24 frames per second?

This is probably as good a section as any for your questions!

Does this mean you make the actual camera your recording with record at 24 frames per second?, because if thats the case, then id imagine that only expensive cameras would let you change that. You don't necessarily need an expensive camera, but you need a camera with manual settings (which are, in many cases, more expensive than a point and shoot model). You can pick up all kinds of used prosumer cameras on Ebay for less than $500 and set your shooting speed to 24p.

I know that by default cameras in europe record at 25 frames per second, and in the USA its 29.97. You're referring to broadcast television standards, which largely defined consumer electronics for many years. I admit I haven't even looked at a consumer-grade video camera in over a decade but it's very possible that consumer grade specs will start to change as broadcast continues to change (analog to digital signal, 4:3 to 16:9, etc).

Or does it mean that when you place your product in a video editing software on your computer, you rip it at 24 frames per second?. This creates a problem.You're right, this will create a very undesirable effect. If you have decent editing software it will throw all kinds of warnings at you before adding 30 fps footage into a 24 fps project. Always shoot at 24p.

(in the movie 28 days later, this defect is done on purpose in the scenes with the infected running around)This is slightly different - this was shot at 24p on a Canon XL1 but with a very high shutter speed. This eliminates the motion blur that you're accustomed to seeing at a more conventional shutter speed of 1/50 or 1/60.

"I have often heard that if you wanna make your home made movies look more like a film, that you should record it in 24 frames per second. I dont quite fully understand this."

You're wise not to, since it's a fictitious notion of dilettantes who haven't had to earn a living in making motion pictures. The 24fps standard was settled upon largely because the high cost of movie film stock. The only people in the industry who believe that the herky-jerky judder of low frame rates is a desirable feature are the bean counters. That's why, although film movies are shot at 24fps, they were "double shuttered" specifically to eliminate the annoying flash. Today's theatrical projectors typically "triple shutter" to achieve 72fps, a rate which satisfies even the most gifted eyes.

"Does this mean you make the actual camera your recording with record at 24 frames per second?"

Yes and no. The exact frame rate can vary according to what the single phase AC power frequency decided for your area 80 years ago, or how your region's color TV system was designed 60 years ago. It doesn't need to be exactly 24fps because, let's face it, the chances of your camcorder video needing to be sent to DeLuxe to be made into 35mm cinema prints is about nil.

You can produce plenty of "film look" effects in post production that replicate the grain and grime of "real film" in your video, without having to sacrifice quality in order to create a stereotype that might not seem like such a great idea later on:

http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/video-tutorial-create-a-film-look-in-a fter-effects/

The bottom line is that if you want to wear jodhpurs and beret and shout "action" from a wood and canvas folding chair, then shooting at 24fps is a must-do. However if your aim is to make a good quality video that's most likely to be viewed on a television set or computer monitor, then use the highest native frame rate that your camcorder supports, typically 50p in Europe and 59.94p in North America. You can always insert a black frame every other frame in post to recreate an olde tyme look that never really was. Trust me, nobody will know that it's not exactly 24fps.

"I have shot most of my stuff on video and at 30 fps and have Always rendered the final draft at 24 fps.
Also, progressive not interleaved."

Do you mean interlaced? If you're planning on showing on a computer display, progressive scan is the desired raster. But video file formats that use interleaved data (e.g. AVI) have no effect on the viewed picture.

If your plan is to display at 24fps, you might as well record at 24fps. It saves a little storage capacity, and helps eliminate format conversion artifacts.


"What also helps, is dialing down the color intensity or specifically the colors Red and Yellow, as they tend to 'bleed' the most on a video recording."

Back in the days of analog video and color-under VCRs, when the color information had a poor S/N ratio, that was often the case. But today's digital video formats have no such limitations. Obviously you still need to white balance your cameras, and make sure that the lighting has matching color temperature. That, or take good notes so that scenes shot with mismatched lighting can be corrected in post.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that most consumer (and some pro) gear has "auto white balance", which sometimes works quite well. 😝 If you have such a mixed blessing, you can use a color bars slate (an actual physical one) before and after takes to get some sort of reference that can be used in post production. Good luck!

Skyrider: You seem to be confused about frames-per-second versus time-base, so let me clear up this confusion. Time-base has to do with time-code. Your editing software can display 24 fps while maintaining a 29.97 time-base. It accomplishes this by performing what is called a 3-2 pulldown, meaning every first 3 frames are displayed as complete, progressive frames, then every 4th and 5th frames are sampled twice, interlaced (you'll see the interlaced shimmer if you freeze-frame these 4th and 5th frames in your editing software on an interlaced monitor), to sort of pseudo-create 24 fps in a 30 fps (60i) TV system. Then, during the MPEG-2 encoding step for DVD, you can restore true 24 fps progressive by doing the MPEG-2 encode using 2-3-3-2 pulldown.

So don't worry about it--go ahead and shoot 24 fps if your camera has the capability. 24 fps is the legacy story fps rate for movies and night-time dramatic TV material. Other frame rates may come and go, but there's something about the exact strobiness of 24 fps that has staying power, is here to stay, makes you feel like you're watching a movie rather than a soap opera, sporting event or newscast, where movement is more smooth, has a feeling of immediacy but lacks that timeless story quality.