Uploading NTSC and PAL

I have a 8 year old sony handicam from europe so it shoots in pal. For uploading to my mac, will it also take my old NTSC tapes? I'm pretty sure some of the tapes I've uploaded were shot in american on ntsc. How do I know if a dv tape was shot in pal or ntsc?

best to my knowledge, miniDV camcorders are 'hardwired' to one standard.
means: for PAL-tapes you need a PAL-camera, for NTSC-tapes a corresponding cam.
For sure, your Mac/iMovie accept any standards...
miniDV is a 'dying' format, you should get used cameras for lil' money, although it is recommended to use for playback the cam you used for recording.. but if this isn't optional...
And, no, there's no 'label' outside a tape indicating what format was used.
There were rare devices claiming to playback both standards, but those create a non-standard signal which in 99% cases create issues on import...
search eBay for some <50$ devices, optics can be broken, you just need 'player'-functionality....

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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 !!!!

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

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

VHS (NTSC and PAL) conversion to DVD

I am trying to figure out an easy way to convert years of old kids videos (VHS in both NTSC and PAL format) to DVD.
I have seen there are combo VHS players (NTSC) with DVD recorder and hard drives. This looks like a lot easier than connecting Canoplus ADVC device.
Any advice welcome,
thanks

Welcome to Apple Discussions
If you have a digital camcorder you can do what I do. I use a Sony DV camcorder as a pass-through to convert video tape (VHS, Beta & video 8) via FireWire into iMovie.

Making a NTSC and PAL DVD

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my question.
The question I have is, I have made a DVD in the Video Standard NTSC( in the preference menu) now I am wondering if I can use the same project to burn both NTSC and PAL DVD formats or if I have to re-create the whole thing in the
PAL format in order to get a PAL formated DVD?
Thanks again for helping.

Hello PettMac,
you can change the project's standard by choosing Project > Project Info from the menu. On the right side of the pop-up window you'll find the drop-down menu for the TV standard.
That said, the standard conversion done in iDVD is not too bad, but JES Deinterlacer does a much better job. In order to convert with JESD, you'll need your original iMovie project: ctrl-click the project file and choose Show Package Contents from the drop-down menu, then navigate to the Shared Movies folder to find your reference movie. Drop that into JESD, it will create the PAL movie in the same folder (as reference movie) and you can simply replace the original movie in your iDVD project with the new one. Don't forget to change the TV standard....
hope this helps
mish

NTSC and PAL output

Hello,
I'm working on Macbook Pro with Final Cut Express and I-DVD. I am editing a video that I would like to output as both PAL DVD and NTSC DVD. Is this possible? Footage is recorded on Sony HD Z1E - as PAL 1080i(50). If I capture and edit in Final Cut Express, can I output the timeline as a quicktime file both in NTSC and PAL? Can I use I-DVD to create both PAL and NTSC DVDs? Have had a look at the user manuals, but am not really clear on if and how it is possible.
Any ideas welcome! Thanks.

Hi,
I have read this thread but am a little unclear and would appreciate some help.
I have shot 3 short movies in PAL anamorphic, edited in Final Cut Express HD 3.5, exported using the Quicktime Movie option, altered with QT Pro to put back to anamorphic, then added to an iDVD '08 widescreen project.
Everything is fine, but I have realised that some of the recipients are in the Bahamas and require NTSC.
The project is a paid commission so I want to ensure the conversion is as good as possible, without any re-digitising / editing.
I duplicated my iDVD project and have used the project info pane to change to NTSC format. I deleted the encoded assets and this has set of iDVD to re-encode. Is a re-burn all that is required once encoding is done?
It seems this is the easiest option, but are you suggesting the conversion can be better if i use the free JES deinterlacer product.
To integrate this into my workflow I am assuming I could duplicate my asset folder (that contains the quicktime exports from Final Cut) and convert them using JES.
Modification to these quicktimes (ie. a re-edit and export from Final Cut) would usually result in iDVD updating its content upon open.
Am I on the right track?
I have had a quick look at JES. I have added a file to convert and looked at the projects tab.
Do I just have to choose "Standards conversion" & select "NTSC"? What should I set out of "Blend, Telecine or Minimal Blend" for best quality.
I am using an Intel iMac with 2gb of memory.
Thanks
Eric

Msi 550pro tuner NTSC and Pal or only NTSC

I've read at a lot of places that say the card supports both NTSC and PAL such as www.tigerdirect.com and www.zipzoomfly.com where I bought the card and also www.msi.com. but on www.msi.com.tw (global site), it claims the card supports only NTSC not pal. I already bought the card and I was wondering if i should return it. Can someone please tell me if the 550pro supports both NTSC and PAL or just NTSC, Thank you!

you've got the card, have you tried it yet?
you already asked this once in another thread, if no-one has an answer, then try speaking to MSI direct
How to contact MSI.

