I have a 45-minute AVI video (109 kbps, 528 x 384) from which I’ve cut a 2-minute “highlight reel” using Windows Movie Maker. It plays back fine in preview, but when I publish it as a WMV file I end up with something in which the original image appears to be squished into the top half of the screen. The bottom half is mostly bright green, with a bit of stylish pinstriping (black, purple, black) near the top of the green portion. Other than that, it works perfectly!
This happens if I use the default (“playback on your computer”) setting or one of the other WMV options such as HD or widescreen. The only setting that seems to work differently is “DV-AVI (NTSC)”. With this option, things look great as long as there is little or no motion, but moving objects look jagged and blocky and if there’s any camera motion at all, forget about it.
I’ve edited several videos in the past and not had this problem before and, in case anybody’s wondering, I am contractually permitted to possess, edit, and use these videos for noncommercial purposes.
So, help?