Frame rate clarification

[DavePS3]

It's my understanding that a higher frame rate or how many frames pass in a second, result in a smoother pan. For example, if you take normal film which films at 24 frames per second, when the camera pans from one side to another, or a car passes by the screen, you get a jitter in the movement. With videotape, the frame rate is about 30 frames per second so in something like a concert video or even a soap opera on TV, movement is much smoother.

When film is transferred to video, because the frames rates are different, that jitter is worse and called 'judder'. If you see a movie in the theater, you still see jitter in movement but not half as bad as when it's transferred to video which is called the 'pulldown' process.

In my view, there are several things that help resolution including of course, how video is filmed. Take the Pat Metheny Blu-Ray. It was only recorded in 1080i but it looks better than any movie upgraded or upconverted to 1080p because the original material was recorded at the same rate and resolution as what you're playing it back at.

There are filmmakers like Steven Soderburgh and Peter Jackson, who are using new cameras like RED.

Get this… this baby films at 12,065,000 pixels. Your best HD camcorder operates at 2,000,000. The acclaimed director, Steven Soderbergh has apparently agreed to shoot his next two flicks, ‘The Argentine’ and ‘The Guerrilla’ with these cameras at a full 4K rez, with REDCODE RAW recording to Compact Flash. Soderbergh says he expects these puppies to change everything.

These prototypes are two generations past the cameras Peter Jackson just used in New Zealand to film “Crossing The Line”. RED’s website has a slathering of pics showing the camera with a load of cool accessories and mounting choices. At a mere 9lbs., that should put RED way ahead of the overly cumbersome Panavision cameras in terms of not only rez, but ease of mounting. You can go 12 bit raw or 10 bit over-sampled or if you want, dial back said resolution to whatever the heck you want.

Anyway, frames per second is just part of the story. There are parts in Planet Earth that look incredible, others not so much but that's because there were more than one type of camera used and more than one crew using them.