Frame Rate
Also known as: fps, frames per second
Frame rate (frames per second, fps) is how many individual images your camera captures each second. This means higher frame rates freeze fast motion better and produce more reliable pose tracking.
Swing analysis depends on tracking joint positions across time. At 30 fps a standard slow swing may be readable, but a baseball swing or a fast-pitch delivery can blur critical positions between frames. Most modern phones can record at 60 or 120 fps in slow-motion mode. SwingVantage recommends at least 60 fps for accurate analysis and will note lower frame rates as a quality limitation when they affect confidence. Frame rate is one of the factors the Video Quality Score evaluates on its own.
Switch your phone camera to slow-motion or high-frame-rate mode before recording. For most phones, 60 fps is the minimum; 120 fps is better for fast swings.
At 240 fps on supported devices, Motion Lab can resolve wrist position at impact to within a single frame. This means useful for diagnosing contact timing faults that disappear at normal frame rates.
Example
A baseball swing recorded at 30 fps misses the contact point between frames; the same swing at 120 fps captures it clearly for exact analysis.
How it shows up on video
At low frame rates, fast joints (wrist, elbow) appear to jump or blur between frames in the skeleton overlay rather than moving smoothly. This means a visible sign that key positions were missed.
Common mistakes
- Assuming standard video mode (24–30 fps) is fine for swing analysis — it misses the fastest part of most swings.
- Using slow-motion playback without checking that the recording frame rate actually increased.
- Forgetting that higher frame rates produce larger files that take longer to upload and process.
- Confusing playback speed (slow-motion effect) with capture frame rate — what matters is how many frames were captured, not how fast the video plays back.
In SwingVantage Motion Lab
Motion Lab uses every recorded frame as a time step for the 3D avatar. At 30 fps the timeline is coarse; at 120 fps the scrubber reveals fine positional details at impact that are invisible at lower rates.
Frequently asked questions
What frame rate should I use?
Aim for 60 fps minimum. For fast swings (baseball, softball, cricket), 120 fps or higher is strongly preferred.
Related terms
- Video Quality ScoreA Video Quality Score is a pre-analysis rating (0–100) that tells you how usable a submitted clip is before pose estimation begins. This means catching bad angles, motion blur, or poor lighting early.
- Pose EstimationPose estimation is the computer-vision process that detects the positions of major body joints (keypoints) in each video frame. This produces the skeleton that SwingVantage uses to measure angles and movement patterns.
- Phone Video LimitationsPhone video limitations are the practical constraints of recording on a smartphone. This means lens distortion, stabilization artifacts, variable frame rate, and compressed color depth. This means that can reduce analysis accuracy relative to purpose-built cameras.
- Mobile Motion CaptureMobile motion capture is the process of using a smartphone camera and on-device pose estimation to track body movement in real time or from a recorded clip. This means no specialized hardware required.
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