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Years later after the controversy, do you agree that 30FPS are more cinematic than 60FPS?
- Thread starter Lant_War
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OP
The OP: Are 30FPS more cinematic?
The Poll: Are 30FPS more cinematic?
The Title: Are 30FPS more cinematic?
What doesn't match?
I was so pleased when 24hz output became a thing on TVs. No more dreaded 25fps speed up in PAL land. Now everything feels more cinematic. Not really of course! But at least Americans no longer sound like chipmunks - always wondered why they had higher pitched voices than us Brits lol
I've really no idea what "more cinematic" means or is supposed to feel like but I've played games at 30 and 60 and I've no preference despite 60 being smoother.I really don't care.
That was just yet another of countless corporate euphemisms to justify goals set under strict technical limitations in a disingenuous fashion (just like how you often see developers try to frame queries about why feature X is not in a sequel as an artistic choice when it's obvious to everyone that it's a time/budget sacrifice. They're obviously not allowed by the publisher to say it out loud). No one is going to arbitrarily limit themselves to 30fps if there are no penalties for 60fps. Even for games that artistically use a lower animation framerate like Cuphead can still have the actual game logic run at 60.
I don't think this is an idea anyone has. Some studios want their games to mirror cinema, and that is fine, because that is their artistic vision. Some want their title to perform closer to "real life" motion, which is also fine, because that is their artistic vision.
We can have games across the full spectrum. Not all games need to be "cinematic" and not all games need to perform at 120fps, etc.
"More cinematic" inherently suggests closer to something that "looks like a movie" (as we know it and have known it for over a century). Typically games running at 30fps can afford more complex visual effects, thus lending themselves to something that "looks more cinematic". By reducing the number of frames, you can increase lighting effects, particle effects, model complexity, and any other number of things.
That said, not all games that are running at lower frame rates are adding those bells and whistles, so the question "are lower frame rates more cinematic" is one that has to be examined on a case by case basis.
That game couldn't have ran at 60fps on that hardware even if you spend YEARS optimizing it.
So I agree with the majority sentiment of the responses here, and yet, I know that my eyes and my brain HATED the visual effect that the Hobbit films produced when exhibited in 48fps. I get that 24 was the limiter back in the day and that we should be shooting in a higher frame rate these days for films...but how can we all help that we grew up with something different and that 48fps is an offense to the eyes now?
The effect on me was visceral. I wasn't nauseated per se, but I was physically upset watching 48 fps film.
(I do like and prefer 60 fps in games though. Humans are weird animals)
The effect on me was visceral. I wasn't nauseated per se, but I was physically upset watching 48 fps film.
(I do like and prefer 60 fps in games though. Humans are weird animals)
Yep.
I had an i7 4790K when I bought that game (after four patches, I think?) and it wouldn't maintain 60fps even with everything on the lowest possible setting.
A hard NO, that's all there really needs to be said.
But I'm NEVER going to ignore a game I'm interested in due to it.
But I'm NEVER going to ignore a game I'm interested in due to it.
"Cinematic" isn't defined by framerate.
As an aside, the fact that people were asking if AC:U would run at 60fps when even a game like infamous SS couldn't reach that was hilarious in retrospect.
The correct answer is yes and it's not even debatable.
Typical films are shot at 24fps, 30 fps is a lot closer to that than 60.
You can say "as a gamer I always prefer higher frame rates" that's fine. But the statement that 30fps is more cinematic is categorically true.
Movies could be shot at a higher framerate as well, 24FPS is only a standard because of cost related reasons. 30FPS games being more cinematic has always been idiotic.
It's marketing bullshit, and if you're the sort of credulous sap who bought into it: I've got a really awesome bridge to sell you.
Probably has more to do with the weird tech differences like the sand not looking as good in the PS4 version.
24 FPS is also just a cultural standard now, but flim also captures some in-between motion that games can only emulate with motion blur rather than letting your mind be tricked into smoothness with higher FPS
In the OP you explicitly state that 30fps is "better" by virtue of it being more cinematic.
The title and poll make no such connection between frame count and "goodness." You could answer yes, 30 FPS is more cinematic, without thinking 30fps is better than 60.
I'm just being annoying though don't mind me. I just see so many bad polls that don't actually allow for the collection of appropriate data related to the question.
1.Video games are fundamentally different to movies/TV shows and shouldn't be compared like this
2.Even if it were true, they could make the cutscenes 30 FPS and let the gameplay be 60.
3.The PC versions run 60, there's no artificial 30 FPS "cinematic" cap.
