The Fastest Way To Copy Massive ProRes Videos From The iPhone 13 Pro

[djbuddha]

I hope this helps someone trying to copy their massive ProRes clips. As Filmic Pro supports the codec ahead of Apple updating iOS, that’s what I’m using here.

Years ago, I grabbed an app called nPlayer for iOS - in short it’s like VLC but way better and I can avoid iTunes for my media. As I use this app, it continues to pay itself off.

Here’s the best and fastest way to transfer clips I’ve found:

(You MUST use wifi for this)

- Film in Filmic and DO NOT SAVE TO THE CAMERA ROLL
- open files
- move the clip from the filmic pro folder to the nPlayer folder
- open nPlayer
- click the + sign on the top left
- choose ‘using browser’
- set an authentication you prefer or none
- click start
- on your Mac/ PC open a browser or FTP (FTP works but it’s annoying to set up)
- download your clip

I get around 65-70 megs a second- and it kills using airdrop or even the cable. Sadly the lightning to USB-C cable in the iPhone 13 Pro box is also limited to USB 2.0 speeds 🤬🤬

Hope this aides people in their quest to actually make ProRes on iOS somewhat useable in a video editing workflow on a computer.

Edit: I’m using the paid version of nPlayer so if anybody wants to see a demo video of this before committing to a purchase let me know and I’ll shoot one

 

[now i see it]

Interesting method.
Another way to do it (transferring files to and from a Mac) is just use file sharing. Set up sharing on the Mac and access the address within the Files App. It’s as fast as the Wi-Fi capabilities of the two devices.
Connected by cable is the exact same speed.
Just tried it. Transferred a 635MB video clip in 1 minute using an ip8 and a 2016 MacBook. Cable or Wi-Fi. Don’t know if that’s fast or not.

 

[djbuddha]

Interesting method.
Another way to do it (transferring files to and from a Mac) is just use file sharing. Set up sharing on the Mac and access the address within the Files App. It’s as fast as the Wi-Fi capabilities of the two devices.
Connected by cable is the exact same speed.
Just tried it. Transferred a 635MB video clip in 1 minute using an ip8 and a 2016 MacBook. Cable or Wi-Fi. Don’t know if that’s fast or not.

So doing some quick math, if it’s 60 seconds exactly, you were transferring around 10.5-11 megs a second.

I don’t know why Apple insists on crippling parts of their devices (your iPhone 8 can most likely do better depending on proximity to your wireless router and the type of connection you have.). But even in my testing with native Apple apps I can’t get it above 30 megs a second unless I do it this way with nPlayer.

 

[djbuddha]

Update: If I move my phone closer to my Wi-Fi 6 router, I'm hitting on average 92 MB/s transferring ProRes clips to my Mac via FTP using this method (according to Transmit). In my router's screen, it shows more like 100 MB/s.

I believe the Files app will behave the same. Will test shortly after I move this clip.

Edit: Looks like I gain another few megs a second using Files. Well that's easier, still annoying, but easier.

 

[atort13]

Interesting method.
Another way to do it (transferring files to and from a Mac) is just use file sharing. Set up sharing on the Mac and access the address within the Files App. It’s as fast as the Wi-Fi capabilities of the two devices.
Connected by cable is the exact same speed.
Just tried it. Transferred a 635MB video clip in 1 minute using an ip8 and a 2016 MacBook. Cable or Wi-Fi. Don’t know if that’s fast or not.

View attachment 1860374

I just recorded a video that I need and is 170GB and 30 minutes long!!! Ugh didn't realize I was capturing in Pro Res!

 

[gregconquest]

A few notes:

- Film in Filmic and DO NOT SAVE TO THE CAMERA ROLL

I saved one video to Photos/Camera Roll and one to Filmic. Both were able to be moved to nplayer's folder in Files. Using Photos just took more steps: (Photos - Share - Open in Files - Copy To nPlayer - Then delete from Photos and empty trash).
...
- open nPlayer
- click the + sign on the top left
...
There are three versions of nPlayer on the AppStore for iOS/iPadOS: nPlayer Lite, nPlayer, and nPlayer Plus (incl. Dolby Audio codec and Dolby Sound Effect). I don't see which versions the server feature comes with. It is there on the Lite version, but I do not see the ability to download a file from my iPhone onto my Mac.

About AirDrop's speed, I don't see the need to be close to a Wi-Fi 6 router as AirDrop is device-to-device, right? You could turn off your WiFi router and still AirDrop files at max speed between the two devices.

 

[djbuddha]

About AirDrop's speed, I don't see the need to be close to a Wi-Fi 6 router as AirDrop is device-to-device, right? You could turn off your WiFi router and still AirDrop files at max speed between the two devices.

You’re right about not needing to be close to the router………. But ….

I have a 2020 maxed out MacBook Pro with the 5600m and the i9 8 core chip. This may be faster with an M1/ M1 Pro/Max machine, but when I checked the speed in iStatMenu I wasn’t able to get over 45 megs a second via Airdrop. No matter what I tried.

The other option I find myself using a lot now was mentioned above: is to set up a shared folder on the Mac and to use the files app to login to the folder and transfer the files that way.

In the files app you can open the Filmic Pro folder with ease and you don’t have to worry about moving it to the camera roll. But for those who don’t have the option or have issues sharing a folder, the nPlayer method works great too.

Airdrop is a no-go for me. Maybe when I get an M1 machine I’ll see a difference but no dice here sadly.