So I did some 4k recording yesterday and the video playback is very choppy. The computer I downloaded the video file to the HDD is equipped for video editing and we have done several 4k projects prior to this with other cameras with no issues.  Also if I change to 1080 its butter smooth.   any ideas? Is this a camera issue or user issue?

Ive had this sometimes, try putting your files into google drive and then watching and see if its the same.

If you find an answer better than that please share!

same video problem here. tried new (best SDm card)  same. Using Apple Final Cut Pro to render same.
several people have had this problem in 4K, no news back yet!

I play back and edit my 4K content on a 5K iMac at full res, full screen, and it's butter smooth, cant say why..
On my i7 Dell Laptop, with heavy CAD graphics card, it remains choppy, so really, I have NO answer...

I had the same problem at first.  I was able to play the video in Quicktime and windows media player but it was very choppy.  I thought it was my computers (I tried playing it on my work computer as well as my personal computer).  I did download kmplayer as someone suggested but that was a little grainy, still a bit choppy but was more smooth.  I turned down the resolution to 1080 with no problem.  I then talked with a few of my work friends that do some filming and decided to give gopro studio a shot.  After downloading I am able to playback on both computers, in 4k, and it is very smooth.  So for me the issue wasn't my computer but the software for the 4k.

I think this is normal.   I have to render a lot of my footage before watching.   My laptop can play it pretty well under the right conditions but many computers will suffer.

A nice new 5k iMac is a great choice!

rbabcock19 Posted at 2015-2-28 02:37
I had the same problem at first.  I was able to play the video in Quicktime and windows media player ...

I couldn't play any 4k video on my average laptop using all kinds of media players, I thought I needed to purchase a super powerful computer to even view these videos but GoPro Studio plays them all, smooth as butter! Thanks so much! You just saved me thousands$$.

jimhare Posted at 2015-2-28 08:43
I think this is normal.   I have to render a lot of my footage before watching.   My laptop can play ...

Jim,

I have done a few flights myself and on each occasion noticed choppy video or the quality just doesnt look anything near the quality of your films.

When you say you render your recordings, could you please clarify or give some basic direction or guidance, any input would help.  I run a Mac Book Pro and also have Final Cut Pro and GoPro Studio.

Cheers

Try VLC on mac. Video was choppy with quicktime, and smooth with VLC...

Hey GB44,

You need to look at the original footage the same way as film, full of possibilities but completely impractical in the real world.  

So you need to grade and transcode your footage into something that IS practical.   

For me I take the original Inspire clips into DaVinci Resolve.    You can download a free version here:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve

I use it to grade (colour correct) my footage and then transcode it into a convenient editing CODEC like ProRes.   This has the added benefit of generating timecode in the file which is a good thing.

Then it's a simple matter of editing like any other footage.

I then output for whatever medium required, feature film, TV, youtube etc.

So that's my process.  Others will say to persevere with the Inspire files throughout but I prefer my process.  Works for me anyway.

Jim

It  seems that your computer can not afford DJI Inspire 4K videos well. You can have a try to downscale 4K videos into 1080p, which will make the 4K videos more compatible with your computer.

i am experiencing the same issue once in a while. sometimes choppy some times smooth. no matter the duration of the footage. always with vlc. it doesn't make any sense. i noticed only this. . . . when camera is facing the horizon and the bird is flying towards the horizon the footage is smooth most of the times. when the movements are more complicated or fast this is where it starts getting choppy.

This sounds like most everyone is using low-grade video cards.

I have a state-of-the-art Dell, Dell Precision tower, but it's 6 years old. The thing cost me about $4.5 K.

I can edit and view 720, and most 1080... but the video renderer gets a little jumpy. 4K? Forget it.

The reason, I'm guessing here, the GoPro doesn't jump a lot is that perhaps the GoPro has higher video compression- meaning smaller file size, less information to process through the card.

I'm purchasing a new video card this month. I'll let you know the outcome.

As this is a really old post let me comment on this. Simply if the computer is not 4k compatible this is what happens. At the time I wasn't even involved in video editing software so it was simply thru windows media player which on all three of my computers none of them were set up for 4k. I still have the same computers however I simply use Adobe Premier to preview my videos and do the editing and it is as smooth as glass.  

Same problem here, my videos come from a non-protected Blu-ray disc, it plays smoothly on disk drive but stuttered if I move it to quicktime. I'll try Premiere but no sure if blu-ray contents are supported.

Same problem with 2k. 1080 is smooth but not higher.

What does the 8x mean in video settings

same here, for me 4k is useless, im on a macpro ...

jimhare Posted at 2015-3-1 12:14
Hey GB44,

You need to look at the original footage the same way as film, full of possibilities but  ...

Thanks again for sharing your work flow with us, just downloaded DaVinci.
Plays 4K perfect on my PC compared to Sony Vagas.

In my experience it is because the computer can't access the files fast enough. I've found that putting the files on a RAM drive makes any video footage (even my 8K) butter smooth.

You need a  4k monitor capable to handle the video. I also have the problem I thought  my P4 is defective I called DJI USA and explain to them and the first thing the guy asked me did you watch it on a 4K monitor?  to make is short I drive right away to my friend with the latest iMac pro,  watch the jerky video I thought . So smooth and clear.  Now I'm shooing on 1080P the best file that my PC can handle.

conreb77 Posted at 2016-4-30 13:36
You need a  4k monitor capable to handle the video. I also have the problem I thought  my P4 is defe ...

YES All PC's matter, I have a Toshiba laptop ultra book 6 months new flawless no issues try to play through to older LG set will not play back. Using a older mini Ipad for a monitor on the RC and very choppy not good . Using A new Ipad with a A7 CHIP if that matters works great for the Rc monitor.

I had the same problem... I could play any 4K video from youtube, but could not play 4K videos recorded on my Galaxy S5. The problem for most of the PCs is not about processor or the software, well 4K videos can be easily and smoothly played on any PC with i3 or higher version processors. The problem is only with the video bit rate. The nor PCs processors are not compatible with video bit rates above 20000 to 30000 KBPS....Some 4K videos cross over 40000 KBPS bit rate ( videos recorded with my Phone are above 40000 KBPS). These videos are hard to be played by general budget laptops...If your RAM is a bit higher may be you can play them on processors above i3,

When exporting try changing the Time Interpolation to Optical Flow. This seems to clean up the choppiness of the 4k footage coming from our Mavic 2 Pro