Burning NTSC vs. PAL

I have moved a great deal of my DVD library into iTunes and have never cared about NTSC v PAL. However, I may be moving from the US to a country where PAL is the standard.
What should I be worried about? Are the videos in my library going to be usable and, if so, how?
I'm assuming I can still view them on my iPad but what about on a TV monitor?

You don't say which country you are moving to but generally TVs in PAL countries can also show NTSC video from a source. You can also set the output from an iPad and other devices to be PAL.

Similar Messages

Burning NTSC movie on PAL disk

I decided to burn NTSC movie on a PAL disk using IDVD. The computer warned me about my action but I decided to go through with it and I got a surprise. The first DVD came out O.K but when I inserted another blank DVD for another copy, the IDVD encoder hung up and created a frisbee.
The next step I took was to transform my NTSC movie to PAL (Changed frames/s from 30 to 25) before using IDVD and choosing PAL disk. My IDVD menu movie clips were left in NTSC format, by mistake, and there was no computer warning. This time after burning two DVD's the third was a frisbee when the encoder crashed again. Each time I had to restart the computer.
Has anyone experienced the same problem ?
Is this a problem with software or my Mac ?

Not sure about the NTSC/Pal issue, but you might create a disk image and then burn a DVD-R. I use Verbatim exclusively.

DVD Burn - NTSC/PAL

I've got an old video clip that I'm trying to burn to DVD. Whether I try Toast, or iMovie/iDVD, when I go to burn, it "defaults" to PAL.
Even if I set it to burn NTSC, when I click "burn" it defaults back to PAL.
Any suggestions?
Thanks

What version of Toast? When I try to do this it asks first.

DVD burn for a French Mother-in-Law: NTSC or PAL?

Hi All,
I've just finished a DVD slideshow of my recent wedding to send to my Mother-in-Law in france. Should I burn it using NTSC or PAL format?
I remember there's a problem of watching videos taped in France in the UK...
Many Thanks
Paul

sorry Sue to correct you (you're reading the wrong books <<THAT was a joke! only Sue understands....)...
don't mix two things:
video standards and region codes....
Europe is rc2 and PAL (...well, France is SECAM... but for DVD it is... PAL)
so, iDVD creates rc0 (=playable everywhere), BUT you shouldn't use it for video-conversion... luckyly, our European DVDstandalones accept NTSC DVDs and most Tellys are able to show the content..... (not vice versa with US/NTSC land)
Spud, you haven't told us what video standard you did the recording...? (huuu, this is an international board.... , world's a little larger then... letssay Illinois... )
if NTSC- stay NTSC and wait for mother's commends...
if you need a video-standard conversion, use JES Deinterlacer for converting movie (export from iM as dv stream/let SC convert/import new file into iDVD)

Follow up from Real Pro thread - NTSC and PAL and AVCHD and FCE

Interesting topic line but can I just check one thing out from PAL land.
With an HD/AVCHD camera it is not recording in either PAL or NTSC as this is a analogue mode - so the issue issue of format is only relevant if i playback on a analogue TV. We have a digital tv so i record on AVCHD, deal in that format in FCE and burn to DVD (not sure in what format) play on DVD player through the digital TV.
If that is all correct then why do the manufacturers, in my case Canon HF10, talk about an NTSC and PAL version and then price differently - comparing the spec sheets from the Canon site I can see no difference. Am I missing something?

Hi Tom
The thing i was trying to establish was whether really there was a difference (other than price ) in the so called versions of the Canon HF10. The specs are exactly the same. My assumption is that as the cam records in AVCHD unless you intend to play back thro a PAL or NTSC TV (bearing in mind most European PAL sets play NTSC as well) it makes no odds which camera.
My plan- and this is what I need to check - is to record and import into FCE taking your advice not to record in the highest quality to save rendering on import. After editing can export through FCE to PAL or NTSC DVD version for playing on TV.
Does that sound right
PS I have found your book on FCE very helpful to date !!!!

