Filming Wildlife with different rates
 

I have been out filming the last few weeks testing different frame rates. I have always used 60i however I do like the "look" of the 24f/30f. But now I am at a crossroads and I am seeking experienced opinions on this matter. Here's my dilemma.

1. Using 24f or 30f - As mentioned I like the look however I find I am limited on my depth of field which is very important to me. In many situations, if I use a shutter higher than 1/100, to control aperature, I increase the stutter effect. Thus I have no depth (ND filters will only help so much). Any Recommendations?

2. When using 60i - I get the smooth motion however a lot of people see it as the video look. I refer to it as the "familiar" look. Which is fine, however often I seen the interlaced artifacts effect especially in the high contrast areas. Any ideas on presets? (XL2/H1).

I will begin my next project soon an I would like to try out the 24f/30f rates and I'm wondering if people have used both 60i and 24f in the same project?
My project will be dvd out but I'm having a hard time with this decision.
Thanks for your advise.

If you shoot 60i (or 50i), it's a pretty simple matter to convert to whatever frame rate you want in post. If you shoot in 24f or 30f, you're pretty much stuck with it.

Brian,

If I were to go with 30f and drop in 60i clips (fast scenes) this would not work?

First, let me make a disclaimer: I do not have an HD camera, so I am not speaking from personal experience.

From what I've read on this forum and on the Vegas User's forum, converting from 60i to 24P is a much, much easier thing than the other way around. So that would seem to give you more flexibility about how you want the final piece to look.

As for combining 60i and 24P footage, are you talking about producing, say, an HD-DVD that would switch from 60i to 24p while the disk was being played? I'm not sure that's possible; I think the player would choke.

Or are you talking about video that ORIGINATED as either 60i or 24p, but was then converted to the final display format? I think in this case, most of the character that differentiates the two frame rates would be lost through the conversion process.

Maybe someone with more experience in these matters can speak up....

I have given up on searching for this answer and I'm too lazy to actually try this in FCP. If a 10 minute wildlife sequence was filmed in 30f (or p) and a 1 minuite scene requires a fast pan but has too much stutter, could that scene be replaced with a 1 minute scene shot at 60i for a smoother effect? This is regardless if it's HDV or SD. Surely someone must have tried this in their wildlife docs.