Skip to content
Swyvl Docs

Uploading files

How to upload

  1. Open a site from the map home screen
  2. Go to the Files tab
  3. Click Upload files or drag and drop files onto the upload area

All files must belong to a site — there is no workspace-level file inbox.

Upload methods

Drag and drop

Drag one or more files directly onto the Files tab. Multiple files can be uploaded simultaneously.

File picker

Click Upload files to open your system file browser. Select one or more files.

Large file uploads (multipart)

Files over 100 MB are automatically uploaded using multipart upload. The file is split into chunks and sent in parallel — you don’t need to do anything differently. A progress bar shows per-part progress.

Chunk sizes:

  • 100 MB – 1 GB → 16 MB chunks, 3 concurrent
  • 1 GB – 5 GB → 64 MB chunks, 3 concurrent
  • Over 5 GB → 128 MB chunks, 5 concurrent

If your network drops during a multipart upload, the upload can be resumed from the last completed chunk.

3D Tiles uploads

3D Tiles datasets are directories, not single files. To upload:

  1. Locate your 3D Tiles output directory (the one containing the top-level JSON file)
  2. Compress it as a .zip file — the top-level JSON (e.g. tileset.json`) should be at the root of the ZIP or one folder deep
  3. Upload the ZIP file like any other file
  4. Swyvl extracts the archive, re-uploads each tile to object storage, and loads the CesiumJS viewer automatically

What happens after upload

Once your file is uploaded, Swyvl automatically runs:

  1. Classification — identifies the file type using AI (LAS, KMZ, MP4, etc.)
  2. Metadata extraction — reads file headers for dimensions, coordinate system, capture date, GPS data, page count, etc.
  3. Thumbnail generation — creates a preview image for the Files tab
  4. Viewer assignment — selects the correct in-browser viewer based on file type

This typically takes 10–60 seconds per file depending on size. Files show a “Processing” indicator until complete.

Assigning capture sessions

When uploading, you can assign files to a capture session — a logical grouping of files captured at the same time (e.g. one drone flight, one scan day).

  • Select an existing session from the dropdown, or
  • Type a new session name to create it on upload

Files without a session appear under “Deliverables” in share links.

Upload best practices

  • Use LAZ instead of LAS for point clouds — lossless compression reduces file sizes by 5–10x with no quality loss
  • Use GLB instead of OBJ for 3D models — GLB embeds textures, OBJ requires a separate MTL file
  • Name files descriptively — clients see the original filename in share links
  • Use stable WiFi or ethernet for files over 1 GB

Troubleshooting uploads

Upload stalled at 0% Check your network connection. If you’re on WiFi, try ethernet. Refresh and re-upload.

File stuck in “Processing” for over 15 minutes Processing failures are rare. Try re-uploading the file. If the issue persists, raise a support request from Settings → Support.

“Upload path not permitted” error This is a server-side error — please raise a support request with the filename and format.

File uploaded but no viewer Either the format isn’t supported for in-browser viewing (it can still be downloaded), or processing is still running. Wait a minute and refresh.