I plugged my GoPro cam into my iPad and it copied the footage but it won't play back,I downloaded imovie app thinking it would load but same problem.any ideas what I need to do or is this beyond iPad at this stage
mp4 video can handle more variations in video output than the iPad can, so that may be the problem. If you are not adverse to using iTunes, try importing it into iTunes first then syncing back to the iPad. That should automatically convert it to an iPad friendly format.
Otherwise you may need to look at your camera settings and change the format, or use a conversion program on the computer. Lots of discussion on both of these. Give the forum a search. If you go to the iPad specs page on Apple's site you can see what formats the iPad can handle.