In order for our software to know what we want from our render, we will have to provide instructions such as:
• The type of file we want
• How to name the file
• Which camera to use
• The quality settings
This is all specified in the render settings, located near the top of Maya.
Here are some common settings we may use:
Changing the ‘frame/animation ext’ allows us to render an image sequence. The frame padding is the number of digits to use in the file name, which can be important to some software,
Specify the camera or cameras you wish to render from. If you see multiple there and you do not need to render from those cameras, hit the rubbish bin icon beside them to remove.
The image Size presets provide common output settings. HD_1080 is a good compromise of quality and render time.
In the Arnold tab of the Render Settings, you will find the quality controls as well as many other ways to customise your render.
Rendering is a dense subject that won’t be covered deeply here, but the Arnold Documentation is the best place to start.
In short, the Camera (AA) will multiply the number of samples in the entire project, and provide a cleaner render at the cost of render time. I do not recommend taking this above 6-8, or you will get excessively long render times. The numbers underneath provide specific control over particular aspects of the render.