question: worldwide formats and conversions
by Marni Page
on
Mar 22, 2009 at 5:58:22 am
I am editing video that will be distributed in both NTSC and PAL versions. Here's my question -- if I must convert from one to the other, is it better to go from NTSC to PAL or PAL to NTSC?
I know in the past when working in SD for broadcast the rule was always PAL to NTSC is superior. But these days, we're shooting HDV in progressive frame rates for SD DVD distribution and I'm just confused.
Re: question: worldwide formats and conversions by Noah Kadner on Mar 22, 2009 at 6:07:23 pm
An NTSC DVD will play in most PAL players and TVs. So I'd just send that... If you want both, it's more of a question of the quality of the conversion than whether it started as PAL or NTSC.
Re: question: worldwide formats and conversions by Marni Page on Mar 23, 2009 at 3:15:37 am
I'll definitely need to convert some of my PAL footage to NTSC. Should I rely on DVD Studio Pro to do that for me or should it be a 2-stage process, by which I convert the media via some other conversion specific software and then compress to DVD? If so, can you recommend affordable software?
Re: question: worldwide formats and conversions by Noah Kadner on Mar 23, 2009 at 3:59:59 am
No DVDSP does zero standards conversions. A project is either all NTSC or all PAL- it cannot be both. Compressor can do a decent job at conversion but I'd try Nattress Standards Conversion plugin or I'd go to a post house if it's really critical to look good.
Re: question: worldwide formats and conversions by Marni Page on Mar 24, 2009 at 8:38:49 am
I'll likely go with Nattress since it fits the budget. But here's the big question... Nobody puts it this directly, but dare I say that the NTSC standard IS in fact the standard for international DVD distribution?
Is it worth the effort to continue producing two versions?
Should I sell my PAL equipment and just go NTSC all the way?
Re: question: worldwide formats and conversions by MIchael Sacci on Mar 24, 2009 at 5:58:21 pm
[Marni Page]"Nobody puts it this directly, but dare I say that the NTSC standard IS in fact the standard for international DVD distribution? "
I don't think I would put it that way, I think what most people say is the if you are in NTSC world and you want to release your title in the rest of the world there MAY not be a reason to make a PAL version. I'm not sure how this holds up in smaller, less developed markets.
Do you normally shoot PAL or NTSC? Where are you located?
Re: question: worldwide formats and conversions by Marni Page on Mar 25, 2009 at 8:36:47 am
Well. We're a budding international organization, and initially we thought we'd be doing most of our shooting and editing either in India or Nepal, where I'm writing from now. I was thinking the same way you were -- if we're doing most of our work in a PAL world, then I should be working with PAL equipment.
But now it looks like we are setting up offices in the US, where we will have a strong presence and the PAL idea doesn't seem as genius as I initially thought. So now I'm questioning selling the equipment, or at least upgrading some of our existing equipment to shoot at NTSC frame rates.
Even here in India and Nepal I see a lot of Bollywood DVD's released in NTSC format, so it made me question my whole process. Indeed most of the TVs and players I see sold on the streets of Kathmandu are multisystem. So I assume if that's happening here, then it must be the same in other parts of Asia, in Europe and in South America. But I'm just guessing.
So the questions that remain for me are:
1) If we're heading to the states, then should I stop shooting PAL altogether? Sell what I have and gear up again with NTSC equipment?
2) What is a "multisystem" DVD player? Is it truly multisystem in which each DVD is played in it's native standard? Or does it have some kind of standards converter in it that will play your movie, but compromise it's quality?
3) If the DVD players are performing the conversion, what's going to look prettier -- something you converted yourself with Nattress or the DVD player?
