I never did give a status update after trying the "free" programs, but I have found that IFOEdit is the only program that I need to convert PAL to NTSC. It is a bit "hands on" to make the convertion complete. Takes about 10 minutes your time clicking the mouse, but works great. I have not had one instance that it did not work.

tsubbass87..Do U know where to find an in depth instruction sheet to use IFOedit for Conversion. I'm a bit of a noob when it come to hands on Applications
Also I've had problems with IFO turning Sub Titles green and very blurry..Can't figure this out either
I would Appreciate any help in these areas

Rick5446, I can't say that I have had problems with subs because I always rip everything but english out to gain the best video quality during the shrink process. I only leave english so I can turn it on if I can't understand what someone has said. So, as you may guess, I don't turn subs on that often........ As far as a detailed user instructions, I can only refer you to a earlier post in this thread. The post is on page 5 made by draven0006 on Dec 24 2005. I used his method for awhile, until I discovered that I did not need to use the VOBlanker at all. It was just a wasted step for me. But remember, I rip all subs out except for english, I only keep menus when needed (for like TV series)and extras are ripped out as well. Video quality is key to me, along with audio of course, but video is where the most compression occurs.

subbass87..I'm the same way Movie only.With English Subs,but mine always come out GREEN and Blurry in IFO

subbass87..THANKS for the page 5 link..I'll try that

i use convertxtodvd, does the job nice like dvd flick...

also great for episodic/series projectas too, with a menu...

I have been using a program called DVD Region+CSS Free. It is not a free program but it has a 90 day trial. I have converted 6 or 8 PAL and they play just fine in several dvd players. The indicate, however that they are PAL format, which I don't understand.

frbernard..Thats because the Program does the same as AnyDVD..Its not a Encoder or Shrinker of any kind. It just removes the CSS..Its probably that U have a Region free DVD Player

You may be right. But when I play the original dvd in my computer player it tells me that it isn't the proper region. When I play the copied dvd in the same player it accepts it. So I guess what you are saying is that when I copy the Pal dvd it makes it into a region free dvd and that can be done just as well using Any DVD. Do I have that right?

frbernard..YEP Thats about it

Amazing.. three years after this thread began and all I see are a bunch of people running circles around each other, spreading misinformation and offering up solutions that work for them.. but are only based on what they have as hardware.

I just spent 6 hours reading (..AND trying) ALL 10 pages of this thread and all methods purported as being the end all.. cure all.. for everyone.. big news.. there is none.

I live in the US (NTSC-land). Four years ago.. I bought a "The Corrs - Live at Landsdowne Road" music/concert DVD off eBay from Australia. I knew it was Region 2.. I knew the format was PAL.. I knew it would more than likely NOT play on any of my DVD players at the time.. but I figured there was a "workaround". It's 4 years later.. and I'm still searching (Google is our friend); hence.. I stumbled acrossed this thread tonight. My friend just bought the same DVD a few months ago.. mislabeled by Amazon as NTSC.. I told him it was a mistake.. but he balked. Sure enough.. when it arrived.. he had the same PAL DVD I did. So now we're BOTH the proud owners of legitimate retail DVDs.. neither one of us can play.

Some of you are getting "format" mixed up with region encoding.. it's NOT the same. Just because you removed the region protection during a rip with AnyDVD, DVDDecrypter.. whatever.. during a rip to your HD.. it has not changed the video format at ALL! You now have a decrypted, region-free PAL rip.. congrats.

Second.. IFOEdit and VobBlanker are doing NOTHING to the video encoding itself either! All you're doing when you use either of these utilities and change "PAL" to "NTSC" (or visa versa) is the same thing as the "edit IFO" guide instructs. You are simply trying to "fake" the player into thinking you HAVE an NTSC file.. nothing more. Even when you press the process/execute command in VB.. I know.. a little progress bar comes up and runs a few seconds/minutes.. come on.. seriously.. do you really think that utility can process an entire 4 to 5 gig movie in a minute or two? Think about it! My gawd!.. look at how long it takes DVDShrink to recode an entire movie frame by frame.. even on my Pentium D it takes a half-hour!

