Video Formats Demystified
When beginning a new Corporate Video Production, there will be two decisions to make with respect to the format of the video. The first is the Frame Rate, and the second is the Aspect Ratio of the image.
Frame Rate
You will have two options from which to choose: ‘30 fps’ and ‘24 fps’. This refers to the number of frames per one second of video, and essentially results in two different ‘looks’ to the video.
‘30 fps’ can be compared to a typical News broadcast. It is what we would consider ‘standard’ video.
‘24 fps’, on the other hand, is equivalent to the frame rate at which both Films and High-Definition Television are captured. This frame-rate has become very popular lately as it tends to lend the video a more cinematic feel, thereby raising the perceived production value. The video is actually only captured at 24 frames per second and then converted to 30 frames per second in-camera, which maintains the same cinematic feel, while eliminating any possible compatibility issues. The effect is entirely subconscious, but very real.
Aspect Ratio
Aspect Ratio is literally the width to height ratio of the video image. The two choices are 4:3, and 16:9 (also referred to as ‘Anamorphic’).
4:3 is the standard aspect ratio which you will recognize from older Televisions. This standard had been adopted to match the aspect ratio which had originally been used by the Film industry in the ‘40s and ‘50s.
But Hollywood changed, and eventually created the widescreen format. It may have taken decades for Television manufacturers to catch up, but Widescreen or 16:9 Televisions are now being manufactured and sold in increasingly higher numbers than traditional 4:3 Televisions.
When a 16:9 DVD is played on an older 4:3 Television, the image will simply be ‘letter-boxed’ – Which means that black bars will be added to the top and bottom. This is done automatically by the DVD player.
By contrast, if a DVD shot in 4:3 is played back on a newer, 16:9 Television, the image will have to be cropped on the top and bottom, stretched horizontally, or will have vertical black bars on the sides.
We Recommend
In order to ‘future-proof’ your video project, we recommend a 16:9 Aspect Ratio at 24 fps for most projects. An exception might be in cases where we are to combine this new footage with footage which has been previously shot in the 4:3 aspect ratio and at a frame rate of 30 fps.