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Need help?3FR to MPEG Converter
3FR is Hasselblad's camera RAW photo format — a single still image straight off a medium-format sensor. MPEG (.mpeg) is a video container. So this is a still-to-video conversion: your 3FR becomes a short, silent MPEG clip that displays that one photo for a few seconds. If you just want a viewable picture rather than a video, convert 3FR to JPG, TIFF, or PNG instead.
3FR Format at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Hasselblad 3F RAW Image |
| Developer | Hasselblad |
| Introduced | 2006, with the Hasselblad H2D camera |
| Type | Camera RAW (minimally processed sensor data) |
| Compression | Lossless; roughly 33% smaller than uncompressed sensor data |
| Bit depth | High (16-bit linear sensor data) |
| Best for | Archiving the original capture and editing latitude in Phocus, Lightroom, or Photoshop |
| Opens in | Hasselblad Phocus, Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop, Apple Photos, Corel PaintShop Pro |
MPEG Format at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Container | MPEG program stream (MPEG-PS) |
| Video codec (default here) | MPEG-2 |
| Audio | MP2 (MPEG-1/2 Layer II) — none is added for a 3FR source |
| Standard | ISO/IEC 13818 (MPEG-2) |
| Bit depth | 8-bit per channel |
| Native browser playback | Not supported in modern browsers; plays in VLC, Windows Media Player |
| Best for | DVD-Video authoring and legacy players that expect MPEG-2 |
How to Convert 3FR to MPEG
- Upload Your 3FR File: Drag and drop your
.3frfiles or click "+ Add Files." You can add several at once. - Set Image Duration: Under Duration, choose how long the photo is held on screen — the default is 5 seconds per frame.
- Pick Background Color and Resolution: Background Color (default White) fills any letterboxing around the photo; under Video resolution you can keep the original or pick a preset such as 1920x1080. Quality Preset defaults to Very High.
- Convert and Download: Click "Convert" to get your MPEG file. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours. No sign-up, no watermark.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the MPEG have any sound?
No. A 3FR is a still photo with no audio track, so the output is a silent MPEG clip. There is no audio codec setting on this conversion — the file is video-only by design.
Does converting 3FR to MPEG keep the RAW editing latitude?
No. A 3FR holds high-bit-depth sensor data with wide highlight and shadow latitude for editing. MPEG-2 video is 8-bit per channel, so the conversion bakes your exposure and color in permanently. Do your edits on the RAW first, or keep the 3FR as your master and treat the MPEG as a display copy only.
Why would anyone turn a photo into a video?
Common reasons are slideshow segments, an intro or title frame for a video project, or feeding a single still into legacy MPEG-2 / DVD-Video workflows that expect a video stream rather than an image. For normal viewing or sharing, an image format like JPG is the better target.
What does the Image Duration setting do?
It controls how many seconds the single 3FR frame stays on screen in the output clip. The default is 5 seconds. Shorter durations make a brief clip; longer ones hold the photo longer. With one image and one duration, the clip length is simply that duration.
Is MPEG the same as MP4?
No. The .mpeg output here is an MPEG-2 program stream — the container used for DVD-Video — and most browsers will not play it inline. MP4 with H.264 is far more widely supported on phones, browsers, and editors. If you need broad playback, convert 3FR to MP4 instead.
In your testing, how big is the output?
In our testing, a single 3FR exported as a 5-second 1920x1080 MPEG at the Very High preset lands in the low-single-digit megabytes — far smaller than the source RAW, because MPEG-2 stores 8-bit compressed video rather than full-depth sensor data.
Why are there white bars around my photo in the MPEG?
The video frame has a fixed shape, and a medium-format Hasselblad photo rarely matches it exactly. When the aspect ratios differ, the converter fits the whole image inside the frame and fills the leftover space — that is the letterbox (top and bottom) or pillarbox (sides) you see. Nothing is cropped.
The Background Color control sets what fills those bars, white by default. To reduce or remove them, pick a Video resolution whose aspect ratio is closer to your photo's, or change the fill color to match the destination.
Is the upload private?
Yes. Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours. There is no sign-up, no watermark, and files are never shared or made public.