Cinema4D naming Tokens

Cinema4D software allows the user to set saving names with different variables, so we don't have to type the name of the project ($prj), the camera we're using ($camera) or the output resolution ($res).

All this variables are available by default:

• $prj - project file name
• $camera - camera name
• $take - take name
• $pass - multi-pass
• $userpass - multi-pass (using user changed name)
• $frame - frame number
• $rs - render setting name
• $res - resolution
• $range - animation range
• $fps - frame rate

All this options are great to set you render output names, but still not good enough to prevent us from overwriting old renders. To solve this, we can install the CVTokens plug-in by Cineversity (license included with your C4D license).

Once installed, you will have some extra useful tokens to name your outputs, such as:

• $YYYY - year (4 digits)
• $YY - year (2 digits)
• $MM - month
• $DD - day
• $hh - hour
• $mm - minute
• $ss - second
• $cvauthor - author name
• $cvusername - OS user name
• $cvcomputer - OS computer name
• $cvrenderer - render engine
• $cvheight - render height
• $cv01 - increment 2-digit
• $cv001 - increment 3-digit
• $cv0001 - increment 4-digit
• $cvTake - take hierarchy
• $cvParentTake - take parent

Now we can add the date to the second and versions to our renders and never get a render overwritten again, isn't it great?

Further more, if we are smart enough, and tidy (using always the same folders structure), we may not have to think about render output names anymore. 

With all the tokens available, and the command "../" to jump to previous folder, we can create a small pipeline and forget about naming a render again. For example:

File path: ../renders/$prj/$cvTake/$YY$MM$DD/$prj_$take_$camera_$res_$cv01

Save a new project named "new.c4d" in "C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Maxon\Maxon Cinema 4D version" and every time you will open Cinema4D or create a new project, this file will be created as default.

No more "project final final v2".