Uploading your images, video and audio

By the end you’ll have your images, clips or sounds inside the Cloud OBS, ready to be added as a source in any scene.

You need: OBS Standard or OBS Pro · the server online · the file to hand

Before you start

Asset uploading lives inside the Desktop tab, so you need a plan that includes it: OBS Standard or OBS Pro. On OBS Basic it isn’t there (The remote desktop).

And the server has to be Online: with the server off there’s nowhere to upload the file to.

Steps

1. Turn your server on if it’s Stopped and wait until it says Online.
2. Open the server’s detail and go into the Desktop tab.
3. Scroll down to the Assets block.
4. Drag the file onto the marked area, or hit Select file.
5. Wait for it to finish: you’ll see the percentage, the speed and how long is left. Once it’s done, the file shows up under Uploaded files.
6. In OBS, add the source you need (image, media source…) and look for the file in /home/user/assets.

While it uploads

On mobile data, a 100 MB video can take around 20 minutes. The upload goes in parts and whatever has already arrived stays on the server, so a drop doesn’t make you start from scratch. In the meantime:

• You can move around the dashboard. The upload keeps going and a card at the bottom shows how it’s doing; View takes you back to the server.
• If it says “Stalled”, the upload hasn’t moved for a while. It’s nearly always signal. You don’t have to do anything: as soon as the connection is back, it carries on from where it was, even if you switch networks halfway (from mobile data to Wi-Fi, say).
• If the connection doesn’t come back within a few minutes, the upload stops and the dashboard tells you. What was sent is saved: press Resume once you’re back online.
• If you reload or close the tab, the upload pauses. When you come back to Assets you’ll see your file under Unfinished uploads, with what had already arrived: choose the same file again and it picks up where it left off. If you don’t want it any more, Discard deletes it.
• What was sent is kept for 24 hours without activity. After that you’ll have to upload the whole file again.
• On your phone, keep the browser in front and the screen on. If you switch apps or the screen locks, your phone may pause the upload.
• At 100 % there’s still a moment to go: the dashboard says “Sent. Saving the file on the server…”. Wait until the file shows up in the list.
• Cancel upload stops it and throws away whatever had been sent.

A file only shows up under Uploaded files (and in OBS) once it has arrived in full: if it’s in the list, it’s complete. If you upload a file with the same name again, the new one replaces the old one when it finishes; while it uploads, you still have the previous one.

What you can upload

Up to 500 MB per file. One at a time.

Type	Formats
Images	png · jpg · jpeg · gif · webp · bmp
Video	mp4 · mov · mkv · webm
Audio	mp3 · aac · wav · ogg · opus · flac

Nothing else: no other file types are accepted.

Your total space is set by your plan: 5 GB on OBS Standard and 10 GB on OBS Pro (Plans and pricing).

See your space and free it up

Under Uploaded files, Space used tells you how much your files take up against your plan’s space. The bar turns amber from 80 % and red once there’s no room left.

To free up space, delete what you no longer use:

1. Under Uploaded files, hit the bin icon next to the file.
2. Confirm with Delete file.

The file leaves the list and the space is freed straight away. Deleting can’t be undone, and if a scene was using that file, that source is left empty: remove it or swap it in OBS.

If the file you’re about to upload doesn’t fit, the dashboard tells you before it starts, without making you wait for the upload, and Free up space takes you to the list to delete files. If you upload a file with the same name as one you already have, only the extra size counts, because the new one replaces the old one.

Compress before uploading

A 500 MB clip takes a while to upload and eats your space. For an overlay or a two-second sting, a light webm or mp4 looks the same and weighs a tenth of it. On a slow connection, a big video can take many minutes to upload: keep the page open until it finishes.

If something fails

Message	What’s happening	What you do
“The upload stopped because the connection was lost. What was sent is saved…”	The connection dropped and didn’t come back within a few minutes. What had already arrived is still on the server	Press Resume once you’re back online; if you closed the tab, choose the same file again
“That upload is no longer on the server (it expired after 24 hours without activity, or it was discarded). Upload the file again.”	More than 24 hours went by without carrying on, or it was discarded	Upload the whole file again
“File type not allowed. Use image, video or audio.”	The extension isn’t in the list above	Convert it to a supported format and upload it again
“Invalid file name.”	The name comes out empty once cleaned up (only dots, dashes or spaces)	Rename it with letters and numbers, for example channel-logo.png
“The file exceeds the 500 MB maximum.”	It’s too heavy	Trim it or compress it
“Your Cloud OBS is out of space. Delete files you no longer use or change plan.”	You’ve filled up your plan’s space	Hit Free up space and delete files you no longer use (see See your space and free it up), or change plan
“It doesn’t fit: the file is size and you have free free. Delete files you no longer use or change plan.”	The file is bigger than the space you have left. Nothing has been uploaded	Hit Free up space and delete what you don’t use, compress the file or change plan
“The file couldn’t be deleted. Please try again.”	Something failed along the way while deleting; the file is still there	Try again; if it keeps failing, open a ticket in Support
“Your plan does not include asset uploads.”	You’re on OBS Basic	Move up to Standard or Pro
“The server is not online. Start it and try again.”	It’s off	Hit Turn on and wait a few minutes
“The server is not ready yet. Try again in a moment.”	It’s finishing starting up	Wait and try again

Names are cleaned up on upload: accents and odd characters are replaced with _. If your file shows up in the list with a slightly different name than the original, that’s what happened, and it works just the same.

Regenerating wipes your assets

Regenerating the server loses your scenes, settings and uploaded files, and there’s no going back. Keep a copy of anything you care about on your own computer.

Next step

• The remote desktop — where you place these files in your scenes.
• Scenes and overlays — which scenes your server already comes with.
• Several videos in a loop — to broadcast your uploaded videos one after another.