Howto author AVI->DVD with menus using Linux only !

AUTHORING PC MEDIA TO DVD USING THE LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM

Author: Rick Harris
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Email: rickfharris@yahoo.com.au

This howto is written in the attempt to help those reading to:
1) Accomplish transferring a video media file (.avi, .mpg, .wmv, .mov, etc.) to DVD media in a format that will allow it to be played on a standalone DVD player.
2) Create professional style menus with audio to allow selection of Titles, Chapters and other menus.

Tools needed:

Mjpegtools 1.8.0 -> http://mjpeg.sourceforge.net/
Latest ffmpeg 0.4.9_pre1 -> http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net/
Latest transcode 1.0.2 -> http://www.transcoding.org/cgi-bin/transcode
Latest dvd+rw-tools 7.0 -> http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/
Sox 13.0.0 -> http://sox.sourceforge.net/
Mencoder (comes with the mplayer package) -> http://www.mplayerhq.hu/
The GIMP Image Manipulation Program -> http://www.gimp.org/
Dvdauthor 0.6.14 -> http://dvdauthor.sourceforge.net/

Tools optional:

Xine - to test DVD menus before burning -> http://xine.sourceforge.net/
Normalize - to normalise volume on audio .pcm/.wav files -> http://normalize.nongnu.org/

To make things easier to read, I will be using some real filenames, always keeping them and any created files in the same directory.
For the purpose of the exercise I have chosen 2 video files I have downloaded for free from www.matrix-xp.com and renamed them to 'matrix.avi' and 'outtakes.avi'.
I will also be using the THX theme at the start of the DVD and have named this 'thx.mpg'
Note any copyright issues for your location if you intend to use these for anything other than private use.

Encoding the movies
Know or find out what TV format you will be using.
For most of Europe and Australia, use PAL.
For America, use NTSC.
Here is a full listing of TV formats used in different countries around the world -> http://mightylegends.zapto.org/dvd/tv_standards.html

*For those in a hurry to get on with it, the following package automates this entire page -> http://sourceforge.net/projects/any2dvd/

For PAL:

transcode -i matrix.avi -y ffmpeg --export_prof dvd-pal --export_asr 3 -o matrix -D0 -b224 -N 0x2000 -m matrix.ac3 -J modfps=clonetype=3 --export_fps 25

transcode -i outtakes.avi -y ffmpeg --export_prof dvd-pal --export_asr 3 -o outtakes -D0 -b224 -N 0x2000 -m outtakes.ac3 -J modfps=clonetype=3 --export_fps 25

transcode -i thx.mpg -y ffmpeg --export_prof dvd-pal --export_asr 3 -o thx -D0 -b224 -N 0x2000 -m thx.ac3 -J modfps=clonetype=3 --export_fps 25

For NTSC:

transcode -i matrix.avi -y ffmpeg --export_prof dvd-ntsc --export_asr 3 -o matrix -D0 -b224 -N 0x2000 -m matrix.ac3 -J modfps=clonetype=3 --export_fps 29.97

transcode -i outtakes.avi -y ffmpeg --export_prof dvd-ntsc --export_asr 3 -o outtakes -D0 -b224 -N 0x2000 -m outtakes.ac3 -J modfps=clonetype=3 --export_fps 29.97

transcode -i thx.mpg -y ffmpeg --export_prof dvd-ntsc --export_asr 3 -o thx -D0 -b224 -N 0x2000 -m thx.ac3 -J modfps=clonetype=3 --export_fps 29.97

The above will produce 6 files 'matrix.m2v/matrix.ac3', 'outtakes.m2v/outtakes.ac3' and thx.m2v/thx.ac3' which have been split from the original into video and audio files. The video(.m2v) has now been re-encoded into a DVD compliant mpeg2 format and the audio(.ac3) has been encoded into an AC3 DVD audio stream.

Aspect Ratio
The above transcode lines will convert and encode to an aspect ratio of 16:9. If an aspect ratio of 4:3 is desired then replace '--export_asr 3' with '--export_asr 2' in your transcode line. Dvdauthor will only work correctly on files with aspect ratios of either 4:3 or 16:9.

