[cj550]

I shot some footage on a PAL miniDV which i then put onto a PAL DVD- is there anyway i can convert the PAL DVD to the NTSC standard? thanks

[jaymac]

Yes with IFO edit which is free
Tutorial here http://www.digital-digest.com/articl...DVD_page1.html
It may look daunting but straightforwar just amatter of renaming any Pal file as ntsc

[senu]

Im not sure how IFO edit works ( and it may well be all you need) but if renaming it is all it takes, then it is doing a lot in the background

Turning PAL footage to NTSC involves changing both the frame rate ( from 25 to 30) and Pixel size
This is called transcoding
Doing it can be as simple as importing the PAL footage in to any video editing program ( or a DVD authoring titles capable of editing like Ulead MF6) then specifying output as NTSC
The quality of results can vary

[jaymac]

Whatever it does Senu I can assure you it works fine with no noticeable loss in quality. It really is as straight forward as changing the pal/ntsc etc to whichever is required as the tutorial shows .simply a matter of renaming and ticking boxesThis was done with a commercial ntsc dvd which could not be played despite the dvd player supposedly being able to play either .

[senu]

Great...,
and even better.. its Free

[redsox_mark]

Interesting. It seems IFO edit doesn't actually change the format, it can make a PAL disc appear as if it was NTSC or an NTSC disk appear as PAL.

http://forum.videohelp.com/topic221928.html

So if it works, then great. From the above link it seems that it may not work on all players.

[jaymac]

Many people have problems playing home made dvd's on all players for various reasons .I doubt if all the problems could be attributed to Ifo's method.

[redsox_mark]

I don't know how reliable the IFO "patch" method is. And it is certainly worth a try.

It is more from a technical viewpoint that I was curious; as PAL and NTSC have different frame rates and resolution.

With the IFO method, if "converting" PAL to NTSC (for example), the "NTSC" disc will contain 720x576, 25 fps video (i.e. "PAL" video), but the disc will appear to the player as if it is NTSC. Because of the appearance, any NTSC player will try to play it, the question is then how it copes when it gets different frame rate and resolution than it expects.

If I wanted to do a conversion to play in a specific DVD player, or send to a friend to try it, I would try this. If I wanted to sell DVDs to an NTSC market, or send to many people without being able to test their players, I would do a proper conversion and make a real NTSC DVD (with 29.97 fps 720x480 video).

[jaymac]

Appreciate that Mark regards selling etc., but in my case this was someone who had purchased An All Region Dvd which was ntsc only despite the player supposedly being able to do Pal/Ntsc there was no video . Ifo resolved this I tried it with 3 ntsc movies first before suggesting it and no problems with either of my players

[senu]

Most current DVD players ( for the UK) can play NTSC discs.. and many Non region 2 . Indeed there are Region 2 NTSC discs

Many North American Players can only play NTSC. Im pretty sure there are no Region 1 Pal discs

As IFO edit is free and the patch painless to apply and try on a test disc, it is well worth trying out
While it is true that "non Commercial " discs from DVD-R may not always past the compatibility test, it is also perhaps prudent to not totally ignore the obvious when region change is achieved like this
It can also muddy the waters when supposedly region free DVD players are not so in practice..

[cj550]

thanks for info

Mark you said- "If I wanted to sell DVDs to an NTSC market, or send to many people without being able to test their players, I would do a proper conversion and make a real NTSC DVD (with 29.97 fps 720x480 video)".

Can you let me know how i would do the proper conversion on my PAL DVD? thanks

[redsox_mark]

I would use my video editor (Sony Vegas in my case), to re-encode it as NTSC. (In fact I do this regularly, as I have family in the USA, and send them DVDs of my camcorder "classics").

Ideally, work from the original DV source clips (rather than re-encode the MPEG2 on DVD). If this isn't possible, you can do it from the DVD (providing your editor supports it).

The quality of the conversion will depend on the software used, and how good of a job it does at this.

[jaymac]

CJ had you not said the footage was already on dvd I would'nt have suggested Ifo but one no guarantee however you do it your exported disc will play Two I If you choose to redo it all again from dvd to editor to dvd more chance of quality loss depending on your editor

[senu]

Originally Posted by jaymac

CJ had you not said the footage was already on dvd I would'nt have suggested Ifo but one no guarantee however you do it your exported disc will play

Why not?