Ntsc vs pal

pal vs ntsc
Posted: Oct 18, 2006 8:27 AM Reply Email
i got some footage of a wedding that was shot in ntsc format on vhs that was burnt do a dvd. i recorded the dvd onto my computer using final cutpro (dvd to cmaera to computer). I saved it as a quick time movie, now i want to burn into a pal format film so it can be shown in England. How can i do this with idvd.
I tried changing the prefernces to pal and i tried changing the video mode in the project info to pal but i get an message when i click burn that says TV standard conflict. i still go ahead to burn but it comes beack with an encoding error.
is there anyway i can change the format (ntsc to pal) using finalcut express

to playback your ntsc dvd (vhs for that matter) you need either
- a dvd player or vhs deck that does true ntsc playback plus a monitor or projector that handles true ntsc
or
- a dvd player or vhs deck that does "ntsc playback on pal" (i believe that's what it was called) with a regular tv. it's a rough scaling of the video-image and it drops a few frames here and there to compensate for the frame-rate difference. this is of course not as good as a proper conversion, but for home-viewing is more than good enough.
this last pont also explains what is the point of places offering proper conversion...
discs created in dvd sp usually are set to play in all regions - though can be made to play only in 1 region, you'll have to check this with the person who created the disc or by popping it into a different region player
hope this helps

Mixing NTSC and PAL on FCP X timeline.

I have a timeline which has both NTSC and PAL clips. The first clip was NTSC. What settings should I use to Share the timeline into .mov? Eventually I want to burn the .mov file onto a DVD.

Export as a Master File and use the MF in in the DVD app.
The Project should be NTSC and I think you will get away with it.
Al

From NTSC to PAL .mov - huge, urgent problem!!

Ive shot a shortfilm on a Canon XH A1 NTSC, 24 fps, HDV, 16:9.
It has been edited in FCP and exported as a Quiktime Movie (.mov)
Then i burned it to a DVD and discovers that it lags annoyingly when played on a DVD player (Im from Denmark so its PAL).
Now, i thought running it through FCP would have solved the NTSC / PAL problem automatically, but I was wrong.
How do I make my 23.98 fps Quiktime Movie play on a PAL DVD?? I tried Cinema Tools, but it wont open and conform the .mov file.
I have to turn it in tomorrow and seriusly need help.
Thank you so much...

Hi,
welcome to FCP discussion area.
A great standard converter is [Nattress Standard Converter|http://www.nattress.com/Products/standardsconversion/standardsconvers ion.htm].
However, if you have Compressor you may convert from NTSC to PAL at no cost.
Compreesor settings>Other Workflows>Advanced Format Conversion>Standard Definition.
Here is an article which you may use as general guidance:
http://www.macworld.com/article/49306/2006/02/marchcreate.html
G.

"Large" or "Full" "NTSC" or "PAL"

I recently shot about 3 hours worth of digital video on a Panasonic DVX100B. I am going to cut it down to be a 20 minute promotional video and it will be played on a very big screen in a theater. Here's a link to the best picture I could find of the screens.
http://images.citysearch.net/profile/ec/b0/35901331p1.jpg
I'm using iMovie '08 but I need to know how I should import the video.
should I use large or full, NTSC or PAL.
Please Help!

Here is how to think about FULL vs LARGE. This is only important if you are importing video shot at 1920x1080.
If you choose FULL, it will import at 1920x1080. It will take up about 40GB of disk per hour of footage.
It will preserve the full quality of the original camcorder capture.
If you choose LARGE, it will import at 960x540 (half the original resolution). It will take up about 13GB of hard disk space per hour of footage. There will be some quality loss, but the loss is minor, and is not noticeble by most people.
So it depends how you are using the footage. If you are creating a BluRay disk, import at full. If you have a way to display 1920x1080, such as a Sony PS3, import at full. If you are doing this for broadcast television and will do further editing in Final Cut, import in full. If you will be displaying your movie on a computer monitor, with at least a 24inch screen, you might want to use full. To take full advantage of Full, you must EXPORT USING QUICKTIME with appropriate options. All the other Share options will export at a max of 960x540.
For most other uses (Mobile Me Web Gallery, a 480i DVD, Apple TV, etc., iPhone, iPod, Quicktime file for the Web) large is sufficient. This is because even though you input at 1920x1080, the output will be a maximum of 960x540, and in the case of the DVD, will be much less. So if you are exporting at 960x540, why not import at 960x540 and save the space?
This is a gray area, however, because you may want to preserve your option to burn your movie to BluRay or other devices in the future. You might want to import at 1920x1080 just to preserve all your options.

