Frame rate setting - what does "Automatic" do?

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Level 2

159 points

Frame rate setting - what does "Automatic" do?

Hello,

According to the inbuilt Compressor help information I thought:

"Automatic, the default setting, matches the frame rate of the transcoded file to that of the source file."

So I used "Automatic" to export my original project (frame rate: 30), however in the resulting mp4 the frame rate was reduced to 15.

What could have caused this?

I entered 30 as manual setting and it worked.

Note: I did this on an older Mac with Final Cut version 10.3.4 installed.

Many thanks!

iMac 27″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Apr 29, 2023 8:33 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,909 points

Apr 30, 2023 3:36 AM in response to coxorange

I suspect the problem arises on the older system because of the variable frame the iPhone camera shoots. You have a solution already, but if you’d like to try another fix, you might see if optimizing the iPhone clip will make the Compressor setting work. It will create a large ProRes file.

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Answer 2

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,909 points

Apr 29, 2023 8:41 AM in response to coxorange

Did you use the send to Compressor function? What version of Compressor? Can you open the exported file, or one of the clips in Invisor or MediaInfo and give the complete reporter information?

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Answer 3

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,909 points

Apr 29, 2023 6:40 PM in response to coxorange

This is very strange indeed. Would it be possible to upload one of your clips to something like Dropbox or WeTransfer so see the file? If you post the link here it will appear in the email notification even if it is removed.

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Answer 4

coxorange Author

Level 2

159 points

May 1, 2023 6:15 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Thank you! Yes, probably it's the variable frame rate vs the old Compressor/FC version.

I haven't tried optimizing as an alternative solution, would require too much space on that old Mac.

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Answer 5

coxorange Author

Level 2

159 points

Apr 29, 2023 6:03 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Thanks for your answer.

No I didn't send to Compressor, but added the compressor setting to Final Cut's Share menu.

Compressor Version is 4.3.2.

All the clips were 30fps.

The Final Cut project is 30fps.

I exported a minute of the project and opened the resulting file in Invisor:

Generated by Invisor v3.21 (1062.221229)

TEST 2023 Dungeons & Dragons - Honour Among Thieves - Review & Breakdown.mp4

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

File

Name: TEST 2023 Dungeons & Dragons - Honour Among Thieves - Review & Breakdown.mp4

Size: 85.4 MB (85358260 bytes)

Kind: MPEG-4 movie

UTI: public.mpeg-4

Location: /Users/home/Desktop

Created: 30 April 2023 at 01:37:36

Modified: 30 April 2023 at 01:38:58

Container

Format: MPEG-4

Format profile: Base Media / Version 2

Codec ID: mp42 (mp41/mp42/isom)

Duration: 1 min 3 s 267 ms

Overall bit rate mode: Variable

Overall bit rate: 10.8 Mb/s

Movie name: 2023 Dungeons & Dragons - Honour Among Thieves - Review & Breakdown

Encoded date: UTC 2023-04-30 00:37:36

Tagged date: UTC 2023-04-30 00:38:58

thmb: Ã¿ÃÃ¿Ã

Video

ID: 2

Format: AVC

Format/Info: Advanced Video Codec

Format profile: High@L4

Format settings: CABAC / 2 Ref Frames

Format settings, CABAC: Yes

Format settings, Reference frames: 2 frames

Format settings, GOP: M=2, N=30

Codec ID: avc1

Codec ID/Info: Advanced Video Coding

Duration: 1 min 3 s 267 ms

Bit rate mode: Variable

Bit rate: 10.6 Mb/s

Maximum bit rate: 768 kb/s

Width: 1 920 pixels

Height: 1 080 pixels

Pixel aspect ratio: 1.000

Display aspect ratio: 16:9

Frame rate mode: Constant

Frame rate: 15.000 FPS

Original frame rate: 25.000 FPS

Frame count: 949

Color space: YUV

Chroma subsampling: 4:2:0

Bit depth: 8 bits

Scan type: Progressive

Bits/(Pixel*Frame): 0.340

Stream size: 83.7 MB (98.0%)

