24fps vs 60i

Ryan CBP

Ryan CBP

Member
Hey guys

HELP!

here's the story, was using 24fps and then switched back recently to 60i as I saw some footage online and it looked not much different?! So I thought what the hell and switched to 60i so I could capture slow mo's etc better.

I've just put the footage onto a SD dvd and it just has NO film look. I basically imported it to a uncompressed 10bit timeline in FCP for the exporting of the dvd in dvd studio pro.

On the computer it looks fine, on the tv, its just lost that 'cinematic' edge.

I'm looking from advise from all you guys on if this is the fact I've used 60i instead of 24fps? Should I switch back if I want that cinematic look? Or is this a compression issue. I used the '90min best quality setting for dvd studio pro' on compressor, and this was advised by a very trusted source who often works with HD to SD compression.

The short of it is, is this a camera setting or a compressor setting? Would all the footage have a non cinematic look to it if filmed at 60i and put on tv?

Please give me your honest thoughts on this, thanks guys!
 
Computer monitors are progressive. Most software players deinterlace interlaced video into 30p using "blend" or "single field" method. If you want to watch 60i on a computer the way it looks on a TV then you need to deinterlace with "bob" into 60p.
 
24P (24 frames a second) is the most cinematic look, hands down, no contest. 60i screams video. If you're shooting a narrative film, be it feature or short, it should almost always be at 24P unless changing the frame-rate would yield a different look that supports the scene in the story, or the story as a whole.

Film cameras and projectors have almost always ran through film stock at 24 frames a second. The reason is that it is the least amount of frames the projector can project in a second where the picture wouldn't flicker on screen back when film was invented. Ever wonder why films back in the day were called flicks? It's because projectors would sometimes run a little slower tan 24 frames a second and the picture would flicker on screen.

24P is cinematic. Changing to 60i is almost certainly what made your cinematic look disappear. However, my real worry is that you couldn't spot the difference between 24P and 60i. To me, and other cinematographers, it's like night and day. I can spot footage that isn't shot at 24P from across the street with one eye closed.
 
When im going for any kind of cinematic look i use 24. Its more than just a setting on a camera to get a cinematic look but for me 24 is a huge difference and puts the camera in the right direction from the get go.

I would play around with 24 setting to get the look you want.
 
Ryan CBP said:
Hey guys

I used the '90min best quality setting for dvd studio pro' on compressor, and this was advised by a very trusted source who often works with HD to SD compression.
Click to expand...

I though I should mention that this is only the best setting if you have 90 minutes of footage and are using a single layer DVD. Your compression could be better with a custom setting if you only have 70 minutes and are using a Dual Layer replicated disc.

As far as your 24p vs. 60i question I highly recommend planning which shoots need slo-mo and only using 60i for those shots and 24p everything else. Of course this is if you want as much of that cinema look as possible. As discussed over and over many things help to give that "look" but shooting 24p does help.
 
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