CRW to MP4 Converter
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Supports: CRW
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Need help?CRW to MP4 Converter
CRW is Canon's original RAW format from the early-2000s DSLR and PowerShot era — an unprocessed sensor file most video editors and players cannot read. Converting a CRW to MP4 wraps that single still inside a short H.264 video clip: there is no motion, just your photo held on screen for a chosen number of seconds, so it can drop straight onto a timeline, autoplay on a webpage, or play back on any device that refuses to open the RAW itself.
CRW Format at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Canon RAW (Camera Image File Format) |
| Container | CIFF — Canon-proprietary, not TIFF-based |
| Payload | Unprocessed 12-bit sensor readout plus camera metadata |
| Compression | Lossless Huffman |
| Cameras | Canon DSLRs up to the EOS 10D, the Digital Rebel / EOS 300D, and PowerShot G1–G5 |
| Succeeded by | CR2 (TIFF-based, from 2004); later CR3 |
| Native browser support | None — RAW files do not display in web browsers |
| Best for | Archiving and re-editing original early-Canon captures |
MP4 Format at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | MPEG-4 Part 14 |
| Standard | ISO/IEC 14496-14 |
| Typical video codec | H.264 (AVC) — the default this converter outputs |
| Payload | Compressed video; here, one image held as a still clip |
| Bit depth | 8-bit per channel for standard H.264 |
| Native browser support | Plays in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari with no plugins |
| Best for | Sharing, embedding, autoplay, and timeline-ready footage |
How to Convert CRW to MP4
- Upload Your CRW File: Drag and drop your
.crwfile onto the page or click "Add Files" to browse. Add several at once if you want one clip per shot or a combined slideshow. - Set the Image Duration: Choose how many seconds the still is held — the default is 5 seconds per frame. A longer duration makes a longer clip; a shorter one is handier for a fast-cut sequence.
- Pick Quality Preset and Resolution: Leave Quality Preset on "Very High" for a clean still, or open Video resolution to keep the original pixel size or scale to a fixed preset like 1920×1080. Background Color (default black) fills any letterbox bars if the aspect ratio differs.
- Convert and Download: Click Convert and save your MP4. No sign-up, no watermark.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why would I turn a Canon RAW still into a video at all?
Because a CRW will not play where video does. Editors like Premiere or DaVinci Resolve, web pages with autoplay backgrounds, and most TVs or phones cannot open a CIFF RAW, but they all play MP4. Wrapping the photo as a short clip lets it sit on a video timeline, loop as a background, or play back anywhere without first being developed in RAW software.
Does converting CRW to MP4 keep the full RAW quality?
No, and nothing can — MP4 is an 8-bit, lossy delivery format, while CRW holds 12-bit unprocessed sensor data. The clip looks like a normal rendered photo, but the wide-latitude RAW information used for heavy exposure or white-balance recovery is not carried into the video. Keep the original CRW if you may want to re-edit later; treat the MP4 as a shareable copy.
Will the MP4 have any motion or just hold the photo?
It holds the photo. A single CRW becomes a static clip showing that one frame for the duration you set, with no pan, zoom, or movement. If you upload multiple CRW files and choose "Merge images," they play one after another as a simple slideshow, each shown for the chosen duration.
Can I open a CRW directly, or should I convert it to JPG first?
Modern Canon Digital Photo Professional, Adobe Lightroom, and RawTherapee can still open CRW, but many newer RAW editors never supported the CIFF-based format. If you only need a viewable still rather than a clip, convert CRW to JPG instead; use this MP4 tool when you specifically need video output.
How is CRW different from the newer CR2 and CR3 formats?
CRW is built on Canon's proprietary CIFF container, whereas CR2 (introduced with the EOS-1D Mark II in 2004) is TIFF-based and supports up to 14-bit depth, which made it far more compatible with mainstream image software. CR3, from 2018, moved again to an ISO Base Media File Format structure. CRW is the legacy ancestor of both and only appears on early-2000s Canon bodies.
What codec does the output MP4 use?
This converter encodes the MP4 with H.264 (AVC) video, the most widely supported codec — it plays in every current browser and on essentially all modern phones, TVs, and editors without extra software. Audio is not added, since a RAW photo has no sound.
Already have JPGs from these shots — is there a faster path to video?
Yes. If your Canon files are already developed to JPG, you can skip the RAW step and use the JPG to MP4 converter directly. The CRW tool is for when you are starting from the untouched RAW and want xconvert to handle the decode and the video wrap in one pass.
Is the upload private, and how big a CRW can I send?
Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public. In practice the limit you will hit first is upload time rather than a hard cap; early-Canon CRW files are typically only a few megabytes each, so they move quickly even in batches.