Camera App - Dropped frames?

I would love to start using the new camera app, it is terrific in all of the functionality it provides. I was testing it my 2021 M1 iPad pro and a iPhone 15.

I'm getting very inconsistent results when trying to save the ProRes footage to a SSD 1tb drive, which has been formatted in APFSS. At times I get an hour with no issues recording at 4K, 30 fps. At other times it starts dropping frames after 20 seconds.

My exact setup is: 2021 11 inch M1 iPad Pro, Crucial X6 1TB SSD drive connected through a Belkin 4 port USB-C hub with a short USB-C 3.2 cable.

I'm ready to give up on this app, unless I can nail down some consistent behavior. I also tried a plain iPhone 15 with the same results. Anyone have an idea why?

Did you have the stabilizer on?

My exact setup is: 2021 11 inch M1 iPad Pro, Crucial X6 1TB SSD drive connected through a Belkin 4 port USB-C hub with a short USB-C 3.2 cable.

...

I also tried a plain iPhone 15 with the same results.

Just to make sure that I understand, am I correct that you’re running the Blackmagic app on the 2021 iPad and using the iPad camera to record? Which type of ProRes?

And the iPhone 15 is the base model?

PXL_20240521_144332665.RAW-01.COVER.jpg (171.15 KiB) Viewed 2150 times

So my update to the dropped frame issue I am having with the 2021 iPad pro.

I am always recording with the iPads camera, and the iPhone 15 I had also tried is a base model so no ProRes log capability.

I ran a test this morning again with the iPad on a tripod in my living room shooting my TV. I set it for 4K ProRes 24 fps, stabilization off. In all of these test I am recoding to a Crucial X6 1TB SSD through a Belkin 4 port USB-C hub, which also has a 30w power bank connected to the hub's PD power port.

It recorded for 10 minutes just fine, then at 12 minutes I noticed the frame drop warning with the record button blinking with the asterisk.

I then tried lowering the resolution to 1080p and then had no issue recording for 30 minutes. In other test it has recorded as long as 75 minutes in 4k ProRes to this drive.

I have no idea why I'm getting inconsistent results from this setup.

Thanks for the additional info. The culprit may be the USB-C speed supported by your 2021 11” iPad Pro or the speed supported by the USB-C cable that you’re using. If you’re sure that the cable will support at least 10GB/s, maybe try ProRes 422 LT and H.265.

I see that you raised this yesterday in the comments for David Harry’s YouTube video on the Blackmagic app and the iPad. Note that he was using an M2 iPad, not an M1.

Well, the iPad from 2021 has a Thunderbolt 4 USB-C interface and while the hub is not Thunderbolt, Belkin says it does 10Gbps with a 3.2 Gen2 port..

Hub Description from Amazon:
Belkin Connect USB-C™ to 4-Port USB-C Hub, Multiport Adapter Dongle with 4 USB-C 3.2 Gen2 Ports & 100W PD with Max 10Gbps High Speed Data Transfer for MacBook, iPad, Chromebook, PC, and More

Cable Description from Amazon:
Rixmie Short USB-C Cable [5 inch], 100W PD Fast Charging, 2022 New USB C to USB C Short Cable, Thunderbolt 3 for MacBook, Android Auto, External SSD and More Type-C Devices; 20Gbps Data Transfer

I do see that David Harry was using an M2 iPad, just did not think the performance difference between them would matter for this use case.

The camera app does work for HEVC and H.264 and for HD using ProRes. Just thought this iPad would work at least as well as a non M silicon iPhone. I was using an Nikon Z7 to film some interview and was annoyed by the 30 minute recording time per clip, so I thought to use what I have to get around that limitation.

In any case this is what it does and I'm done trying to find out why it has the limitations. When I upgrade to an iPhone 16pro maybe I will find out.

The camera app does work for HEVC and H.264 and for HD using ProRes. Just thought this iPad would work at least as well as a non M silicon iPhone.

That suggests that the problem is the speed of the M1 iPad’s USB-C port or of the Rixmie USB-C cable.

Rixmie is not a name brand cable maker. While recent Amazon reviews for its fairly inexpensive, short ribbon cable are largely favorable, they are mixed.

Apple has been using ARM, system on a chip architecture on its phones since the iPhone 4.

