Ntsc to pal issue

hello.
Every time i put .mov thru compressor ,when loading in dvd studio pro , i get the error stating ntsc project can not be added to pal project

Based on a quick Google for Sony HVR-A1J, you're using a Japanese gray market version of the A1. Japan is a NTSC (29.97 frames per second) country.
If you are allowing FCP to reconfigure Sequence settings to match the video clips (which you typically should do) it is creating a NTSC sequence. Basically, if you want to create PAL DVDs of decent quality you need to shoot with a PAL camera.
In your current situation you need to convert NTSC (29.97 fps) to PAL (25 fps). The Final Cut Studio package can only do a 'fair' quality job, for best quality you'd need to send it out to a professional conversion facility.
Find the DVD Best Quality 150 minute preset in the Apple>DVD folder, click on it to highlight, click on the + button to create a duplicate, open the new copy, double click on the MPEG-2 preset, under the Encoder menu (click the 'gear' button for manual control) set the video format to PAL, under Frame Controls menu click the 'gear' button and turn Frame Controls On, set Resize to Best, select Rate Conversion: Best, Set Duration to 95.904% of source, click the Save button.
NTSC to PAL is not a beginner level process. Cross check the suggested settings above with the Compressor Manual to better understand what you're doing and why.
Oh, and get a video camera that shoots at 25 fps.

Similar Messages

Conversion from NTSC to PAL

Hi there, can anyone help me with that old chestnut of converting NTSC in FCP to PAL via Compressor and then onto DVD SP to burn PAL DVDs. By exporting the NTSC film from FCP using Compressor is it just a matter of setting the Inspector to PAL (as well as setting the Frame Controls to custom) even though the source file is NTSC, or does it need to be converted to PAL first. My first attempt indicated around 120 hours for processing. Is this the only option or is a plug-in required? I have tried reading the Apple manual several times but I find it just doesn't explain things clearly enough. There should be a section on standards conversion not just a vague reference here or there. Maybe I'm a bit thick. Has anyone else had this NTSC to PAL issue? Any help appreciated. Cheers.
Al.

The use of Compressor 2 in format conversion should be restricted to short pieces (5-10 mins or less) because, yes, it takes forever. That is, unless you've got time to burn (or no money left in the budget).
The only advice I can give you is to set all your Frame Control setting to Better and not Best. Best increases rendering time about three-fold without that much of an encoding improvement. However, it still won't be quick.
(And no, you do not have to do a straight PAL -> NTSC conversion, then convert that NTSC movie to an MPEG-2)

PAL NTSC miniDV import issues

Hi:
I have several miniDV tapes that were taped in NTSC on a (US market) Canon camcorder between 2003 and 2006. Then, the camcorder broke and was replaced by a (German market) Sony camcorder, and of course I've continued to tape miniDV in PAL. Now we're back in the US, the camcorder plays both NTSC and PAL tapes but - as someone suggested in a forum - iMovie might require a match between camcorder and tape, i.e. import a PAL tape from a PAL camcorder, or an NTSC tape from an NTSC camcorder (and you can change the iMovie settings to match that).
And indeed, when trying to import the NTSC tapes with this camcorder, the import function tries to import, shows a blue screen for a few seconds, and stops. FYI, iMovie did import PAL tapes from this PAL camcorder without problems.
- Has anyone been able to import NTSC tapes into iMovie 09 using a PAL camcorder (that plays both PAL and NTSC tapes)?
- Is there a software workaround to get the footage onto the Mac through some other (free) software and then import the files from there into iMovie 09?
- Would be thankful for any other suggestions...
Thanks so much!
CL
Message was edited by: CL

perhaps this will work.
My initial problem was the other way around: PAL miniDV tape, played back on an NTSC camcorder.
Interestingly, the display on the camcorder showed the movie OK, but importing to iMovie did not seem to work.
This is how I got it to work:
Since the source is PAL, the destination project in iMOVIE was also set to Pal (ie frame reate of 25 fps).
The "new project" created properly displays the format as PAL. but as soon as the camera was switched on, the Mac recognises some chip in the camcorder, the project switches NTSC and can thefore no longer import the Clip. Sounds familiar?
Now: you unplug the firewire cable from the camcorder, recreate a "new project" in PAL, and the start video playback on the camcorder, put the iMOVIE switch to control camcorder and THEN insert the firewire cable, bingo, iMovie is somehow tricked and the import of the clip works fine, in PAL, no more error messages, and no "parse" / "parsing" problems.
Since you started out with tapes in NTSC, the same principle as above should hopefully work,

DVD Footage for FCP Edit - how to tell if NTSC or PAL?!