Which takes me to DVDShrink.. BTW.. yes DVDShrink will let you remove region codes but as I said earlier.. that is NOT doing anything to translate/recode the format. If anyone can show me the setting in DVDShrink that lets one recode (AS IN.. change the framerate and aspect ratio), on-the-fly or otherwise.. I'll eat my own feces.. it just doesn't exist.

You're all using these various methods with mixed results and some of you are even singing songs of praise.. halleleujah.. good for you. XYZ's method works!.. 100% of the time! Well.. the reason it works for you is NOT the method.. it's the various hardwares you're using it on.. as many have said but no one seems to understand. Case in point.. I also have PAL (Dutch) DVDs of Dark Fury - The Chronicles of Riddick and Shackleton (The ONLY way I could get copies of these movies.. currently.). As you guessed.. they're in PAL. They rip to my HD.. in PAL. I have a Panasonic SL-DT300 Home Theater System.. made about 5 years ago.. it's the pickiest player on Earth. Now for 1/10th the price I paid for it.. I have a Memorex DVD player. I CAN play the straight PAL DVD in the Memorex.. no problem whatsoever.. but the Panasonic just spits it back out. I CAN however nowdays.. decrypt a movie to my HD with AnyDVD and remove the region code and write it back to a DVD with DVDShrink and Nero 6.. and any movie will play in my picky-ass*d Panasonic player these days.. provided I make sure Nero sets a CD+R or CD+RW to "book type". So why do PAL disks play in the Memorex? Because IT CAN play PAL DVDs.. plain & simple. So tonight I tried several of the methods described here on a remake of my PAL Riddick movie and yes.. I WAS able to get a DF DVD made that plays on my Panasonic.. simply by editing the IFO. Yes.. I had menus.. but oddly enough the cursor positions (aka "hotspots") on the menu were off and.. during playback of the movie itself.. it stuttered every few seconds.

Stuttering means one thing.. plain & simple.. the framerate's still off. In other words.. your movie may say it's NTSC.. but if it was.. you wouldn't be experiencing stutters in your playback. The only person here who seems to understand this and explain it.. is the video editor a few pages back.. he knows what he's talking about people. So for those of you who have tried any and/or all of these methods and found one that works for you.. 'kay.. congrats.. but not a single one of these methods.. has addressed a TRUE conversion! You MAY have even found a way to change the aspect ratio.. but until someone finds a method that stops the stuttering.. your framerates are NOT being correctly interpolated.. and you're fooling yourselves. Granted.. some who HAD stuttering before and doesn't now.. may think they have converted.. it just means your hardware is more tolerant (as someone else pointed out).

I wish I had some answers.. but I don't and I am NOT by any means.. an expert on this. It's just that after 3 years of a thread with everyone throwing around half-baked ideas and suggestions.. may be it's just plain true that there is.. even 3 years later.. no "one-click" solution still (whomever creates one will make a fortune.. get crackin' "coder boyz"). Most of us DON'T want to have to use 5 different utilities and jump through 20 different hoops to get there (I KNOW.. I don't.) but the plain truth is.. that it's STILL to this day.. what it takes. As I read this thread from beginning to end it seems it started off with someone describing a simple process.. then with each subsequent page some one came up with a "MY method works!.. It's simple.. but you only have to add on a FEW more steps!" to where in the end.. you've got people right back to muxing, synching.. using TMpegenc.. etc.. etc..

Is that what this thread's about?

Oh.. and BTW rick5446.. some of us just WANT.. our subtitles and menus.. seriously guy.. just live with it. I guess we ALL can't be so happy-go-lucky and nonchalant as you.. ok? ;-)

BTW.. I personally, just ordered a DivX/XviD/region-free player from Circuit City.. for $70.. screw it. I'm tired of burning coasters.

Thank goodness you decided to get a new player. I hope you get it soon.

