NTSC or PAL to send to Los Angeles Couple? at DVinfo.net

Richard Wakefield · February 10th, 2010, 04:46 AM

Hi all

just a quick question. I'm just about to try and make an NTSC DVD for a couple in Los Angeles (from PAL footage of their wedding last month)

but someone's just told me they should be able to play a PAL DVD?

confused.com! i thought it would be strictly NTSC, but if i don't need to go to any extra effort then please educate me! :)

cheers

Dave Blackhurst · February 10th, 2010, 05:13 AM

If I understand it correctly, you should go with NTSC. Supposedly some DVD players will play back either format (I've actuallly got a couple that "say" they will, but never tried it - now I'm curious...), but your odds are better if you go with the NTSC...

If I've read it correctly, a PAL player is more likely to be able to play back an NTSC disk than vice versa...

Richard Wakefield · February 10th, 2010, 05:40 AM

you're completely right in that last sentence!

oh man, i'll guess i'll just play it safe and do it in NTSC :)

thanks alot though, appreciated

Peter Manojlovic · February 10th, 2010, 11:25 AM

Hey Richard....

If the footage was shot progressive, then simply slow down both audio and video for a 23.976FPS output....
When you encode the 23.976FPS video to Mpeg, simply add the pulldown to the video stream..Whether it's before or after the authouring process is yours to discover.

But this will yield the best quality for your situation...

Howard Neill · February 10th, 2010, 11:48 PM

Have you asked the couple? If they are originally from a PAL country, they might have a set up which will play PAL? Our son lives in the US. He has facilities for playing PAL and NTSC, because a lot of his home movies were shot in PAL. People from SA & UK send him PAL DVDs. That might apply to your couple.

That said, we often make NTSC DVDs using Adobe Premiere Pro. At the time of DVD creation, I check the appropriate option. The render time is a bit longer and the quality suffers in the conversion process.

Cheers

.

Danny O'Neill · February 11th, 2010, 03:10 AM

We had the same dilema with our american couple. NTSC.

Although nearly all modern TV's will play a PAL signal the problem is the DVD player, it may not handle PAL. You should be able to easily slip it to 24p NTSC from your 25p/50i footage. Going to full 30p NTSC will be difficult as it needs frames you dont have.

Richard Wakefield · February 11th, 2010, 10:32 AM

thanks for all your help....it's an easy enough option in encore, so yes, i'll just go NTSC....it's not like i'm faced with this problem all the time, so as a one-off, it's cool :)

Peter Manojlovic · February 11th, 2010, 11:30 AM

An easy option in Encore????

Do you have a screenshot of this??
Do you feed encore the AVI, and let it do the conversion, or are you importing compressed data??
I hope the process Encore uses will yield decent quality...But i'm a bit skeptic.

Richard Wakefield · February 11th, 2010, 01:29 PM

i'm not a compression freak, so don't gun me down on this ;)
but i'll be importing a raw uncompressed avi (shot in PAL), making an NTSC encore project (yes, it's just a NTSC option you click in the project option). quick and easy considering my timeframe...and the fact they landed me with this at the absolute last second...

Bill Engeler · February 11th, 2010, 02:38 PM

Yes, make an NTSC project for sure. Your workflow should be fine.

February 10th, 2010, 04:46 AM	#1
Richard Wakefield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 680	NTSC or PAL to send to Los Angeles Couple? Hi all just a quick question. I'm just about to try and make an NTSC DVD for a couple in Los Angeles (from PAL footage of their wedding last month) but someone's just told me they should be able to play a PAL DVD? confused.com! i thought it would be strictly NTSC, but if i don't need to go to any extra effort then please educate me! :) cheers

February 10th, 2010, 11:25 AM	#4
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	Hey Richard.... If the footage was shot progressive, then simply slow down both audio and video for a 23.976FPS output.... When you encode the 23.976FPS video to Mpeg, simply add the pulldown to the video stream..Whether it's before or after the authouring process is yours to discover. But this will yield the best quality for your situation... Last edited by Peter Manojlovic; February 10th, 2010 at 10:27 PM.

February 10th, 2010, 11:48 PM	#5
Howard Neill Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Town South Africa Posts: 47	Have you asked the couple? If they are originally from a PAL country, they might have a set up which will play PAL? Our son lives in the US. He has facilities for playing PAL and NTSC, because a lot of his home movies were shot in PAL. People from SA & UK send him PAL DVDs. That might apply to your couple. That said, we often make NTSC DVDs using Adobe Premiere Pro. At the time of DVD creation, I check the appropriate option. The render time is a bit longer and the quality suffers in the conversion process. Cheers . __________________ Howard http://www.mfneill.com/ - Cape Town - where two oceans meet

February 11th, 2010, 03:10 AM	#6
Danny O'Neill Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Northampton, UK Posts: 915	We had the same dilema with our american couple. NTSC. Although nearly all modern TV's will play a PAL signal the problem is the DVD player, it may not handle PAL. You should be able to easily slip it to 24p NTSC from your 25p/50i footage. Going to full 30p NTSC will be difficult as it needs frames you dont have. __________________ mintyslippers.com

February 10th, 2010, 05:13 AM	#2
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	If I understand it correctly, you should go with NTSC. Supposedly some DVD players will play back either format (I've actuallly got a couple that "say" they will, but never tried it - now I'm curious...), but your odds are better if you go with the NTSC... If I've read it correctly, a PAL player is more likely to be able to play back an NTSC disk than vice versa...

February 10th, 2010, 05:40 AM	#3
Richard Wakefield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 680	you're completely right in that last sentence! oh man, i'll guess i'll just play it safe and do it in NTSC :) thanks alot though, appreciated

February 11th, 2010, 10:32 AM	#7
Richard Wakefield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 680	thanks for all your help....it's an easy enough option in encore, so yes, i'll just go NTSC....it's not like i'm faced with this problem all the time, so as a one-off, it's cool :)

February 11th, 2010, 11:30 AM	#8
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	An easy option in Encore???? Do you have a screenshot of this?? Do you feed encore the AVI, and let it do the conversion, or are you importing compressed data?? I hope the process Encore uses will yield decent quality...But i'm a bit skeptic.

February 11th, 2010, 01:29 PM	#9
Richard Wakefield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 680	i'm not a compression freak, so don't gun me down on this ;) but i'll be importing a raw uncompressed avi (shot in PAL), making an NTSC encore project (yes, it's just a NTSC option you click in the project option). quick and easy considering my timeframe...and the fact they landed me with this at the absolute last second...

February 11th, 2010, 02:38 PM	#10
Bill Engeler Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Brussels, Belgium Posts: 162	Yes, make an NTSC project for sure. Your workflow should be fine.