Can't read gps data from mp4 video file (GoPro5)

When opening the mp4 video file (GoPro5) it fails to read the gps data and gives an error.

Error -161.
Location: Inputhandler.

Is it not compatible with GoPro5??

I have a Go Pro Hero 6. My experience with using it in a dashcam scenario is that about 50% of the video that I took (with GPS enabled) fails to load within either Quik or Race Render. In RR I get a GPS dat file followed by a -161 error. On the other 50%, RR works really well and the resulting video is great.

My experience is that if you cant see the Gauges on a file in Quik then the equivalent function in RR will also fail. Conclusion => the GoPro firmware is unstable and full of bugs.

Some GoPro GPS data situations will be improved a bit in our next program update (will be v3.6.6 or higher), but unfortunately it can't solve everything. I too have had my own GoPro HERO 6 recordings that appeared to lack valid GPS data in their own Quik software, and not surprisingly that didn't work in RaceRender either. It's quite unfortunate, because their GPS has really great performance otherwise.

I have a Hero 5, and have created a number of videos without problem, However the last 3 attempts have all resulted in the same issue with Racerender apparently not being able to extract the GPS Data. I end up with a video of say 40min, and the GPS merged data is only 2min. Needless to say Tracklog etc does not work. I thought maybe there was an issue with the camera, but just today downloaded a demo copy of Dashware. That extracted the GPS data perfectly, so this seems to confirm that the issue is definitely with Racerender.

I have found a workaround for this. Its a bit laborious, but in my circumstances seems to work. I also think I know what causes it. In my situation I am actually filming railway track inspection data, and my track inspector seems to have turned on the camera, (GoPro Hero 5) and started recording immediately. This seems to have started the recording before the GPS has locked on, so the first bunch of records have corrupted GPS and time stamps. This seems to upset Racerender (but not Dashware). Note that I am using the GoPro with its internal battery removed, and powered from a larger batterypack, to give me 6+ hours of recording. This may be compounding the issues as the Cameras internal clock is probably not set.

My fix for this is as follows. (Note, this is all assuming you have a long video the the GopRo has broken into multiple files)
Open Racerender and load ONLY the first Mp4 in the video set. Say YES to extereact GPS data. Export the GPS data to CSV
Repeat this for each subsequent video in the data set, so that you have a CSV file for each video.
Edit the first CSV in Excel. Check how many records at the top of the file are corrupted. Mine initially had zero for the Time and GPS, then a bunch with random time and GPS before the records appeared to come correct.
Replace the GPS coordinates that are wrong with a copy of the first GPS that is correct.
Select about 10 of the correct time fields, and drag up to overwrite the incorrect fields. Excel will decrement the time value by the same spacing as the 10 you had selected.
Then append the data from each subsequent CSV file to the bottom of the first file.
Save your modified file with "Merged" appended to the end of the file name.
Open Racerender and import the first MP4 in your dataset. Say YES to open linked videos. Say NO to extracting GPS data.
Import your modified MERGED data file.
Trim the first minute (or whatever is required) from both your video and merged data file so your video starts after the corrupted records.


Hope this helps anyone else in the same situation.