TMPGEnc

I did a little experiment and took a divx .avi file of The Matrix(which I legally own, so don't kill me mods, please!), and tried to convert it to DVD quality mpeg. It took 19 hours with TMPGEnc, and i got two files: a .m2v and .wav.

Is that normal? And if I was to burn a movie to a DVD using these format files, would I use use something like Nero or RecordNow, or some specialized tool like Pinnacle express?

HMM, you did something wrong, i dont use temp anymore, but your steps should have been

Open Virtual Dub:
Select file > open video file > load your movie
Select audio header > select full processing mode
Select audio header again > conversion > set to 44100
Select audio header again > compression > select no
compression (top option)
Select file > save wav

once done you should of pointed temp at the .wav file for audio & the avi for the vid.
PS you dont need to downsample the audio from 48 to 44 but to be compliant you should..
takes 4-6 hours w/p4 2.4 running 10k scsi drives so be patient.. when done 2-3 mpg's or bins, drag the mpeg into nero or create bin/cue's using VCDeasy intergrated in temp..
hope this helps

Wow, thanks for the nice step-by-step! I'm trying it right now. I only have a P3 866, no idea how fast the drives are, so it's gonna take awhile i see.

Well, I have a P3 900MHz, and last time I tried using TMPGenc, it rendered for about 9-14 hours (the timer continually switched, so at one time I just ignored it and forgot about it, got back and it was done). So, your times should be about as good as mine, if not better (cuz I suppose you have a better chipset and as your FSB is higher, your RAM bandwidth is too)

I ran the program, and after 12 hours, it finished. What I got was a .m2v file and a .wav file. I can't combine them into any sort of normal mpeg, since TMPGEnc says it can't combine with a PCM stream. So what do I do now??