Convert 2-channel stereo audio track to 5.1 surround sound (optional)
Using the above transcode lines will result in a 2-channel stereo audio track.
Depending on the brand of 5.1 surround sound entertainment system, this may result in the audio only being present on the centre and sub channels.
Find out if the original .avi/.mpg file already contains a 5.1 AC3 audio track:

mplayer -vo null -ao null -frames 1 -msglevel all=4:decaudio=6 original.avi 2> /dev/null | grep "5.1 ("

A positive output would look something like:

AC3: 5.1 (3f+2r+lfe) 48000 Hz 384.0 kbit/s

If it does, then extract it using 'tcextract' (part of the transcode package) and use it in your mplex line below instead. In this way, front to rear panning will not be lost on true 5.1 audio tracks, and no added conversion is necessary:

tcextract -d2 -i matrix.avi -a0 -x ac3 | tcextract -d2 -x ac3 -t raw > matrix.ac3

If it doesn't, then using the existing 2-channel audio track, it is possible to create a 5.1 surround sound track so that the audio will be present on all 6 channels (front to rear panning is lost).
See here -> http://mightylegends.zapto.org/dvd/dvdauthor_howto_surround.html

Combine the new audio and video files into one DVD mpg

mplex -f 8 -o matrix_dvd.mpg matrix.m2v matrix.ac3
mplex -f 8 -o outtakes_dvd.mpg outtakes.m2v outtakes.ac3
mplex -f 8 -o thx_dvd.mpg thx.m2v thx.ac3

Test the files in mplayer or xine. eg. 'mplayer -vo xv matrix_dvd.mpg'

Adding subtitles
Add subtitles using a subtitle file.
There are many different subtitle file formats (.sub (MicroDVD), .srt, .ssa, .smi, .rt, .txt, .aqt, .jss, .js, .ass), for this exercise we'll be using the .srt format.
The .srt format has the following syntax:

1
00:00:04,700 --> 00:00:06,736
The weather is nice today

2
00:00:06,900 --> 00:00:09,494
Yes it is
but not as nice as yesterday

It represents a time span in 'hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds' to show the subtitle text.
Here is one created for matrix.avi -> http://mightylegends.zapto.org/dvd/matrix.srt

Make a directory in your home directory called '.spumux/', then copy the Vera.ttf font from your xorg/xfree fontpath to ~/.spumux/
Font does not have to be Vera.ttf, can be any other TrueType Font (.ttf), if the font is changed then also edit the subtitle.xml file below.

Use spumux to merge the subtitle text into the DVD video.
Spumux is part of the dvdauthor package. It is configured via an .xml file. Here is the xml config file we will use, save it as 'subtitle.xml':

Specified 'subtitle-fps', 'movie-fps', 'movie-width' and 'movie-height' are important.
If you are using NTSC, then it will be 'subtitle-fps="29.97" movie-fps="29.97" movie-width="720" movie-height="472"'

Merge the subtitles into the DVD video:

spumux -s0 subtitle.xml < matrix_dvd.mpg > matrix_dvd.mpg.temp
mv matrix_dvd.mpg.temp matrix_dvd.mpg

If multiple subtitles are needed, then for each subtitle stream, increment spumux's '-s' value by 1
(eg. 'spumux -s3 subtitle.xml < matrix_dvd.mpg > matrix_dvd.mpg.temp' to add the 4th subtitle stream).

If different subtitle colours other than the default grey are desired, then it is necessary to patch the dvdauthor-0.6.11 source and re-compile.
Patch available here -> http://mightylegends.zapto.org/dvd/dvdauthor-0.6.11_subtitle_colours.diff

Apply the patch:

cd /path/to/dvdauthor-0.6.11
patch -p1 < /path/to/dvdauthor-0.6.11_subtitle_colours.diff

Then re-compile dvdauthor.

