Frame Rates

DEFINITION:

Each individual image or picture in an animation is referred to as a frame. The more frames utilizes the slower the action will appear, and using fewer frames would create a faster action. Small movements tend to be smooth when compared to large movement as it will either be jerky or animation won’t take place. Typically, smooth actions are slow and use a lot of frames.

What is it?

Traditional animation uses 24 frames for every second. This is recorded as 24FPS (Frames per Second). However, some modern animators only use 12 FPS.

We all know the motion picture is a lie. The movement on the screen we see is just a bunch of still images. Still images that seem more like believable, realistic, lifelike motion the faster they flicker along. The faster the better, and that 48 frame-per-second version of The Hobbit was just the beginning.

The rate at which these frames are shown is exhibited in frames per second (FPS) for conventional celluloid film, and as a "refresh rate" measured in hertz (Hz) for digital films and display monitors. In both cases, the value shows how rapidly the still images can flicker, and the faster they can flicker, the more lifelike and natural the motion appears.

FPS and refresh rate are similar, however they are not exactly the same. It all starts back from an old projectionist trick. In order to decrease the jumpiness of 24 FPS films (the standard speed), projectionists would flash the same frame 2 or 3 times before the next frame came up. The frame rate is the number of complete still images projected every second- so that would be 24 FPS- yet the refresh rate is the total sum of times any image flashes over the course of a second, in this case it would be 72 Hz. Thus a 24 FPS film can still have a refresh rate of 72 Hz if each frame is being projected 2 times, or a refresh rate of 48 Hz if they're only being flashed twice.

1 second	24 Frames
10 seconds	240 Frames
A 30 second animated advert	720 Frames
1 minute	1,440 Frames
A 10 minute children’s animated TV programme	14,400 Frames
A 30 minute animated TV programme	43,200 Frames
A 90 minute animated feature film	129,600 Frames

How is it seen?
The human eye can identify the difference between 10 and 12 still images per second before it starts just seeing it as motion. That is, at an FPS of 12 or less, the brain knows that it is just a bunch of still images in rapid series, not a seamless animation. Once the frame rate rises up to around 18 to 26 FPS, the motion effects tends to take effect on the brain and fools it into thinking that the individual images are actually a moving scene.

If a frame rate is too slow, the motion will look jagged, but being too fast can also cause problems too. Live-action movies filmed at 48 FPS usually have that certain soap-opera effect people aren't really fond of and this is slightly evident in The Hobbit. This is due to one major component of making the motion seem real and lifelike is motion blur.

The current industry standard is 24 FPS- that figure was mainly decided on for economic rather than theatrical purposes, yet more on that in a second- and that's what's determined what movies look like for use. However that is hardly the maximum we can see. Both current technology and the innate visual ability of the human eye can handle far higher rates than what we see on TV.

A frame rate for every media
Lately cinematic rates have been getting undercut by the economic interests of the moving-making industry. The earliest silent movie were shot at around 16 to 20 FPS- since that was the bare minimum that generated the continuous motion effect- though limited due to the arm strength of the cameraman, who would actually have to crank a reel of film through the camera.

Thomas Edison was a very early follower of higher frame rates. When Talkies hit in 1926, projectionists could no longer vary the frame rate on the fly like they were able to, as it would throw off the pitch of the sound playback, meaning that the film industry had to choose a stable frame rate at which to project. The industry settled on 24 FPS, mainly based on the fact that it was the slowest (and thus least extensive to produce) frame rate that could still support audio when played from a 35mm reel.



Now we have 3 primary frame rate standards- 24p, 25p, and 30p and the alternative frame rates include 48p, this is what Peter Jackson used to film The Hobbit. If we go higher there is 90p and 100p, which are options on the GoPro Hero, and 120p, which is the new standard in UHD televisions. The highest current commercially available frame rate is 300 FPS, which the BBC has been utilizing for some of its sports broadcasts.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Tarantola, A. (2015). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. [online] Gizmodo.com. Available at: http://gizmodo.com/why-frame-rate-matters-1675153198 [Accessed 14 May 2017].