How To Fix Your SVCD To Play In Your DVD Player! PAL -> N

[AcidicChip]

Have you downloaded an SVCD and put it in your DVD player (Which Supports SVCD) and the picture/sound is all messed up. Like you have a bad antena reception or something?
Chances are that your DVD player only plays US (NTSC) format SVCDs. To convert your EU (PAL) formatted SVCD into a US (NTSC) formatted SVCD, just simply do the following:

A1) Open up ISOBuster.

A2) Goto "File/Open Image File" and open the BIN file of the CD you are converting.

A3) Go into the MPEG2 folder displayed in ISOBuster.

A4) Right-Click on the MPG file in that folder (Typically named "AVSEQ01.MPG") then click on "Extract but FILTER only M2F2 Mpeg frames" and save the file (I'd recommend saving it as "AVSEQ01.PAL.MPG").
NOTE: Doing this doesn't just extract the MPG file that is in TRUE SVCD format, what it does is convert the TRUE SVCD format into MPEG2 format.

A5) Feel free to close ISOBuster if you wish.

B1) Open up DVD2AVI.

B2) Goto "File/Open" and open the "AVSEQ01.PAL.MPG" file you saved in step A4.
NOTE: You may have to input "*.*" and hit [ENTER] in the "File name:" field of the "Open" dialog to see the file.

B3) When the "File List" dialog appears, hit the "OK" button.

B4) Goto "Option/Preview". Doing so will start to play the movie. (Ignore the sizing of the movie)

B5) As the file is "Previewing" an "Information" dialog will appear. In that dialog, you'll see a "Video Type" field. If that says "PAL" in it, then we were right; Your DVD player won't play it because it is not US (NTSC) Format.
NOTE: If the "Video Type" does not say "PAL" in it, then the SVCD being in PAL format is not your problem. If it says the Video Type is NTSC then purhapse it needs to be in PAL format, or maybe your DVD player does not
truly support SVCD format.

B6) Goto "File/Stop"

B7) Goto "File/Save" and in the Save dialog I'd recommend saving the file as "CD#" eg, if you are doing CD1 of the movie you downloaded, save it as "CD1". (Do not enter an extension)

B8) Feel free to close DVD2AVI if you wish.

C1) Open up TMPGEnc.

C2) In the Wizard that pops up, Under the "Super Video-CD" tree that appears, select "NTSC", then hit the "Next >" button.

C3) For the "Video File" go into the folder you saved the file in step B7, and open the CD#.d2v (eg. "CD1.d2v") and hit "OK"

C4) For the "Audio File" go into the folder you saved the file in step B7, and open the .mpa file (eg. "CD1 MPA T01 DELAY 0ms.mpa") and hit "OK"
NOTE: You may have to input "*.*" and hit [ENTER] in the "File name:" field of the "Open" dialog to see the file.

C5) Hit the "Next >" button.

C6) Hit the "Next >" button again.

C7) In the bottom part of this step you'll see a drop down box that usually reads "CD-R 74min (VCD/SVCD)" by default. Select the minute capacity of your CD. (Best to use a 700MB/80min CD)
NOTE: Select "minute" value, not a MB value

C8) In the "Makes file size [ ] % of disk capacity", input 99%.
NOTE: If you are only able to have a value of 100% or more in that field, then you have to merge the PAL files, and split them accordingly to your CD size. Usually released SVCDs (PAL or NTSC) would fit in an 80min CD.

C9) Hit the "Next >" button.

C10) Save the output file. I would recommend saving it as CD#.NTSC.MPG (eg. "CD1.NTSC.MPG")

C11) Hit the "OK" button.

And that is it! You are now ready to burn this to a CD! Don't know how? Here are the steps to doing that!

D1) Open up Nero

D2) By default the Wizard pops up, close it.

D3) Goto "File/New" and select "Super Video CD" in the list on the left, and hit the "New" button.

D4) A new window will appear in Nero, and in that window will be a Top section and a Bottom section.

D5) Just drag the CD#.NTSC.MPG (eg. "CD1.NTSC.MPG") file you made in step C10 into the bottom section of that new window in Nero.

D6) Burn the CD!
NOTE: I would recommend burning the SVCD in the LOWEST speed possible. Sure I've burned it at 24X just fine, and you can try it to. But if the video/sound suffers or the burn messes up, try 1x, 2x, or 4x.

NOTE: I recommend that you have the latest version of the programs needed to do this, in order for it to work properly.

