i record game footage with fraps.

after i record it the footage looks nice vibrant colors not too dark not too light just like in game.

but as soon as i convert it to .wmv format using windows movie maker my footage gets dark and lower quality.

now i know when u convert it always loses some quality but why does my footage get dark?

now i know i can add to brightness to the clip but after you do it always looks washed out.

i've heard people mention high quality converting to x264.

is there an easy converter that will allow me to convert my fraps vids to x264

plz let me know

thx

george