X3F to 3GP Converter

How to Convert X3F to 3GP Online

1. Upload Your X3F Files: Drag and drop, or click "+ Add Files" to pick X3F raw files from a Sigma camera (SD9 / SD10 / SD14 / DP / DP Merrill / DP Quattro / sd Quattro). Batch is supported — drop in a folder and each X3F becomes a frame of the slideshow video, or generate one 3GP per image.
2. Set Merge Strategy and Image Duration: Under Merge strategy, pick "Merge images" to render every X3F into a single 3GP slideshow, or "Video per image" to output one 3GP per file. Set Image Duration (1/60-second through 10 seconds per frame; defaults to 5 seconds per frame). Pick a Background Color (Black is the default; choose White, Gray or any of the 24 named colors to match letterboxing around non-3GP aspect ratios).
3. Resize and Tune Quality (Optional): Under Video resolution, keep original or choose Preset Resolutions. For MMS/legacy-phone targeting, set 240p (320x240 QVGA) or smaller — 3GP profiles were defined for low-resolution playback on early handsets. Under Quality Preset, "Very High (Recommended)" is the default; drop to Medium or Low to shrink output for MMS attachment caps. Audio is muted by default for image-to-video output.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Processing happens in your browser session — no upload to a third party, no watermark, no sign-up. Download the .3gp individually or grab the batch as a ZIP.

Why Convert X3F to 3GP?

X3F is Sigma's proprietary raw format from cameras with Foveon X3 sensors, introduced with the SD9 in 2002. Unlike Bayer sensors that interpolate color, Foveon stacks red, green, and blue photodiodes vertically at each pixel site, giving X3F files dense per-pixel color data. 3GP (3GPP file format, initial release 4 April 2003) is the multimedia container defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project for GSM-based mobile phones and MMS messaging. Converting an X3F raw image into a 3GP video produces a one-frame or multi-frame mobile-playable clip. Common reasons:

• MMS-deliverable photo slideshow — MMS attachment caps are low (carrier-recommended ceilings sit around 300-600 KB per message, with Verizon and T-Mobile accepting media up to ~1.2-3 MB on best-effort delivery). A trimmed-resolution 3GP slideshow at 320x240 with H.263 + AMR-NB audio is one of the few formats reliably accepted by legacy phones and SMS gateways.
• Feature-phone and older Symbian / Series 40 / KaiOS playback — 3GP with MPEG-4 Part 2 video and AMR audio is the codec combination defined in the 3GPP TS 26.234 PSS specs that pre-smartphone Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson handsets ship a decoder for. MP4 with H.264 is not guaranteed on hardware sold before roughly 2010.
• CCTV / DVR / kiosk gear — Many surveillance recorders, industrial kiosks, and in-vehicle systems still output 3GP because the H.263/AMR pipeline runs on minimal CPU and tiny embedded storage. Re-rendering reference stills as 3GP keeps the asset within the existing decoder set.
• Foveon photographers proofing to phone first — DP Merrill, DP Quattro, and sd Quattro X3F files run 30-60 MB each. Converting a session into a low-bitrate 3GP slideshow gives a tiny, scrub-friendly proof to review on a phone before pulling the raws into SIGMA Photo Pro for full development.
• Archival redundancy for legacy projects — Multimedia archives that already index by 3GP (museum kiosks, oral-history projects, training-video CD-ROM era assets) can ingest new Foveon imagery in the same container without changing the indexing pipeline.

X3F vs 3GP — Format Comparison

Codec and Resolution Quick Guide

If you want a still image instead of video, see X3F to JPG. For a modern phone-friendly video container, use X3F to MP4. Already have a 3GP and want to update it? Try Compress 3GP or 3GP to MP4.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why turn a Sigma X3F raw photo into a 3GP video at all?

The pairing is unusual but specific: 3GP is the only video container guaranteed to play on legacy GSM phones, MMS-capable feature phones, and many embedded kiosks / DVR systems. If your delivery target is one of those (museum exhibit, training kiosk, MMS-blast to feature phones in a region where smartphones aren't dominant, archival pipeline keyed on 3GP), and your source is Foveon raw, this conversion makes the asset playable without writing a separate image-rendering step. For modern phones use X3F to MP4 instead.

What's the maximum resolution 3GP supports?

The container itself can hold H.264 up to whatever AVC level you encode, but the original 3GPP PSS profile targeted 176x144 (QCIF) and 320x240 (QVGA), and those are the resolutions older handsets reliably decode. Modern Android players handle 480p and 720p 3GP, but at that point you've left the use case 3GP was designed for — the H.263 codec quality is worse than H.264 in MP4 at the same bitrate, so encode for MP4 if the target is a smartphone.

Does the output have sound?

By default the image-to-video path produces silent 3GP — Foveon stills carry no audio. The 3GP container does support AMR-NB (8 kHz narrowband voice codec) and AAC. The current XConvert image-to-video flow doesn't accept a separate audio track upload; if you need narration, render the silent 3GP here and mux audio in a desktop tool that supports AMR encoding (ffmpeg can: ffmpeg -i slideshow.3gp -i voice.amr -c:v copy -c:a copy out.3gp).

How many X3F files should I include in one slideshow?

Practical ceiling is whatever fits your delivery target. For MMS, aim for a final file under 300 KB — at 320x240 / H.263 / 64 kbps that's roughly 30-40 seconds of video, or 6-8 frames at the default 5-seconds-per-frame Image Duration. For kiosk or archival 3GP with no size cap, the container can hold tens of minutes; pick the Image Duration that matches your pacing.

Will it preserve Foveon's color advantage?

No — and no other distribution format can. X3F's per-pixel red/green/blue stack produces color resolution Bayer-derived files don't. Once you render to any 8-bit YUV-encoded video format (3GP, MP4, AVI), you're inside YUV 4:2:0 chroma subsampling and an 8-bit gamut, so the Foveon advantage is collapsed to a standard video frame. If color fidelity is the goal, keep an X3F or render through SIGMA Photo Pro to 16-bit TIFF or DNG and pull frames from there.

Why not just send an MP4 instead?

If your recipient has a smartphone made after roughly 2010, send MP4 with H.264 — it's smaller, sharper, and universally playable. 3GP is specifically for legacy GSM/3G hardware, MMS pipelines that demand a 3GPP container, and embedded gear written to decode H.263/MPEG-4 Part 2 only. If neither applies, X3F to MP4 is the better default. For phones that won't play your existing 3GPs at all, run 3GP to MP4.

Can I convert in batch and get one combined slideshow video?

Yes. Upload as many X3F files as you want and set Merge strategy to "Merge images" — the converter renders them in upload order into a single 3GP. Use "Video per image" instead if you want one 3GP file per X3F (useful for tagging individual frames or building a per-image asset library). There's no fixed batch quantity cap.

What happens to the EXIF / camera metadata in the X3F?

It's not carried into the 3GP. X3F embeds Sigma-specific maker notes (lens model, ISO, white balance, Foveon processing parameters) that have no equivalent field in the 3GPP file format; once the raw is rendered to video frames the metadata is dropped. If you need that metadata downstream, export an XMP sidecar from SIGMA Photo Pro first, or keep the X3F originals alongside the 3GP slideshow.

What software will open the resulting 3GP?

VLC, MX Player, MPV, ffmpeg, Windows Media Player (with the 3GP codec pack), QuickTime (on macOS), most Android phones natively, and feature phones that advertise 3GPP support. Web browsers do not have native 3GP decoders in 2026 — for browser-embeddable output convert to MP4 or webm instead.