The VideoFX builder allows you to choose different frame rates to save the output videos in. The best frame rate to choose will vary depending on your situation. This article will list the pros and cons of each option, and will go over some other considerations when choosing your frame rate.
This article presents some general guidelines for choosing a frame rate, but the VideoFX builder makes it easy to adjust this, so you can try out both options for your template to see which one looks best.
Note that the actual frame rate of the output video will depend on the frame rate used by the camera when recording the video. This table shows a few examples of the frame rate used for the final output video:
| Smooth Frame Rate | Normal Frame Rate |
iPhone/iPad camera | 60 fps | 30 fps |
DSLR recording at 120 fps | 60 fps | 30 fps |
DSLR recording at 100 fps | 50 fps | 25 fps |
Smooth Frame Rate Option
This option will render the output video between 40 and 60 fps. Video with faster frame rates like 60 fps gives a very smooth output, and makes motion look great. The cost of this is that the video file needs to store double the amount of frames compared to saving a video at 30 fps. To do this, the video quality might be lowered by the software to keep file sizes down, and reduce bandwidth usage at your events.
Pros
Optimized for motion, so moving subjects look crisp and clear.
Cons
Image quality might be lowered by the app to compensate for the smooth motion of 60 fps videos, and the larger file sizes they can produce.
Some social media platforms, such as Instagram, will compress 60 fps video down to 30 fps. This process will further lower the image quality, and the compression settings used by Instagram can cause quite a dramatic drop in quality.
The 60 fps option is the better choice for videos that have a lot of motion, for example in a 360 booth. However, this option should be avoided if you know that all your guests at the event will be sharing to Instagram.
If you want the best of both worlds, where you have smooth videos that also look great on Instagram, you can still choose the 60 fps option, but then you will need to manually downscale the frame rate of the output videos to 30 fps before posting them to Instagram. However, it is not feasible to expect your guests to manually do this before posting each video, so it will only work for some workflows.
Normal Frame Rate Option
This option will render the output video between 20 and 30 fps. Motion in a 30 fps video doesn't flow as smoothly as in a 60 fps video. The upside to using this option is that the image quality can be improved because the final output video doesn't need to store as many frames.
Pros
Image quality can be higher than higher frame rate videos.
Cons
Motion does not look as smooth as higher frame rate videos.
This option is better suited for static photo booth scenarios, where the booth won't move too much. This option will also also work for 360 booths, the motion will just be less smooth than the 60 fps option.
Other Considerations
Slow Motion Videos
If a large portion of your video plays in slow motion, you may be able to optimise the quality of the final video by lowering the frame rate. You can look at the recording frame rate of the camera you are using, and the slow motion speed multiplier used in your VideoFX template to determine the best frame rate to choose.
If you slow down your video too much, the video will need to repeat frames to play back at the right speed. This can lower image quality, because the final video needs to store more frames than necessary.
When using a VideoFX template with slow motion, the Snappic app will always record in the highest frame rate supported by the camera. The back camera of most iOS devices are capable of recording at 240 fps. The front camera of newer iPhones can record at 120 fps, and most iPad front cameras can record at a maximum of 60 fps.
In general, you don't want the effective frame rate after applying the speed multiplier to be lower than your frame rate chosen for your template. Here are a few examples:
Recording Frame Rate | Video Template Speed Multiplier | Effective Frame Rate | Best Frame Rate Option |
240 fps | ½ | ½ x 240 = 120 fps | 60 fps |
240 fps | ¼ | ¼ x 240 = 60 fps | 60 fps |
240 fps | ⅛ | ⅛ x 240 = 30 fps | 30 fps |
120 fps | ½ | ½ x 120 = 60 fps | 60 fps |
120 fps | ¼ | ¼ x 120 = 30 fps | 30 fps |
120 fps | ⅛ | ⅛ x 120 = 15 fps | Not Recommended |
In general, make sure the Effective Frame Rate is higher than the frame rate chosen for your VideoFX template.
This section only applies if the majority of your VideoFX template is set to play in slow motion. If only a small part of your template uses a slow motion speed multiplier, you can still choose the 60 fps option to make the motion in the rest of the output video look its best.
Recording with a DSLR Camera
When recording with a DSLR camera, if you are not using slow motion in your VideoFX template, you will want to choose the closest option to the frame rate that is set on your camera.
When recording in slow motion, the same principles from the Slow Motion Videos section above apply.