How to fix the aspect ratio on videos from Windows Movie Maker Live

Problem:

wmv file looks squashed when played in VLC or when uploaded to youtube but looks fine when played in windows media player

Solution:

You can change the aspect ratio of a wmv file without re-encoding it with vmarchanger

Ok, hopefully you just searched for this and you’re now sorted, but here’s some background on my problem in case it helps.

I made a small video (640×480 50fps) on my 7D and wanted to slap it on youtube. I didn’t have any video editing software so grabbed Windows Live Movie Maker. After exporting the video file I found it plays in the wrong aspect ratio in all players but WMP. The app that fixed it was written by this crypto fellow over here. Thanks Crypto!

The real cause of the problem?

I didn’t use a mac.