Digitalizing Analog PAL to NTSC

[David K]

I have a Sony TRV 340 digital 8 Camcorder and I use the “pass-thru” digitalizing feature to digitalize VHS tapes (that is capture them as DV on my computer).

My Sony is NTSC and all the input I’ve used has been NTSC.

What about PAL input? Will that work? I’d like to hook up my German uncle’s old 8mm analog PAL camcorder and digitalize that footage.

[FulciLives]

The best is to capture as PAL and then convert to NTSC using an AviSynth script along with TMPGEnc (although you could use CCE or whatever ... I just happen to prefer TMPGEnc myself).

So you need to get something that will let you capture an analog PAL source.

The equipment you have now will not allow you to do that. When you plug the PAL cam into your NTSC cam you can't record it.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[FulciLives]

Just wanted to add that most PCI TV tuner capture cards are capable of capturing both NTSC and PAL analog video. So as long as the PAL 8mm CAMCORDER has a composite video output and some sort of audio output you are A-OK

Such capture cards are in the $40 to $60 (USA dollars) price range.

I bought an AVerTV Stereo capture card at CompUSA for $49.99 and I've been very happy with it and I've used it to capture both NTSC and PAL video.

As far as PAL to NTSC conversion you want to use Xesdeeni's AviSynth AVS script (the one that includes the smartdeinterlacer and Change fps options). For into on this visit Xesdeeni's website at this location:

http://www.geocities.com/xesdeeni2001/StandardsConversion/

You might also want to read the LINK below for even more info on this process:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=160433&highlight=

Good Luck

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

Some tips on capturing PAL video:

Capture at 768x576 and then resize to 720x480 for PAL to NTSC
Make sure you capture at 25fps ... if using a capture card that uses WDM drivers (such as the AverTV Stereo) make sure you use VirtualVCR with the dynamic resample option for the audio. Works great at getting a steady 25fps which is what you will need to do the conversion properly from PAL to NTSC.

[David K]

Wow. Great info. Many Thanks.
I'll look into all this.