i use avi2vcd from here www.avi-vcd.com. it can convert just about every video compression to vcd, dvd or svcd. it's slow for me (800mhz p3), but the quality is great. i've been making suggestions to them and so far they have implemented the saving of the m2v and mpa files after conversion. waiting for them to add a bitrate option.
no problem. it's a great program. if you have a faster machine it should be speedier. it's even optimised for the p4's hyperthreading.