My audio source was a downloaded mp3 which I actually did some bass boost and other small tweaks in Audition and saved in AAC format. I honestly don't hear any of this static or crackling you're referring to.
What kind of sound system do you use? I used to not be able to hear audio errors when I was on general speakers, but upgrading made me hear a lot of stuff I didn't use to hear.
It is very obvious especially in the parts when the electronic beats pick up.
The original footage was 712 x 480 and the pixel ratio was .91 actually, which I told Premiere to interpret as 1.21 widescreen to fill up the black. If you watched the MPEG-2 version it was asked to be 3:2 layered because those were the specifications for the Otakon contest. I still have the project saved, how would you recommend interpreting it? My Mp4 version was Zarxed, but what are these advanced setting I need to check?
I've downloaded and watched the .mp4 version.
Are you sure it was
712x480? Right off the DVDs it should be 720x480 as which the file is also encoded. (These few pixels won't make much of a difference though)
I guess it's best to show with pictures:
What your video looks like (720x480):
What your video should have looked like (848x480):
As far as the advanced settings for sample aspect ratio goes:
Use the auto calculate option option and set it to 16:9. Your video will still be encoded in 720x480 but the file be morphed to accurate framesize while playback to suit the desired aspect ratio. You could of course simply resize the file instead, but using the sample aspect ratio option will result in smaller filesizes
Unless transitions are considered effects, the only real effects I applied were to the beginning with the TV screen, where I swapped the footage and added the TV effect, and using Opacity filters. Also some panning and zoom. Everything else was either from the original footage or transitions. Those star effects for example, were from the original video. Only thing I did was change the speed to match the tempo of the song.
After watching the video a few more times I figured some of what I thought to be effects you applied may actually be part of the source footage, yet...yes, I also consider transitions, split screens, etc. as visual effects. Anything that is obviously altered footage besides basic cuts is what I call visual effects. There is imo more than masking, invert & co that can be considered.
I was going to review your multiproject but I'm honestly a bit confused so I'm going to leave an opinion for your other video instead. Sorry. :p
That's fine

As said, do the one you prefer to OP.