PW4GDF

Hello all.
Well after I thought about making books for Christmas I came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea of making DVD's containing movie clips. They were made in Windows Movie Maker. I made a test DVD. It worked on our 3 laptops and played on the DVD player (that also plays the British system.) I happily mailed off to my brother in in England the test one I made. A week later he emailed me last night and said it played very slow with no sound...........aaaggghhh. My brilliant idea crushed! But why I ask?
So help is asked for please.
What format should I save it in? Is it the program? Does anyone know of an international user friendly movie maker program? Any and all suggestions welcome.
Thank you so much.
Wendy
Cocoa, Florida

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I use a Region-Free DVD player to watch DVDs I get from Amazon UK. I don't think you need a different program, but you have to output to movie at 25fps for PAL.

Try Google for more ideas.

I just found this here - http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-pictures/saving-in-pal-format-in-movie-maker/87b6e5d9-c9de-44aa-a57a-0159504a496b?msgId=f07fd1e5-8edb-4db4-9195-dc629a68ac9a

"Natively...PAL is not an option in Windows Live Movie Maker.
You will need to use a Custom Profile. There are some PAL
profiles that can be downloaded from the following article:

Windows 7 - Live Movie Maker Video Profiles
http://www.sevenforums.com/music-pictures-video/35681-live-movie-maker-video-profiles.html
(look for : 'PAL Profiles.zip' and '720x526.zip')

After copying the two zip files to your desktop...open the folders
and drag the .prx files onto your desktop or into a new folder and
copy them to the following folder:

Path to Windows Live Movie Maker Profile Folder for .prx files

C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Photo Gallery\Video Profiles

Once you have the .prx files in your Video Profiles folder, the new
save options should appear when you save in Live Movie Maker.

How To Save Windows Live Movie Maker Project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyqZm5MBc7o

See the following articles for more info:

How can I make a custom setting and use it to save a movie in Movie Maker
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/movie-maker-settings-save-movie-how-faq

How To: Modify Windows Live Movie Maker Output Settings
http://aurir.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/how-to-modify-windows-live-movie-maker-output-settings/

Custom Profiles are also discussed at the following forum:

Movie Makers Forums:
http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/Forums/"

PW4GDF

Wow thanks for all of that information. Our DVD player is region free also and it played OK in that?
I will certainly investigate all of those links.
What I do not understand is why it played on a windows laptop here and not in England? Does it matter where the computer is? I thought laptops and windows were international?
Also please what is 25fps?
Thanks for your reply,
Wendy
Cocoa, Florida

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

When a video is made, the makers have to decide at what speed the frames will progress. Using a slower speed results in a choppy movie. Of course, the film and the projector have to use the same speed.

What would be really strange is if you send him your laptop, and it still doesn't work over there. :D

One of my complaints with computers is too many "standards." If they could just settle on one video format for everything, that would make my life much easier.

Let's see what other ideas people offer.

PW4GDF

I really wonder if there are Xray scanners inthe mail system some where that would do anything to it?
Wendy
Cocoa, Florida

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

If the X-rays were powerful enough to damage a DVD, well...I don't think that's a problem.

sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

American format for movies and US Televisions is NTSC

European format for movies and Television is PAL, SECAM PAL B (i think)

The US system has LESS lines on the viewer and we used to call it 'Never The Same Color'

My Sony TV in Europe could play all the sytems and their different sound schemes.

My camera can record in either NTSC or PAL and my DVD recorder gives me a choice for recording also.

Sarge69

PW4GDF

Time to read the insturction book on my video camera..........it was not an expensive one - but - I had not thought to check that.
Thanks
Wendy.

emmons267 Loc: Arizona, Valley of the Sun

If he is playing it on a computer, record in NTSC.
If he is playing on a TV/DVD player, record in NTSC with Windows Movies Maker and convert to PAL.

Radioman Loc: Ontario Canada

Brings back memories:

When I went to College in Britain - this is what we used:

SECAM was called "See Every Colour And More"

NTSC was called "Never The Same Colour twice". ( English spelling )

PAL was called "Peace At Last". This British system had the highest quality of picture.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

We took a tour of the BBC studios years ago (just my wife and me), and the guide used those terms, too. The BBC sends out the "right" colors, so people don't have to adjust their sets. On the other hand, we in the U. S. can adjust the color to our liking - a little more red, a little less blue.

Although it would be nice if we all used the same system, imagine the nightmare replacing all the transmitters and televisions. It was bad enough switching to digital in this country.

bunuweld Loc: Arizona

For reference to various formats see:

http://23media.net/formats.html

USA utlizes NTSC and UK goes with PAL

I guess it is too much to hope for some uniform system when even today some people think that human thumbs and feet of variable sizes are a better measuring method than the metric system.

Google offers information about many converters from NTSC to PAL.
(fps stands for frames per second)

1066 Loc: England

Hi Cocoa, I use an American system called Cyberlink Power Director, simply Google for the download. It gives you the opportunity to change to different formats right from the start, i.e PAL etc. It costs £59.99 over here which is $92.40. It is a brilliant programme and gives you access to loads of free backgrounds, motion effects, wedding, holiday scenes etc., in fact anything you want really. If you do decide to try it let me know how you get on, or if your stuck on anything.

PW4GDF

Thanks for the information on the program, it sounds like what I need but am not sure at this time if the investment for a few DVD's for Christmas will be worth it? I emailed the the show I made to my brother and he could open it with no problem. But I don't think my 80 something old Auntie in Yorkshire would be able to do this. I have a freind visiting next month. I may try to save in other ways and send a bunch of DVD's back with her for my brother to critique again with more sarcastic comments on the subject matter - pictures of his sister!
Thanks,
Wendy,
Cocoa, Florida
Not so sunny - very rainy

1066 Loc: England

OK, but I bet you can get a cheaper version over there, one that does the basic functions that you need,or, try eBay!