NTSC versus PAL and other travel concerns...

[KROMA]

I live in M?xico.

I'm going off to my first European gig,

Any suggestions and advice on this?

All my hardware (laptop, DVD players, monitors, camera) is NTSC.
All these are plugged into an Edirol V4, which can be switched to PAL.

The thing is, I don't know what to expect. If I switch it to PAL, will it function as a "signal converter" to my NTSC hardware? I fear the mixer won't recognize the signal of my gear if it's switched to PAL mode.

What's the deal with electrical outlets there? what kind of adaptors do I need to get?

Hardware. Baggage. Airport customs; do I have to pay custom taxes or fees if I carry too many gear?

Help. Please. Stress. ARGH!

[sleepytom]

are you the only person VJing at this gig?

if so you can switch the projectors to ntsc and just run your stuff normaly.

if not then the projectors will be pal and you need to run pal.
your laptop can output pal (possibly need to set it in the bios)
your dvd player might work if its a portable one - some portables will output proper pal signal from an ntsc disk.
monitor you can probably source a pal one localy.
camera s more tricky - but easy to borrow one if its just for live cam stuff - playing ntsc tapes will be impossable though.

customs and stuff depends where your coming from and which bit of europe you arrive in - also makes big difference if you have a working visa or not

[videoteque]

This has been discussed before. Even if you have a thousand pieces of NTSC equipement, you just need to convert the output signal to PAL. If like Tom said you are alone, no problem, all projectors are multisystem.

Think also about 110/220V power... Here is 220V/50Hz.

[LEVLHED]

V4 will not convert for you.

[KROMA]

Thanx everybody for your help. :)

Indeed, I found a post here on the subject...It seems a little NTSC-PAL converter is the solution to this issue.

[LEVLHED]

you'll probably want a step-up/down power convertor too. I had found a great US site for them...can't sem to find it again now. This would allow you to just plug into one of their outlets, and keep your own power stuff the same. If all of your equipment actually operates on 240v you would still need plug adapters for every single cord.

I'll try and track down the site I got a nice convertor from...it wasn't really that expensive either....other wise Radio Shack has some cheap/small ones that I've used before, but I wasn't plugging in alot of stuff....