24 FPS OR 30 FPS ?

[Bruce Lythe]

I am now confused. I film at 30fps and aim to have shutter of one sixtieth. In the UK that means typically ND of 4 or 8 in the golden hour, 16 otherwise or rarely 32. I film in 4k and typically publish at 1080p. It seems to work fine. Am I missing something??

 

[Dave Maine]

Don’t bother getting the shutter speed to 1/60 of a sec. As I said in my post, for most drone video cinematic motion blur isn’t really of much value. Your images will be much sharper at a higher shutter speed

 

[raphi_d]

2. 24fps is intrinsically more strobey as there are fewer frames per second to describe the motion. The smoothest footage is at 60 FPS, as many Hollywood films prove. Even smoother is 120 FPS or 240 FPS, but not an option for current drones, or current computers or TVs.

As far as I know ALL hollywood movies are shot @24 with one known exception - the hobbit - which was shot at @48fps and received harsh critique for that from about everyone. When watching cinema people usually want to see what they are accustomed to and that's 24 with motion blur. 24 with motion but without blur (as I am experiencing on the mavic air) is when you get in trouble.

However, this is only true for when there is actuall motion. If you are just filming landscape from high above, sure 1/1000 shutter at 60fps might work. But for a dynamic movie which should look cinematic, this won't work.

 

[DJI DelBoy]

So after having read everything I think 30fps is the best option to go for if you don’t want stutter and fly fairly fast in whichever direction. It looks like it might be best to bring it down to 24fps in post production if that’s what you need. I’ve seen videos of that and they appear fine.

 

[raphi_d]

Well I think this video sums it up the best:

Bottom line: if you are looking for a cinematic high-value look, go with 24fps but shoot according to it's limitations with no fast movements, to prevent stuttering. When filming fast paced action or sports, go with 60. It's certainly a bigger challenge to go with 24/25 because you cannot film all the ways you might like, it's something you just need to learn to live with or go to higher fps.

 

[geevee]

For my stock videos I do 30fps and reduce in post to 24, based on advice from some trusted YouTube photographers (not the cool boys who fly drones) to help smooth out any potential wobbles. This was a life saver on the Mavic Pro as that extra stop was very useful. Now with Mavic2 and adjustable aperture we have more control but I still continue with this method. I use 24fps on dslr but that’s always tripod based work.

 

[Dave Maine]

Completely disagree. 24 FPS is completely arbitrary way of representing motion, just as 18 FPS was before it. Virtually everything shown on TV is at minimum, 30FPS, and sometimes 60 FPS. Digital cinema projectors in theatres often run at 48 FPS, and are showing cinema titles.

It would be very hard to convince any sport fan that a cinema look is better than a higher frame rate. Motion blur is a fudge to get rid of strobing of fast motion with a low frame rate.

 

[Isaac94]

For my stock videos I do 30fps and reduce in post to 24, based on advice from some trusted YouTube photographers (not the cool boys who fly drones) to help smooth out any potential wobbles. This was a life saver on the Mavic Pro as that extra stop was very useful. Now with Mavic2 and adjustable aperture we have more control but I still continue with this method. I use 24fps on dslr but that’s always tripod based work.

Hey mate, ive watched several youtuber videos about shooting at 30 then converting it to 24. Im using premiere pro but im still quite confuse on how to convert it, any simple step by step guide from starting New Project by opening premiere pro and the steps after that ?

 

[Donnie Frank]

So before I start, I know most of you would probably be saying just search the forum, or even watch videos on youtube, and you'll get your answers. I did, or at least I assumed I did. But fact is I got even more confused. Although I'm a photographer myself, before owning a drone, I go around shooting with my dslr camera, but since I don't often film in dslr, more on photography, hence shooting in 24 / 30 didn't really bother me. But now that I got my own drone, I need to know, what 24 or 30 does. So, I watched every video I could on Youtube, and found that 9 out of 10 drone pilots are using / advising to use 24 FPS all the time, unless for slow motion then go with 1080P 120 FPS, as 24 FPS gives out the cinematic look and feel, whereas 30 FPS is more smoother looking and movement, I was about to made up my mind by going 24 FPS but then I heard there would be some "not smooth" movement, so my only question is this, I'm going to be shooting aerial videography probably ranging from landscape to close objects, should I always stick with 24 FPS ? Would the film be looking smooth ? Would appreciate advice based on these 2.

