PAL > NTSC DVD - Architect
 

I asked re this before, and thought I had the issue solved, but I am not sure I have.

I live in PAL land and so my projects are done as PAL in Vegas.

I thought I could take my PAL .avi files into DVDA and convert to NTSC when I 'made' the DVD. But I question now whether this is so. Am I right to so question?

Or...do I have to go back to Vegas, change the properties of the project, render out from that project an NTSC .avi file, which I then would bring into a DVDA project with NTSC properties?

How do I even know if I have an NTSC file?

Can the .vob files be checked to see if they are NTSC?

Change your Vegas project settings to NTSC and then render an NTSC MPEG-2 file & an AC-3 file.
Load these into DVDA, change properties to NTSC and render.

Thanks Mike,

In the Properties>Video>Template drop down list for choosing format, it doesn't say anything about MPEG-2 (or any other such format), just NTSC and PAL and gives various options.

I assume choosing one of these options is what you refer to - not that I need specifically choose 'MPEG-2'.

I have made quite a few DVD's now and wouldn't have a clue what specfic format I made them in because I just made my selection from this drop down list - mostly PAL DV widescreen.

Renton, sorry about the confusion.
Yes, you'd choose the "NTSC DV (720x480, 29.970 fps)" or the "NTSC DV Widescreen (720x480, 29.970 fps)" template in the Vegas Properties window.
It's the render template where you'll choose the "DVD Architect NTSC video stream" or the "DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video stream" templates.
Then, in DVDA, choose either the "NTSC (720x480)" or the "NTSC Widescreen (720x480)" templates.
Hope that helps clarify things.

Thanks Mike, I assumed that - its made, packaged, and ready to send to the US...

Is there any way you can know if an .avi file is in NTSC format or not?

In Vegas, right-click the file and choose Properties. You can also try a program such as GSpot.

Thanks Edward. One other question:

Can you tell whether or not a .VOB file on a dvd is NTSC?

GSpot will do that as well.
Look about 1/2 way down on the right side menu and you'll see a Frames box and a Fields box.

So...if it shows 29.970 pics/sec, 29.970 frms/sec and 59.939 flds/sec in those boxes, it is NTSC? Right?

If so, it means you can create NTSC files from DVDA without bringing an NTSC file in from Vegas. That simplifies things somewhat...if I'm right.

29.97 is NTSC.

I can see no reason why DVD Architect could not create an NTSC MPEG2 file no matter the format of the original file. However, Vegas allows you to get to the individual parameters so you may be able to get a better result using it instead.

Thanks guys...another thing learnt...