Video playback - all previous videos now unplayable, along with new ones

[RevivalPaul]

Video playback - all previous videos now unplayable, along with new ones​

Hi there. I have had my Mavic 2 Zoom for just about 2 years and have taken dozens of aerial videos of my local area, all of which played brilliantly, until recently. I have just started flying again after the Winter and now find that ALL of my saved videos no longer play on my laptop, whereas previously they were perfect. I have taken a few videos in the last couple of weeks and saved them onto the laptop and THEY don't play properly either. I also tried "Dolly Zoom" for the 1st time and that is even worse. I am keen to experiment more this year, but don't really know where to start. Have you any idea what is wrong? I am desperately disappointed and hope that this is something that others have had issues with? I am totally confused as to why my previous videos won't play, but have now also lost faith in my Mavic, going forward. Any help or support would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, in anticipation.

 

[Meta4]

I am desperately disappointed and hope that this is something that others have had issues with? I am totally confused as to why my previous videos won't play,​

It's not going to be related to the video files and will be something to do with the program you are using to view them.
Have you changed your default video player?
What program are you using?
Check the video files - are they mp4 or mov files?

 

[RevivalPaul]

It's not going to be related to the video files and will be something to do with the program you are using to view them.
Have you changed your default video player?
What program are you using?
Check the video files - are they mp4 or mov files?

Hi Meta4. Thank you for your response. As I am a little ill-informed, I will have to look into your questions. Our laptop isn't the best, though it's not really that old. To my knowledge, neither my wife or I have (knowingly) changed the default video player, but that doesn't mean we haven't!! The files are simply taken from the SD Card and saved into a folder. I haven't yet got around to manipulating them or editing of any description - they are simply removed from the card and viewed on the laptop (or at least, they were!). I think they are "mov files", but will have to check. You clearly know your stuff - is there a freely available and reliable program that I could download to view them? I have seen DivX mentioned in other threads - do you know if this is any good? I am keen to get out more and start to stretch my capabilities with the Mavic - I tried the "Dolly Zoom" once and the playback was abysmal, hence my lack of faith. However, what you are suggesting makes sense to me and I would be grateful if you could identify a reliable playback programme ( preferably a free one) and I will get on it. Many thanks for your input and I look forward to your reply.

 

[Meta4]

is there a freely available and reliable program that I could download to view them?

Search for and download VLC Media Player .. it plays just about everything without any complications.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Hi Meta4. Thank you for your response. As I am a little ill-informed, I will have to look into your questions. Our laptop isn't the best, though it's not really that old. To my knowledge, neither my wife or I have (knowingly) changed the default video player, but that doesn't mean we haven't!! The files are simply taken from the SD Card and saved into a folder. I haven't yet got around to manipulating them or editing of any description - they are simply removed from the card and viewed on the laptop (or at least, they were!). I think they are "mov files", but will have to check. You clearly know your stuff - is there a freely available and reliable program that I could download to view them? I have seen DivX mentioned in other threads - do you know if this is any good? I am keen to get out more and start to stretch my capabilities with the Mavic - I tried the "Dolly Zoom" once and the playback was abysmal, hence my lack of faith. However, what you are suggesting makes sense to me and I would be grateful if you could identify a reliable playback programme ( preferably a free one) and I will get on it. Many thanks for your input and I look forward to your reply.

If you have windows 10 , you will be much better off to just pay $1 for the Movie Codecs needed to play the DJI movies. This way all of your editing software will work also.

VLC is a whole lot of Bloat for something that your Windows computer can do just fine. .
But if your downloading videos from all over the Web than this is a great way to go.


Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

 

[Meta4]

If you have windows 10 , you will be much better off to just pay $1 for the Movie Codecs needed to play the DJI moves. This way all of your editing software will work also.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

That's completely unnecessary

 

[brett8883]

If you have windows 10 , you will be much better off to just pay $1 for the Movie Codecs needed to play the DJI movies. This way all of your editing software will work also.

VLC is a whole lot of Bloat for something that your Windows computer can do just fine. .
But if your downloading videos from all over the Web than this is a great way to go.


Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

If he could play them before the issue isn’t because he doesn’t have an HEVC license

 

[RevivalPaul]

Search for and download VLC Media Player .. it plays just about everything without any complications.

Search for and download VLC Media Player .. it plays just about everything without any complications.

Thank you, Meta4. I will get on that as soon as I finish work. Appreciated.

If he could play them before the issue isn’t because he doesn’t have an HEVC license

If he could play them before the issue isn’t because he doesn’t have an HEVC license

Thank you brett8883 and Phantomrain. There is clearly a fundamental issue here and I guess it lies with my laptop - the previously saved videos were fine a few months ago, when I last looked at them. This has only been noticed now, as I managed to get out with the Mavic recently, after the usual baltic, windy Scottish Winter. I always use my batteries until they are spent, then remove the videos from the Mavic and download them onto the laptop, then view them. This time, the videos were unwatchable and simply wouldn't play. The picture stays static, while the video time is running, suggesting that the video is actually playing, when it clearly isn't(!). I tried "Dolly Zoom" for the first time and it is awful. I hope to get out again in the next day or 2 and I will try and watch the video before I actually download it onto the laptop and see if they actually play. This has taken all the joy from flying and I am quite fed up - I just want to watch what I have filmed. Incidentally, I downloaded VLC and they don't even move now. A frozen (but crystal clear) image, while the timer goes on its merry way. Could one of you intelligent folk give me a bit more information reference these Codecs? I know not what they are, or where to get them. Any advice or assistance would be greatly appreciated, before I lose faith completely. Thank you, in anticipation.

