Value proposition

Solid Angle is the technology company behind the Arnold rendering software, with offices in Madrid and London and customers throughout the world including Framestore, ILM, Sony Pictures Imageworks, MPC, Image Engine, Reel FX, Digic Pictures, Rodeo FX and The Mill.

Arnold was designed from the ground up to efficiently process the complex geometric datasets required for feature-length CGI animation and big-budget visual effects, while at the same time simplifying the pipeline, reducing the number of passes, minimizing storage requirements and greatly enhancing interactivity for lighting artists. It achieves this by incorporating modern, CPU-based ray tracing and physically-based shading techniques.

Marcos Fajardo is the founder of Solid Angle and lead architect of Arnold. The software was developed prior to and during his three-year sabbatical at Sony Pictures Imageworks, and is now available as a standalone renderer, as a C++ API and as a set of plug-ins for Maxon Cinema4D, Autodesk Maya, Side Effects Houdini and The Foundry's Katana.