Don't Want Menu After Recording A Movie

[jmsrickland]

I just got a new DVD Player/Recorder. It is a Panasonic DMR-ES25 which includes DVD-RAM and HD recording/playback plus SD input/output. Looks like a very decent recorder and it wasn't expensive.

Now I like everything about it and it is fairly easy to manipulate.

The one thing I would like to be able to avoid (and maybe it is not possible with this model or any other make/model) is that every time I record something like a TV program or an old TV showing from a VHS tape is that I always wind up getting a menu (or 'playlist' I think it might also be called).

Now there are times I would like to have a menu. Example, when I record more than one movie on a single disk or one movie divided up into several titles. However, when I record a single movie or whatever from start to finish on a single disc and there are no special features, scenes, or any other items I want that recording to be menuless so I can just put it in the player, press play and it starts immediately at the begining of the movie.

I read the user's manual but could find nothing in it about menus other than how to set them up, etc. but nothing about how to record without a menu.

I am fairly new at DVD recording and the various tricks of the trade and have little knowledge of DVD recorders. Perhaps this menu thing is just an inherent feature of DVD recorders in general and there is no way to bypass them.

[solidsnake]

Perhaps this menu thing is just an inherent feature of DVD recorders in general and there is no way to bypass them.

I believe that is true for most if not all recorders. If you have a dvd burner in your computer you could rip the movie off of the dvd by itself, then use your burning program to make the dvd without a menu.

[jmsrickland]

Yes, I was hoping to avoid the extra steps of using computer software to strip off the menu. Maybe there is no other way though.

[samijubal]

I don't know about Panasonic, but I do DVDs without a menu on the Toshiba D-R4 all the time.

[oldfolk999]

You can specify the disk to go straight to your movie (if only 1 movie) when you finalize the disk. I believe it's the middle tab (can't remember exactly cause I am in the office) right above the tab that said FINALIZE. Look around on the screen.

[jmsrickland]

You can specify the disk to go straight to your movie (if only 1 movie) when you finalize the disk. I believe it's the middle tab (can't remember exactly cause I am in the office) right above the tab that said FINALIZE. Look around on the screen.

OK, I found that option where you do the finalizing. However, it does not eliminate the menu but rather displays the menu at the end of the movie.

I know I can strip it off using DVD Shrink but was hoping to avoid extra steps.

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I don't know about Panasonic, but I do DVDs without a menu on the Toshiba D-R4 all the time.

I'm wondering if he meant that he could eliminate the menu altogether or just the same thing you and I are talking about and having it at the end of the movie.

[samijubal]

The Toshiba has an option for no menu. The disc starts to play when inserted in a player, there is no menu. I use it for RWs I'm going to load in the PC and edit. It has the following options for menus:
Menu Create: Title+Chapter, Title, Chapter, None
Start Play: Menu, Title 1
After Play 1 Title: Menu, Play Next Title
After Play Final Title: Menu, Title 1, Stop

This is the way the D-R4 is, I don't know about others.

[jmsrickland]

Thanks. Then I will look into perhaps buying the Toshiba D-R4.

If I want a menu then I want one that I create with a good menu authoring tool so to make them more professional instead of the goofy one that Panasonic puts on the disc.

[samijubal]

That's last years model, I don't know if you can still find one in a store, but they are pretty cheap on ebay. The picture quality is amazing, best I've seen.

[jmsrickland]

Well I'll get one of their new ones then and give it a try - I can always return them within the 30-Days return policy just like I am going to return this Panasonic - It is giving me other problems also, like not playing DVD-R discs that have been authored (that really sucks).

[samijubal]

You may still be able to find a D-R4 at Sears or Best Buy, depending on your area. The D-R5 has less options, maybe not for menus but for other stuff, it upconverts though.

[jmsrickland]

Well, I'll look around in my area but there are a ton of them on Ebay.

[sneed]

You could buy a Pioneer DVR-310 from NEWEGG.COM. Even though it creates a menu when finalizing, the menu does not appear when you play the movie unless you hit the menu button.
It's not the newest model but it works well and it's $180