Conversion

Hi I?m editing a short film that was shot on A panasonic ag-hmc154er 1080i HD. My iMac has a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, with 2 GB of ram. I?m using FCP 7. I?m also storing all footage on a shared server which slows editing down considerably, and the iMac itself doesn?t have a lot of free space. I also have a limited amount of time within which to work ? roughly 5 hours to cut the final edit. The final product is for SD DVD, projected onto a big wall. Can you give any workflow suggestions? I?ve heard of MPEG Streamclip but not sure how it can help, I would also like to know the the most optimum way of getting the right quality for delivery