Hey guys, I'm trying to use my iPad to edit my video from the Phantom 4, but I'm having trouble with video format. I have tried several combinations, and am using the iPad SD card adapter to import directly to the iPad. The videos import to the iPad perfectly, but just will not play. I get an error saying the format is not supported.  I am clearly under-educated in this regard. Ipad is an iPad Mini 2nd Generation. First, my SD card is NTSC format. So my maiden flight I recorded a video, 4K 16:9 aspect (3840x2160) at 30FPS MP4 format. It wouldn't play on the ipad or in windows media player on my PC. My second attempt was 4K (3840x2160) 30 FPS in .MOV - would not play.  Third attempt was 1080P at 120 FPS/.MOV This played fine on ipad. Tried 1080P at 60 FPS and it will play on my destop (windows media player) but still will not play on iPad... So far the only file I have been able to successfully play on ipad was the 1080P at 120 FPS. (.MOV)   So now I cant tell if its the resolution,(4K vs. 1080p)  the frames per second, or the file extension that is causing the ipad to fail to play. Can someone please give me some clarity here? I like to edit with iMovie on my ipad (I know, I know...shut up, I'm a casual youtube movie maker, not a professional) and I just want to know what settings I can use on the Phantom that are compatable with the ipad, or what the heck else may be going on here...

I would suggest if you are not looking into doing any kind of video cropping to get zoom and looking for just basic editing, just shoot in 1080.   4k you can do more with like digital zoom( cropping larger picture making it zoomed but lower res)   lame description but trying to relay basic understanding.   

in the menu you can change just to record in 1080(30) and you shouldn't have any problems at all with editing.  can't give any solid information or test on my end because i use all windows based for adobe and my ipad is only used for my controller.  

quickpoint Posted at 2016-3-21 07:56
I would suggest if you are not looking into doing any kind of video cropping to get zoom and looking ...

I appreciate you trying to help, but I tried several different recording settings, as mentioned above, but my problem is not really in the editing.. I'm very familiar with editing in iMovie on my iPad. Ive always used my GoPro H3B to get my footage, and it has always uploaded all clips to the ipad with no issues. The issue I'm having here, is most of the recording settings I'm using do not play on the iPad, so they can also not be edited. I should be able to plug the SD card into the iPad, upload the clips, and immediately watch them, but I can't.. The only clip Ive been able to upload and watch/edit was a 1080p /120 FPS /.MOV file.

Phan-TOM Posted at 2016-3-21 08:41
I appreciate you trying to help, but I tried several different recording settings, as mentioned ab ...

i misunderstood your problem entirely  

just for kicks here, its more of a work around but while not flying having the controller and drone connected you can download them from the drone straight to the ipad. i have done this on mine but never did much other than watch them,  all my editing is done on pc.

I'll try it out. Funny thing is, I can watch all the videos in the GO app, its just when I save them to the camera roll, or try to upload them from the SD card. I'll try as you suggested and see what happens..

Phan-TOM Posted at 2016-3-21 10:18
I'll try it out. Funny thing is, I can watch all the videos in the GO app, its just when I save them ...

The video you are watching in the Go App is video that was cached to the iPad while recording to the SD card in the Phantom.  This video is 720P so it is easier to play because the data rate is quite low.
You can set the Phantom to record to the SD card in 720P as well.  Try both the MOV and MP4 file extension.  See if one of these can be transferred via the SD adapter.  Then if this is successful try 1080P with the same file extension that worked.

hummingbird.uav Posted at 2016-3-21 12:40
The video you are watching in the Go App is video that was cached to the iPad while recording to t ...

So Heres what I tried and determined... I tried every combination of resolution and framerate and file format (.MOV vs. MP4)  There are 28 combinations in total. The result was the same whether using .MOV or MP4, so that is not the issue.  As for resolution and frame rates, I can import and watch/edit anything 1080p and below at any frame rate with the exception of 1080p at 60 fps. Anything 2.7K and up will not work at any frame rate.   Grrr... time for a new iPad... (pretending to be disappointed)

Phan-TOM Posted at 2016-3-21 13:58
So Heres what I tried and determined... I tried every combination of resolution and framerate and  ...

I think you might be right.  I am using an iPad Air, don't think there is an SD card adapter for it.

Apple sells a Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader, I bought one already. ;-)
http://www.apple.com/shop/produc ... -card-camera-reader

It plugs right into the Lightning port on my iPad Air 2 Cellular.
Just slide the micro sd card into the sd adapter, and it goes into the reader, plug it in, and it transfers the video and pic files over quite quickly.

RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2016-3-21 15:27
Apple sells a Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader, I bought one already. ;-)
http://www.apple.com/sho ...

Nice to see, I'll have to get one.

No problem playing 4K video on iPad Air 2. I even use mine for editing and re-encoding the video to 1080p when I'm feeling too lazy to go and get the laptop

Apple released iOS 9.3 today. It became available here earlier.
A new feature called Night Shift should be helpful for us late night viewers. ;-)
The blurb is here: New iOS for Apple


RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2016-3-21 17:27
Apple sells a Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader, I bought one already. ;-)
http://www.apple.com/sho ...

That's what I use its great! I also have the lightning to USB adapter for importing stills from my DSLR. both still work great for now until apple decides to change it. The Lightning to SD still isn't supported on iPhone for some reason.

Hi all of you, very interesting that someone have asked for the same problem I am facing right now - but in your posts I cannot find the explanation for the problem, therefor I just would ask again in a slightly different summary. Unfortunately I did not receive an answer within another post, so I will try here, posting it again:

"Hi together. I have a question, maybe someone could help me. There's a thing I cannot understand:
Just regarding the 1080p record options (not 4K, not 720p - the question is only regarding 1080p)

Using my GoPro, recording in ntsc 60fps, importing the footage via card reader adapter directly into my iPad --> I can watch the video with the normal standard app or edit it with iMovie, no need for any third party app.

But: recording with my Phantom 4 in ntsc 60fps --> I cannot watch the footage after importing. It says "format not supported", any third party app does play. But not the standard app or iMovie.
I tried ntsc 24, 48, 60, 120, ... I can import and watch any of them (again, we are talking about the 1080p options only for this question), but not the 60fps records.

I tried all options with PAL 25, 50, 100, 120 too, no problem to watch them at all.

Do you have any ideas why I cannot watch the 60fps ntsc footage from the phantom 4  with the normal app? The curious thing is, I can watch the GoPro 60fps ntsc without any problems after importing - but not the phantom 4 ones. Where could be the differences??"

For now I go with 50fps PAL - but you know: I just would understand the reason, why it doesn't work with 60fps ntsc records, but all other 1080p fps combinations (and again: GoPro records 60fps ntsc do work/play perfectly).

Thanks for your ideas

Link to this post how to play Phantom 4 video on iPad to get som hints.

THE DJi P4 SD card is suppose to be in FAT32 or exFat (32) format, according to the DJi ops manual.
Page 61 in the Appendix.