Day 1: Universal Camera Settings (Part 1)
Understanding Frame Rate
What is Frame Rate
I'm going to show you what I would do if I was starting over from nothing...
Understanding Frame Rate
Frame rate is important because the total number of frames in every second of video has a big impact on the look of our final video and what we're able to do with it. There are three common frame rates that most cameras have by default:
| Frame Rate | Description | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| 24 FPS | Industry standard, Hollywood films | Cinematic look, narrative content |
| 30 FPS | Slightly smoother than 24 FPS | YouTube, social media, talking heads |
| 60 FPS | High frame rate for slow motion | Slow motion footage, action shots |
24 Frames Per Second - The Industry Standard
The industry standard and the frame rate that is most commonly used in Hollywood films is 24 frames per second, meaning that in each second of footage recorded, there are 24 individual frames being played one after another.
This is the industry standard because it portrays motion in a way that is similar to the way our eyes naturally perceive motion throughout our day-to-day lives. Anything less than 24 frames per second and our eyes will start to notice that the video isn't smooth motion and that there are in fact tiny pauses between each individual frame of the video.
Understanding Slow Motion
As we increase the number of frames per second, we start to get a somewhat unnatural smoothness to our images that isn't really what our eyes naturally see in our day-to-day lives. However, there is a benefit to higher frame rates: the ability to portray slow motion.
When we increase our frame rate to 60 frames per second, we now have 2.5 times more frames in every second of video. Because we have all these additional frames, we're able to essentially stretch out that one second of footage to cover 2.5 seconds, slowing things down significantly.
The Math Behind Slow Motion
By stretching the footage out and slowing things down where we originally had 60 frames in just one second of footage, now we have 60 frames spread out over 2.5 seconds of footage and within each individual second of that clip, there are 24 frames, bringing us back to that cinematic standard. This process of stretching out the footage is called interpreting the footage.
Formula for Slow Motion Percentage:
Example: 24 ÷ 60 = 0.4 (40%)
Most editing programs allow you to do this very easily by asking you what percentage you'd like to slow the footage down to. With 60 frames per second footage, we need to slow it down to 40% of the original speed, which brings it back to that 24 frames per second standard.
More Examples:
Shooting at 120 FPS allows you to slow down to 20% speed
Shooting at 240 FPS allows you to slow down to 10% speed
⚠️ Top 10 Beginner Mistake: Improper Slow Motion
The Problem: Slowing down footage that either shouldn't be slowed down at all or slowing down footage more than they should based on the total frames per second.
A lot of people will film in 24 or 30 frames per second and then try to slow things down when they're editing to, let's say, 40%. When they do this, the end product is, yes, slower, but not true slow motion because it's very clear it wasn't filmed at a high frame rate and the footage is very shuddery with those telltale gaps in between each individual frame.
The Fix: First, never slow down 24 frame per second footage. Film in a higher frame rate and only slow it down as much as the mathematical equation allows for.
What About 30 Frames Per Second?
30 frames per second is definitely an area of confusion for a lot of people. I will repeat again, 24 frames per second has always been the Hollywood standard for cinematic footage.
30 frames per second is almost exactly the same as 24 frames per second, but it is ever so slightly different. In every second of video, there are going to be six more individual frames, which normally means a little less motion blur will be present in your videos and it will also look a little smoother due to those extra frames.
Now this by itself isn't bad. It's just a little different than what we're used to seeing with our human eyeballs and what we see in most Hollywood movies. I'd go so far as to bet 95% of people watching this video right now would not be able to tell the difference between a clip shot in 24 frames per second and a clip shot at 30 frames per second.
💡 Modern Perspective on 24 vs 30 FPS
Lately there's even been a shift in the YouTuber community where content creators now suggest filming in 30 frames per second over 24 frames per second because they actually like the smoother look. It's becoming more of a topic of personal preference than anything else.
General Guidelines:
- Filming narrative, cinematic, Hollywood style short films → 24 FPS
- Filming YouTube or social media content with talking heads → 30 FPS
Either way, I for one still film 99% of my content at 24 frames per second, and that's what I will continue to recommend in this course.
Important Note: If your particular phone doesn't allow you to film in 24 frames per second and the lowest you can go is 30, don't worry at all. Just stick with 30 FPS and basically no one will ever be able to tell the difference. Just remember to increase your frame rate to 60 FPS and up whenever you want that slow motion.
What If You Don't Know Which Clips Will Be Slow Motion?
This is a smart question to ask because it is a common scenario that people find themselves in. I remember when I used to film tons and tons of weddings, it was always hard to know which clips would end up being in slow motion.
The Solution:
- Try to switch as much as you can (e.g., talking heads in 24 FPS)
- If you're in a situation where you know you'll want at least some clips to be slow motion, but not all of them, just film everything at 60 frames per second
Timeline Frame Rate Magic
The reason why filming everything at 60 FPS isn't the end of the world has to do with our editing programs. Whenever you start a project in practically any editing software, you'll have to choose what your timeline frame rate is. So now we essentially have two frame rates:
- The frame rate we shot our footage in
- The frame rate that our edit's timeline is in
99.9% of the time, I choose 24 frames per second as my timeline frame rate. When I throw a 60 frame per second clip into a 24 frame per second timeline, the editing program will magically hide all of the additional frames, evenly spacing out the gaps, making what was 60 frames per second footage essentially look very close to what true 24 frame per second footage would look like.
Now when you want to slow down that clip and stretch it out, those frames that were magically hidden come back, allowing you to still get that beautiful slow motion. It's pretty cool that our editing programs do this automatically.
⚠️ Warning: 30 FPS in 24 FPS Timeline
Let's say you take 30 frames per second footage and drop it in a 24 frame per second timeline. The same thing happens where the editing program magically hides the additional frames. But the issue is the gaps caused by the missing frames aren't as evenly spaced out as they were with 60 frame per second footage.
The awkward gaps cause a weird jittery effect when viewing back the footage and for me it's a telltale beginner mistake.
Key Takeaways
- The industry standard is 24 frames per second (some cameras call this 23.976 or 23.978 - don't worry about why, it's just a historical thing)
- For slow motion, stick to 60 frames per second and multiples of 60 like 120, 240 and so on
- Each higher frame rate unlocks more and more slow motion capability
- After shooting for a very long time, 90% of the time, 60 frames per second is more than enough slow motion
- Anything above 60 FPS is somewhat overkill for most situations
- Use the formula: 24 ÷ Shot Frame Rate = Slow Motion Percentage
- Never slow down 24 FPS footage - always shoot in higher frame rates for slow motion
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I'll see you in the next one!