4K Wake up call

[zenfly2]

First I bought the Spark I loved but didn't like the small phone I had so soon bought an ipad mini 4 to fly it.. Now only 3mos later I added a new Mavic Air but the first videos were stop and start jerking around and found out my 2011 imac I've liked all these yrs won't play the 4K videos and had to switch it down to 1080..I've spent over 2g on this in 3.5mos, Any ideas please on my best options other than dumping more money into this and buying a new or used imac 4K retina? thanks for looking

 

[PortCanaveralFlorida]

Any ideas please on my best options other than dumping more money into this and buying a new or used imac 4K retina? thanks for looking

Build a PC for 1/3rd the cost. (well, maybe not a 1/3rd) Plenty of step by step builds on YT. If your one that's a diehard Mac Fan, open the wallet a weeee bit more. It's just the progress of 2.7 and 4k, with that being said, you need the power to edit the files, or head on back to 1080 and put those funds in your right hand pocket and call it a day. It's your choice.

 

[DanMan32]

If you're referring to FPV view, those are 720p or 1080p depending on your signal setting. The full resolution recordings are on the SD card on your AC. I understand you can download the video to the mobile, but I don't believe that's in real time.

 

[MAVIC_2_YTS]

I added a new Mavic Air but the first videos were stop and start jerking around and found out my 2011 imac I've liked all these yrs won't play the 4K videos and had to switch it down to 1080

When you say it is "jerking around" is this in editing software like Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro? or just trying to watch it via Quicktime? If just trying to watch it, what software are you using? While yes, the older system will not play the video back in 4K it will scale and still play regardless.

If the issue is simply choppy playback I would suggest downloading VLC Media Player (free) and try that (if you haven't already). On the other hand, if watching the video on your screen in true 4K is the goal, then yes unfortunately an upgrade is required.

I hope that helps.

 

[gnirtS]

Build a PC for 1/3rd the cost. (well, maybe not a 1/3rd) Plenty of step by step builds on YT. If your one that's a diehard Mac Fan, open the wallet a weeee bit more. It's just the progress of 2.7 and 4k, with that being said, you need the power to edit the files, or head on back to 1080 and put those funds in your right hand pocket and call it a day. It's your choice.

This. Macs arent powerful machines compared to current PC hardware. Never have been.
Mavic air is only h264 so any modern PC should easily handle it. The 2 Pro uses h.265 which needs an 8th gen CPU or above to hardware accelerate.

You can edit using proxies if its an issue though.

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Yup! Like @gnirtS said, most current machines should handle h.264 files without too much effort. Doesn't matter what brand it is. But if your machine is 8 years old, I could see how you might run into stuttering during editing. You didn't mention what software you're editing with, but there should be a way to use lower resolution proxies of your videos that won't stutter while you work. I use DaVinci Resolve and there's a tutorial that shows how to work with proxies here:

Quick Tip: How To Use Optimized Media In DaVinci Resolve

If you're using something else, chances are it supports proxies too. Hope that helps!

 

[Stealthbomber]

I’m sorta in the same boat as zenfly. I had a laptop back in my P3P days but it couldn’t handle anything close to the AC’s 4K. Now with my Mavic Air I’m just using iMovie on my iPhone 8 to edit vids. The iPhone can easily handle the 4K resolution but I’m quickly using up its 64GB memory. I have Apple TV so watching the AC’s videos couldn’t be easier. Later on in the fall I’ll probably get a new laptop.....after my wife gets over the initial shock of me buying the MA.

 

[Dale D]

First I bought the Spark I loved but didn't like the small phone I had so soon bought an ipad mini 4 to fly it.. Now only 3mos later I added a new Mavic Air but the first videos were stop and start jerking around and found out my 2011 imac I've liked all these yrs won't play the 4K videos and had to switch it down to 1080..I've spent over 2g on this in 3.5mos, Any ideas please on my best options other than dumping more money into this and buying a new or used imac 4K retina? thanks for looking

Whenever I have a problem with my 2017 iMAC, I called Apple support. They are terrific. Applecare 1-800-APL-CARE is the actual number. I find that sometimes, I haven't done the latest upgrade (in my case from High Sierra to Mojave). I have 4.2GHZ i7 and everything runs fine for me. No problem with 4K.

 

[IDigDrones]

I work in the video industry as a DP. I shoot exclusively 4K, but for 1 reason only. Gives the producer the option to cut into a close up when I’ve delivered a medium shot, without losing noticeable resolution. There are 4K TV’s coming out, but for now 1080p is the deliverable. I’m not sure of the benefit of 4K on drones. Welcome push back.