 

[Meta4]

Could one of you intelligent folk give me a bit more information reference these Codecs?

You don't need them and they won't make any difference.
If your videos played before without them, they will now.
You just need to identify the cause of the problem and fix that.

It's likely to be something very simple.

 

[SkyeHigh]

I’m assuming you are using a Windows laptop, if so what version of Windows?

There is a troubleshooting guide built into Windows 10, which may help.

1: Go to the Start search option and open "Control Panel." Now, a list of options will open, select "Troubleshooting" and click on the "View All" option.

2: Run the "Video Playback" troubleshooter and see if this helps to play the video again.

Do you have automatic updates enabled on your laptop? This can sometimes lead to issues arising that worked fine before. We had two HP laptops that started video playback issues - someone or some update had change video playback to ‘Hardware’ whereas it was previously’Software’ as the older models didn’t have the video hardware capable of playing the video clips (XDCAM-HD) but the software version was fine.

 

[Darth Kahn]

You may have already tried this but sweep your computer for viruses and malware. That stuff can mess up all kinds of things on your computer. If your computer has a hardware diagnostic function (a lot do) try running that to make sure everything is working right.

 

[RevivalPaul]

If he could play them before the issue isn’t because he doesn’t have an HEVC license

I’m assuming you are using a Windows laptop, if so what version of Windows?

There is a troubleshooting guide built into Windows 10, which may help.

1: Go to the Start search option and open "Control Panel." Now, a list of options will open, select "Troubleshooting" and click on the "View All" option.

2: Run the "Video Playback" troubleshooter and see if this helps to play the video again.

Do you have automatic updates enabled on your laptop? This can sometimes lead to issues arising that worked fine before. We had two HP laptops that started video playback issues - someone or some update had change video playback to ‘Hardware’ whereas it was previously’Software’ as the older models didn’t have the video hardware capable of playing the video clips (XDCAM-HD) but the software version was fine.

Thank you - that sounds like a logical thing to do and something I knew nothing about. I will get on to that this evening.

 

[RevivalPaul]

You may have already tried this but sweep your computer for viruses and malware. That stuff can mess up all kinds of things on your computer. If your computer has a hardware diagnostic function (a lot do) try running that to make sure everything is working right.

Will do and thank you. I clearly need to be a bit more computer-savvy.

 

[brett8883]

Could one of you intelligent folk give me a bit more information reference these Codecs? I know not what they are, or where to get them. Any advice or assistance would be greatly appreciated, before I lose faith completely. Thank you, in anticipation.

This information isn't really needed because since you were able to play the video's before so you already have the codec or you aren't filming in that codec.

There are 2 codecs the Mavic 2 can film in H.264 or H.265. H.265 is also know as HEVC (High Efficiency Video Codec) and it is the newer of the two. HEVC uses better processing to fit a larger video into a smaller package without losing and quality. Since it is newer the developer charges a license fee to use the codec and Windows computers don't come with this automatically, you have to pay for it through the Microsoft app store.

However, if you try to play a HEVC video on a computer without the license windows will prompt you to purchase the license one. If that was the problem you'd get a clear message that is the issue and you wouldn't have been able to play your videos in the past so I'm confident this isn't the issue you are experiencing.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I would not hurt to update your video driver. Windows has probably made a lot of changes since you last successfully played videos, so reinstalling the video driver directly from the manufacturer's site can fix problems. Click the "fresh install" box if you see one.

Chris

 

[Phantomrain.org]

At this point I do not think its your laptop but try another SD Card with a faster refresh rate.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Air 2 in the Rain and Land in the water.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

At this point I do not think its your laptop but try another SD Card with a faster refresh rate.

How is changing the SD in the aircraft card going to make previously playing videos on the hard drive suddenly play again?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

How is changing the SD in the aircraft card going to make previously playing videos on the hard drive suddenly play again?

A couple things : Since he just started again flying his drone he does not know if its even recording correctly so its a good starting point , He can flip the SD card into another computer and be confident that his drone is still working.

Once he confirms that he can at least be confident to fly and record on his drone.
As for the computer , it sounds like his Hard Drive may be failing and more things begin to freeze on him.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the RAIN and LAND on the waves.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

As for the computer , it sounds like his Hard Drive may be failing and more things begin to freeze on him.

How did you determine his hard drive is failing?

If you believe his hard drive is failing, why did you say this before recommending a new SD? "At this point I do not think its your laptop"

 

[Thomas B]

Let’s don’t get into side conversations on the thread please. Use PMs. Thanks.