[MEncoder-users] seeking best conversion of analog camcorder to DVD

[eccn]

Please can anyone help a newbie.

BACKGROUND:

I have a BT878 based capture card which makes a good job of digitising
PAL video, and the audio is fed into a SBLive soundcard. Both work fine.
(No, I do not have access to any hardware which can encode signals.)

I wish to capture and convert, at maximum possible quality, the output
of my analog camcorder, then burn the result to a domestic multimedia
DVD.

I have verified that mplayer can access the video stream from the
capture card, and display it in an X window, using:

mplayer -tv driver=v4l2:norm=pal:input=1:width=768:height=576 -double
-vo sdl tv://

I have also verified that mencoder can capture sound and video and write
them to an AVI file:

mencoder -oac mp3lame -ovc lavc -lameopts mode=1:vbr=2:q=4 -lavcopts
vcodec=mpeg4 -tv
driver=v4l:norm=pal:input=1:adevice=/dev/dsp:width=768:height=576 -af
volume=0 -o tv.avi tv://

PROBLEM:

1) I notice that the above video quality is quite poor, compared to
viewing it directly using xawtv (linux) or Dscaler (XP). What can I do
to preserve maximum detail? Does encoding always have to compromise
viewing quality? I'm aiming for the highest quality of transfer I can
manage.

2) How exactly do I go about burning the resulting file/s to a DVD that
will play in the most common home players? i.e. How can mencoder create
a playable DVD with minimum extra fuss?


Many thanks in advance

Matt
-- 
“At the deepest, most fundamental level, the true reality of our
existence is One, Ein Sof, infinite, and thus the sense of separate self
that we all have -- the notion that "you" and "I" are individuals with
souls separate from the rest of the universe -- is not ultimately true.
The self is a phenomenon, an illusion, a mirage.”  ~~ Jay Michaelson