X3F to WMV Converter

How to Convert X3F to WMV Online

1. Upload Your X3F Files: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to select X3F captures from a Sigma SD, DP, or Quattro body. Add as many as you want — batch processing is supported, and each will become a frame in the slideshow.
2. Pick Merge Strategy, Duration, and Background: Default is "Merge images" — every X3F becomes one slide in a single WMV. Switch to "Video per image" to render one WMV per X3F instead. Set Duration per slide (1/60 s up to 10 s; default 5 s), and pick a Background Color (default black) for any letterboxed area when aspect ratios don't match.
3. Choose Resolution and Quality Preset (Optional): Keep original X3F dimensions, pick a preset (144p through 4320p / 8K), or enter a custom Width × Height. Under File Compression, choose Constant Quality or Constraint Quality and a preset from Lowest to Highest (default Very High). Default codec is WMV2 (Windows Media Video 8) in an ASF wrapper.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and the slideshow renders on our servers — no sign-up, no sign-up, no watermark.

Why Convert X3F to WMV?

X3F is Sigma's proprietary RAW container that holds the three vertically stacked color layers captured by the Foveon X3 sensor — no demosaicing, full RGB at every pixel location. It opens in SIGMA Photo Pro and a small handful of editors (Lightroom support is partial, and many viewers refuse it outright). WMV (Windows Media Video) is Microsoft's video format, stored inside an ASF container, and is the format Windows Media Player has always opened without third-party codecs since Windows XP. Turning a stack of X3F captures into a single WMV slideshow gives you a file your Windows-using clients and family can double-click without installing anything.

• Send a proofing reel to Windows-only clients — Architects, real-estate brokers, and corporate clients who never installed VLC will still open a.wmv in Windows Media Player on the first try. No "what app should I use?" email thread.
• Embed in older PowerPoint decks — PowerPoint 2010–2019 on Windows embeds WMV natively without conversion warnings, which still matters for in-house corporate presentations stuck on legacy templates.
• Archive a shoot as a flip-through — A folder of 400 SD Quattro X3Fs becomes one 30-second WMV at 5 s per frame — a quick visual index you can scrub through later without launching SIGMA Photo Pro.
• Burn to DVD-Video or Blu-ray menus — WMV9 was standardized as SMPTE VC-1 in 2006 and is one of the three mandatory codecs in the Blu-ray spec, so authoring tools accept WMV input cleanly.
• Wedding / event slideshow drafts for review — Shoot RAW on a Sigma dp Quattro, dump the cards, and hand the couple a low-stakes WMV preview before you commit to colour grading and final delivery.
• Surveillance-camera or kiosk playback — Many older Windows-based digital signage players, kiosks, and embedded surveillance reviewers were built around the Windows Media Format SDK and prefer WMV over modern containers.

X3F vs WMV — Format Comparison

WMV Codec & Quality Preset Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert X3F to WMV instead of MP4?

WMV opens in Windows Media Player without installing anything; MP4 with H.264 does too on Windows 10 and 11, but older Windows 7/8 boxes and many enterprise-locked machines lack the H.264 decoder. If your audience is firmly on Windows and you don't know which version, WMV is the safer bet. For everyone else, Convert X3F to MP4 is the more portable choice.

What happens to the Foveon colour layers when I render to WMV?

They flatten. The Foveon sensor's stacked red/green/blue photodiodes give X3F its distinctive per-pixel colour fidelity, but any video codec — WMV2, WMV3, H.264, AV1 — encodes in YUV 4:2:0 at 8 bits per channel. The slideshow keeps the look of each frame but you lose the editing latitude RAW gave you. If you need to grade first, develop the X3Fs in SIGMA Photo Pro to TIFF, then run the TIFFs through this converter.

Can I add background music or audio to the slideshow?

Not in this converter — it produces a silent WMV from the image sequence. Render the silent slideshow here, then drop it into Windows Movie Maker, Clipchamp, DaVinci Resolve, or any NLE to add an audio track.

What resolutions can I output, and should I match the X3F dimensions?

Presets run from 144p up to 4320p (8K). A Sigma SD Quattro H produces roughly 6192 × 4128 px JPEGs from the X3F, so 2160p (4K UHD) at 3840 × 2160 is a sensible target — it's sharp on a modern display without exploding file size. Pick "Keep original" only if you genuinely need the full sensor resolution, and expect a large WMV.

Will the slideshow play on Mac, iPad, or iPhone?

Not without help. WMV is a Microsoft format; macOS and iOS dropped native Windows Media Components years ago, and Telestream's Flip4Mac is no longer endorsed. Mac users can install VLC for free, which plays WMV fine. If most of your audience is on Apple devices, render to MP4 (H.264) instead — it plays natively in QuickTime, Photos, and Safari.

How long does each X3F stay on screen, and can I vary it per slide?

The Duration setting is global for this batch: every X3F gets the same on-screen time (default 5 s, configurable from 1/60 s up to 10 s). To vary durations per slide you'd need to render multiple batches at different durations and stitch them in an editor, or use the "Video per image" merge strategy and concatenate them.

Why does my WMV look softer than the X3F preview in SIGMA Photo Pro?

Three reasons stack up: 4:2:0 chroma subsampling discards half the colour resolution, the WMV codec applies block-based compression that smooths fine detail, and the output resolution may be lower than the X3F's native dimensions. Pick the Highest quality preset, output at the X3F's native pixel dimensions, and choose WMV3 / VC-1 if your player supports it — that's roughly as close to the SPP preview as WMV will get.

Is anything uploaded to your servers?

Yes. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on xconvert's own servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — they are not passed to any third-party service. That matters for unpublished client shoots, NDA-bound architectural work, and anything else you don't want on a stranger's server.

Do I need SIGMA Photo Pro installed for this to work?

No. The converter reads the X3F bytes directly on our servers. SIGMA Photo Pro is only required if you want to develop the RAW (white balance, exposure, sharpening) before rendering — for a quick visual flip-through, you can go straight from X3F to WMV here. See also Convert X3F to JPG if you just want individual developed stills, or Convert X3F to TIFF for an editable 16-bit intermediate.