1st disturbing find on P4

chris digata · Apr 10, 2016

The new firmware still does not address this issue.. maybe faster cards are needed?

normr · Apr 10, 2016

My friend recently told me he had the same issue with his and my Go-Pro, he flew in the last flying B-29 bomber a few weeks ago out of Naples, FL and he borrowed my Go-Pro Hero-4 Black and also filmed with his Hero-4 Silver and he said he had the same problem with all the video from both cameras, he said once it got to 14 minutes it would create a new clip.

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Jeffdj · Apr 10, 2016

normr said:
My friend recently told me he had the same issue with his and my Go-Pro, he flew in the last flying B-29 bomber a few weeks ago out of Naples, FL and he borrowed my Go-Pro Hero-4 Black and also filmed with his Hero-4 Silver and he said he had the same problem with all the video from both cameras, he said once it got to 14 minutes it would create a new clip.

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Why dont people read the posts on this problem? We know all these cameras produce splits on long shoots but only the DJI products lose frames at each split!!

sar104 · Apr 10, 2016

jack1144 said:
To sar104
That's interesting.
You say " the split clearly does not always happen at exactly the same time, presumably because compression efficiency varies with recorded detail."
What are the varying lengths of your continuous first clips?
Mine are all 9:20 or 9:21 as mine all seem to be CBR (constant bit rate)

The longest I've seen is 9:23, and the shortest is 9:04. These are MP4 files. I've assumed that the difference was due to variable bitrate, since the video info shows VBR mode with an overall bitrate of approximately 60 Mb/s - but it seems to vary depending on the video.

However, looking at the most recent files from the P4, the overall rate is more constant, independent of scene, varying between 59.9 and 60.1 which translates, for a fixed file limit, to a variability of only around 2 seconds. And that is consistent with those recent files, which are all in the 9:20 to 9:23 range.

So now I'm not sure if it is a change in the firmware or something else that accounts for that difference.

SnazzyQ · Apr 10, 2016

If you shoot in d-log, I believe the bitrate is more variable that standard shooting modes. Don't quote me on that, though. Can check later this afternoon with a few tests.

KMD1984 · Apr 10, 2016

I just came back from flying outside and guess what?! The clip is split exactly at 09:21. SHOCKER! NOT!

volace · Apr 10, 2016

It is very unlikely that the split would come in the critical 10 second shot you are interested in , the odd of that is even smaller than the odd of a bird comes from no where and hit your P4

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gtpark · Apr 10, 2016

KMD1984 said:
I just came back from flying outside and guess what?! The clip is split exactly at 09:21. SHOCKER! NOT!

And the point is?

ianwood · Apr 11, 2016

sar104 is right. There's no guarantee of where the split takes place.

jack1144 · Apr 12, 2016

Ian what do you base that on?
There must be a reason his clips vary yet mine are all 9:20 or 9:21 actually they are 9:20:06 to 9:21:07
Not that it matters as frames are lost , I have to plan around 9 min to 10 min anyway., just curious.

cokeaddict · Apr 13, 2016

normr said:
My friend recently told me he had the same issue with his and my Go-Pro, he flew in the last flying B-29 bomber a few weeks ago out of Naples, FL and he borrowed my Go-Pro Hero-4 Black and also filmed with his Hero-4 Silver and he said he had the same problem with all the video from both cameras, he said once it got to 14 minutes it would create a new clip.

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

I have a 3+ black and a 3+ sliver. None of them skip frames...EVER !!! and YES, there can be times when that critical frame is the one skipped. Sure hope its a simple fix cause it would annoy the crap out of me as I do run cameras until either the battery dies OR the card is full. I do that because you never know what can happen at any given time so best to run the gopros all day (heaps of cards and batteries kept as i do 2 - 3 and up top 5 days away.

jack1144 · Apr 13, 2016

SnazzyQ said:
If you shoot in d-log, I believe the bitrate is more variable that standard shooting modes. Don't quote me on that, though. Can check later this afternoon with a few tests.

