"24fps," "30fps," "60fps" get thrown around constantly, but what do they actually mean for a video file - and how many individual images are actually packed into your clip? Frames per second (fps) is simply the number of individual still images shown per second of playback.
Common Frame Rates and Where They Come From
- 24fps - the traditional cinematic standard, used in most movies and a lot of professional video
- 30fps (technically 29.97) - the US broadcast TV standard, and the default for most phone video
- 60fps - smoother motion, common for sports footage, screen recordings, and gaming clips
- 120fps / 240fps - true slow-motion capture modes on phones and action cameras
Calculating Total Frame Count
Total frames = duration in seconds × frame rate. A 2-minute video at 30fps is 120 seconds × 30, or 3,600 individual frames. A 1-minute clip at 24fps is 1,440 frames. A 90-second clip at 60fps is 5,400 frames - it adds up fast.
Why This Matters for Frame Extraction
When you set a frame count in FrameRipper, you are choosing how densely to sample from that total pool - not matching the video's native frame rate. Extracting 30 frames from a video that actually contains 3,600 native frames means you are seeing roughly 1 out of every 120, spaced evenly across the full duration. Extracting every single native frame is possible by setting the count equal to the total, but for most use cases - thumbnails, storyboards, reference images - a much lower count already gives good coverage.
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Open FrameRipperSlow-Motion Video Is a Special Case
Slo-mo mode on phones records at a high native frame rate (typically 120 or 240fps) but plays back at a normal 30fps, stretching the action out. A "10-second" slow-mo clip you watch may actually contain four to eight times as many frames as its playback length suggests - worth keeping in mind if you are extracting for a dense sequence from slow-motion footage.