X3F to VOB Converter

How to Convert X3F to VOB Online

1. Upload Your X3F Files: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to add Sigma Foveon RAW files (.x3f) — single image or a full shoot. Batch upload is supported, and files are reordered in the queue by drag handle.
2. Pick Merge Strategy and Duration: Choose "Merge images" to build one slideshow VOB, or "Video per image" to output a separate VOB for each X3F. Set Duration (default 5 seconds per frame) so each Foveon still holds long enough to view on a TV. Pick a Background Color (default Black) for any letterbox bars added to fit 4:3 DVD.
3. Set Quality and Resolution (Optional): Pick a Quality Preset — Very High (Recommended) keeps the Foveon detail; Constant Quality and Constraint Quality let you target a CRF/bitrate. Choose Video Resolution: Keep original, a Fixed preset (720x480 NTSC or 720x576 PAL match DVD spec), Preset Resolutions (1080p, 720p), or Width x Height for custom.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Output VOB is MPEG-2 video in a program-stream container, ready to drop into a VIDEO_TS folder for DVD authoring. No watermark, no sign-up, files clear from our server after processing.

Why Convert X3F to VOB?

X3F is the proprietary RAW format from Sigma's Foveon X3 cameras (SD9, SD10, SD14, SD15, SD1, DP1, DP2, dp Quattro line) — the only consumer sensor that stacks red, green, and blue photosites vertically instead of using a Bayer mosaic, so every pixel location captures full color. Stunning for stills, but no DVD player or TV reads .x3f. VOB (Video Object) is the MPEG-2 program-stream container required by the DVD-Video spec, split into 1 GiB chunks for cross-OS compatibility and placed inside a VIDEO_TS folder before burning. Converting X3F to VOB packages a stack of Foveon stills as a slideshow that plays on any standalone DVD player.

• Archive a Sigma DP/SD shoot to disc — Burn a 4.7 GB single-layer DVD with several hundred Foveon stills at full DVD bitrate (up to 9.8 Mbit/s video per the DVD-Video spec) so the originals survive even if the SD card and X3F-capable software disappear.
• Play Foveon slideshows on a TV — Older DP Merrill or SD15 owners often want to show family or client work on a living-room DVD player without sending the disc through Photoshop, Lightroom, or Sigma Photo Pro first.
• Send a client proofing disc — Real estate, wedding, and product photographers shooting Sigma still occasionally ship physical DVDs; VOB inside VIDEO_TS auto-plays on hotel and conference-room players that won't mount a USB drive.
• Convert before camcorder ingest — Some prosumer DVD camcorders and standalone DVD recorders ingest VOB directly; pre-rendering the slideshow saves a transcode pass and keeps Foveon color intact.
• Long-term cold storage — Pressed DVDs rated 25-50 years outlast spinning drives, and VOB is the most widely supported MPEG-2 wrapper for retrieval decades later.

X3F vs VOB — Format Comparison

Quality Preset Quick Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the Foveon color advantage survive the conversion?

Partly. X3F captures 12-14 bit per-pixel RGB on Sigma's stacked sensor; VOB is locked to 8-bit YCbCr 4:2:0 by the DVD-Video spec, so micro-tonal Foveon gradations get quantized. The conversion still preserves the sharpness and color separation that makes Foveon distinctive — slideshows look noticeably crisper than the same scene shot on a Bayer camera at equivalent resolution — but for full fidelity keep the X3F originals and treat the VOB as a playback copy. Convert to TIFF or JPG for an editable archive.

What resolution should I pick for a DVD-Video disc?

For a strict DVD-Video disc, pick a Fixed Resolution that matches the DVD spec: 720x480 for NTSC (North America, Japan) at 29.97 fps, or 720x576 for PAL (Europe, Australia, most of Asia) at 25 fps. Higher presets (1080p, 1440p) produce VOB files that will not authenticate as DVD-Video and will only play on computers or media players that read raw VOB. If you're not burning a disc and just want the container, any preset works.

How long can my X3F slideshow be on one DVD?

A single-layer DVD-5 holds 4.7 GB; at the recommended 5 Mbit/s for high-quality MPEG-2 you fit roughly 2 hours of video, or about 1,440 stills at 5 seconds each. Double-layer DVD-9 holds 8.5 GB (3.8 hours, ~2,700 stills). The VOB itself splits into 1 GiB chunks automatically — that's a DVD-Video requirement, not a quality limit, and the player treats the chunks as one continuous title.

Why is my converted VOB so much bigger than the source X3F?

A single X3F is 20-40 MB of compressed RAW; a 5-second VOB segment at DVD bitrate is roughly 3-6 MB per second of playback, so 5 seconds is around 15-30 MB just for one slide. Multiply by your slide count and add audio overhead. To shrink: lower the Duration, drop to "High" preset, or use Constraint Quality to cap the bitrate. You can also re-encode the finished VOB with our VOB compressor.

Can I add music to the slideshow?

This converter outputs silent VOB by default (no audio track injected). For DVDs, silent slideshows are common — DVD-Video supports adding an audio track at the authoring stage when you build the VIDEO_TS folder with tools like DVDStyler, dvdauthor, or Leawo DVD Creator. If you need music baked in, convert to MP4 first and mux the audio there, then re-encode to VOB.

What's the difference between VOB and just an MPEG-2 .mpg file?

VOB is a strict subset of the MPEG-2 program stream with extra DVD-specific structures: presentation control information, navigation packs, multi-angle markers, and references to the .IFO (info) and .BUP (backup) sidecar files that live in VIDEO_TS. A generic .mpg has none of that DVD navigation scaffolding. Most players read both, but a standalone DVD player will only authenticate a disc whose root contains a proper VIDEO_TS folder with matching VOB + IFO + BUP files.

Do I need a VIDEO_TS folder to make this disc playable?

Yes, if you want a true DVD-Video disc. The VOB alone is the video payload; the IFO files tell the player how to navigate it. Free authoring tools — DVDStyler (Windows/macOS/Linux), dvdauthor (Linux command-line), or Burn (macOS) — take the VOB this converter produces and generate the IFO/BUP sidecars plus any menus before burning the VIDEO_TS folder to a DVD-R or DVD+R disc.

My X3F file won't upload — what's wrong?

Some Sigma bodies (notably sd Quattro and dp Quattro Merrill) write X3F files with a slightly different header revision; if upload stalls, try opening in Sigma Photo Pro and exporting as TIFF first, then convert that to VOB via our PNG to VOB or JPG to VOB tools. Encrypted X3F sub-formats from certain firmware versions are also not decodable by open-source pipelines.

Will the VOB play on my computer?

Yes — VLC, MPC-HC, mpv, and QuickTime (with the right components) all play raw VOB files directly. Windows Media Player needs a DVD playback license to play VOB. For sharing online, convert the VOB to MP4 — most browsers, phones, and social platforms expect H.264/AAC in MP4, not MPEG-2 in a DVD container.