NTSC to PAL: Is smooth playback possible?

[skullmunki]

ive just bought a new multiregional player with a built in PAL- NTSC converter which has enabled me to start purchasing region 1 discs. I wanted to play them on my old region 2 machine too, so i set about trying to convert from NTSC to PAL.

After first ripping the movie vobs with DVD Decrypter, I created the d2v and AC3 files with DVD2AVI and opened them up in TMPGenc. I have tried changing the settings in numerous different ways, but my resultant mpg file always seems to be jerky on playback, both on my pc and on my standalone player.

I just want to to know if its possible to get a converted file that plays smoothly, or am i looking for an answer that doesnt exist? I'm new to this, so be gentle! Am i right in thinking that because i am converting from 29.97 fps to 25 fps, frames are being removed, and hence the jerky playback?

If there is a way around it, id be thankful for some pointers! ive tried several tutorials, but always seem to endup with that jerkiness!

[Tommyknocker]

I just became addicted to DVD Shrink. It lets you choose any and all regions before writing your new DVD. Just a thought.

[skullmunki]

thats one way (an easy way too)! u can make the backup multiregional, but what if you hav a povvy old tv that doesnt support NTSC?

Plus, as ive been tryin, i just wondered if it was possible.......ima curious so and so!

thanks for the idea tho!

[sterno]

Yes, you're probably getting jerky conversion because of the frame rate being changed. Most NTSC DVDs are actually encoded at 24fps (FILM), so you can use Force FILM in DVD2AVI. To get smooth playback converting 24fps to 25fps you can use a short avisynth script with assumefps() to just change the playback speed instead of adding/removing frames. You'll need to adjust the audio length to match, besweet can do that.

There's a guide talking about this on this site, but I don't remember exactly where it is....

[Tommyknocker]

Sterno's right. There is a guide for framerate conversion. Click here. Here is the excerpt:

1b. Frameserve with Avisynth
Code:

Avisource("c:..dir..filename.avi")#PALsource
#BilinearResize(448,254,1,0,638,272)
#AddBorders(16,113,16,113)
AssumeFPS(23.976)


Code:

Avisource("c:..dir..filename.avi")#NTSCsource
#BilinearResize(448,306,1,0,638,272)
#AddBorders(16,135,16,135)
AssumeFPS(25)


If the source is MPEG-1 use DirectShowSource instead of AviSource.
If the source is MPEG-2, create a DVD2AVI project and get the mpeg2dec plugin for Avisynth.
Code:

LoadPlugin("c:..dir..mpeg2dec.dll")
mpeg2source("c:..dir..filename.d2v")
#BilinearResize(448,254,1,0,638,272)
#AddBorders(16,113,16,113)
AssumeFPS(23.976)