Frame Rates

Quick Reference to Scripting Command
a=FRATE(P1, P2, P3[0-2])
Items in CAPS are 0/1 switches or switches with more options than 0/1.

This operation allows you to alter the frame rate of a group of frames from 24 frames to 30 frames using a 3-2 pull down method.

Frame rates allows you to select two separate methods of how the frame rate conversion will occur. The first method is called Interlace Aware. This method uses interlacing of middle frames to convert from 24 to 30 frames. This is the more standard of the two methods available. The second method, Frame Repeat, simply repeats every fourth frame in the sequence to achieve the desired frame rate conversion. The operation can also be targeted for the separate frame rates of NTSC and PAL.

Note: This operation should always be applied by itself in the Timeline. The combination of multiple Timeline layers can result in incorrect output frames. It is also important to remember that only the entire area selection should be used with this operation.

Framerates Operation Dialog

Frame Rate Controls

Trends

Some of the controls have a Trend button next to them. These trend buttons allow you to set variables over a series of frames. Each frame of any animation may be thought of as a slice of time. The trends allow you to alter some, all, or none of the variables for a particular time slice. Trend graphs have equidistantly spaced vertical lines. For animations under 100 frames in length, each of these lines represents a frame in the animation. The number of frames in any one sequence can be altered using the Sequence controls item from the Timeline pull down menu. Animation lengths of 100 - 999 frames will be represented with a vertical bar being 10 frames, and animation length greater than 1000 frames will have a vertical bar for every 100 frames. Click here to view more information on Trends.

Interlace Aware/Frame Repeat

These radio buttons allow you to select the method that will be used for converting the animation frames. The Interlace Aware method uses a 3-2 pull down method to generate 30 frames for every 24 frames that are processed. This method uses interleaving to accomplish this frame rate conversion. This means that no frames are repeated. Instead, the intermittent frames are derived from the combination of two interleaved frames. The overall result is the addition of 6 extra frames for every 24 frames that are processed. The Frame Repeat option will simply repeat every fourth frame in the 24 frame sequence to create the necessary extra frames.

NTSC/PAL

These radio buttons allow you to select the output frame rate that you are using. Selecting NTSC will provide you with 30 frames for every 24 that are processed. The PAL option will provide you with only 25 for every 24 that are processed. The most common usage of this control is NTSC.

WinImages F/x Manual Version 7, Revision 5, Level B