help how to i change NTSC to PAL?

ablinkvboxa · Post by **ablinkvboxa** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:20 am

I have converted my mpg. to avi. but i need it to be in pal format?
all my options are saying NTSC. how can i change it?

also when i go to make a disk i click to see the settings and its telling me the file is mpg. but its not..its a avi :/

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 3:20 am

First, what codec did you use for the conversion to avi? There is a huge variety of video which uses the .avi extension. Some of it is huge uncompressed 'true' avi (65 GB per hour of video). Then there is DV/AVI which is the one we recommend if you can capture or convert to it. But there are whole lot of other video formats which include mpeg-4 type formats such as the heavily compressed DivX and XVid ones. So we would need to have the exact properties of the file in question from when you right click on it in VS and select Properties.

Next, why exactly do you want to convert it to PAL? Since you have consciously converted it to AVI, then it cannot be for a DVD since a DVD requires mpeg-2. But if it were for a DVD, then I (and others here) would recommend you not bother with converting from NTSC to PAL. First, VS does not do this well. You really need a professional, specialised product to do it well.

If you think about it, if you have NTSC video, using the standard speed of 29.97 fps and a frame size of 720 x 480, then to convert it to PAL, the program has to throw away 4.97 frames per second to match the PAL speed of 25 fps. Using a program like VS, this means you will get slightly jerky motion in the converted video.

VS would also have to invent out of thin air, or existing pixels, an extra width of 96 pixels to expand the NTSC frame size to the PAL size of 720 x 576. By simply duplicating some of the existing pixels, which is what it does, you will get slightly blurry video. So taking both together, you cannot expect great results.

There are specialised conversion programs out there, such as the Canopus ProCoder. But they are professional and thus expensive.

Generally, we recommend that you don't bother with a conversion if you are talking about a DVD since just about every PAL stand-alone DVD player can play NTSC DVDs with no trouble.

And if you are making something to be played on a computer or on the internet, then it does not matter anyway whether it is PAL or NTSC...

ablinkvboxa · Post by **ablinkvboxa** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 4:28 am

hmm i would like to send it in to a video show program here in aus.
but the requirments are :

"We are only able to accept clips in VHS, mini DV, DVD Video, and DVD ROM formats.

Please be informed, if you are sending a video on DVD ROM, it must be in avi format and saved in full resolution (720x576 @ 25 frames per second) for broadcasting purposes.

Please ensure your computer editing programme's project settings are PAL (625/50) upper field first and not NTSC (525/60). "

and i have no idea to turn my video into any of those as when my camera took it it was a not an actual videoe camera.. just a 'film' on my camera.

the oringinal file is mpeg-1
but then i saved it again as mpg-2 video lower field first...then converted it to avi. 25fps and the right res.

it says under props video - AVI Decompressor
and the audio is MPEG Layer-3
but the audio doesnt matter.

im not sure what to do to get it to the requirements.

considering i will prob have to burn it to dvd to send it in :/

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 8:14 am

Ok, we're getting there. So you have a digital still camera which also shoots video in mpeg-1 format. If you have captured video from it still on your computer, insert it in Video Studio in mpeg-1 format. Then right click on it in the Library window and copy ALL its properties here please. Primarily, I want to know whether it is PAL or NTSC mpeg-1.

Mpeg-1 can actually be burned direct to a video DVD, and I can only think again that this would be the easiest for you. It would not incur the loss of quality which you have already suffered through first converting it to mpeg-2 and then further converting it to some flavour of AVI. Each conversion of mpeg, whether it is mpeg-1, 2 or 4, incurs loss of quality because that is the nature of the beast. So the objective here is to maintain as much of the original quality as possible by maintaining the original properties.

So with the mpeg-1 in the timeline, and your editing complete you should select Share > Create Video File > Same as First Clip (if indeed one of your mpeg-1 clips is the first in the timeline) or else Share > Create Video File > Custom. In the latter case, you then change the Options so that the properties of the file you are producing match exactly those of the original you will have copied for us.

After you produce your new mpeg-1, you go to File > New Project. Don't worry about giving your new project a name. The objective is just to clear the timeline of your current project.

Once that is done, you select Share > Create Disc > DVD. The burning module will open. Use the Add Media button at the top to insert your new mpeg-1 in the burning timeline. Then go to the middle of the three icons in the bottom left of the burning screen. There is a little box beside the words 'Do not convert compliant mpeg files'. Make sure that box is ticked (it usually is by default). That way, your already compliant mpeg file will not be re-encoded. Then build your menus and burn.

Again, I would not be too worried about whether the mpeg-1 is NTSC or PAL if it is a video DVD. If an Australian television station cannot play an NTSC DVD, I would be very surprised. After all, think about all the American news you see on all our channels. They get that as NTSC and have no trouble playing it, after all...

ablinkvboxa · Post by **ablinkvboxa** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 12:25 pm

ok thank-you.
i will try that tomorrow.

at the moment here is the video properties of the original if that is what you requested

file format: MPEG-1
file size: 19,812kb
Duration: 55 seconds

video
video type" MPEG-1 Video
total frames: 1,395
Attributes: 24bits, 640 x 480
Frame rate: 25.000 frames/sec
data rate: variable bit rate

audio
audio type: MPEG audio layer 2 files
total samples: 1,785,600 samples
attributes: 32000Hz, 16 bit, mono
layer: 2
bit rate: 64kbps.

thanks again

2Dogs · Post by **2Dogs** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 4:22 pm

Can you call or email the TV station?

If the clip is for one of those "Funniest home video" type shows, the important thing would be for it to be at the highest quality.

Maybe the TV station could just have the clip, burned directly to disc or even on a flash memory card, and do their own editing. That would save you the bother, and I'm sure they have top-end equipment too.