Frame / Frame Rate

Animations are made up of a series of still images. When viewed in quick succession these images produce continuous motion. Each images is called a frame.

The frame rate of an animation is generally expressed in frames per second (fps). This is the number of frames displayed for every second of real time.

Different recording devices output different frame rates, but the standard rates are as follows:

NTSC video

30 frames per second

PAL video

25 frames per second

Film

24 frames per second

You can change the frame rate for your output at any time, outputting the correct number of frames to maintain the correct playback speed for your animation.

For example, if you create a 90-frame animation for video, using an NTSC frame rate of 30 frames per second, the result will be three seconds of animation.

If you later discover you need to output to PAL video (at 25 frames per second), you can switch to the PAL frame rate. The 90 frames are automatically converted to 75, producing the same total animation time with a different number of frames. You can later switch back to NTSC frame rate to restore the original 90 frames of animation.

You can switch back and forth between frame rates at any time without losing animation data.