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Why are my Avata Video limited to 3min 45sec?

Greatsign1

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I purchased the Avata. I programmed it to begin video recording upon take off. It seems that my videos are broken up into segments that do not exceed 3 minutes 45 seconds. Why is this? Is this normal? Can I fix this in settings so that the video will continue to record until I turn it off? Below are thumbnails of the videos I shot today, none recorded over 3:45.
 

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The file system (FAT32) has a file size limit of 4GB, which is just under 4 minutes @ 4K resolution. The video is perfectly continuous without any missing material... just splice the files together in a video editor.

This is a limitation on just about every consumer drone.
 
Thanks! I assume if I shot at a lower resolution, the video segments would be longer?
 
Haven't actually checked the bitrates in all the modes but there likely won't be anything lower since the lower resolution modes have higher framerates.
 
Try 1080/30. Older DJI drones could get close to 10 minutes in 4GB.

Of course, the birate will still be higher (newer tech) and that will work against you, but you'll almost certainly get longer clips.

Still, this is really the wrong way to do it. Get a free splicer for your PC/Mac, and splice them together in one file. It will take minutes to learn.

On a smartphone, copy the files to internal storage, insert an exFAT formatted SD card, then splice together outputting to the SD card.
 
Can't do less than 50fps on the Avata, would be too low to fly FPV comfortably.

Thought there wasn't any 1080p and that 2.7 was only 100/120 but no there's indeed a bit more choice.

1663917697029.png
 
Interesting... makes sense from a hardware standpoint, but it wouldn't take much processing to discard every other frame for the video going into the compressor, seems to me, recording 25/30 fps while streaming 50/60 to the goggles.

Pure speculation... I don't know the hardware design.
 
ExFAT has higher file size limitations but most cameras out there still split files regardless. There's also that the legacy MP4 container format is also limited to 4GB, more requires MP4V2 so splitting the files still has wider compatibility with playback software.
 
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ExFAT has higher file size limitations but most cameras out there still split files regardless. There's also that the legacy MP4 container format is also limited to 4GB, more requires MP4V2 so splitting the files still has wider compatibility with playback software.
I wonder if this is an FPV type thing. This is the first time I've encountered it. The Mavics (best I can recall) didn't do this. Not a big deal. I'm going to through it into Premiere anyway. The plus side... maybe... if something horribly wrong happens only the last 3 minutes will get corrupted.
 
They do, don't think any DJI aircraft makes single files.
I can verify this with direct (much!) experience. This is nothing new with the Avata.
 
Is the Avata drone limited to FAT32? Isn't there something called exFAT that has larger limitations?
The Avata needs exFAT. Also FWIW, I bought new Samsung Micro SD cards because they had been tested by DJI and the price was right. I formatted both new cards using my PC and the Goggles card worked from the get go but the Drone card needed to be formatted in the Drone. Oh, and one other thing that was interesting. Using the Menu system in the goggles, I could not even select the still camera for shooting until I formatted the card in the drone. I was sure I had a defective system. Always surprises.
 
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The file system (FAT32) has a file size limit of 4GB, which is just under 4 minutes @ 4K resolution. The video is perfectly continuous without any missing material... just splice the files together in a video editor.

This is a limitation on just about every consumer drone.
I have 2 or 3 years with DJI Drones and shot a lot of 4K video and have never seen this behavior.
 
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My M2Z and Spark both split files, though considering the Spark's short flight times, it's not usually noticeable.
 
I have 2 or 3 years with DJI Drones and shot a lot of 4K video and have never seen this behavior.
Can't tell you you haven't seen something you say you have, but you have the ONLY device (not just drone) in the entire world that somehow can store files larger than 4GB on the very old, MSDOS-originated FAT32 file system.

FAT stands for "File Allocation Table", a part of the overall file system structure that indexes the blocks of data in a file. FAT was originally developed in 1977 using an 8-bit index for the file storage, sufficient for indexing files on floppy discs, the state-of-the-art in small computer storage at the time. Over the next 15 years the design of FAT was updated to a 12, 16, and finally 32-bit index as storage technology grew.

FAT supports random access to the file with byte resolution using a 32-bit pointer. 32 bits can index 2^32, or a bit over 4B bytes. Therefore you can not index – point to, read, write, etc. – any byte in a file beyond 4GB.

Again, only you can speak to your experience. However, given that it is impossible for you to have stored a file larger than 4GB on a FAT32 filesystem, I can say with 100% confidence that you were hallucinating 😁

BTW, I'll see your 2-3 years DJI experience and raise to 9 on my side, across Phantom 3, Mavic Pro, Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic Air, Air 2, Air 2S, Mini 2, Mini 3, DJI FPV.

I think across all those years, models, and hundreds of hours of sometimes quite sophisticated production turning that footage into amazing video I would have noticed NOT needing to splice footage. 😁😁
 
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My Inspire 1 not only split the files but drops frames at the split but if I remember correctly it's an 8 minute run before the splitI also used the X5 with the Osmo handle and it did the same thing, if shooting anything with dialog the clips had to anticipate the 8 minute limit a bit annoying.
 
Can't tell you you haven't seen something you say you have, but you have the ONLY device (not just drone) in the entire world that somehow can store files larger than 4GB on the very old, MSDOS-originated FAT32 file system.
No, they're just using ExFAT on their cards like pretty much everyone nowadays.

But as mentioned on DJI devices that doesn't matter, they still split.
 
My Inspire 1 not only split the files but drops frames at the split but if I remember correctly it's an 8 minute run before the splitI also used the X5 with the Osmo handle and it did the same thing, if shooting anything with dialog the clips had to anticipate the 8 minute limit a bit annoying.
As far as duration, that sounds about right, the Inspire 1 topping out at 50mbps, half current offerings.
 
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No, they're just using ExFAT on their cards like pretty much everyone nowadays.

But as mentioned on DJI devices that doesn't matter, they still split.
Unless I'm out of date, exFAT adoption is still way way behind FAT32 use simply because of compatibility. While exFAT support has become widespread, adoption as the default FS for SD cards seems, in my lookin' around, is still very scarce.

Problem is too many older devices people are still using that don't support exFAT, and I'm guessing the manufacturers of current devices don't want the support calls.
 

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