Pinkbike High Frames Per Second (fps) video: 50p vs 25p
Pinkbike offers video up to 120fps, you don't see this anywhere else on the web.
As a digital videographer I showcase a lot of my work online, generally through flash video. Almost all the online video websites offer flash video at up to 30fps (frames per second). Now coming from little old New Zealand I use the 25fps standard. But a lot of the High Definition cameras these days can shoot up to 50 or 60fps, including mine. Meaning if you shoot at a high frame rate it gets down converted to 25 or 30fps depending on the site.
Here's a comparison between 50p and 25p video on the web.![photo]()
When people hear 50p or 60p they automatically think "slow motion" and generally that is what I would usually use it for. Shooting at double the frame rate will give you a smooth half speed clip.
I just recently decided to shoot an entire video in 50p to test how the high frame rate would look, and how it would come across online.
50p definitely has a very different look to it than 25p and at first look you may think some of the shots are sped up, this is because we are not used to seeing anything higher than 30p on the internet. High frame rates are generally only seen on a TV. For years TV has used an interlaced signal effectively displaying 50 or 60 half frames per second, to our eyes this looks like 50 or 60 whole frames. And with the advent of HD and HDTVs we are seeing higher and higher frame rates.
Check out the comparison for yourself, (with an open mind preferably) and let me know what you think.
:
Here is the original 720p 50fps video:
And here is the converted 25fps video:
All props to Pinkbike for offering this service!
Toby Nowland-Foreman
Lock Stock Media
![photo]()
kiwihardtail.pinkbike.com
www.youtube.com/user/LockStockMedia
www.vimeo.com/Toby
As a digital videographer I showcase a lot of my work online, generally through flash video. Almost all the online video websites offer flash video at up to 30fps (frames per second). Now coming from little old New Zealand I use the 25fps standard. But a lot of the High Definition cameras these days can shoot up to 50 or 60fps, including mine. Meaning if you shoot at a high frame rate it gets down converted to 25 or 30fps depending on the site.
Here's a comparison between 50p and 25p video on the web.
When people hear 50p or 60p they automatically think "slow motion" and generally that is what I would usually use it for. Shooting at double the frame rate will give you a smooth half speed clip.
I just recently decided to shoot an entire video in 50p to test how the high frame rate would look, and how it would come across online.
50p definitely has a very different look to it than 25p and at first look you may think some of the shots are sped up, this is because we are not used to seeing anything higher than 30p on the internet. High frame rates are generally only seen on a TV. For years TV has used an interlaced signal effectively displaying 50 or 60 half frames per second, to our eyes this looks like 50 or 60 whole frames. And with the advent of HD and HDTVs we are seeing higher and higher frame rates.
Check out the comparison for yourself, (with an open mind preferably) and let me know what you think.
Here is the original 720p 50fps video:
And here is the converted 25fps video:
All props to Pinkbike for offering this service!
Toby Nowland-Foreman
Lock Stock Media
www.youtube.com/user/LockStockMedia
www.vimeo.com/Toby
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Member since Jul 14, 2006
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That was a nice experience
P.S. I expected some people might dislike the 50p look as it's not often seen on the net, people love sticking to the old standards
Even higher frame rates (~300 Hz) have been tested by BBC R&D from concerns over sports and other broadcasts where fast motion with large HD displays could have an effect with viewers.[6] 300 fps can be converted to both 50 and 60 Hz transmission formats without major issues.
I had always known it was possible to upload the higher frame rate, but never gave it a try, it was a dirt jump video or something, buttery smooth, but I don't remember what it was.
1 frame (2 fields) of a 1080 60i clip is 2,073,600 pixels, that times 30 (for one second) is 62,208,000 pixels.
1 frame of a 720 60p clip 921,600 pixels, that times 60 (for one second) is 55,296,000 pixels.
What I'm saying is that you can carry 2 different kinds of signals that look just as good. In a 1080 60i timeline you can carry 1080 30p, 24p, 720 60p, 30p, and 24p. Obviously when it comes to cameras, you can design them to shoot anything...
"72 fps is currently an experimental progressive scan format" if you're talking about that for the camcorders like P2 or XDCamEX that would be cool, might only work if you set it as undercrank, sort of like having that option in shooting 60p you can have that option to slow it down automatically to 24fps or keep it 60fps. My camera cannot undercrank 60p footage, which sucks because I have 1 extra step in the transcoding process (Avid MC sucks like that).
All props go to pinkbike for offering something that isn't widely accepted as the norm and thanks to everyone who looked at this comparison and gave their opinion. I hope to keep testing out new and exciting things, I'll be keeping you all posted too
Peace out.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/28k_RED_CAMERA.png
I found the 50p was more pleasing on the eyes, more detail, looks nicer overall.
But when it came to the flowing scenes on the trails, the 25p was much more intense where the 50p seemed slower and again better detail.
On the other hand, if you're trying to save space, a 30 fps video will only take up half the space that a 60fps video will. If you are low on HDD space or bandwidth, then I'd support people filming at lower frame rates because the difference at 1x speed for 24fps and 72fps isn't all THAT much. (The difference is negligible when compared to the difference between 10 fps and 30 fps) For slo-mo, you can't really make compromises there- you just gotta stick with a high fps base footage. Lastly, if you have to choose between fps and resolution, choose fps right up until 30fps, then start increasing resolution up until 1280x720, then move up in fps until you hit 60, and then move on to 1920x1080. If you have thousands of dollars to spend on crazy cameras that shoot 2560x1440 @ 120fps.... well then I guess you have no compromises to make, congratulations and send me a sample of that glorious footage in 0.25x slo-mo
One thing that puzzles me is that PinkBike supports up to 120fps, but almost everyone's computer monitor only has a 60Hz refresh rate (except the new 3D monitors). So how does that work?
The first to observe the wagon-wheel effect under truly continuous illumination (such as from the sun) was Schouten (1967[4]). He distinguished three forms of subjective stroboscopy which he called alpha, beta, and gamma: Alpha stroboscopy occurs at 8-12 cycles per second; the wheel appears to become stationary, although "some sectors [spokes] look as though they are performing a hurdle race over the standing ones" (p. 4
Even avi's have variable frame rate to increase buffering speed or decrease file size while maintaining a good viewing quality.
I am sure if you had the original videos - quicktimes aren't too heavy but retain the true frame rate available for download then people would be be able to see much clearer difference.
and it is true film (hollywood and the rest) for the most part film at 24fps (only going more for slow-mo's and effects) and the end result in the cinema is always 24fps.
Why do i need this? Me and my buddy have different standards ./