Image on Widescreen DVD is scrunched up

[Loneriver]

I am sure this is a very basic question but I am just learning about video capturing and burning. I used Windows Movie Maker to capture a .wmv file from my 8mm analog camcorder (using my other miniDV camcorder as the AV-DV converter). Then using MyDVD I added the .wmv file using the "Add New Movie --> Widescreen (16:9)" option. I thought that since most tv types today are widescreen that I should add it this way rather than just selecting the regular "Add New Movie" button in the Menu Tasks window.

 

Apparently I was wrong. When I played the newly-burned DVD on my tv I got the black bars on top and bottom which is what I expected on my non-widescreen tv. The image, however, was squished in the vertical direction. All the people look short and pudgy.

 

Why is this? Do I need to capture it some other way? Or did I add the movie incorrectly to the project? Or was there some setting in my camcorder years ago that took the original video in a non-widescreen format so there is nothing I can do about it now?

 

I am guessing that the future is in widescreen so my best bet would be to create my dvds that way even though I don't have a widescreen tv. Even so, I don't want to have to view my homemade movies squished up until I get one.

 

Thanks for any assistance.

[grandpabruce]

I am sure this is a very basic question but I am just learning about video capturing and burning. I used Windows Movie Maker to capture a .wmv file from my 8mm analog camcorder (using my other miniDV camcorder as the AV-DV converter). Then using MyDVD I added the .wmv file using the "Add New Movie --> Widescreen (16:9)" option. I thought that since most tv types today are widescreen that I should add it this way rather than just selecting the regular "Add New Movie" button in the Menu Tasks window.

 

Apparently I was wrong. When I played the newly-burned DVD on my tv I got the black bars on top and bottom which is what I expected on my non-widescreen tv. The image, however, was squished in the vertical direction. All the people look short and pudgy.

 

Why is this? Do I need to capture it some other way? Or did I add the movie incorrectly to the project? Or was there some setting in my camcorder years ago that took the original video in a non-widescreen format so there is nothing I can do about it now?

 

I am guessing that the future is in widescreen so my best bet would be to create my dvds that way even though I don't have a widescreen tv. Even so, I don't want to have to view my homemade movies squished up until I get one.

 

Thanks for any assistance.

 

It is a 4:3 video, so pick that option, when you bring it into MyDVD for burning.

[Loneriver]

It is a 4:3 video, so pick that option, when you bring it into MyDVD for burning.

 

Thanks. If I do that the image appears correct and fills my entire non-widescreen tv.

 

I am just concerned (maybe unwarranted) that if someday I get a widescreen tv these videos will not show up right on it if I burn them as 4:3. Again, I don't know anything about widescreen tv so maybe the picture will just auto adjust on its own and I just don't know it. I don't want to have to burn them again in a few years just for a new tv.

 

Thanks for any additional information you can give.

[ggrussell]

They will show up correctly on a widescreen TV which adds the black bars on each side to make it 16:9. Most widescreen TVs also have a 'zoom' mode, too, which fills the screen and cuts off some of the top and bottom.