need to convert NTSC footage to PAL

[maharzan]

Hey I have shot a video and is on NTSC. I am trying to export it into PAL and have failed / wasted several DVDs as it doesn't seems to play the video on my DVD player. Maybe it doesn't support MPEG-2. It does have DVD/MPEG-4 written although I guess it meant MP-4 or something.

I ahve searched this forum and google but haven't actually found any solid information about it. So, if anyone knows of any tips... please do share.

I also tried with DVD architect. although, my computer seems to play the video, the dvd player doesn't so I am not sure what the problem is. I want to make a PAL DVD so people can play around in the DVD players or TV.

[Lunchbox]

You didn't tell us what you did to convert to PAL. Besides, when you are done, you tested it with a PAL DVD player connected to a PAL TV?

[CycleWriter]

Like Lunchbox said, once you make a PAL formatted DVD from your NTSC content, unless you have PAL playback and viewing equipment you'll have no way to verify your DVDs will work. Don't toss the DVDs you made, they may actually be good.

[maharzan]

I have created mpeg-2 DVD PAL default setting from Sony Vegas and write it on a DVD through DVD architect.

It may be the data rate but when I play the DVD on the player, I can only hear the sound no video.. but doesn't DVD support 8Mbps bitrate for video (I think that was there by default). My DVD player does play movie DVD's that come locally. I want to know how they make those...

Yes, I am in PAL country so I guess the DVD does play PAL. Its connected to SONY Trinitron TV (which should play both PAL and NTSC)..

I will be also testing with another DVD player to see if its the only defect of that player..

Any ideas?

[maharzan]

BTW, how do they convert movie into DVDs?

Are movies in 24p originally? and they convert into 30p for NTSC and 25p for PAL ?? how does it work?

[CycleWriter]

24p and 30p have nothing to do with the format a movie is output to DVD in. They refer only to the frame rate that the footage was shot at, not format. Are you downconverting to SD in order to make DVDs? You can't burn HD format to a standard DVD of PAL or NTSC variety. To stay in HD you need to output Blu-Ray format and playback must be on a Blu-Ray player.

[maharzan]

I am looking to make a standard DVD (playable in PAL machines) from the footage I have taken. I don't need HD (I don't have HD players/Blu-Ray players).

[CycleWriter]

Are you shooting in SD or HD? In any case, you need to lower the bitrate down to about 5k for DVD and use MPG2 for rendering as that is the standard DVD format. Unfortunately, some DVD players have problems playing DVDs made on the computer. It can be the brand of media that causes problems or the quality of your burner and the type of DVD media you're using. Here in the US, DVD+R is more compatible with players than DVD-R media. You might try a different brand/type and see if that helps.

[Lunchbox]

Respectfully, I would say the other way.. DVD+R has many technical advantage over DVD-R in data storage (e.g. background UDF formating). But DVD-R has a higher set-top DVD player compatibility than DVD+R.

Also, regarding bit-rate, MPEg-2 in 8mbps is pretty safe to encode. If you are using Adobe Media Encoder, 5mbps will show lots of artifacts.

[maharzan]

I am using DVD-R and yes the rate i used it 8Mbps for vid which is by default in DVD architect Pro. And I did export it to MPEG-2 first.

I will try with a bit lower bitrate and see..

[bigjezza]

BTW, how do they convert movie into DVDs?

Are movies in 24p originally? and they convert into 30p for NTSC and 25p for PAL ?? how does it work?

For NTSC, they use telecine.

For PAL, sometimes they speed up the movie a very tiny bit. Sometimes they telecine.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine

[bigjezza]

Hey

The max video bitrate of a DVD made to spec is 9.8 Mbits.

You adjust the average bitrate to one that allows you to fit the entire movie on the disc. Ie. if it is a very short clip, you could have the avg. bitrate at 9 mbit, and if you have a very long feature film it might need to be 2 mbit.

What happens if you rip a PAL DVD to your computer, then burn it. Will the DVD player work with the copy of the DVD? If it does play that copy, there is a problem in the Vegas/DA workflow of yours.

[CycleWriter]

Respectfully, I would say the other way.. DVD+R has many technical advantage over DVD-R in data storage (e.g. background UDF formating). But DVD-R has a higher set-top DVD player compatibility than DVD+R.

Also, regarding bit-rate, MPEg-2 in 8mbps is pretty safe to encode. If you are using Adobe Media Encoder, 5mbps will show lots of artifacts.

That's not been my understanding or experience.

http://www.signvideo.com/btst-d.htm

http://www.osta.org/technology/dvdqa/dvdqa5.htm

While DVD-R has been around longer and can be found in more devices, almost all devices made in the past 3-4 years support DVD+R, and many car players prefer it. I have used both and for some reason I have more playback problems with -R media and have been happily using +R for the past 2 years. But that's just me, I guess.

[Terfyn]

I asked the question of Pinnacle Support.

Here is my question:-

I have the UK version of Studio 12+. Can I CAPTURE in NTSC, Edit and then convert output to PAL for a DVD?

Here is their answer:_

Yes, Studio is able to work in both formats .

The format of the project needs to be set before adding any kind of video on the timeline .
If you set the project in NTSC ( from setup - project preferences ) and then start to import videos on the timeline even though they are PAL the resulted disk from this project will be in NTSC .

So I guess that if you set up in PAL and Capture in NTSC it will work OK.
Hope this helps.