Video playback probs, I think advice is needed,

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Through life I've edited many domestic videos on many platforms, however I seem to be having a few probs with the (by comparison) improved new quality possible on the P4. I'm having probs playing the footage shot whilst flying via my (fairly new) laptop. Just what are the required, not the 'best' specifications, just required specification to play these recordings, they are at the moment very slow and jerkey unless I down-grade the resolution with my video editor.
 
Are you shooting in 4K ? most computers, even desktops do not have the processing power and/or graphics card to render 4K. I have a pretty good desktop and it will handle the 4K but my laptop will not. I shoot mostly in 2.7K now. It plays well and there is very little difference in quality.
 
Yes. I have a laptop using an Intel Core i5-2450 CPU and a desktop computer using an Intel Core i7-4770 CPU.. Using Windows media player, 4K video comes out smooth on the i7 desktop, but very jerky on the i5 laptop.

Laptops are meant to be light and portable, but unless you spend a lot of money, they aren't that powerful. Many can't render 4K video properly.
 
I just have an old iMac, with a 3.2GHz processor and 16GB RAM (maximum). I tried shooting in 4K when I first got the P4 but I couldn't do anything with the footage (which was annoying, as it was at a great location!) I've kept the footage as, sooner or later, I'll either get a more powerful desktop or I'll learn how to 'reduce' the footage to something more manageable. However, I cannot see the benefit of shooting in 4K at all now - my tv isn't 4K, my computer can't handle it, my iPad can't even display it (!) and, if I have to reduce the footage to 1080P, why not shoot in that quality to begin with? Maybe I'll change my mind once I get a decent Mac but, at the moment, 1080p is doing fine for me.
 
Hi Mike,

The more I look into this the more I totally endorse your comments, it makes me wonder what sort of kit they made the adverts for the P4 with, not a P4 to shoot the video I doubt (as if).

As you will see if you look at the video I put on the introductions page on my first hello here I was making bits and bobs long ago, an certainly before HD, 4K etc (even back as far as betamax!, if you know what that is Ha, Ha.)

Anyway the P4 is a great platform and together with my little Sony Handycam HDR-GW77V which is also brill I can see much fun coming up once I've answered a few more questions (not that I'm not having a ball now).
 
1) you need a powerful CPU, but a more powerful GPU to handle this. i7 CPU is ideal, but unless you have a very new high model laptop or a Macbook from 2011+, forget about editing 4K video.

2) As a note, I use my iPad Pro 9.7 to edit 4K video and it comes out great. This video is from my first flight, shot with the P4, transferred to my iPad Pro 9.7 with the SD-to-Lightning adapter, editing in iMovie in 4K, and exported in 4K. Its definitely not Hollywood-style video, but it is good enough for me. I was able to shoot, then edit and export on my commute to work in the train.

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3) Shooting in 4K is not pointless if you do not have a 4K device to view it on. Primarily, you can trim down a 4K frame into 1080p, this allowing you to focus the frame and digitally zoom and crop the 4K footage without any degradation in quality.

4) If all else fails and you NEED to edit your 4k video, downgrade it via some cheap software (you can use Transmission on Mac, but windows I'm unsure of), and convert it to 1080p to make it easier to edit for your machine.

Hope that helps!
 
Thanks for that, and the vid IS good quality (4K).

Until I'm backed into the hedge and have to purchase the gear to do that I think I'll probably go with 1080i for a while, it's still good ( but not up to 4 k) trimming the frames is not for me and compression is just the same as with musical recordings, you loose out on quality in my experience, mind you tech gear progresses so fast, who knows what is around the corner. Stay happy, keep flying
 

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