Pal Source Video to NTSC DVD

[darthbane2k]

Hi there.
I need to put a 80 min film on PAL Mini DV to an NTSC DVD authored using Ulead DVD workshop. I have used ulead in the past sucessfully only working from PAL source to PAL DVD.
It is important that the disc is in the final NTSC format as i am hoping to take it to the US in seeking a distributor.
So I have several questions..

Once I accidently authored a PAL Mini DV source birthday video to a NTSC DVD in Ulead DVD WS and i noticed on my standalone that in scenes with swift camera pans or fast action/movement I had nasty scanlines/interlacing.. I reauthored changing the DVD output setting to PAL to match its source and it worked fine. Now.. I fear this will happen to my current film, and I dont want to waste 30 hrs of encoding for nothing so could someone verify this please and let me know how to produce a successful NTSC DVD Disc from a PAL mini DV source.

Secondly, maybe a PAL disc will work fine in the US, do US DVD players play PAL discs okay. In the UK most standalones can play NTSC discs flawlessly.. is this the same in the USA? I dont want to lug 20 discs to the USA that have been authored on PAL (if NTSC conversion fails) just to discover that potential distributors cant view the damn thing, so please let me know.

Thanks in advance.... DARTH.

[darthbane2k]

bump!

Please someone advise me what to do

[Xesdeeni]

If your source is actually film, then you should slow the 25 Fps to 23.976 Fps (including sound), and encode it with the flag indicating 3:2 pulldown on playback (see pulldown.exe).

However, if it is actually interlaced video, take a look at http://home.bip.net/gunnart/video/AVSPorts/SmoothDeinterlacer/.

Xesdeeni

[snowmoon]

US DVD players fall into one of three categories.

1) Plays pack PAL as PAL, unfortunatly since we only think of ourselves, unless you have dragges a PAL TV with you your SOL.

2) Won't do it at all

3) Does a decent job of the conversion, but it will be more jumpy than a proper source conversion.


I would recommend the Smooth de-interlace method, looks just like I was envisioning it should do.

[darthbane2k]

My source material is not film its PAL Mini DV.

Does this make a difference and how to I use this deinterlace plugin and on what file.. the converted MPEG files or the mini dv source?

[snowmoon]

You can use this on either the MiniDV source or the PAL MPEG but not the NTSC MPEG.

[Xesdeeni]

Install AVISynth 2.0.6 (http://www.avisynth.org). Create a text file called PAL2NTSC.avs and place the following (more user friendly) script into it. Modify the sections specified. Save the file. You can then open the file directly (as an AVI file) in TMPGEnc or CC 2.50. For other encoders, you may have to go through an intermediate step. I have used VirtualDub and saved the video using the HuffYUV codec. These files will be very large, and you may need to use segmented AVIs so that each piece is less than 4GB (actually VirtualDub makes each one less than 2GB). You can then encode each file separately and join the resulting MPEGs (I use TMPGEnc's MPEG tools menu). You can also load the files all into Premiere and use the CC 2.64 plugin (or MainConcept plugin in Premiere 6.5) to encode them as one big MPEG.

Xesdeeni

######################################################################
#
# Poor man's video standards conversion (NTSC to PAL and PAL to NTSC)
#
# This script converts one INTERLACED video format to another
# INTERLACED video format.
#
# NOTE: This script is NOT meant to convert telecined films (that is,
# films that have been transferred to video).  There are much better
# ways to convert that type of content.  This script is best for
# INTERLACED content like HOME MOVIES shot with camcorders or live
# sporting events.  It is also good for mixed content (film + video).
#
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# >>> Tools <<<
#
# This script is for use with AVISynth version 2.0.6 or above,
# available from http://www.avisynth.org.
#
# This script uses my smooth deinterlacer plugin for AVISynth at
# http://home.bip.net/gunnart/video/AVSPorts/SmoothDeinterlacer/.
# Place the plugin in an AVISynth plugin directory, so it can be
# accessed below.
#
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# For comments/suggestions email me (Xesdeeni2001) at Yahoo dot com.
#
######################################################################
#
# >>> How It Works <<<
#
# This script works by first converting the input video from
# interlaced fields to progressive frames using an adaptive
# deinterlacer.  Then the progressive frame rate is converted.
# Finally the progressive frames re-interlaced for output.  Scaling
# is also performed where appropriate.
#
######################################################################
#
# >>> To Use <<<
#
# To use this script, first modify the lines below as specified.
# Then save the script with any name ending in .AVS.
#
#---------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Set PluginPath equal to the path for your AVISynth plugins. Be sure
# to end the path with a backslash.  Note that if you put the plugins
# in the system directory, you can leave this path completely empty.
# ex.:
#   PluginPath = "C:\AVISynth\PlugIns\"
#