Hello emdeesee,

Well, do not get frustrated. You have not done everything yet. Why do not you try to use NERO (I use NERO 7) to remake your DVD movie? Because I use Philips 642 which plays PAL I have never tried to do anything with a menu. But there is no problem to remake PAL movie part into NTSC. However, it will take hours, not minutes. All you have to do is to use Make Your Own DVD Video, then combine all files into one, check that it will make NTSC, do not forget to check CHAPTERs box, and go to bed. In 3-4 hrs you will have NTSC.

Good luck and keep exploring! I have leaned tons of good stuff from various forums of Afterdawn.

Roma

Originally posted by yromashin:

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Hello emdeesee,

Well, do not get frustrated. You have not done everything yet. Why do not you try to use NERO (I use NERO 7) to remake your DVD movie? Because I use Philips 642 which plays PAL I have never tried to do anything with a menu. But there is no problem to remake PAL movie part into NTSC. However, it will take hours, not minutes. All you have to do is to use Make Your Own DVD Video, then combine all files into one, check that it will make NTSC, do not forget to check CHAPTERs box, and go to bed. In 3-4 hrs you will have NTSC.

Good luck and keep exploring! I have leaned tons of good stuff from various forums of Afterdawn.

Roma

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or main movie only = dvd flick or convertxtodvd.

menus no idea. but both above apps make there own.

Well thanks for the suggestions guys.. but you're kind of misunderstanding me. I've Googled long enough (for years.. and read this entire thread) that I'm well aware that there ARE ways to get around recoding JUST the movie.. but that's my point. It's not that I don't mind doing that and quite frankly.. I CAN play any of my PAL region 2 original DVDs quite effortlessly through my PC with just using AnyDVD "on-the-fly", but my PC's extra noisy.. and I have that nice Panasonic home theatre system literally setting on top of it.. staring me in the face.

.. And as far as all these methods go.. if I were talking about single movie stand-alone files I downloaded off the net.. these methods would be fine; but I'm talking about legit.. retail.. non-domestic DVDs that I am ordering from another country.. that I simply can't get here in the US.. but CAN'T play on my stand-alone player. That is what this thread got started about. In fact.. I just got my 4th one today "Johnny Got His Gun" in PAL.

Like I was trying to get accrossed to rick5446.. some people just WANT the menus.. especially since like in my case.. it gives access to features we originally had.. and in my case.. paid for.. when we purchased the real thing. The Corrs DVD I formerly referred to has some extra concert footage, interviews and such for example. Sure.. I COULD "rip" all of that too.. throw it on the DVD and make my own menus and such.. but it just seems like a LOT of trouble and I still can't understand why NO software company HAS made a "one-click" solution.. when they CAN make one-click decrypt/shrink/burn solutions.. and keep all elements intact.

But as I also said.. I just purchased the Philips DVP5982 player from Circuit City for a measly $70. It's said to play DivX,XviD,PAL and practically anything you throw at it. it also has upconversion (which I need) and even offers a USB port for hooking into external HDs.. pretty cool. So I will soon be able to play any and ALL DVDs with no problems.

Anyway.. thanks to all for your help.

BTW.. practically all the Philips players (some as low as $30) play DivX AND PAL just fine.. so the one I got isn't the cheapest alternative, and I can also vouch that the other $30 Memorex player we have in the family.. plays PAL just fine too.. so as some elude to.. these players CAN be found in the states.. retailers just can't "advertise" the fact.. but look at "customer" reviews.

Originally posted by yromashin:

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Hello emdeesee,

Well, do not get frustrated. You have not done everything yet. Why do not you try to use NERO (I use NERO 7) to remake your DVD movie?

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Because it does a choppy job of it, atleast in my experience. In my experience when I took a PAL avi and inserted in to Nero an out put the format to NTSC, the video came out slightly choppy. Maybe this has been fixed since then though.

choppy could be codecs, or cheap media, the player, or the convert engine sucks... even low ram on pc after burn makes pc play choppy, pc screen res could add a factor too.

as you can see many factors...