Dvd of non-broadcast standard size video movies possible with FCP & DVDSP4?

Question

Hi all,
I pulled my hair out trying to produce training tutorials with screencasts (Snapz Pro X2) using FC Express and iDVD. After months of trial and error (and tons of Q&A), it was finally explained to me that I couldn't do this with FCE and iDVD because they were hard wired to output to ntsc/pal or miniDV formats etc.
So I've invested in FC Studio and it should arrive in a few days. My question is, how can I edit my video screen captures in FCP (for example captured at 800x600 pixels, 30fps) and then using DVD Studio Pro, create a dvd that can be viewed on a computer monitor (not interested in playing on a tv)?
The problem I was having before was that every time things were converted down to 720x480, all the video got blurry and I ran into problems with the square pixel vs non-square pixel issues that I never could figure out.
Will DVDSP let me somehow create an interface for playing my clips on a computer, but not force me into the ntsc/pal standard format? Or, even if it does force me into this format (I guess it would if I'm expecting to play it using Apple's DVD Player), is there a way I can ensure my video stays sharp? I need to be able to display small on-screen text (ie Finder windows, application pallets etc) in the screen captures clear enough to be easily read.
I know if I leave them as edited QT movies and played them with the QT Player, this would be easy, but I like having chapters and the attractive interfaces I can create with the dvd authoring apps to help the user navigate through the tutorial.
Any help at all is appreciated.
G4/1.3Ghz DP AGP   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  
G4/1.3Ghz DP AGP   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

Answer 1

Thanks Hal,
I'll give this all a try again. I've done four tutorials so far. Mainly to assist in training others that work with me on projects. The first one, I did as you suggested because I was able to size things down to fit within our ntsc format here in the USA. But the last three used apps that didn't permit sizing their main windows and pallets down to these small sizes, plus there were times where I needed to show close up of data entry fields.
In any case, the next time I do this, I'll be using FCP and not FCE, thus I hope this will solve some of the export format issues. FCE really only works with miniDV formats (and HD video). Although I can export to a QT conversion file and keep everything looking great, I'll loose all my chapter markers doing this and the video will go through another conversion when I process it for standard dvd playback.
I'm hoping FCP will provide me an option for exporting the project in a format that'll work with iDVD/DVDSP that'll maintain the clarity of the original clips generated via SPX.
Thanks for your help. What I didn't want to do was spend weeks trying to do something in FCP/DVDSP that couldn't be done.
BTW, if you look at the sample tutorials for FC Studio on Apple's web site,
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/tutorials/
those are REALLY done nice. That's what I'd like to be able to eventually do. They manage to do zooming, panning and have pallets "slide" into the viewing area. Granted a lot of this is done in post, but I'd still like to know how they get these results and what tools they're using.
They also say that this tutorial is available on the dvd that comes with the suite, so somehow they've gotten all of this to work (but aren't telling us how). I've been looking and asking questions for over six months and can't find ANYONE doing this type of work, that'll say how this type of stuff is done.
Subala