NTSC to PAL Conversion Help Needed!! at DVinfo.net

Brian Murphy · December 7th, 2010, 06:21 AM

Not sure what place to post this but since I am going to ProRes I put it here. If the Mods feel it would have better exposure elsewhere please move it.
I have a project that calls for the conversion of 100+ hallf hour shows to PAL from NTSC. The originals are on Beta and DigiBeta. The client would like the PAL versions as ProRes and I would like to do an NTSC ProRes version at the same time for future use. I have looked at the software conversion plug-in route but it is too time consuming and the cost of sending it out is too expensive and would kill the job.
DOes anyone have any experience with this device:
AV Tool - CDM-830T Standards Converter

My ideal plan would be to install a capture card that would accept 4 audio tracks (this is a must) and feed video from the Tape Deck to the AVToolbox and the audio from the deck to to card. I would use my Horita black burst generator as a sync source for both.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I can't afford a Snell and Wilcox device .

Mary Crowley · December 7th, 2010, 07:41 AM

I've used Mpeg2 Works 4 (try saying that quickly!) for going from PAL to NTSC, and it was great.

Arnie Schlissel · December 7th, 2010, 09:22 AM

If you want a hardware converter, take a look at the Teranex Mini.

William Hohauser · December 7th, 2010, 10:07 PM

Rent a DigiBeta deck, an Aja IO capture box and spend a weekend capturing NTSC ProRes files. Then set up Compressor for NTSC to PAL conversions (you can find the best setting with a search in this forum) and let it run for a couple of days. Make sure to have enough drive space.

Brian Murphy · December 9th, 2010, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arnie Schlissel

If you want a hardware converter, take a look at the Teranex Mini.

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. Arnie, I went to the Teranex site, found the dealer in my area and will be renting a Teranex 100 from them. If this seems like it will be a regular thing I will pick up a mini as it seems like a very handy tool. So thanks too Arnie for the lead! And Mary, I need to end up with broadcast quality ProRes but Slainté for posting.
Brian

William Hohauser · December 9th, 2010, 07:49 PM

Teranex Mini looks like an excellent converter but it's input and output is SDI. How are you planning to capture an SDI signal?

Brian Murphy · December 9th, 2010, 09:10 PM

Yes I will be capturing SDI with a Blackmagic Design Decklink SDI PC Express Capture Card ordered today from BH NYC. But I won't be using the mini it will be the VC100 from Teranex.
Digi Betacam playback via a J Deck out SDI (embedded audio) to VC100 out to Blackmagic Card into Final Cut at ProRes SD 525 with 4 tracks of audio.
Will post how it works when I am up and running next week.
Brian

William Hohauser · December 9th, 2010, 09:57 PM

Sounds great. I only need to do this sort of job once a year so a rental makes sense for me.

Brian Murphy · December 26th, 2010, 10:54 AM

I am on show #30 and the VC100 with BlackMagic SDI card is an awesome combo. I am bringing it in at Apple ProRes HQ PAL and the quality is superb, had to do some minor horizontal and vertical size tweaks on the VC100 but otherwise it was plug and play.
So thanks again everyone who posted and if you ever need to get the job done in your own suite rather than out sourcing this is the way to do it economicly.
Brian

December 7th, 2010, 06:21 AM	#1
Brian Murphy Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Monreal, Quebec,Canada Posts: 249	NTSC to PAL Conversion Help Needed!! Not sure what place to post this but since I am going to ProRes I put it here. If the Mods feel it would have better exposure elsewhere please move it. I have a project that calls for the conversion of 100+ hallf hour shows to PAL from NTSC. The originals are on Beta and DigiBeta. The client would like the PAL versions as ProRes and I would like to do an NTSC ProRes version at the same time for future use. I have looked at the software conversion plug-in route but it is too time consuming and the cost of sending it out is too expensive and would kill the job. DOes anyone have any experience with this device: AV Tool - CDM-830T Standards Converter My ideal plan would be to install a capture card that would accept 4 audio tracks (this is a must) and feed video from the Tape Deck to the AVToolbox and the audio from the deck to to card. I would use my Horita black burst generator as a sync source for both. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I can't afford a Snell and Wilcox device . __________________ Brian Murphy Director-Editor-DoP Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto

December 7th, 2010, 10:07 PM	#4
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Rent a DigiBeta deck, an Aja IO capture box and spend a weekend capturing NTSC ProRes files. Then set up Compressor for NTSC to PAL conversions (you can find the best setting with a search in this forum) and let it run for a couple of days. Make sure to have enough drive space. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

December 9th, 2010, 07:49 PM	#6
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Teranex Mini looks like an excellent converter but it's input and output is SDI. How are you planning to capture an SDI signal? __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

December 9th, 2010, 09:10 PM	#7
Brian Murphy Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Monreal, Quebec,Canada Posts: 249	SDI Capture Yes I will be capturing SDI with a Blackmagic Design Decklink SDI PC Express Capture Card ordered today from BH NYC. But I won't be using the mini it will be the VC100 from Teranex. Digi Betacam playback via a J Deck out SDI (embedded audio) to VC100 out to Blackmagic Card into Final Cut at ProRes SD 525 with 4 tracks of audio. Will post how it works when I am up and running next week. Brian __________________ Brian Murphy Director-Editor-DoP Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto

December 9th, 2010, 09:57 PM	#8
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Sounds great. I only need to do this sort of job once a year so a rental makes sense for me. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

December 7th, 2010, 07:41 AM	#2
Mary Crowley Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Ireland Posts: 31	I've used Mpeg2 Works 4 (try saying that quickly!) for going from PAL to NTSC, and it was great.

December 7th, 2010, 09:22 AM	#3
Arnie Schlissel Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: New York NY Posts: 322	If you want a hardware converter, take a look at the Teranex Mini.

December 26th, 2010, 10:54 AM	#9
Brian Murphy Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Monreal, Quebec,Canada Posts: 249	Works! I am on show #30 and the VC100 with BlackMagic SDI card is an awesome combo. I am bringing it in at Apple ProRes HQ PAL and the quality is superb, had to do some minor horizontal and vertical size tweaks on the VC100 but otherwise it was plug and play. So thanks again everyone who posted and if you ever need to get the job done in your own suite rather than out sourcing this is the way to do it economicly. Brian __________________ Brian Murphy Director-Editor-DoP Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto