Choosing the Appropriate Frame Rate for Your Underwater Video Project
Am sure this will be controversial anyway let's see
Am sure this will be controversial anyway let's see
Choosing the appropriate frame rate for your underwater video
- Thread starter Interceptor121
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Seems like you have some of your facts incorrect. Framerate standards are defined by Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers - Wikipedia. In 2007 they published SMPTE ST 2036-1 which defines the standards for UHDTV1 (4k) and UHDTV2 (8k). The framerate standards for 4k or 8k video are 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, 60, 100, 119.88, or 120 Hz with progressive scan.
It looks to me like you're mixing up details from the old SD and UHD. HD (1080p) was when the world moved away from 30hz (NTSC) to 60hz. 4k30 is a blight that exists because extremely inexpensive camera hardware can easily produce this output.
The standard has been updated 3 times since initial publication. Most recently it was updated in 2014, the full document can be found here: ST 2036-1:2014 - ST 2036-1:2014 - SMPTE Standard - Ultra High Definition Television — Image Parameter Values for Program Production - SMPTE Standard
It looks to me like you're mixing up details from the old SD and UHD. HD (1080p) was when the world moved away from 30hz (NTSC) to 60hz. 4k30 is a blight that exists because extremely inexpensive camera hardware can easily produce this output.
The standard has been updated 3 times since initial publication. Most recently it was updated in 2014, the full document can be found here: ST 2036-1:2014 - ST 2036-1:2014 - SMPTE Standard - Ultra High Definition Television — Image Parameter Values for Program Production - SMPTE Standard
OP
First the post is not about what are the standards but about common frame rates read it first maybe
The fact that standards exist is one thing the fact you have a broadcast is another, today you can find 4K24p content on netflix or amazon but there is no terrestrial or satellite Tv that is transmitting anything else than plain old HD on mainstream scale
8K will probably never see any real light as even 4K is too much to bear for the infrastructure on cable and satellite right now and for the last 3 years there have only been test channels
JackOfDiamonds
Jewish Space Laser Operator
I just set my Go-Pro 5 to 60FPS on 2.7k Res (4K does not support 60FPS, only 30) and let it run .
Some people prefer the extra quality of 4K over the extra frames, i dont.
Some people prefer the extra quality of 4K over the extra frames, i dont.
OP
In the GoPro case both 2.7K 60 fps and 4K 30 have the same bitrate so it is down to your preference. GoPro is an action camera with a small form factor and therefore any move will feel like a shake and that is the main reason for using higher frame rate as GoPro users tend to move the camera fast. I hope you don't slow down the footage as that looks ugly and unrealistic
spoolin01
Contributor
I don't follow half of what you guys are talking about but that I can tell it also has little to do with me choosing frame rates. The 1st gen GoPro I used to use, and the Oly XZ-1 both looked plainly jerky at 30fps even for slow panning tropical reef video. For faster moving scenes, like fish or surface feature motion in surge, fuggedaboudit: 60fps with the GoPro looked much smoother. Now I use a 4th gen GoPro, and Sony RX100, but have stuck with 60fps based on that earlier impression. So for some cameras at least the choice seems simple, irrespective of some human perception dogma taken in isolation. Maybe there are some cameras that produce smooth 30fps underwater video, but those two at least didn't.
OP
I have taken quite a few videos with the RX100 and at the beginning I used the 50 fps more because it had a higher bitrate. I then moved to 25 fps and even removed the active stabiliser.
The issue of smoothness has for most to do with the operator. The GoPro is very small so it is extremely hard to keep the camera steady the higher frame rate is to compensate for you moving around too fast or the camera shaking. Besides panning should be done when you are on a fixed point and even so keeping the panning speed slow. If you pan underwater you cant keep still so you are panning and shifting at the same time and this is why it all looks jerky.
With the GoPro particularly the lens is very wide but the camera is tiny so each movement translates into large movements of the whole frame. The Rx100 works fine at 24/25 fps if you have steady hands and avoid panning
Obviously you can pan if you are sitting on the bottom and you move your camera slowly
The other point is that if you need to slow down the footage because it looks jerky even at 60 fps then you need to improve your skills and be more steady
spoolin01
Contributor
Panning for me means slow swimming with fixed camera hold. Regardless of the underlying physics or operator effect, 60fps consistently looked better to me than 30 fps. That included stationary use where scenery is moving rapidly. Is there some reason I should view slower framerate as aspirational?
OP
You are free to do what you want
I have been one of the early users of RX100 check my blog there is the whole story I stopped at Mark IV
I once put a 50 fps clip into 25 fps container and showed the footage to an unaware audience telling them to choose the best version
8 people told me the clip was the same and I was fooling them even with youtube conversion you cant tell them apart
25 fps
50 fps
spoolin01
Contributor
Was just wondering why you think it's so important. The XZ-1 doesn't do 60fps - I based my preference on direct comparison using 1st Gen GoPro, and perception of jerkiness at 30fps with the XZ-1. Next time I get a chance, I'll re-visit the comparison with the newer cameras.
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