How to create a PAL DVD?

ADinelt wrote on 7/2/2005, 3:06 PM
Howdy folks. I live in Canada where we use NTSC for the video format. I recently video taped a wedding for a co-worker and his daughter has gone back to England to live.

How difficult would it be to create a DVD for the PAL video format from NTSC footage so it could be viewed in England?

Is it just a matter of re-rendering to DVD PAL instead of DVD NTSC?

Would the audio audio format be the same between NTSC and PAL?

Is there anything special that would need to be done to the DVD itself when it is authored in order for it to play properly?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide (or step-by-step instructions)...
Al

Comments

IanG wrote on 7/4/2005, 8:29 AM
I think you can get away with just changing your project properties to PAL. If you can point me to some NTSC footage I'll try it out and let you know how I get on.

It may be a non-issue though - most DVD players over here can handle both PAL and NTSC, and quite a few TVs can too. If your co-worker's daughter managed to build up a DVD collection while she was in Canada she may solve the problem for you :-)

Ian G.
ADinelt wrote on 7/4/2005, 9:39 AM
Hi Ian:

Would a .wmv file be okay for testing purposes? If so, you could get a clip from:

http://www.sentimentaljourneys.ca/video/collage.wmv

Your help is very much appreciated.

Thanks...
Al
IanG wrote on 7/4/2005, 11:31 AM
Hi Al

Would wmv be a real test? I'm assuming you're starting with NTSC from your camcorder?

Cheers

Ian G.
ADinelt wrote on 7/4/2005, 12:02 PM
Hi Ian:

I guess you are right about the .wmv file. I thought since it came from NTSC DV that it would be the same, but probably not.

How large of a file would you need to work from? A 12 second clip in NTSC DV .avi format is around 48 meg and 23 meg when zipped. If 23 meg is okay, I can upload it to my website, then send you a link to it.

Thanks...
Al
IanG wrote on 7/4/2005, 2:19 PM
Al

23 meg's no problem - bring it on!

ian G.
ADinelt wrote on 7/4/2005, 3:28 PM
Hi Ian:

I have uploaded the zip file to:

http://www.sentimentaljourneys.ca/video/louie.zip

Let me know if you were able to get it okay or not.

Once again, thanks
Al
IanG wrote on 7/4/2005, 3:56 PM
Al

Everything worked fine - I made a PAL DVD and it played with no problems!

Cheers

Ian G.
ADinelt wrote on 7/4/2005, 5:06 PM
WOW!!! That was fast!!

Did you just re-render the clip to PAL DV than build the DVD?

If so, that's great!

Al
IanG wrote on 7/5/2005, 12:37 AM
Not exactly, I put the original clip on the timeline exactly as supplied, used the PAL DVD template to make the MPEG2 and then DVD-Lab to author the DVD itself. Everything looked and sounded fine, though it was a bit difficult to tell whether the voice had been affected :-). The background music seemed ok though.

Ian G.
ADinelt wrote on 7/5/2005, 8:45 AM
Thanks Ian for all your help. It is really appreciated.

Al