After you have created an asset and published attributes and nodes, you can save a template of the asset’s published attribute names to be used by other assets.
Creating a template also allows you to create additional views that change the interface of your asset in Maya. For more information, see Add a view to an asset template and Customize a template view.
An asset’s published node names are not stored as part of the template file. If the asset you use to create your template includes published selection transform, child anchor, or parent anchor nodes, those node names are not saved as part of the template.
To create an asset template
- Open the Asset Editor (Window > General Editors > Asset Editor).
- In the left panel of the Asset Editor, select the asset from which you want to create a template and click the Pin Asset icon
. The pinned asset’s published attributes and nodes display in the right panel.
- Select Template > Save As.
- Enter a name for the template in the file browser that appears, and click Save.
The XML template file is saved (by default) in the assets sub-directory of your current project, and the template is assigned to the current asset.
The file name you entered becomes the Template name displaying at the top of the right panel of the Asset Editor, and the template View is set to Group By Node by default.
Because a template has been assigned, the red Select icons
next to each published attribute and node in the right panel update to reflect their status. For the asset’s published attributes, the Select icons 
turn green to indicate the published name is part of the assigned template. For the asset’s published nodes, the Select icons turn yellow 
to indicate the associated node is published, but its published name is not part of the assigned template. - (Optional) If you plan to reuse or share your template with other users, you should write protect the template file to prevent accidental changes.