Best way to import multiple SD cards?

I'm using Virb Edit 4.2.3 on a Windows 10 machine, Vibr Ultra 30. When I plug a USB cable into both the Virb and PC, the import into Vibr Edit works fine. But on long dirt bike trips, I have to change the battery and MicroSD card every hour and a half or so. So I have 2, 3, or even 4 SD cards of video and GMetric data.

When I load video and data from a second card, often the import seems to get confused. File names are duplicated with a -2 suffix, but they don't fit properly in the timeline. Some videos seem missing. Often the file names that Vibr Edit assigns are not sequential by time.

I have tried putting the SD card in the Virb and connecting via USB, and I've also used the PC's SD card reader. Neither approach seems intuitive or reliable. What am I doing wrong?

What is the best way to get video and data off a number of MicroSD cards into Vibr Edit?

Thanks
Pat

Hi Pat,

I would recommend a similar file naming system that I use for a dual camera setup. Consider the cards as different cameras. Label each one with a number, say Card 1 is 1, Card 2 is 2, etc... When you connect your camera to the computer then run the VIRB Edit software, it will prompt you to name the files before they are imported. You can then change the name to "Card01", "Card02", etc... Once the files are imported, it would be organized by SD card and file sequence. For example, the videos would be numbered: Card01_0001, Card01_0002, Card01_0003, Card02_0001, Card02_0002, etc...

This will help keep your videos properly sequenced and help reduce confusion when editing your videos in VIRB Edit.

Out of curiosity, what size SD cards are you using that forces you to change cards when changing the battery? I don't have a VIRB Ultra 30 but in my VIRB XE a 128GB SD Card gives me 10hrs of record time with a resolution of 1080p. Is 4K that much more storage hungry?

Cheers,
GeoS72

using big cards

I've stumbled on a similar approach as you suggest. I haven't used it enough times to know how well it works.

I'm using pretty big cards, I think 64GB. I'm new to the Vibr, with my GoPro 3+, I always changed cards and changed batteries at the same time, just got in the habit. With the GoPro, the battery was always the constraining resource.

Since I'm shooting with a helmet mount on a very noisy dirt bike going over rocks and running into trees, its impossible to notice small changes like the red tally light blinking (or going out) or beeps about battery status. We ride for 60 to 90 minutes, stop for a water break, and I change cards and batteries then. My biggest worry is that the micro-SD cards are so small, that if they fall into the rocks or mud, they can be lost forever.

Hello pat22043,
When the Virb camera writes videos to a card, it starts naming them at Virb_0001.mp4 and increments the number for each new video file. It does this per card rather than per camera, so if you put a new card in it will start at 0001 again. When you are importing, we don't want to overwrite your other video by copying a file with the same name to the same place, so the imported file gets renamed to <Video name>-2. Also, if you do an hour long recording session at a high resolution, the camera will produce multiple video files rather than 1 very long one due to file system limitations on the camera. When VirbEdit imports these videos, it knows they are actually 1 long video and claims it imports 1 video rather than 4. So it may look like it did not import as many videos as you actually had on your card. That has caused me some confusion before.

GeoS72's suggestion is probably the best way to avoid some of these import oddities

yeah, confusion

I figured it was doing something like that, as the number of files in the directory doesn't match the number of "imports" reported.

I am not sure (and this is not easy to replicate) but its not clear what date/time stamp is used for the file creation stamp in the file system. I know that I have had two files with the exact same file creation date/time stamp, which is essentially impossible. It would be really good to use the Vibr's GPS-defined date/time as the stamp, so that at least the files will have unique and properly sequential timestamps.

I figured it was doing something like that, as the number of files in the directory doesn't match the number of "imports" reported.

I am not sure (and this is not easy to replicate) but its not clear what date/time stamp is used for the file creation stamp in the file system. I know that I have had two files with the exact same file creation date/time stamp, which is essentially impossible. It would be really good to use the Vibr's GPS-defined date/time as the stamp, so that at least the files will have unique and properly sequential timestamps.

Hi Pat,

This is some great info, especially from Garmin! I would venture to say that a 64GB card should offer enough memory to capture a 60-90min ride. When you stop to swap batteries, check how much memory remains then swap cards when needed. Establish a threshold to swap cards, say 1hr remaining of record time. Additionally, do you start each new ride with an empty card? To mean that any previous data was erased prior to filming a new adventure. That should reduce the number of items to change, the possibility of loosing a microSD card, and still room to spare on the card to capture a quick video/photo during a rest stop.

With regard to time stamps, I've seen GMetrix data files (FIT) saved using the format YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS. I use a 24hr clock to measure time therefore my FIT file names look like this: "2017-05-15-13-02-34.FIT" I believe the camera creates the file name based upon the GPS start time when placed into standby. Basically, the camera is storing GPS data even when you are not recording. The camera then syncs the recorded video to the FIT data. Although, it's been a while since I verified this. Additionally, the FIT file names match between the memory card and in the Database directory (after they are imported to VE).

Furthermore, I confirmed that long videos are segmented, after importing into VE. The software will recognize it as one video however, the segments are limited to a max of 2.8GB of memory. Therefore, you would see video file names such as Cam01_0001.mp4 and Cam01_0001-2.mp4 on your hard drive. The "dash-2" is a continuation of the original video because of camera limitations as Garmin previously mentioned. I wasn't attempting to disprove our Garmin rep's remarks...just verifying it and observing a 2.8GB (or 2.6GB) maximum file size for each video segment.

If you had 2 file names with the exact time stamp info could they have originated from different cameras? Did you use the same make/model of camera or blended VIRB with other products? Here is another observation: when 2 VIRBs are synced, the FIT file names are different because of a slight delay. For example, two FIT files that were synced could be: "2017-05-15-13-30-15.FIT" and "2017-05-15-13-30-16.FIT". These two files would be located in the VE database under each camera's serial number.

Would any of my suggestions help your set of circumstances?

Cheers,
GeoS72