I have about 50 flights and had generally good results with taking videos and stills. To simplify file copying and editing I usually break videos up into segments not much bigger than 5 mins or so. At UHD resolution and 30 fps filesize gets to about 1 GB for every 2 mins of video. The other day I didn't pay attention and recorded 9 mins video, resulting in a file just above 4 GB in size. Disappointingly, I can't play this file on my iMac (neither with QuickTime Player nor with iMovie which I use for editing); it starts playing and then just hangs the player with bottom third of the screen black. Is this a file-size limitation? Or what else could have contributed to the corruption? Is there a way to recover the file content?
I read in another thread that files can get corrupted when the Intelligent Battery is turned off prior to the files being downloaded to the microSD card. This seems unlikely as the cause as this particular video is one of several taken during this flight and all others before and after play just fine.

Go to the DJI site and under downloads is a utility for fixing corrupted files.

Alan

apsphoto Posted at 2015-10-7 14:21
Go to the DJI site and under downloads is a utility for fixing corrupted files.

Alan

Alan,

I spent 5 mins searching the DJI forums for file corruption tools, w/o success.

I googled some such tools for the Mac, installed one (Remo Repair MOV), it ran 25 mins to "repair" the corrupted file but then the preview of the fixed file was just black!?

It's not that the video is so valuable - I can fly the same area again in better weather, no less - it's more that I wanted to know what causes the corruption so I can avoid it in the future.

Has anyone seen similar corruption issues?

I have not seen any corrupted files with the Phantom, but in general photography I have found that after downloading the files from the card, to then format the card on the device it came from. So when I reinstall the SD card on the P3 I format the card while it is searching for sat. I do this each time. I have found in the past with other cameras that deleting or formatting on a computer can cause corrupted files.

Alan

apsphoto: I only format my micro SD card in the P3, not on the computer. I also re-format the SD card at the beginning of many flights so as to have the full capacity available.

I bought a new 64 GB micro SD card to eliminate the first one being defective as root cause for these problems. However, even the second one exhibits the same problem of corrupting a few video files and always in such a way that the thumbnail is still visible and when trying to replay the file using QuickTime on the Mac it freezes after the first second or so. I believe this to be a firmware bug with the onboard recording software, but hard to reproduce.

Unfortunately even further attempts to recover the files with other software have been unsuccessful. I only get black files back, nothing useful.

tlausser@hotmai Posted at 2015-11-22 11:01
apsphoto: I only format my micro SD card in the P3, not on the computer. I also re-format the SD car ...

Rather than blame it on the file or file type or formatting source, etc., take the SD card along with an appropriate reader and try reading it on someone else's computer.

I have three large quads with cameras. Each camera has a 32GB Class 10 SD card. They were formatted on my PC. After shooting video, I remove the SD card from the appropriate quad (one of which is a Phantom) and utilize the "cut" function to copy the .mp4 files to my PC. The rest of the data stays on the SD card - with no further formatting - and gets stuck back into the drone I took it from.

Your problem sounds to me a lot more like a driver problem than anything else.

Art - N4PJ
Leesburg, FL

aburkefl@gmail. Posted at 2015-11-23 03:02
Rather than blame it on the file or file type or formatting source, etc., take the SD card along w ...

I have another theory, I have also noticed that my video files typically stop at around the 9 minute mark, and then continue afterwards with a new file.  Before I looked into this I was removing the battery at the end of the flight and had the same problems reported here (e.g. the second video file would play for around 2 seconds then stop).

First point is the 9 minute video, this typically results in a 4.2Gb filesize, which is the upper limit for FAT32 storage format, I assume that the Phantom SD cards (and the device itself) are using this format and therefore will suffer this limitation.  I believe the system is smart enough to realize this and stops the recording at that point and starts with another file.  

The second part of the problem (e.g. the non-functional second file) I am 100% convinced is due to changing out the battery without stopping the recording (I frequently forget to do that), this will naturally result in the file being incorrectly downloaded to the SD card (as there is no power).   

