Best practise to convert NTSC footage to PAL

Hi,
I have received a drive with NTSC footage and it needs to be edited to made available in both NTSC and PAL format.
Importing the NTSC footage is straight forward, but if I need to encode it out for the PAL format, is there a process available to do this through Premiere Pro?

Harm, I found this query today as I have a similar situation. I shot a memorial service for a client who, after the fact, told me that she needs to send several DVDs to Norway! Knowing that I might be facing a transcoding challenge, I came here and found your reply. With consideration for Todd's point to After Effects (which I suck at, candidly), I am pleased to know that PAL DVD players can handle NTSC encoded stuff. THANK YOU!!!
P.S. I've seen your advice in other areas of the PPro forum and have always appreciated your insight...thanks for that, as well!
Terry W.

Similar Messages

Converting NTSC footage to PAL with compressor 4

Hello, Please can some angel help.
I have PAL and NTSC footage. I want the end output to be PAL.
I have compressor 4. What settings, step by step do I select to change the NTSC footage to PAL.
There is info. on the web all relating to old versions of compresor where there seems to have existing a helpful NTSC/DVD setting where compressor made it clear the setting you needed. This is not an option on Compressor 4 so I am hitting a brick wall.
I would greatly appreciate some advice here.
Thank you
Nicola

What formats are your source files? What format (aside from PAL standard) do you want your output file (s) to be?
Russ

What is best workflow for interpret NTSC footage into PAL project?

Premier Pro CC cutting a film for HD broadcast TV. Majority of footage shot PAL at 1080p, so I made a 1920 x 1080 25p project. Is it okay to make a progressive project for broadcast? Or should I switch to interlaced?
I am supposed to deliver an NTSC tape to the network.
Some footage is 29.97 and 23.97. Is it okay to Interpret footage in bin as 25p PAL and then cut it into my sequence. It seems to play properly; I'm just concerned about problems in the final output. I've read that people duplicate the clip, then interpret to 25fps PAL, and leave the original NTSC alone. This sounds like a good idea. Working on a MacBook Pro Mountain Lion.
When I output the final QT movie, what are the best settings and codec to use for the final
Hi-Res output which I will bring on a drive to a post house to do final CC and layback to tape?
Many thanks in advance.
Patrice Shannon

Convert NTSC <--> PAL http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1209530 may help

How do you convert NTSC footage to PAL?

I've got some footage on a Mini-DV tape recorded with an NTSC camera, which I need to edit in my FCE PAL project. I can playback and see the footage on my Sony DSR-PDX10 DVCam, but FC Express doesn't recognise it when I connect my camera to my computer. Do I need an NTSC camera for that? What should I do?

Hello independentfilmmaker,
after a bit of research it seems that the issue is the signal that the camera is sending out. I'm no geek, but from what I understand the camera sends out an identifying signal to the computer. If that signal differs from the footage that is actually being captured, there is a conflict and you won't be able to capture. Have a look at these:
http://www.dvd-software.info/forums/ftopic1858.html
http://forums.dvdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=17789
So there seems to be a possibility that you might be able to capture using iMovie. I know that it can be done with HDV, since i did it a couple years back using a Sony HVR-A1E to play and capture tapes shot in 1080i60. Alternatively you could try some other capture software:
http://www.bensoftware.com/btv/dlbeta.html
hope this helps
mish

Exporting NTSC footage to PAL: what's the process?

I've got footage that is NTSC SD 720 x 480 res that I need to convert to PAL. Is it as simple as changeing the frame rate to 25 fps on export, or do I need toset up a PAL sequence in FCP, drop my NTSC footage in, then export to PAL?