A great DP once told me, "General rule of thumb; 24 fps for fiction, 30 fps for non-fiction." Makes total sense. So that's what I do.

D

 

[raphi_d]

Okay so I went to the flying field today again and recorded more or less the same shots, once with 25fps and once with 30fps and I flew as if for real filming interesting objects and not the soccer field I was standing on. I then reviewed the footage myself and came to a conclusion, then I rewatched it with my wife (who has some photography training but does not fly drones) and she came to the same conclusion: 30fps looks just too artificial, in the shots @25fps you could well imagine a camera crew on a helicopter taking the shot but you wouldn't fool anyone into thinking this with the shots @30fps. While it's true that @30fps everything looks smoother and there's less motion blur, it has this distinct telenovela/studio look which we really didn't like.

But the stutter problem remains when filming continous sideway movements, especially when there are regular patterns on the ground, which is a problem but not unsolvable. Simple solution: avoid these shots I had to shift my thinking, I am not filming while flying a drone - a FPV drone with a GoPro mounted would be more suitable for this - but I want to shoot an object or specific scene and I just happen to have a camera that can go anywhere.

So first I chose what to shoot and how to bring that object best into the camera. Some smooth gimbal movements while flying back- or forward will do but most certainly a pan from left do right will be mediocre. Tap Flying towards an object while turning works though surprisingly well @25fps, in general when paning I found that I have much less stutter when the drone is also flying in a direction, especially when flying backwars while paning.

No stutter when flying to- or from an object, while rising or sinking, gimbal movements, bird eye flying in straight lines, fast flying in sport mode high or close to the ground. Only in semi-fast turns there is stutter noticable, on fast turns it's all blured out and on very slow turns there is almost no stutter.

I think I'm ready for Elba now, hope I won't mess up my flying time my family allows me there. I also discovered that my laptop can handle 4k without problems, even directly from SD and my video editing software works well too, which means I can review the footage during the holidays after all

[EDIT]: actually, what I found out today on the field have others known for a while, curious it wasn't mentioned here as explicitely (smooth movements):

 

[Isaac94]

Okay so I went to the flying field today again and recorded more or less the same shots, once with 25fps and once with 30fps and I flew as if for real filming interesting objects and not the soccer field I was standing on. I then reviewed the footage myself and came to a conclusion, then I rewatched it with my wife (who has some photography training but does not fly drones) and she came to the same conclusion: 30fps looks just too artificial, in the shots @25fps you could well imagine a camera crew on a helicopter taking the shot but you wouldn't fool anyone into thinking this with the shots @30fps. While it's true that @30fps everything looks smoother and there's less motion blur, it has this distinct telenovela/studio look which we really didn't like.

But the stutter problem remains when filming continous sideway movements, especially when there are regular patterns on the ground, which is a problem but not unsolvable. Simple solution: avoid these shots I had to shift my thinking, I am not filming while flying a drone - a FPV drone with a GoPro mounted would be more suitable for this - but I want to shoot an object or specific scene and I just happen to have a camera that can go anywhere.

So first I chose what to shoot and how to bring that object best into the camera. Some smooth gimbal movements while flying back- or forward will do but most certainly a pan from left do right will be mediocre. Tap Flying towards an object while turning works though surprisingly well @25fps, in general when paning I found that I have much less stutter when the drone is also flying in a direction, especially when flying backwars while paning.

No stutter when flying to- or from an object, while rising or sinking, gimbal movements, bird eye flying in straight lines, fast flying in sport mode high or close to the ground. Only in semi-fast turns there is stutter noticable, on fast turns it's all blured out and on very slow turns there is almost no stutter.

