Many professional editors and camera crew members never learn the difference between non-drop frame timecode and drop frame timecode. This is surprising, because it's crucial to know the difference if you're creating videos for broadcast TV or the web. This lesson explains one of the great mysteries of NTSC timecode.
- [Voiceover] When it came to actually broadcasting NTSC…video, there was a problem with the signal transmission.…Without going into a long explanation, the solution was…to slow the video down to 29.97 frames per second at…the moment of broadcast but only at the moment of broadcast,…which confuses a lot of people.…When you record 29.97 frames per second footage on a camera,…for example, you're actually recording 30 frames per second…but with a special kind of timecode reading…that automatically drops exactly the amount of frames…to give you the duration that will apply…when the footage is broadcast.…
If your footage is intended for the web, don't use…dropframe timecode as the duration won't actually match.…The ten minutes of footage recorded with drop frame…29.97 frames per second time code will not last ten minutes.…It will be slightly shorter in real playback duration.…However, if you were to broadcast that footage, it would…be slowed down during broadcast so that the 29.97 frames…per second drop frame timecode gave the correct duration.…
Author
Maxim Jago
Released
5/15/2017Get ready to remove the mystery behind terms you've encountered. If you work in a creative profession, this can enhance your command of the tools you use. Learn what a pixel really is, what color channels are, and what audio frequency is. Discover how color channels, bit depth, and video frame rates work. Find out the difference between codecs and file formats, and how compression is involved. By the end of this course, you'll know how to answer common client questions—like, whether a logo should be supplied in vector or bitmap form, and more.
Note: Motion graphics in this course were provided by Chelsea Parrish: chelseaparrish.com.
- What is a pixel?
- Aspect ratios
- Bit depth
- Alpha and transparency
- Light and color channels
- Color modes: RGB, YUV, CMYK
- Camera depth of field
- Chroma Key and Luma Key
- Blend modes
- Color wheels, vectorscopes, and waveforms
- Video compression and codecs
- Frame rates and timecode
- File formats
- Histograms
- Audio amplitude
- Capturing audio tone as frequency
- Audio timing using the phase
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
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Introductory Thoughts
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Welcome2m 25s
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What is a pixel?1m 44s
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1. How Do Computers Think?
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2. How Cameras and Computers Think about Color
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How bright is fully bright?3m 34s
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Understanding depth of field1m 50s
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3. The Language of Color
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What are color modes?4m 2s
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Computer screens like RGB3m 34s
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Cameras and TVs like YUV2m 50s
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Comparing RGB and YUV4m 3s
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Printers prefer CMYK1m 57s
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What are legal levels?2m 20s
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4. The Shape of Your Picture and the Speed of Your Video
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What is a frame and a field?2m 49s
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Frame sizes, large and small2m 35s
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Frame rates, fast and slow3m 37s
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Measuring time with timecode1m 39s
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5. Storing Everything (Codecs)
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What is a codec?3m 37s
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The magic of vector graphics1m 31s
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6. Color Wheels, Vectorscopes, and Waveforms
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Understanding waveforms2m 39s
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7. Making Changes
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8. Audio Made Simple
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Creating space with channels4m 32s
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Capturing tone as frequency2m 22s
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Conclusion
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Goodbye1m 10s
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Video: Why do we use drop frame timecode?