This is just for all you lucky Vista users who will have ?Windows DVD Maker? on board:

I?ve recently been trying to burn some AVI videos to DVD for viewing on my nice plasma widescreen T.V. The burning part was a cinch using ?Windows DVD Maker? but, no matter what I tried, I could not get it to use the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio.

There are only a limited number of configurations available in DVD Maker, one of which is ?Aspect Ratio? where you can select either 4:3 or 16:9. Enabling (disabling, re-enabling, etc, etc) the 16:9 option made no difference at all and I ended up with everything in 4:3. This is obviously a flaw within the program, apparently DVD Maker ignores selection of the 16:9 option and continues to burn in the default 4:3 aspect.

Now, I would love to take credit for this solution and suggest it was the result of my superior intellect but the truth is, after scratching around aimlessly for half an hour or more with no idea of where to go next, I finally decided to search for answers on the net. I located the following, posted by an unknown user whose intellect is obviously of a superior nature (or, at least, way superior to my own)?..Kudos to him/her, it worked a treat:

1) Open Windows Movie Maker?yes, Windows Movie Maker not Windows DVD Maker.
2) Import the video. In the Tasks Panel (on the left) under Import, click on the Videos button. Browse to the location (where the video is saved), highlight it and click on the Import Button.
3) Drag and drop the Video into the first space in the Storyline.
4) Go to Tools/Options and select the Advanced tab.
5) Under Video properties/Aspect Ratio, select the 16:9 option and click OK.
6) Back to the Tasks panel, under Publish to, select DVD.

At this point a message will pop up telling you ?Windows Movie Maker will save and close your project, and then open Windows DVD maker?. Click OK, choose the save location for the .MSWMM file and then click on the Save button. Now Windows DVD Maker will open up and automatically import the file. Click on the Options link, make sure the 16:9 aspect ratio is selected here also, click OK and then proceed as per normal.



N.B. After step number 5 you can preview the result, via Windows Movie Maker?s inbuilt player, prior to publishing.

Well done on that find Jim, not being a Vista user myself I won't have this option but I'm sure many others will find that info invaluable (IMG:https://freewarebb.com/style_emoticons/default/good.gif)

This works the other way too.. I was trying to burn a 4:3 slideshow (created with different software) using DVD maker, but it always stretched on a 16:9 screen. I used this tip, selecting 4:3 in dvd maker and it worked perfect. Slideshow now displays correctly on a 16:9 screen.

Thanks!

Nice one (IMG:https://freewarebb.com/style_emoticons/default/good.gif)

Hey Rob - Thanks for posting..makes sense that it should work frack to bunt too!! (IMG:https://freewarebb.com/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Glad it did the trick,
cheers...JIM

More information about aspect ratios in Windows DVD Maker: http://blogs.msdn.com/deanro/archive/2006/...ect-ratios.aspx

Windows dvd maker will encode in 16:9 if input video is wmv but will use 4:3 for other formats. I used a program to convert the videos to wmv then made dvd's using Windows dvd Maker. Isn't the best solution but it's works.

What if Windows DVD Maker does not open afterwards?

I haven't tried this out yet, but i read that if you open options - compatibility - and then deselect "avi decompression" it should fix it.

This is rubbish, when I followed the instructions, I imported the video and it produced nearly 800 clips to import. Not good.

Garry - Please don't be so hasty to label something as rubbish. Most likely scenario is that operator error was involved.

Was the video you imported originally downloaded from a digital camera by any chance?

I have converted literally dozens of full movie videos to DVD using this method and have never experienced any issues such as the one described by you. In fact, I have never had any problems at all.

If you could supply details of the operation I will try and help:
1) What operating system.
2) Details of video; e.g. running time, format, etc.
3) Was the original video in one piece? i.e. was it just one single file which you tried to import?
4) What was the original source of the video...i.e. where did you get it from?
5) Please describe the process you went through, step by step.

Cheers....Jim