Free online USM to 3GPP converter

What the USM format is

USM is a proprietary video container used by CRI Middleware's Sofdec movie technology. Game publishers use it for cutscenes, menus, advertisements, and other pre-rendered footage in games for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and arcade platforms. Files are commonly created with CRI Movie or related CRI Middleware production tools and may contain separate video and audio streams, metadata, subtitles, or game-specific encryption.

You usually encounter USM files inside a game's installation directory, disc image, archive, or extracted game assets. A normal media player may not open them because USM is not a general-purpose container and some releases require decryption before the streams can be decoded.

What the 3GPP format is

3GPP is a mobile multimedia container normally identified by .3gp or .3gpp. It was designed for third-generation mobile networks and remains useful for older phones, embedded players, and software that specifically requests 3GPP.

A 3GPP file can use video such as H.263, MPEG-4 Part 2, or H.264 and audio such as AMR-NB, AMR-WB, or AAC. The format generally produces smaller files than modern high-quality containers, but it has lower quality and codec compatibility than MP4, especially on current devices.

How to actually convert USM to 3GPP

The simplest method is the built-in converter on 101convert.com, which can process the file without installing software:

1. Open the USM-to-3GPP conversion page on 101convert.com.
2. Upload the .usm file and choose 3GPP or .3gp as the output format.
3. Start the conversion, then download the generated file when processing finishes.
4. Test the result on the intended phone or player; select a different resolution or codec profile if that device rejects the file.

For local processing, first use a USM-aware extraction or decryption utility appropriate to the game's release. The result may be a standard video file or separate elementary streams. FFmpeg can then create a 3GPP container from a decoded intermediate file:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v h264 -profile:v baseline -level 3.0 -vf "scale=352:-2" -c:a aac -b:a 96k -ar 44100 output.3gp

Replace input.mkv with the intermediate file produced by the USM extraction step. If the target is an older handset that requires H.263 and AMR audio, use codecs supported by that handset instead, for example:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v h263 -vf "scale=176:144" -c:a amr_nb -ar 8000 -ac 1 -b:a 12.2k output.3gp

FFmpeg does not reliably decode arbitrary USM files directly, particularly encrypted game assets, so changing the filename extension or running a standard container conversion without first extracting the streams will not work.

Quality and compatibility limitations

USM footage may use encryption, proprietary audio, variable frame rates, or multiple streams. A converter that cannot interpret the specific USM variant may fail, omit audio, or require an intermediate decode. Copyright-protected game assets should only be converted when you have the necessary rights and permission.

Use the lowest resolution required by the destination device rather than resizing unnecessarily. H.264/AAC in 3GPP is suitable for relatively modern software, while H.263/AMR provides broader compatibility with legacy phones but substantially lower image and sound quality. Conversion also re-encodes the video, so the 3GPP file will not preserve the original USM quality or game-specific playback behavior.