Hi just bought the phantom 3 the other day. So when trying to download the videos and pics into my album the videos seem to take forever. Videos is only like 3 mins long. Also is there any tips on the video editing part as I just can't seem to make a decent video with it. Thanks Chris
My personal experience? Skip the "director" built into the DJI Pilot app. The entire Pilot app still seems somewhat buggy. The developers are apparently making progress on "cleaning up" the iOS version (i.e., Apple devices), but mum's the word on Android stuff. There are two rather easy ways to retrieve video/photos from your Phantom 3. (1) connect a cable to the USB port on the gimbal - the port is on the opposite side of where the SD card is located. If you have some neat contraption to protect yourself from the Phantom firing up the motors, use it. Otherwise, remove the props. I say this because to get the data via this USB port, you'll have to turn your Phantom 3 on while you're downloading the data. Your data will show up on an "external drive" and you can capture the videos/stills and place them anywhere on your PC you like. Or (2) physically remove the SD card from the gimbal. Card readers are very, very inexpensive. I bought one the other day that's the size of a thumb drive and will accept a micro SD card and the next larger size as well - paid a whopping $10 for it in a mom&pop computer store. Insert card properly into card reader - be careful - it should only go in one way, but don't force it - if it doesn't seem relatively easy, don't push real hard. Once you have the card properly seated in the reader, plug the reader into a USB port on your computer and, like above, the data will show up on an "external drive" and you can download your media to wherever you like. Now that you have your data, how are you going to edit it - if you want to edit it? There are a number of inexpensive editors out there. There's at least one decent editor that's free - GoPro Studio. There are some things it won't do. But, for a beginner (probably includes you and me both!) it will do just about everything you might want/need to do to get started. After you've used it for a while, if you feel there are too many shortcomings, find something else. I haven't seen too much free stuff out there, but I've seen a number of editing packages under $100. Good luck.
Thanks very much for taking the time to tell me. Very much appreciated. The director part off the app sounds great when you hear about it until you then go to use it. Very much new too all this video and photography stuff but I'm sure il slowly get there. Thanks again
Yeah, you don't want to deal with video editing on your device..... If you have a Mac you can use iMovie. If you have Windows you can use Moviemaker. Here's a quote from something I'm writing: Video Editing (Post Processing) The proper editing of video is a skill that requires time and patience…as well as some talent and creativity. Just as with home movies, no one wants to view all of your raw footage. The best flying videos will be from 30 seconds to 3 minutes long and contain titles, transitions and various scenes. A rule of thumb is that it takes one hour to produce one minute of good video. This means a typical hobbyist project of of 2-3 minutes (ideal video length) can be done in one evening. Video Editing Programs Very good videos can be assembled with low cost or free editing programs. Here are some well known programs for Windows W) and/or Mac(M): iMovie - (M) - Free MovieMaker (W) - Free GoPro Studio (or newer GoPro editor) - (W,M) - Free Adobe Premier Elements - (W,M) - $70 Cyberlink PowerDirector - (W) - $70 If you picture yourself as the next Spielberg, you can step up to products such as Apple’s Final Cut Pro (Mac only - $299) or other more advanced editors. Note that these can be harder to use for the novice, but the learning curve may be worth your while if you want to produce more professional output. Online and Tablet/Phone based Editing Programs You’ll be better off using a desktop computers to edit your Phantom 3 videos due to the large files (HD or even 4K) that you need to manipulate. Moving these files on and off of your mobile devices can be time consuming and confusing - at present the Phantom cannot easily transfer the video files from your aircraft to your smart device. You can, however, put together a short and lower resolution movie using Director, a small editor built into the DJI Pilot App. Director - Built-in Video Editor DJI’s Director software, a basic video editor built into the DJI Pilot App, allows you to choose the best moments from your flights and build a complete video with music, text, and more. This feature is currently quite limited and is not fully documented in DJI's manual or elsewhere. However, if you wish to quickly upload some short clips this is a useful feature.
Craig - nice, very thorough post - lots of good info. One of the resident experts on the DJI forum recommended Final Cut Pro. I did some quick research and discovered it's only for the MAC. However, in that process (the research) I found a site (CNET? - don't remember) that reviewed what it thought were the top ten video editors. They also gave credit/points/weight to the ease of use for the various products they tested. It's typically a "different strokes for different folks" scenario, i.e., some users may find certain features too complex, while others don't mind the complexity as long as it also delivers flexibility. At any rate, one of those 10 I found (obviously a Google search should return the answers) was more or less the equivalent for Final Cut Pro for use on the Microsoft platform.
A lot of people seemed to like that Cyberlink software. I've used Premier (many years ago) with good results - but it had a fairly steep learning curve. I decided to not buy final cut for now.....iMovie does all I need a video editor to do, so it would be a waste of time and money as I would not be taking advantage of the advanced features. Even the simplest editing programs require the user to get their head around the whole concept of NLE (non-linear editing).
Hi DJI pilots. Actually there's a simpler way to download recorded videos and images, just use 'Sync for DJI' app (it is only for iOS for now). There is no Video editor but it works smoothly then original DJI app. After flying just open the app and choose images that you want to download. After a few minutes your media will be on your phone in original size. 'Sync for DJI' supports even 4K video. https://itunes.apple.com/ua/app/sync-for-dji/id1255799480?mt=8
