Best frame rate – 24p, 25p, or 30p?

[Vince Becquiot]

Hi Paul,

Frame rate really doesn’t matter much on the web.

24P

Pros: Less frames to compress, so better overall quality with the same bit rate.

Cons: Prone to jagging with fast sustained motion.

No good, easy way to convert either to or from 30P<>24P

If the footage is 30P, keep it that way.

Vince Becquiot

Kaptis Studios
San Francisco – Bay Area

[Ann Bens]

Just keep it 25 fps in progressive mode.

[Paul Min]

Hi Ann,

Thanks for your reply.
IS there any reason you think 25p is better than 30p?
I’m tempted to go with 30fps progressive for a slightly smoother look, although I’m presuming 30fps will look slightly more compressed on Youtube than 25fps?

Many thanks Ann

Paul

[Paul Min]

Hi Vince,

Thanks for your tips

The ‘footage’ (CGI) is all created inside the computer, so it can be anything.

But unless there’s any reason not to go 30p, I’ll create it at that?

Many thanks

Paul

[Vince Becquiot]

Hi Paul,

Since you are creating from scratch, are you going to send that to DVD as well?

Unless you are actually going to need to convert to 30P for US broadcast or DVD later, then 25P is actually the better choice.

Vince Becquiot

Kaptis Studios
San Francisco – Bay Area

[Paul Min]

HI Vince,

Can I ask why you think 25p is better than 30p?
I’m not planning on putting on a DVD, the idea is for Youtube HD and Vimeo HD.

If I want it to be as smooth as possible (the original CGI is actually 60fps), then surely 30fps would be smoother than 25fps? Or are you thinking that 30fps would end up more compressed by YouTube?

Thanks Vince

[Vince Becquiot]

Hi Paul,

Given that you are in PAL land, where everything is 25p, or 50i, and that you have very little motion, you will be better off with compression, or if you ever want to put it on a DVD. But again, neither will be a bad choice.

Vince Becquiot

Kaptis Studios
San Francisco – Bay Area

[Cyn Kennedy]

Okay, so if I’m in North America, want to get footage onto YouTube but hope to also use said footage to create a future DVD release, what’s the best setting? My HD camera has 60i , PF30, and PF24.

Here’s my understanding so far, if I’m shooting sports, 60i is best for fast moving subject or camerawork, PF30 is good for a fair amount of movement with subject or camerawork, PF24 is the most economic in terms of compression and is fine for most “lock off” camera or less active subjects.

Since my subject is less active, I’m thinking that if I shoot PF24, for an NTSC HD DVD, it can be fairly easily transferred to 30fps with, essentially a 3/2 pulldown like old school film to tape transfer work. (i.e. frame one field one, field two, field one, then frame 2 field 1 , field 2….. lather, rinse, repeat!… while I understand that it is creating a 29.97fps and not exactly 30fps, this isn’t intended for broadcast on a network and isn’t going to be longer than about 5 minutes at most. (not long format)

Please correct me if I’m misunderstanding this…and feel free to make recommendations.