PAL or NSTC, how can i tell what format the vid clip is?

Question

The 2nd abbreviation might be wrong...
concerning vid clips
How can you tell what format clips are in before iMovie tells you?
I don't want to combine the formats and cannot figure a way to tell the difference before trying to burn the dvd

Answer 1

At the top of the iMovie project window it will tell you by giving the name you gave to the project as well as 'DV NTSC, or DV NTSC Widescreen.
Somewhat confusingly, when you set your choice of NTSC or PAL in iMovie's preferences when starting a new project (you can't switch later), these are only identified as 29.95 fps (which is NTSC) and 25 fps (which is PAL). Once you have set that, all iMovie projects you start will default to the same until you change it. You cannot combine the formats in the same project.
As you are in the USA yours will probably default to NTSC which is the TV system you use there. In Europe we set it to PAL which is what we use here.
A bit rudely, we also say that NTSC stands for 'Never The Same Colour Twice'!
PAL used to stand for 'Prolongs Active Life', but that was actually the tag-line in a dog food commercial! But they are useful mnemonics to remember them by!