Defenestration

I have a home made DVD-R containing episodes and a menu in NTSC format, and want to convert it to PAL. Let me say I am a complete noob in DVD authoring and have never done it before.

First things first -Is there any way to convert from NTSC to PAL (and the other way around) without recompressing the source (I would not be bothered if black bars appeared top and bottom like with widescreen movies) ?

This would be the ideal situation since the image quality would remain exactly the same.

Also, each episode has an annoying bar at the top of the image (with horizontal lines across it), as shown on attached image, and I was wondering what the best way of removing this would be ?


Thirdly, my initial experiment with converting just the VOB containing the menu resulted in the menu screen becoming blocky after the conversion (due to recompression I assume). Because of this I plan on grabbing the menu (2 pages) as an image and then creating a new menu in PAL format using these original images. How can I then re-create the menu buttons ?

Does this kind of thing sound like a job for DvdReMake, or should I use some other software ?

Attached Images

NTSC_DVD_Top_Bar.png (18.8 KB, 251 views)

toaddub

DvdReMake does not do conversion. You have to use a multiple of software to achieve that. There's a guide to convert NTSC to PAL. Also I know DVD2SVCD has this capability. Don't let the name fool you. It can convert many formats.

To make the horizontal lines disappear, you would use some Avisynth filter (I don't remember the name off hand) and frameserve to whatever app. you choose to use.

Compressing the menu will usually become blocky esp. using transcoding method. The more compression there is, the more blockiness will be. If you're using some authoring software to recreate the new menu in PAL format, you should be able to re-create the menu buttons, unless you're talking about the subpicture highlights.

toaddub

List of filters are found here. Use the AutoCrop filter and AddBorders to get back to the original resolution. If you need more help, go to the respective doom9 forum.

kwaka750

hi, just a thought, i have a project in ntsc and want to convert it to pal. is there any reason why i cant play the ntsc disc in a multi region dvd player and conect it to my dvd recorder. then record it while it is playing, this should give me a pal version at the end? all i need to do then is get the software to add in the chapters.
should this work ok?
cheers for any advice .... martin

toaddub

I don't see why not, assuming that your dvd recorder is capable of converting NTSC to PAL. In case you're interested, here's a list of PAL <--> NTSC guides, whichever meets your needs or looks easy to you. I do not recommend using the patch method as it might not be 100% compatible in your dvd player.

DvdReMake Pro can create chapters easily.

ozworldz

I am confused by this whole process. I made a dvd using TMPGEnc in NTSC format. I need to convert my vob files (or the contents of the VIDEO_TS forder) into PAL to create dvds to send to Europe. I need a simple program that will do all the processing and provide me with PAL vob files ready to burn to dvd. What program will do this?
Thanks.

toaddub

You may not need to do the conversion. First ask your European friends if they can view NTSC video. I'm sure their dvd player is able to view it.

Or you can start over and reencode with the right format in TMPGEnc. Or if you really want to do the conversion just read the link I provided in my previous post.

_chef_

Most of all european standalone dvd players can deal with NTSC.

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tseten

what about Laptop? I have Sony Viso which has WinDVD? I am receiving a NTSC DVD from USA. Thanks

obsessed

I have been converting DVDs from NTSC to PAL and from PAL to NTSC for well over a year with great success. Here's what I do: I rip it into a long dvd-quality mpg file using Xilisoft DVD Ripper Platinum, and I can set it to whatever frame-rate I want, so the conversion happens at this level. Then I open the new converted mpg file in Pinnacle Studio (I find version 9 works best) and re-author the dvd, I usually make a brand new menu but if you capture the menu image you can add new buttons over the old ones, depending on the style of the old menu. As for the lines on top, Studio can crop that, no problem. As I said, my results have been excellent, I haven't noticed artifacts or any distortions.

blutach

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Les

masna061

I've been experimenting with Xilisoft Ripper Platinum and Xilisoft AVI to DVD Converter and still have issues trying to convert NTSC to PAL. Would you be able to give me some settings for the Ripper so I can check if I have it right. Thanks

blutach

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pythonis

Roxio Easy Media Creator has an option to change ntsc to pal using the divx to dvd option. thats the only way i know how. will also reformat your avi file(s) into 1 video_ts file that can be burned to dvd or compressed with dvdshrink and then burned.