Dreamcast Movies/DVD/VCD/Video/.....VHS?

Post by **RemyC** » Thu May 08, 2008 7:49 am

I understand that it is possible to play movies on the Dreamcast, and im wondering: what is the best way to go about doing this?
Do the files need to be in a certain format?
Do I need to have a special kind of boot disc?

The Dreamcast is a magical piece of hardware, is it possible to get VHS working with it?

Post by **GrandMasterJimmy** » Thu May 08, 2008 10:24 am

Theres a disk you can buy off the internet. If I remember right theres one with a remote. The files need to be in the right format also. And sure, just grab your VHS, and shove it in the gd-rom drive. That makes a lot of sense.

Post by **Niode** » Thu May 08, 2008 11:49 am

The DC will only play VCD's and you need a bootdisk for it. The bootdisk method sucks and it would be better if you just got the DC VCD player. However, seeing as most cheap chinese DVD players play VCD and only cost £10 you'd be better off just getting that. Or just burning DVD's…

It can't play DVD's because it doesn't have a DVD-ROM drive. There is a Divx player homebrew out there but I don't think you can watch video at 24fps on it. Therefore it's pointless.

VHS? I hope you were joking…

Video playback on a DC is worthless.

Post by **arion** » Thu May 08, 2008 12:27 pm

Another alternative to playing vcd is using a sega saturn with a video cd card. The playback is surprisingly good

Post by **RemyC** » Thu May 08, 2008 3:31 pm

GrandMasterJimmy wrote: just grab your VHS, and shove it in the gd-rom drive. That makes a lot of sense.

It wont fit. is a special modification necessary?

Is there any way to go about getting videos playing on my dreamcast that doesnt require me picking up some kinda imported hardware?
Ive looked around and the general consensus is that the DVD playback kit with the remote is pretty crappy quality and not worth putting the cash toward.
Im not even really looking for pristine quality, just something that isnt totally horrible and unbearable....or is that all thats available?

Post by **ubelaffe** » Thu May 08, 2008 5:24 pm

Someone, can't remember who right now, over at www.dcforums.co.uk had converted 2 movies into Dreamcast discs and they were available over torrent download. I think it was some kind of anime. It's possible, but it's a pain in the neck and the results aren't worth jumping up and down for.

There was some kind of homebrew that would let you swap with a divx/avi cd, but I haven't been able to find it in a while.

Post by **RyaNtheSlayA** » Thu May 08, 2008 8:56 pm

RemyC wrote:
GrandMasterJimmy wrote: just grab your VHS, and shove it in the gd-rom drive. That makes a lot of sense.
It wont fit. is a special modification necessary?

Is there any way to go about getting videos playing on my dreamcast that doesnt require me picking up some kinda imported hardware?
Ive looked around and the general consensus is that the DVD playback kit with the remote is pretty crappy quality and not worth putting the cash toward.
Im not even really looking for pristine quality, just something that isnt totally horrible and unbearable....or is that all thats available?

Uh dont mean to be rude but WTF?!?!?! VHS is a tape dude, no duh it wont fit let alone work on a disk based system, also the DC came out right when DVD's were kicking off, there is no modification to play either one of them and if there was it would be only for DVD. As far as CD+G or VCD's I highly recommend the 3DO.

Post by **RemyC** » Fri May 09, 2008 2:52 am

RyaNtheSlayA wrote:
RemyC wrote:
GrandMasterJimmy wrote: just grab your VHS, and shove it in the gd-rom drive. That makes a lot of sense.
It wont fit. is a special modification necessary?

Is there any way to go about getting videos playing on my dreamcast that doesnt require me picking up some kinda imported hardware?
Ive looked around and the general consensus is that the DVD playback kit with the remote is pretty crappy quality and not worth putting the cash toward.
Im not even really looking for pristine quality, just something that isnt totally horrible and unbearable....or is that all thats available?
Uh dont mean to be rude but WTF?!?!?! VHS is a tape dude, no duh it wont fit let alone work on a disk based system, also the DC came out right when DVD's were kicking off, there is no modification to play either one of them and if there was it would be only for DVD. As far as CD+G or VCD's I highly recommend the 3DO.

im playin around, obviously it wouldnt work. thought you wouldve caught onto the sarcasm.

i was pretty heart set on the dreamcast playing some kinda video file. im not really interested in any other console being able to play 'em. i simply heard it was able to, but didnt know of any methods...i was under the impression that it was just a convert, burn and go process...guess its a lost cause.

Post by **D.D.D.** » Fri May 09, 2008 5:51 am

RemyC wrote:
RyaNtheSlayA wrote:
RemyC wrote: It wont fit. is a special modification necessary?

Is there any way to go about getting videos playing on my dreamcast that doesnt require me picking up some kinda imported hardware?
Ive looked around and the general consensus is that the DVD playback kit with the remote is pretty crappy quality and not worth putting the cash toward.
Im not even really looking for pristine quality, just something that isnt totally horrible and unbearable....or is that all thats available?
Uh dont mean to be rude but WTF?!?!?! VHS is a tape dude, no duh it wont fit let alone work on a disk based system, also the DC came out right when DVD's were kicking off, there is no modification to play either one of them and if there was it would be only for DVD. As far as CD+G or VCD's I highly recommend the 3DO.
im playin around, obviously it wouldnt work. thought you wouldve caught onto the sarcasm.

i was pretty heart set on the dreamcast playing some kinda video file. im not really interested in any other console being able to play 'em. i simply heard it was able to, but didnt know of any methods...i was under the impression that it was just a convert, burn and go process...guess its a lost cause.

FYI, Sarcasm is usually detected by tone of voice hence on the Internet it can be hard to discern especially when you act like someone completely ignorant versus just being sarcastic. Feel free to use the handy

icon to help inform of sarcasm or even a touch of facetiousness in the air. Kinda like a road sign but for the information super highway. Knowing is half the battle~

Now where is the icon for super-dickery, 'cause I need that one right now~

And I must ask, why in the world would you be so gung-ho to use the DC to play video files? It's really loud and the PS2, Xbox, GCN, etc play media just as well if not much better... So what's your heart-set reason my good chum?

Post by **GrandMasterJimmy** » Fri May 09, 2008 12:52 pm

Technicaly, if I got bored enough I could make custom a disk for each movie. It wouldn't fast forward, rewind, or pause though

If you really wanna watch a movie on DC, you could probably just encode it to the native format for the DC to read, and make the 1st_read.bin start the movie when it loads. Overall it wouldn't be worth it because of the resolution of the DC and just how loud the DC is. I love my DC, but damn it's loud. It sounds like a jet engine.

Also any movies would need to be degraded in quality to fit on a cdr. Your better off with a DVD player.