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standards conversion with Compressor
I am anticipating having to use some PAL standard footage in my 23.98 progressive NTSC timeline. I don’t have the footage to play with yet, but want to try to problem solve beforehand. I’m going to capture the footage in PAL using FCP (5.1.4), then planning to convert the standard PAL file to NTSC in Compressor (FCS1). Does that sound right? Are there specific settings I should worry about tweaking?
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9 Replies
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Compressor does a decent job there, but it’s slooooow. You should give G Converter from Graeme Nattress a try.
Best regards,
Uli
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If you can deal with a 4% slow down, you can simply comform the footage in Cinema Tools to 23.98 for really nice, clean results.
Jeremy
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I’ve used both of the suggested methods and would recommend either one. I’ve tried using compressor before for standards conversion, but I think the other two options give better results.
-Russ
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Does Cinema Tools take care of the PAL to NTSC conversion, not just framerate?? I’ve heard I should only use Cinema Tools on telecine footage.
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It won’t take care of the size (you will end up with a 720×576 23.98 movie) but you can deal with that much easier than you can with weird interpolated frames in a standards conversion.
CInema Tools is just that, a tool. It will work on whatever footage you give it and it is for much more than telecined footage. Oh and it’s free.
Jeremy
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thanks for clearing that up. I think I will give Cinema tools a shot.
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Don’t get me wrong, nattress does a good job, but if you are moving from 23.98 to 25 Cinema Tools works really well as there’s no motion interpolation going on. You footage will be slowed down 4% from the original PAL frame rate.
Jeremy
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Ok so I’m getting deeper into this standards conversion. How do I know if my PAL footage is progressive? It was not shot by our crew, but on a consumer video camera. I’m looking to integrate this footage into a 23.98 progressive timeline. I’m not looking to change the aspect of the picture, only the frame rate and want the final product to be progressive. I tried just the cinema tools 25 to 23.98 and the audio is not synched. What do you suggest? If it’s not progressive (if there’s some way to tell), how should i go about deinterlacing?
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If it was shot with a consumer camera, I am 85% sure it is interlaced (50i vs 25p). You can tell if you step through it and you see interlace combing. You will need to deinterlace first using something like revisionfx fields kit, then send that movie to cinema tools for frame rate conform. You audio should be in sync, it should just be slowed down approximately 4% (and also pitched down that much as well).
or if you are feeling lucky, simply drop your PAL movie into compressor, choose an ntsc preset, modify the frame to 23.98 and see what compressor decides to give you.
Jeremy
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