Frame Rates and Slow Motion

nirvanray wrote on 9/22/2014, 5:42 AM

Hey friends,

I have some doubts on frame rates and slow motion.
If we shoot in more frame rates (1000p and more), the action will be in slow motion.

First question: My camera has maximum 60p. Where and how can I get more than 60p. Are they special cameras?

Second Question: And after I shoot, why do I need to edit them? I assumed that once I have shot in more frame rates, I can see the slow effect on the recorder file itself rather than bring it to the editing table and editing them to lesser frame rates?

Third: Ok now after I get the file to editing table…..what must be the lesser frame rate to give a smooth slow? Is 25p a good decent one?

Finally: Why don’t I have a smooth slow motion after editing? I don’t edit in Adobe Premier of Final Cut Pro but do it in MAGIX Movie Edit Premium 18?

For Reference: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6oi278xx3vg40i7/Frame%20Rates%20and%20Slow%20Motion.mp4?dl=0

 

Will appreciate your kind help.
Regards.

Anirban

 

 

 

Comments

cpc000cpc wrote on 9/22/2014, 7:15 PM

"...If we shoot in more frame rates (1000p and more), the action will be in slow motion." That can be true or not -- and that leads therefore to your questions. If a clip is shot and played at the same frame rate the motion will be normal. Slow motion is made possible by displaying individual frames at a slower rate thaan they were filmed. 

1. Yes there are special camera for ultra high filming speeds. Check out 'edgertronic' with a max of 494 frames per second (at 1280 x 1024) or perhaps the photron Fastcam with a max of 12,500 fps. Think fast -- think $$$!

2. Most display programs ('players') display at the same trame rate the the video was filmed at -- that information (and other stuff) is often refered to as 'meta' data that you generally don't need to worry about it or even know it exists. One of the options within most video editors is to not only be able to display at a rate other than the filming rate, but most importantly to be able to export a new version of your clip which will play 'slo-mo' in any player.

3. The smoothness of the playback depends on how many frames your eye sees each second and how different each frame is from the previous one..The physics/biology if human vision says that something around 15fps is about the absolute minimum -- and that would be seen like a flickering old newsreel or film of the silent era. 25fps will be smooth

If you film at 60fps you should be able to safely play at 30 with smooth effect at half speed. Watching at 15 fps would give quarter speed but your vision begins to see the individual frames. You can certainly play much slower but that won't look smooth at all.

Things get more complicated when we consider shutter speeds as well. Filming at 25fps using at a shutter speed of 1/1000 or a second (if any camera can do that?) will produce frames that are super sharp -- no motion blur -- but my seem less smooth then filming with a shutter speed just shorter than 1/25 second. Each frame will then have motion blur on faster moving objects but that is more natural to our eyes. The edgertronic page has an example of a humming bird in flight. Filmed at 400fps and played at 30 (?) results in definite slow motion, but note that any individual frame shows wing blur noticable most if you view single frames.

http://petapixel.com/2013/09/24/edgertronic-small-affordable-super-slow-motion-camera/

Regards,

Carl

 

nirvanray wrote on 9/23/2014, 6:35 AM

“Slow motion is made possible by displaying individual frames at a slower rate than they were filmed.”

Please can you kindly elaborate on the above and how do I achieve it?

“Most display programs ('players') display at the same frame rate the video was filmed at…..”

I apologise for this knowledge. I was not aware of it and assumed that if I shoot in high fps I can see slow motion when playing. But I assued that if we shoot at 100fps there will be more slow motion. I never thought that we also need to bring the same to editing table.But in that case why we need to shoot in differnet fps if we know that the editing back-up is there?

 

So you say that 15fps, 25fps and 30fps (for anything shot in 60fps) will indeed give a smooth view. But what if I want more slowness through MAGIX? Does having less than 15fps give a shaky look?

Can you also guide how to play with the Tv for a motion blur in video?


Regards.