rideside.net

Posted by pamsterdam on 2008-10-11 16:01:19 +0000

I know nothing about the US version, but series one of the BBC version is absolutely stellar. Series two slightly less so, IMHO. But series one? You must watch it.

Um... but I can't help you re: conversion.

Posted by virtue on 2008-10-11 16:08:27 +0000

I don't know about torrent, but I'm pretty sure that the only way to get PAL DVD's to play is to have a PAL DVD player. There are converters too, for recording NTSC copies from PAL originals.As of three years ago they were hugely expensive.

Posted by tommy on 2008-10-11 20:35:37 +0000

MC, do you have a DVD reader in your computer? If, so, that ought to be able to handle PAL without a problem. So, if you don't mind watching on the computer screen, you should be all set (my Linux machine will play them fine, I assume that Mac and Windows video players will too). Read on if that's not good enough...

If you have a DVD WRITER on your machine, then you can use that to make a new DVD that will work with your TV and DVD player. I'm not sure what your computer setup is, so I can't give you step-by-step instructions, but it would look something like this:

1) "Rip" the interesting tracks to your hard drive. There will likely be a separate "track" for each episode, plus menu screens, bonus materials, etc. Writable DVDs have less space on them than the ones you buy in the store, so only rip the tracks you care about. This will save space (you may want a separate DVD for each episode, in fact)

2) "Transcode" the tracks on your hard drive to the right format. Your PAL track will be 720 pixels wide by 486 high, and will want to be shown at 25 frames per second. You want to convert this to NTSC, which will be 648 by 486, and will want to be shown at 29.97 frames per second. You will lose some quality in the process because the transcoder will need to 'blur' some of the pixels and frames together. It may or may not be noticeable.

3) Make a new DVD out of the converted tracks. When I do this -- wait I mean IF I WERE TO DO THIS I WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING TO THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF MY BELOVED MPAA -- I just make a DVD that immediately starts playing the movie or episode. You can get fancy if you want and create menus, etc., though. This new DVD will play on a regular 'Merican DVD player and TV setup.

There are all kinds of commercial software, freeware, and shareware out there that will do these tasks. I don't know enough to recommend any. I use the tools "transcode" and "dvdauthor", because they run on Linux and can be launched from a script... not what you're looking for probably.


Before I went and ordered any DVDs from Europe, I'd try renting or borrowing a PAL DVD first, and make sure your computer can handle it.

If your computer isn't set up for this (doesn't have a DVD drive, for example), I could do it for you. Although, I've never actually done it with a PAL DVD before, so I couldn't guarantee anything... again, a test might be better before you bought anything. Give me an email if you want to come over and give it a try on my machine.

Posted by MF DU on 2008-10-12 10:56:12 +0000

I did this conversion once or twice through trial and error, and Tommy has a much better grasp on this than I do. After doing this on the computer (also a few years back so the scenario may now be easier for all I know) w/ a couple of different software programs I found on the internet, I was left with 2 lasting impressions: it was usually expensive and time consuming. However, seems like you are on the right track and I wish you luck.

Posted by respectless on 2008-10-12 16:06:08 +0000

when i torrent, i download .avi files and play them on a divx player or on windows media player. both work well.

Posted by mahatma chani on 2008-10-12 17:08:09 +0000

Thanks all.

Posted by tommy on 2008-10-12 20:03:46 +0000

It's not expensive any more. A blank DVD costs about 25 cents.

You're right that It's very time consuming, though. That's why I like command-line programs that can be called from a script. If you're just copying one or two DVDs, it's okay to babysit a graphical program, clicking every 20 minutes for a couple of hours. If you're running a multiyear "burn and return" scam where you're collecting hundreds of illegally copied DVDs, you'd want to do something like:

1) Insert Netflix DVD into drive 1.
2) Insert blank DVD into drive 2.
3) Kick off script.
4) Go to bed.
5) Wake up.
6) Remove DVD from drive 1 and mail back to Netflix.
7) Remove burned DVD from drive 2 and put on shelf.

That's what I heard anyway... I of course wouldn't know personally.