OGV to 3G2 Converter

Convert OGV to 3G2: What This Tutorial Covers

OGV is Xiph.Org's Ogg container carrying video — the format Wikimedia Commons, old HTML5 fallback paths and Linux screen recorders produced through the Theora years. 3G2 is the 3GPP2 file format defined in C.S0050, the CDMA2000 sibling of 3GP, built for Verizon, Sprint and US Cellular handsets in the era when video meant a 176x144 postage stamp and a speech codec.

Nothing about those two formats is compatible. Every stream is re-encoded, the frame size almost certainly changes, and the audio is going somewhere much narrower than it started. This tutorial covers the codec pair that gets a 3G2 accepted by an old device, the resolution behaviour that catches people out when they choose H.263, and the cases where a different target is the honest answer.

How to Convert OGV to 3G2

1. Upload Your OGV File: Drag the .ogv onto the page or click "+ Add Files" to browse. Several files can be queued and each is converted with the same settings.
2. Choose the Video Codec: H.264 is the value the list opens on. H.263, MPEG-4 and Xvid are the alternatives — H.263 is the one the oldest handsets want, and it changes how the resolution controls behave, which the walk-through below explains.
3. Choose the Audio Codec and Set the Resolution: Audio Codec offers exactly three entries — AAC, AMR Narrow Band and AMR Wide Band — so pick one deliberately rather than assuming. Under Video resolution, "Keep original" is selected, with Resolution Percentage, Preset Resolutions, Width, Height and Width x Height available; Width x Height is what you want for a specific handset frame size. Trim takes a Start time and Duration.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert and save the .3g2. Files upload over an encrypted connection, are converted on our servers and are deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public.

Walk-through: Pick the Codec Pair Before You Pick Anything Else

Everything else on this page follows from the codec pair, so decide it first.

• Oldest CDMA feature phones, roughly pre-2008. Video Codec H.263, Audio Codec AMR Narrow Band, at 176x144 (QCIF). This is the combination those handsets were built around and the most universally accepted 3G2 there is.
• Later CDMA smartphones, roughly 2008-2012. Leave Video Codec on H.264 and pair it with AMR Narrow Band for speech or AAC for music, at 320x240 (QVGA) or 352x288 (CIF). It looks noticeably better and is usually accepted.
• A modern tool that merely wants the .3g2 extension. H.264 plus AAC, at whatever resolution the source already is. Nothing here is a phone, so nothing here needs the narrow settings.
• You have no idea what the device is. Start with H.264 plus AMR Narrow Band. If it will not play, fall back to H.263 plus AMR Narrow Band at 176x144.

One behaviour is specific to H.263 and worth knowing before you choose it. H.263 is only defined at a fixed set of frame sizes, and rather than failing on an off-spec picture our pipeline snaps the frame down to the largest legal size that fits inside the source — chosen from 128x96, 176x144, 352x288, 704x576 and 1408x1152. That snap overrides whatever you set under Video resolution, and it does not preserve the aspect ratio. A 1280x720 OGV encoded as H.263 lands at 704x576, which squashes a 16:9 picture into a 4:3 frame. If that matters, either stay on H.264, or crop and letterbox the source to 4:3 before uploading so the squash has nothing to distort.

The CDMA-native speech codecs named in the 3GPP2 specification — EVRC, EVRC-B, EVRC-WB, 13K (QCELP), SMV and VMR-WB — are decoded by the handsets but are not offered as encode options here. A 3G2 produced on this page always carries AAC, AMR-NB or AMR-WB.

OGV and 3G2 Compared

The Three Audio Codecs, and What Each Costs

Both AMR modes are mono by design, so a stereo Vorbis track in your OGV is downmixed on the way through. That is expected rather than a fault, but it is the reason music sounds hollow after this conversion — AMR is a speech codec and was never intended to carry anything else.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

• "My 16:9 video came out squashed into a square-ish frame" — you chose H.263, and the frame was snapped to the nearest legal H.263 size without preserving aspect. Use H.264, or letterbox the source to 4:3 first.
• "The Video resolution I set was ignored" — same cause. With H.263 selected, the legal-size snap takes precedence over the resolution control.
• "The audio is mono and the original was stereo" — both AMR modes are mono-only. Pick AAC if you need two channels.
• "The phone refuses the file" — the codec is too modern for it. Re-convert with H.263 plus AMR Narrow Band at 176x144, which is the pairing the oldest handsets decode.
• "The picture is blocky at 176x144" — that is the frame size doing its job. QCIF is 16,896 pixels; there is no setting that adds detail at that size. If the device can take 320x240, use it.
• "The file is far bigger than a phone will accept" — set Specific file size under File Compression and name a budget, or trim the clip. MMS gateways historically capped attachments at a few hundred kilobytes.

