pal or ntsc at DVinfo.net

Daniel Jackson · August 15th, 2010, 08:29 AM

I am shooting a corporate training video that will have to be shown all over the place including New Zealand, Japan, throughout Europe and in the US. I have to provide about 100 dvds. I was wondering what is best to do in this situation, half PAL and half NTSC? Is there a preferred PAL country code when distributing all over the place? Most PAL dvd players can convert NTSC so is NTSC preferred?

Is shooting 24p problematic when considering dual formats?

Thanks for your help!

Dave Partington · August 24th, 2010, 01:18 PM

I would shoot in NTSC and produce an NTSC DVD - then render out / convert for PAL and make a separate PAL version if that's possible (don't know what your distribution method is).

Don't embed any country codes / regions. DVD is an 'opt-out' method rather than 'opt-in' region code system. If you don't specify regions then it will play everywhere (region free).

In terms of shooting 24p, you could do that then simply convert it to 25p later. The video will play about 4% faster at 25p than 24p though, which is what often happens with Hollywood DVDs in Europe.

Nigel Barker · August 25th, 2010, 03:41 AM

As PAL is higher resolution than NTSC (720x576 vs. 720x480) wouldn't it make more sense to shoot & edit in PAL & when authoring first produce a PAL version then an NTSC version?

Shooting 24fps & then converting to 29.97fps will be more problematic than converting to 25fps.

Tito Haggardt · August 25th, 2010, 04:15 PM

i think that the most imortant thing is the power source during production. if if your shooting the video in a pal country its 50megahertz/ 60 for USA and Japan. if you shoot PAL under 60 megahertz lights you get a flicker that you cannot fix.
not a problem if you are shooting natural light.
Also PALconverts to NTSC easily. Its not so easy the other way, NTSC to PAL.
after you render either format to a DVD format (Mpeg 2) it will play anywhere or an Mpeg 4 if its going to be played on a computer.
but i could be wrong
aloha
tito

August 15th, 2010, 08:29 AM	#1
Daniel Jackson Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Claymont, Delaware Posts: 25	pal or ntsc I am shooting a corporate training video that will have to be shown all over the place including New Zealand, Japan, throughout Europe and in the US. I have to provide about 100 dvds. I was wondering what is best to do in this situation, half PAL and half NTSC? Is there a preferred PAL country code when distributing all over the place? Most PAL dvd players can convert NTSC so is NTSC preferred? Is shooting 24p problematic when considering dual formats? Thanks for your help! Last edited by Daniel Jackson; August 15th, 2010 at 08:30 AM. Reason: capitalization!

August 24th, 2010, 01:18 PM	#2
Dave Partington Trustee Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: York, England Posts: 1,323	I would shoot in NTSC and produce an NTSC DVD - then render out / convert for PAL and make a separate PAL version if that's possible (don't know what your distribution method is). Don't embed any country codes / regions. DVD is an 'opt-out' method rather than 'opt-in' region code system. If you don't specify regions then it will play everywhere (region free). In terms of shooting 24p, you could do that then simply convert it to 25p later. The video will play about 4% faster at 25p than 24p though, which is what often happens with Hollywood DVDs in Europe. __________________ Qualified UAV Pilot with CAA PFAW Aerial Photo / Aerial Video \| Corporate Video Production

August 25th, 2010, 03:41 AM	#3
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	As PAL is higher resolution than NTSC (720x576 vs. 720x480) wouldn't it make more sense to shoot & edit in PAL & when authoring first produce a PAL version then an NTSC version? Shooting 24fps & then converting to 29.97fps will be more problematic than converting to 25fps.

August 25th, 2010, 04:15 PM	#4
Tito Haggardt Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Ocean View Hawaii Posts: 88	i think that the most imortant thing is the power source during production. if if your shooting the video in a pal country its 50megahertz/ 60 for USA and Japan. if you shoot PAL under 60 megahertz lights you get a flicker that you cannot fix. not a problem if you are shooting natural light. Also PALconverts to NTSC easily. Its not so easy the other way, NTSC to PAL. after you render either format to a DVD format (Mpeg 2) it will play anywhere or an Mpeg 4 if its going to be played on a computer. but i could be wrong aloha tito