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How do I make a “Pal” DVD?
I’m in the US and have a client from the UK who will be in the US and wants us to shoot and edit video of a corporate event. In the end they want a DVD that play in the UK. I get an occasional question about this, but it seldom turns into an actual project, so I don’t have any “real world” experience in dealing with it.
I’ve heard and read conflicting info on this topic so I’m hoping for some clarification so that I can advise my client properly.
As I understand it, if I shoot video in the US in NTSC and export the finished video into Apple Compressor to create an MPEG-2 file. Can I simply use DVD Studio Pro to burn a DVD and set the proper region code so that it will play back in the UK? I was under the impression that it’s the DVD player’s DA (Digital to Analog chip) that is what determines the TV system that is outputted. Is this accurate or am I disillusion?
Or do I actually have to create a PAL program and a PAL DVD. I’ve poked around and haven’t seen any such option in DVD Studio Pro. If that’s the case, any thoughts and/or advise on doing this would be terrific!
Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Many thanks,
Steve
Production is fun – but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!
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8 Replies
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If you have the Europe region code box ticked any player here will play it – haven’t got my technical head on at the moment, I can only cite my experience of buying many US dvds and watching them here in the UK
Nigel Beaumont
MBP 2.53 FCS 2 FCP 6.0.6 Aja IO black cables, shiny firewire drives
“Ofcourse it’ll be finished in time for tx”
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The code and the PAL/NTSC formats are two different things. The region code on commercial DVDs is an anti-pirating thing. But there are fundamental differences between PAL and NTSC. Different resolutions, pixel aspect ratios, and frame rates. You’ll need to convert your NTSC video to PAL for it to play on a PAL screen.
I’ve had to do it a number of times but I bet there are a lot of people here who know a lot better than I the best method of converting it so that it looks its best. I’m sure one of them will chime in.
https://www.petergreenstone.com
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[Peter Greenstone] “You’ll need to convert your NTSC video to PAL for it to play on a PAL screen.”
Actually there’s no reason to do that at all as long as you set the region codes as open. All PAL DVD players and TVs in Europe play NTSC DVDs. So unless the client really really insists on it being PAL, they’ll likely never know the difference if you send NTSC instead. Send a test disc and see what they say…
Noah
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Thanks. That’s very good to know. I had no idea. Studios over there are always demanding that demo reels be in PAL so I just assumed it really had to be.
Do you know if it fits it pixel to pixel or stretches it to fit?
https://www.petergreenstone.com
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Sorry – I should have specified – I can watch US dvds because I have a multi-region dvd player. If your client has a Europe only dvd player (and they are fairly common especially at the budget end) you must ensure the europe code box is checked in DVDSP4 or it won’t play.
Nigel Beaumont
MBP 2.53 FCS 2 FCP 6.0.6 Aja IO black cables, shiny firewire drives
“Ofcourse it’ll be finished in time for tx”
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[Peter Greenstone] “Studios over there are always demanding that demo reels be in PAL so I just assumed it really had to be.”
What Noah said is absolutely true. However, if the video is in the PAL format it will look better than if it’s NTSC. The on-the-fly standard conversion isn’t as good as having the real thing.
In other words, it will play – but won’t be as pretty.
Dave
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your best option would be to rent pal cameras then shoot, edit and author in pal. or shoot and edit in NTSC and have your final video converted to pal then author in pal.
It may cost you a few extra bucks, but just bill it back to the client. they are the ones who want a pal dvd in ntsc land
Scott Cumbo
Editor
Broadway Video, NYC
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