OK, here's what I discovered (and I'll write in this thread since it's very important):
- Device used for my tests: iPAD PRO 10.5, 256 GB wifi+cel, iOS 10.3.2
When I record videos in the 4K resolution (and in landscape mode) they are stored in my album... using the .MOV extension. So what if I wanted to send this to a PC, to edit and then post on Youtube (or do a backup in Google Drive/Dropbox/etc.)?
- First of all: use an external recorder in addition to your camera. The iPAD/iPhone are awful when it comes to recording audio, so we need something like this:
In my case I use this one:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kBSFzXkTkmLE-EOPsHgYFW-89nSPvsyW/view
With this sort of microphone:
https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Microphone-Omnidirectional-Smartphones-Cancelling/dp/B016C4ZG74
Both these items can be cheap. I put the microphone in my shirt and the external recorder in my pocket. Once the recording ends I use an USB cable to transfer the MP3 into my PC.
- Back to the 4K recording: well, we already have finished file recordings. So what app I am using to transfer all this to my PC?
This one:
nPlayer Plus.
The best version (which is paid) can be downloaded here:
https://itunes.apple.com/br/app/nplayer-plus/id539397400?mt=8
In my opinion this is the best video player for iOS.
However there is a free (limited) version, which if I am not mistaken is capable of doing what I am suggesting, too. So if someone wants to try for this purpose it doesn't need to buy:
https://itunes.apple.com/br/app/nplayer-lite/id1078835991?mt=8
This is what we need to do:
1) Inside nPlayer, go to album, and camera roll.
2) The last file will be the MOV, from the video. Use the "copy" option while selecting this file, and then choose one of the nPlayer folders.
3) After a while (depending on the size of the video, a few minutes) the .MOV will be copied and saved as .MP4. As far as I know it continues to be lossless, just in another file extension.
4) Click on the wi-fi icon, to enable wi-fi transfer. That will attribute an IP to your iPAD/iPhone, for example: 192.168.15.130:8000 (8000 = the port used).
5) In the PC visit this address: 192.168.15.130:8000 and download the .MP4 file.
To follow step #5 I recommend using a gigabit router + CAT-6 ethernet cable. If you don't want to use wi-fi then buy the Anker combo mentioned in this post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...rnet-on-ipad-pro.1974288/page-4#post-26204336
The good news is that nPlayer will work even with wi-fi disabled, if Ethernet mode is being used.
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After we transfer the MP4 to the PC we can start editing the whole thing.
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Here's what I have to edit the recordings:
- I use Sony Vegas, in Windows 10-64 bit. My version is Pro 15.0.
- Also using:
http://yamb.unite-video.com/download.html (free)
https://www.hhdsoftware.com/Downloads/free-hex-editor (free)
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When we record using landscape mode in the iPAD/iPhone the thing is upside down (at least all I did until now ARE). There's an embedded information in the MP4, saying: ROTATION: 180 degrees. Meaning the recording was originally created upside down, the player is rotating when you are watching.
What I learned recently is that we may change that setting, and without any need to reencode. I am saying this because 4K videos take several hours for reencodes, if you are not using a very recent computer. And we end up losing image quality without any need for this.
- Here's how we change rotation (losslessly) in these MP4 files transfered by nPlayer:
- This is done using the Hex Editor mentioned above.
Tip from:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25031557/rotate-mp4-videos-without-re-encoding
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True lossless rotation of MP4:
- open mp4 with hex editor and search for
vide to find the metadata of the video track
- some rows above (for my files mostly 9, sometimes 12) you should see
trak...\tkhd
- in between there should be an @ sign (HEX 40)
- in the two rows before it the rotation matrix is stored
- no rotation:
00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
40
180 degrees:
FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
40
90 degrees CW:
00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
40
90 degrees CCW:
00 00 00 00 FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
40
Alter the file as you need it, and it should be rotated in players that support the rotation flag (most current players do).
In case your video contains stereo audio, this is obviously not switched, so in case you want the sound to match with video rotation (180°), you need to switch the left and right channels.
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So what do I do to start editing?
1) Open Sony Vegas, then add the .MP4 (we don't need to use the Hex Editor at this point) transfered from nPlayer. Also open the .MP3 from the external recorder.
2) Also in Sony Vegas I will need to delete the track recorded by the iPAD/iPhone (since we don't want that) and synchronize the .MP3 from the external recorder with the MP4 video. This is done if we pay attention to the exact moment a specific sound is matching with the video preview. Hand clapping is often used to mark these moments in many recordings.
Important: Before that, move the video and audio streams to the right in Sony Vegas, to allow for what I am going to say next.
Note this is a picture from the iPAD audio removed from the timeline. Use "delete track":
3) Once we are sure the .MP3 and the .MP4 are synchronized:
Simply delete what you had before the video preview started.
In this case:
Black screen at 00:08:00:05:
Image at 00:08:00:17:
This is how the timeline will look like after we select both streams and delete what came before 00:08:00:17:
4) Next thing is to do the same for the ending of the video, and...
5) Move the streams to the left:
6) Now choose render as... and any option. In here I select MAGIX AVC:
7) Visit "customize template", and uncheck the VIDEO option:
8) Save as MP4. The file will only have the .MP3 (now converted to AAC) audio from the external recorder.
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Use Yamb to extract (as raw) this stream. You can do the same for the video (in this case open the .MP4 transfered by nPlayer).
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Once the video and audio streams are extracted by YAMB we need to put them together.
Go to:
YAMB - Editing - Join supported files
- After selecting them go to PROPERTIES (from the MP4 video) and write 30 in frame-rate (if you don't do this YAMB will ask).
This new .MP4 will have your original 4K recorded video aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the file you just saved from Sony Vegas.
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Next thing we need to do is to check if the video is upside down. If it is then see my comment explaining how to change rotation. This is done with the hex editor.
Here's a video I recorded with this IPP 10.5, which also features audio from my external recorder. It has been uploaded to Youtube. In a PC you will see the 4K/2160p resolution is available (1080p is the max setting if you are watching in an iPAD/iPhone):
The audio is much clearer and the volume is much higher. The original audio recorded by the iPAD is s.hit in comparison.
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And here's what the HEX EDITOR shows in a file that I finished editing today:
This is the exact spot where I had to change the rotation. Use "Edit cell" and then write what you need. In this image I wrote FF four times, replacing 00 01 / 00 01.
