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New HD user: frame rates
I have a Sony DSC-HX9V and am shooting at its full HD potential. However, I’m now a bit confused.
Most of the reviews that I’ve read state that it’s capable of shooting 1080p at 60 fps. There are four quality settings, of which the highest (according to the camera’s menu) is AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50p.
Just to complicate matters further, the tech spec on Sony’s website gives a headline bullet point saying, “Smooth, cinematic Full HD 50p movie recording” while the detailed info below shows a series of recording options and all of the AVCHD ones are listed as 1080i.
I should add that I’m using Premiere Pro CS4 on an early 2009 24″ iMac 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB memory and NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 512 MB graphics.
Having imported the native .MTS files into PP, their designated frame rate in my assets panel is 50 fps. I mistakenly added the clips to a 25 fps sequence and the frame blending option ensured that they rendered and played relatively okay, albeit with some slight ghosting.
Now I’m attempting to create a 50 fps sequence to see what difference it makes. Sure enough, the clips go straight in and no rendering is required. However, the playback (at draft quality) is staccato and jerky and a tad too fast. Moreover, if I add any still images to the sequence (which have to be rendered), I get an “Unknown error compiling movie”.
I’ve attempted to export a short H.264 mp4 at 1080p/50 fps but the playback results are pretty bad.
So my questions are:
How come everyone reviews the camera as 60 fps when neither its manual nor Sony’s website says that it is?
Which is the best sequence setting to use on PP when editing 50 fps material?
How come I’m getting render/playback problems when I try a 50 fps sequence? Is it simply that my iMac isn’t up to the job?
Apologies for such a long post. Although I’ve been editing standard def. material for quite some time (as a hobby) this is the first time I’ve done HD and it’s a bit more than I bargained for. I freely admit that I find frame rates a bit of a nightmare and they’re not easy to get my head around!
Thanks in advance.
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11 Replies
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If you want to review a camera you need to do that in the country you live in. So if you live in England you choose Sony UK or Canon UK etc.
Most camera reviews (websites) are from the USA which have a tv system called NTSC with a framerate of 29,97/24/60 etc.
If you live in Europe tv system is PAL and we use 25 and 50 fps.
So there is your difference.
If you do not know which sequence setting to choose drag a clip from the Project Window into the New Item icon (at the bottom of the PW). It will create a matching sequence for your footage.
To edit AVCHD you need some horse power.———————————————–
Adobe Certified Expert Premiere Pro
Adobe Community Professional -
Thanks for taking the time to reply and explain things. 🙂
Unfortunately, as I’m using PP CS4, dragging a clip on to ‘New item’ won’t work. However, after some experimentation I’ve discovered that selecting an AVCHD 1080i25 preset (which I now know equals 50 fps) and unticking the ‘frame blend’ option gives acceptable results that can be freely played once rendered.
I’m still a bit mystified as to why Sony trumpets the camera as being capable of 1080/50 progressive when all the AVCHD specs for it state 1080 interlaced.
I seriously need to educate myself a bit more about HD formats and am tempted to download the trial version of Final Cut Pro X to mess around with ProRes transcoding for a while. I never knew this would be such a minefield!
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If you do not state Premiere’s version one assumes CS5.5.
I did not check before but its a photo camera and not a video camera.
Photo cameras usually record progressive.
If you have recorded 1080p50 you need to make a custom sequence.
1920×1080 50 fps (not 25) and no fields.———————————————–
Adobe Certified Expert Premiere Pro
Adobe Community Professional -
I did mention CS4 in my original post.
I tried a 50 fps sequence but it’s what led me to post on this forum. The playback appeared too fast and choppy and when I checked the tech spec on the camera, all the AVCHD formats state 1080 interlaced, even though Sony claims it shoots 1080p.
I was wondering why the playback appears perfectly natural in a 25 fps sequence so I’m assuming that the 1080i/25 (50) preset is the correct one to use. I can edit this with no problem. However, my iMac really struggled on the 50 fps and any still images added to the sequence generated an “Error compiling movie” when I tried to render them.
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I just checked the tech specs: footage is all interlaced.
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Adobe Certified Expert Premiere Pro
Adobe Community Professional -
That sets my mind at rest. Many thanks. 🙂
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Ok, i have Sony alpha 77 and recording in 1920×1080 50p. Premiere pro shows in source same details but if i go to export, cannot find any setting to export it as the same format(1920×1080 50 PROGRESSIVE). I don’t want any 25i as thats only half of the resolution. Any ideas
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It all depends what you’re planning to do with the finished product. I found that selecting any of the 1080 presets resulted in jerky playback. I since discovered that they’re primarily intended for when the shots have to be handed on for further post-production, frame-by-frame at high res.
I found it best to export individual versions for each ‘end format’: one for iPod, one for TV viewing, one for DVD encoding, etc. The encode settings (bit rates and so on ) can be a bit of a minefield but if you export with your target device in mind you can usually get acceptable results.
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And that’s exactly I’m intending to do so. All is for postproduction purposes in after effects and need all the videos in the exact format. Does premiere pro supports 1920×1080 50p for export? And if does do I need to install any kind of codec ( as I was looking in all possible settings for output and the best settings I found were 1440×1080 50p or 1920×1080 50i.)
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You don’t say which version of PP/AE you’re using. If you’re doing the AE work yourself then look at this tutorial, which describes how to process a clip natively in AE without having to render it first.
If however you wish to hand the clips on to another facility to do the work, that requires more knowledge than I’m able to offer at the moment. Certainly the CS6 Media Encoder offers a ton of presets but I don’t know why 1080p 50 isn’t among them. Sorry.
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