Camcorder for USA and Europe, NTSC - PAL

[animaeme]

Hello-
I'm an American who is an art student in London UK. I'd like to purchase a Canon Vixia HG20 in USA to do small art film production to exhibit in Europe through DVD and Projector. This camera is NTSC format and does Standard and High Definition filming. Media for showing digital video in Europe is in PAL. I have a MacBook Pro that can run a High Definition DVD video but will need to rent a projector in London... (lol... I really don't have much knowledge of projectors, but I like what I've seen done with them for art films). I have tons of questions for that but will ask in another topic.

I'm just starting to do research on this, but am wondering if I could use this American Canon Vixia HG20 camcorder (NTSC) to shot video and and exhibit work in both countries (Europe - PAL)? I will be editing video with After Effects and Final Cut Pro.

Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Depending on the projector, you may be able to exhibit work in both places. As you are already in London, ask the equipment rental places. I'd be amazed if they don't have such a thing. (Now, getting PAL equipment in the US on the otherhand...)

If the projector can run off a PC/Mac then you could hook them up a play the video on the computer. That bypasses the whole PAL/NTSC thing.

[animaeme]

Hiya, Thanks much JohnnyMalaria. Actually i'm in the USA now and won't be back to London until late August. In mean time I like to buy the Canon Vixia HG20 and do my short film.

Yes, what I'm trying to do should be possible as Video Artists seem to be transatlantic... I did read that PAL countries are more flexible for NTSC media, but interestingly no one seems definitive about projectors.

Also I just realized i'll need a DVD player in Europe that can read a video shot w/ NTSC cam (wondering if this is possible?), realized not good for my computer to run a short video film for many hours at a time. Also I'd like to avoid editing NTSC video into PAL as I read that resolution quality would be lost.

I would be so interested to hear if anyone has had this situation and figured a solution.

thnx again

[hech54]

Also I just realized i'll need a DVD player in Europe that can read a video shot w/ NTSC cam (wondering if this is possible?)

You would be hard pressed to find a DVD player in London that didn't play NTSC.
That is the least of your worries.

[2Bdecided]

Surely you want to use HD? Probably 1080p30 or 1080p24. (I prefer the smooth look of 1080i60 interlaced video, but "arty" people don't - they want it to look stuttery, like film, which means 1080p24).

Unless you're going to author to BluRay (and hire a player), this means playing the HD directly from your PC.

You'll try to get a decent projector with a decent resolution - probably not full HD, but something good enough, with a PC input.

Projecting from a PC, PAL/NTSC is irrelevant. As long as the PC can feed the projector and keep up with decoding the video without frame drops, you should be fine.


Most people with HD camcorders always shoot in HD. They just downconvert HD>SD if they need SD. It's possible to shoot 1080p24 HD, and convert this to 576p25 (a PAL DVD format).


While it's true that converting 460i60 (NTSC SD interlaced) to 576i50 (PAL SD interlaced) would reduce the quality, if you're starting with 1080p24, then 576p25 (PAL SD progressive) is slightly higher quality than 480p24 (NTSC SD progressive) - it doesn't really matter - either will play fine - the 576p25 will be sped up slightly (or with 1 extra duplicate frame per second), while the 480p24 will usually be displayed with 3-2 pulldown.


I fear you have a lot of googling to do!

Cheers,
David.

[animaeme]

Thanks for the wealth of info for my NTSC cam situation in PAL territory.

David you sound like a film tech person.. r u? I need to research more your info. as i keep getting various recommendations here in states, tho many are similar to yours. Wondered if you live in London.. I'm a fine art student at Goldsmiths University London, UK.

I've been googling to contact a media equipment hire co. in London to address queries to them. I'd like to hire a DVD player and projector and not play the (NTSC) DVD off my MAC if possible, the Degree Show exhibit is for too many hours to run my Macbook Pro. Also I will most likely do the video filming in HD, but not BluRay format. I could only find one contact but it looks like they are a production company and not for equipment hire. Would u be able to recommend any hire companies? Goldsmith's is in New Cross, SE London.

Many thanks again!

[2Bdecided]

Sorry, I'm not a professional in the industry you think

If you "just" want to project an NTSC DVD-R this shouldn't cause any problems at all.

I'm not in London, so can't give any suggests, but in the UK, if I had no local knowledge, I'd use yell.com to search for a suitable company.

Cheers,
David.

[animaeme]

Thank very much David, I am more confident now to be purchasing my new cam soon!

x animaeme

[animaeme]

oh hi David again,

Just wondering would u know the 'title' of what type of company hires out dvd players and projectors in UK? I'm researching on yell.com as you suggested and i see there are companies titled under 'video and dvd hire'. Sorry 'the wording' for such a company is a little different in states. lol.. i've been trying to get info from my school's art dept for help as well, but still no reply.

I looked into the costs of purchasing a good quality projector and the price is incredibly expensive... almost made me fall off my chair, so i think i should hire one.

many thnx.

[2Bdecided]

Search for AV equipment or AV equipment hire. I've just tried it, and it brings up pages of suitable results for London.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
David.