Encoding Settings

I am recording movies via my STB using s-video or component (depending on
the format of the STB...the card mentioned will handle the HD content only
via s-video) into a Snazzi V DVD Pro capture card. Most of the content will
be digital or HD (the HD is 'downsampled by the s-video capture), so it is
at as high a quality as the s-video and card will handle.

I recorded a movie last night that was 1:45 in length at 8000 kbps and 384
audio bit rate. Needless to say, the file size for this capture was 6.4 GB.

I use TMPGEnc to convert the mpeg2 DVD compliant file to DVD format. Am I
better off quality-wise retaining the above settings and using DVD shrink to
make the file fit a DVD or is it better to reduce the settings so that the
the file will fit without proccessing it beyond authoring? If the latter,
could someone suggest settings that will retain the highest quality without
re-encoding (I'm assuming anything beyond a 2 hour movie will require
shrinking regardless...). Is the audio bitrate too high?

Any and all info is appreciated. Also, if someone recognizes a better
process for all of this, your opinions are welcome. My goal (summarized) is
to create as high of quality video for archiving to DVD (in DVD format) as
is possible. New hardware is not out of the question. Firewire is not an
option with the STBs I have available, so I think component or s-video may
be the only choices. Any high quality HD capable cards out there with those
inputs that can record HD and NTSC with quality?

Thanks,
Alex

Alex Moreau