DVD for the UK? at DVinfo.net

David Delaney · March 20th, 2008, 06:24 PM

I am making a DVD using Architect 3.0 for the UK - but living in North America, is there a way I can ensure that it will work for the region? Thanks

Seth Bloombaum · March 20th, 2008, 08:37 PM

My experience was as follows:

1) People have told me "just render NTSC, viewers in Europe can see it on their PAL DVD players & TV sets because PAL is so wonderful". This is partly true. Most PAL systems seem to see most NTSC DVDs most of the time. Wasn't good enough for me, and I personally saw some of my work in Europe played this way - it looked good, except it was black & white only, no chroma! "Most of the time" wasn't good enough for my projects.

2) People using computers for playback of their DVDs will almost always be able to handle an NTSC or a PAL DVD.

3) What I did was render from my NTSC timeline to a PAL MPEG2 for DVDA. I then took my existing NTSC DVDA project and changed its properties to PAL and imported the PAL MPEG2 - this worked fine.

How I checked it was to try my DVD in a PC - PowerDVD or whatever reported it as a PAL disk, and in fact, my PAL viewers were happy with it.

David Delaney · March 21st, 2008, 05:08 PM

Ok, so this is all in the render settings? That would be great because I am running out of time and want to get it over there before I have to spend $70.00 on priority shipping.
Is it just : render > DV PAL?

Mike Kujbida · March 21st, 2008, 05:31 PM

Yep. Just follow Seth's step #3 and you'll be all set.

Stuart Campbell · March 23rd, 2008, 06:22 AM

Yep, make sure you create a PAL disk. Don't rely on PAL systems playing NTSC. There's a reason why we call NTSC 'Never The Same Colour (twice)' in PAL world!!

Mike Kujbida · March 23rd, 2008, 07:51 AM

Stuart, we call it that in the NTSC world too :-(

Martin Mayer · March 23rd, 2008, 08:33 AM

PAL = Paid for, Added Luxury!

David Delaney · March 23rd, 2008, 11:55 AM

Is there a way of making a PAL disk in Arch 3?

Seth Bloombaum · March 23rd, 2008, 01:05 PM

Once again, start with a PAL render from Vegas, best practice is to render direct to PAL MPEG2 for DVD Architect from the Vegas timeline.

Then, in an existing or new DVDA project, change project properties to PAL.

I'm pretty sure the first time I did this I was working with DVDA-3. Exact same process as 4 or 4.5.

David Delaney · March 24th, 2008, 10:21 AM

Ok, I made the movie as a PAL in DVD Arch 3 - I just can't figure out how to check it! I have WinDVD, but can't find the feature for properties of the DVD to see what it says - whether it is PAL or NTSC.
I did try with VLC and WMP but can't find anything after a hurried glance to show if the DVD is in face, actually PAL. Any little programs or freeware that will give the info?

March 20th, 2008, 06:24 PM	#1
David Delaney Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Niagara Ontario Canada Posts: 1,121	DVD for the UK? I am making a DVD using Architect 3.0 for the UK - but living in North America, is there a way I can ensure that it will work for the region? Thanks

March 23rd, 2008, 08:33 AM	#7
Martin Mayer Major Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Oxfordshire, UK Posts: 416	PAL = Paid for, Added Luxury! __________________ Martin at HeadSpin HD on Blu-ray

March 20th, 2008, 08:37 PM	#2
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	My experience was as follows: 1) People have told me "just render NTSC, viewers in Europe can see it on their PAL DVD players & TV sets because PAL is so wonderful". This is partly true. Most PAL systems seem to see most NTSC DVDs most of the time. Wasn't good enough for me, and I personally saw some of my work in Europe played this way - it looked good, except it was black & white only, no chroma! "Most of the time" wasn't good enough for my projects. 2) People using computers for playback of their DVDs will almost always be able to handle an NTSC or a PAL DVD. 3) What I did was render from my NTSC timeline to a PAL MPEG2 for DVDA. I then took my existing NTSC DVDA project and changed its properties to PAL and imported the PAL MPEG2 - this worked fine. How I checked it was to try my DVD in a PC - PowerDVD or whatever reported it as a PAL disk, and in fact, my PAL viewers were happy with it.

March 21st, 2008, 05:08 PM	#3
David Delaney Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Niagara Ontario Canada Posts: 1,121	Ok, so this is all in the render settings? That would be great because I am running out of time and want to get it over there before I have to spend $70.00 on priority shipping. Is it just : render > DV PAL?

March 21st, 2008, 05:31 PM	#4
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	Yep. Just follow Seth's step #3 and you'll be all set.

March 23rd, 2008, 06:22 AM	#5
Stuart Campbell Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Hannover, Germany Posts: 400	Yep, make sure you create a PAL disk. Don't rely on PAL systems playing NTSC. There's a reason why we call NTSC 'Never The Same Colour (twice)' in PAL world!!

March 23rd, 2008, 07:51 AM	#6
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	Stuart, we call it that in the NTSC world too :-(

March 23rd, 2008, 11:55 AM	#8
David Delaney Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Niagara Ontario Canada Posts: 1,121	Is there a way of making a PAL disk in Arch 3?

March 23rd, 2008, 01:05 PM	#9
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Once again, start with a PAL render from Vegas, best practice is to render direct to PAL MPEG2 for DVD Architect from the Vegas timeline. Then, in an existing or new DVDA project, change project properties to PAL. I'm pretty sure the first time I did this I was working with DVDA-3. Exact same process as 4 or 4.5.

March 24th, 2008, 10:21 AM	#10
David Delaney Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Niagara Ontario Canada Posts: 1,121	Ok, I made the movie as a PAL in DVD Arch 3 - I just can't figure out how to check it! I have WinDVD, but can't find the feature for properties of the DVD to see what it says - whether it is PAL or NTSC. I did try with VLC and WMP but can't find anything after a hurried glance to show if the DVD is in face, actually PAL. Any little programs or freeware that will give the info?