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This frame rate comparison shows why you shouldn’t just shoot everything at 120fps

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With the influx of new cameras these days capable of shooting 120fps and even faster, it’s natural that many of us acquiring such a camera will want to have a play with it and see just how it performs and how our footage looks. A lot of people complain about certain cameras that can shoot 120fps overheating, but is it really that big a deal? Are you going to be shooting 4K 120fps all day?

Well, no. It’s unlikely. And you probably shouldn’t, either. In this video, Mark Bone takes a look at frame rates and when and why to use them and why shooting 120fps for anything other than slow motion is just a waste. And, well, even shooting 60fps is over the top for a lot of content you might shoot – particularly anything cinematic.

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This video shows the impact of frame rate on bottle shots

As a newbie filmmaker, one of the first things you should master is the frame rate. Different frame rates affect your shots, and you should choose it wisely depending on what you want to achieve. In this video, filmmaker Chris Vanderschaaf shows how four different frame rates affect bottle shots. So if you need to shoot some commercial videos, this can be a great visual guideline.

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5 creative uses of shutter speed in your videos

When shooting a video, a general rule is to set the shutter speed to be the double of the frame rate. However, there are scenarios in which breaking this rule is welcome. In this video, Jordy Vandeput of Cinecom shows you five creative effects you can pull off just by changing the shutter speed while filming.

For example, if your frame rate is 25 fps, the shutter speed should generally be 1/50, which will give you the most natural motion blur. But here are the situations when you don’t want a normal shutter speed, but you want to achieve some creative effects.

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Learn how to choose the best frame rate for your videos in just 10 minutes

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When you start shooting video, there are plenty of things to learn, and one of the first things to master is definitely the frame rate. If you’re just starting out, filmmaker Brandon Li has made one of the best video tutorials for all the newbies in video shooting.

He explains how and why to choose a certain frame rate, but also – how to determine frame rates for different subjects. So, if you’re new to filming, this video contains a lot of useful knowledge and practical examples that will boost your knowledge in only a couple of minutes.

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The amusing story of how an off-the-cuff compromise made 24fps the standard “film rate”

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We’ve all heard why 29.97fps and 25fps became the standards for TV & video broadcast. It basically boiled down to technical issues based around the electrical supply and the limitations of available airwaves. But those reasons don’t explain one thing. How did 24fps become the standard for film?

In this Home Theater Geeks podcast, host Scott Wilkinson talks with television historian Mark Schubin to find out why. The first “standard” framerate for filming movies was about 16 frames per second, although they didn’t measure it in frames per second back then. The 24fps framerate basically boils down to an off-the-cuff compromise, as Schubin explains.

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Watch a helicopter magically levitates with frozen rotors, and understand why it happens

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Have you ever seen a helicopter magically rise in the air without its motor spinning? If not, you are in for a treat. OK, how can that be?

Here is a little well-known secret, the main rotor of the helicopter is actually spinning pretty fast? Fast enough that it perfectly aligns with the frame rate of the camera.

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How to use shutter speed to your advantage to help you get the film look

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There’s more to getting the “film look” with video than simply shooting your camera at 24 frames per second. It’s not just the colour grading, or the lens used, either. These are, of course, factors, but all components of a much greater whole. Issues other than the framerate are mostly variable. One issue that often gets ignored, though, is the shutter speed.

In this video from Wolfcrow, Sareesh Sudhakaran tells us how shutter speed affects our footage. It explains why we don’t always get the look we desire, and how to correct it. Breaking the 180° shutter rule (which is different to the other 180° rule) can work to great effect when used with a purpose. At other times, it just looks like a mistake. Understanding the principles behind the rule, rather than simply accepting it, helps us to know when and how to break them.

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This is why your camera shoots 29.97fps (not 30fps) and why it doesn’t really matter any more

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If you’re not dealing with broadcast, and you’re simply uploading to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, etc. then I’ll save you some time. You don’t have to stick with 29.97 framerate. It’s old, it’s obsolete, it’s no longer technically relevant, shoot and play back at whatever framerate you like.

If you want to delve a little deeper into why 29.97fps is even a thing, check out this video from Matt Parker at Standup Maths. In it, he talks about how 30fps became 29.97fps in the first place. It basically boils down to a combination of the frequency of the electrical supply (60Hz) and the amount of broadcast “bandwidth” that was available to the first colour analogue TV signals.

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How The Launch of Apollo 11 Looks Slowed Down at 500 FPS

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It’s been forty five years since Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first two men to walk on the moon. The more unbelievable fact for us, however, is that apparently had cameras that could run at five hundred frames per second back then, as well.

For thirty seconds, the launch of Apollo 11 was filmed by a camera on location at 500 FPS. The ending result was a stretched out to about eight minutes, and gave us one of our sharpest looks ever at the launch of a spacecraft. Obviously, the content shown is a breathtaking sight on its own, but I really found myself focusing on the aesthetics of the video itself after a few repeat views. How amazing is it that we’re able to see footage this sharp, fluid, and clear from 1969? Shot originally on 16MM film, the film was spotlessly converted to HD for us to be able to view online. Check it out for yourself, and stick around for the commentary by Spacecraft Films‘ Mark Gray. For a video that lasts just under ten minutes, what you learn for nearly its entire duration is half of the enjoyment.

Seriously though. With just how expensive film should have been at that point, NASA must actually have been receiving sufficient funding back then.

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