DVD Arc can fit a project to a DVD disc, but it's a slow to re-compress the project, but faster and not quite as good as re-rendering the entire project in VP.
OTOH, 'DVD Shrink' is fast. In any case, quality will be lower as I'm sure your aware.
I don't think HB does mpg2 files. Our resident HB expert 'musicvid10' can verify and probably offer other options.

Hello Chum:

Here is what I would do.

First look at DVD-A and decide what kind of DVD you wish to make. 24p? 29.97i? 25i? If memory serves, you have three basic choices.

Now look at the help in DVD-A and search under the topic "Recompression, Avoiding" or something like that. You should see a matrix of video and audio specifications that will run through DVD-A without rendering, Please note that any titles and menus in DVD-A will be rendered if they contain titles, graphics, etc. This is not a big deal.

Now that you know the specifications you need to create for DVD-A, go back to Vegas Pro. You can choose "Match Media" in your project properties to get a preview of your project in its native format. This may NOT be the same as your output. For sure it won't be the same if you are making a DVD (which is standard def) from HD footage.

You can also set your Project Properties to match your desired output, in this case a DVD. This gives you a Preview while you are editing that aligns with your desired output. I suggest doing this for now.

The thing to remember is the Project Properties controls your PREVIEW but not your output. If you are new to Vegas and/or new to video editing and NLEs, the benefit to setting your Project Proerties to match your desired DVD output is when you are ready to render, you simply choose the Render Template with the equals ( = ) sign in front of it. This will render your HD file in Vegas into a DVD-A compliant file that will not need rendering in DVD-A.

Don't forget you will need two files for DVD-A: a video file and an audio file. The specification matrix I mentioned above shows this.

There are other methods for making a DVD-A compliant file from HD footage. This method is pretty easy and everything is done in Vegas. I suggest trying this first and later you can branch out to other methods if you feel the need.

Oh I also suggest getting a few DVD R/W discs so you can experiment freely. DVDs are cheap but why waste them when a R/W disk is also cheap and you can re-use it.

Hope this helps.

Kimberly

Actually HB can play a role in making DVDs by using it to resize HD material to DVD frame size; you just have to use a quality setting of around 3-5. Then use the new MP4 file in Vegas and render it out to DVD. I find the result is better then straight from Vegas but it does take extra time. I use XAVC-S or XAVC as an intermediate for HB.