Oddly enough my new Phantom 3 will take perfect 1080 60 video, but will not take anything but jerky, near useless video when set to 4K 30.  Tried multiple cards, including the factory one.  Tried VLC program, it appears its the video that is taken, not the player or the computers I have tried.  Using a MacBook Pro and an iMac for playback and editing.  Any advice on this matter?

Can you post an example on Youtube ?

Have you processed the video and then watched it? In my experience my MacBook processor doesn't work fast enough to show a non-jerky video until the video has been saved as a file and then replayed.

I could post a video on YouTube of the issue, but it would be a great deal of trouble.  I have a somewhat limited connection for uploading video.  121 megs took about an hour to upload to FB last night (1:19 of video). My best description of this would be:  video starts, then drops a second or two like it skips, then appears for 1/20th of a second like its going to be smooth, then its frozen, then skips.  

I have taken the videos off of the card, played them from the hard drive on two different computers, ran a small section through iMovie, and no fix.

It works great at 1080.

Do you record MOV or MP4 ?

I think you'll find that the video is just fine, what you're having trouble with is viewing it smoothly.

This is not uncommon.

If you transcode the footage to ProRes you'll probably find they play much better.

I go through this in my tutorials.  

http://forum.dji.com/thread-9738-1-1.html&fromuid=21263

Ulysse Posted at 2015-5-20 22:26
Do you record MOV or MP4 ?

Tried both with no luck.

jimhare Posted at 2015-5-20 22:30
I think you'll find that the video is just fine, what you're having trouble with is viewing it smoot ...

I will watch/read these later tonight and see if I can make any adjustments.  I don't really want to buy additional software if I don't have to do so.

4k is very processor-intensive to play back smoothly, especially in the native codec DJI uses. Even my 8 core MacPro won't play it back without dropping frames all over the place. In contrast, my brand new 13" retina MacBook Pro plays it back flawlessly.

4K is not ready for prime time!
I say that because most users will not have the equipment to properly view it or edit it.
Most users don't have the bandwidth to watch it.
Vimeo and youtube can hack it up pretty bad.....the only reasonable depiction I can get on my new 5K Retina iMac.

Unless you are really a pro or prosumer, use 1080/60.

As a point of information, I checked the screen resolutions of the 40,000+ users who visited my web site in the past month. Guess how many had 4K screens?
I think 3.........

Some may disagree with me...but I see the above as practical advice which will probably be applicable for a couple years since people tend to keep their computers and tablets for a while.

I saw a test on Youtube showing downscaled 4K to 1080p is more defined than native 1080p. But I didn't test myself.

jimhare wrote: "I think you'll find that the video is just fine, what you're having trouble with is viewing it smoothly."

What he said...

Your Phantom is shooting 4K just fine...  You computer is not capable of playing back the 4K footage without dropping frames & freezing up.

You can prove this by transcoding it down to 1080 and you will see that the 4K footage running at 1080 plays smoothly.

As many others have said... 4K is not really very easy to work with at this point in time.  (Or you need to boy a faster computer.)

Ulysse Posted at 2015-5-21 01:29
I saw a test on Youtube showing downscaled 4K to 1080p is more defined than native 1080p. But I didn ...

Did an experiment the other day. I've read that many videographers shoot in 4K and then process to something smaller, like 1080P. Mentally, I kind of poo-poohed it. However....

I shot some GoPro stuff using 4K (GoPro Her 4 Silver) - amazingly, it's 4K 15 fps - and then processed for 1080. WOW! The overall effect is like zooming in. Zooming/cropping has suddenly become a piece of cake - it's kind of easy to overdo it as well.

When I can remember to pay better attention to my exposure on the P3P, I'll compare. I've been trying 4K 24fps on the P3P - that should work even better than the GoPro.

ucmena Posted at 2015-5-21 00:07
I will watch/read these later tonight and see if I can make any adjustments.  I don't really want  ...

DaVinci Resolve has a FREE version that ten years ago would have cost $200,000 for far less power.

In my book that's a pretty good deal!

Ulysse Posted at 2015-5-21 01:29
I saw a test on Youtube showing downscaled 4K to 1080p is more defined than native 1080p. But I didn ...

That's correct.   When possible it's ALWAYS better to oversample your image.   This way when you "tighten up the pixels" you are giving it the most information available.

