Shooting NTSC with European Light Frequencies to Avoid Flicker

[Adam Brown]

Hi everyone,

Posting this in a couple of different places, looking for some help. I have a question that's never popped up before for me. I'm based in the US, but I'll be doing a shoot in France for a week and I have a request for advice, any answers to my questions, if possible!

I'll be filming in 24P NTSC, and I would normally double my shutter speed to 1/48, but I'm curious about the different electrical power specs, and whether or not I would encounter any flickering with European HMIs, LEDs, etc. If it's relevant, my lights are:

• Aputure 600x
• Aputure 600d
• Arri M18
• Nanlux Evoque 1200
• Joker2 Bug 800

Any advice or recommendations for US-based productions, capturing and editing in NTSC, but filming abroad?

Thanks so much!

 

[Alex Zeder]

Hi Adam, the lights in your list are all flicker free independent of power frequency, so as long as there is no additional light from other sources like regular bulbs, you should be safe using only these.

 

[Adam Brown]

Wonderful to know, Alex. Thanks for the confirmation!

 

[Chris Sharman]

But, to be safe, you can very easily change your shutter speed to 1/50 second.

 

[Alex Zeder]

The "flicker-free" calculator here might also help:
https://www.red.com/flicker-free-video

 

[Alex Lubensky]

As others have already mentioned - cinema lights are usually flicker free, but if your shot incorporates some local lighting (be light bulbs, interior speciality lighting, TV panels etc) - anything 1/50 1/100 should be fine. For a corresponding shutter angle I recommend to install the RED app, it has flicker free angles listed.

Beware that some interior LED strips are really awkward and might have a 1/42 or 1/36 sync time (there's no rule to them) and that's where things with 24p or 30p in Europe can become a complex thing.