I also have run into a problem where the DVD-R (and I've tried two major brands) turn into coasters after the burning phase fails. I tried a DVD-RW (same as one of the brands of DVD-R) and it burned without a problem.
During the burning the status pane reads (I'm paraphrasing as I don't remember the exact wording):
"writing lead in"
"writing disk content"
"Write failure during burning phase"

I've burned data DVDs and had luck with the DVD-RW for one of the video burns so I don;t think my DVD burner is at fault.
Any suggestions? (I am totally new to digital video)
Thanx, CRSlach

I am having DVD burning problems with Pinnacle too. I have just started a larger effort to find other advice on the web. So far, the results do not look promising. Perhaps it will be best to render the DVD to HDD and then use Nero or another buring program to burn the DVD. I am trying to find the best set of instructions to accomplish that.

if you can author to a disc image, then burn with dvd decrypter, that'd be your best bet.

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AMD Athlon 1700 (@2200mhz from 1466 sod the noise!) - 768mb pc3200 - 200GB Maxtor - Pioneer 106 - GF4 Ti4200 - twinhan/visionplus pci dvb-t - random pci analogue tv tuner - A7v600-x (to replace the a7n8x-d that died...) - random 17\" CRT
Sony STR-DE425 & Eltax c205s;
xBox w/20GB HDD- executer 2.3b;
xBox - standard;
Konica/Minolta dimage z10 w/2x512mb SD;
iRiver h340;
A silly amount of Cat-5 and usb cables

Well, I had some success burning with just Nero after rendering to the HDD. I have not tried DVD Decrypter. Will give it a shot.