NTSC and PAL

Under iDVD preferences and the Projects tab it asks a few things that I know nothing about:
1) Video Mode: NTSC or PAL. What are those and when would I use one over the other?
2) Encoding: Best Quality or Best Performance? Which is better to use and if I use Best Performance do I want to "Enable background encoding"?
Thanks. -Jeff

there are no NTSC DVDs, there are only DVDs that have 29.97fps, 720x480 MPEG-2 video to maximize video quality on an NTSC analog output
... and THAT makes them NTSC DVDs.
Jeff asked: ) Video Mode: NTSC or PAL. What are those and when would I use one over the other?. Jeff, the are video standards used in different places around the world. If all your DVDs are intended for use in the US, just select NTSC and don't worry about it.
PAL and NTSC are analog modulations
... that differ mostly in the way the chrominance signal is treated (besides the image size and frame rate).

Burning the same DVD in NTSC and PAL

Hi,
I need to burn two DVDs, one in NTSC and one in PAL.
When I started the process of burning in NTSC, it took about an hour to "Process Movie"
After that, I changed the setting in iDVD Preferences to PAL, and started to burn another DVD. This time the software skipped the "process movie" and just burned the DVD.
I thought that the movie needs to be processed again, to fit the 25fps of the PAL. but it didn't. Of course I'm happy for the time I saved. But I want to make sure that I'm right. Am I?
thanks a lot
ymotion

Hi
Most PAL DVD-player can playback NTSC (old TV = Black/White)
Few NTSC DVD-player can playback PAL
Just changing iDVD project from one to the other might work BUT THE RESULT will be BAD.
Using a program converting from PAL to NTSC is far more better eg JES_Deinterlacer.
*PAL to NTSC*
A. Conversion of commersial DVDs - No Not at all - Not even legal to discuss.
B. Home made DVDs (without copy protection)
NTSC ---> PAL.
• Most often not necessary - Most stand alone PAL-DVD players playback NTSC
(if TV is old in BL/W)
PAL ---> NTSC.
• If played on Mac - not necessary AT ALL
• If on NTSC-DVD-player - CONVERSION IS NEEDED - nearly no Stand alone NTSC-DVD-players
playback PAL at all.
To do this You need to conver the PAL DVD to streaming.DV
• I use Roxio Toast™ to do this (There are no free converter)
• JES_Deinterlacer (free on internet) to convert to NTSC
• Set up an NTSC project (29.97fps or 30) in iDVD and import then burn
I burn to
• Verbatim DVD-R
• Set down burn speed in iDVD to x1 or x4 recommended by many
• Secure a minimum of 25Gb free space on internal boot hard disk before burning (IMPORTANT)
PAL is 25 fps and an analog TV standard of 625 lines
NTSC is 29.97 fps and 520 lines
NTSC (29.97fps) 520 lines - about640x480 pixles (square) 720x480 rectangular (narrow) pixels
PAL (25 fps) 625 lines - about768x576 pixles (square) 720x576 rectangular (narrow) pixels
to use a photo 702x480 resp 576 then add 9pixles on each side to add togheter as 720
Yours Bengt W

FCE 4: NTSC AND PAL?

Hi, this summer I bought FCE, but I really still have to learn using it. Now I saw that between the description of the FCE 4 upgrade, it says that you can use Pal and NTSC footage in the same timeline. This means that if I upgrade I can use in the same movie some shots from my NTSC camera and some of my Pal camera and then export the all movie in whatever format I may like? (NTSC or PAL)
I'm asking because, if this is true and the results are good, This can be a good thing to kick out of my pocket another 100 €...
Thanks in advance for any help.

Sandbox Test
1) being is a PAL orientated country, I download some NTSC footage from iStock Photos (iStock_000003835610DV.mov - NTSC, no sound, 720 x 480 px).
2) opened FCE4, and created a new sequence as "PAL DV 48kHz"
3) imported the NTSC footage
4) dropped the NTSC footage into the timeline, and it prompted me to either match the clip or not. for this purpose i said no, and the NTSC footage was converted to match the sequence settings.
5) the canvas view was at 72% whilst when i looked at the NTSC footage in the viewer it was 50% - PAL 720x576 whilst NTSC 720x480.
6) playback in the timeline without rendering, and all looks good.
7) exported as movie (not self-contained).
8) playback in QT7.4 side-by-side the original footage and naturally the width's match, but the FCE4 converted material was stretched to fill the difference.
9) changed the aspect/size to match that of the original footage and all looked normal.
I guess the morale here is mixing footage of different sizes will need some manipulation to make the final output look normal.
I am sure others more experienced with mixed media will correct my knowledge inaccuracies...
I hope this helps
Message was edited by: peterjohndean

