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The mounted drive makes an Aspect project appear as a drive on your Mac. You can browse the entire project in Finder, open files in any app, and save changes back - all without downloading the project to your computer first.

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How it works

When you mount a project from the desktop app, it shows up in Finder like any other drive, under Locations and in your sidebar Favorites.
  • Browse everything instantly. You see every folder and file in the project right away, even if the project holds terabytes of footage. Nothing is downloaded until you need it.
  • Files download on demand. When you open a file, Aspect fetches just the parts being read. Open a long video in an editing app and it starts pulling only the sections you’re actually using.
  • Downloads are cached. Once a part of a file has been fetched, it’s kept on your computer, so opening it again is fast.
  • Changes sync back. Save a file on the drive and it uploads to Aspect automatically. Renaming, moving, creating folders, and deleting sync back too.

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Editing footage directly

Because the mounted drive looks like a normal drive to your Mac, native apps can work with your Aspect files directly. For example, you can:
  • Import footage into Premiere Pro straight from the mounted drive - no export or download step.
  • Open images, audio, and documents in whatever app you normally use.
  • Save project files and exports onto the drive so they land in Aspect for your whole team.
Everyone on your team who mounts the same project sees the same files. When a teammate adds new footage in Aspect, it appears on your drive too.

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Keeping files available locally

By default, files live in Aspect and stream down when you open them. If you want certain files or folders always stored on your computer, for offline work or the smoothest playback, you can pin them from the desktop app. Pinned items are downloaded in full and kept locally. You can also see how much disk space Aspect’s local cache is using and choose where it lives, from the desktop app’s settings.

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Watching sync status

Finder shows small badges on files that are uploading, so you can tell at a glance when your saves have finished syncing to Aspect. The desktop app shows more detail, including anything that needs your attention.

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Mounting a project

1

Open the desktop app

The mounted drive is part of the Aspect desktop app. Sign in if you haven’t already.
2

Mount a project

Choose the project you want to work with and mount it. It appears in Finder as a drive named after your project.
3

Work normally

Browse, open, and save files as you would on any drive. Aspect handles downloading and syncing behind the scenes.
The mounted drive is currently available on macOS.

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Next steps

Desktop app

Everything else the desktop app adds over the browser.

Core concepts

How workspaces, projects, and assets fit together.