I found this selection of tutorials invaluable to understanding the differences the Arnold renderer has to offer over 2016's Mental Ray. There's a real breadth of changes which I'm still yet to decide if I'm entirely on board with. Though I must say, they have made the process of creating convincing looking skin look simpler and more intuitive, and there's no denying the sheen it adds to materials. Plus there's a lot of customisation options in there which really do invite further experimentation.
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| AO With Wireframe |
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| Detective's desk with aiStandard |
In particular, the addition of a "roughness" slider in the material options really surprised me. Allowing light to react differently depending on how rough the material is in "reality", It really invites the notion that you're not simulating the materials anymore, but rather, actually using them.
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| Arnold Sub Surface Scatter |
