VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 8 of 8
Thread
  1. Once in a while I come across a PAL DVD (usually old movies), and convert them to NTSC.

    Has been a while since I have made any conversions, and I just came across one.

    Just to remember the steps I take, I usually browse through the forums.

    Lately I have been reading a lot about slowing down the movie (framerate) and then slowing down the audio also.

    What I have done up until now was passing the movie through avisynth (tdeint, lanczosresize, converttoyuy2, etc...) and then through dgpulldown (25-29,97).

    I find this technique easy because you don't have to touch the audio.

    Did anything change while I was away?

    Thanks a lot!
    Quote Quote  
  2. Originally Posted by Drakul View Post
    Did anything change while I was away?
    Not really, but even back then you didn't need to deinterlace movies. And if for some misguided reason you still feel the need, there are better deinterlacers these days.

    Me, I've always slowed the movies to film speed and slowed the audio to match, but not everyone does that.
    Quote Quote  
  3. OK, I understand.

    So, the deinterlacing part was a waste.

    Does the slowing down technique, improves the outcome in any way?

    Thanks!
    Quote Quote  
  4. Originally Posted by Drakul View Post
    Does the slowing down technique, improves the outcome in any way?
    Isn't that the point? Yes, it restores the movement to it's original speed, making it flow more naturally. It puts the dialog and music back on pitch since most movies on PAL DVD wind up with the audio a semi-tone higher, thus leaving voices unnaturally high and music out of tune.
    Quote Quote  
  5. I'm a Super Moderator johns0's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    canada
    Search Comp PM
    Some pal dvds have there audio at the right speed,not many but if you slow down the audio you will hear if it sounds normal or a bit to slow.
    I think,therefore i am a hamster.
    Quote Quote  
  6. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    Deep in the Heart of Texas
    Search PM
    Yet the better audio editors have the capability for independent adjustment of both pitch and time (and possibly tempo & timbre/formant), so that shouldn't affect your enjoyment of the audio.

    Scott
    Quote Quote  
  7. The problem with PAL audio, at least if the source video was original film (ie 24fps) there's often no way to know if it was pitch corrected when it was sped up in the first place, unless you have more clever ears than I do, or an NTSC version to compare it to, so it's hard to know whether pitch correcting it when slowing it down would be the right thing to do. I'd agree with manono, or at least guess most of the time it wouldn't be. "Music DVDs" (video of concerts etc) might be an exception.

    If the video was original from a TV show in a PAL country.... that sort of thing..... would it be safe to assume it was shot at 25fps and converting it to NTSC using pulldown mightn't be a bad idea? The video I've converted "back to PAL" by removing pulldown often seems to end up (if memory serves me correct) 24.98fps (or something similar) so I assume PAL is often slowed down a fraction before pulldown is applied? Can us mere portals do something similar?

    If you live in an NTSC country is it (still) uncommon for DVD/Bluray players to play 25fps video if it's in an AVI/MKV/MP4 container etc? As I live in PAL land and never owned a player which has refused to play AVI/MKV/MP4 files due to the frame rate, I wouldn't even consider converting to "video DVD" format. I'd convert using the x264 encoder and leave the frame rate untouched (unless pulldown removal can be applied when converting).
    Quote Quote  
  8. Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Freedonia
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by Drakul View Post
    Once in a while I come across a PAL DVD (usually old movies), and convert them to NTSC.
    Why? Why why why why why???

    Is your time completely worthless to you? You could just spend about $50, maybe a little less or more, and buy a converting DVD player that's region free (some Philips models may still be able to be made region free by entering a code, but you have to research BEFORE you buy) and not do any conversions at all. My rule is that if you have to do this kind of conversion more than twice, you should just buy a converting player instead. Unless of course your spare time means nothing to you and you don't mind spending hours to convert movies you'll likely only watch once because it "saves" you money over buying a converting DVD player.

    And note that I very specifically said "DVD player" and I do NOT by any stretch actually mean a "BluRay player".
    Quote Quote  
Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!