0.	Unfortunately I've found that this all goes a bunch better when you don't change any settings on the camera. My first disc has 4 different audio types thoughout the DVD. I'm not sure what I did to upset it, but I know that when I didn't touch any settings during my second disc, everything was a lot cooler.
1.	Install all the software. This can be the toughest step. First off: apt-get install mpgtx dvdbackup wine winesetuptk dvdauthor dvd+rw-tools ffmpeg Afaik those are the only packages available in Debian testing. You have to download the next list from the package homepage. GOPChop offers a deb which can be installed with: dpkg -i gopchop.deb gop_fixup is not required. To install it you need to do the classic, configure, make, make install. gopchop, gop_fixup, BeSweet. You need BeSweet from the stable tab and VOBInput.dll and AC3enc from the plug-ins & source tab. The BeSweet step can be replaced with ffmpeg.
2.	Rip the content to a local HD: dvdbackup -i /dev/hdb -M -o /mnt/md1/dvd/ /dev/hdb should be the device location of your dvd reader.
3.	Make an AC3 encoded version of the audio track. There are two ways to do this step. One is to use vob.dll to have besweet read the VOBs directly. The other way is to use the tool from step 4 (mpegcat) and rip the audio, which is track 0xC0 instead of 0xE0. Reading the VOB directly is much easier. I saw people reporting that the ffmpeg method produces quiet audio. You're mileage may vary. ffmpeg -i LOCATIONOFVOBS -ab 384 -ar 48000 -ac 2 -acodec ac3 -y WHEREYOUWANTTHEOUTPUT.ac3 Or use besweet under wine: wineconsole BeSweet.exe -core\( -input "LOCATIONOFVOBS" -output "WHEREYOUWANTTHEOUTPUT.ac3" \) -azid\( -n1 -c normal -L -3db --maximize \) -ac3enc\( -b 384 \)
4.	Use the GOPChop tool mpegcat to strip out the video stream. There are a bunch of programs for Linux that can do demuxing, but none of them would work for me on the MPEG2 created by this stupid camera. But just when I thought all hope was lost I figured out this little trick: mpegcat -w WHEREYOUWANTTHEOUTPUT.mv2,0xE0 LOCATIONOFVOBS
5.	We are on the home stretch now. Remux it all together again: mplex -h -f 8 -o COMPOSITEFILE.mpeg WHEREYOUPUTTHEAUDIO.ac3 WHEREYOUPUTTHEVIDEO.mv2 We now have a compliant mpeg file, so basically we are done. The rest is depends on your goals.
6.	This step is elective. Fixup the gop timestamps to make everybody happier. gop_fixup COMPOSITEFILE.mpeg
7.	Edit down the video. GOPChop is awesome for editing raw MPEG2. It allows us to cut out sections of a video file without re-encoding it. It's perfect for quickly putting out a video that needs minimal editing. All you have to do is run: gopchop
8.1.	Finally, make a DVD using dvdauthor without an XML file. This DVD will not have any menus and will basically include one video that starts playing as soon as you insert the disc into a player. If you have multiple videos you can join them together using: mpgjoin -j VIDEO1.mpeg VIDEO2.mpeg VIDEO3.mpeg -o COMPOSITE.mpeg So, to make a DVD without menus using dvdauthor: dvdauthor -o WHERETHEDVDFILESHOULDGO -f LOCATIONOFCOMPOSITEFILE.mpeg dvdauthor -T -o WHERETHEDVDFILEWENT mkisofs -dvd-video -udf -o WHEREYOUWANTTHE.iso WHERETHEDVDFILESWENT growisofs -dvd-compat -Z /dev/hdd=WHERETHEISOENDEDUP.iso
8.2.	You can also make a DVD with lots of nice menus and such under Linux using qdvdauthor. It is a pain in the neck to get installed and even more of a pain to use, but it does work. I'll leave the install to you. The only way I've found to use the program is to be OK with closing the whole thing and starting over again when something goes wrong. The second trick to qdvdauthor is running the export commands yourself until they work and then erasing that line from the export page. (confused?) I'm sure there's a better way.
9.	Enjoy your new video on the set-top player of your choice.