Touting Standards Conversion

[Shane Ross]

You are woking on an NTSC project with a four day window to complete it. You are waiting for some footage to fill a hole in your timeline that is a vital visual to the project. The the client locates the footage and sends you a tape.

It is in the PAL format.

Now what? Well, luckily you are using FCP and have a Sony DSR-11 or a JVC BR-DV3000U with a NTSC/PAL switch. You can quickly create a new project, using the DV/PAL Easy Setup. Capture the footage you need with the deck in the PAL mode.

THEN…you go to http://www.nattress.com and buy the Standards Converter for $100. You quit FCP, install the plugin, restart FCP opening your original project (with the deck in NTSC mode again) and import the PAL footage you captured from the PAL project. You play that PAL footage in the Viewer (it plays normal speed, even though this is an NTSC project (That Viewer is VERY versatile). You mark what you need and drop in into the cut. You add the standards converter and render.

Your cut is complete. All under 30 minutes. Try THAT on an Avid. Thphthphthph!

Is this an Ad for Nattress…I suppose. It is also meant to show the process to go thru to get PAL footage to work on an NTSC project.

So there.

[Dan Riley]

Great step by step post.

Now how about this one;
you finish a 30min show, all NTSC, and one of the people
featured is from London so you want to send him a DVD of the
show that he can play over there. It needs to be PAL correct?

Yes, I can take a DigiBeta over to a facility and have them
convert to PAL and make a PAL DVD. I was hoping
there was an easy way to do it right in the comfort
of my edit suite. Is Nattress a way to go?
I’ve heard speed changes and effects are trouble with Nattress.
What about making the DVD?

Thanks,
Dan

[Daniel_l]

Most DVD players and TVs in the UK can playback NTSC DVDs

[Dom Silverio]

Standards Converter is very nice indeed.

[Shane Ross] “Try THAT on an Avid.”

But Mixed Format timeline is still more useful 🙂

[Dan Riley]

Daniel,

Really? I did not know that.

Thanks,
Dan

[Felix Bueno]

Really

I live in Spain and I play ntsc dvds everywhere, at home, at work… Here all the tvs accept both standards. And dvd players too.

Bye

[MitchJi]

[Danrnw] “you finish a 30min show, all NTSC, and one of the people
featured is from London so you want to send him a DVD of the
show that he can play over there. It needs to be PAL correct?”

Hi,

All PAL DVD players play NTSC DVD’s. They output a signal with NTSC resolution and frame rate and PAL color space. Most PAL TV’s produced since mid 1990 can display this signal.

Best Wishes,

Mitch

[Don Greening]

Over the last few days I’ve heard that one of the few European countries that you should still be prepared to send a PAL DVD to is Italy. Apparently they don’t have as many of the newer PAL/NTSC televisions as some of the more tech savy countries do. This fact was posted a few days ago by someone living in Italy.

Just thought you shoould be aware of this.

– Don

[Dan Riley]

Thanks for the heads up everyone.
We are starting a project in Seattle with talent in the UK.
And your sharing of player and TV info from overseas
will make sending out DVDs of offlines and finished versions
much easier and cheaper obviously.

Thanks again,
Dan