Create a colour palette file called palette.rgb, specifying the text outline and text colours in RGB hex:

000000
ffff00

The first hex code is the text outline colour (black), the second hex code is the text colour (yellow).
A full list of supported colours and their relevant RGB hex codes can be found in /usr/share/doc/ImageMagick-<version>/www/color.html

Adjust the dvdauthor.xml file mentioned below like so:

Notes

The 'movie-height=' value is slightly less than the full screen height (576 or 480) to bring the subtitles up off the bottom of the screen. The lower the number, the higher on the screen the subtitles will appear.
Do not use lower resolutions such as 352x288 and 352x240 for 'movie-width' and 'movie-height' if you intend on viewing the subtitles on a television. The only reason these low resolutions can be used in the video encoding is that DVD players will scale the video, but do not scale the seperate subtitle streams. So using low resolutions for 'movie-width' and 'movie-height' will result in the subtitles appearing somewhere in the middle of the screen when viewed on a television.
Using lower resolutions for video encoding also has another effect on the display of subtitles when subtitle 'movie-width="720" movie-height="(570 or 472)"'. The subtitles will not be visible at all when playing back on a software DVD player on a PC as they are overlayed outside the non-scaled field of 352x288/240.
So in summary, if you intend to use lower video encoding resolutions, use a subtitle config of 'movie-width="720" movie-height="(570 or 472)"' if you intend to playback the content on a television. Or use a subtitle config of 'movie-width="352" movie-height="(288 or 240)"' if you intend to playback the content on a software DVD player on a PC.
Or if you want the best of both worlds, create two subtitle streams, one for PC and one for television.
The subtitle formats listed above are of a text format only, another commonly used alternative is the graphical based Vobsub (.sub/.idx) format.

DVDAuthor supports both textual and graphical forms of subtitles, but if using a graphical format, the process becomes more involved.
The user must first extract and prepare the subtitle images for each dialog using a tool such as 'vobsub2pgm' that is contained in the 'subtitleripper' suite of tools, located here -> http://subtitleripper.sf.net

Then create an spumux.xml file that looks something like this:
In this example, 'Matrix0001.png' is an image of the dialog "The weather is nice today", and 'Matrix0002.png' is an image of the dialog "Yes it is, but not as nice as yesterday", the xoffset/yoffset tags are used to position where the image will be placed on the 720x576/480 TV canvas.

<subpicture>
<stream>
<spu image="Matrix0001.png" start="00:00:4.7" end="00:00:6.7" xoffset="178" yoffset="480" />
<spu image="Matrix0002.png" start="00:00:6.9" end="00:00:9.5" xoffset="178" yoffset="480" />
</stream>
</subpicture>

To make things easier, here is a script that automates the extraction of the subtitle images (using 'vobsub2pgm') and creates an spumux.xml file with the images, timestamps and offsets -> http://mightylegends.zapto.org/dvd/vobsub2spumux.sh

File types other than AVI or MPEG
For file types other than .avi/.mpeg, such as .wmv,.mov,.asf, .mkv, .ogm and .bin (S)VCD etc. it's necessary to first encode the movie to .avi with mencoder, like this:
For PAL:

mencoder -o output_file.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vbitrate=5000:vhq -ffourcc DX50 -oac pcm -srate 48000 -ofps 25 your_movie.mov

For NTSC:

mencoder -o output_file.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vbitrate=5000:vhq -ffourcc DX50 -oac pcm -srate 48000 -ofps 29.97 your_movie.mov

Then proceed as normal with the above transcode line.

Notes

If transcode errors out and refuses to encode your file, use mplayer to feed the file to transcode like this:

transcode -i matrix.avi -x mplayer,mplayer -y ffmpeg --export_prof dvd-pal --export_asr 2 -o matrix -D0 -b224 -N 0x2000 -m matrix.ac3 -J modfps --export_fps 25
*If it still errors out or can't encode properly (eg. 'Unknown' video/audio formats), run the file through the mencoder line mentioned above first.
Remember that you can preview the .m2v file with mplayer or xine while it is still being encoded with transcode. No need to wait until encoding is completely finished before seeing the result, handy for very large movies.
Alternatively, transcode has a preview option available so that the movie can be watched (video only) as it's being encoded by adding 'pv=cache=30' to the -J option, like so (note that this will incur a slight performance hit and encoding will be slower as a result):

