The Hobbit 24fps vs 48fps Video Comparison /Massive Rant

[SvennoJ]

There are 3 problems with 48fps

- Lighting has to be re-invented for 48fps as all the current lighting techniques are fine tuned to properly light a scene at 24 frames of exposure.
- Details are more visible, less of the action is hidden in motion blur and flaws are more easily spotted.
- And the uncanny valley effect of 48 fps. This is the best article on the subject imo http://the-artifice.com/the-hobbit-at-48-fps-scaling-the-uncanny-valley/

Although studies have proven that our minds recognize 66 frames per second, it is actually more accurate to claim that we recognize 40 moments per second. Therefore, when we watch a standard, 24 fps-projected film, it is easy for us to accept that what we are watching is, indeed, a film, not a replication of reality. We therefore perceive what we are watching within its own platform of onscreen reality; we recognize that it is “fake,” and because we do, it is easier for us to consciously “believe” it.

The high framerate is not the onkly thing to blame btw:

However, the failures of the The Hobbit‘s visual components are less entwined with the high frame rate than Jackson’s overall “look” for the film, which occasionally steers itself into video game territory. 48 fps, in effect, enhances specific aspects of the movie and discredits others. It takes a moment to get used to; immediately, you get the sense that you are watching a fantasy program on either PBS or BBC on your HD television at home, or as some critics have put it – watching a documentary about the making of The Hobbit.


48fps will get better with practice. Early CGI looked extremely fake too and 1080p versions of old movies reveal all the old shortcuts.
Early 4K movies also have problems that will be solved. One of them is that the cgi is still rendered at 2K and upscaled, mixed for highly detailed actors.