Convert 3G2 to M2TS — Free Online Tool
Convert 3G2 mobile video files to M2TS (Blu-ray AVCHD) format using H.264 video and AAC audio encoding. This conversion bridges legacy CDMA mobile footage with high-definition Blu-ray authoring workflows, re-encoding the low-bitrate 3G2 stream into a transport stream container suitable for Blu-ray disc creation or broadcast-grade editing.
to
FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
Drop your 3G2 file here
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Settings
Note: Browser-based encoding uses approximate quality targets. For precise CRF compression, copy the FFmpeg command above and run it on your desktop.
Estimated output:
Conversion Complete!
DownloadHow It Works
3G2 files were designed for transmission over CDMA mobile networks, so they typically contain heavily compressed, low-resolution H.264 or MPEG-4 video paired with AAC audio in a compact QuickTime-derived container. Converting to M2TS requires a full re-encode: the video is decoded from its mobile-optimized stream and re-encoded as H.264 inside an MPEG-2 Transport Stream container, which is the standard used by Blu-ray Disc and AVCHD camcorders. The audio AAC stream is also re-encoded to meet M2TS specifications. Because both the source and output use H.264 and AAC, quality loss is minimized at the default CRF 23 setting, though the original 3G2 footage will not gain resolution or detail it never had — the M2TS output simply repackages and re-encodes the content into a format compatible with high-definition authoring tools.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg program, the open-source multimedia processing engine that powers this conversion both in the browser via WebAssembly and locally on your desktop. |
-i input.3g2
|
Specifies the input file — a 3G2 container carrying mobile-optimized video and audio encoded for CDMA network transmission. FFmpeg reads the QuickTime-style atom structure of the 3G2 file to extract the video and audio streams. |
-c:v libx264
|
Re-encodes the video stream using the libx264 H.264 encoder, which is the standard video codec for M2TS in Blu-ray and AVCHD workflows. The original 3G2 video (also H.264 in most modern files) must be decoded and re-encoded because the transport stream packetization of M2TS differs from the 3G2 container framing. |
-c:a aac
|
Encodes the audio stream to AAC using FFmpeg's native AAC encoder, the default and widely compatible audio format for M2TS. Since 3G2 files typically carry AAC audio, this re-encodes the audio into the appropriate stream format for the MPEG-2 Transport Stream container. |
-crf 23
|
Sets the Constant Rate Factor for the H.264 video encode to 23, the default quality level. For 3G2 source footage — which is already heavily compressed mobile video — CRF 23 strikes the right balance: it faithfully reproduces what the source contains without inflating file size beyond what the original quality warrants. |
-b:a 128k
|
Sets the AAC audio bitrate to 128 kilobits per second. Given that 3G2 mobile audio is often encoded at 64k or lower, 128k provides a clean re-encode that meets M2TS quality expectations without introducing unnecessary file size overhead. |
output.m2ts
|
Specifies the output file with the .m2ts extension, which tells FFmpeg to wrap the encoded H.264 video and AAC audio into an MPEG-2 Transport Stream container — the format used by Blu-ray Disc (BDAV) and AVCHD camcorder recordings. |
Common Use Cases
- Archiving old CDMA mobile phone video clips into a Blu-ray-compatible format for long-term preservation alongside HD home video collections
- Importing 3G2 footage from older Verizon or Sprint smartphones into professional Blu-ray authoring software like Adobe Encore or Sony Vegas that expects M2TS input
- Preparing mobile-captured footage for inclusion in an AVCHD disc project where all clips must share the same M2TS container format
- Converting 3G2 news clips or field recordings captured on older 3GPP2-compatible devices into a broadcast-compatible transport stream for editing in professional NLEs
- Migrating a personal archive of early-2000s to 2010s CDMA phone videos into M2TS so they can be authored onto a Blu-ray disc as a family video collection
- Re-packaging 3G2 footage for use with AVCHD-compatible hardware players or televisions that recognize M2TS but cannot play the 3G2 container
Frequently Asked Questions
No — the conversion will not add quality that was never captured. 3G2 files were encoded at low bitrates for CDMA mobile transmission, often at resolutions like 176x144 or 320x240 with high compression. Re-encoding into M2TS at CRF 23 preserves what exists in the source faithfully, but the output will still reflect the original mobile footage's limited resolution and detail. The benefit of M2TS here is container and ecosystem compatibility, not upscaling.
3G2 was engineered for minimum file size to transmit over low-bandwidth CDMA networks, so the source video is aggressively compressed. M2TS uses a transport stream structure designed for Blu-ray and broadcast, which carries more overhead per frame and targets higher quality levels at higher bitrates. Even at CRF 23, the re-encoded H.264 stream inside the M2TS will be less aggressively compressed than the original 3G2 stream, resulting in a noticeably larger file. This is expected and reflects the different design goals of the two formats.
M2TS does support subtitles, but 3G2 does not carry subtitle tracks, so there is no subtitle data to transfer from the source file. The FFmpeg command as shown will produce an M2TS file without subtitles. If you want to add subtitles to the output, you would need to supply a separate subtitle file and modify the FFmpeg command to include a subtitle input and a subtitle codec flag, which is beyond the scope of this basic conversion.
Yes. On Linux or macOS you can run a shell loop: `for f in *.3g2; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -crf 23 -b:a 128k "${f%.3g2}.m2ts"; done`. On Windows Command Prompt, use `for %f in (*.3g2) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -crf 23 -b:a 128k "%~nf.m2ts"`. This is especially useful if you have a large archive of legacy mobile clips to migrate, since the browser tool handles one file at a time.
Change the `-crf` value in the command to control video quality. CRF 23 is the default and produces a good balance of quality and file size. Lower values like CRF 18 produce higher quality and larger files, while higher values like CRF 28 reduce file size at the cost of more compression artifacts. Given that 3G2 source footage is already lossy and low-resolution, using a CRF lower than 18 is rarely beneficial — you will get larger files without recovering detail lost in the original encoding.
Likely not fully. 3G2 stores metadata in QuickTime-style atoms, while M2TS uses MPEG-2 Transport Stream metadata structures that are not directly equivalent. FFmpeg will attempt to map common metadata fields, but format-specific tags like GPS coordinates or device model information embedded in the 3G2 container are frequently lost during the re-encode. If metadata preservation is critical, consider extracting and documenting the 3G2 metadata separately using a tool like ExifTool before conversion.
Technical Notes
3G2 is a close relative of MP4 and MOV, sharing the ISO Base Media File Format lineage, but it is optimized specifically for 3GPP2 CDMA devices with mandatory support for MPEG-4 Part 2 or H.264 video and AAC or AMR audio at low bitrates. M2TS, by contrast, is an MPEG-2 Transport Stream multiplexed container standardized for Blu-ray Disc (BDAV) and AVCHD, capable of carrying H.264, H.265, or VP9 video alongside multiple audio tracks and subtitle streams. Because both formats can use H.264 and AAC, the codec pairing in this conversion is efficient — there is no cross-codec translation penalty — but a full re-encode is still necessary because the container framing, packet structure, and stream parameters are incompatible (you cannot simply remux 3G2 to M2TS without decoding and re-encoding the streams). The `-movflags +faststart` flag present in some 3G2 output scenarios is not needed here since M2TS uses a transport stream structure rather than a progressive download model. One known limitation: 3G2 files with AMR audio (common on very old handsets) will require the source AMR stream to be decoded and re-encoded to AAC, which this command handles correctly. M2TS does not support chapter markers, so no chapter data loss occurs. The output M2TS will be compatible with AVCHD-aware editors including Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, and Final Cut Pro.