Make a region-free DVD?

[rumplestiltskin]

I know how to rip a commercial DVD to region-free but how do I make a DVD from my content region-free?

I have an iDVD project file from which I want to burn a DVD for a relative living in Italy (Region 2?) but I am here in the USA (Region 1). I want to create the DVD so it will play in DVD players in both the USA and Europe.

The content is simply a slideshow created in iDVD. There are no transitions; just 5 minutes of slides with background music.

Any advice is appreciated. I am thinking that iDVD doesn't put a region code into the DVD (am I right?) but I'd have to make two different DVDs - one for NTSC and one for PAL.

Thanks!

[hech54]

All home-made DVDs are region free.
And don't confuse "region" with "video format".
USA is NTSC video format.....the rest of the world(almost) is PAL video format.

[rumplestiltskin]

hech54,

Thanks for your assistance. As I was considering the issue and writing my original post, I started to remember that the "region" thing was a red herring as that was an invention of the studios to block distribution of commercial DVDs. I'll make PAL and NTSC versions of the DVD so anyone who wants a copy (on either side of the Atlantic) may play it in their set-top DVD player. I'm also including the jpegs and two H264 versions of the slideshow (two different bitrates) so anyone in the family who wants to post the video online may do so.

[hech54]

Most "PAL Countries" have no problems playing NTSC discs....especially region free NTSC discs....so don't hurt yourself making a PAL version. The same cannot be said about the reverse situation.