Download media from onboard to portable SSD

[Matthew23]

Hey everyone, I am new to the board and I believe this is my first post. I did not see a reply to my question already and the question is can I download my media from the onboard memory directly to a portable SSD while in the field? So far my YouTube and Google searches have been to carry my laptop with me or an iPad Pro.

 

[MS Coast]

You'll need another device to transfer from the drone's internal storage (or SD card) to an SSD. Neither the SSD nor the drone has the ability to manage the transfer process.

The internal storage in the drones I have is so small that I don't rely on it and use SD cards instead. The one exception is when I start the drone and realized I left home without an SD card.

 

[Gagey52]

Welcome to the forum from the outback of Australia, Rob. I haven’t heard of any way of doing what you require. You need that interface between the drone and the SSD. Good idea though.
Regards

 

[Mikero]

Hey everyone, I am new to the board and I believe this is my first post. I did not see a reply to my question already and the question is can I download my media from the onboard memory directly to a portable SSD while in the field? So far my YouTube and Google searches have been to carry my laptop with me or an iPad Pro.

I have a DJI Copilot by LaCie which will support downloads in the field. When you insert a memory card into it, you will be given a prompt to copy the SD card directly to the SSD. A bit pricey but an excellent piece of equipment.

 

[Matthew23]

I have a DJI Copilot by LaCie which will support downloads in the field. When you insert a memory card into it, you will be given a prompt to copy the SD card directly to the SSD. A bit pricey but an excellent piece of equipment.

Will it also download directly from the built in 1T SSD on the craft?

 

[Matthew23]

Welcome to the forum from the outback of Australia, Rob. I haven’t heard of any way of doing what you require. You need that interface between the drone and the SSD. Good idea though.
Regards

Thank you! It sure would, I would think that could be possible with the RC Pro, not directly but wireless.

 

[Kilrah]

Thank you! It sure would, I would think that could be possible with the RC Pro, not directly but wireless.

It would take you at least an entire day to transfer 1TB over wireless...

Even wired, with a fast 10Gbps USB SSD to copy to and a laptop that supports 10Gbps USB for both ports you connect the devices to it's >30mins. An HDD like the Copilot will be in the range of 3 hours.

 

[Arnold LeVine]

IMHO, with the very cheap cost of MicroSD cards today, it's much simpler and quicker to have multiple cards and swap them out between flights or batteries. And you get backup safety in case of a bad card, or god forbid, a lost drone.
Just make sure you don't lose the little things in the grass if they pop out.
If there is one thing I dont like about the M3 it's the location of the microsd card slot.

 

[Kilrah]

MHO, with the very cheap cost of MicroSD cards today, it's much simpler and quicker to have multiple cards and swap them out between flights or batteries.

OP has M3 Cine, internal storage only.

 

[Arnold LeVine]

I am/was not aware there was no removable microsd card in the Cine. But for the vast majority of dji owners, my opinion is still the same.

 

[codex22]

OP has M3 Cine, internal storage only.

The Cine has both the SSD and a SD card slot!

 

[Kilrah]

Well yes but they were talking about offloading the internal SSD...

 

[Matthew23]

Thank you for your replies.

 

[sbunting]

Will it also download directly from the built in 1T SSD on the craft?

The LaCie DJI CoPilot has a 5400 rpm platter hard drive in it, with a USB 1.1 interface. This is very very slow tech. This is a bottleneck if ever there was one. If you try to unload two TB’s onto this tech, it will be a long day. There’s also a known issue with direct connections to drones . Per LaCie’s FAQ, Why Does DJI Copilot Sometimes Have Problems Ingesting My Camera or Drone Directly? | LaCie Support US Unless I could be sure that someone has one of these units working on an M3, I’m not sure I’d want to be a Guinea pig. There are lots of complaints in the Amazon reviews. Amazon.com: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS 2 TB Drive — USB-C USB 3.0 Thunderbolt 3 with SD Card CF Card Slots, Drop Shock Dust Water Resistant, 1 Month Adobe CC (STGU2000400) : Electronics . I was looking to get one until I saw these reviews, looked closely under the hood at the tech, and decided it was too much money and, if it worked, the time to move large chunks of M3 data shooting ProRes video would not be good. It may do okay with MicroSD card data, but this is 2 TB we are talking. With my M2 Mac, the direct connection using the optimized DJI supplied cable to the M3 is super fast. If you need to move that volume of data in the field, you need a capable laptop to do it. My business is gathering large volumes of data in the field and you need fast tech with bottlenecks removed to do it.

 

[Filmarik]

The LaCie DJI CoPilot has a 5400 rpm platter hard drive in it, with a USB 1.1 interface. This is very very slow tech. This is a bottleneck if ever there was one. If you try to unload two TB’s onto this tech, it will be a long day. There’s also a known issue with direct connections to drones . Per LaCie’s FAQ, Why Does DJI Copilot Sometimes Have Problems Ingesting My Camera or Drone Directly? | LaCie Support US Unless I could be sure that someone has one of these units working on an M3, I’m not sure I’d want to be a Guinea pig. There are lots of complaints in the Amazon reviews. Amazon.com: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS 2 TB Drive — USB-C USB 3.0 Thunderbolt 3 with SD Card CF Card Slots, Drop Shock Dust Water Resistant, 1 Month Adobe CC (STGU2000400) : Electronics . I was looking to get one until I saw these reviews, looked closely under the hood at the tech, and decided it was too much money and, if it worked, the time to move large chunks of M3 data shooting ProRes video would not be good. It may do okay with MicroSD card data, but this is 2 TB we are talking. With my M2 Mac, the direct connection using the optimized DJI supplied cable to the M3 is super fast. If you need to move that volume of data in the field, you need a capable laptop to do it. My business is gathering large volumes of data in the field and you need fast tech with bottlenecks removed to do it.

Last time I transfered my DNG photos from M3 Cine internal SSD using the fast DJI USB-C cable to my desktop PC, the speed was about 780MB/s if I remember correctly. It was blisteringly fast. I know ProRes video files are huge but with these speeds it should not be such an impost to transfer them to a laptop if it supports these speeds. Unfortunatelly this is not possible, as far as I know, directly to an external HD.

 

[sbunting]

Last time I transfered my DNG photos from M3 Cine internal SSD using the fast DJI USB-C cable to my desktop PC, the speed was about 780MB/s if I remember correctly. It was blisteringly fast. I know ProRes video files are huge but with these speeds it should not be such an impost to transfer them to a laptop if it supports these speeds. Unfortunatelly this is not possible, as far as I know, directly to an external HD.

Actually the Lacie DJI CoPilot is more than just an external HD. It has a mini-computer on board that can facilitate such transfers, however, they will be S L O W (USB 1 speeds), if they can connect due to the connectivity quirks noted in Lacie's FAQ's. You need a fast laptop to move lots of data generated by the M3 Cine. It's not a road I'd go down.

 

[Javios]

i have Mavic 3 Cine and faced same problem as you too. It's painful sometimes if i have outstation job and couldn't access for any computer on field. My current solution is using Lacie BOSS SSD, but this solution is not stable sometimes. it needs few trying to get the SSD connect to Mavic. and through the Lacie BOSS apps installed in phone or tablet, you can check the process (speed & countdown) and playback them after that. But i do hope DJI will give more solution, able to copy files on the fly / without using cable connection, like what Quick Transfer did for phone.