If what you’re doing is interviews you might consider whether you need ProRes 422 over HEVC. You might also try ProRes 422 LT.

I've been having the same issue. I have an iPhone 15 pro max, using a thunderbolt 3 apple cable- SanDisk 4 TB Extreme portable SSD formatted APFS. Doesn't matter if I choose pro res 422 HQ or h.265, h.264. sometimes it doesn't recognize the drive, sometimes it hangs up and the app doesn't work at all. so I have to resort to using the onboard drive to record, but I have a limited amount of space to record on my iPhone. Can anyone clarify how I should be formatting the drive for use with the Blackmagic camera app?

I've been having the same issue. I have an iPhone 15 pro max, using a thunderbolt 3 apple cable- SanDisk 4 TB Extreme portable SSD formatted APFS.

In case you aren’t aware of this, Western Digital, which owns SanDisk, admitted last summer and in the fall that that SSD had a high rate of faults. It says that the problems are now corrected. If you do a search, you’ll find a good deal of discussion about the problems, the class action lawsuits and whether the problems have indeed been fixed.

See, for example, this Ars Technica article from August:

SanDisk Extreme SSDs are “worthless,” multiple lawsuits against WD say
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/08 ... st-wd-say/

Second that.
When testing for sync, I recorded 2 hours straight from the 15 Pro Max to a Samsung T5 with a known good cable. No issues.
It must be the SSD or the cable, as long as your phone has no issues recording internally.

And then, I have on older SanDisk Extreme 900 around here. It is, well, just 'extreme'. Sometimes it refuses to connect to a M* Mac at all, while still working with Intel…

In case you aren’t aware of this, Western Digital, which owns SanDisk, admitted last summer and in the fall that that SSD had a high rate of faults. It says that the problems are now corrected. If you do a search, you’ll find a good deal of discussion about the problems, the class action lawsuits and whether the problems have indeed been fixed.

I did hear about this but didn't realize this is what 'failure' looks like. I'll test a different drive and see if I run into the same issue.

Thank you!

I believe the mystery to the dropped frames has been found. I've tried all of my cables and my other SSD drives; including my Crucial x6 and my Samsung T7; with all of the cables I have on hand, including TB3;and USB4.

With more testing it seems to drop frames when there is not sufficient power available. The Belkin hub I'm using does use power of course and so does the SSD. So if I just leave it up to the iPad for power it will start dropping frames quickly.

If I use a 30 watt power bank connected to the hubs PD port, I'm able to record ProRes 422 reliably for at least an hour. The combined power draw must be over the 30 watts the bank can deliver because the charge level of the iPad continues to go down.

I will try to get a better power solution in the future. As I was writing this the iPad started dropping frames when it's charge level reached 70% with my power bank down to 11%.

So power is the issue. Recording ProRes 422 just uses a lot of power.

Thanks, good to know. I’ve assumed that if an external drive/hub draws too much power, it won’t work at all, not that performance might be degraded. That’s why 4th generation NVMe drives won’t work.

Still strange.
After two hours of recording in ProRes 422 HQ with 25 fps in UHD with my fully charged iPhone 15 Max it is still showing 42% energy. The T5 SSD was directly connected, no hub. No dropped frames.

I would love to start using the new camera app, it is terrific in all of the functionality it provides. I was testing it my 2021 M1 iPad pro and a iPhone 15.

I'm getting very inconsistent results when trying to save the ProRes footage to a SSD 1tb drive, which has been formatted in APFSS. At times I get an hour with no issues recording at 4K, 30 fps. At other times it starts dropping frames after 20 seconds.

My exact setup is: 2021 11 inch M1 iPad Pro, Crucial X6 1TB SSD drive connected through a Belkin 4 port USB-C hub with a short USB-C 3.2 cable.

I'm ready to give up on this app, unless I can nail down some consistent behavior. I also tried a plain iPhone 15 with the same results. Anyone have an idea why?

Did you try connecting the SSD directly to the iPad/iPhone without the hub, test the SSD with another device, experiment with different resolutions/frame rates, and reach out to the app developers for tips. If that doesn't work, consider a different SSD designed for video recording like the Samsung T7 Shield or SanDisk Extreme Pro V2. Don't give up on the app yet - with some troubleshooting, you should be able to get it working smoothly.