Shared Storage

Flamenco needs some form of shared storage: a place for files to be stored that can be accessed by all the computers in the farm.

Basically there are three approaches to this:

Approach	Simple	Efficient	Render jobs are isolated
Work directly on the shared storage	✅	✅	❌
Create a copy for each render job	✅	❌	✅
Shaman Storage System	❌	✅	✅

Each is explained below.

Work Directly on the Shared Storage

Working directly in the shared storage is the simplest way to work with Flamenco. You can enable this mode by pointing Flamenco at the location of your blend files.

As an example, if S:\WorkArea is where your blend files live (or in a subdirectory thereof), you can update your flamenco-manager.yaml like this:

shared_storage_path: S:\WorkArea
shaman:
  enabled: false

When you submit a file from the shared storage, say S:\WorkArea\project\scene\shot\anim.blend, Flamenco will detect this and assume the Workers can reach the file there. No copy will be made.

Creating a Copy for Each Render Job

The “work on shared storage” approach has the downside that render jobs are not fully separated from each other. For example, when you change a texture while a render job is running, the subsequently rendered frames will be using that altered texture. If this is an issue for you, and you cannot use the Shaman Storage System, the approach described in this section is for you.

As an example, if C:\WorkArea is where you work on your blend files, and S:\Flamenco is the shared storage for Flamenco, you will automatically use this approach. You can update your flamenco-manager.yaml like this:

shared_storage_path: S:\Flamenco
shaman:
  enabled: false

As you can see, you do not have to tell Flamenco about C:\WorkArea, it’ll automatically detect which storage approach to use from the path of the blend file you’re submitting.

Shaman Storage System

This requires a bit more to explain. See Shaman Storage System.