hundreds of DVDs served...
Not sure exactly what format you are starting with.
I start with mpeg2 in 544x480, and DolbyDigital 2.0, for most all my raw material.
Then, I edit out commercials with
VideoReDo, and author with
DVD Labs.
My recorded DVDs contain the same format as the source.
Proper DVD format is: 720x480
In spite of that, I find they play okay on all DVD players I've tested, made in the last 5 years.
Other source formats I've run into are 640x480 which can't play on most DVD players, and 704x480 which is close to DVD format, and works fine.
Over on the
VideoReDo forum, there have been many discussions of:
1) using the Nero Suite (it always wants to re-encode, taking long time)
2) TMPEGnc authoring program.
3) DVD Labs. (many $; it won't re-encode)
4) some freeware authoring packages.
5) and more...
I just use the Nero Burning Rom portion of Nero 6.6-something (though 5.something worked, too) to burn the final files onto DVD blanks.
Then, I print them in an Epson R-200 printer, for that final bit of
bling.
I also own
WinAVI, and have used it to convert non-standard formats to the proper 720x480 NTSC format.
However, I still author with DVD Labs.
Reason is, I have more control of chapters, menu, et al.
With a proper authoring program, you can also do multiple episodes of a show, or a double-feature movie.
WinAVI is around $30; VideoReDo is about $50; DVD Labs has two versions at $130 and $250.
...and as I said, on the VRD forum, there is plenty of discussion on free authoring programs.