Title: Core Media Video

Encoded date: UTC 2023-04-30 00:37:36

Tagged date: UTC 2023-04-30 00:38:58

Color range: Limited

Color primaries: BT.709

Transfer characteristics: BT.709

Matrix coefficients: BT.709

Codec configuration box: avcC

Audio

ID: 1

Format: AAC LC

Format/Info: Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity

Codec ID: mp4a-40-2

Duration: 1 min 3 s 267 ms

Bit rate mode: Constant

Bit rate: 128 kb/s

Channel(s): 2 channels

Channel layout: L R

Sampling rate: 48.0 kHz

Frame rate: 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)

Frame count: 2968

Compression mode: Lossy

Stream size: 1.03 MB (1.2%)

Title: Core Media Audio

Language: English

Encoded date: UTC 2023-04-30 00:37:36

Tagged date: UTC 2023-04-30 00:38:58

Why does it say:

> Frame rate: 15.000 FPS

> Original frame rate: 25.000 FPS

???

This is not true.

I hope it helps.

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Answer 6

coxorange Author

Level 2

159 points

Apr 29, 2023 7:48 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

If it's the only possible way I could try this, but the whole project is about 2h 48mins. long and the first clip is about 1.44GB.

They all come from an iPhone SE 2nd Gen., recorded using Apple's Camera app with 1080/30 standard setting (front cam, mirrored). So really nothing unusual.

Here is what Invisor tells about clip #1 (maybe this already helps?):

Generated by Invisor v3.21 (1062.221229)

IMG_1781.MOV

------------

File

Name: IMG_1781.MOV

Size: 1.44 GB (1444735255 bytes)

Kind: QuickTime movie

UTI: com.apple.quicktime-movie

Location: /Users/home/Downloads/Review Clips

Created: 25 April 2023 at 12:44:36

Modified: 25 April 2023 at 12:44:36

Container

Format: MPEG-4

Format profile: QuickTime

Codec ID: qt 0000.00 (qt )

Duration: 12 min 21 s 435 ms

Overall bit rate mode: Variable

Overall bit rate: 15.6 Mb/s

Encoded date: UTC 2023-04-25 11:44:36

Tagged date: UTC 2023-04-25 11:56:58

Writing library: Apple QuickTime

com.apple.quicktime.make: Apple

com.apple.quicktime.model: iPhone SE (2nd generation)

com.apple.quicktime.software: 16.3.1

com.apple.quicktime.creationdate: 2023-04-25T12:44:36+0100

Video

ID: 1

Format: AVC

Format/Info: Advanced Video Codec

Format profile: High@L4

Format settings: CABAC / 1 Ref Frames

Format settings, CABAC: Yes

Format settings, Reference frames: 1 frame

Format settings, GOP: M=1, N=15

Codec ID: avc1

Codec ID/Info: Advanced Video Coding

Duration: 12 min 21 s 435 ms

Bit rate: 15.3 Mb/s

Width: 1 920 pixels

Height: 1 080 pixels

Pixel aspect ratio: 1.000

Display aspect ratio: 16:9

Rotation: 180Â°

Frame rate mode: Variable

Frame rate: 29.970 (29970/1000) FPS

Minimum frame rate: 28.571 FPS

Maximum frame rate: 30.000 FPS

Frame count: 22220

Color space: YUV

Chroma subsampling: 4:2:0

Bit depth: 8 bits

Scan type: Progressive

Bits/(Pixel*Frame): 0.246

Stream size: 1.42 GB (98.2%)

Title: Core Media Video

Encoded date: UTC 2023-04-25 11:44:36

Tagged date: UTC 2023-04-25 11:56:58

Color range: Limited

Color primaries: BT.709

Transfer characteristics: BT.709

Matrix coefficients: BT.709

Metas: 3,4,5

Codec configuration box: avcC

Audio

ID: 2

Format: AAC LC

Format/Info: Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity

Codec ID: mp4a-40-2

Duration: 12 min 21 s 435 ms

Source duration: 12 min 21 s

Bit rate mode: Variable

Bit rate: 200 kb/s

Channel(s): 2 channels

Channel layout: L R

Sampling rate: 44.1 kHz

Frame rate: 43.066 FPS (1024 SPF)

Frame count: 31931

Compression mode: Lossy

Stream size: 18.5 MB (1.3%)

Source stream size: 18.5 MB (1.3%)

Title: Core Media Audio

Encoded date: UTC 2023-04-25 11:44:36

Tagged date: UTC 2023-04-25 11:56:58

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Frame rate setting - what does "Automatic" do?

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