User's batch matchbox node bin

@miles - here’s what I tried:

these paths did not work because of the <tokens>:

"matchbox":"/opt/Autodesk/shared/<user>/matchbox/shaders"
"matchbox":"/opt/Autodesk/shared/<user nickname>/matchbox/shaders"
"matchbox":"/home/<user>/matchbox/shaders"
"matchbox":"/home/<user nickname>/matchbox/shaders"

these paths did work because of the hard coded string:

"matchbox":"/opt/Autodesk/shared/Philip_Che_Sung_MAN/matchbox/shaders"
"matchbox":"/opt/Autodesk/shared/pman/matchbox/shaders"
"matchbox":"/home/Philip_Che_Sung_MAN/matchbox/shaders"
"matchbox":"/home/pman/matchbox/shaders"

hopefully the token will get fixed. Then everyone at your facility can set up their own matchbox bin. Hard-coded for now means you can only have one ‘user’

Before the 2025 version, the default path was defined in the init.cfg file (so it was workstation-based) and then copied to every new project, ultimately making the path project-based. The and weren’t not available for this.

So, are you saying that you had a mechanism to make this user-based before (if so, what were you doing) or is this a request to have a mechanism to have a way to make the content user-based?

@fredwarren - I don’t use this feature but since @miles asked about it I remembered that you had talked about this new feature change for 2025.

It transpires that there is an example in the 2025 help documentation, but I was unable to get that example to work.

I think @miles wanted the ability to have individual matchbox bin paths for separate users.

The example in the docs is exactly that.

I was unable to get it to work.

The <user> and <user nickname> tokens do not get resolved before the sysconfig.cfg gets read.

You could put a shader path in the flame software preference, and it would only show up for you in your batch. Not the preference in flame Setup app.

This is not how it worked. If you have a version older than 2025, you can do this test (I did it with 2024.2):

  1. Start Flame with Project A and User A
  2. Go to Preferences → Shader Paths and change the path for the Batch Matchbox Node bin
  3. Exit
  4. Start Flame with Project A and a newly created User B
  5. Go to Preferences → Shader Paths
    —> The path for User B is the same as User A
  6. Change the path for the Batch Matchbox Node bin (do not use the default path)
  7. Exit
  8. Start Flame with Project A and User A
  9. Go to Preferences → Shader Paths
    —> The path for User A is now the one set for User B
  10. Exit
  11. Start Flame with a newly created Project B and User B
  12. Go to Preferences → Shader Paths
    —> The path is no longer the same for Project B.

This is because the path was a project-based preference, not a user-based one. This is one of the reason why we introduced the User / Project / App Version / System level for the Preferences in 2025. So it is clearer where Preferences are saved.

The workflow Pre-2025 was:

  1. Define a default path in the Setup application or init.cfg file (the former being a UI for the latter)
  2. Create a new project
    —> The current path set at step 1 was copied in the project files.

So, as of the 2025, the equivalent workflow is to change the path in the sysconfig file before you launch the application.

Phil has already submitted a Defect for this and I have converted it to a General Improvement request (FI-03282) so you can go add your vote to it.

@philm Finally, the documentation says “Tokens that were previously available within the application for the Action Import Geometry path continue to function in the sysconfig.cfg file.”, meaning that the tokens are not available for the other entries in the node_bins category.

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I guess the places I’ve worked, mostly, artists had their “own” flame, so the scenario you describe didn’t really happen much. So effectivly the setting in the Flame was project and user based. If sys config.cfg is meant to be centralized, then it now makes that path everyone in the facilities path, regardless of project. I’m not saying we’re going to use it in that way, but unless I’m misunderstanding (which is highly probable), that effect is far from desirable. Let me know where my logic fades. Thanks.

It was NOT user-based, meaning that you either changed it in Flame Setup or you changed it for every new project you created.

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Thanks @fredwarren.
I did read that section about the tokens being available for the Action Import Geometry path, but I was confused because there is an explicit example for matchbox shaders:
Link to Documentation
For example, even though the Settings are set to be read from a shared location, each user could have its own set of Matchbox shaders if the folder structure is appropriately created and the <user> token is added to the path like this: /opt/Autodesk/presets/<VERSION>/<user>/matchbox/shaders .

I did not say @fredwarren it was project and user based, I said that under the scenario I described at the facilities I’ve worked at it was effectively project and user based. Meaning there’s only one user per flame, but you had to reset per project. But one also had the option in the the Setup app to make it machine based. So under sysconf, It’s no longer project based even, it’s machine based. right … ? what am I missing.

@miles The paths are now workstation-based only.

@philm You are correct about the documentation. We will modify it.

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@fredwarren - Thanks Fred.
Happy Friday

Did you ever get an answer to this @bryanb?

No - I gave up on that for now and just have a bookmark to my location.

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@bryanb Would you expect the path to be the same as the one defined in sysconfig to populate the bin or you expect to be able to define a different path?

I’m not @bryanb but that’s what I would expect. I don’t see why you would ever want load separate subsets. You could populate a user bin for that…

Yes Fred - That would be what I’m looking for.

@cnoellert @bryanb I’m confused. I offered two options and you both answered “yes”. I don’t know to which option you said yes…

A) The path in the browser is the same as the one in sysconfig
B) You want to be able to define a different path for the browser.

A - I want to define a path that is where flame looks for matchboxes. This will be one directory from which the batch bin is populated and any ‘choose a matchbox’ file browser will default to start from.

If you were able to do B (define different paths) that would be fine but not necessary for me.

Thanks Fred.

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@bryanb Can you please submit a General Improvement request for this?

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