter\bin
- ARNOLD_PLUGIN_PATH in houdin.env file or a json.fil
C4D:
- Put: AOLightFilter.dll & AOLightFilter.mtd in: C:\Program Files\Maxon Cinema 4D R21\plugins\C4DtoA\arnold\plugins
- You can access the plugin via Arnold Shader Network Editor in Light filter section
- If you want to get ambient_occlusion_lightfilter showing in create menu (Create->arnold->Light Filter)
- You have to override c4d_symbols.h with provided one
- Overrides in C:\Program Files\Maxon Cinema 4D R21\plugins\C4DtoA\res
- Put arnold light_filter.str in : C:\Program Files\Maxon Cinema 4D R21\plugins\C4DtoA\res\strings_en-US\description
- Put ainode_light_filter.res in : C:\Program Files\Maxon Cinema 4D R21\plugins\C4DtoA\res\description
Technical and general info:
- The Arnold AO Light Filter was originally fabricated by Mike Farnsworth from Autodesk/Solid based on an idea by Aaron on the Arnold Mail ring.
- Screenshotsm .py and .MTD for Maya, Houdini & C4D provided by rachid Hadj Abderrahmane
- I am maintaining the c++ project files and recompile it against new SDK’s in the future.