More NTSC/PAL

[SimonBones 1]

Hey everyone! I've posted about this before and nobody could come up with a solution. Hoping someone may have a solution now that some time has passed.

I've been trying to upload some footage for editing I fire wired out in Europe.

Problem: I have a PC1000 NTSC camera and fire wired from a PAL camera in Spain. The footage shows up on my camera with a little "PAL" symbol on the LCD screen. When I try and upload it, my computer gets all pissy and won't take it. Even some TVs won't show it when plugging in AV cables (but some will).

How can I get this footage onto my computer for editing use? Anyone?

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[DSE 5]

Some cams will pass PAL and others won't.
Your easiest bet is likely to find a PAL camcorder and Xfer it that way, or find an NTSC camcorder that can pass the PAL over firewire.
Any editing app (other than Avid) should be able to correctly see it if the camcorder can pass it. NLE's don't care about PAL vs NTSC. However, some NLE's require that you set up a PAL project first, prior to capture of PAL streams.

[Chrisky 0]

Friend of mine ran into the same problem inverted (capture ntsc from a pal cam), and his machine cant seem to capture the ntsc even though the camera plays it back. My thought his problem originates from his NLE solution (Magix), so I recommended WinDV to him to see whether he can capture it that way. Haven't heard back yet though.

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From the edge you just see more.
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[sdsouthsask 0]

I have a similar problem but a buddy of mine found a solution for me. Good old internet
One great undocumented feature of Sony DV camcorders is that they ALL play back NTSC or PAL tapes without a hitch. If only we were all interested in playback, that would be enough. It gets complicated, though. For example, a true-blue Sony NTSC DV camcorder will play back NTSC tapes fine, but PAL tapes are output as NTSC50. NTSC50 is NOT a legit signal and beffudles any attempts at analogue capture (including but not limited to the analogue inputs of DVD recorders), so we stop right there.

DV capture through FireWire is just as complicated: the camcorder tells the Non Linear Editor that it's NTSC, so the Non Linear Editor preps for such. Then along comes the PAL signal which gives it fits.

There is a way around this in Premiere. Turn Device Control off in capture. Premiere then becomes interested ONLY in the incoming DV stream itself, not whether the camcorder is this or that. Alternatively, as was pointed out, don't give a chance to Premiere to figure out the camcorder type by putting it in play/pause mode BEFORE either plugging into the FireWire port or starting the NLE program.

So what I did was open Premiere and create a new PAL project. Then went to Device Control (Edit/Preferences/Device Control) and changed my Devices to None. Then I hooked up my NTSC PC330 via firewire with my pal tape in it and put it in Play/Edit mode and pressed play. Then you just open the capture window (File/Capture) and the video will be playing there. Just hit the record button and it will capture your PAL footage.

Hope this helps you, it saved me purchasing a new PAL camera to use the footage I have on tape.

[DSE 5]

Sorta.
~not all camcorders will pass PAL. Sony has a number that will.
~Not all apps require the workflow you described. For example, Sony Vegas and Canopus Edius simply capture what is passed via 1394, which is just an Xfer protocol. Some NLE's demand matching protocol data, others don't. Premiere and FCP happen to be two that do (could it be due to both apps being written by the same team?)

that said, all the rest you posted is very good info. Most folks won't know to turn off device control, and in the case of Premiere, it freaks when it is set to a framerate different than what the header from the camera tells it is coming in. Even with a PAL project, the camera sends an NTSC header, just as you described. No big thing to get around it.