-J modfps,pv=cache=30 --export_fps 25
To preview whether AV sync is going to be correct, only encode a small amount of the movie by adding '-c 0-00:05:00' to the end of your transcode line. This will encode just the first 5 minutes of the movie, then you will need to merge(mux) the two AV streams as mentioned below using mplex

Tweakage (optional)

Halve the encoding times by reducing the DVD resolution (720x576 for PAL, 720x480 for NTSC) down to a VCD resolution (352x288 for PAL, 352x240 for NTSC).
Halve the encoded file output size by reducing the video bitrate to 1800 kbits/s ('--export_prof dvd-*' defaults to 5000 kbits/s). On average, this means that instead of being able to fit only 1-2 full length 90min. movie(s) on one 4.7GB DVD, you can fit 3-4.

The video quality does suffer, but not in a visually noticeable way. Quality will always be subjective, but for my eyes I can only really see a difference when viewing on a PC while TV playback quality is still superb (your mileage may vary, depends greatly on the quality of the original file).

As --export_prof is not used, some ffmpeg options need to be manually set, save the settings in a file called 'ffmpeg.cfg':

[mpeg2video]
vrc_minrate=0
vrc_maxrate = 7000
vrc_buf_size = 1792

The following transcode lines do both, reduce the resolution and video bitrate (by not using '--export_prof dvd-*', transcode's video bitrate defaults to 1800 kbits/s).
For PAL:

transcode -i matrix.avi -y ffmpeg -F mpeg2 -Z 352x288 --export_asr 2 --encode_fields t -o matrix -D0 -E 48000,16,2 -b 224 -N 0x2000 -m matrix.ac3 -J modfps --export_fps 25

For NTSC:

transcode -i matrix.avi -y ffmpeg -F mpeg2 -Z 352x240 --export_asr 2 --encode_fields b -o matrix -D0 -E 48000,16,2 -b 224 -N 0x2000 -m matrix.ac3 -J modfps --export_fps 29.97

Set the video bitrate manually by using '-w', eg. add '-w3000' to your transcode line if a video bitrate of 3000 kbits/s is desired.

One major drawback of using this method is that transcode's '--export_prof' option cannot be used, so if an aspect ratio conversion is necessary, we lose the benefits of auto clip/zoom which '--export_prof' provides.
You will know an aspect ratio conversion is necessary if the encoded output file's video is squashed/stretched using the above transcode lines.
An easy way around this is to do a dummy run using '--export_prof' on the input file and let transcode do the calculations, like so:

transcode -i matrix.avi -y ffmpeg --export_prof dvd --export_asr 2 -c 0-00:00:00 2>and1 | grep "pre clip frame"

An example output would look something like:

[transcode] V: pre clip frame | 592x450 (-106,0,-104,0)

It is the '--pre_clip' values in brackets that we need. Using those we can now also do the aspect ratio conversion like this:
For PAL:

transcode -i matrix.avi -y ffmpeg -F mpeg2 -Z 352x288 --export_asr 2 --encode_fields t --pre_clip=-106,0,-104,0 -o matrix -D0 -E 48000,16,2 -b 224 -N 0x2000 -m matrix.ac3 -J modfps --export_fps 25

For NTSC:

transcode -i matrix.avi -y ffmpeg -F mpeg2 -Z 352x240 --export_asr 2 --encode_fields b --pre_clip=-106,0,-104,0 -o matrix -D0 -E 48000,16,2 -b 224 -N 0x2000 -m matrix.ac3 -J modfps --export_fps 25

Creating the menus
For PAL:
Open up The Gimp and make a new image of size 720x576, with a resolution of 75dpi in the x-axis and 80dpi in the y-axis.

For NTSC:
Make a new image of size 720x480, with a resolution of 81dpi in the x-axis and 72dpi in the y-axis.

