Problem when cropping avi

[baconharvester]

I have an avi file (AVIcodec says its XVID = XVID Mpeg4) that has a variable bitrate, so I can't open it in Vdubmod without introducing some skew to the video and audio. Someone recommended that I create a .avs of the video file and I did so and can open it fine in Vdubmod. I then cropped my file to the size I wanted.

The problem is that I have to save the file in full processing mode as any other mode will remove the cropping filter. In order to keep the file the same size I tried compressing it. The problem is that most of the compression formats like divx and xvid tell me that an unknown error has occurred (Error-100). The compression formats that work for the video, such as Microsoft Video 1 and MS MPEG-4, give me a very strange looking file. The video turns out to be in a shade of gray, is diagonally stretched, and has lines running down it.

Is there any way to crop this video in Vdubmod and get a file slightly smaller in size than the original? Or is there any other program that will simply allow me to fix this problem?

[Soopafresh]

Make sure that the dimensions you crop to are multiples of 8 - ie 640x352, or 720x400 ---> all numbers divisible by 8. Whatever size you want, just crop and resize to multiples of 8.

[baconharvester]

Thanks a lot for the speedy reply. Your solution worked like a charm.