Hi all,

I am doing some timelapse video from still images, I wonder what is the frames per second is recommend?

25 fps or 30 fps?

what i assume 30fps will be smoother? but will a video really run faster than 30fps?

thank you.

Hi here,

I would recommend 30 fps, because most of the buyers come from the US market.
If video 'will run faster' does not depend on frame rate, it depends on the original material and the ratio 'number of original still images / the length of the final clip'.

Zygis

is 30 fps a US standard?

what i mean if most video are played as 24fps, then more fps doesn't make any difference?

if i changed from 25 fps to 30 fps, that's mean my timelapse video will be in shorter length.

will a buyer easily change fps of a purchased video?

Just start with video, hopefully the question is not senseless.

If you want to be absolutely correct, it should be 29.97 for US (NYSC standard) However, a wholesome or exact 30p will work. If you shot at 24 FPS then leave it as 24p if actual film - It can be transcoded in post, however, let the buyer decide on that. And no, most video are NOT played at 24p. That is the "film" spec frame rate. Whole different reasons for that. If you're selling to Europe then 25p would be the standard (PAL).

A few indy players like the more "jerky" movement of 24fps. With film it's also cheaper saving 6 frames of film and processing each second. The US TV standard has been like Andy said 29.97 fps. This is to slightly move the harmonics off the 60 hertz sine wave of our electrical current. That is why 59.97 fps is also a standard. In Europe the electrical sine wave is 50 hertz so that is why 25 is the standard.
So to keep it simple, process your video in the same fps as your camera captures it. I and many believe that in the USA you may get more sales from either 30 or 29.97 fps than the indy or European "standards".

29.97 (30p)

Here is the correct answer as to why US TV standard is 59.97fps.

60i is an interlaced format and is the standard video field rate per second for NTSC television (e.g. in the US), whether from a broadcast signal, DVD, or home camcorder. This interlaced field rate was developed separately by Farnsworth and Zworykin in 1934 and was part of the NTSC television standards mandated by the FCC in 1941. When NTSC color was introduced in 1953, the older rate of 60 fields per second was reduced by a factor of 1000/1001 to avoid interference between the chroma subcarrier and the broadcast sound carrier. (Hence the usual designation "29.97 fps" = 30 frames(60 fields)/1.001)

i don't really change fps of video, here what i am referring is more a timelapse video that made from still images..

in this case, will 30fps is still better choice for timelapse video?

thanks.

Yes you can use 30fps but 29.97 is the standard and the preferred fps to use for your time lapse.

ok i guess I have to remake my timelapse video from 25fps to 30fps, guess it will become a shorter video right?

It may. You can always "stretch" the time using various time functions depending on the software you are using.

The Hobbit movie and others have moved to 48 fps. The industry and producers are saying they love the depth and smoothness of the faster frame rate. Yup, either 30 or 29,97 is a better standard for stock. Forget what the indy guys are saying, 24fps is not an industry standard in the digital world.

when you guys talk about 30fps in video, does it apply the samething for time lapse video?

like if i want to make the time lapse video 30fps for a 10 second video, then i should take 300 images..

or time lapse is not important? since it is not 'smooth' at all..

You can do a time lapse in what ever frame rate you wish.

300 photos for 30 fps ten seconds is a good estimate and it should be smooth. Smoothness can sometimes be effected by the time between photos more than the speed. For fast moving subjects, like fast clouds or cars, you want to have very little time between photos so that the scene isn't skipping or going way to fast. When you get it down, it should look smooth. Your volume of photos for time span of video assessment sounds like a good target though.

Each photo frame will end up as either 1/30 or 1/25 of a second running time, (of course you can do both to cover NA & EU standards) the number of frames will simply increase the length of the shot.

i use quicktime to convert all still images to a mov video, so i have an option of choosing 25 frames per second or 30 frames per second.. that's my question of fps.

If you only do one, I would go with 30fps.

If you are interested, here is a time lapse calculator:
Time Lapse Calculator