Uploading, pausing and resuming
Large image sets and 3D models run to many gigabytes, so uploading a project can take a long time. You do not have to sit and watch it. This article explains what happens while an upload runs, how to pause it, and how to pick it up again.
Before you start: use Chrome or Edge, on the computer that holds your files
Uploading needs a browser feature that lets the page read directly from your hard drive. Today that means Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge on a desktop computer. In Safari and Firefox you can sign in and view projects, but you cannot upload.
You also need permission to create projects. If New project is greyed out on the Project Drafts page, hover it: the tooltip explains why (usually a licence limit). Demo accounts cannot upload at all and will see a message instead of the wizard.
While the upload runs
The wizard shows overall progress, a per-file list, and an estimated time remaining. You can keep working while it runs. Leave the uploading tab open, then open another browser tab and carry on using the portal.
If a single file fails, the upload retries it a few times, then moves on and reports it at the end. One bad file does not cost you the whole upload. You will see a message naming any file that could not be uploaded. The usual cause is a character in its name that is not accepted. See Troubleshooting missing images and rejected files.
Pausing
There is no Pause button. To stop an upload, close the wizard or the browser tab. Whatever had already finished is kept, and the project stays on your Project Drafts list.
Resuming
Open Project Drafts and click the row of the project you were uploading.
You will be asked whether to continue. Choose Continue upload and you are taken straight back to the upload step, where it carries on from where it stopped. Choose Cancel and the wizard closes again, leaving the draft untouched.
Reloading the page behaves differently. If you refresh the browser, or open the draft's URL directly, the upload resumes immediately without asking. Only clicking the row from the drafts list shows the confirmation dialog. Both routes do the same thing, and only one of them asks first.
Files already uploaded are not uploaded again. When an upload resumes, each file is checked against what the server already has, and anything that matches is skipped. Resuming a 90%-complete upload does not re-send the first 90%.
Resume only works in the same browser, on the same computer
When you pick your files, your browser keeps a private reference to those folders. That reference lives in that browser, on that computer. It is not stored in your Twinsity account. So:
- Resuming in a different browser does not work.
- Resuming on a different computer does not work.
- Resuming after clearing your browser data does not work.
If you try, the upload cannot find your files and will not continue.
If you need to start again from a different machine, delete the draft and begin a new upload there. An incomplete draft is all you lose, never a finished project.
"The browser needs your permission to read from your hard drive again"
For privacy reasons, browsers forget file access after a while or after a restart.
Click the button shown to grant access again, and pick the same folder you chose originally. The upload then continues. If you point it at a different folder, the files will not match and the upload cannot resume.
When an upload has finished
Once processing has started, the project leaves your drafts list and the wizard will not reopen. Opening an old draft link simply returns you to the drafts list, because nothing is left to resume.
Deleting a draft
On Project Drafts, use the row's menu and choose Delete, then confirm. This discards the partial upload and has no effect on any finished project. It is the right move if an upload has gone wrong and you would rather start cleanly.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | What it means |
| New project is greyed out | You do not have permission to create projects, or a licence limit is reached. Hover the button for the reason. |
| "Storage limit reached" and you cannot continue | The upload is larger than your remaining storage. Free space or contact your administrator. |
| A named file failed to upload | Usually a disallowed character in its name. See Troubleshooting missing images and rejected files. |
| The browser asks for hard-drive permission again | Normal. Re-grant it and choose the same folder. |
| Resume does nothing / cannot find files | You are in a different browser, on a different computer, or browser data was cleared. Delete the draft and start again. |
| Clicking an old draft returns you to the list | Processing has already started. Nothing to resume. |