dreamcast-play-mpegs/README.MD

Play MPEG files on a Sega Dreamcast

Just experimenting to see if I can play MPEG files. There are still a lot of issues though, like no sound or a lot of stutter.

You can also check Ian's implementaton here: https://github.com/ianmicheal/pl_mpegDC

Build instructions

1. Follow the instructions here to install the dependencies: https://dreamcast.wiki/Getting_Started_with_Dreamcast_development
2. Also build and optionally install mkdcdisc globally: https://dreamcast.wiki/Getting_Started_with_Dreamcast_development#Burning_an_example_program_to_CD-R
3. Remember to run . /opt/toolchains/dc/kos/environ.sh and . /opt/toolchains/dc/kos/environ_dreamcast.sh to set up the necessary env variables
4. Place your MPEG file in the cd_root folder and name it VIDEO.MPG
5. make
6. mkdcdisc -e main.elf -o any_name.cdi -n "ANY NAME" -D cd_root/

Converting an MP4 file to MPEG

ffmpeg -i bad-apple.mp4 -vf "scale=320:240,format=yuv420p" -c:v mpeg1video -b:v 600k -r 30 -c:a mp2 -ar 22050 -ac 2 -b:a 64k  VIDEO.MPG

Disclaimer

A lot of the code here was written by AI (sorry, I'm still not that good at C or Dreamcast homebrew). Though, a lot of manual work still went into this.