X3F to MPEG-2 Converter

How to Convert X3F to MPEG-2 Online

1. Upload Your X3F Files: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select.x3f raw files straight off a Sigma SD9, SD10, SD14, SD15, SD1 Merrill, DP Merrill, dp Quattro, or sd Quattro body. Upload one X3F for a single-frame clip, several for a slideshow, or a numbered sequence (SDIM_0001.X3F through SDIM_0050.X3F) to assemble a longer video. Batch is supported — drop in an entire shoot folder.
2. Pick Merge Strategy, Quality Preset, and Resolution: Set Merge strategy to "Merge images" to combine every X3F into one MPEG-2 (the slideshow default), or "Video per image" to get a separate output file per frame. Quality Preset offers Constant Quality (CRF-style, default Very High) or Constraint Quality (fixed bitrate cap). Default video codec is MPEG-2 — the codec required by the DVD-Video specification and decoded by every standalone DVD player, DVB / ATSC ingest unit, and SVCD-capable hardware ever shipped. Pick a Video resolution: Keep original (uses the X3F native dimensions), Fixed Resolutions, or Preset Resolutions (640×480 / 480P approximating NTSC 720×480; 576P approximating PAL 720×576; or jump to 720P / 1080P / 1440P / 2160P / 4320P for non-DVD output).
3. Set Image Duration, Background Color, and Width/Height (Optional): Image Duration defaults to 5 seconds per frame — switch to 1/60, 1/30, 1/24, 1/10, 1/5, 1/3, 1/2 second for timelapse playback, or 1-10 seconds per slide for a calm gallery show. Background Color defaults to Black (DVD-safe) — pick from 24 named options (white, navy, crimson, teal, gold, lime, magenta, and more) for letterboxing when the Foveon sensor's 3:2 aspect doesn't match a 4:3 or 16:9 output frame. For exact DVD pixel dimensions, use Width (Keep aspect ratio) and Height (Keep aspect ratio) to enter 720 × 480 or 720 × 576 directly.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Each X3F demosaics from the Foveon X3 three-layer sensor data, scales to the chosen resolution, and encodes on our servers as a single.mpeg2 file — no sign-up, no watermark, no cap on the number of input X3Fs. For modern web-friendly output instead, see X3F to MP4; to skip video entirely and demosaic to stills, see X3F to JPG, X3F to PNG, or X3F to TIFF.

Why Convert X3F to MPEG-2?

X3F is Sigma's proprietary raw container for the Foveon X3 sensor, introduced with the Sigma SD9 on February 18, 2002 — the first production camera to read full color at every pixel site instead of relying on a Bayer mosaic. Only Sigma bodies write X3F (SD9, SD10, SD14, SD15, SD1 / SD1 Merrill, DP1 / DP2 / DP3 Merrill, dp0 / dp1 / dp2 / dp3 Quattro, sd Quattro / sd Quattro H), and outside Sigma Photo Pro, X3Fuse, Iridient Developer (Merrill files), or Affinity Photo, almost no software opens them. MPEG-2 (ISO/IEC 13818-2, first edition approved 1996) is the codec baked into DVD-Video, DVB / ATSC broadcast, SVCD discs, and a long tail of legacy playback hardware. X3F → MPEG-2 is the bridge that turns a Foveon-locked shoot folder into a flattened, playable video stream that drops into DVD authoring tools, broadcast workflows, and pre-2015 signage hardware without any vendor plugin.

• DVD-Video archival of Sigma shoots — Burning a wedding-album, memorial, or art-portfolio disc in DVDStyler, ImgBurn, Wondershare DVD Creator, or Apple DVD Studio Pro requires MPEG-2 video at 720×480 (NTSC) or 720×576 (PAL) with MP2 or AC-3 audio. Demosaic 30-50 X3Fs at 4-6 seconds each into a single DVD-spec MPEG-2 file and drop it straight into the authoring app's timeline — no manual SPP-export-to-TIFF step required first.
• Foveon shoot review on hardware that doesn't speak X3F — Set-top DVD players, hotel TVs, in-flight entertainment seat-back units, and trade-show kiosks (BrightSign HD110/HD210, older Scala players, embedded Linux signs sold pre-2015) decode MPEG-2 natively and have zero awareness of X3F. Output a Foveon shoot as MPEG-2 at 480P or 720P and it plays anywhere a USB-stick MPG plays.
• Legacy preservation of discontinued Foveon work — Sigma discontinued the DP0 / DP1 / DP2 / DP3 cameras in 2022, and no Sigma body has used a Foveon X3 sensor since. For photographers archiving a decade of Foveon work as a playable "view-only" reference reel, MPEG-2 is an ISO/IEC standard with documented bitstream syntax and ubiquitous decoders — a defensible long-term wrapper that won't depend on Sigma Photo Pro still installing on a future OS.
• VCD / SVCD distribution for markets without DVD-R access — VCD uses MPEG-1 at 352×240 (NTSC) or 352×288 (PAL); SVCD uses MPEG-2 at 480×480 / 480×576. Both still play on cheap regional DVD players in markets where blank DVDs are scarce. Pick MPEG-1 plus the matching resolution preset for VCD or keep MPEG-2 and pick 480P / 576P for SVCD.
• Broadcast and DVB ingest of stills as MPEG-2 program streams — News photo packages, courtroom-evidence reels, weather-graphic loops, and historical-archive transfers feed broadcast workflows that require MPEG-2 program streams. A Foveon shoot — gallery installation, evidence series, scientific imaging — gets bundled into a single MPEG-2 file for ingest without each frame being individually re-exported as JPEG first.
• Sharing Foveon color with non-Sigma viewers — Send a Sigma colleague a.x3f and they open it in SPP; send a non-Sigma client a.x3f and they see nothing. An MPEG-2 file plays in VLC, Windows Media Player, QuickTime (with Perian or Flip4Mac on older Macs), and standalone hardware — same Foveon-derived image, audience-friendly wrapper.