Plus it allows you to reframe the image by punching in (zooming) and creating new shots.

Another thing to remember is when recording video you have to take into account the shutter speed/exposure settings based on what format you are shooting in.  Here's a great explanation about this for a DJI Inspire using the same app we use for the Phantom 3.

You can fast forward to about 21 mins where he explains this.  His other videos are great as well since he goes through the app in great detail over 2x20 min + videos.  I know it's the Inspire, but the app is the same.  His looks like it may have a version before or it might actually be a little different than P3.  But as a whole it's the same.  The only thing I found different was that the simulator is under the Help icon versus being accessed from the bottom row of buttons in the app and of course the options for the camera for gimbal movement.

I got a free transcoder and ran one of the 4K videos through it and downgraded it to 1080 and it played just fine.  It was indeed NOT the camera, but my computers.  Thanks everyone for the advice.

http://www.brorsoft.com/video-converter/

I would like to mention before I go that 4K video is MASSIVE in size.  I may shoot in 4K and then downgrade the video for processing later (under the auspices of better quality video) , but I doubt that 90% of users will see a huge difference in video quality on the finished product in 1080 vs 4K for a few more years anyway.

Thanks everyone for your advice and answers.

ucmena Posted at 2015-5-21 12:06
I got a free transcoder and ran one of the 4K videos through it and downgraded it to 1080 and it pla ...

Yes, this tutorial is related:
http://multiply-video-formats-so ... -premiere-avid.html

Hope it can be helpful to you

jimhare Posted at 2015-5-21 09:26
DaVinci Resolve has a FREE version that ten years ago would have cost $200,000 for far less power. ...

What kind of Windows computer do you need to use DaVinci Resolve with Dji  4K video?
I have used Edius 8 Pro which usually handles most video codecs without the need to render or use proxy files on the timeline but the 4K Dji codec really causes poor playback . Even Vegas pro 13 does a better job.

jennings93@gmai Posted at 2015-10-28 15:17
What kind of Windows computer do you need to use DaVinci Resolve with Dji  4K video?
I have used E ...

The majority of computers won't deal with native 4k video easily.   The great thing about Davinci is that real time playback isn't a priority.  Instead you set the best grade for each shot and then transcode to a CODEC and resolution that is convenient to work with.

In other words you are using DaVinci as an intermediate to create your final looks before editing.

If you prefer to color correct at the end of the process you can always create proxy media for an offline edit and then reconnect to the final cut in DaVinci at the end.  Again, not important to have realtime playback, just create your looks and render the final version.

jimhare Posted at 2015-5-20 10:30
I think you'll find that the video is just fine, what you're having trouble with is viewing it smoot ...

You are correct. Prores converts the footage to play buttery smooth!

I found the following information and tried it. It works beautifully.

Play back your videos with VLC Media Player.  
This is a free program that doesn’t take up a lot of resources to run on your computer.  This means that your computer can focus more on playing back your videos smoothly.   We've found that it's common for Windows Media Player to give you choppy playback, so we recommend against using it.  You can download VLC Media Player here: www.videolan.org.  If you’re looking for a quick fix, you might want to skip down to Step 4.  Windows Media Player may not support playing back camera video resolutions higher than 720p 120fps.  This means that 1080p resolutions and higher may not play back.  You'll hear audio, but you won't see any video.

Take it easy, learn how to solve 4K files from Phantom 3 not playing in VLC below.

Consequently, for users who prefer a one-stop solution to play 4K in VLC successfully, they are left with no choice but to convert Phantom 3 4K to VLC-friendly formats and downscale the 4K resolution. Here is the full tutorial: http://4k-solution.com/play-4k-videos-in-vlc-player/

For windows users, you can seek for A VLC Alternative

Among those you can try, Media Player Classic, is definitely worth a shot. It is a very lightweight piece of software that is free, and has no toolbars or ads packaged with it. Take a simple click, it’s super easy to play 4K videos in full screen mode intelligently.

Note: Installing Media Player Classic on its own does not yet provide 4K playback capabilities. The key is to also install the K-Lite Codec Pack. Plus, even Media Player Classic or other media players can support Phantom 3 4K files, but format limit still exists there, let alone some of them can't fully support 4K videos.