PluginPath = ""

#---------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Set InputVideo and InputAudio equal to the load directive for the
# input video and audio files, respectively.  Also add any plugins
# necessary to load the video file.  Note that audio is fed straight
# through without being modified, because the output video will have
# the same length as the input video.  If your video has no audio,
# set the InputAudio variable to "".
# ex.:
#   LoadPlugin(PluginPath + "MPEG2DEC.dll")
#   InputVideo = MPEG2Source("Input.mpg")
#   InputAudio = WAVSource("Input.wav")
#

InputVideo = AVISource("LiveTest.avi")
InputAudio = ""

#---------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Set InputTopFieldFirst to either true or false, depending on the
# format of your input file.  DV files are normally bottom field
# first, so set this value to false.  DVDs and most other sources are
# normally top field first, so set this value to true.
#

InputTopFieldFirst = false

#---------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Set OutputFrameRate to the desired frame rate of your output video.
# For PAL, this is normally 25.  For NTSC, this is normally 29.97.
# The input frame rate is derived directly from the input video.
#

OutputFrameRate = 25

#---------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Set the OutputWidth and OutputHeight to the desired width and
# height of your output video.  In most cases, the width of the
# output should match the width of the input.  For PAL, the height
# is normally 576.  For NTSC, the height is normally 480.  The input
# width and height are derived from the input video.
#

OutputWidth = InputVideo.width
OutputHeight = 576

#---------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Set OutputTopFieldFirst to either true or false, depending on the
# desired format of your output file.  See InputTopFieldFirst above.
#

OutputTopFieldFirst = true

#---------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Set ConversionType to your desired type of frame rate conversion.
# The choices are:
#   0 - Replication/Decimation: Frames are repeated to increase the
#       frame rate; frames are dropped to decrease the frame rate.
#       This type of conversion is the fastest, but may show visible
#       stuttering on motion when decreasing the frame rate (i.e.
#       NTSC to PAL).
#   1 - Temporally Interpolate: Output frames are created by
#       temporally interpolating between adjacent input frames.  This
#       type of conversion can show a "jutter" effect on motion, but
#       is best when decreasing the framerate to ensure every input
#       frame is at least partially shown in the output.
#   2 - Asynchronous:  The conversion is done by showing the
#       portions of the input frames that correspond to the time
#       during which the output frame is visible.  When decreasing
#       the frame rate, this can cause some areas of some frames to
#       never be seen, and can cause "broken" vertical edges on
#       horizontal pans.
#

ConversionType = (OutputFrameRate <= InputVideo.framerate) ? 1 : 0

#
######################################################################

LoadPlugin(PluginPath + "SmoothDeinterlacer.dll")

vpro = InputVideo.SmoothDeinterlace(tff=InputTopFieldFirst, \
                                    doublerate=true)
vinfps = InputVideo.framerate < OutputFrameRate         ? \
         vpro.BilinearResize(OutputWidth, OutputHeight) : \
         vpro
vfps = ConversionType == 2 ?                               \
       vinfps.ConvertFPS(OutputFrameRate * 2, zone = 80) : \
       ConversionType == 1 ?                               \
       vinfps.ConvertFPS(OutputFrameRate * 2) :            \
       vinfps.ChangeFPS(OutputFrameRate * 2)
voutfps = OutputFrameRate <= InputVideo.framerate        ? \
          vfps.BilinearResize(OutputWidth, OutputHeight) : \
          vfps
vfields = voutfps.SeparateFields()
vlace = OutputTopFieldFirst          ? \
        vfields.SelectEvery(4, 1, 2) : \
        vfields.SelectEvery(4, 0, 3)
# The ConvertToRGB() below is to work around a problem with the YUV to
# RGB conversion caused by a bug in one of the Microsoft DLLs.  The
# bug makes the colors look bad.  Your destination may bypass this
# conversion, so you may be able to remove this conversion in some
# cases.
vout = vlace.Weave().ConvertToRGB()
avout = InputAudio == "" ? vout : \
                           AudioDub(vout, InputAudio)
return(avout)

[huebc2001]

Use TMPGEnc.exe (at www.tmpgenc.net) and download the program. It's a 30 days trial and you can then convert your PAL movies to NTSC. I had the same problem and the software saved my day.

Good luck!