& Construction

Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing

Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Autodesk Support
Oct 8, 2023
Products and versions covered
Users without SSE 4.1 that are using Arnold in 3ds Max or Maya may experience an error on startup of Max because of these new requirements.
Arnold 5 requires that the computer's processor supports the SSE 4.1 instruction set. SSE stands for Streaming SIMD Extensions, and adds as many as 54 new instructions to the CPU. Arnold previously had an SSE4.2 requirement.
Errors on startup of 3ds Max or Maya may occur if the SSE 4.2 requirement is not met. Despite installing the latest build from the Solid Angle site's downloads section, plug-ins do not load correctly.
Look up the CPU specifications by following this guide: How to check if your processor supports SSE4.1
Alternatively (for Windows only) download the Coreinfo utility and run it the DOS command line to see if SSE4.1 is supported:
Coreinfo -f
A list populates. If an asterisk (*) appears next to "SSE4.1" it is supported; a minus sign (-) if it is not:
For information on how to use the Coreinfo tool, see this screencast video.
If SSE4.1 is not supported, uninstall the Arnold plug-in to avoid further complications.
Arnold is a highly optimized, high-performance renderer, and there are no plans at this stage to support older hardware.
If SSE4.1 is supported but issues are still persisting, perform a clean reinstallation of the Arnold plug-in:
CER Reports
After a crash with 3ds Max or Maya, it is highly recommended that a crash report (CER report) is submitted if given the option. A CER is a window that automatically populates after a crash, and creates a detailed system report and documentation of the module the program crashed in. A window may appear with the following text (or similar) before the CER window:
“Fatal Error: An error has occurred and the application will now close. Do you want to attempt to save a copy of the current scene?”
CER report windows look similar to the following image (varying depending on product and product version):
Submitting with an email attached allows technical support to look up these reports should a Support Case be created. A technician will not automatically contact the submitter after a CER report has been sent - a technical support case must be created.
3ds Max 2018 won't launch successfully if CPUs aren't compatible with the Arnold Render plug-in
Arnold: Plug-in DLL and MAXScript Autoload errors received when opening 3ds Max
Maya 2018 Crashes ONLY when rendering with Arnold
Was this information helpful?
The Assistant can help you find answers or contact an agent.
What level of support do you have?
Different subscription plans provide distinct categories of support. Find out the level of support for your plan.
How to buy
Privacy | Do not sell or share my personal information | Cookie preferences | Report noncompliance | Terms of use | Legal | © 2025 Autodesk Inc. All rights reserved