It's just something that the studios do on commercial discs as a means of control, which I find annoying. I don't really see why a home made disc would contain them-fan made DVDs are also about wresting control back somewhat. Maybe I'm just strange, but I like being able to skip unecessary portions and go straight to the menu. As far as shrink causing loss, I didn't notice anything but then again my setup isn't exactly top notch.. good but not wonderful. I'll keep in mind for the future.