Frames per second - You can't see it but you can feel it ~~0o0~~

8:18 AM shockFX 0 Comments

  I'm a fan of DigitalFoundry , a Youtube channel that benchmark games performance across PC and Gaming Consoles such as PS3 PS4 Xbox360 XboxOne Vita 3DS and etc.

  Looking at the comment section of every videos is kinda eye hurt to me , as some of the people have wrong perception about FPS and color.Hereby, I would like to share something that I've learnt and know about it.

  First , FPS , something people may refer it as first person shooter , but in this case , what I want to talk about is Frames per second. FPS , or frame rate , also known as frame frequency and frames per second(FPS), is the frequency (rate) at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to film and video cameras, computer graphics, and motion capture systems. ( Wikipedia ) 

  Nowadays , there are couple formats that are running for videos , 12 , 24 , 25 and 30. Some people may wonder, 12fps ? Seriously ? Who would watch that? 

  12FPS , a frame rate that is commonly use in some anime. Due to tight schedule and a lot of efforts required to get an anime done, animation of anime often produce in 12fps. This frame rate gives you a very choppy feeling, but it doesn't really matter when animation is well done with great timing and spacing.




  24FPS , the most common frame rate for every movie , drama or animation in this world. 24fps is a standard video frame rate of PAL film format ( Film , old school way to make videos ), which is very suitable for animation , as you can divide 24 by 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 8 , it allows animator to hit timing correctly. From this , we can move on to "cinematic feeling". Yes , 24fps definitely provides a feeling of cinematic, this is all because everyone has been watching at this frame rate for years and decades. From TV to cinema , 99% of it are playing at 24fps, it's not surprise that 24fps gives some people a feeling of "Cinematic".




  25FPS , this number is kinda nice for math maniac , 2 seconds you got 50 frames , 4 seconds you got 100 frames. ( Math maniac mode turned ON )~~ This is actually a PAL frame rate too , instead of film , this is a frame rate of digital video , due to everything digital start with 0 , and so you have 1 more frame , which is frame 0 , on top 24 frames , in total you have 25 frames.  Else , nothing really special with this frame rate .

  30FPS , or 29.97 to be exact , another common frame rate . It is based on NTSC format , widely use in place such as Japan and South Korea. 30fps is quite common on PS3 Xbox360 generation game, all because of it provides acceptable smoothness and you can save 50% computing performance for other usage as if you are aiming 60fps for smoother gaming. 




By the way , 24fps was a standard for game fps during PS1 and PS2, for example , Crash Bandicoot !.





  For games , developers have their options to choose either 30fps or 60fps. So , at some points , we all know that 60fps could definitely be better than 30fps , but why developers often choose 30fps over 60fps ?




Reason 1 : Restricted performance. In order to get to 60fps , you need double performance of what requires for 30fps, which could potentially use to enhance the overall graphic such as lens flare , particles , anti-aliasing and etc. Consoles' specification bound to death since the first day it release , in other words , developers can only access what that console can provide , you cannot upgrade it nor downgrade , it stick to what it mean to be , so every resources that you can grab from that console are precious.




Reason 2 : 30fps is quite solid for most of the games on console , a stable 30fps gameplay is pretty enough for most of the games nowadays. Back to the topic of "Cinematic feeling", 30fps is close to 24fps , so it tends to gives same feeling as we watch TV. But purely 30fps might not present a very smooth animation , the keyword to make it smooth is "Motion blur" .By applying motion blur on top of it , frames could blend into next and previous frame nicely, and present an illusion of smooth animation , but it won't be as costly as 60fps. One of the best example I would say , The Last of Us , from NaughtDog.




 Of course, some people might still prefer 60fps over 30fps, it's not wrong about that, since feeling varies on difference person. 

  As time passed , I believe more and more games will go for 30fps , with higher polycounts , extra layers to composite , better particle and fluid effects, more joints for model rigs to produce better facial animation, as well as lighting and shading that is much more realistic. So far Ambient Occlusion is starting to step into new games , but soon , we might see realtime Ray-trace technology or Final Gathering come to us.



Something extra !!

  120FPS - Godlike fps. This is not so common for general user, you will need a 120hz output display , plus with one or more graphic cards to generate enough computing power to drive your game into 120fps in order to experience the superior feeling of 120fps. This is way to costly for general consumer, only hardcore professional gamer or any other fields that require high frequency display will go for 120fps, otherwise , it's not popular for most of us.