I hope this works out for you. Most of the questions I've seen in these forums pertain to this... If you can't merge files that you took from an SVCD, then follow the "A" steps, and use THAT MPG file. Converting PAL (SVCD) to NTSC (SVCD), just follow the "B" and "C" steps. Burn it to CD, just follow the "D" steps.

I'm guessing a lot of people have this problem, because the "Convert" area of vcdhelp.com/dvdrhelp.com explain how to convert PAL to NTSC for normal VCD, but not SVCD. Trust me, I read thru it all and spent all night figuring out how to convert my SVCD (PAL) movie (cough, cough *MATRIX RELOADED*, cough) into NTSC format. Well here's this is the easiest way to do it, and it doesn't take very long either.

NOTE TO VCDHELP/DVDRHELP: Feel free to alter this in what ever way needed, and stick it in your "Convert" section.

[rastoma]

thank you for the time you took to submit this.... i just came across this exact problem.

but now that I know these files i have are in PAL, is there an easier or quicker way to go from the .avi that is apparantly in PAL and go to NTSC mpg? i don't even need svcd.. vcd will be fine.

or do i just go through the steps of created the svcd first then follow your guide?

[dallastx]

How long did it take to convert to ntsc AcidicChip? And is it jerky at all. I noticed when going from pal to ntsc i get a few skips, nothing terrible but noticeble. How large was the file after converting?

[AcidicChip]

thank you for the time you took to submit this.... i just came across this exact problem.

but now that I know these files i have are in PAL, is there an easier or quicker way to go from the .avi that is apparantly in PAL and go to NTSC mpg? i don't even need svcd.. vcd will be fine.

or do i just go through the steps of created the svcd first then follow your guide?

I'm not EXACTLY sure on how to do that, I just got into SVCDs and came across this problem, and found a way to do it, and posted it to help others like me.

However, I do believe you can take the same steps, just in the "A" step, instead of selecting an MPG file, select your AVI file... As sar as VCD ,I don't bother with it, because SVCD is much greater quality.

[AcidicChip]

How long did it take to convert to ntsc AcidicChip? And is it jerky at all. I noticed when going from pal to ntsc i get a few skips, nothing terrible but noticeble. How large was the file after converting?

The extract it from ISO Buster, maybe like 5 minutes. To do the part with DVD2AVI, maybe another 5 minutes. The longest part is the TMPGEnc, which could take about an hour, depending on how long the movie is, on that CD.

When I go from PAL to NTSC, it seems 100% fine. Purhapse you have an older version of one of the programs? Here are the versions I'm using...

ISOBuster 1.4
DVD2AVI 1.77.3
TMPGEnc Plus 2.511.51.160
Nero - Burning Rom 5.5.10.28

Try using those versions, and see what results you have.

Out of curiosity, what are your computer specs? Try not running ANYTHING else while you are doing this, maybe that will help. What movie are you trying to convert, and where did you get it from, what are the file names and sizes? Let me know, and I'll get me a copy of it and tinker with it for you to see what I can do to help.

[AcidicChip]

MODs, if possible please sitcky, as I find this being a common problem for US people, downloading SVCDs. Beings a high majority (If not all) SVCDs seem to be released in PAL format.

[scottymac]

Isn't this re-encoding the whole file? How is the quality compared to the original? I can't imagine that re-encoding an SVCD of an SVCD would be that pretty at all.

[AcidicChip]

Isn't this re-encoding the whole file? How is the quality compared to the original? I can't imagine that re-encoding an SVCD of an SVCD would be that pretty at all.

The quality is the same as the original PAL. Sound and Video. (At least of what I saw on the PAL format on my computer, looked just as good in NTSC on my TV.) Yes, it is TECHNICALLY re-encding, but there is not COMPRESSING going on. It's all MPG2, not MPG1. So re-encoding it over, and over, and over, will not have the same old typical effects as it would on an MPG Layer 1.

[DTWells]

Everytime I go to load up the Audio File in TMPGENC, the program crashes. Anyone else have this error and how can I fix it?

[DTWells]

The error is as follows:

The instruction at "0x77f51594" referenced memory at "0x00ad0586". The memory could not be "read".

This error occurs on every TMPG from 2.5 and up. It works fine on tmpg 2.01.30.116. What is goin on?

[AcidicChip]

The error is as follows:

The instruction at "0x77f51594" referenced memory at "0x00ad0586". The memory could not be "read".

This error occurs on every TMPG from 2.5 and up. It works fine on tmpg 2.01.30.116. What is goin on?

This problem may be due to the format (codec used) of the audio file. You may want to change the format. Purhapse using BeSweet to change the audio format to a standard audio format (MP3) will fix the problem.