Project Setup: NTSC or PAL

In connection with a recent post I made:
When you begin a project in DVD Studio Pro, you have the option to set the project as NTSC or PAL.
What would happen if I shot/edited an NTSC video, but selected the DVD studio pro project to be PAL? Would the burned DVD then be capable of playing on a PAL dvd player?

Unless I'm mistaken, I do not believe that you can import a NTSC video into a PAL DVDSP project. Even if it is possible, it's not a good idea from a quality standpoint.
So, yes, use Compressor to transcode your file from NTSC to PAL. That said, I would try to avoid doing that directly to an MPEG-2 encode. In other words, convert from (say) DV-NTSC to DV-PAL with a very healthy dose of Frame Controls - set every option to Better - and see how you like the results. Then convert your DV-PAL file to MPEG-2 for use in a PAL DVDSP project. But Compressor is not fast when it comes to transcoding of this type.
If you can - because you'll likely need to run this overnight or over the weekend. - I'd recommend the use of job chaining. In case you haven't done that before, select your DV-PAL encode setting in Compressor's Batch window and then select *Job > New Job from Selected Output* via the menubar. That will bring up a new job - a whole new box - that you can slap the appropriate MPEG-2 & Dolby settings on to. This way, you'll have your converted file - should you need to (re)encode and any point - as well as at least one attempt at converting it to MPEG-2. If you're happy with the quality, you've killed two birds with one stone...

NTSC or PAL to Flash CS3

Hi,
I need to edit a movie and place it in an Flash document.
When I want to purchase the movie I have to option to download it in NTSC and PAL or HD
The HD has 29,97 fps -> so NTSC
I am in a PAL-country so the logical choice is to download a PAL version.
I have a theorie but don't know if this will work.
If I do download the HD version and edit this in Premiere Pro CS3 and export it with the NTSC settings. I will have no loss in the movie.
But if I import it in Flash CS3 and export the movie will I have quality loss?
I think not because the movie will be shown on a computer screen.
I hope somebody can help me with this.

G.
One of the advantages of Shooting with a PAL camera is that you don't have too many frame rates to worry about and no pull down is needed.
You can shoot PAL (50 fields per second as opposed to NTSC 60 ) at 25frames ps (or better 50fps, talk to your DoP about this) edit easily with FCP on a PAL timeline and eventually convert to NTSC using [Nattress Standard Converter|http://www.nattress.com/Products/standardsconversion/standardsconvers ion.htm] or Compressor 3.
However, there are a couple of things you can take into account:
1)most DVD players nowadays can play both PAL and NTSC (Not all though)
2)If you are used to a specific workflow stick with it or do some tests before you take any decision.
You could shoot with a PAL camera and edit a few minutes in FCP, do a standard conversion with Compressor then encode and import the asset in DVDSP to burn a DVD to see if you are happy.
Testing is a crucial step of the work and hiring the camera for half a day will cost you much less than a rushed decision.
Best,
G.

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)

IMovie - iDVD and a NTSC versus PAL question

I have some questions about creating iMovie for use in iDVD and about the various formats. Here goes:
I have a large number of travel photos taken in various cities that I need to use to create a project in iMovie. In addition, I have a couple of smallish video segments that go with each of these cities. I want to be able to get to any section from the DVD menus. The sections being defined as the either the videos or the photos for each individual city. Also, I need to be able to create both NTSC and PAL formatted DVD's from this exercise.
Now, as I understand it, there's several ways I can approach this:
First, I can use iMovie to create discreet projects for each segment. The individual city videos being one type. The photo shows of the individual cities being another type. Then export each of these via the media browser and import them individually into iDVD. But that then begs the question of NTSC versus PAL. Since I have to choose a project format in iMovie (NTSC or PAL), does that imply that I've got to have separate projects for each one of the cities NTSC or PAL versions? Or can I just use the NTSC project and cut the DVD in either NTSC or PAL format based on the settings in iDVD? If I use this route, what's the best export format to use for optimal appearance on the finished DVD?
Second, I can create one long project in iMovie. Put chapter markers in it and export it to the media browser. Then, import it into iDVD and use the chapter markers referenced from the various menu picks. If I go this route, once again, how do I account for the NTSC versus PAL differences? And again, what's the best export settings for optimal viewing?
I guess much of this question relates to the issue of having to specify a format in both iMovie and iDVD. If I choose NTSC in iMovie, but use PAL in iDVD, other than the obvious format mismatch, what actually happens by doing this? Or, turn it around. Use PAL in iMovie and NTSC in iDVD. Again, what's the ramifications of doing this?
Just trying to figure out the best way of going about this and what the tradeoffs are for each approach. Any insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Oh... and sorry to have been so long winded.
Many thanks in advance,
Tom

