Video · high-speed exFAT card
high-frame-rate MP4: find after an import failure
Where are slow-motion or HFR MP4 clips after a failed import?
Short answer
First search the destination, trash and catalog for partial copies: large HFR clips are the files most likely to be mid-transfer when an import fails, so they end up short or missing while smaller clips arrived. Compare sizes with the card and copy again. If the originals are gone from the card too, scan it read-only.
The situation
slow-motion or HFR MP4 clips is incomplete at the destination and no longer appears reliably on the source.
An import that fails partway through usually stops inside the largest file, and high-frame-rate clips are the largest on the card. A half-copied MP4 can still open and play, so the destination copy looks fine until you compare its size, byte for byte, with the original on the card.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
Ingest tools copy, verify, catalogue and sometimes delete in separate passes, and a crash between those passes leaves card and destination in different states. With slow motion the mismatch is hard to spot: the camera records at a high rate and the file is conformed to a lower playback rate, so a clip that lost its last minutes still reports a plausible running time.
Move, rename, catalog and delete-after-import steps can fail at different moments and leave source and destination in different states. For high-frame-rate MP4, this matters because recording rate and playback rate can differ, making an incorrect duration look plausible
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Quit the ingest software before it retries, and take the card out of the reader so no second delete-after-import pass can run over the source.
- 2
List every clip number on the card with its byte size, then search the destination folder, the system trash and the catalogue database for shorter twins.
- 3
Copy the missing or truncated clips from the card in the file manager instead of the importer, reading the card and never writing to it.
- 4
Play each fresh copy to its final frame, then file the good clips and remove the short duplicates once the full versions are stored twice.
Do not let the importer run again with delete-after-import enabled, and do not conform, transcode or trim the partial copies: an edit turns a truncated clip into the only version you own. Reformatting the card to make the importer behave destroys the originals you still need.
03 / Choose the method
Match the tool to the source
For stable, readable exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32 or uncompressed IMG, DD, RAW and BIN images.
Unconfirmed exports are marked .UNVERIFIED.
File Recovery Hero reads the exFAT card read-only and brings back clips that were deleted from it, but it does not mend a truncated copy on your computer. A clip cut off mid-transfer needs the card original again, or a container repair tool working on a duplicate.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
A copy is complete when its byte size matches the card exactly and playback reaches the last frame without the timeline snapping back. Check the running time against the HFR mode as well: recorded frames divided by the intended playback rate must give the duration the player shows.
Keep the source until two verified copies exist. One working preview is not enough.
Sources and technical references
FAQ
Questions about this recovery case
Can high-speed exFAT card be recovered in this situation?+
An import that fails partway through usually stops inside the largest file, and high-frame-rate clips are the largest on the card. A half-copied MP4 can still open and play, so the destination copy looks fine until you compare its size, byte for byte, with the original on the card. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not let the importer run again with delete-after-import enabled, and do not conform, transcode or trim the partial copies: an edit turns a truncated clip into the only version you own.
Does scanning write to my memory card?+
Your memory card is only read. Nothing is saved to it.
How do I know whether the result is complete?+
A copy is complete when its byte size matches the card exactly and playback reaches the last frame without the timeline snapping back.