Does the project timeline fps matter?

[John Rofrano]

[Scott Matthews] “if I import a 24fps source file, and if I intend to render out a 24fps file — does it matter what the project timeline fps is set to?”

Yes, absolutely. Especially if you add things like titles or other generated media because all generated media is added at the project frame rate. You will also get a much smoother editing experience if your project matches your source media.

[Scott Matthews] “If it does, and generally speaking, is the project timeline fps supposed to match your source, or your intended output?”

That depends. In general you should strive to have these be the same. e.g., if you plan to deliver 24p, go buy a 24p camera. If you can’t and you don’t want any surprises when you do your final render then your project should be in the format of your final delivery format. So, for example, if you shoot 60i but want to deliver 24p make your project 24p. If you deliver in multiple formats then your project should be in the highest resolution and frame rate that you will deliver in or have it match your source.

[Scott Matthews] “What if you’re working with a mix of 24p and 60p?”

If you must mix formats, set your project up for your delivery format. So if you are delivering in 24p, it doesn’t matter that some of your footage is 60p; set your project up for 24p so that you are previewing and making edit decisions in your final format.

[Scott Matthews] “Is there a particular downside to having the project timeline fps set to 60fps, and then importing a 24p file, and rendering a 24fps file?”

Yes, the downside is that Vegas Pro will synthesize new frames during playback to bring the 24p up to 60p and it will cause lagging and ghosting you will be editing frames that don’t exist! Think about that… if your project is 60p and your media is 24p Vegas will have to create new frames to fill in the difference. You are going to make edit decisions based on these new frames that don’t really exist (i.e., Vegas is just temporarily making them to fill in the 60p playback rate). All of your timing decisions will be based on one frame rate but your delivery will be in another which may or may not be what you want.

[Scott Matthews] “Conversely, what if the project timeline fps is set to 24fps, and you import a 60p file, and render out at 30fps (or 24fps)?”

Rendering to 30p will cause Vegas to blend the 60fps down to 30fps and create new frames to bring the 24p up to 30p. You will have to disable resample on all of the 60p footage so that you don’t get ghosting. In general, you should avoid this mess of mismatched cameras.

[Scott Matthews] “I guess I’m trying to understand the relationship between the source, timeline, and render fps.”

The source is what it is. If your timeline and/or render has less fps than the source then frames can be thrown away or blended. If your timeline and/or render has more fps than the source then frames must be synthesized from the existing frames which usually means blending adjacent frames together.

The timeline is your window to the project. All of your edit and timing decisions will be made at the timeline fps because that’s what you will be looking at. If you don’t want any surprises, you should keep your timeline fps and render fps the same so that the frames you edited are the frames in your final video.

The render settings determine what format the final video will use. You can convert 30p to 24p or 24p to 60p or whatever you want. The results may not always be pleasant or what you expected unless your render settings match your project.

Hope that helps.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Bernie Lademann]

I love the clarity in John’s answer. It does raise a number of other related questions, especially with the tendancy to use newer cameras running at 60fps and to include slow motion in video.

1. If all the footage was captured at 60fps, would you still set the project settings to 30fps to match the delivery media (eg. YouTube)?

2. How do you slow the footage down for emotive effect without producing ghosting when you “disable resample”? From what I understand Vegas will just repeat frames to extend the time, which doesn’t look very smooth.

Any thoughts?

[John Rofrano]

[Bernie Lademann] “1. If all the footage was captured at 60fps, would you still set the project settings to 30fps to match the delivery media (eg. YouTube)?”

No, if all of the footage was 60p I would edit in 60p. My rule of thumb is to edit in the format of the source unless the source is mixed format, then I like to edit in the largest delivery format instead. The only exception is if I was using a non-standard format like 2.39:1 aspect in which case I would set up my project for the aspect of my deliver format no matter what my source format is.

[Bernie Lademann] “2. How do you slow the footage down for emotive effect without producing ghosting when you “disable resample”? From what I understand Vegas will just repeat frames to extend the time, which doesn’t look very smooth.”

If you are shooting 60p and delivering 30p and disable resample, Vegas will use all of the frames that it can before doubling. So, for example, if you wanted to slow down by 50%, Vegas would not double any frames; it would use the original 60 frames over 2 seconds (@ 30fps).

If, however, you wanted to slow down more than 50%, then Vegas will be forced to duplicate frames because you turned resample off. (you can’t have it both ways)

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Bernie Lademann]

Thanks John. That’s very clear now.

[John Rofrano]

You’re welcome. Glad I could help clear things up Bernie.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com