HDV NTSC to PAL or First Compress to SD? at DVinfo.net

Sharon Pieczenik · July 2nd, 2009, 05:24 PM

Hi Forum - as I learn the in's and out's of Compressor, I still obviously am having a few problems putting pieces together.

Question: I have HDV NTSC 720p 30fps video that I need to make into a PAL DVD. Do I take the reference quicktime of the NTSC video straight into Compressor and convert it to PAL - or - is there some reason why I would want to first downconvert my HDV NTSC to SD NTSC and then take the SD NTSC video into Compressor for PAL.

What I believe: it would be silly to keep compressing the HDV video to SD and then to PAL.

However: my computer has been acting up and not letting me compress the HDV video to PAL directly and I was thinking it might be because for some weird reason I first have to convert the video to SD.

Thoughts?

Hopefully this is just a weird computer thing and by tomorrow it will be happy to compress my HDV NTSC into PAL DVD. But I thought that while my computer thinks about its misbehaving, I might as well shoot this question/scenario to the forum.

Thanks!
Sharon

Brian David Melnyk · July 3rd, 2009, 01:57 AM

here is a thread of interest with great compressor settings for NTSC HDV to PAL.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/non-linea...-workflow.html

not sure why your computer is refusing to cooperate, though...
compressor has been a little malicious to me in the past, but i have used Pacifist, a shareware app, to analyze the compressor install, and if items are missing (such as codecs) i install just these items with Pacifist.

Dominik Seibold · July 3rd, 2009, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian David Melnyk

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/non-linea...-workflow.html

That workflow is for 1080i, not for 720p.
The workflow you need is very simple:
1. Select the appropriate compressor-pal-dvd-preset
2. Set the resize-filter to best
3. Set the rate-conversion to good, better or best (depending on your personal processing-time vs. result-quality tradeoff demand)

But...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharon Pieczenik

However: my computer has been acting up and not letting me compress the HDV video to PAL directly and I was thinking it might be because for some weird reason I first have to convert the video to SD.

Thoughts?

Could you be more precise?

Shaun Roemich · July 3rd, 2009, 08:40 AM

Sharon: I can't help you with the computer acting up bit but I can reassure you that when Compressor is working properly, I get GREAT encodes to NTSC DVD using the preset that the DVDSP Apple Certified Training book gave me on my 720P60 material. No need to go to SD first.

Settings as follow:Name: MPEG-2 General Purpose
Description: 4.5Mbps, 2-Pass VBR, Auto
File Extension: m2v
Estimated file size: 1.98 GB/hour of source
Type: MPEG-2 video elementary stream
Usage:SD DVD
Video Encoder
Format: M2V
Width and Height: Automatic
Pixel aspect ratio: Default
Crop: None
Padding: None
Frame rate: (100% of source)
Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off
Start timecode from source
Aspect ratio: Automatic
Selected 4:3
Field dominance: Automatic
Average data rate: 4.5 (Mbps)
2 Pass VBR enabled
Maximum data rate: 7.5 (Mbps)
High quality
Best motion estimation
Closed GOP Size: 1/2 second, Structure: IBBP
DVD Studio Pro meta-data enabled

And for audio:
Name: Dolby Digital -31
Description: No description
File Extension: ac3
Estimated file size: 82.4 MB/hour of source
Audio Encoder
Format: AC3
Sample Rate: 48.000kHz
Channels: Automatic
Bits Per Sample: 16
Target System: DVD Video
Data Rate: 192 kbps
Compression Preset: None
Audio Coding Mode: Automatic
BitStream Mode: Complete Main
Center Mix Level: -3dB
Surround Mix Level: -3dB
Dolby Surround Mode: None
LFE Exists: No
Dialog Normalization: -31 dbFS
Copyright Exists: Yes
Original Content: Yes
Audio Production Information Exists: No
RF Overmodulation Protection: Off
Channel Bandwidth Lowpass Filter: On
DC Highpass Filter: On
LFE Channel Lowpass Filter: On
3dB Attenuation: Off
phase 90: On
Deemphasis: Off

Sharon Pieczenik · July 3rd, 2009, 11:10 AM

Thank you everybody! This is all very helpful!!!!

