Trixter
9th September 2005, 20:15
Hey guys, I have the "wonderful" task of taking PAL footage, converting it to an NTSC broadcast (486 lines, not 480) online editing system, doing some work, then burning it to DVD. I believe the best way to achieve this is to do the initial PAL->NTSC transcode to 480 lines, pad to 486 for work in the editor, then take the final output and chop off the padded lines. To preserve field order, I was going to add 2 lines to the top and 4 lines to the bottom (adding 3 and 3 would change field dominance).
First off: Sound like a decent plan?
Secondly, here are the scripts I'm going to use, please check them to see if I'm making a terrible mistake. First, my PAL->NTSC transcode looks like this:
# Load compatibility modules
LoadPlugin("D:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\oldplugins\LoadPluginEX2.dll")
LoadPlugin("D:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\oldplugins\SmoothDeinterlacer.dll")
# Load the actual file we're going to work with
AVISource("h:\assets\mc2\pal\groovy.avi")
function PAL2NTSC(clip c)
{
# Use the SmoothDeinterlace plugin to simulate 50p
c.SmoothDeinterlace(tff=true, doublerate=true)
# Convert to YUY2 (required by ConvertFPS)
ConvertToYUY2
# Resize to NTSC resolution
BilinearResize(720, 480)
ConvertFPS(59.94)
# ChangeFPS(59.94) adds/drops fields
# ConvertFPS(59.94) blends fields
# Turn 60p into 30i
SeparateFields()
return SelectEvery(4, 0, 3)
# 4,1,2 is for odd field first; 4,0,3 is for even field first
}
pal2ntsc
weave
#and now the retarded part, we have to pad to 486 lines by adding 2 at top and 4 at bottom
AddBorders(0,2,0,4)
I bring the file into my editor using the .avs script (thank god the editor loads .avs scripts!) and do my work. When I'm done editing, I export out a new 486-line .AVI, and write a wrapper script to chop off the lines I had previous added with this:
# Load the actual file we're going to work with
AVISource("h:\assets\mc2\pal\groovy_486.avi")
#and now the retarded part, we have to crop top 2 lines and bottom 4 to achieve 480
Crop(0,2,720,480)
...which is loaded into the MPEG-2 encoder instead of the original 486-line file.
Does all that sound reasonable? Am I missing something or making a terrible mistake? I have nearly a terabyte of footage to work on so I want to get my workflow right before I begin. Thanks in advance for any comments!
PS: I can't change my editor, nor can I do further editing work in PAL before the conversion, so please don't suggest those as alternatives. I must work in 486-line NTSC D1, and I must do edits in NTSC-land with the converted footage before the final MPEG-2 phase.
First off: Sound like a decent plan?
Secondly, here are the scripts I'm going to use, please check them to see if I'm making a terrible mistake. First, my PAL->NTSC transcode looks like this:
# Load compatibility modules
LoadPlugin("D:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\oldplugins\LoadPluginEX2.dll")
LoadPlugin("D:\Program Files\AviSynth 2.5\oldplugins\SmoothDeinterlacer.dll")
# Load the actual file we're going to work with
AVISource("h:\assets\mc2\pal\groovy.avi")
function PAL2NTSC(clip c)
{
# Use the SmoothDeinterlace plugin to simulate 50p
c.SmoothDeinterlace(tff=true, doublerate=true)
# Convert to YUY2 (required by ConvertFPS)
ConvertToYUY2
# Resize to NTSC resolution
BilinearResize(720, 480)
ConvertFPS(59.94)
# ChangeFPS(59.94) adds/drops fields
# ConvertFPS(59.94) blends fields
# Turn 60p into 30i
SeparateFields()
return SelectEvery(4, 0, 3)
# 4,1,2 is for odd field first; 4,0,3 is for even field first
}
pal2ntsc
weave
#and now the retarded part, we have to pad to 486 lines by adding 2 at top and 4 at bottom
AddBorders(0,2,0,4)
I bring the file into my editor using the .avs script (thank god the editor loads .avs scripts!) and do my work. When I'm done editing, I export out a new 486-line .AVI, and write a wrapper script to chop off the lines I had previous added with this:
# Load the actual file we're going to work with
AVISource("h:\assets\mc2\pal\groovy_486.avi")
#and now the retarded part, we have to crop top 2 lines and bottom 4 to achieve 480
Crop(0,2,720,480)
...which is loaded into the MPEG-2 encoder instead of the original 486-line file.
Does all that sound reasonable? Am I missing something or making a terrible mistake? I have nearly a terabyte of footage to work on so I want to get my workflow right before I begin. Thanks in advance for any comments!
PS: I can't change my editor, nor can I do further editing work in PAL before the conversion, so please don't suggest those as alternatives. I must work in 486-line NTSC D1, and I must do edits in NTSC-land with the converted footage before the final MPEG-2 phase.