Hi
Oh Dear. Is this an assigned task from an editing turor. Then He/She is mean.
a. If You want a DVD - Then You should not use iMovie'08 or 09 or 11 as they can not export interlaced video to iDVD as it needs but discard every second line resulting in a less quality DVD. Use (for SlideShows and Movies)
• iMovie up to HD6 (SlideShows or Movie) - or -
• FinalCut any version (SlideShows or Movie) - or -
• FotoMagico (if You make only a SlideShow - can not do movies)
If persisting with iMovie'08-11 - Then DO NOT use "Share to iDVD" from within any version of iMovie (not 3 - HD6 either) as they do a bad job. But in iM'08-11 "Share to Media Browser" and as Large. In iM HD6 or FCE/P Save as QuickTime .mov and import this into iDVD.
b. NTSC and PAL - If DVD is to be sent to EU (PAL) - then most DVD-players also playback NTSC so conversion is not needed (mostly).
There are NO way to make a combo version PAL & NTSC - They do not exist.
If You make a PAL iMovie /FC project - then DO NOT let iDVD convert to NTSC (or other way either)
• it can do so - BUT Result is severely BAD
I use JES_Deinterlacer to make the conversion and it's so much better. (free on internet)
But absolutly best result is by doing two versions in the movie-editor - one PAL and one NTSC version.
c. Use High quality DVD brand - I only use Verbatim DVD-R
and set down burn speed to x4 - Less burn errors and plays on many more Players.
Just to start with.
Take one Q at a time and we can fix this.
Yours Bengt W

NTSC to PAL / 24fps

Hi guys,
I'm shooting a tv show for MTV tr in New York City and since it will air in Europe it has to be set in PAL so I am unsure on how to deal with the settings.
I have NTSC 24fps footage that needs to be edited. My question is when I start a new project in Premiere CS3 should I choose NTSC or PAL or should I start editing in NTSC and convert it to PAL?
Second question, when I import the footage in Premiere which, is located in my external hard drive with usb 2.0, the video seems jerky or choppy on the camera movements such as panning and any fast camera moves. Do you know how or where I can adjust this problem? Could it be that my project was shot in 24 fps and the new project file fps is 29.97? I didn't change any fps settings in the new project, so I assumed it's automatically 29.97.
My computer:
Windows XP
2.80GHz Pentium D CPU
2.00GB RAM
Third question, should I render my project and burn a DVD or does it render when you burn a DVD automatically?
Can anyone please help me with this?
Thank you so much!
Firat

From what you have described and looking at the specs I feel there is little chance of your program being accepted for television anywhere.
Need some answers...
What camera was used to shoot the footage at 24fps? Is it DV or HDV?
Why did you not choose a project setting of 24fps rather than 29.97?
Why did you use USB to transfer files rather than Firewire?
Capturing USB sort of indicates that your camera is DVD or HDD based and using Mpeg files which CS3 doesn't like, nor do TV stations.
Don't worry too much about burning a DVD until you work out if the footage is editable.

NTSC to PAL - Large file size?

Hi,
I just used compressor to transfer NTSC to PAL. I used the standard preset in compressor for PAL DV.
It is a 90 minute video and wound up being 20gb in size. When I drop the file into dvd studio it shows up as only 4.1gb (which is about the same size as the NTSC compression)
How come such a strange file size difference, and how come it doesnt show up in compressor as the 20gb size?
I'm using final cut studio

DVD SP predicts the size of your encoded movie to burn on a standard DVD. You cannot burn 20 GB on even a dual-layer DVD disk, right? So 4.1 GB is the size that will be recorded on your standard DVD disk. You can change it if you plan to burn a dual-layer one.

Burning NTSC vs. PAL

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