HD 23.98fps NTSC Sequence in FCP to SD PAL DVD

Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

HD 23.98fps NTSC Sequence in FCP to SD PAL DVD

Posted by Andrew Seely on May 27, 2009 at 12:54 am

Hello All,

Posting another question and hoping for another great answer. I haven’t been let down yet.

So, here we go:
I am a film student with a 1920×1080 HD 16:9 23.98fps film in a 1920×1080 HD 16:9 23.98fps sequence in FCP. Since I am here in America, the project is NTSC. Everything is how it should be and it looks, sounds, and plays great.

I need to take this sequence and create a standard definition (SD) PAL DVD for foreign film festivals.

I have Final Cut Pro Studio 2 on my PowerPC G5 as well as Adobe Master Collection CS4 on my PC.

I have recently created SD NTSC dvds from this project at both 23.98fps and 29.97fps that played perfectly on region free and region 1 NTSC dvd players (I was making 29.97fps dvds, but started to make 23.98fps dvds after I was told that most NTSC dvd players do not need the dvd to be at 29.97fps – not having to convert from 23.98fps to 29.97fps saves a ton of time during the conversion in Compressor).

But now I have to make a SD PAL DVD and I am not sure how to do it?

I know PAL is 25fps, so do I have to convert my frame rate from 23.98fps to 25fps in Compressor? Do I still use Compressor to convert the FCP sequence to an AC-3 audio file and a MPEG-2 video file? I assume I use the same settings in Compressor to keep my 16:9 aspect ratio in PAL that I used to keep it in NTSC.

What about after Compressor? I’ve read I need to create a PAL project in DVD Studio Pro, meaning the menus have to be PAL, the output has to be PAL (and regionless/all regions), and the assets I bring in (the video/audio that came originally from my FCP sequence) needs to be in a PAL format?

I have a lot of questions. Sorry.

I guess I’m just looking for the proper workflow to take an HD 16:9 NTSC 23.98fps FCP sequence and make a SD 16:9 PAL 25fps All Regions DVD using FCP, Compressor, and DVD Studio Pro.

Thanks for all and any help you can give me.

I appreciate it.

Andrew Seely replied 16 years, 12 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
2 Replies

Michael Gissing
May 27, 2009 at 1:10 am

I am surprised that film festivals can’t play your 23.98 NTSC DVD. Players are capable of playing back either PAL or NTSC if setup correctly and projectors likewise.

Have you checked to see if your NTSC DVD’s are OK.
Andrew Seely
May 27, 2009 at 6:36 am

On their submissions sites, they ask for PAL dvd screeners.

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