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PAL 25 vs NTSC 30

J

jwheeler

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 14, 2010
193
0
Hi guys,

So mostly I'm gunna shoot in PAL at 24fps. But if I want a slight slow down in speed can I not film in 30fps on NTSC and slow down to 24fps (80% speed). Would there be some sort of of compatibility issue between PAL and NTSC.

Besides whats the big deal with PAL and NTSC. Do we really need worry about it that much?
 
For starters there's no such thing as 24fps PAL.

PAL is a 25 frame per second standard.

NTSC is a 29.97 frame per second standard.

Film is usually 24 frame per second.


You need to know what your final delivery is going to be. If it's for the web then it's not too important which you go with - they're all supported frame rates on computer monitors.

You run into problems if you are going to end up on DVD or Broadcast Television. Most play PAL and NTSC but not many play 24 fps. What you need to do is either convert it to NTSC using a system called 2:3 pulldown (looks smooth and no problems with audio) or convert it to PAL (trickier - either involves blending frames or speeding up the footage by 4%).

Whatever you do don't mix frame rates.
 
PAL and NTSC are used in two very different parts of the world so it depends what continent you plan on using the video as well.
 
smokescreen76 said:
For starters there's no such thing as 24fps PAL.
Click to expand...
I know, I just wanted it to be clear that I was in europe.

smokescreen76 said:
You need to know what your final delivery is going to be. If it's for the web then it's not too important which you go with - they're all supported frame rates on computer monitors.

You run into problems if you are going to end up on DVD or Broadcast Television. Most play PAL and NTSC but not many play 24 fps. What you need to do is either convert it to NTSC using a system called 2:3 pulldown (looks smooth and no problems with audio) or convert it to PAL (trickier - either involves blending frames or speeding up the footage by 4%).

Whatever you do don't mix frame rates.
Click to expand...
I was planning on doing everything in 24fps. It is for youtube, but I'd like to put it on DVD. How do they put 24fps films on DVD if you can't have 24fps DVDs?
 
smokescreen76 said:
You run into problems if you are going to end up on DVD or Broadcast Television. Most play PAL and NTSC but not many play 24 fps. What you need to do is either convert it to NTSC using a system called 2:3 pulldown (looks smooth and no problems with audio) or convert it to PAL (trickier - either involves blending frames or speeding up the footage by 4%).
Click to expand...
I can't speak for PAL but 24fps is part of the MPEG-2 DVD spec in NTSC regions (the DVD player will add the pulldown on the fly).


Lethal
 
Your best bet is just recording in HD. While the transmission formats are different, the actual format of the video is the same (720p/24or30fps or 1080p/24or30fps).

24fps is best for 'real' films, 25 or 30 for TV.

TEG
 
If you want to end up with a 25fps PAL DVD there is no point in shooting 24fps. None whatsoever. You are just causing yourself problems.
 
A DVD Player will not do the 4% speed up - in PAL mode it will add an extra frame every second (which looks awful) or in NTSC mode it will play with 2:3 pulldown (which looks fine but it will be NTSC).
 
smokescreen76 said:
A DVD Player will not do the 4% speed up - in PAL mode it will add an extra frame every second (which looks awful) or in NTSC mode it will play with 2:3 pulldown (which looks fine but it will be NTSC).
Click to expand...
So to put a 24fps movie on a PAL DVD i would convert to 25fps?

And to put a 24fps on a NTSC DVD I would leave it? or Convert it?

Obviously BluRay is 24fps...
 
jwheeler said:
So to put a 24fps movie on a PAL DVD i would convert to 25fps?
Click to expand...

Yes. You want to conform the 23.976 video to 25, and depending on how you do it, you might need also to speed up and pitch down the audio by 4.096%.

jwheeler said:
And to put a 24fps on a NTSC DVD I would leave it? or Convert it?
Click to expand...

You can put 23.976fps video on an NTSC DVD and the DVD player will add the necessary 3:2 pulldown.

jwheeler said:
Obviously BluRay is 24fps...
Click to expand...

Amongst other frame rates, yes.
 
jwheeler said:
So to put a 24fps movie on a PAL DVD i would convert to 25fps?

And to put a 24fps on a NTSC DVD I would leave it? or Convert it?

Obviously BluRay is 24fps...
Click to expand...

Don't worry and be happy! If you took your footage in 24p and:

If you intend to go on Blu-ray just stay with 24p

If you intend to go on PAL DVD (Europe) just go to 25p

Converting 24 fps to 25 fps is easy - your clip is just being played back a little bit (4%) faster. That's just the way DVDs from film are distributed in Europe: no pulldown and no frames added and nobody complains.
 
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