Film frame

In filmmaking, video production, animation, and related fields, a frame is one of the many s which compose the complete moving picture. The term is derived from the historical development of film stock, in which the sequentially recorded single images look like a framed picture when examined individually. The term may also be used more generally as a noun or verb to refer to the edges of the image as seen in a camera viewfinder or projected on a screen. Thus, the camera operator can be said to keep a car in frame by panning with it as it speeds past. When the moving picture is displayed, each frame is flashed on a screen for a short time (nowadays, usually 1/24, 1/25 or 1/30 of a second) and then immediately replaced by the next one. Persistence of vision blends the frames together, producing the illusion of a moving image. The frame is also sometimes used as a unit of time, so that a momentary event might be said to last six frames, the actual duration of which depends on the frame rate of the system, which varies according to the video or film standard in use. In North America and Japan, 30 frames per second (fps) is the broadcast standard, with 24 frames/s now common in production for high-definition video shot to look like film. In much of the rest of the world, 25 frames/s is standard. In systems historically based on NTSC standards, for reasons originally related to the Chromilog NTSC TV systems, the exact frame rate is actually (3579545 / 227.5) / 525 = 29.97002616 fps. This leads to many synchronization problems which are unknown outside the NTSC world, and also brings about hacks such as drop-frame timecode. In film projection, 24 fps is the normal, except in some special venue systems, such as IMAX, Showscan and Iwerks 70, where 30, 48 or even 60 frame/s have been used. Silent films and 8 mm amateur movies used 16 or 18 frame/s. In a strip of movie film, individual frames are separated by frame lines. Normally, 24 frames are needed for one second of film.