Re: Mixed formats - PAL & NTSC

Gang:

I was commissioned to create a montage video of sorts for a company that has footage largely shot in NTSC, but an entire section - an important one, no less - was shot entirely in PAL. Can the two be mixed successfully in the same FCP sequence, and how do I do it as painlessly as possible?

Hey Steve Douglas - this is a special one for you, maybe...this is all underwater stuff for Explorer Ventures. Everything I shot from Australia is in PAL. Any thoughts?

-Aaron

peacedog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gang:
>
> I was commissioned to create a montage video of
> sorts for a company that has footage largely shot
> in NTSC, but an entire section - an important one,
> no less - was shot entirely in PAL. Can the two
> be mixed successfully in the same FCP sequence,
> and how do I do it as painlessly as possible?
>
> Hey Steve Douglas - this is a special one for you,
> maybe...this is all underwater stuff for Explorer
> Ventures. Everything I shot from Australia is in
> PAL. Any thoughts?
>
> -Aaron

Aaron, ideally you should only have one format in the Time-line, so you have to convert the non-conforming media into the final delivery format, before you edit.
FCP conversions are not of sufficient quality.

Cheers
Alexander

This is correct. Although FCP6 allows you to mix formats it is always better to conform any mixed footage to one and the same format (your delivery format) and work from there.

Best wishes,

Ronny

Hey Aaron,
Wish I could advise you otherwise, but Ronny and Alexander are correct. Conversion of the PAL to NTSC or visa versa is necessary. The Nattress plug ins provide a good conversion plug for you though I really have had this issue only once. You don't say what your output needs to be but that will be the determining factor as to which direction you go with the conversion.
Steve
ps Next time, hire me for the underwater shooting. ;-)