The computer acting up...it was just refusing to compress when I dragged DVD PAL settings to my movie clip. And it was even having a hard time loading the video reference file. It isn't really my computer. It is a computer at a university. Those computers are always having issues. But they are definitely faster than my MacBook Pro when they are working.

Cheers,
Sharon

July 2nd, 2009, 05:24 PM	#1
Sharon Pieczenik Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bozeman, MT Posts: 118	HDV NTSC to PAL or First Compress to SD? Hi Forum - as I learn the in's and out's of Compressor, I still obviously am having a few problems putting pieces together. Question: I have HDV NTSC 720p 30fps video that I need to make into a PAL DVD. Do I take the reference quicktime of the NTSC video straight into Compressor and convert it to PAL - or - is there some reason why I would want to first downconvert my HDV NTSC to SD NTSC and then take the SD NTSC video into Compressor for PAL. What I believe: it would be silly to keep compressing the HDV video to SD and then to PAL. However: my computer has been acting up and not letting me compress the HDV video to PAL directly and I was thinking it might be because for some weird reason I first have to convert the video to SD. Thoughts? Hopefully this is just a weird computer thing and by tomorrow it will be happy to compress my HDV NTSC into PAL DVD. But I thought that while my computer thinks about its misbehaving, I might as well shoot this question/scenario to the forum. Thanks! Sharon

July 3rd, 2009, 08:40 AM	#4
Shaun Roemich Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia (formerly Winnipeg, Manitoba) Canada Posts: 4,088	Sharon: I can't help you with the computer acting up bit but I can reassure you that when Compressor is working properly, I get GREAT encodes to NTSC DVD using the preset that the DVDSP Apple Certified Training book gave me on my 720P60 material. No need to go to SD first. Settings as follow:Name: MPEG-2 General Purpose Description: 4.5Mbps, 2-Pass VBR, Auto File Extension: m2v Estimated file size: 1.98 GB/hour of source Type: MPEG-2 video elementary stream Usage:SD DVD Video Encoder Format: M2V Width and Height: Automatic Pixel aspect ratio: Default Crop: None Padding: None Frame rate: (100% of source) Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off Start timecode from source Aspect ratio: Automatic Selected 4:3 Field dominance: Automatic Average data rate: 4.5 (Mbps) 2 Pass VBR enabled Maximum data rate: 7.5 (Mbps) High quality Best motion estimation Closed GOP Size: 1/2 second, Structure: IBBP DVD Studio Pro meta-data enabled And for audio: Name: Dolby Digital -31 Description: No description File Extension: ac3 Estimated file size: 82.4 MB/hour of source Audio Encoder Format: AC3 Sample Rate: 48.000kHz Channels: Automatic Bits Per Sample: 16 Target System: DVD Video Data Rate: 192 kbps Compression Preset: None Audio Coding Mode: Automatic BitStream Mode: Complete Main Center Mix Level: -3dB Surround Mix Level: -3dB Dolby Surround Mode: None LFE Exists: No Dialog Normalization: -31 dbFS Copyright Exists: Yes Original Content: Yes Audio Production Information Exists: No RF Overmodulation Protection: Off Channel Bandwidth Lowpass Filter: On DC Highpass Filter: On LFE Channel Lowpass Filter: On 3dB Attenuation: Off phase 90: On Deemphasis: Off __________________ Shaun C. Roemich Road Dog Media - Vancouver, BC - Videographer - Webcaster www.roaddogmedia.ca Blog: http://roaddogmedia.wordpress.com/

July 3rd, 2009, 01:57 AM	#2
Brian David Melnyk Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Winnipeg Canada Posts: 532	here is a thread of interest with great compressor settings for NTSC HDV to PAL. http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/non-linea...-workflow.html not sure why your computer is refusing to cooperate, though... compressor has been a little malicious to me in the past, but i have used Pacifist, a shareware app, to analyze the compressor install, and if items are missing (such as codecs) i install just these items with Pacifist.

July 3rd, 2009, 11:10 AM	#5
Sharon Pieczenik Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bozeman, MT Posts: 118	Thank you everybody! This is all very helpful!!!! The computer acting up...it was just refusing to compress when I dragged DVD PAL settings to my movie clip. And it was even having a hard time loading the video reference file. It isn't really my computer. It is a computer at a university. Those computers are always having issues. But they are definitely faster than my MacBook Pro when they are working. Cheers, Sharon