4.Why not run the game at 24 FPS to maximize the cinematic feel?
5.They stopped saying this for a reason
2.Even if it were true, they could make the cutscenes 30 FPS and let the gameplay be 60.
3.The PC versions run 60, there's no artificial 30 FPS "cinematic" cap.
4.Why not run the game at 24 FPS to maximize the cinematic feel?
5.They stopped saying this for a reason
I have a hard time equating movies to video games tbh.
Like I said,I can see the difference between 30 and 60 and 60 is smoother....but I don't consider it better...just different.
A question for people who don't think 30fps is more cinematic:
Why aren't the Toy Story films delivered at 60 FPS?
Pixar have all the frames and the server farms and money to deliver it, why didn't they choose 60?
Why aren't the Toy Story films delivered at 60 FPS?
Pixar have all the frames and the server farms and money to deliver it, why didn't they choose 60?
In that it mimics the framerate of cinema, yes, technically 30 is more cinematic. Its usage by Ubisoft, however, was less that and more of an exasperated answer to "why can't any of your games do 60 fps" (a question to which the actual answer is "because we like having pretty graphics, and also because console CPUs are almost always the bottleneck when it comes to console performance").
I imagine because it would be MUCH more costly to produce. Plus because people have gotten used to 24fps in film, that has become the standard now and it's not going to change anytime soon.
That's totally fine, they're different mediums, and video games have considerably more cushion & flexibility with frame rates and audience acceptance. If Avengers Endgame released at 60fps a lot of people would be weirded out by it, because it's inherently foreign to how movies have been viewed for over a century.
With video games, however, there is much more wiggle room, as the audience is used to experiencing games with a number of varying attributes (frame rate, resolution, 2D, 3D, VR, etc).
Still, "cinematic" is strictly referring to a video games ability to present an image that is familiar to a cinema experience, which includes direction, motion blur, frame rate, and any other number of things. A game running at 30fps with high quality motion blur and lighting will almost always be said to be "more cinematic" by the mass market than something running at a crisp 60fps, because the lower frame rate will be more familiar to them in the instance of viewing it like a movie.
Mind you I'm not making a case for which is better, I think both have artistic merits for different uses and genres, just trying to clear the muddy water in this thread where people seem to have missed the entirety of the title, the poll, and the OP.
It's complicated. Sometimes I think it can be lend itself to the cinematic look, but 60fps feels better to play.
Even though 60fps feels better to play, it's always had a look of being in "fast forward" to me. I've noticed that the artifice of many animations becomes increasingly more obvious at high frame rates.
So I'm probably one of the weird ones, but YES I think it "LOOKS" more cinematic, BUT I'd still much prefer to play a game at 60fps if I have the choice.
I don't really see why both things can't be true and it's always odd that people present it as a binary choice. Because it can both be true that it looks more cinematic and that it also isn't preferable for a game to do as such.
Even though 60fps feels better to play, it's always had a look of being in "fast forward" to me. I've noticed that the artifice of many animations becomes increasingly more obvious at high frame rates.
So I'm probably one of the weird ones, but YES I think it "LOOKS" more cinematic, BUT I'd still much prefer to play a game at 60fps if I have the choice.
I don't really see why both things can't be true and it's always odd that people present it as a binary choice. Because it can both be true that it looks more cinematic and that it also isn't preferable for a game to do as such.
Going purely semantically, yes. Cinematic, by definition, does after all mean "film like". As those are 24 FPS usually, 30 is indeed more film like, so that is an easy answer.
Do 30 FPS make for better gameplay? Of course not, 60 is always preferable.
Do 30 FPS make for better gameplay? Of course not, 60 is always preferable.
I really can't stand 30fps anymore. I'm happy there seems to be more 60fps games these days. Hopefully it's phased out more next-gen.
And more cinematic? I get what people mean, but it's so juddery to me when gameplay is running at that framerate.
And more cinematic? I get what people mean, but it's so juddery to me when gameplay is running at that framerate.
Why would they need a server farm to make a 60 fps movie? Was Pixar rendering their films in theaters world wide since the 90s?
Seriously though, games aren't movies.
They don't have the timeframe movies had nor the same technology that film had in regards to motion blur, film grain, etc. When people say a movie looks "Cinematic" it's a combination of things that have been ingrained into their psyche throughout their lifetime of watching older movies and the usual 24fps.
Games on the other hand have had plenty of 60fps releases and those at 30 fps didn't have the technology behind them, like movies, to really cover that aspect up.
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