Both formats?

[Dan Merkel]

I've had my video camera for about a month and have been experimenting with
a few different movie making programs including Pinnacle and Windows Movie
Maker. I've also looked at Elements but haven't tried it yet.

Currently, I'm working on a project in Movie Maker that I shot on my video
camera in 16:9 ratio since I have a widescreen TV. But I have already had
people ask me about a copy of the video I shot and in some cases, they want
a 4:3 ratio. So, my question is at what point in the process is the
imported video "saved" in one format or the other? What I'm trying to ask
is do I have to import the video in 4:3 then do it again in 16:9? Or, is
the video "reuseable" after editing & creating the project?

Sorry if this sounds confusing, but I'm not familiar with all of the
different terms, etc.

Thanks.

dlm

 

[PapaJohn]

as you shot it in widescreen, you'll want to keep it widescreen in Movie
Maker and render the saved movie that way...

if you plan to give it to your friends on a DVD, it's the DVD software that
will decide on how it'll handle it for the disc.

 

[Dan Merkel]

OK... but I didn't see anything about a 4:3 or a 16:9 aspect ratio when I
made the movie. As I recall, the only option was something like "Save the
Movie to my hard drive."

When I worked with the video, I could see that the people were compressed on
the preview screen. Does this mean that IF I created the file from that,
that the people in the finished project will be compressed as well? OR does
the DVD software compensate for that?

Finally, what program does the majority of people use for the DVD creation?
My DVD burner software is only for making data disks; there is no movie type
DVD option available.

It's tough being a newbie... : )

dlm

as you shot it in widescreen, you'll want to keep it widescreen in Movie
Maker and render the saved movie that way...

if you plan to give it to your friends on a DVD, it's the DVD software
that will decide on how it'll handle it for the disc.