Why Does My Computer Keep Skipping When Video Editing
Shooting photos and videos in full HD or 4K resolution with GoPro is really awesome if you haven't encountered the GoPro videos choppy problem when playing or editing those high-definition videos on your PC. When you import it to video editors for easy post-production, it still lags at the preview window.
Well, if you have the same GoPro HERO 10, HERO 9, or HERO 8 footage choppy, lagging, stuttering, skipping, or even in slow motion problems, have a look at possible reasons below. Each of which is given related troubleshooting tips. If you are sure the playback issue is caused by your poor computer configuration, do a quick fix with VideoProc Converter right away.
Why Are GoPro Videos Choppy on Computer and How to Fix?
Reason 1 - Poor Hardware Configuration of Computer
Possibility: ★★★★★
Fixing keywords: Upgrade the playback rig; Compress/Convert GoPro video
Since most GoProers prefer to capture 1080p full HD and 4K, sometimes high-fps slow motion footages (in HEVC/H.264), to obtain crispy image quality, it will have a higher requirement on end playback machine, for example the most commonly used Windows and macOS computer.
A 1-min 4K@60fps GoPro video (with ProTune on) eats over 600MB memory, imagine how big file size it will be when recording a complete sports journey like boating, surfing and such. Editing huge GoPro video files should take a large amount of system resources and as the GoPro video data increases, so does the importance of a fast CPU and enough memory space.
So among computer hardware components, CPU, RAM, video card and hard drive are the main culprits for GoPro playback choppy. If any of them lags behind, your GoPro footage will look choppy and lagging. Just like me, it's right the less talented Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2300 CPU @ 2.80GHz and extremely limited RAM (2GB) that stop my high-resolution and high-speed GoPro videos play on my PC normally.
Here are some system/hardware requirements for smooth GoPro 4K & HEVC video playback and editing.
| Basic | Good | Better | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | <2.8 GHz | 2.8 GHz - 3.8 GHz | 4.2 GHz |
| Easy-level | Integrated Graphics (support 4K external displays/8GB RAM) | ||
| RAM | 4GB | 8GB | 16GB |
| GPU | Discrete Graphics (support 4K external displays) | ||
| Hard Disk | 5400rpm HDD or SSD | 7200rpm HDD or SSD | 15000rpm HDD or SSD |
| Operation system for GoPro HEVC Playback and Editing (64-bit is recommended) | Windows: Windows 10 computers using the Intel Kaby Lake (or equivalent) processor and newer. | ||
A beefy machine is highly recommended to build for deep GoPro players. But if you have no plan to upgrade your old machine right now, you can choose an alternative way to solve GoPro video choppy issue - resize/compress/transcode it with an easy GoPro video processing software - VideoProc Converter.
Fix GoPro Videos Choppy Problem with VideoProc Converter
VideoProc Converter gives all-around solutions for different choppy GoPro footage. Please follow the steps below to fix the annoying playback error on your Windows or macOS computer.
Step 1. Launch VideoProc Converter
Open up VideoProc Converter and click "Video" button to pop up a video processing panel.
Step 2. Input GoPro Video with Choppy Playback Problem
Click "+Video (Folder)" button to import your GoPro video(s) with choppy playback issue. Drag and drop is also available.
Step 3. Choose the Right Way to Process Video
VideoProc Converter provides several ways to fix GoPro video choppy/lagging playback or editing. You can take one or more methods listed below according to your actual situation.
 Transcode HEVC to H.264 | If your hardware or software has bad compatibility with HEVC codec, you can convert HEVC GoPro video to more friendly output format from "Video" tab, for example, "MP4 H.264". |
 Change Resolution | If your hardware or software is weak to deal with 4K which you don't need to play on 4K monitor, you are suggested to downscale video from 4K to 1080p or so after clicking "Codec Option". |
 Adjust Bit Rate / Frame Rate | You are also free to decrease bit rate and frame rate to reduce file size. GoPro has bumped up the bit rate of Black7 to 78 Mb/s maximally when taking 4K video. So if you want to upload it online, you can reduce its value a little bit to cater for sites like YouTube. |
 Crop/Trim/Cut/Split | If you want to compress video size with parameters unchanged, VideoProc Converter enables you to do so by cutting, cropping, trimming and splitting in its editor section or toolbox. >Resize GoPro Video |
Step 4. RUN Video Processing
Click "RUN" to start transcoding or compression. VideoProc Converter would process your GoPro footage at high speed by automatically using hardware acceleration when it's available.
Reason 2 - Bad Compatibility or Improper Settings of Software
Possibility: ★★★★☆
Fixing keywords: Adjust cache value; Re-install/Upgrade Software; Proxy Edit; Turn on/off hardware acceleration; Transcode GoPro video
When hardware is qualified to handle GoPro videos, the software may still make video choppy and stuttering due to some improper settings or codec missing/conflict.
Cache setting is the most typical one. You have to know that when the video playback speed exceeds that of video decoding, source GoPro videos will be choppy and lagging. And when the video processing and playback speed doesn't match that of the audio file, you will see video pictures lag behind the audio. Taking VLC, PR for instance, if video lags when their cache is defined in a high value, say 1000, you can try to lower it to 300 to see if there's any change on frame skipping.
Speak of video editing tools like PR and Vegas, proxy ingest is worth a try to transcode large GoPro video before editing. Transcoding is an universal workaround when software fails to address some video codecs like HEVC.
Hardware acceleration usage is another cause for video choppy playback. Therefore, toggling hardware acceleration setting is another troubleshooting method.
Reason 3 - Outdated Driver or Improper Power Settings on Computer
Possibility: ★★★☆☆
Fixing keywords: Update driver; Keep power setting to high performance
If your computer is decent to keep up with the GoPro videos in high resolution, frame rate or bit rate, but it's still choppy, you're suggested to check whether the hardware driver is not upgraded in time. Keep the drivers up to date or if necessary uninstall and install them to receive normal performance.
Power mode of the computer may also have effect on video display, so on Windows (10) PC, check and alter "battery/power saver" set to "high performance" under control panel -> power options.
Reason 4 - Inefficient Data Transferring Mode
Possibility: ★★☆☆☆
Fixing keywords: Local hard drive transferring; External high-speed transferring
I placed this reason in the last one for that in a few cases certain GoProers get used to watching big GoPro videos directly from GoPro's SD card, but not keep them locally on the hard disk or SSD over USB 3.0 or similar fast connection to obtain the fastest possible playback. In these cases, even a fast graphics card has no idea on video choppy problem.
GoPro videos are choppy anyway? Process them with VideoProc Converter with high quality.
If you have no idea on throwing away the choppy problem after trying all fixing tips related to software, driver, and hardware settings, it's time to invest a new machine or directly process GoPro (4K/HD) video with VideoProc Converter once for all.
This all-in-one video processing software is also capable of stabilizing your shaky GoPro footages, removing fisheye or annoying wind noise from your clips, forcing audio video sync in one click and do more video edits like rotating, flipping, adding subtitles/effects/watermark and more.
Hesitate no more and fix the GoPro videos choppy issue with VideoProc Converter.
Why Does My Computer Keep Skipping When Video Editing
Source: https://www.videoproc.com/gopro-video-processing/gopro-videos-are-lagging-fixed.htm