FR (Flex Recording) on EH55. How do you stop part way through?

It sounds like you may have used OTR instead of FR?
I have several EH-55s and use FR every day, to stop a FR all you need to do is push STOP(either remote or unit). You can do it seconds or hours into your FR recording, it doesn't matter.
Access FR from the FR menu(or the dedicated FR button on older Panasonic remotes) and enter the time you want(my favorite speed is what I call fr2.7 or fr3, the speed that would put 2hrs 42 minutes or 3hrs/DVD.
After you've recorded what you want just push STOP(or the recorder will automatically stop after the amount of time you've entered in the FR screen) and you'll have a title recorded in that fr2.7 or fr3 speed. Once on the HDD you can HS copy multiple titles(whatever will fit) to DVD.
The "remaining time" is as you said a countdown of the time you've entered in the FR screen.

In your example I'd make 2 fr titles with FR set to 2hrs 33 minutes each and a dual layer DVD. Go into FR screen and enter 2hrs 33 minutes, push PLAY on your tape and REC(or enter) on your EH-55. After about 2hrs 30 minutes(but before 2hrs 33 minutes) look for a good place to pause your VHS tape. Pause your tape and push STOP on your EH-55. Next go to FR screen again and enter 2hrs 33 minutes again, push REC or enter on your EH-55 and PLAY on your VCR. After ~2 1/2 hrs your tape should come to an end, then push STOP on your EH-55.
You'll have 2 titles of approx 4GBs each(which will easily fit on a 8.5 GB dual later DVD). HS those two titles to a new DL blank and when you play it back you'll have only a slight delay between the two titles(2 titles will be on your DVD but when playing back the player will automatically move from one to the next, again with only a slight pause).
If you'd rather split your tape between 2 SL DVDs then I'd set FR for 2hrs 30 minutes, in this case you'll waste ~400 MBs/DVD because you can't totally fill up a DVD with one title using FR(at least not without burning realtime and using a Panasonic EZ recorder to "prep" your discs).
AFA dual layer DVDs, I only use 2.4x(8x would probably be OK too) Verbatim AZO +R discs. I've not had good luck with "cheap" DL blanks. -R DL discs are also good but they are extremely hard to find and very expensive. I usually pay ~$1/DL blank in 50 spindles, expect to pay quite a bit more in smaller qualities or if not on sale. Because of the cost and complexity of DL media I just don't bother with "cheap" blanks

For your reference FR set to the following times uses ~ the following MBs/minute:
2hrs-34.1MBs/min
2hrs 30 minutes-27.1 MBs/min
2hrs 42 min-25MBs/min
3hrs-22.65MBs/min
4hrs-17.3MBs/min
I posted a chart a while back with many more times and MBs/min all figured out by test recordings using FR and various canned speeds.
A blank SL disc holds 4409MB and a blank DL blank holds 8028MB.
Edited by jjeff - 12/5/12 at 6:50pm

That explains it, I've never used FR going from the HDD to DVD, I always use FR to originally put things on the HDD and then do the lossless HS copy to DVD.
AFA dual layer blanks, every player ever made is capable of playing back DL discs(almost all commercial DVDs are dual layer) but you may run into a few very very old(pre Y2K) that may not play back discs of the + format(the most common DL blanks).
I don't use DL blanks very often but in your case it sounded like the perfect solution to getting 5hrs of material on one disc in a very good recording speed.
I think churchavguy has also reported +R DL playback problems using a Panasonic BD player, something about how Panasonic DVDRs record to the + material, +R DLs playback just fine on Panasonic BD players if they were recorded on a PC.

Press and hold RETURN(on remote) for 5 seconds to cancel.
Even though you are using FR you are actually dubbing, the above trick is how to cancel a dubbing once started. Note it doesn't matter if your using FR or a HS dub, the procedure for cancelling is the same.
For best picture quality(to reduce a reencode) you always want to use HS(lossless) to go from the HDD to DVD. In your example you are doing two encodes, one from your analog source to the HDD and then another when you are changing the mode from one speed to another. A HDD Magnavox is the same, although with a Magnavox you don't have the FR option(but they do have more canned or preset speeds).
Always try and get whats on the HDD the exact speed you want on your DVD, then you can use HS and eliminate one encode

I too almost never use the FR copy from the HDD to the optical disk. I assume you avoind it for similar reasons: I just don' tlike using my optical drive to record in realtime. I have used it, but rarely, and I usually try really hard to avoid it. Also, I THINK it loses all the chapter marks I put in and puts in its own every six minutes or so.