Hi all, apologies if this seems like a stupid request but I have a job at the moment calling for me to extract footage from a DVD, edit in FCP, add a few bits from Motion etc., but I can't work out if the DVD is NTSC or PAL!
I intend to extract the video (no issues with copyright) via DVDxDVPro but am unsure if the DVD has been encoded in NTSC or PAL. The footage it contains is from both the States (NTSC) and South Africa (PAL) so how do I tell? I don't want to go through a standards conversion if I can help it.
I am keen to try to retain as much quality as possible (client can't provide tape) so also any thougts on the best output from DVDxDVPRo for FCP editing?
Thanks all,
Best wishes
Michael

Hi Thomas, that's it!
Thanks for this - it clearly shows the TV standard and the resolution plus 4:3 etc., so everything I needed for confirmation.
Glad I cheked because it was in Pal - thought the conversion in DVDxDVPro looked a bit ropey.
This realy baffled me - seemed so simple but couldn't find a way to tell the standard. Learn something everyday...
I am using DVCPro for export from DVDxDVPro - anyone thoughts on a better option?
Thanks again for the answer - and so quick on a Sunday too!
Kind regards
Michael

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 !!!!

HD NTSC to PAL Debacle

Dear Compression sages,
I'm attempting to convert my NTSC DVCpro HD 720 Quicktime to PAL to make a PAL DVD in DVDSP. So I need a PAL mpeg2. My trouble starts here.
In compression I followed all the settings to convert to PAL. The resulting mpeg was a little rough in terms of quality, but it was the best I could get it. It seemed to play alright.
But to my horror when I dropped the clip into the DVDSP timeline I discovered that all the subtitles I had made in my NTSC DVDSP project gradually went out of sync. The DVDSP project had been fully converted to PAL, every menu. But this gradual de-syncing of the subtitles confused me. And this is not the kind of project that I can easily move the subtitles over. 26 min, heavy on the lines, 5 subtitle tracks.
I checked the audio sync and it seemed to be in sync, but I couldn't be clinically certain frames weren't being dropped towards the end. I did some research and discovered that many people had been having trouble with conversions from NTSC to PAL. Out of sync audio issues, frames being dropped, etc.
In desperation I consulted a friend, who recommended I use a FCP plug-in to do the conversion called Nattress Standards Conversion. He said he had had frame dropping issues with other transfers, but that the NSD plug-in had worked great.
I downloaded the plug-in, and attempted to follow the instructions (bellow) only to find that on step 9, it did not recognize the proper aspect ratio of my HD footage, giving me 4:3 instead of 6:9. I tried switching a few settings, but to no avail. Everytime I dragged and dropped the origional source clip into the filter interface the clip in the viewer altered to 4:3 ratio. Blast, I thought. Probably some little setting I will never discover.
So here I am, back on the compression forums. Has anyone successfully used compressor to convert NTSC HD to PAL without getting drop frames or subtitles gradually going out of sync? How on earth do I do this conversion without horrific results?
NTSC to PAL conversion for Nattress:
1. edit the NTSC clip to an PAL timeline
2. nest the NTSC clip to allow the plugin to scale the converted clip. Because the pixel
dimensions of NTSC video are smaller than PAL, the clip will appear shrunk down in
the timeline canvas viewer. This is normal. The nesting of the clip will allow the
plugin to correctly scale it to PAL pixel dimensions. (select clip and go to the Se-
quence Menu and select Nest Items - make sure the pixels dimensions of the nest
are PAL sized)
3. apply the G Converter plugin to the nested sequence in the PAL timeline. Make sure
the plugin goes onto the nest itself, not the clip that it contains.
4. open the nest in the viewer (control click on the nest and select "Open in viewer" or
select nest then press return)
5. select the ﬁlter tab in the viewer
6. set the correct settings for the desired conversion. In this case, we select Source
Pixel size to be 720 x 480 (NTSC), lower ﬁeld order for source (in this case a NTSC
DV clip) and destination (PAL DV timeline).
7. if you desire the PAL output to be de-interlaced, this can be performed in one step by
selecting progressive output
8. if you would like to experiment with the conversion algorithm using "Smart De-
Interlacing" then this can be selected in the De-Interlace options. The Tolerance
control affects the smart de-interlace and it's effects can be seen by selecting "View
Smart Mask" in the De-Interlace Options.
9. the original NTSC clip that was edited to the PAL timeline must now be dropped from
the project browser onto the Source Clip image well in the ﬁlter. The plugin will use
this video clip for all the image data for the conversion. This is the important step
that makes this plugin different from any other, and is vital to it's successful operation.

