Making DVD in PAL when ProX4 was installed in NTSC

[alfredb]

Hello,

I made a DVD video in the default (I live in Canada) NTSC format using VSP X4. However I would like to make the same Video DVD in PAL format, to send to relatives in Europe. In "Share" mode, when I click on "Settings and Options" then "Disk Template Manager" I can see templates for NTSC and choosing PAL I see templates for PAL. Next when I go to "Projects Settings" the setting is in NTSC and clicking "Change MPEG Settings" only the NTSC templates show up. When I choose "Custom Settings" I can not change to PAL as the drop down menu for choosing is inactive.
Can anyone please help me with this?
Thanks,

Alfred

[Ken Berry]

Welcome to the forums.

Your query has been covered a million times before. Put briefly, you can select the DVD/PAL output in the burning module in the Settings and Options icon > Preferences. In the Editing module, I am surprised you cannot find the PAL option. In Settings > Project Properties with mpeg selected as the output format, if you click on the Compression tab, up the top you have the choice between NTSC DVD and PAL DVD. Selecting PAL will change all the other default Properties from NTSC to PAL.

However, the real point is that you probably don't need to change from your NTSC original. Just about every stand-alone DVD player in PAL countries can play NTSC DVDs. So instead of going to all the trouble trying to convert, send your relatives an NTSC version and they should be able to play it. (Unfortunately, the converse is not true and most NTSC canNOT play PAL DVDs...)

The other point is that VS does not do a particularly good job in converting from one TV format to the other. If you think about it, it has to change the frame size from 720 x 576 down to 720 x 480, and more importantly, it has to reduce the frame rate from 29.97 fps to 25. It does so through the simple expedient of effectively just deleted 5 frames per second, which will often result in jerky video.It will also probably upset the synchronisation with the audio as the latter will also have to have its speed varied downwards.

There are of course specialist programs out there which do a good conversion job, such as Canopus Procoder. But they are quite expensive. So my advice would be to first try the idea of simply sending your NTSC original DVDs.

[alfredb]

Thanks for the reply.
However I have already tried your suggestion "Compression tab, up the top you have the choice between NTSC DVD and PAL DVD. Selecting PAL will change all the other default Properties from NTSC to PAL". I can see the dropdown arrow for making the change but it is disabled. Also it shows that mpeg2 is being used but that is also inactive.

The way I understand it, NTSC format is 720x480 at 30 fps(approx) and PAL format is 720x576 at 25 fps(approx). The DVD players in PAL countries will convert the NTSC to Pal format to play on their TVs, thereby losing 5 frames during the conversion and leaving 96 lines blank on the TV. That is not desirable.

When making the DVD with VSPX4 the proper NTSC format is created during rendering the project. Also when rendering the project using the PAL setting the proper format for PAL is created. When you suggest "VS does not do a particularly good job in converting from one TV format to the other", I dont think it is so. The rendering of the project does not convert one TV format to the other, but renders to the selected format.

Anyway, that does not solve the problem I am having with VSPX4 in getting the PAL option to work. Perhaps I should re-install the program and then choose England as the country when the install program asks.

Alfred

[Kingston]

Alfred,

You don't have to reinstall.

You need to start a new project.

In Settings > Project Properties, change from NTSC to PAL on the Compression tab.

You must SAVE the project, then OPEN it again. If you don't do this, the project will be stuck on NTSC. You don't want video on the timeline when you save the project this first time. I think that may cause a problem when trying to change a project from NTSC to PAL.

You can tell that the project is PAL because the timeline will be set for 25 fps instead of 29.97 fps.

Now you can add video to the timeline and continue on.

When you Share to a DVD disc, the Compression tab in the Burn module will already be set to PAL. You can't change it in the Burn module. The Burn module bases the video format on the Project properties.

[Ken Berry]

The DVD players in PAL countries will convert the NTSC to Pal format to play on their TVs, thereby losing 5 frames during the conversion and leaving 96 lines blank on the TV.

That is simply not the case. I live in a PAL country, and as a diplomat, travelled widely in the world, accumulating both PAL and NTSC DVDs in my travels. All played absolutely fine, with no missing frames or blank lines in a wide variety of PAL DVD players I have owned over the years. And this experience is shared by a huge number of other people living in PAL countries.

Also when rendering the project using the PAL setting the proper format for PAL is created. When you suggest "VS does not do a particularly good job in converting from one TV format to the other", I dont think it is so. The rendering of the project does not convert one TV format to the other, but renders to the selected format.

You miss the point. You are starting off with NTSC video from your camcorder. It will be 720 x 480 at 29.97 fps when you insert it in your project, and thus is suitable for NTSC TVs and DVD players. Yes, rendering this NTSC video using your PAL project settings will render it to an mpeg-2 with PAL properties i.e. 720 x 576 at 25 fps. But where have the new 96 pixels come from and what has happened to the original 4.97 fps which are no longer there?

But if you think VS does a good job in adding these pixels and cutting those frames, then go right ahead.

[alfredb]

Alfred,

You don't have to reinstall.

You need to start a new project.

In Settings > Project Properties, change from NTSC to PAL on the Compression tab.

You must SAVE the project, then OPEN it again. If you don't do this, the project will be stuck on NTSC. You don't want video on the timeline when you save the project this first time. I think that may cause a problem when trying to change a project from NTSC to PAL.

You can tell that the project is PAL because the timeline will be set for 25 fps instead of 29.97 fps.

Now you can add video to the timeline and continue on.

When you Share to a DVD disc, the Compression tab in the Burn module will already be set to PAL. You can't change it in the Burn module. The Burn module bases the video format on the Project properties.

Thank you very much for your reply, it solved the Problem.
It worked even with the video on the timeline, the key is to "SAVE the project, then OPEN it again" and then "make the changes "In Settings > Project Properties, change from NTSC to PAL on the Compression tab" as you mentioned. However after that, the positioning of the chapter tabs and any text and sound have to be tweaked.
I wish Corel would have made this clear in their manual, after all the world is getting smaller, and more people wish to send DVDs to countries where different formats are used, especially from Pal to NTSC countries. To give credit to Corel, they answered my e-mail to them, posing this question, in less than 2 days with the same solution.
Thanks again

[skier-hughes]

Have you considered the changes to luminance, chrominance, white levels and black burst, all of which are different in a true PAL video.
The only way to do it properly is to use a standards converter.