found a really cool document: the official developer/user documentation for the codec used to compress most of the Sega CD FMV games: Cinepak for Sega-CD
sadly, the software (macintosh) doesn’t seem to be preserved anywhere. it had a really simple interface, and came with a driver for playback on the console
#macintosh #gamePreservation #vintageApple #sega #retroGaming
@vga256 Newer versions of those tools are in the Saturn SDK; I’ve used it before. That version has you use the standard WT Cinepak encoder. I can check if it still supports Sega CD.
@misty@digipres.club oh fantastic. i’m just reading about MovieToSaturn now. i can’t figure out if the saturn tools support the paletted export that the Sega CD version requires/uses
@vga256@dialup.cafe Might be good to ask over at Macintosh Garden. Keep everyone on the lookout.
@vga256@dialup.cafe i have a copy of the mac software for cinepak, it came with my sega saturn sdk
Hi, could you upload a copy somewhere? I was part of the Sega CD Snatcher Spanish translation team and we could never put subtitles in the FMVs, forcing us to leave the translation in an incomplete state. Maybe someone else from the team could use this.
@drasglaf all these are already backed up on Nemesis’ website: http://techdocs.exodusemulator.com/Console/SegaSaturn/Software.html#original-development-tools
If it was already available, the person in charge of hacking was probably already aware of its existence and could not use it, such a shame. Thank you.
@drasglaf I actually believe these were uploaded very recently. Several months back I hit up Nemesis and asked him if he’d like me to fill out a few sections of his site that were missing tools and documents that I had, and he said he’d already had them but just hadn’t had time to upload them. I’m fairly certain those saturn tools which include the cinepak tools were uploaded after I contacted him, as those were a few of the things I was offering.
@drasglaf Just to clarify, these tools have been passed back and forth among developers and hackers for years, but you kind of had to be in the know. That’s how I got mine, it was a trade for an SGI Indigo with someone who used to work for Ozisoft (Sega Australia).
I took a look and our hacker has been disappeared for more 4 years. There’s no hope of finishing it, unfortunately.
@vga256@dialup.cafe there was an excellent video explaining how the encoding works https://youtu.be/VTawyLNoRhU?si=AzSYvUUgcSO2qSyb
@OtterMatic@woof.group huh? that compression method appears to have nothing to do with Radius’ Cinepak codec used on the sega cd
@vga256@dialup.cafe I would check ffmpeg. As usual when it comes to audio/video codecs.