I downloaded the plug-in, and attempted to follow the instructions (bellow) only to find that on step 9, it did not recognize the proper aspect ratio of my HD footage, giving me 4:3 instead of 6:9. I tried switching a few settings, but to no avail. Everytime I dragged and dropped the origional source clip into the filter interface the clip in the viewer altered to 4:3 ratio. Blast, I thought. Probably some little setting I will never discover.
Email Graeme Nattress with your problem. He does a good job supporting his plugins.
x

Exporting 14:9 video for NTSC and PAL

Hello,
I'm working on 1080p video that will need to have a few output format, namely HD and SD 14:9 for NTSC and PAL.
At the moment I have no issue with getting the 14:9 video inside SD format, but my question is more of, should I turn my aspect ratio to PAL, NTSC, or should I keep it as square pixel? Viewing from inside a computer, the ones that has aspect ratio looked a bit squashed or stretched, and that worries my producer. I'm not technically savvy enough in broadcast knowledge to ensure her that everything is going to be fine once the video goes into broadcast, hence I'm posting the question here. I did my search on the web, but nothing seemed to help. Or maybe I'm just a big doofus that missed the very big hint in front of me. If anyone could help me figure this out, or point me in the right direction, I would really really appreciate it.
Regards,
Deo

Hey guys. Thank you for your input.
I think I may have overcomplicated the question in my state of panic with the 14:9 thing. Yes, the client did ask for 14:9 video, which to my knowledge is a scaled down HD video in SD sequence. A bit bigger than 16:9 in SD sequence, with smaller letterbox and cropped sides. From what I've read (in wikipedia), it's used in UK, Irish, French, Spain, and Australia. So the PAR should still follow SD PAL and NTSC PAR.
I've been barking the wrong tree, and after reading this, it seemed clear that I should be using PAR as TVs pixel is not square. And it's fine to have squashed and stretched picture of these outputs because computer's pixel is square. Right?
I'm not really in a position to ask the station, as this is a regional job with a few countries involved, so I'm not directly in contact with the stations themselves. But hypothetically, if I can ask, will they give me a set of guidelines to follow?
Regards,
Deo

NTSC vs PAL upcoming shoot- need help.

hi, i have a huge project coming up. some video shot in US other in Europe.
thinking of using AF-100 as well as a DSLR, as second camera cutaways.
want to use 1080 30p setting, ideally. question is, how do i handle shooting in europe? If i have a US crew and bring a NTSC camera, how shall it be shot given the 50hz vs 60hz issue? If i hire a crew in Europe using AF-100, it will be PAL but then how do I edit that footage along with stuff shot in US? much thanks.

Hello Sue,
personally I'd convert everything to PAL as I've always felt that I get slightly better results from NTSC to PAL conversions than vice versa ... but it also depends on your final output.
Since you're saying that you'll shoot with AF-100s and DSLRs, why not shoot everything in 24p and forget about standards conversions? And from what I hear you can even shoot overcranked 50/60p in 24p mode with the AF-100.
hope this helps
mish

NTSC to PAL in AME CS4

Please advise if I missed the forum that is strictly for Adobe Media Encoder CS4, having found none I've chosen to post here.
I need to convert a standard NTSC DV file in the MS avi format to PAL DV in the Quicktime format.
While AME CS4 does a much better job than it's predecessor, it's still struggling with the frame rate interpolation, yielding video that's visibly dropping frames to achieve 25fps. Quality converters to a great job of masking the frame conversion.
My question is: 1) Am I missing some setting tweak that could improve the look of the PAL conversion? 2) If not, can anyone recommend another software encoder that DOES do an outstanding job of converting NTSC to PAL. I'm thinking of buying either Sorenson Squeeze or Canopus MediaCoder.
Brent

Try this process.
It was originally developed to create 24p DV files, but can also be used to convert NTSC to PAL (and quite well I might add). The details are in the Read Me.
Going from AVI to MOV is another issue, though. Not sure how specifically to do that one as I'm really not a Mac fan.

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 project conversion?

I know this question has been dealt with alot in the past but I can't seem to find an answer to my question. I know my video assets have to changed over to PAL
and that is not my question.
My question is can I convert the project to PAL,
with all my menu and buttons intact.
I don't want to have to go back and redo my menu and buttons.
It says the only way to change to PAL is to create a new project,
however then I loose my menu and buttons, which I don't want to do.
Is there away to convert the project to PAL, excluding the video assets?
Or how do I bring menus and buttons from a another project into a new project?
Thanks
Patch

