24fps or 30fps

Viciam · Jul 6, 2017

Previously, I was mostly using 4k 24fps. Today I tried the 30fps for the first time. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these?

I got the impression today that I should use 30fps for that smooth cinematic look that I like to have in my videos such as this one below which was shot in 24fps. It may have come out better in 30fps. Any advice will be appreciated.

wez130 · Jul 6, 2017

I read somewhere that 24/25fps = cinematic look, 30fps = documentary style look. Not sure how true that is though.

Viciam · Jul 6, 2017

I see. Most of my videos I am trying to go for that cinematic documentary look. So Perhaps I will shoot my next video in 30fps

Mr. Salty · Jul 6, 2017

I tend to favor using the frame rate native to video where I live, which is 30 fps in the U.S. It would be 25 fps if you're in much of the world.

The exception was when I was recording video of fireworks the other night. I went to 24 fps because I wanted a longer shutter speed than I could get with 30 fps.

Viciam · Jul 6, 2017

Why did you need a longer shutter speed to film fireworks? What is the reason to do this? Just trying to understand this whole shutter speed nonsense

Mr. Salty · Jul 6, 2017

Shutter speed isn't nonsense. It's one of the two ways you control exposure with the camera on the Mavic, the other being ISO. Go too high with the ISO and you can get digital noise in the image, so a longer shutter speed comes into play.

By lengthening the shutter speed I was able to see more detail on the ground, not just the fireworks themselves:

Jimbo40 · Jul 6, 2017

Nice job!

Lubelaczek · Jul 6, 2017

Very nicely done. Could you share your settings used for that take?

Ray Dunakin · Jul 7, 2017

What did you use to record the sounds?

Jimbo40 · Jul 7, 2017

Before I wrote nice job, but it's actually better than that. Teach us a little more so
I too can have someone compliment my video, sound and settings for night time please

Mr. Salty · Jul 7, 2017

Sure, and thanks!

I was shooting 4K at 24 fps, ISO 1600, 1/40th of a second shutter speed. White balance was set to cloudy. I couldn't get tap-to-focus to work because of the low light, so focusing was manual.

The sound was recorded by the DJI Go 4 app using the built-in microphone on my iPad Air (I was flying from the roof of a parking garage, so there was only a handful of people around and they thankfully weren't chatty).

I imported the cached video into Premiere Pro, unlinked the audio from the video, deleted the low-res video and synced the audio to the 4K video.

I didn't run any sort of de-noise filter on the video because I don't have a good filter set up yet. The Mavic camera did better than I expected with the 1600 ISO. There's some noise at a couple of points at the edges of the image, but I'm OK with that given how well the exposure turned out on the rest of the image.

I did some slight color correction to the daytime footage, and boosted contrast and deepened the shadows a bit for the rest of it, and bumped up saturation just a tiny bit.

Mr. Salty · Jul 7, 2017

Interestingly, my YouTube account has been suspended because of "multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy against spam, deceptive practices, and misleading content or other Terms of Service violations."

The account only has a handful of videos I shot with my drone, with no copyrighted material at all. I've contacted Google about the suspension but haven't heard back yet. I'll be interested to find out whether the suspension was because someone reported this video for some perceived violation of FAA regulations or something.

UPDATE: After filing an appeal, my channel was quickly reinstated. YouTube wouldn't provide me with a reason why it was suspended in the first place.

simon5 · Jul 11, 2017

Truly an amazing video. I currently just take photos of fireworks it would be nice to use the mavic for it at some point.

Reuuc · Jul 11, 2017

I like it, I've always been interested in night shoots so thanks for the info on the settings you used. i've also Subbed your YT channel

KC Projects · Jul 27, 2017

Mr. Salty said:
Shutter speed isn't nonsense. It's one of the two ways you control exposure with the camera on the Mavic, the other being ISO. Go too high with the ISO and you can get digital noise in the image, so a longer shutter speed comes into play.

By lengthening the shutter speed I was able to see more detail on the ground, not just the fireworks themselves:

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Hi there, thanks for the detailed info. And a great video of course.
My question is as you said "more detail on the ground"
you mean, 1 frame in 24fps with 1/50 shutter speed is better and more detailed than a 1 frame in 30fps with 1/60 shutter?
Because as we mostly shoot lanscapes with drones and 24fps is the cinematic motion blur, the more fps gives us a more crisp image and details in the landscape, no?
What do you recommend?

Thanks