THE PROBLEM: MIXED FRAME RATES
When you’re editing videos from multiple sources, it is not uncommon to find issues with mixed frame rates. There’s plenty of ways you could inadvertently end up with media of mixed frame rates. Using stock videos, slow motion videos, or videos shot on your phone are a few examples. Unchecked, this can lead to skipped frames and stuttering videos, or blended frames which leave ghosts in your image. However, mixing these different sources together into a single video is not an issue if you know how.
The Solution
The process of fixing these mixed frame rates is known as interpreting footage. Interpreting footage tells your software to pretend that the video was shot is a different frame rate than it was. The result will be a change in playback speed. Just how much, will depend on how far separated your frame rates are.
It is almost imperceptible to watch footage recorded at 24fps and played back at 25fps. In fact, most movies we watch on TV in Australia are broadcast this way. But larger shifts, such as from 30fps to 25fps, will be more noticeable. Of course, if you’re dealing with slow motion, then the whole point is to slow it down noticeably!
Ideally you will interpret all of your project media to match your timeline frame rate before you start editing. This will result in smooth, easy playback once you start dropping clips onto your timeline.
“Ideally you will interpret all of your project media to match your timeline frame-rate before you start editing.”
Once you learn this one simple trick, you’ll never be worried about mixing media with different frame rates. Starting with an even playing field for all your media means many of your other editing tasks will become headache free.
