dvdauthor on 5.4

[Dave]

Hello,
I'm trying to make a dvd video under 5.4 on an i386 system. When i give the 
command:
dvdauthor -o outputdir -t filename.mpg
i get a core dump. This has happened twice and i'm hoping it is not a sign 
of failing memory as this box has expensive ram.
    Basically i'm trying to make a dvd video out of two files, one video 
being an .avi file the other an .mpg file, neither is working.
Thanks.
Dave.