Windows DVD Maker Aspect Ratio problems

Well this certainly has been one of the most productive threads I've ever read! lol. How'd we manage to get several people using their brains together in one place on the web?

:)

Just to clarity, if I use the wmv-aspect-ratio-changer workaround, I can use the current versions of the Microsoft authoring tools in Windows 7 pro?

Yes you can use the current versions of the Microsoft authoring tools in Windows 7. Although to be crystal clear I am using Ultimate rather than Pro, but I don't think that would make a difference in the case of this particular problem.

Edit: my videos are .mp4 from my Android phone; obviously I have to use wmv's for the aspect ratio changer but when I convert from .mp4 to .wmv there is a bad loss of quality. Since I need to work with .mp4, is there a loss-less way to convert them to .wmv or should I try the older version of WMM solution?

I'm afraid I'm not much help on this one: as part of my broader efforts to resolve this problem, I have been importing the .MOVs from my digital camera into WMM and exporting all final edited video out as .WMVs before attempting the DVD burn in WDM. I guess you have hit the same issue when trying to import and burn .MP4s in WDM? If so, I imagine you may need to search for an alternative .MP4 aspect ratio changing tool. For completeness, I found wmv-aspect-ratio-changer through the fifth link returned by DuckDuckGo for "wmv aspect ratio changer". All I can suggest is attempting the same, replacing "wmv" for "mp4" and experimenting with anything you find.

Well this certainly has been one of the most productive threads I've ever read! lol. How'd we manage to get several people using their brains together in one place on the web? 

Just to clarity, if I use the wmv-aspect-ratio-changer workaround, I can use the current versions of the Microsoft authoring tools in Windows 7 pro? 

Edit: my videos are .mp4 from my Android phone; obviously I have to use wmv's for the aspect ratio changer but when I convert from .mp4 to .wmv there is a bad loss of quality. Since I need to work with .mp4, is there a loss-less way to convert them to .wmv or should I try the older version of WMM solution?

I would also like to thank Fergal for his summary, which contains all the information needed to get a good video flow going again for widescreen DVD users of the MS video tools. I was too busy to finish this off myself, even though I was able to help in discovering why Windows DVD Maker caused the problem with the output from the newest Windows Live Movie Maker - and it turned out to be a very small bug, with an easy workaround.

It would be nice to hear from someone within Microsoft on whether these tools have any future on MS platforms. It's good to see that Movie Maker is still supported on 8.1, although still without an obvious European DVD format template. It would be even nicer to see a new release of DVD Maker, with the aspect-ratio bug fixed, and perhaps even a release for Windows 8.1. This would give MS the opportunity to bring in a lot more new users who like to be able to process video without buying a lot of expensive tools, but currently either have to downgrade to Windows 7, move to a Mac, or buy some commercial tool. It might make Windows 8.1 a more attractive platform, something it badly needs.

I have to admit that, even though they are a great deal slower than e.g. Nero (which I used to use for slide shows), the MS video tools produce a superb result once you have a PAL DVD template in place - and very easily. Fortunately, I have managed to avoid Windows 8 so far, and so I can use the current MS video tools and benefit from the really excellent results they give. It would be sad to see MS let them dwindle out of use for want of a small bugfix, and a Windows 8.1 release.

.... and thank you Fergal for such a well written personal summary and positive post....

This thread has solved this problem for me. I am running fully updated Windows 7 Ultimate SP1, Windows Movie Maker (WMM) 2012 (Build 16.4.3528.0331) and Windows DVD Maker (WDM) 2012 (the latest: if someone can tell me how I obtain the full version info for DVD Maker I will include it here also). Sanity check to make sure you the reader are experiencing the same problem as me: I had created all videos I wanted to burn as WMVs through WMM and had set all widescreen settings correctly there. However, when I burnt those WMVs to DVD using WDM the resulting DVDs played the menu fine in widescreen and then after a frame or two of actual video play switched to squished 4:3 ratio (as already described by Rich_D). If this sounds like you, please read on!

I'd like to thank the following contributors specifically:

Rich_D for the detail in describing the symptoms. Your efforts allowed me to confirm that the problem you are describing is the same one I have experienced, and not one of the many other slightly different ones with older version of Windows, Movie Maker and DVD Maker that I have read through and stabbed at on the Web in the last few weeks. You provided me focus on "What the problem is".

kisbeSL for great detail in describing the symptoms and your trial and error attempts to identify solution options that just work. Your efforts have helped identify the problem area causing this headache for so many of us. You provided me the "How to fix the problem full stop".

PapaJohn... for identifying the root of the end problem on burnt DVDs. You provided me the "Why the problem is presenting itself".

Patrick McTiernan for hitting the nail on the head with the full diagnosis. Your efforts allowed me to follow up with a minimalist workaround that works for me without changing/downgrading/touching any versions of any Microsoft software. You provided me the "Where you can intercept and prevent this problem". As well as your tip to use gspot to view the sar, par and dar parameters for my WMV videos, I searched for one of the 3rd party editing tools you refer to for removing the par and dar values and eventually settled on WMV Aspect Ratio Changer by Komeil Bahmanpour which I found referenced on his blog. This does exactly what it says on the tin. For anyone who wants to try this solution, here's what I did:

1. Download and extract wmv-aspect-ratio-changer
2. Run WMVARChanger.exe
3. Load each WMV file you want to remove the par and dar values from. It will load up and display "Current Aspect Ratio" X and Y values
4. Click "Remove"

That's it! The change is immediately applied to the file and you can verify that par and dar values have been removed while sar remains intact by using gspot.

I then tried burning my now-altered WMVs using WDM and widescreen functions correctly on the final DVD at last.

I would agree with the general sentiment of dismay and shock over how long Microsoft has (and continues) to let this slide. Similar to many people, I wanted to stick with Microsoft software because of the menus and ease of use since I am a n00b at DVD making and just want something simple to use at home that doesn't feel too much like work. With this post I want to make sure I gave back to the community my experience in tying together all the other guys' information that I took from in the hope that it helps some other n00bs out there. I really hope that Microsoft picks up on this bug and implements the ultra-simple fix described above in WDM so that a 3rd party interim step is no longer needed.

Thank you all again for your efforts and for the time you took to share you knowledge. Thanks to you, I have only wasted 4 DVDs rather than dozens scratching my head over this. You may now live and die safe in the knowledge that your legacy lives on through me and my son's baby videos :p