Well I downloaded some video and I have the video as quicktime files on my desktop. I click and dragged the quicktime files straight onto Final Cut Express's timeline. When I playback the video, it is wavy. I feel like an idiot explaining this. Ha. Well does anyone have advice for me? Does this have to do with compression, data rate, or pixel aspect? I am really confused here.

it's probably compressed wierd, I've had similar problems where that happened with compressed video. Otherwise you may not have your playback settings on full quality.

Well, first of all, does it play weird in QuickTime Player? And if so, is it the SAME weird? Or a different weird?

No. Its perfectly fine in Quicktime.

Odd. Its probably compressed with something FCP doesn't like.

Ok, try this. Open it in QuickTime, and then choose Window > Show Movie Info, and tell is what it says for all the video and compression settings.

Format is Integer (big endian) Stereo, 32000 Hz, 16 Bits
Sorenson Video 3, 720x540, Millions

How can I change this? Do I need a different codec or something?

i don't know anything about FCP, but on some programs you have to choose settings, such as frame rate. it could be something like that but i agree that it's probably just compressed weird, or with something FCP doesn't 'like'. You could try checking what FCP is compatible with, and then check to make sure you're using compatible compression settings or whatever.

Do you have QuickTime Pro? And also, does it play wavy in both the Viewer AND the Cavnas in FCP, or just the Canvas?

Anyway - if you have QTPro try exporting to a DV stream, or exporting to a QuickTime movie, with the animation codec.

Its wavy just in the canvas, not in the viewer. I do not have quicktime pro. I have 6.5.2.

Did you render the timeline before playing it? Does it have the green or yellow bar above it?

Its a gray bar after I render. Yesterday I exported the video to Quicktime and changed the compressor settings in the format options window to Sorenson Video 3, and it went to quicktime not wavy. But it still did not look tip top quality. But the compressor settings in the Final Cut browser were Sorenson Video 3, so maybe that is all I have to change. Hm. Don't know though. I will keep messing with different setting until I get it.