Best way to burn multiple AVIs to DVD format

[minordv8]

I have multiple 640x480 AVI files that I would like to write to one DVD disc that I can play in a standard DVD player.

I've tried using Toast 6 but Toast doesn't do a very good job of adjusting the 640x480 image to a DVD format. The primary problem is image cropping, which is a hit when the video includes subtitles that get cut off.

Is it possible to do the encoding of the AVI in ffmpegX to fix this problem?

And if so, I was wondering what target format to use to get the best result from Toast 6?

I noticed that most formats I drop onto the Toast 6 video tab still go through some kind of encoding that takes hours. I was hoping there's a format that I can target in ffmpegX that speed up the toast encoding.

Any information would be greatly appreciated,

FYI:
Starting with:
Multiple AVIs
Video: mpeg4, yuv420p, 640x480
Audio: mp3, 48000 Hz, stereo, 128kb/s

Would like to end with:
One DVD playable in a typical console DVD player
Video and Audio: best quality @ smallest size for more storage

Tools I have available to me:
Toast 6 Titanium
ffmpegX .0.0.9v
QuickTime Pro 7.0.4

[Frobozz]

Not an answer to your question, but you might be better off buying a cheap DVD player that has Divx (MPEG 4) playback capability. You then can burn the MPEG 4 AVI's to ISO 9660-format CDs (or possibly DVDs depending on the DVD player's specs) without any re-encoding.

Wait a minute, I see the video is 480p instead of 480i. That might not work with my suggestion. You'd have to check the player's specs.