PAL audio to NTSC timeframe?

[Kenneth M]

Is there a program that will allow you to stretch a PAL audio rip to an NTSC timeframe? (Or vice versa, shrink a NTSC audio rip to fit on a PAL timeframe?)

[admin]

Well ..... yes and no ...

PAL is 25 fps (frames per second)
NTSC is 23.976(24) or 29.97fps -- again, frames per second

60 seconds of audio will be the same either way. The video framerate has no affect on the audio.

The exemption here, however, is when 23.976 progressive NTSC video is sped up to 25fps -- one extra frame is played each second -- thereby increasing the audio speed by about 4% to match.

This is explained a bit more on the PAL to NTSC conversion guide on the site, including information on the proper ways to convert both audio and video.

[Kenneth M]

Okay, lemme expand.

I have plenty of PAL vhs's that I want to put the English dub on from an NTSC vhs, and vice versa.

The audio track themselves would need to be shrunk or expanded given their situation, unless you wanted a bunch of dropouts such as an IDI video from Holland. Dropouts in the middle of dialogue are unacceptable. Therefore, I'd much rather either stretch or compress the audio and have either a higher or lower pitch instead.

When comparing two films, both NTSC and PAL, one can hear the pitch change between the comparisons in a lot of cases. One example is the German version of Assassination and the Japapese version of Assassination. Henry Silva's voice is a higher pitch on the PAL version. Obviously the PAL version is PAL master sourced and the NTSC is NTSC master sourced, thus the pitch change.

So, curious of there is a way to just rip the audio and expand/compress without the dropouts associated with the method you're having me consider.

[admin]

The pitch issues you're noticing on the videos are the result of not altering the pitch by about 4% when the studio converted it -- this is sadly quite common, sloppy work. You can either shift a 24fps video to 25fps (NTSC>PAL), or vice versa (PAL>NTSC). In each case, to match the speed increase in frame, the audio should be augmented slightly.

This is really all you're doing -- changing the audio to match increased or decreased framerates. No longer having the film source, you're a few generations down on VHS tapes -- but same principle.

I don't know if the videos you have match exactly -- meaning the same number of frames exist, just that the PAL is played faster than the NTSC. If your videos are, for example, off-air recordings, there may be different amounts of blank frames between long scenes (where they would insert commercials, for example). In that case, you'll have to chop both videos up into smaller by-scene pieces, and work from that angle.

In each case, follow the PAL to NTSC conversion guide, where it goes over the audio in Goldwave. You will match the length of the PAL against the NTSC (or vice versa), and then alter the "good" audio segment to match the time length of the "good" video segment.

I don't understand this "dropout" thing you refer to -- that doesn't make any sense to me. I hope the above information will address the conversion method you need.

[Kenneth M]

Thanks for the reply.

The dropout thing I am referring to has been common on a lot of PAL to NTSC conversions I've run across in the past. Basically the screen will go black throughout the movie. It's where everything, all signal, drops out, and then comes back again.

Admittedly, I have not done what you are talking about, but have seen so many conversions done with drop outs, I figured this would, too.

Apologies.

I will try this method and see what results I come up with in the future.

Thank you.

[admin]

Is it a gap in the recording, or a spot that is blank?

• If it's blank, then I assume the NTSC audio would continue even when PAL picture is gone.
• If it's a gap, pre-edit the PAL version to remove the dead spots.

I've worked with PAL videos for many years now, decade plus, and have never seen anything like that. It just sounds like you have some bad recordings.

[Kenneth M]

Both, actually.

When I get around to starting my dubbing projects in about a year, or two, I'll get some real life examples and we'll go from there. I was mostly trying to get some preliminary info right now.

Thank you much, though, for the help you've given thus far.

[reptilia82]

hi everyone

I have a few sitcoms that are encoded in pal. and i cant bear the 4% pitch shift any longer. it's really annoying me. everyone sounds like chipmonks. especially when a song comes on. its a whole SEMITONE HIGHER! i mean, a whole fret of a guitar!. how do people live with this? i used to only buy dvds from america years ago because of this.

so i just want to convert my pal avi files to ntsc. what is the best software that can do this? fix the frames and audio all together? can it be done? ive searched and can only really find dvd/vob solutions.

thanks for reading.

[dyfan]

If it's of any help to anyone reading, I've converted audio files from PAL (plays back too fast) to NTSC with Audacity...I don't have Goldwave.

Open the file in Audacity and click "Effect".
Select "Change Speed...".
In the box where it says "Percentage Change:" enter '-4.096'

I've had letter-perfect results with this method...The resulting soundtrack file matched a full-length feature film with a run time of 1:47. The synchronization was exact, end-to-end.

To convert the video stream of the same file, I used the methods described by the editor in this site's posted conversion guide:

http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/vid...t-pal-ntsc.htm

I just calculated the percentage of change required for the audio from the frame rate detail cited in the above article...