iPhone 13 Pro iPhone 13Pro ProRes File Transfer w/ Airdrop

[fstoprm]

I can say that I'm very happy w/the transfer speed of the Airdrop Option. I've never used Airdrop before (never a need) but I'm impressed as heck! I did my first ProRes tests yesterday with Filmic Pro and in the settings, I set add clips to Photos (optional). This a.m. I picked six clips totaling 17.5GB (varied duration of 30-45secs) and they transferred to my M1 Mini just over 5min. All 422HQ -- I think the "horror rumors" about slow transfer options (lighting port) can be laid to rest.

 

[PeteBurgh]

Airdrop is a useful option. In my experience, the sticking point is that with larger file transfers, reliability becomes patchy - so the connection drops out when you're halfway through a 50GB transfer, and you have to start over. Very annoying when working on a deadline. Obviously the ProRes files do get very large indeed. With the kind of filming I do at work (often a couple of short talking head interviews, plus some b-roll of some kind or another, with the intention of producing a 4-5 minute video), I'll often shoot about an hour of footage.

An hour's footage with ProRes would be almost 400GB!

So in short, yes, Airdrop has its place, but I don't think concerns about slow transfer options are unreasonable. I'd love USB-C in the iPhone Pros to have a fast, reliable way of moving that data.

 

[fstoprm]

I too often shoot maybe an hour's worth or more in a day of B-Roll work, and yes the files are large. Not sure what Apple's plans are re: flavors of ProRes, so there is the option of not going HQ at all times. I guess only time will tell if I have the same experience w/ AirDrop - but at this point it looks like an acceptable option for me as I will not have to transcode, and that saves time.

 

[PeteBurgh]

Thanks for the reply! I do think Airdrop has its place, and I use it quite happily for smaller stuff.

I'm all for pragmatic solutions - it's easy to get carried away with specs and theoretical maximums at times. ProRes files are obviously massive and the iPhone isn't really well set up to handle them. But they are a niche of a niche - I'm by no means a proper video pro, but I've shot and edited in a variety of formats, and honestly some of the work that I'm most proud of was shot at 720p.

 

[now i see it]

I’ve given up on AirDrop. I don’t even try to use it anymore. In my experience, the initial connection between two devices takes waaaaay too long and often doesn’t connect at all.
When they do connect, yeah it’s fast, but when you take into consideration how long it takes the two devices to handshake- it’s an abominable experience.

Instead- I FTP my files to my web server then download them again on the other device. Always connects and always works.
When I need to transfer to my Mac, I use file sharing. Works much better.
In my book - Airdrop is a fail.

 

[fstoprm]

I’ve given up on AirDrop. I don’t even try to use it anymore. In my experience, the initial connection between two devices takes waaaaay too long and often doesn’t connect at all.
When they do connect, yeah it’s fast, but when you take into consideration how long it takes the two devices to handshake- it’s an abominable experience.

Instead- I FTP my files to my web server then download them again on the other device. Always connects and always works.
When I need to transfer to my Mac, I use file sharing. Works much better.
In my book - Airdrop is a fail.

Interesting. The handshake in my case takes less than 10 secs. The iPhone is on the desk sitting within an arms length of the Mini. I have not tried FTP yet, should blaze over 5G. I'm lucky enough to be close enough to a 5G tower so I think I'll test that this weekend as well.