File Naming, Tokens & Frame Ranges

Basic naming

An Output Image Path node’s Split Output socket, when nothing is connected upstream, is just a folder path and a file-name prefix typed directly into the node. The correct extension for the chosen output format is added automatically.

Splitting output per object

Connecting a File Names node (optionally with an Objects, mesh-input, or Material socket feeding into it) turns a single Output Image Path node into many output files — one per item in that list, each named using the item’s own name in addition to the shared prefix and path. This is the mechanism behind baking, say, twenty characters through the same recipe and getting twenty separate, correctly-named textures instead of one.

Token substitution

Turn on Use Token Substitution on the File Names node’s Path/Filename field to enable these tokens anywhere in the file name:

Token

Replaced with

<OBJECT>

The name of the object (or mesh group / material) this file is being generated for

<SUFFIX>

The suffix identifying which Color/Alpha input on the Output node this file came from

<UDIM>

The current UDIM tile number, when UDIM output is enabled

<FRAME>

The current frame number, when baking an animated frame range

Any token that doesn’t apply to a given file is simply omitted rather than left as literal text, so you have full control over the final name — for example tex_<OBJECT>_<SUFFIX> will still produce a sensible name even on a non-animated, non-UDIM bake, because <FRAME> was never in the string to begin with, and unused tokens like <UDIM> just disappear rather than leaving _<UDIM> in the name.

Frame ranges

The Frame Ranges field on a File Names node accepts a comma-separated list of frame specifications:

  • A single frame: 5

  • A range: 4-12 (inclusive)

  • A stepped range: 12-24:4 (every 4th frame from 12 to 24)

  • A descending range (10-4) automatically counts down instead of up

Combine as many of these as you like: 1,3, 4-12, 12-24:4.

Zero padding

Include # followed by a digit count anywhere in the list to zero-pad the <FRAME> token to that width — for example #3,1-3,10 pads every frame number in the output to 3 digits (001, 002, 010, …).

Animated seed & persistent data

Two related toggles live on the File Names node itself:

  • Use Animated Seed — varies the noise seed per frame, so a noisy pass (like AO or curvature at low samples) doesn’t produce an identical noise pattern on every frame of an animated bake.

  • Persistent Data — keeps render data cached between frames, trading memory for speed on multi-frame bakes.

UDIM output

Turn on UDIM in an Output Settings node to treat the destination UV space as UDIM tiles; Bake Wrangler appends the standard UDIM tile numbering to the file name (and this is also what the <UDIM> token expands to, when token substitution is on). With UDIM enabled, Split Materials becomes available, which puts each material found on the target into its own tile so each can be exported as a separate file.