 

[passedpawn]

I work in the video industry as a DP. I shoot exclusively 4K, but for 1 reason only. Gives the producer the option to cut into a close up when I’ve delivered a medium shot, without losing noticeable resolution. There are 4K TV’s coming out, but for now 1080p is the deliverable. I’m not sure of the benefit of 4K on drones. Welcome push back.

I think 4k is the standard now. I bought a 4k 50" lcd tv with all the built in "smart apps" last year. Remote even supported the audio Alexa commands. $279. It's hanging outside behind my house by pool. It has the Plex app running on it so I can stream 4k video content to it from my home network. After a year of use, I can say it's a pretty great tv. Besides wifi, it has bluetooth, which allows me to send the audio to a bluetooth receiver and drive speakers around my patio.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D4FQB8S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Cymruflyer]

I work in the video industry as a DP. I shoot exclusively 4K, but for 1 reason only. Gives the producer the option to cut into a close up when I’ve delivered a medium shot, without losing noticeable resolution. There are 4K TV’s coming out, but for now 1080p is the deliverable. I’m not sure of the benefit of 4K on drones. Welcome push back.

There are now plenty of 4K televisions on the market starting at about $350 for large screen models, so go get one of those to watch the video on.

 

[gnirtS]

. I’m not sure of the benefit of 4K on drones. Welcome push back.

A few, one as you mentioned allows more scope for cropping, stabilising and other post-processing without losing quality. 4k downsampled to 1080p also looks better.
The other as you said is future proofing - although 4k is very rare these days for people that sell footage having it in 4k means at least it'll be useful a few years down the line and not jus binned.

 

[zenfly2]

When you say it is "jerking around" is this in editing software like Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro? or just trying to watch it via Quicktime? If just trying to watch it, what software are you using? While yes, the older system will not play the video back in 4K it will scale and still play regardless.

If the issue is simply choppy playback I would suggest downloading VLC Media Player (free) and try that (if you haven't already). On the other hand, if watching the video on your screen in true 4K is the goal, then yes unfortunately an upgrade is required.

I hope that helps.

I'm going to try VLC Media Player..thanks..

Whenever I have a problem with my 2017 iMAC, I called Apple support. They are terrific. Applecare 1-800-APL-CARE is the actual number. I find that sometimes, I haven't done the latest upgrade (in my case from High Sierra to Mojave). I have 4.2GHZ i7 and everything runs fine for me. No problem with 4K.

I have a 2011 2.5 GHz i5 that could be a problem..

 

[Dale D]

Go to the Apple Icon> About this MAC>click on Software update to see if you can update.

 

[zenfly2]

Go to the Apple Icon> About this MAC>click on Software update to see if you can update.

It says "No updates available" . I guess Sierra is as high as it goes for the 2011 ..I still have to shoot more footage in 4K and try VLC I just downloaded.

 

[MAVIC_2_YTS]

Go to the Apple Icon> About this MAC>click on Software update to see if you can update.

Unfortunately this isn't a software related problem (from an OS perspective) but rather a hardware issue (GPU / CPU / RAM) on an older platform. Sometimes other applications (such as VLC) can utilize hardware decoding or increased caching to smooth it out, but it's a "last ditch effort"

On your 2017 machine your running 8GB on the GPU, and a much faster processor with more cores which can easily handle the decoding.

 

[MAVIC_2_YTS]

It says "No updates available" . I guess Sierra is as high as it goes for the 2011 ..I still have to shoot more footage in 4K and try VLC I just downloaded.

Yes, if you want to update to Mojave you will have to use a patching method made available by DOSDUDE1 found here, but again, that will just get you the new OS, it won't do anything for the playback.

 

[johnmeyer]

Your mac should be able to play 4K h.264 videos if you have the right software. If VLC is available for Mac, try that.

However, if you are taking the video in h.265, then you will have a hard time playing it with almost any stock computer.

So, take the video in h.264, NOT h.265, and use VLC.

 

[gnirtS]

However, if you are taking the video in h.265, then you will have a hard time playing it with almost any stock computer.

Intel 7th generation onwards have had 10 bit h265 hardware support. So any stock computer in the last 3 years is capable of playing it. Just not in apple-world.

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Intel 7th generation onwards have had 10 bit h265 hardware support. So any stock computer in the last 3 years is capable of playing it. Just not in apple-world.

Naw, Mac hardware is no different. Just look for a Mac with a 7th generation or newer Core processor and it'll play those h.265 files just fine. My iMac has an 8th gen inside and it works great. Only problem was the price tag on the thing. Luckily my kids like peanut butter sandwiches. So we're good living on those for a while.