PAL & NTSC video clips on one DVD?

[Simmo180]

I have read a couple of previous topics on this subject, but I am still trying to get my head round this?

I have captured various video clips, some in PAL format and others in NTSC format.

I use Pinnacle to author my DVD's, and when I try to put a PAL and NTSC clip's into the same project it complains and says something along the lines 'Cannot mix 29fps with 25fps'?

I presume this 'Frames Per Second' is the difference between a PAL capture and a NTSC capture. Both files are MPEGS, but does this just mean the properties of each are different because of the format captured?

Is there an easy way round this?

Can I convert the MPEG's somehow so they are the same 'Frames Per Second' or same format, so that they will work together?

Any help appreciated.

[Baldrick]

DVD does not support mixed PAL and NTSC on same DVD. But you could make non compliant DVD with dvd-lab pro, make a new VTS/title for each clip...the DVD will work on many players that supports both PAL and NTSC but not all.

But best is to convert to same format...do a google search for "pal to ntsc" and videohelp or doom9 ...

Or even better...make two dvds...

[Bjs]

Pgcedit allow's you to mix these onto a dvd ... though this is beyond the spec's for dvd .

You can author a basic dvd with menu in dvdauthorgui ... you can use ntsc or pal menu , it wont matter .

What dose matter here is if you decide on an ntsc menu , your first input clip should also be that of ntsc format ... or dvdauthorgui may refuse to compile the project .

You only need to add one of your clip's ... the rest will be added later when using pgcedit .

Add the right number of menu item button's for you compilation , and allow dvdauthorgui to compile the project to folder .

Open this folder using pgcedit , import title's , edit the navigational command's ... dont forget the button's as well ... when done , save .

Playback dvd , if all is well , burn it .

If all is not fine ... a button dosent work correctly , or a played item dosent go to the correct place when it finish's ... ie , next title , or return to menu ... go back into pgcedit and locate the problem and change the navigational command's for it , save , and play it again .

Simple stuff once you get the hang of it ...

[Simmo180]

Thanks for the replies.

I followed the links to the Pgcedit and dvdauthorgui, are these both free to download tools, and are they easy to pick up? They look easy enough to download and install, anything I should be aware of?

How does a "Region Free DVD" work, these do not seem to have any problems playing on anything? How do they play on any machine?

[guns1inger]

Don't confuse region with format - they are not the same thing. Format (PAL or NTSC) describes the technical requirements (framerate, resolution etc) for playback on different devices. Region Codes are used by the movie industry to maintain a distribution monopoly by dividing the planet into arbitrary 'regions' and locking playback to those areas.

Region Free DVD players simply allow you to play back discs mastered for a region different to your own. Because many of those regions will use a different format as well, most region free players also allow playback of different formats. How they do it varies.

Some output native signals - PAL comes out PAL, NTSC comes out NTSC. In this case, your TV also needs to support multi-format playback, as it will receive different format signals from the player.

Other plays output strange hybrid signals, such as PAL60 (PAL resolution, NTSC framerate) etc.