I think I'm ready for Elba now, hope I won't mess up my flying time my family allows me there. I also discovered that my laptop can handle 4k without problems, even directly from SD and my video editing software works well too, which means I can review the footage during the holidays after all

[EDIT]: actually, what I found out today on the field have others known for a while, curious it wasn't mentioned here as explicitely (smooth movements):

Thanks so much for this information. While we are still at this topic of FPS. I'd like to bring up another question, do you or most of you shoot in 4K/30 or 2.7k/30 ? Which is better ? I have heard the deciding factor being the file size, but other than that, what about the quality ? Is 2.7k as good as ( if not better than ) 4k ?

 

[raphi_d]

Well, 4k is "better" in the sense that it retains the most details. But this is only an issue if you want to crop the image or zoom in on it, you might also see some subtle differences when color grading. But if you want to use the image as is, go with the smaller filesize I'd say.

 

[Isaac94]

Well, 4k is "better" in the sense that it retains the most details. But this is only an issue if you want to crop the image or zoom in on it, you might also see some subtle differences when color grading. But if you want to use the image as is, go with the smaller filesize I'd say.

So in a sense, 2.7k is in the in-between line of best and good, basically shooting in 2.7k is more than enough ? As in the difference in 4k and 2.7k wouldn't be any much ?

 

[raphi_d]

So in a sense, 2.7k is in the in-between line of best and good, basically shooting in 2.7k is more than enough ? As in the difference in 4k and 2.7k wouldn't be any much ?

Depends what you are shooting for. If for youtube then 2.7k is certainly enough, even 1080p would probably suffice. If filming professionally for a client or you want to present the footage on an UHD tv I'd go for 4k. Me personally I always shoot in 4k because I usually colour grade/correct my footage and you get almost twice as much data in the picture as with 2.7k, which is helpful in postproduction.

 

[Isaac94]

Depends what you are shooting for. If for youtube then 2.7k is certainly enough, even 1080p would probably suffice. If filming professionally for a client or you want to present the footage on an UHD tv I'd go for 4k. Me personally I always shoot in 4k because I usually colour grade/correct my footage and you get almost twice as much data in the picture as with 2.7k, which is helpful in postproduction.

I see, but then what about exporting the file after you are done with post edit ? Wouldn't that be a fuss to export and take very long ?

 

[raphi_d]

I see, but then what about exporting the file after you are done with post edit ? Wouldn't that be a fuss to export and take very long ?

Yes it takes longer (about 20mins for a 3min clip in 4k) but I don't care much about that, exporting the clip is still the least time consuming part, after spending hours shooting and editing I don't mind waiting a bit longer for the clip to export. But this is all personal opinion, you need to find out for yourself what suits you

 

[Isaac94]

Yes it takes longer (about 20mins for a 3min clip in 4k) but I don't care much about that, exporting the clip is still the least time consuming part, after spending hours shooting and editing I don't mind waiting a bit longer for the clip to export. But this is all personal opinion, you need to find out for yourself what suits you

Ahh that's true, I know what you mean ! Anyway I thought to myself, I would shoot mostly on 4K, and will only shoot 2.7K if I'm just filming something for fun, so for aerial shots, videos of beaches, travels, I would definitely shoot in 4K to get the best out of it.

 

[raphi_d]

Okay seems there is another totally obscure factor to what might cause stuttering while watching a clip: monitor response time (or monitor in general). Back from the island I began reviewing the footage which I shot @25fps and although it all looked smooth on my laptop, there was some severe stuttering noticable when watching on my desktop in all my recordings, which was driving me crazy.

I have an UHD samsung monitor and fiddled around in the monitor settings, I couldn't believe that it's performing worse than my laptop. And then I found it, there is an option "Response Time" which was set to fastest, which is 1ms IIRC. I switched it to standard et voila, no stuttering what so ever. This is reproducable, switching it back to fastest makes it painfull to watch, setting on standart makes it buttery smooth. So besides confirming once more that I really ought to stay away from samsung it was a revelation and a relief to find that monitor response time can cause stuttering. Might check your settings if you have stutter in your clips.