Beyond the frame rate, the image size is also different (DV/PAL is 720x576)
There are a couple of ways to this standards conversion.
1. Take the final material to a Post house with standards conversion hardware (e.g. Snell & Wilcox, Teranex)
2. Use Compressor to convert frame rate and frame size. Frame Controls set to "best" for both retiming and resizing.
3. Purchase and use Graeme Nattress's Standards Conversion plugin for FCP.
If #1 isn't an option, try #2. If the length of time is daunting, try #3.
All should yield good results
x

Converting ntsc dvd to pal for web

hi , i am based in uk and I have a dvd that apparently is ntsc as it plays in my dvd player and says ntsc region, it plays on the computer to.
I want to take small segments from it to convert to web format , add titles etc and upload to youtube.\
trouble is i cant rip the files to use in final cut pro, tried media streamclip but that produces jerky unusable files with random drop out and colours
I then thought play it realtime into fcp , it will play going by a firewire into capture and i see it but when capturing it stops every few seconds saying there is dropout I unchecked report on droped frames, and abourt on dropout. and capturing without deck control. i then tried to go through my dv camera but that doesnt see the picture only the sound.
I thought I could copy the dvd but it wont work either on my dvd recorder or with toast.
any suggestions how I can do this? does it need converting first if so how?
I am only using a few minutes of at least 90 minutes of footage .
thankyou
ade

>Maybe worth a feature request for CS5?
God in heaven - NO!
As Joe just pointed out, these are 2 completely different TV standards, running on different frame rates at different resolutions.
The results of attempting this "on the fly" with menus etc would very closely resemble a dogs dinner.
>I would therefore guess that you are stuck with copying the menus and other such assets into a new Encore project for each output format.
That won't work.
NTSC is 720x480, PAL is 720x576. They have different PAR as well.
If compliance is what you need, then design your menus in Square Pixels at 720 x 540, and resize the image (in PS) to the required TV standard before importing into Encore. 16/9 is worse, as you need to use different designs for each TV standard. There are no short-cuts.
Asset preparation should be done
i outside
the authoring application, never
i in
it.

Convert NTSC project to PAL

I have a completed video project done in NTSC and want to make the identical project in PAL.
Is there a set protocol to accomplish this?
W

I have done it the other way, as I'm in the UK but you (unless someone can say otherwise) change the format from NTSC to PAL in Encore.
I have gone back into my Premier project and output the original footage from PAL to NTSC format, then dropped that into the Encore project, although you would have to resize your menu accordingly. Not a problem if it's just a basic menu with buttons.
I've found that most people these days have DVD players that play all region DVD's so this may not be a problem.
Hope that helps.

Best workflow for converting NTSC tv show to PAL?

The company I work for edits a TV show in DVCPRO HD 1080i60. We distribute it to a station in Europe, and for about a year we've sent them the programs on DVCAM tape, 16:9 letterbox, NTSC, rendered in a 720x480 sequence, 29.97 fps. I figured they took care of the process of switching it PAL since they never asked us to do anything differently.
Well now they have. Now any tape we send them needs to be in 16:9 anamorphic and PAL.
In regards to the first issue, changing to 16:9 anamorphic seems as simple as clicking the Anamorphic check box in the sequence settings. But the PAL issue has me stumped. An engineer friend told me that all I should have to do is print the program to a PAL DVCAM deck, and that should do the trick. So my thinking is that I export the program as a DVCPRO HD Quicktime file, put that into a PAL 16:9 anamorphic sequence, and print to tape using a PAL deck.
Anything I'm missing? Is it as simple as that or more complicated? Any thoughts are welcome.
jesse.

Sorry fellow Missoulian, it is NOT that simple. FCP doesn't convert the frames rates properly...the proper pulldown removal, frame rate conversion does not happen well in FCP. If you have Avid 4.0...it would. That version does this VERY well. BUT, we are talking FCP.
Best option, output NTSC and send to a dub house to have the conversion done on proper machinery. Bill the client for this dub...unless it is part of the deliverable and therefore part of the money they pay you. If they changed the deliverable to require this conversion, then they should be then paying more money so that you can have this conversion done right.
Second best option, export a self contained QT file, and use Compressor to do the conversion, frame settings set to FULL. The drawback? This takes a LOT of time. And you will have to do tests to see if it looks right, and adjust settings to match.
ME? I send it out of house to be dubbed. But you are in Missoula where that doesn't exist, and finding someone with a KONA/DECKLINK/MATROX card is a challenge.
Shane

Converting h264 720p ntsc footage to pal DVD for a client and get no audio.

