You Can Fix Choppy GoPro Videos

Repair choppy GoPro videos in 7 ways.

If you own a GoPro camera, then you already know that they’re the best way to share those extreme moments with family, friends, and fans alike.

These videos focus on action and as such, need to run smoothly in order to help share the energy of the moment with your audience.

To have that video stutter, lag, or anything else that negatively affects playback defeats the purpose of having them.

Here’s our guide to helping you fix those annoying GoPro video glitches on your computer.

Resolve Choppy GoPro Video Problem

The term choppy video is often used to describe a number of issues, but it is basically anything that prevents the video from playing smoothly from start to finish.

It occurs more often with streaming videos online, but as you might have noticed, it also occurs with recorded videos as well. It is caused by a number of ways, but ultimately, it’s the computer’s inability to process the video to playback smoothly.

Here are a couple of ways for you to fix this pesky little problem:

Solution 1: Copy your videos to your computer

This should always be the first thing you try as playing them from the SD card can lead to choppy playback

Step 1: Connect your GoPro device to your computer via USB.

Step 2: Open “This PC” on your computer and double-click on your GoPro camera.

Step 3: Double-click “GoPro MTP Client Disc Volume.”

Step 4: Open the DCIM folder and copy or drag & drop all the videos to your desired location on the computer.

Solution 2: Use VLC Media Player

VLC is a free media player that doesn’t need many resources to run on your computer. This lets your computer focus more on playback. It also has access to more codecs that are not readily available on Windows Media Player.

Run VLC media player. Play your video by dragging it to the media player or right-clicking the video and selecting in the contextual memory, Open with > VLC media player.

Solution 3: Confirm the system requirements

A lot of the time, videos are choppy because the computer they’re being played on doesn’t meet the minimum requirements needed for playback.

For lower resolution videos (1080p 30fps and below), a computer with at least 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo processors and 4 GB RAM should do the trick.

For higher resolution (1080p 60fps and higher), we recommend at least 3.0 GHz 3rd generation processors or AMD equivalent with 4 GB RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M or something similar.

A graphics card and processor speed make a lot of difference, especially when dealing with 2.7k and 4k video playback. If your computer lacks the right specifications, then use another computer that does or try one of the other solutions here.

Here’s how to confirm your system specifications:

Step 1: Tap the “Windows key” and click on “Settings.”

Step 2: Click on “System.”

Step 3: Click on “About,” and you will be presented with your “Device specifications.”

Solution 4: Record video in a lower resolution

If your computer doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for your videos and you don’t have the option of upgrading it, you can try recording videos in a lower resolution instead.

Your computer will require a lot fewer resources for playback. If the camera is also equipped with protune, leave it switched off to improve playback quality as well.

Step 1: Turn on your GoPro camera. Swipe to the left on the back LCD. Go to Protune in Video settings.

Step 2: Turn off Protune. Repeat the steps above and navigate to Video settings. Select Resolution and choose a lower one than what it’s set on.

Solution 5: H.264 video compression

You can try setting your GoPro camera (HERO6, HERO7 Black, and HERO8 Black) to compress your videos in H.264 instead of just HEVC (H.265). It is available for shooting in different resolutions and frame rates, so limitations are minimal.

H.264 is preferred for computers with lower specs because it has maximized compatibility with older devices. Unlike HEVC or H.265, it doesn’t require high-end processors for playback. This option is found on the

Step 1: Turn on your GoPro camera. Swipe to the left on the back LCD. Go to Resolution/Frame rate settings.

Step 2: Select an option that does not record in H.265 but h.264 instead.

Solution 6: Upgrade your computer

So you’ve realized that your computer lacks the resources to play your GoPro videos. If you use a PC, then one option is to upgrade your graphics card and processor. Since both play a big role in high-quality video playback, this solution should rid you of your choppy GoPro video woes. Before upgrading, though, make sure you know the requirements your computer lacks. To do this, follow these easy steps:

Step 1: Click on the Windows icon and click on “Settings.”

Step 2: Select “System” in Windows Settings

Step 3: Click on “About” in the bottom left corner, and you will be presented with you “Device specifications” and “Windows specifications.”

Solution 7: Use an external GPU with your laptop

If you use a laptop, then upgrading your processor and graphics card aren’t viable options. Instead, if you can get your hands on an external GPU, this will provide your laptop with the resources it needs to playback your GoPro videos without any choppiness.

Step 1: Install your eGPU software on the laptop.

Step 2: Plug-in your eGPU. Connect your eGPU to your laptop using a Thunderbolt cable and click “OK” when asked to allow the connection.

Step 3: Once the connection is established with your laptop (and display if needed), you’re good to go.

Closing Words

These choppy GoPro videos are most often caused by your computer or device not being able to process the data in the large HD video files quickly.

So a quick but expensive solution would be just to buy a new computer and avoid the problems altogether.

However, not everyone can afford to do that, which is why we found the need to show our readers alternative ways to fix it themselves.

In this situation, that level of prevention is better than cure only if you’ve got the money to shell out. We hope you find our solutions helpful and look forward to the awesome content you’ll be creating.

Read the guide to check the WMV video repair solutions.

Originally published at https://recoverit.wondershare.com.