Try this:
- Save As with a new name
- Remove all video assets from your tracks (you can keep the empty tracks
- Change in the Inspector the standard from NTSC to PAL (it must let you do so)
- Reencode your video and import the new assets into the old tracks (don't reuse the audio from NTSC tracks, because probably will get out of sync issues)
And finally . . . Menus. If you made graphics for your menu brackgrounds, you must made new versions of them using the right PAL pixels sizes. If you let DVDSP just resize the old ones, you'll get a poor quality background.
Give a try to this workflow!
Alberto

NTSC TO PAL conversion sounds/looks slows

Using Compressor 3.0.5 I made a test. A 4 minute HDV 720p30 clip was exported, reference from FCP. I used the Apple > Other workflows > advanced format conversion > standard def > DV PAL setting to change it from NTSC to PAL. I also made a test conversion using the Nattress Standards conversion plugin.
Questions
1. audio/video sounds/looks slower with the Compressor version than the Nattress plugin test version. Since both are playing at 25fps in Quicktime player, what should I do in the Compressor setting to get good results? How do I correct it?
FYI I imported the Compressor compressed file into DVD SP, made a PAL project, track 16:9 letterbox and it looks o.k., just sounds/looks slow.
Thanks for helping!

I don't have the answer to your question, but...
NTSC DVDs will play back in %99 of PAL set top devices without issues. Computers don't care if the standard is NTSC or PAL. If this is a one-off disc, chances are it will work fine as it is. Check with the recipient.
If you are about to make dozens of discs or even go to replication, you should look into having the master transferred via a dedicated hardware converter such as those from Terranex or Snell & Wilcox.
You will get excellent quality and it will be real time.

NTSC to PAL series conversions.

Hi anyone got any good oil on setting up compressor to run regular NTSC to PAL conversions of 28:30 minute duration series programming?
I am upgrading from FCP 4 to Studio and going to 2GHz dual core G5 from aged G4 Digi Audio 733, and being able to get NTSC on DVCAM, then standards convert downunder would fit the old bottom line requirements for a regular community tv series I am responsible for putting to air. Read; smell of the proverbial oily rag operation. However I read issues with version 2 such as ridiculous render times, etc.
Question; Would it be better to use compressor version 1 until bugs ironed out? Can it be used?
Sagely wisdom greatly appreciated. Regards, ted.
G5 dc 2Ghz, G4 da 733, G3 iBk 900, PCs Mac OS X (10.4.3)

DV PAL is a set data rate - 3.56 MB/s when run at 25 fps.
If you want a smaller file size you have two choices -
1. convert the file to another codec that allows for smaller frame sizes, slower frame rates and increased intra and inter frame compression.
2. If it must be DV/PAL, cut the length of the video to reach your 200mb limit.
Of course there is the third choice of simply giving them the larger file because that's what an un-compromised DV/PAL version of the file will be.
x

DVI to Video adapter switches from NTSC to PAL

I just bought an apple dvi to analog video adapter to connect my mac mini to my tv.
It worked like a charm the first time, but seems to reset for no reason from ntsc to pal output. This is really annoying because the pal output is nearly impossible to read, making it painful to switch it back. It's weird because it boots into ntsc just fine and the login window looks good. But as soon as I log in from either account, it opens in pal. When I change it, it will change back over night.
I tried using both composite and s-video plugs. The TV is a sony wega xbr (US).

I assume you have the previous generation mini even though you have posted in the forum for the newer one. The newer one wouldn't work at all from the adapter you describe. Anyway...
...OS X's display preferences files may have corrupted somehow. Especially since it worked before and now it doesn't. That really sounds like a problem with the configuration of the Mac.
In /Library/Preferences is a file called com.apple.windowserver.plist. Navigate your way to it and throw it in the trash. Also, in your main user account (folder with your name on it) under ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost will also be found a file com.apple.windowserver.xxxxxxxxxx.plist where the xxxxx is a hexidecimal string. Throw that file in the trash, too. Now restart.
When OS X restarts and finds those files missing from their expected location, it creates fresh copies with default values. This will give a clean start with any attached display.

Where can I check to see if project has been imported in NTSC or PAL?

I have been importing DV tapes from both NTSC and PAL DV camcorders and I think I may have made a mistake on a take and recorded an NTSC tape in PAL. I can't find anywhere that tells me if my projects are in PAL or NTSC. Does anyone know how I can check?
Thanks
Kevin

[email protected] wrote:
...I tried what you said but it only gives me the option to see codecs under 'more info' when I view the info on the thumbnail files and then it still doesn't tell me if it is Pal or NTSC. When I right click on the file in the finder the only info I get is that it is a DV Movie....
.... ooops..
in case you own QTpro or the free tool Mpeg Streamclip, open file, hit Apple-I and read in the info framerate/fps: 25=PAL, 29.97=NTSC..

Ntsc to pal issue

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