How to convert a sequence from PAL to NTSC on FCP ?
 

Hi guys!

I've a project that was edited on FCP using Anamorphic PAL footage.
Is there any way to print that to a mini-dv tape in letterboxed NTSC?
I have an NTSC mini-dv camera that can be used as a VCR but the problem is that when i try to nest the PAL sequence on a new NTSC 4:3 sequence, FCP says that I "cannot nest sequences with different editing timebases".
Does anyone know any way to do it?
Thanks!

If you have Compressor it can do format conversions (at least ver 2 anyways) but I've never used that so your mileage may vary, also take a look at Nattress Standards Converter http://www.nattress.com/ it does NTSC PAL and 24p conversions.

Hi Nate.
Are you saying to export to a MPEG-2 file using compressor? How do I record that file to tape after then?
Thanks.

Like Nate said, you can convert your sequences with Compressor (read the manual) but I haven't tried it either. However people report that it's very slow. In addition to the Nattress Standards Conversion, there's also DVfilm Atlantis: http://www.dvfilm.com/atlantis/

How much footage do you need to convert? Be prepared to spend a long time for the conversion. I used Atlantis to convert a 45 sec PAL clip to NTSC a couple weeks ago. It took several hours on a dual 2.5ghz G5....

Unfoutunately I can't be any more help than that and just second what Boyd said about the manual as I've never tried it myself, sorry.

Atlantis Mac can process 45 seconds of video in about 3 minutes. If you're running slower than that you need to update at dvfilm.com/update

Thanks Marcus, I'm sure you're right. I'm on version 2.01. I was quite surprised when it took so long to convert that clip, but I got home late at night and had to get it done before the next morning so I just let it run and didn't do any troubleshooting...