Yup, DVD uses MPEG2 and TMPGENC is a good mpeg encoder.

To transfer to tape I usually size my stuff to DV resolution and play it back to my camcoder via firewire. Then I connect the camera's analog outputs to my VCR to record on VHS. The reason for this hassle is quality. Way better than connecting directly from my video card to the VCR plus I can make a digital (mini DV) copy of the animation at the same time.