alex-free.github.io

Video2DreamcastDisc

By Alex Free

Video2DreamcastDisc is a complete suite of programs that can convert any video file for playback on a Sega Dreamcast console using the Sofdec video format.

Convert any existing media file to a self-booting auto-playing Sega Dreamcast .CDI file that can be burned to a CD-R for use on Mil-CD exploitable consoles. Or use it as a replacement for the Sega Dreamcast Movie Creator in a workflow for creating Sofdec FMVs in Sega Dreamcast development.

Table Of Contents

• Downloads
• Usage
• Video Specifications
• License

Links

• Homepage
• GitHub

Downloads

v1.1.1 - 3/25/2022

Video2DreamcastDisc v1.1.1 For Windows 7 32-bit/64-bit or newer

Using git:

git clone https://github.com/alex-free/video2dreamcastdisc

View all releases.

Changelog:

Version 1.1.1 (3/25/2022)

• Added option 4 to split long videos into multiple shorter segments for further conversion by Video2DreamcastDisc.
• Change both WARNER.PVR and SOFTDEC.PVR to my own custom white colored PVR file to remove the “We Proudly Present” banner played at the end of videos by SFDPlayer.
• Changed output files from being named “video”, they are now named the same as the original source file with a different extension.

Version 1.1 (2/18/2022)

• Updated SFD_Player using the ECHELON self-boot method.
• The vid2dcd.bat script now creates a video.cdi file using CDI4DC which is self-bootable.
• Moved tools into the bin directory.
• Added automatic burning ability of video.cdi.
• Added option to just make a Sofdec .sfd file and nothing else.

Usage

Video2DreamcastDisc provides the vid2dcd.bat script in each release, which performs all operations. This script accepts only one argument. You can either:

• Drag n’ drop a video file into the vid2dcd.bat file to start converting the dropped file (recommended method).
• Open cmd.exe, and execute vid2dcd.bat with an argument like vid2dcd.bat myhuge.mkv.

When executing the vid2dcd.bat with a media file as argument as explained in the above 2 methods, you will be prompted in the cmd.exe window to enter an option:

• Option 1 will create a video.cdi file in the Video2DreamcastDisc directory and burn that file automatically to a blank CD-R in your computer’s optical drive, all in one go.
• Option 2 will create a video.cdi file in the Video2DreamcastDisc directory that can be burned to a CD-R for Sega Dreamcast playback..
• Option 3 will create a video.sfd file in the Video2DreamcastDisc directory.
• Option 4 allows you to split an existing video file into multiple segments that are each limited to a maximum amount of minutes per segment that you provide. This means you can take a very long video file and split it into i.e. 25 minute segments so that each part of the video can be it’s own video file which individually fis on it’s own CD-R. A movie could be split like this to be converted by Video2DreamcastDisc afterwards for playback via multiple CD-Rs.

If you have selected option 1, 2, or 3, the next thing you will be prompted for is your desired video bitrate. This does not effect the audio in your final video played on the Sega Dreamcast. The maximum video bitrate you can enter that will actually play on the Sega Dreamcast is 3600. I encountered some stuttering only in the first minute of playback in videos at this bitrate. Anyways I recommend 3300 to guarantee no stuttering on any CD-R. This looks great, and doesn’t take up quite as much space as using 3600. You can only over burn so much to a CD-R, so if you find that using your desired bitrate generates to big of a .cdi for you to burn on your CD-R media you should use a lower value. I do not recommend anything lower then 2000, but the choice is yours for the size/length of playback trade off.

Video Specifications

• Resolution: 352x240 (maximum supported by SFD_Player)
• Video bitrate: user selectable, up to 3600 kilobits per second
• Audio bitrate: 396 kilobits per second (maximum supported by SFD_Player)
• Audio: Stero ADX
• Video: MPEG-1
• Format: Sofdec Video

Version 1.0 (2/13/2022)

• First release.

License

• Video2DreamcastDisc itself is released under the 3-BSD license, please see the file licenses/v2dcd.txt in each release. My small tool ‘legaladx’ is also released under the same license, found in the file licenses/legaladx.txt.
• FFmpeg - this does the initial conversion from the source file into WAV audio and MPEG-1 video. FFmpeg is licensed under the GNU GPL v3. See the file licenses/ffmpeg.txt in each Video2DreamcastDisc release for more info. The FFmpeg included in Video2DreamcastDisc is the “essentials” static build from https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds.
• Adxencd - released by dcswat.ru. This converts the WAV file previously converted from the source file with FFmpeg to an ADX audio file.
• LegalADX - this program was written by me in C to do one thing, convert the audio ADX file to a new one that work with Sfdmuxapp. This is open source under the 3-BSD license and source code is provided in the Video2DreamcastDisc releases. See the file licenses/legaladx.txt for more info.
• Sfdmuxapp - created by Zench, released on July 15th 2008. This is a command line program that interfaces with the Sfdmux.dll from the Sega Dreamcast Movie Creator.
• SFD_Player - released all the way back in 2000, this Sega Dreamcast program automatically plays the movie/BUMPER.SFD file on the disc it is burned to. I have updated the original release using the ECHELON method for self-boot so that it does not require the Utopia Boot Disc!
• MKISOFS - part of the cdrtools suite of software, which is licensed under the GNU GPL and CDDL licenses. See the files licenses/mkisofs-gpl3.txt and licenses/mkisofs-cddl.txt in each Video2DreamcastDisc release directory for more info.
• Cdrecord - part of the cdrtools suite of software, which is licensed under the GNU GPL and CDDL licenses. See the files licenses/cdrecord-gpl3.txt and licenses/cdrecord-cddl.txt in each Video2DreamcastDisc release directory for more info. CDIRip - created by by DeXT/Lawrence Williams, which is licensed under GNU GPL v2 license. See the files licenses/cdirip.txt in each Video2DreamcastDisc release directory for more info.* CDI4DC - created by Sizious. CDI4DC is licensed under the GNU GPL v3, see the file licenses/cdi4dc.txt for more info.