I have been getting decent results with the Lumiere capture process but cannot seem to get very good results with a final product on dvd. anyone have any suggestions as far as what codec to use as a final product for progressive scan dvds.

You dont really have any option regarding what "codec" to use: the DVD specification requires mpeg2 with a max bitrate of around 9000kb/s.

Or are you asking for a recommendation for a good "encoder" to produce that mpeg? If so, Mainconcept, Procoder and CCE (google for them) all produce high-quality mpeg2 encoders.

Morgan,

I have been getting good results using the presets in Apple Compressor to create the high quality progressive DVD output.

Progressive scan is an option on the better quality DVD players
and needs a matching progressive scan display device for best
results. Ofcourse this only works if your footage is 24/25/30p
and not interlaced. DVD format basically doesn't care.