Converting PAL AVI to NTSC DVD
 

I have an AVI that is 25fps PAL and am trying to find the best way to convert this to an NTSC DVD.

I used AVS4YOU Video Converter to MPG and then burned a DVD using DVD Architect. The results weren't bad but there seemed to be some judder in places.

So then I tried bringing the source into VEGAS. I can't seem to get as good of a converted Mpeg file output as the AVS4YOU gave me. Should I use a PAL Timeline? When I render out to DVD Architect 24p NTSC I get ghosting but if I leave it at 29.97fps it looks better on my upconversion DVD player but still has some motion judder in places.

Finally, when producing the conversion out of VEGAS the resulting video is ALWAYS darker. I can correct with a video fx filter (brightness/contrast) but I shouldn't have to - should I? When using AVS4YOU that "darkening" did not occur.

I'm thinking this is just somethig in the settings but if anyone could please point me to a best practices on this I would appreciate it.

Here's an excellent thread that was just recently on the Sony Vegas forum:
Simple PAL >NTSC from original PAL DVD?

The bottom line?
Here's the last reply in this thread (Bold emphasis added by me):

I thought I'd dig up this old thread because I've just made a new 4:3 NTSC DVD from PAL footage and the result really is excellent.
Better than anything I've done using other methods including Procoder, TMPGEnc Xpress etc..
I used blend deinterlace method, full resolution rendering quality set to "best", and CinemaCraft Encoder Basic for the MPEG2 encoding.
Top marks to Vegas.
This is the best PAL > NTSC conversion I've seen done in software.

CinemaCraft Encoder Basic ? If I download this will it work with VEGAS ok? I usually just use the built in mainconcept decoder with the presets in the render screen.

I am guessing from reading this that picking the DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen template is suggested.

Still no idea on what timeline to use. I am not editing anything but something tells me that I should use the PAL 25fps timeline anyway. Also no mention of producing "darker" output. I agree that the image is softer somewhat though.

I am interested in taking the AVI directly into DVDA and producing the DVD from that.

Hi Phil

Quite correct..import the AVI into a PAL Widescreen project template and then render using the NTSC Widescreen . The file is PAL so the project needs to be PAL too. Dunno which Vegas Version you are running but if you don't have a DVD NTSC Widescreen template in render just use the standard DVD NTSC one and change the aspect from 4:3 to 16:9 using the "Custom" button. I often do my PAL footage to an NTSC DVD for family in the USA!!

Chris

Thanks! It's VEGAS 7.0c I think. Anyway, yes I will do that but for some reason the output appears darker. Like I said, I can filter it with a contrast and brightness to correct...but....

The other AVS4YOU Converter did not create a "darker" image at all. So it's something with the way Vegas handles the encode on this PAL footage.

Anyone else have a clue on this?

Phil, how are you judging that the video is "darker"?
If the end product is meant for a TV set (and I assume it is), then that is the only place you should be judging it.
In my experience, players like Windows Media Player will almost always look darker than things really are.

I compared the finished outputs side by side on my computer and the one rendered inside Vegas was darker.

It was easy to bring up the rendered Mpeg and then compare that to the Video Preview window in Vegas as well. Clearly the render is showing up darker. Then of course I burned DVDs and played them on my TV which is a 62" Mits DLP. It shows darker on the computer and on the TV.

So I did a straight burn of the 760meg AVI PAL formated video from DVDA. It rendered and burned and the video looks ok - judder-wise - BUT - it's DARKER. So whatever DVDA is using to encode must be the same thing that VEGAS is using.

Where I stand now is this is my workflow --

1) Using AVS4YOU Video Converter - to MPEG I converted the PAL AVI file to MPEG - the size went from about 750meg to 2.5gig.
2) I took the converted MPEG file and loaded it into DVDA 4.0 and did the render/prepare/burn on this to create the NTSC DVD.