Camera crash file
Also known as: unfinalised file, orphan recording
A recording left incomplete because the camera lost power or crashed mid clip, which most players refuse to open at all.
Updated
What it means
A crash file is a recording that was never closed properly. Video containers write their index when recording stops, so a camera that dies mid clip leaves the picture data on the card with no table of contents.
The footage is usually still there. What is missing is the structure a player needs to find it, which is why the file appears to be unplayable rather than empty and why its size looks plausible.
Cameras handle this differently. Some write a recovery file alongside, some rebuild the index on next power up, and some leave the problem entirely to whoever ends up with the card, which makes Action camera firmware version relevant to the outcome.
How it works in practice
Powering the camera on with the card still inserted is the first thing to try, because many models detect the unfinalised recording and repair it themselves without any tools.
Where that fails, remuxing with a tool that rebuilds the index recovers most of the clip, and Remuxing rather than re-encoding keeps the original quality intact.
Copying the card before attempting anything is the rule that avoids regret. Some recovery tools write to the card itself, and a second attempt on an altered card is worse than the first was. Work on the copy and keep the original untouched.
What to watch out for
The last few seconds are usually lost regardless, which is a particular shame because a power loss often coincides with exactly the moment that was worth keeping.
Repaired files sometimes carry subtly wrong duration or timing, so Audio drift appears in a clip that was never recorded with a clock problem at all.
Reformatting the card is the irreversible mistake. Clearing it to get the camera working again discards exactly the data recovery needed, and Card formatting offers no warning that an unfinalised recording is about to go with it. Copy first, format second.
How RawClip handles it
Files that fail to open are reported rather than silently skipped, so an upload containing a crashed recording is not quietly short. A repaired clip is treated like any other once it has a valid index and duration.