Two I If you choose to redo it all again from dvd to editor to dvd more chance of quality loss depending on your editor

True
However it would also depend on which

A conversion ( transcode) will involve re-encoding .. once

I think that for personal use and a Painless conversion, the IFO edit Patch method is well worth trying
However I believe the potential for loss of quality is far less than the slim chances of playback DVD-R incompatibility and it really is best to transcode with the best available software to create real NTSC material if the DVDs are going to be used by a wider audience

This is even more so if the transcode is from the source DV AVI rather than mpeg2 ( which a DVD has)
However having done conversion in Canopus Procoder 2 for one us us on here from an NTSC DVD to PAL i know it is do able, and loss of quality may not be that much.This is even more so going from NTSC to PAL

[cj550]

thanks again for info, I have found the option in Pinnacle Studio where it gives a choice of TV Standard either PAL or NTSC so going to try making a NTSC DVD but I havent done any video editing for quite a while and am still quite new to it but when i hook up the miniDV camcorder to capture footage i get three options in Pinnacle Studio 9
1. DV Full quality
2. MPEG Capture
3. Preview quality

upto now i've been choosing the DV Full quality option, but i've seen from posts about MPEG2 on DVD? Should i be capturing on MPEG?

When i get to the 'Make Movie' stage in Pinnacle Studio i'm given several options including- AVI, MPEG and DISC. I have always choosen DISC and Pinnacle burns the footage straight away onto a DVD (4.7GB I get about 1 Hr footage) Should i be clicking MPEG and saving file to desktop and then burn DVD in Nero would this be better quality? thanks

[senu]

Originally Posted by cj550

thanks again for info, I have found the option in Pinnacle Studio where it gives a choice of TV Standard either PAL or NTSC so going to try making a NTSC DVD but I havent done any video editing for quite a while and am still quite new to it but when i hook up the miniDV camcorder to capture footage i get three options in Pinnacle Studio 9
1. DV Full quality
2. MPEG Capture
3. Preview quality

upto now i've been choosing the DV Full quality option, but I've seen from posts about MPEG2 on DVD? Should i be capturing on MPEG?

No. continue to capture and edit as DV full quality.
DV does not have "generational quality loss" that occurs with editing effects ect that mpeg can suffer from. If you capture and edit in preview quality, the software will still need to recapture the full quality footage and apply the edits
It is my experience that even when you capture in mpeg, it should be for short lengths, you should minimise editing. If you are unlucky to capture as mpeg and do extensive editing, you will definitely lose quality through repeated rerendering and spend a lot of time at it as the rerendering takes time

When i get to the 'Make Movie' stage in Pinnacle Studio i'm given several options including- AVI, MPEG and DISC. I have always choosen DISC and Pinnacle burns the footage straight away onto a DVD (4.7GB I get about 1 Hr footage) Should i be clicking MPEG and saving file to desktop and then burn DVD in Nero would this be better quality? thanks

Not nessesarily , Nero should not re encode the mpeg files produced in Pinnacle Studio and results may be near identical
However if you output as DV AVI and then used Nero Vision, you would be comparing the mpeg encoder in Nero with that of Pinnacle as you would have used different encoders to produce the mpeg which results in the DVD video
Also thier default settings may be different ad the comparison not really valid
but
Where you wish to produce an NTSC disc from PAL footage, it would be the time to create an NTSC disc ( if possible) , or create an NTSC mpeg2, then use Nero Vision, or Ulead Movie Factory Ect, to produce your DV video

[redsox_mark]

Yes, as Senu says.
Edit your PAL DV. You then have a choice:
1. Render to NTSC DV (avi); then use this to author a DVD (will require a further render to MPEG2), or
2. Render straight to NTSC MPEG2, and use this to author the DVD.

I use the second option. I edit my PAL DV (or HDV) in Vegas. When done, I render 2 versions: One to PAL MPEG2 (for PAL DVD), one to NTSC MPEG2 (for NTSC DVD).

[jaymac]

You started this thread with how do I convert a dvd etc., are you now saying tou have it on Tape

[senu]

Originally Posted by jaymac

You started this thread with how do I convert a dvd etc., are you now saying tou have it on Tape

It may be that he has the original footage on tape as well and did not initially feel it was worth going back to as he has made a DVD

It is in the area of transcoding that it would be better to do it from the original DV PAL footage on tape than from the encoded mpeg on DVD

Essentially he could use the ISO edit patch method from a DVD ( As you suggested)
Transcode already encoded PAL mpeg to NTSC
or
Start the Edit as PAL DV AVI, output as DV AVI ( NTSC) and create an NTSC for DVD from that
Or
Render the PAL DV direct to NTSC Mpeg

Different methods:Same goal

I would imagine the idea is to use that which preserves quality, ensures best compatibility and where time is premium.. uses the minimum time to achieve these

[cj550]

sorry for late reply have been away, yes should have said i had original DV tapes! thanks for all the great information will let you know how i get on