The History of Frame Rate for Film

Explore the history of the frame rate – the engine that gives motion to the motion picture from their earliest versions in silent pictures to the frame rates of broadcast television.


If you have any further questions be sure to check out our questions page on Filmmaker IQ:

[crimebodge]

Whoever writes the scripts for these videos really is a master communicator. I cannot think of any series of videos I have ever seen on Youtube that are as beautifully written and presented as these. They are a joy to watch.

[feuerbussard]

This is one of the best and most professional explanations I have seen/heard regarding the history of frame rates. I am post production supervisor for theatrical feature films. I can see the difference between good and bad tutorials. Keep up your good work and many thanks!

[Askjerry]

I have to say... whenever the question of frame rates comes up... this is the de-facto video I send people to. You did an outstanding job with this... I mean... textbook... this video should be seen by ANYONE interested in doing any video or film work.

Seriously.

[debranchelowtone]

24fps was set by Western Electric engineer Stanley Watkins who asked what frame rates were commonly used. There was 80 and 100 feet per minute ( this is how it was counted back then ). He averaged it at 90, which gives 24 fps.

[lipranditoys]

I admit I have to watch each video several times to get all the contents, but these are some truly amazing documentaries. They are extremely interesting and I just can't imagine the effort needed collect so many informations.

[andrestreaming]

With no doubt this is the best and most comprehensive explanatory video on frame rates. I've learned in 15 minutes much more than several hours I spent on YouTube and internet trying to understand the reasoning behind the 24fps. Now everything makes sense and goes far beyond the usual explanation that "24fps is more natural for the human eyes". Well done and keep up with the good work on your channel. We, filmmakers, love it!

[Partyywizard]

I love this guy.
Describes things so well and in such an interesting way. 

Please continue doing what you're doing, youtube needs to support more content creators like this guy! 

[kiandymundi]

Really interesting. Thanks for this, I watched this during breakfast :)

[karbengo]

I create amateur videos for Youtube and I use Sony Vegas for montage and rendering. I read some tutorials to figure out what settings where recommended for my needs and never bothered tinkering for fear of doing something wrong. But I was intrigued by those odds values in the rendering settings. Interlacing, PAL or NTSC, sound codec, and the FPS values. That 29.97 fps value in particular left me puzzled.
Your video just helped me figuring out a new facet of my editing tool, I knew the how but you explained me the why. Thank you so much!

[PhilJonesIII]

Thank you for this non-patronising presentation. Really cool, learned a lot.

[rickee]

Thank you for this excellent breakdown of what drives framerates in modern media and especially for airing the responses to the experiments in higher framerates for movies. I haven't studied this in any great detail but my hypothesis for the reason that, in particular, The Hobbit looked cheaply made is that the higher framerate allows your brain to perceive more detail in the image, which works against the suspension of disbelief that the narrative requires of the audience. Just as a book requires the audience to visualise the entire world of the story, film requires the audience to believe that these actors are standing on a stone castle watching a dragon soar (and roar) through the air. Giving too much detail allows the human brain to determine not only the shape and colour of an object, but also its mass and material. That's why the painted foam stonework which at regular 24fps looks solid and real (because the story convinces your brain it is so) is revealed to be simply a prop, and all the mass and fear is taken from the cg dragon. Its just a hypothesis but it seems logical that in an industry that lives on suspension of disbelief, over realism in the image is the last thing you would want.

[parthchopra]

You went from day 1 to practically till date, covering every single thing I need to know about film. Without any horseshit. Bruh amazing video...thanks!

[deepaksanaka]

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk was projected at 120fps in 3D at 4K resolution. Some people got sick after watching those higher frame rates on a very large screen.

[cralwar]

what i love in your videos is the passion in your voice, we need more teachers like you John!

[SaraKayTech]

The medium that will push frame rates forward from the obsolete, complicated and cost reducing film-based past to the digital age is the Internet. With the adoption of native 60fps playback ability by YouTube, it is now up to us, the video creators, to utilize and create content in 60fps. Lets Play and video gamers have already adopted this frame rate and it looks fabulous.
I've chosen 60fps as the base for all my videos and I encourage other YouTubers to also adopt this smoother and crisper frame rate. :D

[AERIEDM]

I'm a television engineer and now a broadcast engineer. This is a great explanation of the use of frame rates through history.
Even stuff I didn't know.

[gearreallydoesntmatter]

This is the best channel on youtube. Simple as that.

[blindman]

By far my favourite video from this channel. This has answered questions I've had about frame rates for years

[facuuaf]

This channel's courses are the best you can find online. They are the most technologically accurrate and very clear.

[Vamavid]

There used to be something cinematic about having no sound. What happened to that?
Otherwise, excellent video.