Can Video File Be Uploaded (file share) And Downloaded in PAL Country

[studioc]

New to this forum today. Looks like a great one.

I have a MiniDV tape that I need to get converted to a DVD that will play in a DVD player in Uganda that will be connected to a video projector. Is it possible for the video to be captured to computer, make a file and upload to a file sharing location and Uganda then download the file and burn it to a DVD that will play in their DVD player?

Or, what are my other options? I have located a company that can do a VHS transfer from ntsc to pal for a good price. They can make me a PAL DVD also but it takes them longer due to schedules. I'm just curious if there is a "digital" way of my delivering the file, which will save about $130 in express mail fees using Fed EX or DHL.

Thank you.

[minidv2dvd]

how high does the quality have to be? could they play it from a computer to the projector? you could convert to avchd/mp4 and cut it down to maybe 1GB. other possibilities - a full miniDV tape is 13GB, too big to upload whole to any sharing site, but you could cut it up into 50MB pieces with winrar and upload those. if you are familiar with usenet, that would be a possibility also. could they play the DVavi from a computer and avoid the ntsc/pal conversion?

do they have access to any miniDV cams/decks? you could just send them a copy of the tape to play into the projector.

a lot also depends on your upload speed, and their download speed. i seem to recall broadband access is quite limited in most of africa right now.

you could do the ntsc/pal conversion yourself and mail the dvd. if you don't have the software, a decent inexpensive option would be convertxtodvd. it does an ok job of the format switch.

[lowellriggsiam]

There are a number of ways, in my case I can capture the video from my Hi8 tapes by firewire right to my laptop, or any of my dvdplayers by firewire, or composite. If I capture to my laptop directly I can chose what format I'd like it in, or capture to one format and then convert to to xvid (for transmission purposes) and then have it converted on the other end to a dvd. In the case of my dvd players I can copy directly to dvd, or to DVD_RAM, and then transfer the *.vro file to my computer and then rename it *.mpg and transmit, or covert as I please.

[edDV]

Most PAL DVD players can play an NTSC DVD and output pseudo PAL-60 to the TV. Conversion to a PAL DVD usually isn't necessary.

Another option is to convert DV to MPeg2, or Divx/Xvid and play from a computer to the projector. The issue here is knowing the computer has enough speed and/or correct codecs installed. In Uganda probably not unless you are supplying the computer.

[edDV]

do they have access to any miniDV cams/decks? you could just send them a copy of the tape to play into the projector.

Most all PAL MiniDV camcorders won't play an NTSC tape.

[studioc]

Hi,

Thank all of you for the help.

I am trying to find out if they have been able to view video that we placed on our website so I would know if it was viewable for them in Uganda. I was hoping to capture the video in perhaps 2 parts and then upload the file and they download and play from computer. Due to the time difference I have not heard back from them yet today.

I recall that I have a DVD player that has a setting for PAL in the menu. If they have a DVD player that is compatible then perhaps it is possible to just mail them a dvd from US. Could it be a data disk with mpeg saved files or what file should it be saved as? There are no menus needed just the video excerpt.

They are limited on equipment there but I was told they do have a projector and vhs and dvd as well as a computer but as far as specs go, I don't have any further info on their equipment yet.

[jman98]

It's a minor suggestion by minidv2dvd, but the suggestion of Usenet is more of a "it is possible" thing than an "it is practical" kind of thing. Yes, indeed this is an option, but doing so generally requires access to the alt.* hierarchy and the reality is that you have to pay a provider for access to that. The likelihood of someone in Uganda paying for such access is quite remote. My other concern would be - what kind of internet connection speeds do they have there? For example, earlier in the decade DSL type services in Ukraine were astronomically expensive in terms of the local economy (roughly 20 times bigger in local costs what such service would cost in the USA), but that is not the case now. If your contacts in Uganda don't have anything but dialup, getting your video may prove to be impossible in a worst case scenario or incredibly impractical in a best case scenario.

You don't have to answer this here, but I have some questions you need to at least answer yourself.
Are you doing this as a favor for someone?
Are you doing it for free?
Is there a truly compelling reason for doing this at all (ie. business benefit, religious reason, etc.)?
Is it worth all the time, trouble and potential cost to do it?
What if you find a cheap way to do it, but they either can't download it (ie. too slow a connection) or are too stupid to make it work?
Is there some kind of serious time constraint on when it needs to be done?

Finally, is there any chance you can just make a VCD and somehow get that to them? The quality will be lower for sure, but the size will be much much smaller and probably easier for you as a sender and them as a receiver to deal with.

[studioc]

Also, if they use projector and a DVD player, the projector doesn't care what version the video is in, correct? It's just going to project what video signal is connected to it. It's the DVD player that is what is important. So, if their DVD player can play a DVD from the US, should I just asked them to check the menu options on their DVD player? If it's anything like mine, it has an option for the ntsc or pal. If this is the case, then I can capture the footage myself from the MiniDV tape into my editing system and then burn a dvd and mail it out. I would like to send a digital file and have them play from computer or burn their own dvd, but as of right now I don't know if they have a dvd burner , etc.

I have always thought that a DVD made in the US would not play on a DVD player in another country, apparently I am misinformed? Do I understand correctly that DVD players in other countries can play NTSC DVD's as long as their DVD player has the ntsc and pal option within its menu?

[studioc]

Hi jman98,

I'm doing this for a church. The media needs to be sent there for a conference and I'm just trying to find the best way to get it to them in time.

I can have a company in Orlando convert the MiniDV to VHS PAL. Originally I was told that they can play VHS. Since they wrote and asked if I can do it as a DVD. So due to their email I'm just looking into all of my options whether we use the options for this first mailing or for the future files that we will provide.

As for internet service there, I think it's correct to say they are still on dialup which would make it hard for them to receive files. I'm going to double check with them to see if they have a place for faster speed and verify if I am correct on them having dialup.

[edDV]

If you make a normal authored MPeg2 NTSC DVD, it should play on a normal PAL DVD player and output PAL-60 over composite to the projector.

As a backup send a file that can be played from a computer to the projector.