Based on Autodesk’s Flame 2027 Project Sharing guide: Project Sharing
I used Claude in VS Code to help me work through this and write a script that does the guide’s steps on each Mac. It has host / client / rollback modes, backs up every system file it changes (<file>.bak-pbm), and stops without changing anything if a check fails. It doesn’t touch existing projects or media, and rollback restores the backed-up files. Read it before running it. A current archive of active projects is good practice before any system change, but the script doesn’t need one.
Script: Flame 2027 Project Sharing + Wire between Macs, per Autodesk's guide. Host/client/rollback script. · GitHub
Click Download ZIP (or Raw, then save as flame-project-sharing-macOS.sh).
You don’t edit the script. Everything specific to your setup goes on the command line. You need for each Mac:
- its short hostname: run
hostname -s (this becomes /mnt/, so rename the Mac first if you’re going to)
- its IP address (only used in step 3, typed on the other Mac)
- the path of the drive for the media cache, e.g. /Volumes/RAID
- your network and mask, e.g. 192.168.1.0 and 255.255.255.0
Example with two Macs:
- flame-a: IP 192.168.1.20, media drive /Volumes/RAID_A
- flame-b: IP 192.168.1.21, media drive /Volumes/RAID_B
Step 1: Prepare
Copy the script to both Macs and quit Flame on both.
Step 2: Host mode on each Mac, then reboot it
This shares the Mac’s own projects and media. You enter this Mac’s own hostname and media drive. No computer’s IP goes here: the last two values are your whole network (the address ending in .0, and the mask), the same on every Mac. It must end with “HOST DONE”.
On flame-a:
sudo bash flame-project-sharing-macOS.sh host flame-a /Volumes/RAID_A 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0
On flame-b:
sudo bash flame-project-sharing-macOS.sh host flame-b /Volumes/RAID_B 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0
Then reboot each Mac:
sudo reboot
Step 3: Client mode on each Mac, once for every OTHER Mac
No reboot needed. You enter the other Mac’s hostname and IP (the one you’re connecting to), never the Mac you’re typing on. It must end with “CLIENT DONE” and show acdirmin=0,acdirmax=0 on the projects mount.
On flame-a (connect to flame-b, so flame-b’s name and IP):
sudo bash flame-project-sharing-macOS.sh client flame-b 192.168.1.21
On flame-b (connect to flame-a, so flame-a’s name and IP):
sudo bash flame-project-sharing-macOS.sh client flame-a 192.168.1.20
Step 4: Create projects on the shared paths
Every new project has to live under /mnt, or the other Flame can’t open or wire it. In Project Management, click New. Before clicking Create, set these two fields:
- Project Home:
/mnt/<hostname>/projects/<project name> (the Setups Directory follows it automatically)
- Media Cache:
/mnt/<hostname>/media
Use this Mac’s hostname, e.g. /mnt/flame-a/projects/my_job on flame-a. The script sets these as defaults in sysconfig.cfg, so they usually fill in by themselves, but check them every time.
To avoid setting them by hand, click Save as Template (or Set as Default) at the bottom of the Create New Project window once the paths are right. New projects then start with them.
Test: create a project this way, import a clip, then wire it from the other Mac via MediaHub > Projects.
Undo
On a Mac, then reboot:
sudo bash flame-project-sharing-macOS.sh rollback
What it changes: /etc/synthetic.conf (makes /mnt), /etc/exports, /etc/auto_master, /etc/auto_direct, and project_folders in /opt/Autodesk/cfg/.2027.x/sysconfig.cfg. It creates /mnt//projects (boot drive) and /flame_media (linked as /mnt//media). /opt/Autodesk stays exported, so 2025 projects still wire. The installer’s “-network” line with no address is invalid and exports to everyone; this replaces it with your subnet.
Gotchas:
- Existing 2026/2027 projects keep their old paths. Autodesk’s advice is to wire their contents into a new project created on the /mnt paths (step 4).
- After any reboot, make sure the media drive is mounted before launching Flame, or the cache can land on the boot drive.
- Flame may show the media cache as /Volumes/Macintosh HD/mnt//media. That’s the same place and it works.
- Two warnings are normal: nfsd “path contains non-directory…” for /mnt and automount “/mnt points to unexpected location”.
- If exporting the media drive fails, give /sbin/nfsd Full Disk Access.
Tested on a Mac Studio M2 Ultra and a Mac Pro 2019. The posted script is a tidied version of what I ran, so treat it as a starting point.