i dun remember much bout 3D anymore, but as i got through Gnomon Workshop b4, Maya do support hardware rendering. but... the performance of hard-ren performs very well in low numbers of rendering. hence, if u render an animation, computer power is still the main key.

p.s. guyz in 3D should really get hold of some Gnomon Workshop stuff. they teach pro-level Maya. things u won't find in books or e-books.