# Uploading and processing videos

> Add video files to ESTAGE Video, follow processing to the end, and fix a video that gets stuck — plus how storage limits work.

Source: https://knowledge.estage.com/video/uploading/
Part of the ESTAGE knowledge base (https://knowledge.estage.com). Full corpus: https://knowledge.estage.com/llms-full.txt

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Uploading puts a video file into your ESTAGE Video library. ESTAGE then **processes** it — turns
it into several streaming quality levels — so it plays smoothly on any connection. You can watch
and share the video before processing is fully done.

Uploads start from **Add Video → Upload Video** in the top bar, or from **Upload video** on an
empty folder.

## Uploading a video

1. Open the folder you want the video in (or stay in **All videos**).
2. Click **Add Video → Upload Video**.
3. Drag files onto the **Upload Video** window, or click **Select Files**. You can pick several
   at once.
4. The window closes and an **Uploads** card in the bottom-right corner shows each file's
   progress. Collapse it with the arrow; clear finished items with **×**.

You can also **drop video files anywhere on the library page** — a **Drop to upload** overlay
appears and the files go into the folder you're looking at.

| Accepted | |
| --- | --- |
| **Formats** | MP4, MOV, WebM, AVI, MPEG, WMV |
| **Size** | Up to 8 GB per file |

The new video takes the file name as its title. Rename it from the card menu or on its
[settings page](/video/video-settings/). New videos start as **Public**.

:::note
Keep the browser tab open until the **Uploads** card shows the file as done. Large files are
sent in pieces, and a dropped connection retries by itself.
:::

## What happens during processing

Once a file is uploaded, its card shows the processing stage, a progress bar and — when ESTAGE
can estimate it — the time left (for example **~12 min left**). The grid refreshes by itself.

The stages you'll see, in order:

| Stage | What's happening |
| --- | --- |
| **Queued…** / **Preparing the upload…** | Waiting for its turn, then getting the file ready |
| **Analyzing video…** | Reading the file's size, length and format |
| **Encoding preview (720p)…** / **Uploading preview…** | Building the first quality level |
| **Generating thumbnails…** | Making the thumbnail and timeline frames |
| **Encoding HD qualities…** / **Uploading HD qualities…** | Building the remaining quality levels |
| **Processing HDR…** | Only for HDR source files |
| **Building MP4 fallback…** | Making a downloadable MP4 copy |
| **Adding captions…** | Picking up a caption track embedded in the file, if there is one |
| **Finalizing…** | Last checks |

**The video becomes playable after the 720p preview is ready.** From then on the card shows the
thumbnail with a thin progress strip, and you can open the video and play it while the higher
qualities are still being built.

### Which quality levels you get

Every video gets 240p, 360p, 480p and 720p. Higher levels are added only when the source file
has them: 1080p for Full HD sources, 1440p for 2K and 2160p for 4K. HDR sources also get an
HDR 1080p version. The player switches between levels automatically, and viewers can pick one
in the player's **Quality** menu.

## When a video gets stuck or fails

If processing fails, the card says **Transcoding failed**. If it hasn't started after 10 minutes,
it says **Still processing — it may be stuck**. In both cases:

1. Click **Retry transcoding** on the card (or on the video's page).
2. The video goes back into processing. This can take a few minutes.

If retrying reports that the source file is missing, upload the file again.

## Storage

The **Storage** gauge at the bottom of the sidebar shows how much of your library's space you're
using.

| Account | Storage |
| --- | --- |
| Accounts with **ESTAGE Community Plus** or the **Business Plus** plan | **Unlimited** |
| All other accounts | 1 TB |

When the library is full, new uploads are refused. Delete videos you no longer need to free up space, or upgrade for unlimited hosting.

## Things worth knowing

- **Storage belongs to the library owner.** In a team workspace, uploads count against the
  owner's storage. See [Teams and shared folders](/video/sharing/).
- **A folder shared with you as Viewer takes no uploads.** **Add Video** is hidden there, and
  dropping a file shows *You can only view this folder*.
- **Processing videos can't be selected** for bulk actions until they're done.
- Uploading from Genesis (**Media → Videos**, or dropping a file into the chat) puts the video
  into this same library.