Uploading a video directly to the Spotlightr is the only way we can guarantee performance as we don't have to rely on any unknown 3rd party networks and settings. We always recommend uploading direct to Spotlightr storage as opposed to using our hybrid hosting or S3 storage solutions.

While our hybrid hosting is a great option to have, we would always recommend you upload to Spotlightr for best and most consistent performance.

To upload videos select the + icon next to the Project you want to add videos to:

That will bring you to a new page to add your videos. You can either click the link to browse your machine to add videos or you can drag and drop them.

In this example I have added 3 videos to upload. Just click in the field to rename them before you start the uploading process:

Once all videos are renamed properly just click on Start Upload.

You'll notice videos will start by Processing and will be completed one at a time:

Once they are all done, you can go back to your Projects or select a video to edit by clicking the Enter icon here:

For more information on what happens when a video is uploaded and then optimized and processed, please check this article.

A quick note on the options you have before you upload:

Secure My Video (HLS) - This is checked off my default. This encrypts your videos so that they cannot be downloaded with browser extensions and plugins. You can find more info on this feature in this article. Please note your video will be converted to .m3u8 format when encrypted. If you wish to keep your video in .mp4 then this option should be unchecked.

Use 2-pass conversion - This is always off by default. You only need to turn this on if you ever notice your video is buffering or stuttering. If you do notice this, we recommend uploading it again and applying 2 pass to remedy the buffering. See this article for more info.

Use my own storage - This is if you want to use Amazon S3 storage. More info on that below.

To upload to your own S3 account, first you need to create an IAM user inside of your AWS account and then integrate it with Spotlightr. For complete instructions on setting up and integrating your Amazon S3 account, please refer to this article.

Once that is done, you just need to check off the box to Use my own storage and then select the integration you set up:

Once selected you will see that here:

Once that is done just follow same directions above to add videos.

After uploading your video, when you are customizing it you will notice a loading animation appear next to Settings:

If you click on the Settings tab, you may see this:

And if you try to get embed code or watch page link, then you will also see this that says your video is still processing:

All of these indicators are notifications that your video is still being processed and optimized, and additional versions in different resolutions are still being created. Some features may not work until this processing is done.

You may still customize the video and even add the embed code somewhere or share the watch page link. Just be aware that some features might not work until the processing is done.

So if something doesn't look right, or a feature isn't working, or the video is buffering/stuttering, please be patient and wait for this process to complete and try again.