X3F vs MPEG-2 — Format Comparison

DVD / VCD Resolution and Codec Quick Guide

Sigma Foveon Body Native Pixel Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

How does X3F demosaic before going into MPEG-2?

Unlike a Bayer-pattern raw (CR2, NEF, ARW), X3F stores three full color channels at every pixel from the Foveon X3 sensor's stacked-photodiode design — there's no Bayer interpolation step. The converter reads the per-layer Foveon data, builds a single RGB frame per X3F, scales to your chosen output resolution, and encodes that frame as one image-duration's worth of MPEG-2 video. Color and detail behavior matches what Sigma Photo Pro shows in its preview pane (sharp pixel-level detail, distinctive Foveon color rendition) up to the resolution downscale.

Will this MPEG-2 burn to a playable DVD?

If you select MPEG-2 video plus a DVD-spec resolution (640×480 VGA approximating NTSC 720×480, or 576P approximating PAL 720×576) plus MP2 or AC-3 audio, the output meets DVD-Video requirements and authoring tools (DVDStyler, ImgBurn, Wondershare DVD Creator, Apple DVD Studio Pro on older Macs) accept the file directly. Authoring still adds the VIDEO_TS / AUDIO_TS folder structure and the IFO / BUP files — this converter produces the elementary MPEG-2 stream, not the burned ISO. For exact 720×480 / 720×576 pixel dimensions, use Width and Height to enter the values directly.

Should I pick NTSC or PAL for a Sigma shoot?

Pick NTSC (720×480, 29.97 fps) if the disc will play in North America, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, or most of South America. Pick PAL (720×576, 25 fps) for Europe, the UK, Australia, India, China, and most of Africa and Asia. Many modern DVD players are region-free and dual-standard, but standalone players from before ~2010 are often locked to one — match the disc to the destination's broadcast region. Sigma cameras shoot in a sensor-native aspect (typically 3:2 on DSLRs, 3:2 on dp Quattro), so either preset letterboxes the frame to fit.

Do my SD9 / SD10 X3Fs work, or only Merrill and Quattro?

All Foveon X3F generations are supported — original SD9 / SD10 (3.43 MP output), SD14 / SD15 / DP1 / DP2 (4.64 MP output), SD1 / SD1 Merrill / DP Merrill (15.36 MP), and dp Quattro / sd Quattro (~19.6 MP top-layer plus 4.9 MP × 2 lower layers). DVD MPEG-2 downscales all of these to 720×480 or 720×576 regardless, so the per-body resolution differences disappear at output. Pick a 1080P or 4K preset instead if you want to preserve more of the Merrill or Quattro resolution.

Why is MPEG-2 the default video codec on this page?

The DVD-Video specification mandates MPEG-2 video at a maximum of 9.8 Mbps for the combined video + audio + subtitle payload — DVD authoring tools reject H.264 or H.265 inside an MPG / MPEG-2 container. If you don't need a playable disc and just want MPEG-2 for legacy hardware reasons (signage, IFE, broadcast ingest), the alternative codecs (MPEG-1 for VCD, MPEG-4 / Xvid / DivX for older AVI-era players, H.264 / H.265 for modern software players that handle MPEG containers) are all in the Video Codec dropdown.

How long will my MPEG-2 be if I upload N X3Fs?

Output duration = number of images × image duration. 40 X3Fs at 5 seconds each = 200 seconds (3 minutes 20 seconds), which fits comfortably on a single-layer DVD-R alongside menus and chapter art. 1,200 timelapse frames at 1/24 second = a 50-second clip. The Image Duration setting is per-frame, applied uniformly across the batch.

Why does my MPEG-2 look softer than the SPP preview?

DVD-spec MPEG-2 caps at 720×480 (NTSC) or 720×576 (PAL) — roughly 0.4 megapixels per frame. A Sigma SD1 Merrill X3F at 15.36 MP, or a dp Quattro at ~19.6 MP, is being downscaled by 30-50× then re-encoded with mid-1990s motion-compensated DCT compression. The famous Foveon micro-contrast survives but pixel-level acutance does not. For sharper modern playback, output to 1080P or 4K MPEG-2 at higher Quality Preset, or use X3F to MP4 at 1080P / 2160P with H.264 or H.265 instead.

Can I trim the output or thin a long X3F sequence?

Yes — Video Trim sets a start time and duration on the output (seconds or HH:MM:SS.sss), and Image Drop Frames takes every 2nd / 3rd / 4th / up to every 10th X3F from a long sequence to shorten a timelapse without re-shooting. To go the other direction (pull stills back out of an MPEG-2), see MPEG-2 to JPG or MPEG-2 to PNG. For the broader image-to-MPG flow with mixed input formats, see Image to MPG.