Hi all,
I have been searching the forums, but still can't find exactly what I need. I have a client in Australia that is having a theatre production recorded on a PAL camera and then is going to burn it to a non-encoded region DVD and then send it to me to make a promotional DVD for him(using FCP and DVD Studio Pro) here to send a master back to Australia in DVD format that can be duplicated there. Can I send him a non- encoded region DVD back for his purposes? Will it need to be PAL instead? Am I trying to do something that isn't possible? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you,
Harini

The region coding is an entirely separate issue from the video format. Region coding is a sort of copy protection so that you can limit who watches the DVD based on what region they're in.

PAL and NTSC are different video formats that aren't compatible. Many (most) DVD players in PAL countries can read NTSC DVD's, but very few DVD players will work with PAL DVD's in the United States.

You would need a PAL tape deck/camera if your client sent you a DV tape, but you don't need anything special to edit PAL footage on your computer. Is he sending you a DVD with data files (DV) or MPEG files?

Regardless, you'll need to use the PAL Easy Setup in FCP and you should be fine. However if you need an external monitor it will have to be PAL compatible, and will also need to be connected to a PAL compatible firewire device. And if you want to put the project on DV tape you'll need either a PAL deck or camera. But if you're just working on the computer monitor (or using FCP's digital cinema desktop) nothing special will be required.

Boyd,thank you very much for your quick reply.

He is simply burning the footage recorded in camera to a DVD. It sounds like my external monitor is going to be useless in this situation, as it is not PAL compatible. Unfortunately, I will have to rely on the computer monitor and the tools in FCP for appropriate colors, skin tone etc. This doesn' thrill me. Can I burn the final project back out to DVD that will work as a master for Australia? Maybe I am biting off one big spoonfull of trouble. What do you think?

Thanks again,
Harini

If you make a data DVD (with the DV files - not one for a DVD player) then none of that will be problem. But yes, you'll have to do everything on the computer monitor.

BTW, you can only fit ~20 minutes of DV onto a standard DVD.

Thanks once again Boyd.

Harini