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  1. Member
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    Hello all, fantastic forum.

    I need to do some PAL to NTSC conversions. I have done a fair bit of reading on various methods of how to do this and I get the impression that the solutions are generally multi-step, multi-software, scripty, fiddly things. I want to avoid this. I'm thinking that something that can convert in hardware in realtime is the thing for me. I just finished reading the article on the various broad categories of PAL to NTSC conversions on: http://www.videointerchange.com/pal_secam_conversions.htm

    which was very interesting, and talks about high end, low end and mid range converters out there. The low end converters are about $200 and I've seen pictures of this type of beast on various websites. The high-end converters are megabucks - well out of my budget. However, I am interested in these mid range devices - does anyone know anything about these?

    I shoot a lot of sports (so lots of motion and panning) so something that does a reasonable job of converting to NTSC is required.

    Grateful for any tips.
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  2. Member FulciLives's Avatar
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    I've been fairly displeased with any of the hardware PAL to NTSC equipment I have used including a $650 US Dollar converter from a company deemed to be the best for such gear on a prosumer level ... TenLabs.

    Nothing you can afford will do a proper job.

    That's my opinion.

    The content that you shoot makes it even harder. Most camcorders shoot interlaced and fast motion and camera movement "kill" such conversions (i.e., makes them all the more difficult).

    You are better off making a PAL DVD of your PAL footage and allowing a DVD player to do the PAL to NTSC conversion.

    - John "FulciLives" Coleman
    "The eyes are the first thing that you have to destroy ... because they have seen too many bad things" - Lucio Fulci
    EXPLORE THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI - THE MAESTRO OF GORE
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  3. Member
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    Thanks for that John. What was your main issue with the Tenlabs device? And what other hardware solutions have you tried?

    Regards,

    Jake
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  4. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by JakeAy
    ...
    I shoot a lot of sports (so lots of motion and panning) so something that does a reasonable job of converting to NTSC is required.

    Grateful for any tips.
    I hope you can afford these guys but fast paced sport will look marginal with them as well.
    http://www.snellwilcox.com/products/

    Cheapr? never.

    Cheapest solution? Strap an NTSC and PAL camcorder to a tripod and shoot with both.
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  5. Member
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    I've done the fiddly scripty thing with interlaced NTSC to PAL for my parents in Oz using Virtualdub / Avisynth. Worked ok for me and once the workflow is sorted out it is pretty simple.

    Now, I'm no videophile, and what looks ok to me might not be good for you. I've not done PAL to NTSC and there may be reasons why that is not as easy, dunno.
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  6. Interlaced video conversions from PAL to NTSC are easier than from NTSC to PAL, so he shouldn't have any trouble if he decides to go that route. Beats spending a little money for lousy results, or a whole lot of money for better results.
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  7. Member FulciLives's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by manono
    Interlaced video conversions from PAL to NTSC are easier than from NTSC to PAL, so he shouldn't have any trouble if he decides to go that route. Beats spending a little money for lousy results, or a whole lot of money for better results.
    This is true ... PAL to NTSC is much easier than NTSC to PAL ... at least when the source is interlaced.

    However interlaced PAL to NTSC is still tricky ... just not the total disaster that interlaced NTSC to PAL is.

    xesdeeni has some scripts on his website for interlaced PAL to NTSC.

    xesdeeni's website: http://www.geocities.com/xesdeeni2001/

    Here is an AviSynth script by xesdeeni:

    Code:
    LoadPlugin("SmoothDeinterlacer.dll")
    AVISource("DRIVE:\PATH\VTS_xx_x.avi")
    SmoothDeinterlace(doublerate=true)
    LanczosResize(720,480)
    ChangeFPS(59.94) # or ConvertFPS(59.94)
    SeparateFields()
    SelectEvery(4,1,2)
    Weave()
    Two things to note here.

    1.) This is an old script. There are probably better ways now.
    2.) This script is geared towards interlaced video that is TOP FIELD first. Assuming you are using a DV or Digital8 camcorder then your video will be BOTTOM FIELD first. If so then the script needs to be changed accordingly.

    Perhaps manono has some input as to how to tweak this script

    However I still say what I said before. Try making a PAL DVD and since the original is interlaced be sure to keep it that way (do NOT deinterlace). Then play back the PAL DVD on a DVD player that can do PAL to NTSC conversion on-the-fly. This might be good enough and of course makes it all a bit easier.

    - John "FulciLives" Coleman
    "The eyes are the first thing that you have to destroy ... because they have seen too many bad things" - Lucio Fulci
    EXPLORE THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI - THE MAESTRO OF GORE
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  8. Sure, I know how to do it, but since JakeAy seems intent on spending money for a less than satisfactory solution, why bother explaining? About all that has to be updated in that script is the choice of smart bobber, and, as you say, you have to be careful with the field order.
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  9. Member
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    I've done my NTSC to PAL with a version of that script that FuciLives posted.

    However, Fucil's post has given me an idea that I'd not considered. I now have a player (OPPO 970) that will convert PAL to NTSC and vice versa. So, in theory I could play my PAL or NTSC dvd in that player, capture the output and burn in the opposite format. Of course, that is not the same as converting a PAL DVD to NTSC since it does not deal with the menus etc.

    In theory, my player can upconvert, so I should expect a more reasonable result.

    Since the OP is an Aussie and it seems that most players in Oz have NTSC to PAL conversions built in, the idea of capturing the output might be a decent solution?

    Any downside here?
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