Top selling HD FPS?

The top sellers on the Artist Resources page shows videos rendered at 25, 29.97 and 30 frames per second. All of these speeds are technically correct specifications for high definition video, (depending on which venue they are being used in).

But which one sells the best here at Pond5?

Not a technical question, but a sales question. Which is the largest HD market on Pond5: 25, 29.97 or 30 fps?

Perhaps the Artist Resources page could list this statistic as a breakdown of the HD sales percentage.

You can get the answer using these search strings:

aspect:169native fps:25 - (75830 results)
aspect:169native fps:25 salegt:0 - (7534 results)
aspect:169native fps:30 - (88043 results)
aspect:169native fps:30 salegt:0 - (13526 results)

As you can see 29.97fps + 30fps clips sell 2x better than 25fps

FPS are rounded in the search, so 29.97 and 30 are in the same count

Zygis

Thanks, that's what I was looking for.

Before HD became popular, my own sales figures were the same: 2/3 NTSC and 1/3 PAL.

I figured this ratio was because I am in the US, but it is interesting that even with a new video format and an international distribution on Pond5, the sales percentages have remained the same.

Funnily enough Ive only sold SD PAL clips (25 FPS) and no SD NTSC (29.97) on here despite having an almost equal distribution of both.. I guess it really boils down to content as it's fairly simple to convert frame rates on most editing and conversion softwares. I think the fact that more 29.97 FPS clips sell here is prob because there are more of them than 25 FPS

I think your statement as to why the 29.97 sells 2X more than 25fps is correct. There are more clips posted here in that format. A similar discussion came up a few days ago about what format is best, and we briefly discussed some of the technical issues regarding conversion.

I was talking with a fellow shooter this week that pointed out that NTSC really doesn't matter that much any longer, especially since the U.S. is no longer analog broadcast.

It's true that Canada has until 2011 before they convert, but it's on the way. Now the standard is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATSC_(standards).

When you read this, you will see that all televisions being manufactured now meet these standards, and therefore support a number of resolutions with little trouble.

Now... this does NOT mean that Production Companies and Networks will accept a mish-mash of content in the final render - they still have their standards, but It DOES seem to open the door for artists to contribute content of almost any frame-rate to the project, and the editor can conform it as necessary.

The main factor that dictates if I shoot 24p or 29.97 is what I'm trying to achieve in the final result. it's simply a style choice for me.

If I, or a client is looking for the "real i.e. live look" - I shoot 29.97 which looks like video.

If I, or the client is looking for a "production or film look" I shoot 24p.

Of course choosing the FPS is only one part of the solution as we all know. Lighting , framing, filters etc all have a profound effect - but that is for another thread.

I still believe "content is king" regardless of the FPS. if the producer likes your shot, they will find a way to make it work.

One final note to make mention of... many times work chosen for broadcast or film may need manipulation in some manner that requires an artist to work frame by frame (I see this everyday here in L.A.) - and the work is charged by the frame.

Thus... it is much less expensive to work on 24 frames per sec vs. 29 frames per sec especially when you are talking a rate of between $300 - $1500 per frame.

Just my 2 cents.

Rounding off the numbers cited above, here at Pond5 there are 76k clips at 25fps and 88k clips at 29.97/30fps. That's roughly a 15% difference, whereas the difference in sales between the two is approaching 200%.

That there are 15% more 29.97/30fps clips may have some impact on sales, but clearly this fps sells more because nearly twice as many customers are buying them.

The technical standards or the visual style for any given format has been the subject of many previous threads. But what I was looking for was which one sells the best. And thanks to zygistudio we have a definitive answer.

You are Welcome!
Zygis

Yes his numbers say a lot, and thank you as well zygistudio for the search string. However i still contend that "Content Is King" and the decision to purchase is made by content/subject matter not necessarily frame-rate.

I think the only way you would know which one would really sell the best, is if all of the HD was offered both in 29.97 or 24/25fps - then compare which frame-rate would produce the most sales IF offered a choice.

Before joining Pond5, I did offer both PAL (25fps) and NTSC (29.97) in equal numbers and the sales rate was nearly the same as what we're seeing here. NTSC sold at double the ratio of PAL. That's not a reflection of the quality of the formats, but probably relates to the relative size of the markets.

The reason I was asking which format sells the best is that I render in 7 formats, 6 of which sell well but one that is not selling. So I was thinking of dropping one format and replacing it with another.

After trying to render a few shots in both HD 30fps and HD 25fps, so I could cover both markets, I decided that content is indeed king and there's not enough of a difference between the two to bother. The conversion from 30fps to 25fps is easy, so I'm going to stick with 30fps and experiment with some other choices of format.