Card formatting
Also known as: formatting, card initialisation
Erasing and re-initialising a memory card in the camera that will use it, which is the single cheapest way to avoid recording faults.
Updated
What it means
Formatting rebuilds the file system on a card rather than merely deleting files. The difference matters because fragmentation and leftover structures from another device are a common cause of Dropped frames and failed recordings.
Doing it in the camera rather than on a computer is the part people skip. A camera writes the layout it expects, and a card formatted elsewhere can be technically valid and still too slow in practice.
It is also a discipline rather than a repair. Formatting before each session is cheap and prevents problems, while formatting after one has appeared is usually too late to help anything.
How it works in practice
Copy the card first and verify that copy before formatting, every single time. A card is the only place the footage exists until that copy is confirmed, and confirming means checking file sizes rather than watching a progress bar finish. A Corrupted card discovered after formatting is unrecoverable.
Formatting in the camera at the start of a session is the habit that matters. It takes moments and it resets whatever the last session left behind, including any partial recording the camera left behind.
Matching the card to the recording specification is the other half, since a card below the required SD card speed class will fail at high bit rates however it was formatted.
What to watch out for
Formatting before copying is the mistake that cannot be undone, and it happens most often when a camera prompts for it after an error. The prompt is not the moment to agree.
Deleting files one by one instead of formatting leaves the fragmentation in place, which is how a card rated fast enough on paper still stutters in use, so the card gradually becomes less reliable at exactly the bit rates that matter most.
Formatting also destroys anything recoverable from a crashed recording, so a card holding a Camera crash file should be copied and inspected before anybody clears it. Recovery has nothing to work from once the layout has been rewritten.
How RawClip handles it
Uploads are checked against what the camera actually wrote rather than assumed complete, so a card that dropped frames or lost a clip produces a visible gap rather than a silently shorter highlight. A short session and a damaged one are not the same thing.