If a friend wants to have 2 different clips in her video from 2 different sources, there should be some way to normalize them, right? (I don't know the right terminology, pls bear with me here....) Iow, Clip A is a .wmv file but the aspect ratio is--whatever, say 4:3. Clip B is also a .wmv file, but pops up on the screen as default 4:3 when it SHOULD be widescreen PAL (16:9). She wants to use them both in a single video.

So I converted the PAL clip (or thought I had) so that the actors didn't look like their faces had recently been smooshed in elevator doors. This seemed to work, the clip played fine in several different players (Win media player & Nero Showtime)... but when she MERGED the two clips... somehow, the one that was originally in the wrong aspect ratio to begin with (Clip B ) reverted: the faces look smooshed again.

Um. I hope that was clear but if not pls ask me questions & I'll try to express it better. Does anyone understand what I'm talking about here, or has anyone run into this problem? If so: what can we do about it? Many thanks, e.

Hmmm lets start at the beginning. Are the clips PAL or NTSC? You say the frames are different. What program have you used to merge the two clips?


Because when i was making my music video i have clips that were 4:3 and 16:9, but if you put both in windowsmoviemaker; it will automaticly change the settings so it can merge into one file.

Hi Jules2! ;)

The clips are from BG series 1 & 4. The first were already wmv files; the second I downloaded as avi (bleh), then changed to wmv. They were merged in WMM, but the clip from S4--which looked fine as a stand-alone after I'd adjusted the aspect ratio & resaved as wmv (and double-checked to make sure it look alright)--morphed back to its original incarnation as wrong aspect ratio when they were merged. --e

Are these clips you made yourself or have you downloaded them somewhere? Have you tried it the other way around; changing the wmv to avi? If they are the same you could always try merging them in programs like virtualdub, but that will only work if the setting are exactly the same.

I downloaded them. (I own all the BG sets through 6, of course. ;) ) I'm helping a friend. If I screw around with them in VD, which settings...? By the time she sends me a sample of the video-in-progress, it's all 1 file. Shoot....

Hmmm In VD you always use 'direct copy' for video and source audio.


But maybe it would be easier to rip the clips for the original DVD. The quality will be better and then you are sure it wil fit in the same file.

I use DVDshrink for ripping clips from DVD. With this program you can rip just small pieces and not the intire episode. It saves time and space on your harddisk. (sometimes sound will be out of sinck)

Then i use AVI.net to shrinck the clips. (less pixels, less space) and it changes VOB files to avi files. Also it clears up the sound problems. (you need some other program to get this one to work. Check videohelp.com!)

Then i use Virtualdub for the serious cutting. But remember that VD uses Keyframes for cutting, so unless there is a clear start for the scene you may have some frames from the other scene. Nothing to do about that one. (in VD)

You can use VD to merge the clips into one file, but all the frames will be kept the same. If you want to lose a few frames, use WMM. There you can start and finish a scene where you want.

I think this is most sensible & a direction she might consider taking, at least in the future. I'm going to pass on your suggestions to her, if you don't mind. ;) Thanks a lot, Jules... maybe I'll post a bit more after I try to mess with VD but I expect that will have to wait til I get a new computer at home. Cheers, e

For future fan-vid makers who might have wondered:

As it happens, I wasn't losing my mind with the above-discussed series of difficulties about aspect ratio: S1-3 were recorded in 4:3. S4 changed to 16:9, and then it was changed back. Go figure.

So technically, I just don't know if there's any way around this, esp w low-end/freeware type software. But at least I wasn't making it up or purely inept.... --e