Working with NTSC and PAL (sending footage to the UK)

Hi,
I'm wondering if anyone can give me advice regarding sending an FCP project to England. I'm working on a "behind the scenes" documentary, in Canada, for a BBC show. I've cut the film in NTSC and now need to hand it over to the Brits for them to add their own footage and music. My plan is to send them all of my files on a firewire hard drive. Does anyone know if there will be a problem with them using my footage? Will they be able to complete the project in PAL?
Thanks for any advice,
Madfatter

A few more questions first: Will they be using FCP to continue the edit? Have they provided you with a budget to standards convert? Did they ask?
Put simply, they will be able to continue the edit in NTSC on their own systems without any problems (presuming they are going to use FCP). I'm quite sure the BBC has multistandard monitors so they'll be able to monitor it. At some point, they will need to standards convert SOMETHING, either all of your media or the final program. The latter is easy, the former is complex. It really 'depends' to be honest...

Workflow for dual NTSC and PAL DVD project

Hello,
I am really in need of professional advice here, and any tips would be GREATLY appreciated. I am not an expert in Final Cut Studio, but I am OK to get things done on the project I am working on. Some things, despite cracking through multiple manuals, I can't properly figure out... THANKS AGAIN for any help!
I am working on a DVD project which I want to release in two versions: NTSC version in US, and PAL version for Poland — same content. Content was created using DV-NTSC Quicktime files, made on import from an American mini-DV SONY camcorder into Final Cut Pro. All the titles created in Photoshop were created in 720 x 540 and converted to 720 x 480 for the sequences.
I made one NTSC DVD using Studio Pro, and it seems to work okay, with some minor tweaks. But I really need to know what is the best way to make a PAL DVD with minimal quality loss. I need to set up this project correctly, because I have a **** of a lot of work to do, and I don't want to screw it up by incorrect setup.
So many questions... Should I use separate Final Cut sequence files, with different settings, for each disc? Should I finish my work in sequences with NTSC settings in Final Cut, and then use Compressor to export to PAL from within Final Cut? Really, what is the best workflow for something like this? I would dearly appreciate any advice.
Many thanks!
Rad

First off - you can do this. Finish your work in NTSC. Then go buy the Graeme Natress plug for FCP. http://www.nattress.com/standardsConversion.htm
Download and install the app. THen follow the instructions on his site. It's a short turorial movie and you're done.
Heads up - you'll need to first export NTSC Quicktime files of each of your movies.
Hope this helps.
Brian

Lid closed mode--ntsc and pal

I used to be able to put my MBP's display onto a TV using lid-closed mode and the Apple DVI-video adapter. I was changing my TV's resolution to something slightly higher, clicked the wrong setting (set the display mode to PAL), and now whenever I use lid-closed mode (or when I use boot camp to boot into windows XP) my TV (NTSC) does not work. It only does this in lid closed mode, and I've reset the PRAM to try to fix it. I can't see the TV display in PAL mode, so I can't change it back to NTSC. Please help!!! Should I reset my PMU or use some EFI command?
15" MBP Mac OS X (10.4.7) using composite video on dvi-tv adapter (ntsc)

I recommend running both the MBP (lid open) and the TV at the same time in screen spanning mode (not mirror mode). In this way, you should have complete control over the TV's Display Preferences settings from the screen on the MBP. Make sure you have the "Show displays in menu bar" check box clicked in Display Preferences. You should be able to restore the old settings you were using for your TV with this technique.
Once you get your old settings restored, you can go back to using just the TV with the MBP lid closed again.

How to sync NTSC and PAL clips to same frame rate for multicam edit

Hi there,
First time poster so sorry for the newbie question. I'm trying to get 2 standard NTSC clips and 1 standard PAL clip about a hour long each which shot the same event at the same time, to sync up so that I can go to multi-cam and edit them like a movie sequence. I tried that, but they start unsyncing about 10 minutes in. I gather it's because of the different frame rates. I tried using "interpret footage" and changed the PAL 25fps to 29.97fps and everything got sped up. I tried rendering the PAL clip as an NTSC clip but it ended up looking a bit fuzzier. As I want to end up with an NTSC clip in the end, how can I make these clips sync up properly?
Any, tips to help this newbie greatly appreciated with many thanks.

Hi Jonathan,
It's not always so easy to do NTSC <-> PAL conversions, and it's impossible to do them in Premiere while maintaining any degree of quality.
You can do a good job of this with AviSynth (freeware) but the learning curve may be a bit steep for a newbie. I also hear that ProCoder ($500+) does a good job of this but I've never tried it.
As for the sync, you can chop up your PAL clip within the muticam sequence (leaving some "holes") and match up particular points manually. You'll obviously have to edit around the holes.

Uploading NTSC and PAL

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