NTSC/PAL Switcher for Mac

[murrays 0]

As the NTSC/PAL dilemma has struck several times, this little piece of freeware for iMovie3 on Macs may help somebody out. I believe that it should allow you to import PAL footage - say from a visiting European's camcorder - into iMovie3 on your Mac. You could then export the footage as NTSC or convert a Quicktime PAL DV file to NTSC using Quicktime Pro. I have no access to a PAL camcorder but I will try switching and then importing a PAL DV file and see if it works. I know that it won't allow me to do this now. Will let you know how it works. ALl the reviews on Versiontracker are very positive.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[murrays 0]

So, I just tried this out. I exported a Quicktime file to DV in PAL format then used iMovieVSS to switch the iMovie standard to PAL, started iMovie, made a new project and imported the PAL clip. Seemed to work just fine.
My guess is that you'd be able to import from a PAL DV Firewire camcorder and once you have it in iMovie you can export it and convert it to NTSC directly or using QT pro.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[TomAiello 26]

Did that today (import from PAL camera). It all looks good. Thanks for the tip on that slick little utility.

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[nacmacfeegle 0]

Cool, a Windoze equivalent is also available for those of who choose another type of pooter....But we won't go there again shall we..

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=276295#276295

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[murrays 0]

Nice to know that it works like I thought it might. Glad it helped you out Tom.
Regards,

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[unclecharlie 0]

hi guys,

i have the same problem - this would seem like the ideal fix - except the word of the street is that imovie 3 sux and is full of bugs!

Hence is this clever little switcher program available
for imovie 2?

At the moment i plan to get round the problem
by exporting AV coverting NTSC to PAL and then
importing back into camera before putting back into
mac! *phew*

any help greatly appreciated

blue skies

james

[murrays 0]

It looks like it is only for iMovie 3 ,,, I went to the developer's website to see if there were versions available for any earlier versions.

I have been waiting for another update to iMovie 3 that I saw rumors about over a month ago.....but nothing yet.

I think you could change it (in iMovie2) by editing the preferences file? I hate doing things like that (because it reminds me of editing win.ini and system.ini files in Windows) but it might be possible to do the same thing manually. I think that this is all that this little utility does in iMovie 3.

I took a look at the com.apple.iMovie3.plist (using text edit) file located in the preferences folder in my user directory....There is a paragraph right at the very bottom ....

VideoStandard
NTSC

I think that if you changed the NTSC to PAL you would switch the standard. I am pretty sure that you can delete these files safely...the next time you start the program you just have to reset yourpreferences from the defaults.

Hope this is helpful. If you have someone more familiar with mac technical stuff to run this by first it might be advisable.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[TomAiello 26]

Resurrecting this ancient thread:

Has anyone found a utility like this that works with the current iMovie ('06)?

Or can anyone recommend an easy (cheap is obviously good, too) way to convert NTSC <-> PAL on MiniDV tapes, either with a Mac or stand-alone?

Thanks!

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[murrays 0]

Tom,

I think you can do everything in iMovie6....here's a cut and paste from iMovie help I searched for "PAL format" and chose "Exporting your movie for viewing in PAL or NTSC format":

Exporting your movie for viewing in PAL or NTSC format....
When you first create a new project in iMovie HD, you can select a video format for the project. The video and images you later add to the iMovie are converted to this format. However, if you need to format your movie to be viewed on a VCR or DVD player that uses another format, you can use the expert export options to convert your movie.

NTSC is a format commonly used in North America and Japan. PAL is a format commonly used by devices in Europe. There are also different versions of these two formats, such as DVCPRO-PAL and DVCPRO50-NTSC, so determine the precise format you need before exporting.

To export a movie in NTSC or PAL format:
Choose Share > QuickTime.
Choose Expert Settings from the "Compress movie for" pop-up menu, and then click Share.
Type a name for your movie and choose where you want to save it.
Choose "Movie to QuickTime Movie" from the Export pop-up menu, and then click Options.
In the Video pane, click Settings to open the Compression Settings dialog.
Choose a format from the pop-up menu (DV-PAL or DVCPRO-PAL for Europe, DV-NTSC or DVCPRO-NTSC for North America and Japan).
Choose a value from the Frames Rate pop-up menu (25 for PAL and 29.97 for NTSC)
Drag the Quality slider to the desired quality. Best is recommended.
Click OK.
Click Size to open the Export Size Settings dialog, and then click "Use custom size."
Type a value in the Width field (720 for both PAL and NTSC) and in the Height field (576 for PAL and 480 for NTSC), and then click OK.
Click Settings in the Sound pane.
Choose Stereo (L R) from the Channels pop-up menu in the Sound Settings dialog.
Choose 48.000 from the kHz pop-up menu (or type it in the Rate field).
Choose 16 from the "Sample size" pop-up menu, and then click OK.
Click OK in the Movie Settings dialog.
Click Save.


Hope that helps...

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[TomAiello 26]

The thing I'm having trouble doing is importing a PAL video into iMovie. I've got it on PAL MiniDV, but iMovie won't let me create a PAL project to bring it into.

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[murrays 0]

According to the Help iMovie automatically detects whether it is PAL or NTSC. SO, if that is true you should be able to set up a new project, import from your PAL miniDV tape and then export as NTSC....here's the cut and paste regarding new projects...

Choosing a format for new projects
In most cases, when you start a new project, you don't need to choose a video format. iMovie HD can automatically detect whether you're importing footage from a standard definition (DV), high definition (HDV), or Apple iSight camera. However, if you need to, you can choose the appropriate format for your video.

iMovie supports video in the following formats:

DV NTSC
DV PAL
DV NTSC Widescreen
DV PAL Widescreen
MPEG-4
iSight
HDV 720p
HDV 1080i
iMovie HD automatically detects whether your DV format is NTSC or PAL, and detects the frame rate of your camera, so you don't need to specify these items.

At times you may create a project that doesn't use a video camera as an input device. For example, you might create a slideshow of iPhoto images with transitions and music. In this case, you can specify the video format that you want the project to have (even though you're not importing from a video device.)

To specify a video format for a new project:
Choose File > New or click the "Create a New Project" button in the Project window.
In the Create Project dialog, click the "Video format" triangle to display format options.
Choose the video format options you want.
Click Create.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey