Windows Movie Maker - mp4 compression

[annette2014]

Hi all,

my HD camcorder uploads video in .avi. Windows Movie Maker compresses only in mp4. The compressed file plays choppy and pixelated in WMP, VLC and Media Arc (HP product with camera). Is there any way around this (codec packs etc.) or should I just switch to different editing software? Any recommendations either way? Thanks

[smrpix]

You can download the trial of Vegas Movie Studio and see if you get better results, but an i3 with 4GB ram may simply be struggling to keep up. What camera are you using? What are your output settings?

[turk690]

my HD camcorder uploads video in .avi. Windows Movie Maker compresses only in mp4. The compressed file plays choppy and pixelated in WMP, VLC and Media Arc (HP product with camera). Is there any way around this (codec packs etc.) or should I just switch to different editing software? Any recommendations either way?

You have to be clearer. For starters download mediainfo, go into its tree view, and post here the info describing what exact specs the files have that come out of the camcorder, and the ones produced by movie maker after "compressing". Did you deliberately install windoze movie maker? The one that comes with Win8 is DVD maker. Though both can read MPEG4 files if appropriate codecs are installed, movie and DVD maker can't compress or output to MPEG4. It can output to some forms of *.avi, *.wmv or transcode and create a compliant DVD. In general, beware of codec paks. They can do more harm than good because they mess with registry settings: altering codec significance, defaulting codecs used by what type of media player program, disabling some codecs, etc, as well as install nasty malware, adware, and viruses as bonus. I have a feeling you have a laughtop. If so, those laughtop specs are marginal for smooth playback of valid *.mp4 files (MP4 container, AVC video, AAC or MP3 audio), let alone edit them.

[Cornucopia]

Which WMM? My XP version only compresses to WMV & DV-AVI.

You probably shouldn't be using WMM for much anyway. Use a good editing software (e.g. Vegas Movie Studio).

Scott

[annette2014]

Thanks guys! Let me give you all the info:

HD Camcorder: HP t500 - records in FHD 1920x1080 (options for 720p60, 1080p30, 640x480), imports to laptop in .avi

Laptop: Lenovo - Intel i3, CPU 2.5 GHz, 4GB RAM, Windows 8

Windows Movie Maker: came installed but needed a pack for Windows 8 which I downloaded from MS; exports only in MP4

Export needs: MP4; codec h.264; resolution 1280 wide; bitrate 2000-5000 Kbps

Editing needs: simple title fade in/out, trim, (static video - 35 minutes); audio and narration added after; sound editing to piece music clips together


My export specs are specific because I'll be using a third party streaming host and this is what they require (I'm making a series of yoga videos).

So, could someone kindly put me on track as to what I need to make this happen?