Worthwhile help from FCP veterans...

I spent 2 hours reading posts, in an attempt to solve a recurring problem I have...A final product, that when burned to DVD, looks like a pile of dog doo. Incidently, searching "dog doo" returns no posts
Video editing is a hobby, and one that has limited time. So investing 100 hours on a 30-minute family video that is poor quality is very disheartening.
A FAQ that discusses settings and import parameters would be very helpful. Also one about exporting and burn settings.
I have to believe there are many of us who use FCP to edit our hand-held Mini-DV clips with high-res stills and tracks from CD's we own. We want more options than iMovie offers. We want a quality video product for our families to enjoy. We don't have $20-$30,000 editing suites.
My latest creation shows nearly every clip and still with jagged edges and poor resolution. Even text created within FCP is poor. The 1st try showed an interlacing issue on two stills created from video. I applied the de-interlace filter to the whole clip, and it seems that the filter can have the reverse effect on frames that were good to begin with. (Found no post on applying the filter to specific frames)
I have an iMac G4, with 1 GB ram, 2 external FW drives as scratch disks. I have no external monitor option on the iMac (to see issues early on). I gather from reading posts that my equipment really only makes the process longer, not necessarily poorer.
I appreciate any input.
iMac G4 1GB RAM   Mac OS X (10.4.4)  

First run:
1. Using FCP 5.0.4
2. Rendered Mixdown for each sequence, and then the nested sequences.
3. Rendered "all/Both"
4. Exported using Compressor setting:
DVD: Best Quality 90 Minute 4:3 AIFF 48/16 for audio
DVD: Best Quality 90 Minute 4:3 MPEG-2 6.2 Mbps 1-pass 4:3
5. Used those files in DVD Studio Pro 4.0.2 to "Build/Format" the DVD.
Second run:
Added De-interlace filter to entire nested sequence, and re-rendered.
same process as above except for 2-pass on export for video
Using memorex DVD-R 4X blanks
Using internal Superdrive in my iMac to burn DVD's
I use a Sony TRV-11 Consumer-level camera, and some footage was shot with a Canon GL-2 pro-sumer camera
I'm not sure what Ac3 is, so no answer.
All stills are imported at 2048 x 3072 (apparently much larger than necessary, after reading posts this morning).
Thanks for your time answering.

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