iMac GPU Rendering

[jeraldjuarez]

Hi, I've noticed Maya 2020 now has a GPU rendering functionality. I have Maya 2020 Student Version on my MacOS Catalina Version 10.15.7. It has a processor of 3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9 and a Radeon Pro 580x 8 GB graphics card. When I go to the render setting under the system tab, the GPU section doesn't appear. How can I get this GPU functionality to work on my iMac? 

Also if this isn't available for iMac how can I speed Arnold rendering then? For me one frame takes about 7 minutes to render in Full 1080p.  Is there a machine I can buy to connect to my iMac that it can improve the rendering time.

[mspeer]

Hi!

Arnold GPU requires an NVIDIA GPU, so you can't use this with your Mac.

A render time of 7 minutes per frame is not bad, if you want it to be faster, then you need to optimize your render settings based on scene-content or the scene itself.

The only other option is to use an other computer for rendering.

[jeraldjuarez]

Is there something, a machine I can buy to connect my mac with, that
accepts NVIDIA cards, for faster rendering? I like Arnold, but it took 12
hours to render 4 secs (96 frames) for my short film and I am afraid I
won't meet the deadline.

Please tell me there is a product that has NVIDIA cards working with MacOS?

[mspeer · Accepted solution]

Hi!

No, that's not possible. Apple dropped support for NVIDIA GPUs.

I recommend to check for an online render farm to speed up the render process.