When This Doesn't Work

3G2 exists for CDMA handsets, and CDMA networks have been shut down across most of the world. If your reason for wanting .3g2 is anything other than a specific old device, an MMS archive or a tool that matches on the extension, this is the wrong target — the file will be small, low-resolution and awkward to play everywhere else. OGV to MP4 plays on phones, browsers, TVs and editors with none of these constraints, and it is the conversion most people arriving here actually want. If your target is a GSM-era handset rather than a CDMA one, OGV to 3GP writes the 3GPP file format instead. And if the .ogv will not decode at all, the likely cause is a truncated or interrupted download rather than a setting on this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between 3G2 and 3GP?

They are siblings from the two competing 3G worlds. 3GP is the 3GPP file format for GSM/UMTS networks; 3G2 is the 3GPP2 file format specified in C.S0050 for CDMA2000 networks, and it identifies itself with a 3g2a, 3g2b or 3g2c brand depending on the release. Both are built on the ISO base media file format, so structurally they are close relatives of MP4. 3G2 can hold the same video streams as 3GP plus the CDMA speech codecs — EVRC, 13K (QCELP), SMV, VMR-WB — that GSM handsets never used. Pick 3G2 for a Verizon, Sprint or US Cellular-era device and OGV to 3GP for a GSM one.

Why does my video get squashed when I select H.263?

Because H.263 is only defined at a fixed set of frame sizes, and our pipeline snaps the picture to the largest legal one that fits inside your source — 128x96, 176x144, 352x288, 704x576 or 1408x1152. That snap takes priority over whatever you set under Video resolution and it does not preserve the aspect ratio, so a 16:9 source lands in a 4:3 frame and looks compressed horizontally. Raw encoders usually just refuse an off-spec size; snapping at least produces a file. If the shape matters, use H.264 instead, or letterbox the source to 4:3 before uploading.

Which audio codec should I pick, given nothing is selected for me?

For an old CDMA handset, AMR Narrow Band — 8 kHz mono speech coding, the most widely decoded option on those devices, and the smallest. For a later smartphone with wideband voice support and speech content, AMR Wide Band at 16 kHz. For anything musical, or for a modern tool that only wants the extension, AAC, which is the only one of the three that can carry stereo. The CDMA-native codecs listed in the 3GPP2 specification are not encode options here, so those three are the whole choice.

Will the AMR track keep my OGV's stereo mix?

No. Both AMR modes are mono by specification, so a stereo Vorbis or Opus track is downmixed to a single channel on the way through. There is no setting that changes this, because there is no stereo AMR to select. If the stereo image matters — music, a mixed soundtrack, anything with panning — choose AAC, which carries two channels, and accept that fewer old handsets will decode it.

What resolution should I actually use?

Type it explicitly under Width x Height rather than using a height preset, because Preset Resolutions sets the height only and lets the width follow the source aspect, which will not land on a handset frame size. 176x144 (QCIF) is the safe floor for pre-2008 feature phones; 320x240 (QVGA) and 352x288 (CIF) suit late-2000s devices; 640x480 is about as far as real 3G2 playback went. If you selected H.263, remember that the legal-size snap will override whatever you typed anyway.

Will converting from Theora or VP8 to H.264 lose quality?

Some, unavoidably — this is a full decode and re-encode, and nothing is copied through untouched. The good news is that the direction of travel helps: H.264 is a more efficient codec than either Theora or VP8, so it can hold the source picture in fewer bits. The real quality loss on this conversion is not the codec change but the frame size, because 3G2 targets are so much smaller than anything an OGV was likely encoded at. Keep the original .ogv; a lossy re-encode is not reversible.

Can I convert just a section of the video?

Yes. Set Trim to "Time Range" and enter a Start time and a Duration, either in plain seconds or as HH:MM:SS.sss. Only that window is decoded and re-encoded, which is also the quickest way to test a codec and resolution combination on a device before committing to the whole clip. If you would rather pick in and out points visually first, the video cutter accepts .ogv directly.

Is 3G2 still a sensible target in a modern workflow?

Only for a narrow set of reasons: a specific legacy handset, an MMS or evidence archive stored in the format, an in-vehicle infotainment unit from the period, or a piece of software that matches on the extension and rejects everything else. CDMA networks have largely been decommissioned, so there is no longer a live ecosystem behind the format. For anything general-purpose, OGV to MP4 gives you a file that plays on every phone, browser, TV and editor with no codec negotiation at all.

What happens to my file after the conversion?

It is uploaded over an encrypted connection, converted on our servers, and both the upload and the finished .3g2 are deleted automatically after a few hours. There is no sign-up, no watermark, and nothing is shared or made public. Because the conversion runs on our side, the practical constraint is upload size and connection speed rather than anything on your own machine — and since 3G2 output is small by nature, the upload is almost always the slow half of the job.