Just learned something. Went to a machine that's running Lion…looked at Library and all hidden files and could not find the app – in Application Support or anywhere. Will have to do more research.
Despite your results your workflow is actually the most reliable way to output to DVD. Some comments and suggestions:
It's hard to say why Compressor didn't complete the job action. At the very least I'd repair permissions in Disk Utilities, trash Compressor preferences. (Use this tool)
Is there a particular reason why you chose Pro Res 4444? Typically, it's used when there is a need to preserve an alpha channel and its file sizes are far greater than 422 HQ (which in turn are much greater than 422).
If you were using a very high-end camera, there might be an advantage in using PR 422 HQ, but for most HD footage plain vanilla 422 is perfectly fine.
Because you're going to be compressing very large files to SD, it is quite common to introduce artifacts into the image during the process. It's a good idea to test the quality of your compressed movie by testing short sections of your movie.
You set in and out points in the Preview window that define the length of your test section. Then open the Inspector and adjust the bit rate by moving the sliders in the Encoder pane. As you do so, you'll see a message at the bottom which will state how long a video can be encoded at that bit rate (be conservative in your settings because it's an imprecise estimate).
Open Frame Controls and set Resize Filter to Best. Then Submit and evaluate quality. Adjust till you get something that's satisfactory, then do the encode for the entire sequence. Consider outputting to a Disk Image if you think you may want multiple copies.
Good luck.
Russ
