NTSC to PAL
- Thread starter filmelife
- Start date
JanBee
Active member
Re: NTSC to PAL
Hi,
I did this with the Canon XL1 in frame mode (which is not interlaced but has not the full resolution of a progressive scan) and the results were rather depressing, resolution and motionwise.
Maybe PhotoZoom can help you to limit the impact of the necessary uprezz.
If you shoot 30P, you still have the problem that you have to drop every sixth frame (or so) which results in slight but visible jerky motion in high-motion scenes (at least I noticed it!). Professional NTSC->PAL converters don't work AT ALL if you plan on using full frames, because these machines do the conversion fieldwise and you risk loosing your full frames (60 to 50 field conversion works pretty good). And all interpolation tricks will always soften the frame and again you'll loose resolution.
24P->25P MIGHT be a solution to the motion problem (not the resolution problem, though).
Good luck... prepare to be depressed.
Hi,
I did this with the Canon XL1 in frame mode (which is not interlaced but has not the full resolution of a progressive scan) and the results were rather depressing, resolution and motionwise.
Maybe PhotoZoom can help you to limit the impact of the necessary uprezz.
If you shoot 30P, you still have the problem that you have to drop every sixth frame (or so) which results in slight but visible jerky motion in high-motion scenes (at least I noticed it!). Professional NTSC->PAL converters don't work AT ALL if you plan on using full frames, because these machines do the conversion fieldwise and you risk loosing your full frames (60 to 50 field conversion works pretty good). And all interpolation tricks will always soften the frame and again you'll loose resolution.
24P->25P MIGHT be a solution to the motion problem (not the resolution problem, though).
Good luck... prepare to be depressed.
JanBee
Active member
Re: NTSC to PAL
Scharky,
sorry to disagree here, you're right, almost any DVD player can play both, PAL and NTSC, but the TV sets are a different thing. I'd guess that only 10% of all TV sets here in PAL-land can show NTSC (with the newest ones having a better chance to support NTSC).
Scharky,
sorry to disagree here, you're right, almost any DVD player can play both, PAL and NTSC, but the TV sets are a different thing. I'd guess that only 10% of all TV sets here in PAL-land can show NTSC (with the newest ones having a better chance to support NTSC).
ullanta
Veteran
Re: NTSC to PAL
Well, I've produced some PAL DVDs for clients by converting NTSC material through Final Cut Pro export.
I have no PAL equipment, so was only able to view the results on the computer. The result was not bad... but keep in mind that these tended to be compilation demo DVDs based on pretty bad footage to begin with.
Since I was making PAL DVDs with no way to test them, I fervently requested that the clients obtain feedback from the recipients. Didn't get much, except that they did indeed play.
So, as my suggestion to try: export from Final Cut Pro (or your preferred NLE I guess, but I can't vouch for them) to PAL .dv... then, if you don't have proper PAL playback equipment, you can at least preview both on your computer to get SOME comparison of relative quality...
-Barry
Well, I've produced some PAL DVDs for clients by converting NTSC material through Final Cut Pro export.
I have no PAL equipment, so was only able to view the results on the computer. The result was not bad... but keep in mind that these tended to be compilation demo DVDs based on pretty bad footage to begin with.
Since I was making PAL DVDs with no way to test them, I fervently requested that the clients obtain feedback from the recipients. Didn't get much, except that they did indeed play.
So, as my suggestion to try: export from Final Cut Pro (or your preferred NLE I guess, but I can't vouch for them) to PAL .dv... then, if you don't have proper PAL playback equipment, you can at least preview both on your computer to get SOME comparison of relative quality...
-Barry
scharky
Veteran
Re: NTSC to PAL
I never even thought about that before, I always figured that if the DVD player could play it, it would be able to be displayed. Since I have never had this problem (converting NTSC to PAL) I can only say what I have heard. YOu might look into DV film makers Atlantis program that is supposed to give excellent results for NTSC to PAL conversion.
I never even thought about that before, I always figured that if the DVD player could play it, it would be able to be displayed. Since I have never had this problem (converting NTSC to PAL) I can only say what I have heard. YOu might look into DV film makers Atlantis program that is supposed to give excellent results for NTSC to PAL conversion.