Hey,
I tried dropping the rendered video into the encoder first and then tried to render from the h264 timeline to a new PAL DVD file directly and neither one has audio.
Is there something I am missing?
Windows 7 ultimate
8 core AMD R9270x graphics card (Open Cl working great for rendering now)

Most DVD players can handle both PAL (Europe and other countries) and NTSC.
No practical method to change the frames per second rate without introducing other problems.

Converting NTSC sequence to PAL?

I have read through the posts and it seems that this should be possible, but the only thing I have found to steer me along is a post suggesting the use of Standard Conversion, but that link clearly states that it not be considered for sequences in versions 5 and up of FCP. So I am desperate. I have never done this before, totally at sea - can someone tell me the steps and settings needed to convert footage in a HDV NTSC sequence (containing SD footage) to a SD PAL format? Any help or links would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Why not use MPEG STREAMCLIP 1.9.2?
http://www.squared5.com/
You would have to export the Sequence into QuickTime:
1: From FCPro > File/Export/QuickTime Movie
2: Keep all the same settings
3: Uncheck "Make Movie Self Contained"
4: Name and Save your movie.
This will create a referenced movie from the timeline of FCPro.
5: Bring newly created .mov file into MPEG STREAMCLIP
6: Use the file menu Export into whatever you'd like.
Let me know how it works for you!

Best workflow for converting HD footage for broadcast?

I've been banging around the forums for a while tonight looking for someone who's been down this road before, but to no avail. Here goes...
We shoot a weekly "Top 20" show using a Sony XDCAM EX-1 @ 1080p. It's a Top 20 video countdown show, which means that along with my footage (a DJ in a studio as your Top 20 host), I incorporate graphics and music videos ripped from DVD's. The final product from all of this winds up on a local cable channel, which broadcasts SD.
I use the Sony XDCAM Xfer software to convert the data from the SxS card to QT files. (So far, so good.) I open up FCP and place these files into my project. Once I drag one of these clips into my timeline, I'm asked by FCP if I want to change the sequence settings to match the clip I'm putting onto the timeline. I answer "No" (because I've preset the FCP sequence settings to 720x480, since the cable channel broadcasts in SD. Could this be where I'm screwing up?) I bring everything into the timeline (including the ripped videos) and get everything edited nice and tight. But wait...
I've been staring at my Mac monitor this whole time. When I play the project back and look at it using the broadcast monitor, well...it looks sorta sick. Certainly not what I would expect from HD-to-SD footage. Everything looks pixelated and sorta blurry. If it looks this way in the studio, you can imagine what it looks like when it airs on TV. It's not pleasing to the eye.
I would ask about what the best way is to deliver a show like this to a cable channel, but since the stuff on my broadcast monitor looks so crappy, the problem's gotta be home-grown. What am I leaving out?

If you know you are going SD why film in HD at all?
Its not like you are going to be re-airing your shows down the road in HD,
Most likely, the video's you are ripping from DVD are not HD either...
Depending on the deck you are exporting your show to, some of them have a down convert feature, mine does Sony HVR-M25U.
I have a weekly show I do, but I do it all in SD until the channels it broadcasts on will take HD footage.
Though if I am doing a commercial, I usually shoot it HD and leave it HD

How to convert NTSC audio to PAL?

I have converted my PAL video to NTSC but the audio was mixed separately and so it's still set at 25fps and hence becomes out of sync when I lay it against the video track.
So how do I convert the separate audio.aiff files from 25fps to 30fps?
Thx
Kevin

Hi Jim,
Wow right in front of me!
Though when I save it as a .wav file FCP still gets it at 25fps but if I save it as a .stap file it came in as 30fps.
Cheers
Kevin

NEWBIE- CONVERTING NTSC PROJECT TO PAL USING COMPRESSOR (?)