My question would be this, is the Phantom able to access an NTFS file system (which I believe would resolve this problem), and would that limit the number of devices able to access the SD card afterwards.

masonmjs Posted at 2015-11-29 20:53
I have another theory, I have also noticed that my video files typically stop at around the 9 minu ...

In regards to "....changing out the battery without stopping the recording...."

My experience is that if you're recording video and just about anything comes along that interrupts the normal stopping of the recording, you'll likely experience difficulty with the remaining video.

Sometimes you get lucky and the video *does* show up. But, most often, if something happens (like a crash, even a minor one) that stops the recording, it doesn't get stopped properly and you lose either some of it or all of it.

One of my recent mishaps, I ran into a palm tree - fortunately the big, leafy part, not the trunk - and fell into some mud near the base of the tree. I was anticipating getting some neat video of the fall. However, since the recording was not terminated/stopped properly, it didn't get saved at all.

Sometimes, even just shutting off the Phantom without stopping the recording is enough to upset the apple cart. Sometimes I've gotten lucky and the file does show up. But, every once in a while I forget to stop the recording, turn off the Phantom, then turn off the controller and the video segment doesn't show up.

Art - N4PJ
Leesburg, FL

masonmjs Posted at 2015-11-30 09:53
I have another theory, I have also noticed that my video files typically stop at around the 9 minu ...

After some experimentation with a spare SD card, it would seem that we are stuck with the filesize limitation (4.2Gb) I mentioned earlier and was the subject of the original post.  I formatted the card as NTFS and it was rejected by the Phantom, I also tried ExFat from a MAc and although it worked, it did not resolve the filesize limit, and it caused a re-format suggestion on DJI Go.

My advice therefore is to get into the good habit of stopping the recording after each flight and waiting a few minutes before changing the battery for your next flight.  It's only a little tedious as after all we should all be editing and compiling our videos offline later so no real loss of material.

Happy flying

tlausser@hotmai Posted at 2015-11-22 08:01
apsphoto: I only format my micro SD card in the P3, not on the computer. I also re-format the SD car ...

Try formatting the card in your Phantom only..

masonmjs Posted at 2015-11-29 17:53
I have another theory, I have also noticed that my video files typically stop at around the 9 minute mark, and then continue afterwards with a new file.  Before I looked into this I was removing the battery at the end of the flight and had the same problems reported here (e.g. the second video file would play for around 2 seconds then stop).

First point is the 9 minute video, this typically results in a 4.2Gb filesize, which is the upper limit for FAT32 storage format, I assume that the Phantom SD cards (and the device itself) are using this format and therefore will suffer this limitation.  I believe the system is smart enough to realize this and stops the recording at that point and starts with another file.  

I think you're onto the RIGHT answer in this post.  It is NOT a matter of the SD card or the formatting.  My new Phantom 4 Pro with factory SD card won't record a file larger than 4 GB.  I just sat it on the shelf and recorded the window (twice).  That is NOT ACCEPTABLE.  DJI needs to address this and a user forum is a crap substitute for proper customer support.

Expanding on my "right answer" reply - the 4 GB limit is the key.  My video format reaches that limit at about 6 min so it is file size and not time that rules.  DJI needs to fix this.  Otherwise the Phantom 4 is far from PRO; just another consumer toy.  I'm not happy.

fans1dc0646b Posted at 2017-11-27 15:47
Expanding on my "right answer" reply - the 4 GB limit is the key.  My video format reaches that limit at about 6 min so it is file size and not time that rules.  DJI needs to fix this.  Otherwise the Phantom 4 is far from PRO; just another consumer toy.  I'm not happy.

If you had any experience with other cameras you would know that the 4GB file limit is NOT a DJI fault, it is common practice among camera makers, and one of the prime reasons for its existence is that in the EU there is an increased duty on camcorders as against cameras. And the defining limit is the size of files. So a camera that does not record longer than 4GB can be classed as a camera and not attract increased duty. The P4P can use the ExFAT format and avoid file splitting, but it still splits the file for the beforementioned reasson. Try Googling '4gb file size limit' and you will find it happens everywhere. BTW, you were replying to a 2 year old 'zombie' thread.