Understanding Frame Rates : Wildlife Filmmaking for Wildlife Photographers

[@iJerrrrrry]

This is very informational as someone who is only recently getting into using a proper camera for photography as a hobby. Shooting video feels like a whole other beast to tackle. It's only getting more interesting. Lots of insight here. Also have some thoughts on timelapse and projecting timeline frame rate. Many things to try out for myself so thanks for this :)

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Thank you for your comment and I'm glad you found it useful. All the best to you, g

[@sammyqwe123]

thank you very helpful especially the examples at the end of the video they were invaluable.

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

You're very welcome! Glad it was of some help. All the best and thanks for taking the time to comment. g

[@morxvincit]

Thank you George for your insight and valuable information... Quite helpful for me as a newcomer in the field of wildlife filmmaking ❤

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Hey.. you are most welcome.! thank you for taking the time to comment.. I really appreciate it.. best wishes to you..! g

[@jeffreyhofmeister3103]

George thank you for this little bit of information. This past weekend I happen to visit a car show. So I had a lot of opportunities to practice doing settings to see what did what.

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Hey Jeffrey.. thanks for the comment.. hope the car show went well..!!?? All the best, g

[@dillonbrown1454]

Happy I found this channel.

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Many thanks Dillon.. much appreciated. g

[@travelbagphotography]

Good video of basic skills. Well explained. A video which would be interesting to me would be what type of scene matches the frame rate you choose like you did for the running water as an example at the end of the video. For example, what frame rate to do use when you shoot herons mating, or wolves nuzzling? Hope you do that one soon.

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Thank you for your comment and suggestion.. I will add it to my list.! all the best to you.. g

[@ecocarefoundation4314]

Very informative tutorial,easy to understand the basic rules. I am going to try on Black magic camera soon.Thanks .Yash.

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Thanks so much Yash..! Glad you found the video useful. All the best to you.. g

[@TNTkiwi]

Thank you George, I didnt know anything about frame rates as a wildlife photographer.

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Thx for your comment and happy it was of use to you.! 😊

[@tomdearie5165]

Thanks, George. Clear and to the point. 👍 (though I played it back at 2x 😎) I’m definitely interested in fundamentals and set-up videos for wildlife photographers who are also beginning to shoot video. I currently shoot a Z8 with 180-600mm, 400mm f/4.5, and 70-200mm f/2.8, mostly from my kayak. Basics welcome! Cheers Tom

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Thanks Tom.. I know sometimes (a lot of times) I can speak a bit slowly.. but I’m glad you found it useful..! Good bag of kit you have there.. and definitely adventurous shooting from a kayak.. I’m actually planning a shoot from a canoe later this summer.! All the best to you and I’ll try to speak a little faster..!

[@tomdearie5165]

@@GeorgeSBlonsky Not to worry - I put most videos at 1.5 to 2x. The explanations were great. 👍

[@ivanhendricks1412]

Great video and tips…thank you 👍🏼

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

You are most welcome Ivan..! Thank you for taking the time to comment. 🙏

[@andrewnoden9117]

Hi George very useful info but also can you show the settings on a dslr as a practical view of how it’s done

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Hey Andrew.. absolutely! I’ll do a small section at the end of the next video answering yours and any other questions.. hopefully it will be up by next Friday. Many thanks for the comment.! All the best to you.. g

[@mobelue]

Really good. Ty.

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Thank you ! All the best.. g

[@bikes_camera_more]

This is the first of your videos that I have 'stumbled' across, George. I have not yet used my camera for anything other than stills, but keep thinking of trying video. I will check out more of your videos, as I found this most informative with practical guidance; some are too 'techie' and make assumptions! Thank you.

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Hey David.. thank you for your comment and I'm happy you found the video of interest. wish you all the best with your foray into video..! cheers.. g

[@WildAnimalChannel2023]

Thanks for your help

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

you are most welcome and thank you for commenting

[@stephendouglas4545]

What do you mean by, Timeline? thank you

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Hi Stephen.. thank you for your question. In the software that you edit videos is a "timeline" onto which you will place your clips one after the other cutting them as required, colour correcting them, layering in your sound etc This "timeline" is where you build your video and layout the story you wish to tell.

[@thimoschreiber4275]

How does that work that i have to shoot with 1/2000 in Foto for flying birds but only 1/200 in video? Shouldnt there be traces and blurr?

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Hi.. you need some small amount of blur in filming to make the movement seem smoother.. if you have crystal sharp images the movement becomes staccato

[@thimoschreiber4275]

@@GeorgeSBlonsky Aah, good to know. I would never have guessd that or figured it out. But it makes sense know. Great Tipp. One more question, you said for slo mootion the frame rate has to be multiple the timline framerate (so with 25p it would be 50p, 75p and 100p). How do i set the frame rate in the camera or do i have to do that in post edit

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Hi again.. yes.. you need to set the frame rate in camera.. I don’t know what camera you have so perhaps look in your manual or look up for your camera on KZbin.. it will be somewhere in your menu system under the video settings and will be a different set of frame rates according to which format you have set, either PAL or NTSC

[@dougsphoto]

Hi George thx for that but just to be clear if I want to film in 100 fps and 25 fps what speed do I set my timeline for editing thx Doug

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Hi Doug... you'd set your timeline to 25fps so that your footage shot at 25fps plays back in "real time" and your 100fps footage plays back in slow motion. Hope that helps. g

[@dougsphoto]

@@GeorgeSBlonsky hi thx for swift reply. But say I only film in 60 and 120 would that be ok or would you recommend filming in 30 as well.

