i exported my quicktime from fcp and checked "with dvd studio pro markers" (and yes, the markers are indeed chapter markers, not just markers) but when i bring that into dvdspro no markers appear. are they really there and just not visible? or have i missed a step?

Bring the Quicktime .mov file into Compressor and the markersw should show up there before encoding. After the encode, when dropping the .m2v file into the timeline of DVD Studio, the markers should show up.

so you HAVE to go to compressor in order for chapter markers to transfer? That's retarded

Well, that's Apple's intended workflow, as I can see it. To just dropping a .mov file into DVD Studio is to much like using iDVD. No (very little) encoding compression control.

But, that's just me.