Fast motion vs slow motion

[Joe Lukus]

I guess it would be simplest to put it this way…
When not using automatic speed in FCPX which keeps all the frames and just slows or speeds them up depending on timeline FPS…

If I were not to use automatic speed and just let FCPX match the timline FPS by rate conform (floor, blend, optical flow…) as it ether starts to drop frames or make up frames….
And say I shoot in 60fps would placing that in a 30fps be better, look better since it will just drop every other frame, than if I placed it in a true 24FPS or even worse 23.987… as it is now not a nice 1 frame drop?

Larry talks about this a bit in one of his articles and show how conforming 60fps to a 24fps can make for not the best convertion as it drops 1 frame then 3 frames etc…: https://larryjordan.com/articles/frame-rates-are-tricky-beasts/

So again was wondering if maybe keeping just even number frame rates are the best when having to mix different frame rates at times? Or will the notice not be that big of a difference and I just need to stop worrying about this lol?

Thanks again for your help!!! I really do appreciate it!!! Enjoy learning this art, but there is a lot to it!!! Lol

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Joe Lukus] “And say I shoot in 60fps would placing that in a 30fps be better, look better since it will just drop every other frame, than if I placed it in a true 24FPS or even worse 23.987… as it is now not a nice 1 frame drop?
“

If you need 30fps, shoot 30fps. if you need 24fps, shoot 24fps. If you need slow motion, shoot a higher frame rate and conform to the timeline fps.

[Joe Lukus] “Larry talks about this a bit in one of his articles and show how conforming 60fps to a 24fps can make for not the best convertion as it drops 1 frame then 3 frames etc.”

This is if you shoot 60, and then need regular motion from the 60fps in a 24fps timeline, yes, FCPX will drop frames. But FCPX does a really really good job on frame rate conversions when going from 60 to 24.

But if you don’t need slow motion, just shoot at your timeline frame rate.

[Joe Lukus]

Ok guys I have been wondering this lately, still related to this topic.

In simple terms what FPS/camera settings do they film at to capture fast motion like a car going fast with fast pans etc or “in the car view” of it racing down the road with the landscape flying by (think of drone flying through the air fast). Just “fast motion”/speeding up in general.
Because they output at 24fps, so how are they filming fast motion/creating fast motion to get a nice and smooth “fast motion”?
Because if you speed up 24fps in post it can make for stuttering etc… (taking out frames) and if you physically move the camera fast as in panning fast etc.. at 24fps it leads to choppiness, so again how can they record fast motion or speed up the video without jitteriness…
Do they film at like 8FPS and dump in 24FPS which would speed up, but then again you are not capturing all the motion that goes by, again leading to choppiness? or do they film with high frame rates to capture all the motion, but then when they drop it into a 24fps timeline it would be slowed down defeating the purpose! and if they conform and speed it up they are just again tossing away frames to again create a choppy fast motion?

Put another way, how do they simulate “fast motion” on the big screen, scenes that go by quickly (another example, like a video that pans/circles around a building at “normal speed”, but then speeds up as it goes around the building) without making the scene choppy? (One or my reasons for asking the question)

Easy to get smooth slow-mo, just shoot high FPS and then dump into 24FPS timeline, but NO ONE talks about what you do for FAST MOTION?!, and again thats what I want to know!

Hope this all makes sense and you can see were I am coming from?

Thanks!!!

[Brecht Dhuyvetters]

I actually have the exact same question! I still haven’t found a good answer to this after searching for quite a while on the web. This video illustrates it well at 1:18.