Forums » Production Techniques

1. nmajmani92
   Member

   

    OK.  Usually, I don't worry about framerate because I have an understanding enough about when to use which rate, but i've run into a small problem.

    I'm experimenting with computer animation, and want to render both NTSC footage, and HD 1080i footage, but I don't know exactly how I should go about it.

   For NTSC, I know that 29.97fps is the usual framerate, but how many frames should I actually render per each second.  I am guessing 30, but I don't want to go through hours of rendering to get it wrong.  Also, what dimension should I use.

   For the HD footage, 1080i is preferable, but would progressive be better than interlace.  In any case, again I need to know the frames to render per second.

   In addition, all footage is being produced at a 16:9 or 2.39:1 ratio, if that affects anything.  Any help on this would be most grateful. 

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2. robgrauert
   Member

   

    

   "For NTSC, I know that 29.97fps is the usual framerate, but how many frames should I actually render per each second."

    Someone once told me that interlace SD is 30fps because it's 60 fields but if you are doing progressive it's 29.97fps.

    

    "Also, what dimension should I use."

    It's 720X480 for 4:3 SD. Technically it's 720X525 but the extra 45 lines are for metadata. So go with 720X480. 

    For the HD footage is 1920X1080

    "For the HD footage, 1080i is preferable, but would progressive be better than interlace."

    I don't do animations, but when shooting I know interlace is better for fast motion and will be more crisp but progressive is better for slow-mo and freeze frames. But 60p is the best of both worlds. It's a fast enough framerate for progressive to be crisp and you still get the benefits of nice slow-mo and freezeframes. so hopefully that sets you up in the right direction. I would use interlace is your footage is interlaced. 

    "In addition, all footage is being produced at a 16:9 or 2.39:1 ratio, if that affects anything."

    

    Your aspect ratio shouldn't make a difference. Just make sure you make your animations on a 16:9 canvas.  

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3. robgrauert
   Member

   

     Sorry, I don't know why I said anything about SD dimensions. You didn't really ask about that....

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4. jerronsmith
   Moderator

   

   >>For NTSC, I know that 29.97fps is the usual framerate, but how many frames should I actually render per each second.  I am guessing 30, but I don't want to go through hours of rendering to get it wrong.  Also, what dimension should I use.<<

   Actually 29.97 is not the frame rate, it is what is called drop-frame SMPTE timecode. It is a counting trick to insure that an hour of tape time equals an hour of clock time. I believe it came into existence when they started broadcasting color video. The frame rate would still be 30 fps.

   If you are going to add your animation to existing video you would want to create your animation at whatever frame rate your NLE says your video is. Be aware that not all animation programs will let you set the timeline to use timecode, some force you to use frames which would be whole numbers. If you are going to output your animation as a stand-alone piece then the output format would determine the frame rate you use.

   >>For the HD footage, 1080i is preferable, but would progressive be better than interlace.  In any case, again I need to know the frames to render per second.<<

   Once again this depends on how you plan to deploy your animation.

   Unless you want to create the animation twice you would want to build it for the largest size you plan on using the footage at.

   >>In addition, all footage is being produced at a 16:9 or 2.39:1 ratio, if that affects anything.  Any help on this would be most grateful.<<

   You will want to build your animation project so that it matches your video settings. What program are you going to use for this?

    >>

   "For NTSC, I know that 29.97fps is the usual framerate, but how many frames should I actually render per each second."

    Someone once told me that interlace SD is 30fps because it's 60 fields but if you are doing progressive it's 29.97fps.<<

   This is just incorrect information.

   Jerron Smith
   Editor-Animator-Educator

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5. nmajmani92
   Member

   

    To Both responders.

    Thank you for the info.  This will definitely help me along.

   To JerronSmith.

   The actual animation is meant to be self-contained.  I do not plan on adding live-action footage to it, yet.  As for actual production, the framerate is simply a matter of defining how many frames per "clock" are to be rendered.  I usually treat the clock as one second. 

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6. jerronsmith
   Moderator

   

   Frame rates are standardized to an extent by the method you choose to deploy your animation.

   There is a point at which motion appear to stop being fluid and looks very jerky, I believe that is around 10fps. Film uses 24 fps, PAL uses 25fps and NTSC  uses 30fps. For a standalone animation that doesn't need to match a current or future standard you can usually pick your fps arbitrarily. I suggest 24fps for smooth motion, you can also build the animation at 12fps and have each frame hold twice as long, this is called animating on twos. It is a trick from the old days when each frame of animation had to be hand drawn and is used to save time and work.

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