NTSC to PAL

speedy33417 wrote on 4/26/2006, 12:25 PM
Hi,

I need a little help with an NTSC movie to be burned as a PAL DVD.
I've done a couple of them in NTSC and they work great, but when I want to do the same for PAL I'm a little lost.
I do the following when I write the NTSC DVDs.
I open up Vegas Studio 6.0, open the movie file to import it to the timeline. In the properties menu I have the following settings:
Frame rate: 29970 (NTSC), pixel aspect ratio 0.9091 (NTSC DV)
The source file is 720 x 480 pixels.
I select make movie and have it rendered. Then import it to DVD Architect 3.0.
In the project properties menu it's set at NTSC (720x480)
I don't bother with setting up a menu, just select make DVD.

This works great! What do I have to do different so I'll make PAL DVDs?

Thanks for any help in advance.

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 4/26/2006, 12:36 PM
In Vegas, when rendering choose the PAL DV template. Then import that PAL file into DVD Architect. Go to File / Properties and change the video format to Pal (720x576). Prepare and burn.

If you already have your NTSC video and DVD menues set up and don't want to start from scratch you can try using the NTSC DV file and changing DVDA's properties to PAL. It should do as well as the above method.

Lastly, try sending an NTSC version of your DVD along too. It's been reported that most PAL players will play NTSC discs just fine.
speedy33417 wrote on 4/26/2006, 12:51 PM
The problem I had when I tried burning PAL DVDs was that the picture got sliced up pretty bad.
I started rendering in Vegas as you said and I'm getting the same result already as it started the process. Will changing the settings in DVDA fix that and it will look good once it's burned? Or is it kind of you get what you see?

Thanks.
Chienworks wrote on 4/26/2006, 12:55 PM
Can you describe "sliced up"? Most people render from NTSC to PAL with very good results.
speedy33417 wrote on 4/26/2006, 1:59 PM
It's kind of like putting a comb next to the side of your TV and pushing lines of the picture in with it.
It's not too bad when the camera is still, but as soon as the camera pans to the left or right that's when you notice it.
The faster the camera moves the worse it gets.
In NTSC it doesn't do it.
speedy33417 wrote on 4/26/2006, 4:03 PM
Okay, let me try to explain a little better. It's like a stack of quarters lined up great. That's the picture in NTSC.
In PAL one quarter slides a little to the left, the next one to the right, and so on.
When the picture is almost still then it's not so much. When the camera moves it gets worse.

Any idea?
johnmeyer wrote on 4/26/2006, 4:26 PM
Are you seeing this problem in the preview window of DVDA ? Or are you seeing it in the finished DVD, and if so, what player are you using to play it? I created a PAL DVD for one overseas student at the local high school, following similar instructions to those already given in this thread, and for grins I put it into my NTSC DVD player. Much to my surprise, I actually saw a semblance of a picture, but it was all screwed up. Can't remember whether it matched your description or not.
speedy33417 wrote on 4/26/2006, 4:35 PM
I see it in DVDA and I use InterVideo WinDVD on my computer, because I don't have a PAL DVD player.
garo wrote on 4/26/2006, 9:28 PM
from personal experiance I can arrure you that it wilook a LOT better playing on the DVD player than on your computer - jagged edges are caused by your screen and are not present in a real DVD player.
craftech wrote on 4/27/2006, 4:22 AM
What do you guys in Europe do when someone needs a video that will play in France? (SECAM)

John
Xander wrote on 4/27/2006, 10:05 AM
I too have had that problem before. What I do is right click on each video clip and select properties. There should be an option for reduce interface flicker - select that and the problem should disappear.