While watching our favourite show on the television or playing the game we love, we want our screen to move smoothly without lag. But did you know that the man eating the burger on television is pictures that are moving at a fast rate? Famous animation movies like Frozen, Toy Story, and Finding Nemo are all pleasing to our eyes because of their perfect frame rates. So what is FPS? The full form of FPS is Frame Per Second. It's a widely used term in the animation and movie industry. Frame Per Second is the unit of Frame rate. Here are some examples of how we denote FPS: 2fps, 5fps, 70fps, etc.
When Frame Rate is 10 to 12fps, our brain perceives pictures as motion. This article will discuss FPS and how it's used to give a creative flow in the video, with some examples at the end.
Frame Per Second means the number of frames displayed on the screen in one second. FPS is the unit of Frame rate, which is the frequency at which the images are displayed.
Let us understand this with an example: Riya has her tenth birthday video downloaded on her computer. While watching it, she noticed a small clip of a person she knew but couldn’t figure it out. So, she played the video at 0.1x speed. Looking in slow motion, she discovered it was her childhood best friend. But what exactly happened when the video was played at 0.1x speed? The Frame rate got slow. Several images on the screen remained there for longer than before. Hence, Frame Per Second was less.
Eadweard Muybridge was a photographer who filmed the famous and first motion film, “The Horse in Motion,” inspired by Thomas Edison's idea of Frame rate. By using 12 individual cameras, he captured the picture of a man riding a horse. Later he was able to play them using his invention, “zoopraxiscope,'' in the year 1879. He made a revolutionary contribution towards cinematography, and thus he was known as the father of motion pictures.
Most television shows are shot at 24fps, and sports at 30fps.
60fps or higher is the best frame rate for a smooth, detailed video.
For slow motion, high Frame rates are preferred, whereas for fast motion, a slow frame rate is better.
In older movies, frames were generally 16fps; this is why they appeared jerky.
For slow motion 30 to 60fps works better,
For Apps like Instagram, Tiktok, around 30fps is preferred.
120fps works best for gaming, as it updates the screen quickly and makes it seem more realistic, which is more indulging and fun to play.
Below are the names of movies with their Frame Rate:
Movie name | Frame per second |
Frozen 2 | 24 |
48 | |
Love & Pop | 60 |
Aquarela | 96 |
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk | 120 |
The frame rate determines how fast, slow, or normal the pictures are displayed. It has a direct impact on how the viewer perceives the scene. For example: Slowing down a suspense scene, fast pacing a dance move, or capturing a high-resolution video in 120fps in the jungle.
Most Japanese animation films have a frame rate of 12 to 24 fps.
For making a 4K video, a frame rate of 120fps is preferred
The lowest Frame rate for a video in the 21st century is 24fps.
The higher the frame rate, the better it is for movies that demand them. But it's not the same case for hand-drawn animation movies.