Hi all- thanks for any help you can offer.
I am taking a project(instructional dvd) with six chapters that I have completed in NTSC. I was told that if I want to now go to PAL, that I could go back to final cut pro 5, make quicktime movies of each chapter then put them in compressor with pal settings and make mpeg2's out of them. Then I create a new dvd studio pro project in pal and go from there. When I did that (IS that the way to go?) it seemed as if compressor took waaaay too little time to compress the chapter. Just looking for some advice on the most sure fire way (short of importing and re-editing all my clips in final cut) to convert my ntsc quicktime movies to a pal format that I can use to make a pal dvd.
Thanks so much
suz6
g5 quad Mac OS X (10.4.9) final cut studio fcp 5/ pro dvd studio pro 4

Hi:
Read this recent post in Compressor forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1015451&tstart=0
Hope that helps !
Alberto

Converting NTSC to PAL with chapter markers

Hey guys,
I have just a quick question.
I am making a home made video. I did all the editing in FCP and made a great DVD in iDVD. I would like to do the same thing in PAL format so I can send it to my parents in Europe. My original footage is in NTSC. I did my own research and tried using compressor to change format to PAL.
I tried several different settings (PAL DV, Mpeg 2 PAL) but the outcome movie is always missing chapter markers.
I also tried to import the PAL movie (after conversion in Compressor) to FCP and added chapter markers but did not work.
Does anybody know how to convert the format from NTSC to PAL and keep the chapter markers at the same time? I would like to mantain as high quality as possible.
Thanks for your help.
iMac G5 Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.8)
iMac G5 Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Well, this seemed to work. However, being completely new to converting to PAL, I was surprised to see the "jumpiness" that goes along with the frame rate drop. Looking at it taxes the eyes as it seems like its dropping frames every so often. I realize, through more research that this is due to the 25 FPS nature of PAL plus the fact that I'm converting and not just authoring from PAL material. Having said this, is there a tried and true way of "smoothing" this jumpiness that anyone would share?
A friend of mine suggested that when I place the file into DVDSP, I choose the TOP field in the encoding tab, prior to burning the disk. In the past I have always left the FIELD menu set at Auto. He says that setting it to TOP might help a little.
He also told me that a lot of the software based converters don't do the best of jobs. Although acceptable results may come from tweaking the settings, the best way to convert NTSC to PAL (with the most pleasing results) is by using a very high end converter (not a computer). Although you have to weigh out the circumstances such as how many disks will eventually be converted compared to available budget, is it worth spending a little extra for a master that will ultimately see 1,000 copies?
I'm planning on showing my client the burn with field dominance set to TOP, on Monday. Hopefully she'll find it acceptable and I'll be able to move on with this project. Thanks for all the help!
Steve
Power Mac, G5 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Can Compressor convert my NTSC video to PAL?

I am trying to convert my NTSC footage to PAL. I was given a tip that the key is in the compressing stage and then use Studio Pro and burn a PAL DVD. Is this correct?
Thanks so much!!!! it really helps!!!

i saw you on the other forum.., you got fobbed off to this one.., actually you can 'convert' to PAL in both DVD Pro and Compressor..,
if you can use either at all you already know it.., do you know where the settings are in compressor.., (is your compressor working??).., an you load settings and assign a sourse and a destination.., if you ca do those things you can already 'convert.'
what ever, assuming compressor is working on your puter, open compressor and save a project name (give the project a name.) now in the
hit 'add file' (the icon, top left)
go to the settings/destination window (the window that covers the bottom left of your screen)
click the triangle that says 'apple'
click the triangle that says 'DVD best quality 120 minutes (if thats how long you want it.., as long as your movie is under this time your OK)'
drag that setting to the long strip in the window above (top right), check the sourse so you know where the file is going.
look in the inspector window and click the icon, second from the right, this is your encoding settings.
click, video format; change the setting to PAL.., check the frame rate has changed to 25fps
back at the window, top right, you will see 'submit.'.., hit that and it will send the job to the render window.., watch the magic
the same can be done from the inspector in DVD pro.
if this was too confusing, sorry, .., there must be some tuts somewhere.., try 'larry jordons' web site, or maybe 'peachpit.com'..??
M:)

Best practise to convert NTSC footage to PAL

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