How to Reduce File Size

Hi Gurus -

I know this question has been answered in the past and I have read earlier posts but did not find a good answer. I have a mixed video project meaning I was using one HD camera and one standard def camera. The HD camera was set to shoot in widescreen. I have edited the project and now I am not quite sure how to render it to reduce the final size of the video. A summary:

1) I set up the properties in Vegas 10 to NTSC wide screen. I then went through the project and ensured my standard def footage was being displayed wide screen as well.

2) There is not much action in this footage - a gingerbread house building party - so I would like to reduce the size of the video so I can fit more on a DVD. From the cobwebs of my mind, it seems I do this by changing the bit rate and some other parameter? Is there a fairly safe number I can plug into these parameters for a video with no fast movements?

3) On a side note, I did render out the file using the Vegas NTSC widescreen mpg format to see the size. It is a 45 minute video and rendered out to a 1,902,000 KB size. However, when I played it back, the cuts to the HD camera were "jumpy" almost like a frame was missing. It is interesting that in Vegas itself, the HD footage played perfectly. I am thinking about rendering this out as an avi file to see if that fixes the problem. If I should try something different, let me know and I'll give it a shot.

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. If you have a suggestion for some article I should be reading, let me know!

Grasshopper