Help with video recording- menu creation and dvd creation. What format?

Ok. I am into internet marketing, many people know this. I also do photography and some video work on the side. Its been a while since I have touched the video. Just bought a new camera that i have to learn in a week- panasonic ag-ac90.... Shoots up to full hd 60p 28mb/s. <--Quality stuff.....

Problem is, I have never actually burned hd content. Only standard def from my canon rebel t2i. My upcoming client has booked me to shoot a dance performance(kids). I will have my panasonic stationary in the front of the stage shooting full hd 60p. And i will be standing up with my canon t2i. This will also be shooting full hd, but at 30fps..... And i will bring down the video from the panasonic to 30fps in post. Premiere pro.

1. So my first issue. If I am going to be shooting and compiling full hd at a high bitrate for 4hrs, its most likely not going to be able to fit onto a standard 4.7gb disc. I do have some dual layer 8.5gb discs here, which i may get away with if i chop down the data rate to about 15mb/s? What do you think about the mb/s for the final video to possibly fit on a dual layer disc?........ Btw, me and the client DID NOT discuss me shooting in full hd at all. So TECHNICALLY i can shoot standard def or 720p.

1.a. No point of even shooting or compiling in hd since its going on to a standard dvd. Even if the hd video were to fit(under 4.7gb or under 8.5gb), it would NOT play in standard dvd players and only in blu ray players... Correct?
p.s. I DO NOT have a blu ray burner

1.b What mb/s do people generally use for their standard def dvds?

2. I dont have any menu creation software. The only software i've played around with to create menus before was adobe Encore dvd. I do have my subscription to adobe creative cloud- but the adobe encore dvd is not a part of that. Dont think they even want you to download it. Its nowhere to be found. They still have a page on their site for cs6 but cant download it. What are people using these days to create menus and author their dvds???? What is the best FREE option and what is the best option? I guess i dont mind spending a few bucks, but not trying to pay $300 for any more software right now.

3. I plan on using my premiere pro for the editing. The format this camera records is AVCHD h.264 wrapped in .MTS. Premiere pro can handle that. So I wont need any encoding ahead of import. My question is, would I need to encode this to something else when finalizing the file to go into the dvd authoring program? Well, I guess it depends on what formats the dvd authoring program accepts.....

You should clarify in the contract what defintion the video will be in. Vagueness can only cause problems. However, did your client request the product in dvd? Dvd can only store standard def content. So either she or he knew this or did not have the familiarity to know this. Of course you can store HD content on a DVD, just not as a dvd video...though not all dvd players will be able to recognize the file.

You can save one version as a full quality dvd video (standard def), and then try to save the hd content with a lower bitrate but just under the 8.5gb. You can give both. Also, you can upload the full video online and instruct your client as to how to download it.

You don't want to exceed an 8mb rate for your dvd. All dvd players can read dual layers AFAIK unless they are extremely old, so it could not hurt...if it's worth it.

If you're burning to encore there is no need to reencode, I am not familiar with other softwares but I think Imgburn can...however to avoid quality lost from the export of your video from premiere to the import into the burning software you should look for a lossless codec or avoid compression as much as possible.