DVD to mp4/m4v to sync additional audio to the video... Settings advice?

[nobodyhome]

I'm helping with a project where I'm ripping DVDs to mp4 or m4v video to have different audio synced to the videos. Basically making higher quality videos of a tv broadcast that was never released on DVD. My problem lies with the ripping and fps.

The DVDs are NTSC, but the tv recordings are PAL. I Know NTSC has a higher fps than PAL, but I don't know how that factors into audio. I was using High Profile setting in HandBrake to rip the DVDs, but the other people I'm working with said there's a problem with audio/video syncing.

When I rip the DVDs what settings (or even software) should I use to make the process work more smoothly? I'm not savvy enough to use Avisynth, but I do have Avidemux in addition to HandBrake.

Advice?

[manono]

Not enough information. The source DVD is NTSC and the television broadcast is from a PAL 25fps area, right? Which audio is to be used with which video? If the NTSC DVD source is film-based and you're fitting the PAL audio to the 23.976fps NTSC source, then you want to slow the PAL audio from 25 to 23.976fps. If vice-versa, speed up the audio from 23.976 to 25fps.

I don't believe Handbrake does any framerate conversions (outside of its IVTC from 29.97->23.976), so you can't do this in Handbrake. What you can do is make the MP4 in Handbrake and then mux the fixed audio into the MP4 later on.

And all this assumes the PAL television broadcast source has the same framecount and scenes as does the NTSC DVD source, a very big assumption. At the very least an audio delay might have to be determined and taken into account.

Maybe you've figured out by now this can easily be a very difficult project, especially for the inexperienced.

[nobodyhome]

NTSC Video + PAL Audio is what I'm aiming for.

Wait.. So.... NTSC 29.97 isn't the same for audio... But NTSC audio is 23.976 and PAL audio is 25...? So (if I'm not getting myself confused) how do I go about changing the PAL 25fps audio to NTSC 23.976fps audio? I have Aduacity, can I do it in there...? I can edit for missing content, different breaks, openings etc. from there. That is just a matter or clipping, sliding, etc. right?

No better way to get experience than by learning and doing. Or at least that's what I'm always told.

Thank you for helping me with my questions.

[manono]

Wait.. So.... NTSC 29.97 isn't the same for audio... But NTSC audio is 23.976 and PAL audio is 25...?

I said if the NTSC DVD is film-based. If so, it was telecined from 23.976 to 29.97fps by either hard-coding the telecine into the video or by encoding as progressive 23.976fps with 3:2 pulldown flags added to output interlaced 29.97fps. A short 10-second sample would be nice so we can tell what you have.

Yes, you can do it in Audacity. eac3to also can do a PAL<->NTSC conversion easily for you.

That is just a matter or clipping, sliding, etc. right?

Maybe yes, maybe no. In any event, unless you have exact same cuts of the two versions of the film, it can get very ugly very quickly.

What I'm curious about is why you feel the need to fit the audio from one to the video of the other. Is one audio and one video so much better than the other that together they'll make a superior version? And no matter the time and effort it takes and the frustrations you encounter along the way?

[nobodyhome]

I said if the NTSC DVD is film-based. If so, it was telecined from 23.976 to 29.97fps by either hard-coding the telecine into the video or by encoding as progressive 23.976fps with 3:2 pulldown flags added to output interlaced 29.97fps.

I have no idea if it's film-based or not and (don't get mad), but there's some of that I didn't fully understand. Like 3:2 pulldown flags, but I'm searching the web right now for what I don't understand so I can learn it. Video is not my forté so there's a lot I'm learning.

Yes, you can do it in Audacity. eac3to also can do a PAL<->NTSC conversion easily for you.

Okay. I'll look into eac3to and give that a try. I'll mess around with it when I have more free time later this weekend.

What I'm curious about is why you feel the need to fit the audio from one to the video of the other. Is one audio and one video so much better than the other that together they'll make a superior version? And no matter the time and effort it takes and the frustrations you encounter along the way?

The tv recordings are highly compressed. The audio isn't pretty, but considering the English audio was never really released to dvd it's better than nothing. Some of it was put on dvd, but it's incomplete and the actual discs are so rare it's not funny. It's not an ideal solution, but it's like I said it's better than nothing. It's technically a fan-based project I'm a part of. Plus, there are plenty of cases where one country gets one cut and another country gets another. Or even dvd vs. vhs. I'd like to know for all those future cases as well.

Thank you for your advice!

[manono]

Video is not my forté so there's a lot I'm learning.

Which is why I asked for a sample. Two would be nice, one from the NTSC version, one from the PAL. 10 seconds with steady movement.