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On Tue, 1 May 2012, Hugh Guiney wrote: > > Use case for exposing frame rate of <video>: Web-based non-linear > editors. This software already exists—YouTube has one: > http://www.youtube.com/editor, Mozilla has one: > http://mozillapopcorn.org/popcorn-maker/, and there are/have been > several independent efforts as well > (http://lifehacker.com/5629683/jaycut-is-a-pretty-awesome-web+based-video-editor, > http://www.spacebarstudios411.com/easyclip/, etc). > > Right now all of this software is alpha-stage, but the kinds of > problems they attempt to solve involve: pop-up annotations, > synchronized slide shows, clickable video areas, etc. Essentially, > they will allow users to author rich multimedia experiences that > aren't achievable with a traditional desktop NLE. Even if desktop > NLEs were to offer this functionality with an HTML export like Adobe > is doing with Flash CS6, it is advantageous to work in the > destination medium rather than one fundamentally different; a > similar trend is happening right now as web designers are moving > away from Photoshop and beginning to design in the browser directly, > and I can only imagine the same will happen with moving images, > technology permitting. > > As it stands, frame rate awareness is a feature of NLEs that you > would have to try very hard NOT to find. It is quite common for > modern camcorders to offer an array of different available frame > rates, for instance Panasonic's prosumer models (HVX200, HPX170 > etc.) offer at least 20 different fps options: 12, 15, 18, 20, 21, > 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 40, 44, 48, 54, and 60. One > of the primary purposes these options is to allow the user to > achieve time distortion effects; if your main timeline is 24fps, you > could shoot at 12fps and play it back for fast-motion; alternatively > 48fps for slow-motion. These are called "undercranking" and > "overcranking" respectively and have been in use since the dawn of > film. > > A ubiquitous UI paradigm in modern video editing is to have a > timeline with a set frame rate, that videos of alternate frame rates > can be dragged into to change their effective playback speed. Not > only is this useful for artistic time distortion effects, but also > pragmatic time distortion, such as mixing 24fps (US film) and 30fps > (US broadcast), 24fps with 25fps (European film), etc. with a > non-variable output frame rate. > > Other use cases: > > - Categorizing/filtering a video catalog by frame rate, such as on a > stock videography or film archive site, to only see those match the > user's interest. > > - Video player UI displaying the frame rate so that users can tell > if it is worthwhile to attempt playback on a slow connection, or > device with limited playback capabilities. For instance such a user > might discern that watching a 1080p60 video on a mobile device would > take up too much bandwidth BEFORE pressing play and having the video > stutter or play too slowly. Similarly, devices could detect this on > their own and report to the user. > > - Frame-accurate subtitle authoring; timing the display of text with > a character's lip movements is a precise art and if it is off by > even a few seconds, it is distracting to the audience. > > - NLE that ingests Edit Decision List (EDL) XML files, which denote > cuts, transitions, etc. in SMPTE timecode, so editors can work on > projects that were originally cut in another NLE. This would be > especially useful for desktop-to-web migration. > > Ian Hickson wrote: > > If you have fixed frame rates, it's trivial to do the conversion > > to and from SMTPE timecode in JavaScript; you don't need any > > direct support from the media element API. > > Yes, but we currently have no way of knowing what fixed frame rate > we are working with, making this kind of conversion impossible > except through pure guesswork. If frame rate is exposed we don't > need SMPTE internally.
If there's still interest, please file a new issue over at https://github.com/whatwg/html/issues/new. Thanks!