PAL miniDV to PC, but can I burn a NTSC DVD?

[Squero]

This is certainly the forum for me . I just got my miniDV camcorder yesterday, the new computer hasn't arrived yet, and Amazon tells me that Pinnacle Studio 8 DV is on the way. I'm really green folks, so please have patience.

I live in Venice, Italy, so my camera is PAL. My intention is to make videos, download them to my PC, edit them, and then produce DVDs in NTSC and SVCDs so that my customers back in the good ol' US of A can watch them. Is this something that will be difficult? What software should I get other than Studio 8, that will help me to burn a DVDs in NTSC and SVCDs? I haven't gotten my DVD burner yet, because I figured that I won't be ready for that for a few more months, and the prices will only come down. I'm looking at either the new Pioneer, or the HP. 4 me the HP DVD +RW is AOK . Time will tell. What other advice do you folks have for me?

[bugster]

You can try this:

http://www.vcdhelp.com/pal2ntsc/pal2ntsc.htm
or this
http://www.vcdhelp.com/mpeg2tovcd.htm
or this but in reverse!
http://www.vcdhelp.com/forum/userguides/78178.php

There is lots more info on this site if you care to look for it. Searching the forums can often be a great help.

[donpedro]

You should be fine with Pinnacle Studio 8. Just make sure that you dowload lataest patch before you start using it.

Just to give you advise (not from my experience). Some people still believe that quality of MPEG2 file from TMPGEnc is slightly better then one that Studio will give you. But many will say that it is good enough. Studio is very easy and powerfull toll for editing. I am using version 7 and was able to play with Trial 8. Thay put everything together (importing, editing, menus, burning) so you don't have to switcht between tools. But.... for the price you can't expect best MPEG2 coder. As far as SVCD or VCD quality, I was reading somewhere that difference is more visible, so as long as you stick to DVD, you should be fine.

All this about quality of MPEG2 is just my opinion based on reading forums.

My recomendation is to spend some time on Pinnacle forums.