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PAL to NTSC via Cinema Tools
I shot a documentary on mini-DV (PAL) and have edited it all down in FCP. To be able to distribute it on DVDs for viewing in the US I need to convert the video to NTSC. I have followed the helpful of advice of the following sites to no avail…
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/8/861400
https://www.macworld.com/article/49306/2006/02/marchcreate.htmlI wasn’t too pleased with the quality that came out of the traditional conversion method suggested in Linecker’s article and would like to compare the difference with the slow-PAL conversion method. My problem is getting my edited film in FCP into Cinema Tools. I can’t seem to just export straight to Cinema, do I need to compress it first and then bring it in to Cinema. If so, compress it as what??? I’ve opened QT Movies I had to see how they would work in Cinema, while those clips opened in the preview window, the Conform button is not functional. What to be done?
Also, does my movie in FCP need to be de-interlaced before conforming it in Cinema Tools?
I’ve scoured the web for answers to these specific questions and while I’ve found lots of useful information I haven’t found any answers to these specific concerns. Your help is very much appreciated.
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5 Replies
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YOu need to export a Quicktime movie. Make it SELF CONTAINED and it will be the exact same settings of your project. Then you can take that into Cinema Tools and CONFORM it to 23.98. That way you only have a 4% speed discrepancy. Then you can take the result into Compressor, make a DVD compression, then burn a DVD in DVD SP.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Mark,
Considering this is your documentary, I’m assuming it’s an important project. Don’t waste your time doing standards conversions (PAL <-> NTSC) with ANY software. Your results will be poor at best and then if you compress to MPEG2 for DVD…Well, worse..You need to use specialized hardware if you want good results. Our company has high end Snell & Wilcox hardware that will do what you need…We do it all the time…Look us up and feel free to call. We can even do it here in Chicago and then distribute wherever you need in the U.S.: https://www.televersions.comChad Brewer
Senior Tape Operator/Engineer
TeleVersions -
Hi Mark,
Five years later, the system haven’t changed, and is very well explained by Nattress:“Much better is to export your PAL movie, de-interlace it to get 25p, stick it into cinema tools, conform to 23.98fps, take that video to an NTSC 23.98fps project, make sure it scales to fit, export as 23.98fps NTSC, and make a 24p DVD. Everything will run 4% slow, but the quality will be much better”.
You need to de-interlace and change the Geometry of the clip (720×480).
Use Compressor (setting Control Frame ON) to do this and export to Prores. You end uo with a720x480 p25 movie. Conform in CinemaTools to 23’98.
rafael -
Thanks for the feedback. I have a few more questions to clarify:
When exporting as a Quicktime Movie from FCP what setting am I to use before bringing it in to Cinema Tools??? I shot the video on Mini DV PAL… Does this mean that I should export with the setting on DV PAL 48 kHz or should it be with APPLE ProRes 422 (HQ) PAL 48 kHz?
-What is the difference?
-Also is there a difference between Exporting via FCP… File>Export>QuickTime Movie
and exporting with Compressor via FCP… File>Export>Using Compressor……and then selecting DV PAL or ProRes in Compressor???
-If I am to use ProRes, how do I make sure the setting Control Frame is ON?Thank you much for the help.
Best,
Mark -
You can send to Compressor or export from FC. Don’t use QT Conversion.
If you export from FC, change the codec to Prores and set “Render in High Precision”.
rafael
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