The DL disk issue is complicated, but as simply as possible, I have used my Panasonic DVD recorders to make Dl disks occasionally--A lot more often than I have use FR from the HDD to the optical disk. The Verbatim +R DL disks are the only ones readily available that are any good. The problem is, the Panasonic does not make a "standard" +R DL disk, so on some players, in my case, a Sony DVD player (not Panasonic like jjeff mistakenly remembered) it would not play the disks. I have had no problems with other players. There are -R DL disks available, but the only ones I trust are JVC T-Y blanks, which are unavailable in the country for some reason. I have a source in the UK, but they are very costly when compared to the Verbatim +R DL blanks available here. The -R DL disks play on every machine I have ever tried them with, so they are more compatable, but as I said, nearly unobtainable. Stay away from other DL disks, you WILL be sorry.

I could have sworn it was a BD player.....I have many Sony DVD players and they all play my Panasonic burnt +R DL discs.

Editing on the HDD does not incur a reencode, only dubbing in realtime will do that. The tricky thing about using FR and editing on the HDD is it's hard to know what to set FR in the first place. You want to have it in a speed that when edited will HS copy to a DVD.
As Luke said another advantage of a HS dub is it's the only way to retain any chapter marks you may have made on the HDD. The one disadvantage of using HS over a realtime dub(when you've made edits on the HDD) is a realtime dub will kind of smooth out any glitches or slight pauses whereas a HS dub passes them through and you may notice slight pauses where you've made your edit.
Like Luke I really really try and HS dub everything to disc but if your satisfied with the way you do it thats OK too, if only one way was right then Panasonic(and other HDD mfgs.) wouldn't have added the various options

edit: I think I now know what you mean about "encoded a lot more vigorously than needed". This is true if you want to have just one title in the maximum bitrate for the DVD. Generally I put multiple titles/DVD and in that case things are a little bit easier. In your example of 2 titles you could record at a FR bitrate that in it's entirety added to another title would be too large for a DVD but after you edited both titles the combination could add up to a full DVD.

Ha, you're correct. I have had both a Sony DVD and a Sony BD player. Neither of them would properly play any of the +R disks I have made with my Panasonic DVD recorders. I forgot about the Sony BD player because I discovered the problem and returned it almost immediately for a different manufacturer (can't remember which just now), which DOES play the disks without issue.

FR can be quite confusing when you get into multiple titles/DVD, and YES to your question about what would happen if you set FR for 40 minutes(recording would stop and you'd have one title in the XP speed(1hr mode) which is our Panasonics fastest speed).
In your example to record 3 titles that you know the combination of which would edit down to a total of 2hrs you would set FR for 2hrs for each of the 3 titles. Lets say your first raw title lasted 1hr you could push STOP after the 1hr(you could also let it record for the full 2hrs FR was set for but this would cause extra wear and tear on your machines and you'd only have to delete that material anyway). Do the same for your remaining titles pushing STOP after the raw footage was done if you wanted. Next edit each of your 3 titles and when you get done the total should equal ~2hrs. Next you would HS copy all three titles which should almost fill up a blank DVD.
Of course in your example since your total material equaled 2hrs you could have just as well used SP which would have been easier but the real advantage of FR is if you like speeds inbetween the canned speeds. I prefer no more than what I call the 3hr mode and really prefer to be more around 2hrs 42 minutes per DVD. For non critical recordings I may use LP but I really never go slower than LP nor faster than SP(unless I'm only putting one thing on a DVD and it's less than 2hrs).

As you can see it really makes no sense to set FR for shorter than 1hr when recording to the HDD, it will just use XP but where it would make sense is if you were recording directly to DVD on a partial DVD. In this case if you had a 3/4 full DVD and set FR for 23 minutes you'd end up with 1 extra 23 minute title in a speed I'd call FR3(half way between SP and LP.

