How to Convert GoPro 4K Video from HEVC to H264 without Quality Loss

By Kayla Collins Updated: December 19, 2018

[Solved] GoPro Hero 8/7 Footage Can't Be Viewed: Convert GoPro 4K HEVC to H264

HEVC is a step forward in video compression. Yet, HEVC is still a double-edged sword. On one hand, its higher compression efficiency can bring you an output GoPro 4K video with at least 50% size smaller compared to H264 while remaining the same level of high quality. On the other hand, the higher coding efficiency of HEVC comes at the price of increased computational complexity and it's not so widely accepted as H264 by video player, video editor software, mobile device and desktop.

Therefore, providing that you've recorded 4K HEVC video footage using your GoPro Hero 8/7/6 Black and don't have a highly configurable yet compatible device/editor to smoothly play or edit your GoPro recordings, there is an option - convert GoPro 4K HEVC to H264.

Which Program Can Losslessly Change GoPro 4K H265 to H264?

VideoProc, a cover-all GoPro 4K HEVC video converter, enables you to convert GoPro 4K video from HEVC (x265) to H264 (compatible with almost any device/software) with best possible video quality (high profile H264/main H264/baseline H264). Thanks to its advanced Intel QSV/Nvidia/AMD Level-3 GPU hardware acceleration tech, the high-demanding GoPro x265 to x264 conversion can be running mainly on GPU processor to solve CPU overheating/overuse issues, as well as to improve the whole video processing task speed up to 5X faster than other rivals. That's not the whole story. It also provides you with effective solutions to:

* Transcode GoPro Hero 8/7/6 HEVC 4K video to iPhone X/8/7/6s/6/Plus, iPad Pro, Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Samsung Galaxy S9+/Note 8, Huawei, Sony, Microsoft, PS4, Xbox One, etc. with scores of preset profiles for latest iOS/Android mobile devices.

* Edit GoPro Hero 8/7/6 4K HEVC video at 60FPS/50FPS/30FPS any frame rate: cut off unwanted clips from GoPro video, crop/split/merge GoPro footages, add special effects/subtitles to GoPro HEVC video, etc.

* Encode any type of video to H265, H264, MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, FLV, VOB, MP3, AC3, iPhone ringtone, etc. 420+ video and audio formats.

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How to Transcode GoPro 4K HEVC to H264 Codec

Free download this GoPro 4K video processing software on your Windows or macOS computer, the best of which should support Intel QSV/Nvidia/AMD GPU hardware acceleration. Only in this way can you accomplish GoPro Hero 8/7/6 4K H265 to H264 conversion without any software half-crash trouble, 95% CPU usage, laptop lagging problem at GoPro 4K HEVC processing. Read this article if you're interested in how VideoProc's full GPU acceleration influences GoPro 4K HEVC video processing.

After the HEVC video transcoder downloading and installation are finished, fire it up on your desktop and then cut to the chase.

Step 1. Load GoPro 4K HEVC files.
Tap Video icon to enter video processing window, where you're allowed to click Add Video option or directly drag-drop files to this program. Batch import and batch conversion are supported, as well.

Step 2. Choose H.264 as output format.
Select MP4 (H264) as output format from the bottom bar with Target Format nearby. Under "Video", there are also other widely used formats available, e.g., MOV (H264), 4K H264, iPhone (H264), Android (H264), to name a few. And click Codec Option to change H264 profile from the default Main to High Profile if you care a lot about quality.

For more formats and devices, click Target Format to activate the pop-up output profiles, including general video profile (HEVC, H264, MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, FLV, WebM, WMV, 3GP, SWF), mobile video profile (Apple, Android, Samsung, Huawei, Sony, Microsoft), web video profile (YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo), DVD profile (NTSC/PAL DVD format), HD video (MKV HD, TS HD, AVC HD), etc.

For latter convenient usage of frequently used profiles, you can hit the plus icon + at the bottom bar to add your desired profiles here. Delete seldom-used profiles via its cross icon at the top of each profile.

Step 3. Do some HEVC video editing before conversion. (Optional)
It's known to all that HEVC (H265) can encode GoPro video with at least 50% bitrate saving compared to H.264. Hence, if converted to H264 codec, the file would twice the size of the original GoPro 4K HEVC video. For example, your 10GB GoPro 4K H265 video would double in size so that your 16GB/32GB iPhone or Android mobile may have no enough space to save them.