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

That’s fine but you would still then set your timeline at 30fps (to match your 60/120fps footage) and so that it plays back at slow/slower motion

[@dougsphoto]

@@GeorgeSBlonsky oh ok thx for that so basically I can then just always set my timeline to 30 if I understand it correctly

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

@douglascarrphotography …👍

[@radiozelaza]

when shooting at 50fps or more, the 180deg shutter rule is not that essential, even for slowed down footage you can get away with a 1/200 or more

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

My opinion is that whilst it may not be "essential" and I'm sure you probably can get away with shooting at 1/200 or more like you say when shooting at higher frame rates... but the fact is utilising the 180 degree shutter rule will without question produce a nicer and more "filmic" result.

[@markusbolliger1527]

Why don't you film with 30/60/120/180 FPS - for wildlife? It would give you more flexibility to slow down, and 30 vs 25 FPS makes a movement more fluid. Is there a special reason for having chosen 50/100/200? Here in Europe you will you will not encounter the flickering problems with artificial light sources, because you film outdoors.

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Thanks for the question Markus and what you say is quite true especially about the flicker issue.. I guess it’s because of habit.. all the productions I have worked on are European and they just have it is default setting requirements and I continue to shoot like that for myself and for the agencies I give to. I also shoot doc style interviews though I don’t cover any of that on my channel which do have lighting so it’s also just my own default settings on the camera and I don’t have to think about switching.

[@oneeyedphotographer]

And this? 24 FPS. The recommended frame rate derives from mains power frequencies. In the days of film and projection, a mismatch gave rise to nasty flickering. USA 60 Hz power, everyone else 25. Some countries got coerced by USA. Japan and South Korea for example. The film industry arrived at 24 by chance, it used to use lower frame rates but the films were aesthetically unappealing, but it was the best the equipment of the day could do. It got to 24 where smoothing was OK, but the more modern equipment could cope. KZbin and modern digital equipment don't care. Likely your monitor refreshes at 60 Hz, or a multiple thereof. 180 degree shutter also comes from film. Shooting and projecting at 180 degrees happily worked rather well. I suggest choosing settings acceptable to your national broadcaster, as I said, it's all the same to KZbin, but if you dream of having your video on TV, them's the standards. NTSC in those countries I mentioned, PAL everywhere else. France and a handful of others use another broadcast standard, but it's still 25 FPS. 24 FPS can generally be run at 25FPS without anyone noticing, unless the sound is critical (perhaps music from different sources). 25FPS at 30, or 30 at 25 needs some manipulation. Gerald Undone goes into technical detail on the process. 2019-2020 I think. I don't know a reason you can't run footage shot at NTSC speeds for other choices in slowing. You may or may not have audio from higher framerates. And then there's artistic choice, where anything goes.

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

Thank you for your comment John. Couple of points.. first I did mention in the vid that this is a basic explanatory tutorial aimed at people with little to zero knowledge of the subject to help get them started on the right foot, not an in depth scientific explanation. Secondly I did also mention that I have a post on my blog with further explanation where I actually mention US-RoW difference in power... on which point Europe and RoW mostly have 50Hz not 25 as you metion. The flicker problem only becomes an issue if you have electrical devices in shot (eg.TV's or strip lights) but seeing as we are outside filming wildlife this is inconsequential for us. Regarding 24FPS.. shoot at multiple rule still applies.. 48,96 FPS if your camera has it, if not 50/100 etc will do and set shutter to 1/25th , 1/50th, 1/100th etc.. difference is so negligible it will not be noticable. Please also note that this vid is aimed at wildlife filmmaking and to my knowledge 24fps is never used in wildlife. For the Nat Geo film I made couple of years ago I had a base rate of 25fps, shot "realistic" speed at 30fps which has an imperceptible "slowing" effect that wildlife film broadcasters like, and then used 50 & 100fps for the slo-mo bits.

[@bornufree]

Wonderful tutorial from a person who knows his subject In your message above you stated the use of 30fps for ‘realistic’ footage. In your tutorial you alluded to multiples of base rate I thought for action sequences you could use 25fps but use a faster shutter rate than the 180 def shutter rule suggests. Eg opening sequence of Spielberg Saving Private Ryan Your insights are appreciated

[@GeorgeSBlonsky]

@@bornufree hi there and thank you for taking the time to comment.! Indeed you are correct.. you can either “drag” the shutter (ie shutter angle less than 180 or shutter speed less than 1-1) which will create more blur or you can push it like Spielberg (shutter angle greater than 180 or shutter speed more than 2-1) to create a more broken stuttery footage that he wanted to describe that epic battle scene.. neither of those though is to my knowledge used purposely in wildlife filming but they are valid techniques used to create an effect. Hope that helps..? Thanks again and best wishes..!