Using FR for a title you know you need to edit after tends to get quite tricky, the reason is when using FR you really need to know what the end result will be which can be hard unless you've already edited your title.
If my instructions are still confusing maybe Luke will chime in, I know he also uses FR frequently, maybe he has a better way of explaining it's ins and outs I know it very well myself but as I said before it gets very complicated trying(especially in written words) how it works.

RichardT, I see you posted a couple questions while I was typing, I'll try and answer those in my next post.

1. Is the 2hrs the total tape length or what they will edit down to? If total then in that case I'd just use the canned LP speed. If the 2hrs are the raw time and you planned on editing them on the HDD then you really need to know the edited time to know what to set FR for.

2. Using FR set for anything longer than 4hrs will result in the machine dropping to 1/2 D1 resolution, something I really really try and avoid. In this example I'd also use LP. Using LP to the HDD you'll be able to fit ~4hrs 14 minutes on a blank SL DVD, it's one of the advantages of first burning to the HDD and later HS copying to DVD. Using SP to the HDD you'll be able to HS copy ~2hrs 7 minutes to a standard DVD.

In both your examples it would be better to use canned speeds to the HDD, the problem using FR is it produces a buffer of ~400MBs. What this means is if you set FR for 2hrs it will STOP recording after 2hrs(actually a few seconds less) and that one title will be ~4000MBs(4 GBs). A standard formatted DVD holds ~4407MBs so your wasting ~400MBs if you only HS that one title to a DVD. Thats the flip side of using FR, at times it can maximize bitrate but at times it wastes more disc space than if you had just used a canned speed like SP or LP.

SUBJECT: Kudos (Once Again!) to jjeff For His Panasonic FR Knowledge!
.
Although not directly related to RichardT's questions, jjeff helped me understand Panasonic FR on my DMR-EZ17 a few years back.

I posted *MANY* (IMHO) useful Panasonic LINKs in a FAQ back on 08/21/08 that I titled "DigaDo's Panasonic DVDR Tips:" since I regarded him as the MOST ACTIVE Panasonic Guru and I had hoped that he would 'Copy-N-Paste' my initial startup post into a thread of his own, which he could then continue to edit / add to as necessary. Unfortunately, he declined, IMO, believing *INCORRECTLY* that *EVERY* FAQ needed to be as complete and regularly maintained as wajo's Magnavox DVDR FAQ .
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• RichardT,
  .
  Take a look at LINKs #7 & 8 in:
  ClearToLand's Panasonic DVDR Tips:
  and see if they add anything to your FR Knowledge.
  .
• wajo,
  .
  Please take a look at the last two bullets in LINK #30 and advise me how to get the NEW (*DIFFICULT*! ) forum software to display like the OLD (*RELIABLE*! ) forum software.
  
  Thanks!

Okay, there is a bit here to pile through. First, a standard DVD has, as jjeff has said, 4409MB of "space". The Panasonic DVD recorders have a few default, basic quality, or compression, settings. (I call them that.) These numbers are approximate, and based on HS dubbing, but anyway, XP will put about 1:03 on a blank DVD, SP 2:07, LP 4:15, and then there are EP6 and EP8 that I never use. This is the amount of TIME that the machine compresses into that 4409MB on a blank DVD. If you have a movie that is 1:30, or 2:30 long, using SP for the first results in :30 of wasted space on the disk. If you use LP on the second, you have 1:45 minutes of wasted space on a disk at that compression level).

FR allows you to use compression levels that are between the standard amounts of XP. SP, etc. so you don't have SO much wasted space, but it fits the recording into a 4000MB title, not 4409MB, so you still are wasting about 10% of the space on a disk. I *THINK* that is a throw-back to some previous standard that they nevr updated. IF you set the FR mode for 1:30 and record that 1:30 movie, it will make a title of 4000MB that can be HS dubbed to a disk. If you make a FR title of the second movie of 2:30, it will make a title of 4000MB that can be HS dubbed to a disk. Arguably, this is a more efficient use of the space you have on a disk, even with the 10% under utilization.

