Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
• Blue strips are movies.
• Purple strips are image sequences.
• Aqua strips are sound.
• Green strips are Blender scenes.
Each type of effect strip also has a distinct color, to make each easier to distinguish when the different types
occur together in the editing area.
More on Codecs
The Xvid codec was used for the sample .avi file on the website for this topic. Xvid is a very good open-source
codec for creating small but relatively high-quality videos for personal use. You can download the codec at
www.xvid.org if you don't already have it installed on your system. The .mov file was encoded as a QuickTime
MPEG-4 file. For playing back both videos outside Blender, VLC is among the best no-frills video players avail-
able. Installing VLC automatically installs a variety of useful codecs onto your system. You can download the
latest VLC player at www.videolan.org . The best-known streaming video-sharing sites such as YouTube and
Vimeo are pretty forgiving in terms of what codec you upload. They can convert almost anything.
Setting Frame Rates
The frame rate of a video is the number of frames that make up a second of normal-speed play. The frame rate
is expressed in frames per second (fps). The most commonly used frame rates are as follows:
• 24 fps is typical for 16-mm and 35-mm film.
• 25fpsisoftenusedwiththePALtelevision encodingsystem,theencodingsystemusedinEurope,much
of Africa, and elsewhere in the world.
• 30 fps is often used for high-definition TV.
• 29.97 fps originated as a technical adjustment to the 30 fps frame rate to enable the introduction of color
television, and has remained a standard frame rate ever since.
Digital video files can come in any of these or other frame rates.
When you add a video to the Blender VSE, Blender calculates the video frame rate based on the frame rate
value you have set in the Render properties area, shown in Figure 11-8 . After you have imported the video, the
time spanned by that video strip is fixed. If you change the frame rate and re-render, the number of frames that
make up the video will be altered to adjust for the difference.
 
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