Windows Movie Maker question

Captain K

I'm a total noob with WMM, so humor me--my video file is currently 720x480 (so it's 16:9). I want to convert this to a 320x240 video (4:3) so I can upload it to youtube. How can I take what I have and make it a letterbox-style 4:3 video?

mausmalone

Tools -> Options -> Advanced

Click on 4:3 and hit OK

EDIT: Oh wait ... that won't allow for letterboxing ... natch

FyreWulff

Youtube will automatically convert it for you if it's under the 100MB limit

Captain K

hmm, really? I read a website guide that said youtube wouldn't convert it so I didn't want to waste time even trying. I guess I should give it a shot.

FyreWulff

i uploaded this one as a huge WMV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yog07cliZYM

It just has to be WMV. WMM will always save a movie as the correct codec too..


I'm not sure WMM will do letterboxing either way.

Captain K

So the best thing to do is get your filesize as close to the 100 mb limit as possible, right?

urahonky

Just a heads up... Try this site:

www.motiono.com

It uploads about 100x faster than youtube, and you can show off your video today, and not wait for it to process on youtube.

The site looks almost identical to youtube as well, so it's really easy to use.

mausmalone

Captain K wrote: »

hmm, really? I read a website guide that said youtube wouldn't convert it so I didn't want to waste time even trying. I guess I should give it a shot.

Youtube will convert the video, not the aspect ratio, I think. So you'll end up with it stretched out vertically.

If you have your video in AVI you can use VirtualDub to scale down to 320x240 with letterboxing. Just open the file in VirtualDub, go to Video->Filters->Add->Resize, Resize to 320x180, check off "Expand frame and letterbox image" and fill in 320x240

EDIT: And as long as you're resizing, aim for 320x240 since that's what Youtube uses.

EDIT2: And if you're resizing from 720x480, you'll want to add a simple Blur filter in before the resize to reduce moire effects. I know that may be overkill, but while you're in the filters screen then why not?

Captain K

Well, I can't seem to choose the file format to save to in WMM. In fact, I can barely seem to do anything in WMM.

I don't want to end up with a stretched video--that's why I asked my original question. Sounds like I need a better program than WMM.

Mugenmidget

Here's what you need to make 4:3 letterboxed video in Windows Movie Maker:

http://www.podyourband.com/letterboxer/

If you need any help with the guide (it should be pretty thorough), let me know.

Captain K

Mugenmidget... please have my children.

An hour and a half of googling didn't lead me to that site.

thorgot

I used VirtualDub for my video, if you want a real program. If you need something with more features, I also used a trial version of Sony's Vegas Movie Studio Platinum.

You know, if you still want an alternative.

Captain K

Well, I needed a program that can also capture video from my camcorder, and WMM is already installed. I'm not doing anything special with the footage, so the solution Mugenmidget gave me is perfect.

Here's the first of many live music clips I hope to get onto Youtube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gu6Y35JiujY