Now for the tricky parts: If you have a movie with commercials and you wnt to fit it onto a disk using FR, you have to estimate the time without commercials (Yes, guess) and record it in two parts (hopefully taking advantage of a commercial break). So, if it's two hours of broadcast, and you guess it's really only going to be 1:30 after the commercials are gone, you set the FR for 1:30, for the first half, stop it after an hour or so at a commercial break, then record the second hour, also using the 1:30 FR setting. Edit the commercials out of two titles, combine them using playlists, and hopefully HS dub that to a disk. I have found that my recorders can be finacky about HS dubbing a playlist made using FR this way, so you MIGHT need to record the two titles separately and "endure" a one second pause between the two titles when the disk is played back. As I said, tricky bits.

If you want to use that whole 4409MB (rathern than just the 4000MB that FR is hardwired to), then you have--HAVE--to break up your recording inot two parts. and do a little calculating to determine the actual FR time to set in order to make the recording 10% larger than if you had used the actual time. I have tried to come up with an actual formula, but never finished the calculations into a closed form equation. I strongly recommend you be a bit conservative in your estimates because if the end title is just a little over, you will either have to cut something, OR start all over with a greater time.

If you ever use DL disks, and want to use FR, then you have even more calculations to make, and again, you are constrained into breaking a movie up into two separate titles. I don't have the actual number in front of me, but a DL disk has about 8000MB. This is a convenient number as it's twice the default of 4000GB which allows you to just divide the total time in half for the FR setting.

If you want to have several "titles" on one disk, you need to figure out the total time and enter that in for each FR recording. If you have four shows that are 0:45 each and you want to put them on one disk, you need to enter 3:00 for each one (the total of four 0:45 titles) and then HS dub them to a blank disk. This will fit them into a total of 4000MB remember. If you want to use the whole 4409MB, then you need to use a number like 2:40 rather than 3:00 (about 10% less) for each title.

All of the above is for recording to the HDD and then HS dubbing to a blank DVD. If you record directly onto a DVD, it is even more complicated . For various reasons, I almost never do direct recordings to the optical media, so someone else needs to explain the issues of successive recordings onto a disk with decreasing free space with each recording.
Edited by Church AV Guy - 12/10/12 at 12:04pm

8028MBs but as you said it's roughly 2x the size a full FR recording which is convenient. Because Panasonic also insists on a ~400MB buffer when directly recording to DVD you have no real easy way to totally fill up a DVD using a direct to DVD burn.
The one exception I've found to this is if you have a newer EZ or EA series Panasonic and also a older ES or EH series recorder. In that case you can prep the discs by recording a short(I use 5 second EP8) title on your EA or EZ Panasonic and then deleting the title. Take the disc and insert it in your ES or EH series Panasonic and you'll be able to do a direct to DVD burn of ~2hrs 7 minutes SP or better yet if you do a FR recording and let it record to the end it will TOTALLY fill up the disc, meaning if the DVD was basically empty your one FR title would be about 4400 MBs in size. I don't believe this trick works for DL blanks, besides with most older Panasonics direct to DVD burning is not possible with DL discs, you have to go the the HDD first.

OLDER Panasonics? My EH59/69 machines won't record directly to a DL disk. On page 11 of them EH59/69 manual:

That Rube-Goldberg method of tricking your machines into being able to use the whole disk is interesting. I don't have one of those machines, so I cannot use it, but I have seen it documented before.

I have made many disks using the two title method, and if you are cautious where you put the break between the titles, it is almost unnoticeable. If I didn't actually know where the break was I would not be aware of it. The layer break encountered when using DL disks is worse (much more noticeable) and you have no control over where the machine puts that break.

FR recording seems confusing and intimidating at first, but it is not that bad after you use it a bit. Unfortuately, the Panasonic attempt at simplifying it for the masses, works against it for serious users. The MN record option used by other machines is VERY superior, but Panasonics don't have those options, so we have to use what we have. Given the strengths and weaknesses of the various machines, it's a trade-off (compromise). I would be very reluctant to give up the playlist feature, which I use MUCH more often than I use FR recording, so I am content. Yeah, MN would be nice to have, but I am (obviously) happy with my Panasonic recorders.

For the OP, the MN system allows you to record any amount of content at verious selectable compressions outside the standard ones. For what *I* do, it would be much simpler. Oh well.

Yes I don't know why our internationals don't allow direct to DVD burning but by newer I meant then non HDD EZ and EA models. I agree with your about the FR vs MN option but as you said we have to live with what we got and with Panasonics that would be FR