Video stopped recording after 1m 17s

[monkeychops]

Really annoying problem. I've done about 60 flights before hitting this one. The flight went as per normal but after transferring the .avi files to PC, one of them stops playing the video after 1m 17s. The video itself says it's over 15 minutes long so basically I have lost all the footage I took. This is the original Lexar 16GB micro SD card that came with the P3A.

Particularly annoying as I am now 250 miles from the flying site and the footage included a load of family members who had are rarely all together.

One thing I do is cut and paste the files from the micro SD card (via usb lead from P3A to PC) but will be copy and pasting them from now on. Not sure whether this will help or not. Also tried recovering the dodgy avi file using some recovery software, but no joy.

The trouble is, now that this has happened I will never completely trust my P3A to have properly recorded the video any more!

 

[alokbhargava]

Check if ad card Is full.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[Steve7777]

That's a shame, @monkeychops. Sometimes video files and/or their structure do get corrupted or incorrectly written.

I guess you've done it already - but first of all double-check that you have a backup copy of the file on your pc and another one on which you can further experiment . As you mention, it's better to make the copy by copying and pasting direct to your pc from the SD card, which has either been inserted in a suitable drive in your pc or into a card reader. You say that you will be copy and pasting 'from now on'. Have you done that already and tried a repair?

Now a couple of questions:
What player(s) have you so far tried using?
You say that you have already tried using some 'recovery software'. What was the name of this program?

 

[Oso]

Thanks for your replies.

Card wasn't full, it only had 4.8GB on it prior to the flight. I've filled it up before and it tells you in DJI Go.

I can't do a copy and paste now because the cut and paste removed it from the card.
I've tried VLC, MS media player and also tried importing it into MS Movie Maker.
Recovery software used was called 'Recuva'. It had a go at retrieving the avi file but the recovered file couldn't be played at all by VLC.

Did you try the recovery software on the SD card or only on the file "transferred" to the PC? If you haven't tried to recover from the SD card directly, I'd suggest trying that next.

 

[Steve7777]

Sorry - more questions...

What is the size of the file that has been copied onto your pc and what resolution was the video shot in?

I guess that the cut and paste seemingly went OK or you would have mentioned it.

Were you using dji go? Is there any chance that you have a (albeit lesser quality) copy of the video stored on your device?

For info, I moved away from VLC because it was giving me lots of index errors on many of my vids that I knew were OK and also taking ages to start playing. I now use Potplayer.

 

[Steve7777]

So the file size is 4.09 GB, which I would say probably suggests that with a length of about 15 minutes, all the vid has been copied across OK and it's just a problem with the structure or indexing. Make a further copy of what you transferred and then keep on playing around with it, perhaps using Cycorder Repair Cycorder MOV Windows - Cycorder MOV Repair or another suitable video repair program. (Free, fully-functional copies of these types of programs can often be found with a bit of careful searching).

Meanwhile, thank goodness for dji go - It's not a perfect situation, but at least all is not totally lost...

 

[Steve7777]

Cycorder Repair (aka Remo Repair) just gave me an error after analysing the file for a few seconds: "Unsupported file format". I don't really know what the problem is with the file so I could there forever trying all the video repair programs one by one. I don't know what "playing around with it" would involve. No part of it plays in any video player after the bit it stops on.
The length of the video is 13m 58s.
The video that DJI Go stored is pretty useless really. Not worth showing on Youtube or anywhere as it's so low quality.

'Playing around with it', meaning trying various video repair programs, is probably what you are going to have to do I'm afraid, unless you are willing to give it to paid experts for them to try and sort it out and even then with possibly no successful result.

Still, others here might come along with some more ideas - Let's hope...

Good luck!

 

[Pharm]

Also, don't copy the files directly from the drone. That's adding another chance for something to screw up. Always take the SD card out and use a card reader to copy to your PC. Here's my workflow:

1. Remove card
2. Put card in card reader
3. Copy all files to a directory on PC.
4. Burn two copies of media to DVD (and use the "verify" function).
5. Randomly play videos and look at pics on both copies of DVD(s).
6. If all is well, leave one copy of DVD(s) at home, set the other one aside to take offsite (to work).
7. Re-label folder on PC as xxxCOPIED
8. Delete media from SD card or format it.
9. Put SD card back in drone.

Unless there's a special title, I label my folders with the date. For instance, today's folder would be "20161211". After copying, I'd re-label it as "20161211 COPIED". I use the videos/pics in that folder for editing and save the edited versions in a new folder labeled "20161211 Edited". The main reason I add "COPIED" is so that when I want to delete that folder, I know it's safe to delete. Depending on the project, each folder may or may not have subfolders.