In such case, proper HEVC video editing is seemingly inevitable. To make GoPro 4K video size smaller, there are a couple of options available:

* Cut: enable Cut at the video info bar to freely set up video start/end time to trim GoPro 4K videos in HEVC/H265. Thus, you can save and highlight your GoPro Hero 6 recordings without tedious clips.

* Split: shift your eyes to the bottom of the interface and find Toolbox, from which you hit Split to split your video averagely into 5/6/7 clips or split GoPro video every 30/60 seconds at your disposal.

More editing features: the afore-mentioned features are just a tip of the iceberg. VideoProc is a GoPro-focused versatile program to help you solve almost any tough GoPro problems, including remove background noise from GoPro video, fix GoPro fisheye distortion, stabilize GoPro 4K HEVC shaky video, add special effects to GoPro, sharpen GoPro video light, slow down your GoPro video 10X, etc. No complicated steps. Just 1 click to customize your GoPro 4K HEVC/H264 videos!

Step 4. Convert GoPro 4K HEVC to H264 Now
Click RUN button after you've already selected the output folder to save your output GoPro 4K video. This GoPro video processing software will begin to decode GoPro Hero 8/7/6 4K x265 video and encode to H264 at GPU hardware accelerated speed of 250-320FPS and with CPU temperature only 35C, away from CPU overheating/desktop lagging problems.

With Level-3 GPU hardware acceleration enabled, VideoProc only costs you 5m49s to finish a 10min GoPro 4K 60FPS x265 to x264 conversion. Thus, GoPro Hero footage not playing problem is easily tackled and you can now playback your GoPro Hero 8/7/6 recordings on your iPhone iPad Android, Windows/macOS desktop smoothly or edit GoPro 4K video in any software without video incompatibility or doubled computational complexity troubles.

Is There Any Other Limit with GoPro 4K HEVC for Playback?

Yes. On top of HEVC/H265 video codec limit, GoPro video resolution 4K is also a troublemaker for you to playback on mobile devices, as well as Windows/macOS.

1. GoPro 4K 4:3 HEVC video won't play on mobile device

Theoretically, if your iOS or Android is running on iOS 11/Android 5.0 or higher, there is no problem to playback HEVC files thereon. However, you might ignore that your GoPro shots a 4K HEVC video at 4:3 aspect ratio (4000x3000 in resolution), which is so far unsupported by any version of iOS or Android. QuikStories will change 4K 4:3 to a lower resolution for playback in iOS while the GoPro app will make a digital copy of 4K 4:3 file to your gadget, but not allow you to playback those files in Android.

2. Real 4K UHD video experience achieved by a few devices

4K Ultra HD brings 4x more pixels than full HD and 27x more pixels than SD. No doubt that 4K becomes the standard in video field. Though 4K has become a steady stream nowadays and majority of devices claim their supports with 4K UHD, most are just gimmicks indeed. Take macOS computer for instance. In the current market, only iMac Pro and 27-inch 5K iMac (2015-2017) natively support 4K Ultra HD video. As for older Macbook Pro/MacBook/iMac, an external 4K display is needed if you wanna enjoy the real amazing 4K UHD video experience. Otherwise, you just add 4x or 27x more computational burden to your desktop. So you have no need to preserve GoPro HEVC video in 4K 2160p/3000p high resolution.

In the event that you desire to make GoPro 4K 4:3 (3000p) video viewable on your Android and smoothly playback GoPro 4K video on computer with as high quality as possible, using VideoProc to downscale 4K to 2160p/2.7K/2K/1080p is the ultimate solution.

Click Codec Option at the home screen and you'll be directed to the settings adjustment window, where you're free to lower 4K 3000p to 4K 2160p, 4K to 2.7K 1520p, 2K 1440p, Full HD 1080p, 720p under video codec options. Tap Done and hit RUN to complete this task. Afterwards, you can watch your GoPro Hero 6 recordings on mobile and desktop with both quality and smoothness well balanced.

Aiming to be the leading digital media company, Digiarty Software, Inc. is dedicated to providing professional and innovative multimedia software for all Windows and Mac users.