Newbie..4k off - 1080 on - help

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Hi Everyone...

As stated, I'm a newbie. And actually the drone isn't mine, but my dad's who is not the most tech savvy person in the world so I'm trying to help him out a bit here. He recently picked up the Phantom 4 and is thoroughly enjoying it, however, we're having issues with being able to edit the video footage. We've since found out that in order to edit videos on an iPad/iPhone, it must be either in 1080 or 720 format. Well, it seems as though ours is in 4k and we can't seem to figure out how to change that setting going forward with future videos? I've researched this forum briefly, youtube, etc., but not really finding anything useful...Hopefully it's something simple that you guys know of that will help us (him) out. Appreciate it!
 
Hi Everyone...

As stated, I'm a newbie. And actually the drone isn't mine, but my dad's who is not the most tech savvy person in the world so I'm trying to help him out a bit here. He recently picked up the Phantom 4 and is thoroughly enjoying it, however, we're having issues with being able to edit the video footage. We've since found out that in order to edit videos on an iPad/iPhone, it must be either in 1080 or 720 format. Well, it seems as though ours is in 4k and we can't seem to figure out how to change that setting going forward with future videos? I've researched this forum briefly, youtube, etc., but not really finding anything useful...Hopefully it's something simple that you guys know of that will help us (him) out. Appreciate it!

I'm a newbie to but I think I can help you, go into the video settings on the DJI GO app and change the resolution to 1920 x 1080 I think it is.. I shoot in 24fps (frames per second) for more of the movie look. 4K is probably to large for the iPad to handle as most computers also struggle. Hope this helps :)


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots
 
I'm a newbie to but I think I can help you, go into the video settings on the DJI GO app and change the resolution to 1920 x 1080 I think it is.. I shoot in 24fps (frames per second) for more of the movie look. 4K is probably to large for the iPad to handle as most computers also struggle. Hope this helps :)


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

Thanks for the quick reply, Ryan! Yes, 4K looks great on the initial playback on a Mac, but editing soon became hell. I'll give it a shot later on today & hope for the best. Thanks
 
Hello Flo_No,
You can record in 4K, then use something like 'Freemake video converter' to change it to whatever resolution you choose. I'd keep shooting in high resolution, you may just catch that golden moment, and regret having a low-res video, the P4 has a great camera, so it's best to keep using it as such IMHO.
There's a few of these free converters about, just do a search, they will also allow you to convert all sorts of video formats to your choice of format.
 
Thanks for the quick reply, Ryan! Yes, 4K looks great on the initial playback on a Mac, but editing soon became hell. I'll give it a shot later on today & hope for the best. Thanks

You can record in 1080P at a higher frame rate and get similar results to 4K. I found the same issues editing in iMovie (it took about 3 hours to process a 10 min video with audio). Select a higher frame rate like 30 fps. No higher unless you are trying to get slow motion video. You can go as high as 120 fps in 1080P mode.
 
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You can record in 1080P at a higher frame rate and get similar results to 4K. I found the same issues editing in iMovie (it took about 3 hours to process a 10 min video with audio). Select a higher frame rate like 30 fps. No higher unless you are trying to get slow motion video. You can go as high as 120 fps in 1080P mode.

I think 120fps can only be done in 720 mode.
 
I like to use pinnacle studio on windows for my movie making just my preference since I've used it for years. Haven't had any issues. I have tried iMovie but not as many options.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
 
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Hello Flo_No,
You can record in 4K, then use something like 'Freemake video converter' to change it to whatever resolution you choose. I'd keep shooting in high resolution, you may just catch that golden moment, and regret having a low-res video, the P4 has a great camera, so it's best to keep using it as such IMHO.
There's a few of these free converters about, just do a search, they will also allow you to convert all sorts of video formats to your choice of format.

I'll have to give this app a shot! I see its available for download via iTunes. But yes, recording in 4k with the option to change it later would be ideal.

You can edit 4k content on an ipad with iMovie no problem.

This. I've been trying to edit the footage through iMovie but seeing as how my iPad mini 2 nor iPhone 6s does not support 4k, it converts it to 720 and/or 1080? (And even the 1080 one looked 720 quality IMO) Any advice here?

You can record in 1080P at a higher frame rate and get similar results to 4K. I found the same issues editing in iMovie (it took about 3 hours to process a 10 min video with audio). Select a higher frame rate like 30 fps. No higher unless you are trying to get slow motion video. You can go as high as 120 fps in 1080P mode.

I'll have to figure out how to change the frame rate. As I stated, its my dads so I don't spend that much time with it but I will definitely play around with the fps.

I like to use pinnacle studio on windows for my movie making just my preference since I've used it for years. Haven't had any issues. I have tried iMovie but not as many options.

I'll look into this as well - Thanks!

...I understand that uploading direct to youtube is probably the best option when trying to use 1080 or 4K, but a lot of what we record we like to show on our Cars & Coffee fb page, which I'm sure you all know, fb dilutes video/image quality like no other. Feels like 1080 turns into 480 lol
 
For what it's worth... In order to see a 4K video, you must have a monitor that can display 4096 (or 3840) pixels across and 2160 pixels up/down. No iPad or Android tablet can do this. Most home computers can't either. (If you have 4K capability, you'd know because you would have paid handsomely for your computer system. 4K computer monitors and video cards aren't cheap).

It doesn't matter that you recorded at 4096 or 3840 X 2160, you are not viewing 4K when you look at it on your iPad or average home computer. Your movie has to be downsampled to a lower resolution in order to fit on your monitor.

1080P at 120 frames produces slow motion video. That's what it's there for. Because of the bandwidth required for that frame rate, the whole sensor isn't used. This 'cropping' actually reduces the image quality. I find it more effective to slow down the action with a suitable video editor.
 
Mine will do 120fps in 1080P. At least I can turn the option on. What results it gets I have not discovered yet.
I stand corrected. I always thought it was 720P that would do 120fps, but the menu offers 120fps for 1080P. However, now when I look at 720P resolution, it appears it only supports up to 60fps, which is strange. Is that what everyone else sees?
 
This. I've been trying to edit the footage through iMovie but seeing as how my iPad mini 2 nor iPhone 6s does not support 4k, it converts it to 720 and/or 1080? (And even the 1080 one looked 720 quality IMO) Any advice here?

Are you pulling the video off the SD card and onto your PC/MAC?? I hope so as the video on the iPad/smart device is only 720p.
 
I'll have to figure out how to change the frame rate. As I stated, its my dads so I don't spend that much time with it but I will definitely play around with the fps.

In the DJI Go App - Slide to Video mode. Click Menu. It will now give you resolutions to nominate from. Just remember to nominated the correct region PAL/NTSC.

And about 4K - Some say true 4K is 100mb/s. The phantom is running at max 65mb/s in 4K @ 24fps, therefore is compressed and not really "true 4K". The more compression, the more artefacts in video.
This is arguable, but I think The most optimal rate is 2.7K @ 30fps as it is processed at 60mb/s. This means little or no compression.
 

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