Obvious question

[Jack Daw]

Which must have an obvious answer, though I can't for the life of me figure it out.

When I'm shooting long video clips on my MA, they all seem to top out at 4:48 and about 3.6 GB. It's bizarre how close they are in both length and size, regardless of where or when I'm shooting.

I'm using a proper speed memory card, so I don't think it's sectioning them off at that level. I assume it must be in the software somewhere. Is there some way to turn this off? If there is, I couldn't find it.

Many thanks.

 

[JimKosinski]

Which must have an obvious answer, though I can't for the life of me figure it out.

When I'm shooting long video clips on my MA, they all seem to top out at 4:48 and about 3.6 GB. It's bizarre how close they are in both length and size, regardless of where or when I'm shooting.

I'm using a proper speed memory card, so I don't think it's sectioning them off at that level. I assume it must be in the software somewhere. Is there some way to turn this off? If there is, I couldn't find it.

Many thanks.

File size limit of FAT32 formated card is 4gb.

 

[msinger]

Is there some way to turn this off?

No. The video files will always split at 4GB. You can join them together using a video editing application (like one of these).

 

[MrRobville]

Like JimKosinski pointed out, SD cards that are formatted in FAT32 have so called "clusters" with a capacity of 4GB. I'f I recall correctly, NTFS formatted SD cards allow far bigger filesizes, however these are less compatible across various devices, hence why FAT32 is used by the Air instead.

I guess one advantage is that if something happens while recording, and the latest file has become corrupted, that you don't lose the entire shot.

 

[Jack Daw]

Ah, I see. Thanks. By the way, I use avidemux to rejoin the clips: it's fast, free, simple, and open source. I haven't yet checked carefully to see if there are any lost frames between the end of one clip and the beginning of the next.

 

[Jack Daw]

(Although, again oddly, the size limit seems to be exactly 3.5 GB, not 4 GB.)

 

[MrRobville]

(Although, again oddly, the size limit seems to be exactly 3.5 GB, not 4 GB.)

Could be that the software either prevents the file from capping 4GB to guarantee a consistent bitrate, or due to the named 4GB not being precisely 4GB in bytes, similar to how a 512GB HDD usually only contains 480GB.
But regardless, the cap is fixed.

 

[InvisibleName]

Which must have an obvious answer, though I can't for the life of me figure it out.

When I'm shooting long video clips on my MA, they all seem to top out at 4:48 and about 3.6 GB. It's bizarre how close they are in both length and size, regardless of where or when I'm shooting.

I'm using a proper speed memory card, so I don't think it's sectioning them off at that level. I assume it must be in the software somewhere. Is there some way to turn this off? If there is, I couldn't find it.

Many thanks.

Not sure of your issue but I don’t have any problems with videos of any length - routinely record for 8 mins and more without any breaks in the file

 

[JimKosinski]

Not sure of your issue but I don’t have any problems with videos of any length - routinely record for 8 mins and more without any breaks in the file

What is your file size? Are you recording at high quality?

 

[charlas]

Format the card from the DJI settings, it will format it as exFAT and hey presto, problem solved.

Or from Windows 8.x or later format it exFAT

 

[Simmo]

Format the card from the DJI settings, it will format it as Exfat and hey presto, problem solved.

Or from Windows 8.x or later format it exfat

Hmm not sure about that!

 

[Simmo]

Not sure of your issue but I don’t have any problems with videos of any length - routinely record for 8 mins and more without any breaks in the file

Yeah but recording in 360p! (for viewing on your smart watch..)

 

[charlas]

Nope, 2.7k, never had a problem.

exFAT - exFAT - Wikipedia

Features
The specifications, features, and requirements of the exFAT file system include these:

• File size limit of 16 EiB − 1 byte (otherwise limited by maximum volume size of 128 PiB − 1 byte), raised from 4 GiB − 1 byte in a standard FAT32 file system.[1] Therefore, for the typical user, seamless interoperability between Windows and OS X platforms for files in excess of 4 GiB.

I've just looked at my raw footage, and have 4 or 5 files well over 4gb in size.

 

[InvisibleName]

Yeah but recording in 360p! (for viewing on your smart watch..)

Nope 2.7k 30fps!

 

[charlas]

Same on modern Canon EOS camera's, My M3, M50 and 70D all need the cards formatted to exFAT for any length recording, else it cuts files into 3.8gb chunks, and that's just a royal pain.

 

[Prospero]

Is the 4Gb limit applied only to 4K movies? My card is formatted exFAT, and the recorded .mov files are consistently maxed at 3.76Gb. I've not tried the lower resolutions.

Edit: It seems to have stopped raining, so I'm going to experiment with lower res movie making..

Edit #2: Welp. video at 2.7K also caps at 3.76Gb. I even reformatted the card - exFAT again.

Edit #3: The User Manual isn't much help here. In the specification section it lists the Supported File System as FAT32, which is obviously incorrect. Either on board or on computer formats the card to exFAT.

This isn't a huge issue, and FCP easily joins clips, but it is odd that some users seem able to record larger single files.

 

[charlas]

I use MP4/2.7k, although not sure why the container would make any difference (mov vs mp4) as a modern mov is just an mp4 anyhow.

Besides that I'm not sure???

p.s. Just tested, flew my Air last night following a car I'm filming at the moment, 14 minute flight, 1 file....

 

[Prospero]

I use MP4/2.7k, although not sure why the container would make any difference (mov vs mp4) as a modern mov is just an mp4 anyhow.

Besides that I'm not sure???

p.s. Just tested, flew my Air last night following a car I'm filming at the moment, 14 minute flight, 1 file....

I'll try it with mp4/2.7k and see if it changes things. It should not make any difference, as you say.

I'd like to hear what DJI has to say about this. I am unable to find any official information or even detailed specs, and as noted the manual incorrectly states the card format as FAT32 instead of the actual exFAT.

 

[Mossiback]

...I guess one advantage is that if something happens while recording, and the latest file has become corrupted, that you don't lose the entire shot.

I agree entirely. Long, continuous videos also tend to lose the viewers attention.

 

[charlas]

Agreed about long shots, and if have a chance it's safer usually to shoot small clips, then use them in Premier. Although I sometimes shoot long shots and carve them up in Premier (did it earlier with some chase shots on a car)

As for FAT32 exFAT..... Yeah, the manual/site says FAT32, and if you put a 4gb card in and format it, that's exactly what the Air does, formats it FAT32, anything more though it formats as exFAT