Open up the 'Layers, Channels and Paths' dialog box by selecting menu File -> Dialogs -> Layers.
Create a layer called 'button_highlight' by right clicking on the background layer in the 'Layers ..' dialog box and selecting 'New Layer'.
Add an alpha channel to the layer by selecting the 'Layer Fill Type' to be 'Transparency', or by right clicking on the layer in the 'Layers ..' dialog box and select 'Add Alpha Channel'.

Create a layer called 'button_select' using the same steps used to create the 'button_highlight' layer.
Select the background layer and draw the menu background.

I chose to use the matrix 'green data dribble' as the background, which I downloaded from a free wallpaper website.
Scaled the image to the correct 720x576, right click image -> Image -> Scale Image and set. Then copy/pasted it into the background layer of my new image.
Here is the image -> http://mightylegends.zapto.org/dvd_images/matrix.jpg

I wanted to have selectable snapshots of each movie in the menu.
Snapshots were taken using xine, images were scaled using gimp, then pasted into the background layer.
Here is the image -> http://mightylegends.zapto.org/dvd_images/matrix_menu_background.jpg

Select the button_highlight layer and draw the button outlines. To see howto draw simple perfect rectangles, squares and circles in the gimp, see here -> http://mightylegends.zapto.org/dvd/gimp_circles-n-squares.html
A more advanced technique can be seen here -> http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Borders_On_Selections/
Here is the image -> http://mightylegends.zapto.org/dvd_images/matrix_menu_highlight.png

Hide the button_highlight layer and save the background layer.
Do this by selecting the button_highlight layer and using the Opacity slider in the Layers, Channels and Paths dialog box to make it disappear.
Click on the background layer, right click on the image, select File -> Save as
Save background layer as 'matrix_menu_background.jpg' (can be almost any image format).

Save the button_highlight layer in the same way. Use the opacity slider to bring the button_highlight layer back up, and hide the background layer.
Click on the button_highlight layer, right click on the image, select File -> Save as
Save button_highlight layer as 'matrix_menu_highlight.png'.
(NOTE - Button layer MUST be a .png)

Select the button_select layer and draw the button outlines exactly the same as button_highlight, but in a different colour.
An easier way to do this is to open matrix_menu_highlight.png, right click image, select menu Colors -> Map -> Rotate Colors, set the colour to something different, but that will still be visible against the menu background colour.
(Users of Gimp-1.x versions can find this by selecting menu Colors -> Color map rotation)
Save new colour image as 'matrix_menu_select.png'.
(NOTE - MUST also be a .png)

Here is the image -> http://mightylegends.zapto.org/dvd_images/matrix_menu_select.png

Putting it all together
Convert the menu background into a DVD .mpg.
For PAL:

convert matrix_menu_background.jpg ppm:- | ppmtoy4m -n100 -F25:1 -A59:54 -I p -r -S 420mpeg2 | mpeg2enc -n p -f8 -b5000 -a3 -o matrix_menu_background.m2v

For NTSC:

convert matrix_menu_background.jpg ppm:- | ppmtoy4m -n100 -F30000:1001 -A10:11 -I p -r -S 420mpeg2 | mpeg2enc -n n -f8 -b5000 -a3 -o matrix_menu_background.m2v

The above lines will encode to an aspect ratio of 16:9. If an aspect ratio of 4:3 is desired then replace '-a3' with '-a2'.
For mjpegtools versions smaller than 1.8.0, use '-S 420_mpeg2' instead of '-S 420mpeg2' in your 'ppmtoy4m' line.

Create some background audio for the menu:

ffmpeg -i your_music_file.mp3 -f wav menu_audio.wav

Use 'normalize' to make audio softer/louder if necessary:

normalize -a -10dB menu_audio.wav

Convert to AC3 audio:

ffmpeg -i menu_audio.wav -ab 224 -ar 48000 menu_audio.ac3

If you do not want any audio present in your menu, it is still necessary to create a silent audio file for mplex so the DVD menus will work correctly. Like this:

dd if=/dev/zero bs=4 count=99999 | sox -t raw -wsr 48000 - -t wav -r 48000 - | ffmpeg -i - -ab 224 -ar 48000 -ac 2 menu_audio.ac3

Note

In later versions of FFmpeg, the option to specify audio bitrate has changed. Depending on the version of FFmpeg installed you may need to specify '-ab 224k' instead of '-ab 224'.

