16:9 Pictures to DVD?

[Julian]

I'm about to create a DVD slideshow of several digital pictures I shot
with my Kodak DC4800 camera, but as I have a HDTV Big Screen TV,
I'd like to accommodate all my pictures to a 16:9 ratio format (720x480).

My pictures are JPEG 2.160 X 1.449 pixels (3:2 ratio), that is the original
format the Kodak camera produces. Although I can resample and resize them,
I'm trying to find the better and easier way to do it without losing image
quality, and when possible, avoiding to add upper or side-bars, (the ones
most HDTV sets automatically generate to prevent picture tube bur-in).

Some pictures can be cropped to better accommodate the 16:9
ratio, some that can't be altered should require some sort of side-bars.

I have a Pentium-4 / 3.0GHZ PC with 1GB of RAM running Windows XP
Professional, and I have "Adobe Premiere Pro", and the complete Corel 11
Graphic suite installed.

I have also "Ulead DVD Picture Show-2", and "Sonic My DVD de Luxe 5",
but I'm convinced Adobe Premiere Pro is the best one to get professional
like results, and the program also allows to choose between several
transitions effects,audio tracks, video, etc. Moreover, all other slideshows
software I have, don't even mention how to work for the 16:9 ratio.

Questions:

Does anybody know how to better archieve this?

Is there any specific software, or an Adobe Premiere Pro setting I should
perform, to do this?

I have been working for some time with the Corel Photo-Paint, and I'm not
too familiar with Photoshop, although I'm willing to install it if this is
the appropriate companion to work with Premiere.

I'll appreciate any help regarding this matter.

Thanks in advance,
Julian.

 

[Julian]

I just realized that I have the correct Picture ratio, as when I resize
them I get the 720x480 pixels I need to display on wide ratio monitors.

I forgot to mention that I also have installed "Adobe Encore DVD", so
my questions are now:

1= What program to use to build my DVD slideshow: Encore, Premiere
or both?

2: Any guidelines or advice to better accomplish this?

3: How should I better organize different picture batches?

I'll appreciate any help regarding this matter.

Thanks in advance,
Julian.