When an attribute that specifies a file path contains a relative path, the path will be considered relative to the current Maya project directory. This path can contain various tokens; this allows the path to dynamically change to reflect the current value of a given token. The following tokens can be used in any file path:
‘$VAR’
The value of the environment variable ‘VAR’ will replace ‘$VAR’ in the path.
‘%VAR%’
The value of the environment variable ‘VAR’ will replace ‘$VAR’ in the path.
‘~’
The value of the HOME environment variable will replace the tilde character.
‘@’
The current frame number will replace the @ character.
‘#’
The current frame number, padded to form a 4 digits number, will replace the # character.
‘{<frame_num_char><operator><operand>}’
Simple expressions to produce a frame number can also be used as a part of the file name. The expression must be enclosed in curly braces. The expression components are:
‘<frame_num_char>’
A character that represents the current frame number. ‘@’ will produce the current frame number, and ‘#’ will produce the same current frame number, padded to form a 4-digits number.
'<operator>’
An arithmetic operator. Valid operators are: ‘+ - * / %’.
‘<operand>’
An integer or floating point number.
For instance, the following are valid frame number expressions:
{#-10}
{@*2.5}
{#%5}
'`MEL command`'
The string enclosed in back quotes is evaluated as a MEL command and gets replaced with the command’s result.
This string will be replaced with the path to the current Maya project directory. This string will be replaced with the name of the render pass node used for rendering.
This string will be replaced with the long name of the attached shape. This tag can currently only be used in light attributes nodes.
This string will be replaced with the file extension. File extensions are expanded for RIB files, shadow map files, and any file output by a display driver.
This string will be replaced with the name of the camera shape being used for rendering.
‘<fragment_set>’
This string will be replaced with the name of the object set used by the RIB fragment being output. It is valid only in render pass rib fragment filename attributes. ‘<aov>’ This string will be replaced with the name of the variable being output in the display. It is valid only in render pass display filename attributes. ‘<output_variable>’
This string is deprecated in favor of ‘<aov>’.