Merge background menu video/audio:

mplex -f 8 -o matrix_menu.mpg matrix_menu_background.m2v menu_audio.ac3

Use spumux to merge button_highlight and button_select images into the menu video.
Spumux is part of the dvdauthor package. It is configured via an .xml file. Here is the xml config file we will use, save it as 'spumux.xml':

Create final menu .mpg:

spumux spumux.xml < matrix_menu.mpg > matrix_menu_final.mpg

A successful output should look something like this:

INFO: Picture had 2 colors
INFO: Converting filenames to ANSI_X3.4-1968
INFO: Picture had 2 colors INFO: Picture had 2 colors
INFO: Constructing blank img
INFO: Autodetect 0 = 0x0-720x576
INFO: Pickbuttongroups, success with 1 groups, useimg=1
INFO: Found EOF in .sub file.
INFO: Max_sub_size=4456 WARN: Read 0, expected 4
INFO: 1 subtitles added, 0 subtitles skipped, stream: 32, offset: 0.18

Authoring the DVD
Dvdauthor is configured via a .xml file. Here is the .xml config file we will use, save it as 'dvdauthor.xml':

<dvdauthor dest="DVD">

<vmgm>
<menus>
<video widescreen="nopanscan" />
<pgc>
<vob file="thx_dvd.mpg"/>
<post> jump titleset 1 menu; </post>
</pgc>
</menus>
</vmgm>

<titleset>
<menus>
<video widescreen="nopanscan" />
<pgc>
<button> jump title 1; </button>
<button> jump title 2; </button>
<vob file="matrix_menu_final.mpg"/>
<post> jump cell 1; </post>
</pgc>
</menus>

<titles>
<video widescreen="nopanscan" />
<pgc>
<vob file="matrix_dvd.mpg" chapters="0,0:30,1:00,1:30,2:30,3:00,3:30,4:00"/>
<post> call menu; </post>
</pgc>

<pgc>
<vob file="outtakes_dvd.mpg" chapters="0,0:30,1:00,1:30,2:30,3:00,3:30,4:00,4:30,5:00"/>
<post> call menu; </post>
</pgc>
</titles>

</titleset>

</dvdauthor>

Note

Later versions of dvdauthor will not accept the presence of <video widescreen="nopanscan" /> if the vob file in question has been encoded at a 4:3 aspect ratio, remove this line from the XML file if that is the case.
For an explanation on what 'panscan' is, see here -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_&_scan

Authoring with no menus
To create a more simple DVD with no menus or THX intro, then use the dvdauthor.xml config below:

Create a directory named 'DVD'.
Create the DVD file structure with:

dvdauthor -x dvdauthor.xml

Test the new menus in xine before burning:

xine dvd:/full/path/to/DVD/VIDEO_TS/

Xine should play from the folder as though it's playing from a DVD.

Understanding the hierarchical structure of a DVD
VMGM
VMGM (or Root Menu) is the highest level of structure within a video DVD.
TitleSet
Every DVD has at least 1 titleset. All the files associated with a given titleset start with VTS_nn where nn is the titleset number (starting from 1).
Title
Each titleset contains 1 or more titles. Each title is effectively a standalone movie. If you start xine and just tell it to play a dvd, and that dvd doesn't have a top-level menu, then it will just play the first title of the first titleset and then stop.
Chapter
Titles are subdivided into chapters. Chapters provide entry points to the movie, but when the player reaches the end of a chapter it will continue to the next chapter.

Menus can be associated with either the whole disk (VMGM=Video Manager Menu) or with a titleset (VTSM=Video Titleset Menu), there can be more than one menu of either type.
VMGM menus are typically used when selection of more than one VTSM in a different Titleset is required, as one VTSM cannot jump to another VTSM in a different Titleset.

Limitations on the targets of navigation menus:
A VMGM menu can only jump to:

Another VMGM menu.
The first VTSM of a titleset.
The start of a titleset.

