As the pioneer and leader of action camera, GoPro has become synonymous with dedicated extreme sports camera. What GoPro keeps doing to promote product upgrading are the addition of new features and the improvement of image quality. The breakthrough in quality happens to HERO3 Black Edition - the first 4K 15fps recordable GoPro camera. Later products shoot faster 4K videos with higher frame rate (up to 60fps). However, high-speed and super-high-definition 4K videos always pose problems with playback, editing, uploading and other processing tasks.
Many reasons lie behind the failure of processing GoPro 4K and even some HD footages: your computer hardware isn't highly configured to handle huge 4K/HD videos; your program hasn't adopted cutting-edge hardware acceleration to process massive 4K; neither computer nor video processing software supports HEVC that GoPro uses for some 4K modes; and more. But for whatever reason, the easy-to-operate software and solutions below will get you out of trouble.
GoPro 4K Playback
Choppy playback of GoPro 4K footages is reported here and there. An underpowered computer is the major cause which is not able to well process data of 4K H.264 videos leading to laggy, stuttering playback. The utilization of new codec HEVC on HERO6 Black for 4K @ 60fps footages brings higher playback requirements, a HEVC compatible PC/Mac, powerful processor and graphic cards. It is very possible to watch GoPro 4K videos smoothly following our tips:
Transcode GoPro 4K HEVC to H.264
Compared with HEVC, H.264 features wider compatibility and doesn't have so high system requirements. To convert GoPro 4K HEVC to H.264 enables you to watch the footages on an older computer or device without trouble.
Play GoPro 4K on a Better Computer
Referring to minimum system requirements for GoPro 4K playback, the computer must be wrapped with qualified or better graphic cards and a powerful processor (e.g. Intel Kaby Lake) for 4K HEVC viewing.
Install a Hardware-accelerated Video Player
Playing 4K is a CPU-intensive task, which may result in high CPU cost/temperature and stuttering performance. A hardware-accelerated video player can invoke GPUs to process video data and then deliver flawless GoPro 4K playback.
GoPro 4K Quality
Born to film more professional-looking and crystal-clear dynamic motions indoors and outdoors than traditional DSLRs, small and solid GoPro boxes become real smash-hits for both sports cameraman and video nerds. However, nothing is perfect, you know. GoPro may still produce some shaky, blurry or grainy low quality videos under fast-paced, bumpy, low light or deeper underwater circumstances, especially when producing 4K, 2.7K and 1080p HD videos. Below are four most common GoPro 4K/HD video problems with related workarounds.
GoPro (4K) Footage Too Shaky
Update camera with latest firmware; turn video stabilization on if there is; use video stabilizer accessories like (3-axial stabilized) mount; stabilize GoPro shaking video with skilled video editor.
GoPro Video Looks Grainy/Blurry
Ensure firmware upgrade is done; choose eligible SD card; use "Low Light" mode or shoot at 24/30fps; do proper ISO/EV settings (with Protune enabled); turn image stabilization off; lighten the scene.
GoPro Video with Background Noise
Close port door; open back housing door (abovewater); use Protune with medium separate audio track; use WindSlayer/Wind Noise Suppression; shoot with less wind or slowly; post-editing.
GoPro Video/Audio Out of Sync
Export the raw footage and render it again; force video audio sync with GoPro video editor. If the problem only happens on computer, maybe it's time to update your drive or even the graphic card.
GoPro 4K Editing
To present stunning, heart-pumping moments, shooting in 4K UHD with GoPro HERO6 Black is not the only secret. Sometimes, post-production matters more, which however is extremely processor intensive, causing super slow processing or poor output quality errors. For example, a 10-minute GoPro 4K 30fps footage would be very choppy when put into Adobe Premier Pro on PC i5-3470 (8GB RAM) with Nvidia GeForce GTX 780, making it impossible to edit. But there are ways to alleviate the issues, although not 100%.
GoPro 4K Upload
How to share GoPro 4K/HD videos to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc? Firstly, since GoPro 4K video (@60fps/@30fps) is pretty big, you need to compress the GoPro 4K video size, and cut the GoPro video length to fulfill (YouTube) uploading requirements. Then, it is necessary to convert GoPro H.264 or HEVC videos to (YouTube) compatible format/codec, resolution, frame rate, etc. Check the GoPro 4K video uploading issues & solutions below.