Mine are all dlog. They do vary slightly but not as much as some,ne
Anyone NOT dropping frames, using DJI cameras, at the split?

ianwood · Apr 13, 2016

All DJI cams drop frames. Even the X5 does.

Kag49601 · Apr 15, 2016

Thought I would give an update from our wonderful DJI tech support: Here is a small section of my corispondence with them and their latest reply to me today. Laughable to say the least..... I replied, telling them for the 5th time that this is not "normal" and that Gopro does it perfectly. They wont reply to that statement....

"Dear Kirk Grames

The loss of frames is unavoidable. It is normal.

Thank You

DJI

On Mon, Apr 11 at 9:25 AM , Kirk Grames wrote:

I have used the stock SD card that came with the P4 as well as the 32 and 64 GB version of this same card model.

Each file is approx 3-4 GB a piece as they should be. The file creation is fine, it just looses video frames between the files.

Below is a link to others that have this issue as well.

1st disturbing find on P4
1st disturbing find on P4

-------- Original message --------

From: "DJI support.us" <[email protected]>

Date: 4/11/16 12:02 PM (GMT-05:00)

To:

Subject: Re: chat

Dear Kirk Grames

How big are the files when they are being divided?

What is the model of the SD card being used?

Thank You

DJI"

Kag49601 · Apr 15, 2016

And the final email from them. I guess since its "normal" according to them, they aren't even going to try and fix it..

"Dear Kirk Grames

Furthermore, since it is normal On DJI products, there is no fix, no fix is required.

Thank You

DJI"

On Fri, Apr 15 at 11:48 AM , DJI support.us <[email protected]> wrote:

Dear Kirk Grames

Sadly, we can not comment on why the Go pro does not lose frames. As for DJI's architecture, that is the way it is. That is what will happen. On DJI products, the loss is unavoidable.

Thank You

DJI

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Jeffdj · Apr 15, 2016

Hey, wake up DJI! it is avoidable, just look at other 4k capable cameras, they all split files and do not lose frames, eg Sony, Panasonic, Nikon. I own at least four cameras that dont lose frames at file split. If those companies are smart enough to do this why cant you? Your drone technology is second to none, get your development team on the photo/video hardware/software side up to speed please.

snowghost · Apr 16, 2016

KMD1984 said:
A for Answer... Good one! : )

My Vegas analogy is great.

Not only did I read what others posted, but I actually put the whole thing to the test. I set my P3P up in the living room and just hit record. Here are the results, just like I predicted BTW. At exactly 09:21 the clip stops and starts again. See attached picture.

I am not sure what my video setting are, but you can try for yourself and see at what time your clip is split up...

Kmd

What were the camera settings for this test? I think there shouldn't be any dropped frames, but if you know there will be a split a 9:21 or whatever, then plan accordingly.

realsting · Apr 21, 2016

Kag49601 said:
And the final email from them. I guess since its "normal" according to them, they aren't even going to try and fix it..

"Dear Kirk Grames

Furthermore, since it is normal On DJI products, there is no fix, no fix is required.

Thank You

DJI"

On Fri, Apr 15 at 11:48 AM , DJI support.us <[email protected]> wrote:

Dear Kirk Grames

Sadly, we can not comment on why the Go pro does not lose frames. As for DJI's architecture, that is the way it is. That is what will happen. On DJI products, the loss is unavoidable.

Thank You

DJI

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Shocking!! DJI have some good products contrasted with the dumbest most ignorant tech support I have ever come across. Though I purchased the phantom 4, it is unlikely I shall be purchasing from DJI in the future. For me, tech support is as important as buying the product itself.

FredzMaxxUAV · May 22, 2016

It seems that when you use faster cards, the dropped frames between split files are less or even almost unnoticeable. Can someone confirm?

ianwood · May 22, 2016

Fredz said:
It seems that when you use faster cards, the dropped frames between split files are less or even almost unnoticeable. Can someone confirm?

It may make a marginal difference but you will still have at least one lost frame.