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Upload files

Upload media, including 360 photos and video

How the media uploader works: picking the right kind, Insta360 .insp and .insv support, batch limits, and why files must reach Ready before you can use them.

Video walkthrough

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Narration script

The walkthrough has not been recorded yet. This is the narration it will follow, step for step.

Let me show you how uploading media works, including 360 content straight off an Insta360 camera. I am on the Media page, in the Upload new files section. First thing: pick the Kind. Image, 360 photo, Audio, Video, 360 video, Drone video, or Transcript. The kind matters because it decides what files are accepted and how the viewer treats them later. Now I choose my files. I can pick up to five at a time. And here is the nice part for Insta360 users: if I pick a dot I-N-S-P file, the kind switches to 360 photo by itself, and a dot I-N-S-V file switches it to 360 video. The app rewraps those files automatically so Cloudinary accepts them. No conversion step on your end. Before I hit Upload, I check the rows. If one says Wrong kind, that file's extension does not match the kind I picked, so I either change the kind or remove the file. Now I click Upload. Each file goes straight from the browser to Cloudinary, with its own progress bar. I keep this tab open until every row says Ready. And Ready is the gate: only Ready files show up when you build scenes or pick media anywhere else in the app. Last thing, give each file a short name, a description, and some tags, and attach a transcript to any video. Two reasons. First, without a transcript, deaf and hard of hearing visitors cannot use that video at all, and neither can anyone who cannot turn their sound on right now. Second, you will need it before publishing anyway. There is a page at slash docs slash transcripts explaining what else a transcript does for you, including what it does for search. That is it. Upload once, use it everywhere.

Steps

  1. Go to Media in the top navigation (/creator/media) and find the Upload new files section. You do not have to start here: there is an Upload new 360 file panel on the New scene page, and an Upload new files to this tour panel in the Destination media library, so you can upload without leaving the page you are working on. Files land in the same library either way.
  2. Pick a Kind first: Image, 360 photo, Audio, Video, 360 video, Drone video, or Transcript. The kind decides which files are accepted and how the viewer treats them later.
  3. Choose your files. You can upload up to 5 files at a time. Insta360 files are supported directly: picking a .insp file switches the kind to 360 photo and a .insv file switches it to 360 video, and the app rewraps them automatically so Cloudinary accepts them.
  4. Check the queued rows before uploading. A row marked Wrong kind means that file's extension does not match the selected kind: change the Kind or remove the file.
  5. Click Upload. Files go straight from your browser to Cloudinary with a progress bar per file. Keep the tab open until every row reads Ready.
  6. Ready is the gate: only files with the Ready status show up in the scene panorama picker and the other media pickers. A file still uploading cannot be placed anywhere.
  7. After upload, give each file a short Display name, a Description, and Tags so you can find it later. The name box starts with the original filename, and the original filename stays listed on the file even after you rename it, so you can always match a library row back to the file on your own machine. As you type a tag, existing tags that match appear below the box — click one to reuse it instead of creating a near-duplicate spelling. For videos, attach a transcript file (.srt, .vtt, or .txt). Without one, deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors cannot use the video at all, and neither can anyone who cannot turn the sound on. It is also required before a course with that video can be published. See /docs/transcripts for what a transcript does for your visitors and for you.
  8. Mind the size limits: images and 360 photos up to 10 MB, all video up to 100 MB, audio up to 10 MB, transcripts up to 10 MB. For 360 photos, use equirectangular images with a 2 to 1 aspect ratio at 6K (6144 by 3072). Do not go to 8K: a 2 to 1 image at 8K is 33.5 megapixels and exceeds the 25 megapixel ceiling, so it is rejected however small the file is. For 360 video, trim and re-export at a lower bitrate before uploading, because a few minutes of 8K equirectangular runs well past 100 MB.