A VTSM menu can only jump to:

Another VTSM in the same titleset.
A title or chapter within the titleset.
The first VMGM of the disk.

Note:
My DVD player (and others?) defaults to the first VTSM when pressing the 'Disc' button on the remote. If this is the case, and you want to setup menu access to different VTSMs at the VMGM level, then you may need to setup the first VTSM like so:

<titleset>
<menus>
<pgc>
<post> jump vmgm menu; </post>
</pgc>
</menus>
<titles>....

So that pressing 'Disc' will take you to the VMGM Menu.

Create the DVD image and burn it
Use growisofs, part of the dvd+rw-tools package.

growisofs -Z /dev/dvd -dvd-video DVD/

Jerky video and skipping audio
This shouldn't happen, but here are some possible causes:

The standalone DVD player cannot handle high bitrates.
DVD video is of a variable bitrate, while the audio is fixed. The two combined must not exceed 10.08Mbit at any time, but for some DVD players that limit is sometimes a great deal lower.
If you notice the problem to be worse in high motion scenes (peak video bitrate), then this is probably what is happening.
Solution: Encode the video using a lower bitrate and avoid encoding the audio at anything higher than 448kbits/sec
An example ffmpeg.cfg to encode video at a lower bitrate:

[mpeg2video]
vrc_minrate=0
vrc_maxrate = 7000
vrc_bufsize=1792
This will set an average video bitrate of 5000kbits/sec (using Transcode's default) but set a bitrate ceiling of 7000 kbits/sec (Transcode defaults to 9000kbits/sec).
Encoding up from a lower framerate (eg. 23.976 to 29.97 frames per second), modfps has cloned some frames to achieve the new framerate.
Solution: Experiment with different clonetypes, more details in /usr/share/doc/transcode/README.filter.modfps.
Some cheap DVD media incorrectly reports it's optimal write speed, which can result in data being written to the DVD too fast.
Solution: Add '-speed=1' to the above growisofs command line.

Final Notes
Hopefully the DVD worked
Here is a flow-chart diagram to aid in getting an overall view of the processes -> http://mightylegends.zapto.org/dvd_images/dvdauthor_howto.png
More sophisticated menus can be generated by having menus within menus within menus - this is a kickstart guide only, using 2 titles with chapters every 30 seconds.
It may seem complex and time consuming first time through, but once it's been done a couple of times it becomes very quick and easy.
Some nice progress is also currently being made on a complete GUI based DVD authoring tool for Linux.
Some that stand out are:

KDE DVDAuthor Wizard -> http://pingwing.xs4all.nl/view.php/page/DVDAuthor
DVDStyler -> http://dvdstyler.sourceforge.net
QDVDAuthor -> http://qdvdauthor.sourceforge.net/
KMediaFactory -> http://susku.pyhaselka.fi/damu/software/kmediafactory/

Credits
Scott T. Smith - creator of dvdauthor
Thomas Oestrich and Tilmann Bitterberg - creators of transcode
The ffmpeg team
The mjpeg team
Wolfgang Wershofen - for precise and detailed help
Ian Pointer - for his article at linuxjournal.com, Issue# 116
James A. Pattie - for his 'DVDs under Linux' presentation
James Tappin - for his dvdauthor tutorial
Erik Slagter - for his dvdauthor colour palette patch
David A. Norris - for his flow-chart diagram of the whole process

Links

Wolfgang Wershofen has done some interesting work on different xml configs and a set of scripts to automate the whole menu making process. They can be found here ->
http://www.wershofen.de/downloads/dvdauthor.xml
http://www.wershofen.de/downloads/dvdauthor_example.tar.gz
http://www.wershofen.de/downloads/dvdwizard.tar.gz
http://www.linuxjournal.com - An interesting article on DVD authoring under Linux
http://www.pcxperience.org/james/dvd/presentations/ - James Pattie's DVD presentations
http://www.tappin.me.uk/Linux/dvd.html - James Tappin's dvdauthor tutorial (recommended reading for those transferring DV to DVD)