If your video camera records a 16x9 image like mine, it is extremely annoying when Windows Media Player plays it back as a 4x3 image.  The picture is distorted: people appear to be very thin and tall.  The widescreen format is squeezed into a square!!  Here are the steps I used to reformat the video so it looks correct when being played by Windows Media Player.

 

1. Launch Nero StartSmart and choose the icon “Make Your Own DVD-Video”.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Choose “Add Video Files”, then select the video file you want to convert through the browse file dialog.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Once the video file is loaded, highlight it and click on the “Export” button.

 

 

 

 

 

4. Beside “Select an export template” click on the drop-down menu widget and select “Custom”.  Set the following values:

a. “File type” to MPEG-1 (required)

b. “Video mode” to NTSC

c. “Aspect ratio” to 4:3

d. “Size (X/Y)” to 768 (required) and 368 (my preferred height, a few other choices looked okay too)

            e. “Output file” to your unique output file name

 

Then click on the “Export” button.

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it! Here is a sample (click to view video):