iMovie: DV-PAL

Hi,
I imported two .dv clips into iMovie 6.0.3 to edit. Somehow they were automatically imported as "DV-PAL." (The miniDV tapes were used in a friend's camera--he's from Australia...not sure if that has anything to do with it.) I'm going to want to make DVDs of my finished movie. Will this present an issue for me? I can't seem to find how to import them again in the NTSC format (the option doesn't present itself in the "video format" triangle dropdown).

Second issue: I've got all my clips on the timeline but when I try to put transitions in, there's sound with the transition (from elsewhere in the movie...same drum-and-voice section each time). Sometimes the transition works--no sound--but mostly not. When I first started adding the transitions, iMovie just shut down. I don't know if this is about the DV-PAL issue or something separate.

Thanks for any guidance here.
Cynthia

iMovie06 generally detects the format that the camcorder used. PAL is 25 frames per second, and NTSC is 29.97. It is possible to set in iMovie Preferences, which frame rate that you want a new Project to be.

If you are going to be making a dvd by Sharing to iDVD, I shouldn't worry too much, because you can set iDVD to produce either a PAL or NTSC dvd:

To select the video format for an iDVD project:

Choose Project > Project Info.

Choose NTSC or PAL from the Video Mode pop-up menu and click OK.

Click to expand...

However, if you are in an NTSC country, then iDVD should choose NTS by default.

Regarding the audio in transitions, just select the transition and then adjust the Volume slider to zero.

thanks! I'm working on the edits first and then will try your suggestions for iDVD. You solved the audio on the transitions--thanks.

Yes, it has everything to do with the fact that your friend (and his camera) are from Australia. That's the standard they use there (in fact almost the entire world other than the US and Canada use PAL).

Thanks! I finished the project in iMovie and then did a OneStep DVD from Movie...the brightness completely disappeared! Too dark again...I checked Project Info and "NTSC" was there in Video Mode so I thought the PAL issue would be taken care of. (Also it's Widescreen and Best Performance.) I don't know what I can do about the darkness of the whole thing other than take it to an editor and have it brightened. Any ideas anyone? I appreciate it.
csoph

Any reason why you exported your movie from iMovie and then did a One Step DVD from a movie? Why not Share your iMovie Project direct from iMovie to iDVD?

Did your movie look OK when viewing it via iDVD's Preview function?

I did it again and "Shared It" as you mentioned...I think this is actually the same outcome as importing from iMovie. The iDVD preview still looks dark to me but the burned DVD seems to be OK. thanks for your help!