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Thursday, October 20, 2005

NTSC vs PAL

mmmm...I wanted to create a couple of Demoreels in NTSC (National Television System Commitee) also known as "Never Twice the Same Color" ^^ format...But I live in Germany. The German TV format is PAL (Phase Alternating Line). This has also it's nicknames but I don't remember... So how do I copy a PAL clip on a NTSC VHS tape?

Well I can't do it by myself...but I've found a copy shop in my hometown.
It's quiet expensive to convert from PAL to NTSC.
Each format has different resolutions and framerates. A special method is required for converting lossless. There is another format, SECAM (Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire). It's used in France and Eastern Europe. But I never had to deal with this format.

Well those formats could be pretty annoying. I think every animator who lives in a PAL (25frames/sec) using country knows the problem that you forget to change the format from NTSC to PAL in the preferences of the animation software...then you animate in default NTSC (30frames/sec). Later in the post production you realize that the animation is too slow...cause you imported the image sequence which was animated in 30frames/sec with 25frames/sec. An even bigger problem is when you synchronized the movements to a soundfile...now it's not so easy to edit the animation so it fits PAL 25frames/sec again.
Anyways HDTV is coming but they have different formats in different countries again...nooooooooo T.T!

3 comments:

  1. wahahaha! that totally reminds me about the time when i was filming and when i was transfering the video from the tape to the computer i used a wrong format. im from Singapore n we had to use PAL. but i transfered it using NTSC and when i realised my mistake i had to re-transfer it all over again "@_@" Anyway great work!! Love "The Hunt" its totally awesome!!!

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  2. Thnx dekwan!
    Yes the different formats drive me crazy!

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  3. Anonymous5:44 PM

    PAL = Perfect at last
    I think is what u were after

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