PAL>NTSC Conversion

[WeBMaSTeR]

Hey m8s,

Having a problem converting PAL to NTSC MPEG2 files.

Here is what I am doing: Rencoding with TMGEnc. Problem: Video is fine, audio is out of sync, I believe both initial and gradual.

I know and can fix the audio afterwards, but you all know what a bitch and pain that is: cutting, stretching, etc.

There must be a simplier way.

Any help much appreciated

[FulciLives]

Hello

You need to get the newest Beta versions of BeSweet and the BeSweet GUI (and probably azid, toolame, etc.)

The software can be downloaded from this link:
http://dspguru.doom9.net/

Load the original AC-3 file from the PAL DVD into the BeSweet GUI and set it up to transcode from AC-3 to AC-3 using the PRE-SET format conversion for PAL ---> NTSC

This will create a new AC-3 audio file that should match the playback speed of the converted-to-NTSC video you will create in TMPGEnc.

When you do the video in TMPGEnc have it save the video an an elementry stream (filename.m2v) this way you can load the video and audio seperately into an authoring program such as Maestro or DVD WorkShop or SpruceUP etc. If you want you can use TMPGEnc to mux the AC-3 and the m2v files into a single mpeg using the MPEG TOOLS section.

If you want you can use the BeSweet GUI to go from the original AC-3 audio file to a wav audio file. You can then feed the wav and the video into TMPGEnc and get either an elementry stream (videofilename.m2v and audiofilename.mp2) or create a single mpeg file that will have the video and mp2 sound file muxed together (filename.mpg).

I've used the BeSweet GUI on a PAL AC-3 audio file to go from PAL to NTSC and it has worked very well. I then used SpruceUP since it is one of the (few) easy-to-use authoring software packages that allows the use of an AC-3 audio file. Unfortunately most authoring programs do not support AC-3 sound.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
I have found that a progressive PAL DVD is easy to convert to a progressive (23.976 fps) NTSC DVD-R but I have never had luck when attempting to work with a PAL DVD that was interlaced. Thankfully most PAL DVD discs are progressive (unless it was shot-on-video or some idiot created it which does happen from time to time. The Tarten UK PAL DVD of RING 2 is a good example. It has NTSC like interlace patterns but in a PAL video! I never could figure out the proper way to deinterlace it so I gave up. Screwed my friends over doing that but hey they can buy a stand alone DVD player like mine that has built-in PAL to NTSC conversion or deal with a VHS dub from said player hehehe)

A NOTE ABOUT BeSweet
When you transcode the PAL AC-3 file using BeSweet it automaticaly corrects the delay value to 0 if it wasn't already 0. Also there is no such issue when you convert it to a WAV format file. Also if you are going from AC-3 to AC-3 make sure to use the same bit size i.e., 5.1 448 AC-3 to 5.1 448 AC-3 don't try to go to like another number like 384 or 192 keep it 448 or whatever the original is (most 2.0 AC-3 files are 192).

Last but not least most Pioneer DVD players get locked up or have stuttering playback with an AC-3 created with BeSweet. No way around that. If you have a Pioneer player either get another or convert to wav with BeSweet then mp2 with TMPGEnc. Please note this problem seems to only be with 2.0 AC-3 files I have done 5.1 AC-3 PAL to 5.1 AC-3 NTSC and the Pioneer liked it but won't play a 2.0 AC-3 PAL to 2.0 AC-3 NTSC. Go figure! Anyways it's not my fault ... it is well documented on many posts in this very forum that the Pioneer players don't like BeSweet created AC-3 files though I don't think most people realize it will do a 5.1 AC-3 fine.

Just thought of one last thing ... DVD2AVI will almost always say a PAL source is interlaced ... even if it is not. I usually load the d2v file into Gordian Knot and play it back ... easy to tell if it is progressive or not that way. But like I said most of the PAL DVD videos I have seen have almost always been progressive.

[WeBMaSTeR]

THanx for the great reply, only problem is that I am dealing with an mpeg2, not ac3.
Anyway, ya gave me enough of a clue to work it out:

Demultiplexed the PAL and TMGEnc-recoded NTSC. Coverted the mp2 from the PAL version to NTSC with BeSweet and then mutiplexed the NTSC video and the new MP2 and all in synch.

Thanx for the hints m8

[FulciLives]

Hello

When doing frame rate conversions on audio I've always had an original AC-3 audio file to work with but I don't see why it wouldn't work with a MP2 audio file ... assuming BeSweet and the GUI supports that.

Let us know how it turns out for ya

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[WeBMaSTeR]

As I said, I extracted the mp2 from the Pal version, converted audio to NTSC with BeSweet (mp2>mp2) and then multiplexed it with the NTSC video and it worked great.

Thanx again