CAPTURE PREVIEW WINDOW / SAVE PROJECT / NTSC TO PAL

[oka]

PREVIEW WINDOW:
After freshly redoing my computer, and installing VS11, I could not get the preview window during capture. I cannot find the setting to have the capture preview window open during video capture.

SAVE PROJECT:
Is there a way to save a project at the MENU level? Sometimes I have to leave to come back on it at a latter time. I would think there should have been an option to SAVE the project at any particular point. If I have to leave the current project to tackle another one, I will loose the already set menus when I come back to it – I have to start the menu arrangement all over again.

NTSC TO PAL:
Capturing and editing in NTSC, then creating a video file in PAL to write to a DVD would be fine. Right? I am creating two DVDs, one NTSC and another PAL. The issue is I have to redo the menus for PAL system since I cannot save the project at the menu level.

VS11-Plus had been fully updated.

[Black Lab]

PREVIEW WINDOW:
After freshly redoing my computer, and installing VS11, I could not get the preview window during capture. I cannot find the setting to have the capture preview window open during video capture.
Check for a setting under Preferences that enables the Preview Window. If that doesn't work make sure you update to the latest Microsoft DirectX, which fixes a lot of preview-type issues.

SAVE PROJECT:
Is there a way to save a project at the MENU level? Sometimes I have to leave to come back on it at a latter time. I would think there should have been an option to SAVE the project at any particular point. If I have to leave the current project to tackle another one, I will loose the already set menus when I come back to it � I have to start the menu arrangement all over again.
When you close out from the menu you get a "Saving" dialog box, but nobody really knows what, if anything, is being saved. After that happens and you are brought back to your project simply save the project, that will save your menu settings.

NTSC TO PAL:
Capturing and editing in NTSC, then creating a video file in PAL to write to a DVD would be fine. Right? I am creating two DVDs, one NTSC and another PAL. The issue is I have to redo the menus for PAL system since I cannot save the project at the menu level.
You are sending to someone in PAL land? I believe most PAL DVD players will play NTSC discs, although not all NTSC players will play PAL.

VS11-Plus had been fully updated.

[Ken Berry]

Re NTSC > PAL, I endorse Black Lab's comment completely. Some people do this conversion with VS and seem at least content with the results. But many others (including myself) who have tried it, are not. It really requires a specialised professional-level program like Canopus Pro-Coder to do it smoothly. The calculations are pretty complex. But if you think about it, to convert from NTSC to PAL you have to drop 4.97 frames per second in the frame rate, which means that motion is not going to be smooth. Moreover, the frame itself has to be expanded from 720 x 480 to 720 x 576. This means that some existing pixels are just duplicated. Done on the fly, the end result of both these factors means the new PAL output will be slightly jerky (pronounced if there is a lot of motion in the video) and slightly blurry...

Just send your friend an NTSC disc. In recent years, I have had more than 6 completely different DVD players and all play(ed) NTSC DVDs with no problems.

[Ron P.]

Furthermore, as of Feb 17, 2009 (just 2 months from tomorrow), the NTSC signal will cease as far as the TV stations transmissions. The new "language will be ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committe). NTSC has outlived its usefulness. With the invention of digital signals, that are more efficient, and provide much higher quality audio and video, NTSC will be laid to rest. Most TVs purchased after 2007 are equipped with the ATSC tuners, not the antiquated NTSC. To receive the digital signals, a "converter/translator" must be placed between the antenna and TV. This will translate the new ATSC to the old NTSC for those TVs not able to.

Did you know that the NTSC frame rate of 29.97 fps was designed specifically so that it would be backwards compatible to the "old black & white TV signals? That was over 50 yrs ago they were concerned with that.

Hopefully the day is arriving, where there is no longer this difference between PAL and NTSC. I would think that since a DVD can be played on a PC anywhere in the world, the same should hold true for stand-alone DVD players and televisions...

[skier-hughes]

Sticking on the ntsc > pal, yes you have to remake menu's when doing this regardless of which app you use.
I'd send an ntsc disc to UK.