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File path variables |
MAYA_APP_DIR (Windows and Linux)
This variable defines your personal Maya application directory. This directory contains your projects and other important items:
- the prefs directory
- the projects directory
- mayaRenderLog.txt
- mayaLog
- mayaJournal
- the scripts directory
- (Maya.env, if you choose to create it, can also reside in this directory)
You can only set MAYA_APP_DIR from the operating system; you cannot use Maya.env. If you do not set it, the default values are: ~username/maya (Linux) or drive:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\maya (Windows).
For Mac OS X, you cannot set an environment variables from the operating system.
MAYA_CMD_FILE_OUTPUT
This variable enables the cmdFileOutput command during startup so the content in the script editor automatically outputs to a designated file. If no file name is specified, then errors are sent to the standard error output, for example the Terminal window. This feature is useful for tracking down error messages when Maya crashes upon startup.
Note
The content in the Script Editor displays in both the Script Editor and the designated output location.
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MAYA_FILE_ICON_PATH
This variable has become obsolete since Maya 3.0. See XBMLANGPATH as this variable should be used instead.
MAYA_MODULE_PATH
Defines the search paths for Maya module files. A module file describes the install location for certain Maya components, such as subdivision surfaces. Generally, you don’t need to set this variable. But, keep in mind that for each path extracted from the modules files, Maya appends the suffixes “plug-ins”, “scripts”, and “icons”, and then adds the appended path to MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH, MAYA_SCRIPT_PATH, and XBMLANGPATH, respectively.
The following table lists the default paths, which will always follow any path that you specify.
MAYA_MOVIE_DIR
This variable is used to override the directory where movie files are found. The default is $MAYA_LOCATION/movies.
MAYA_LOCATION
The path for the Maya installation directory. If it is not set, it defaults to /usr/autodesk/mayaVersionNumber (Linux) or C:\Program Files\Autodesk \MayaVersionNumber (Windows).
On Mac OS X, Maya is installed as /Applications/Maya 8.5/Maya.app. Since Mac OS X architecture makes it difficult to access the contents of the Maya application package, we strongly discourage the use of MAYA_LOCATION on Mac OS X. Instead, use the following alternate locations:
/Users/Shared/Autodesk/maya/8.5/Users/Shared/Autodesk/maya- under your Home folder, in
Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/8.5 - under your Home folder, in
Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya.
MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH
Search path for plug-ins. When a plug-in is specified by relative path name, the directories in this path are searched for the given plug-in name. This path also determines which directories are listed in the Plug-in Manager.
Note
When you are adding multiple paths to the MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH environment variable, the paths must be separated by : (colon) on Mac OS X and ; (semi-colon) on Windows and Linux.
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MAYA_PRESET_PATH
Defines the location for Maya presets. Each entry in the path points to the directory above the attrPresets directory.
MAYA_PROJECT
Defines the default location of your project. You can change the location at any time by choosing File > Project. This variable simply defines the default.
MAYA_SHELF_PATH
Specifies the directories that Maya searches to access the shelves. You can store shelves in a location accessible by different groups who then set the MAYA_SHELF_PATH variable for their workstation.
You can specify more than one directory using MAYA_SHELF_PATH, separated by colons; for example, Production/shelf:Shot/shelf:MyDir/shelf specifies three different shelf directories. At startup, Maya searches each directory in the order specified to instantiate shelves. After searching the directories specified in MAYA_SHELF_PATH, Maya continues to add shelves from the default shelf directory. Once a shelf exists, a shelf with the same name in the subsequent searched directories is ignored.
When a new shelf is created, it is always saved in the default shelf directory. To share it, move it to the desired directory (that is, one of the ones specified by MAYA_SHELF_PATH).
To restrict access to a shelf directory, disable the write permission of that directory. A warning appears when a user attempts to write into a restricted shelf directory (while exiting or saving all shelves).
MAYA_SCRIPT_PATH
Colon-separated search path for MEL scripts. If an unresolved MEL procedure is called, then this path will be searched for a script that implements it. Also, if a MEL file is sourced without giving the full path, then this path will be searched. The following table lists the default paths, which will always follow any path that you specify.
TEMP or TMPDIR
This variable specifies the directory location Maya uses for various temporary files, such as:
- temporary render cache files during a render
- crash files if Maya crashes
On Linux, set TMPDIR only. On Windows, set both TEMP and TMPDIR. If not set, the temporary directory is /tmp (Linux), or C:/temp (Windows), or under your Home folder in Documents/temp.
XBMLANGPATH
For both all, this variable specifies the location of icon files, such as icons used for Shelf buttons. On Linux, the syntax is slightly different then other paths. For example:
XBMLANGPATH = "./icons/%B:$HOME/dev/icons/%B"
In this example, %B is acts as a placeholder that will be replaced by Maya with the bitmap filename.
The following table lists the default paths, which will always follow any path that you specify.