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 White — pick Black (DVD-safe) or any of the named options (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?

Not on this page. Video Trim and Image Drop Frames are both hidden when the source is an image, so neither control renders here however long your X3F sequence is. Thin the sequence before you upload — drop every other file in your file manager — or convert the whole run and cut the result with the Video Cutter. 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.