Hello,
The Denoiser is a great tool for bringing render times down to something reasonable. Unfortunately, Noice does not work with Exposure Control, since all AOVs are saved as raw. This is a problem for the many 3ds Max users who rely on Exposure Control for white balance and tonemapping.
In the past, I have experienced resistance from the Arnold team regarding white balance and tonemapping in the renderer. I was told that the proper way to do these things is in post-production. However, the reality on the ground for many 3ds Max users is that they rely on the native 3ds Max tools for exposure, tone mapping, and white balance, all of which were included in 3ds Max for a reason.
At the very least, I want to apply white balance to the Denoiser AOV, but apparently this is not possible in 3ds Max. I'm sure I could do it in Maya using a Blackbody node as a Camera Filter. However, there is no mechanism in MAXtoA for applying a Camera Filter. The only way to white balance a camera is through Exposure Control, which, again, is ignored by all AOVs, including the Denoiser.
The larger problem is that there is no option to include Exposure Control in any AOVs. But in the short term I would be happy if we could simply apply Exposure Control, or even just white balance, to the Denoiser AOV.
One possible solution might be to implement the Exposure Control code as part of an Arnold Camera modifier, similar to the Arnold Properties modifier for mesh objects. If we could even just have an Arnold Camera modifier that accepts a Filter, that would be a huge step in the right direction. Then users could construct their own shading networks to assume the functions of Exposure Control.
I understand that Arnold came from an environment of motion picture production, where all tonemapping etc. is automatically assumed to be done in post. But as Arnold is now the default renderer for 3ds Max, whose user base has varying workflows and expectations, it behooves the Arnold team to consider the needs of all users. For example, architectural visualizers need full support for Exposure Control, or at least a mechanism to achieve similar functionality in Arnold. If these users are not considered important enough to support, then they will never adopt Arnold. Leaving them out in the cold means they will continue to turn to other renderers, such as V-Ray.
Thank you,
Aaron