Updates:

• 2022-04-06 – Initial work-in-progress document.
• 2022-04-12 – Added preview photos of image examples.
• 2022-04-14 – Updated TODO list.
• 2022-04-22 – Here is a great page covering this: https://insta.pk360.de/#insta360_tech_fileTypes/
• 2023-05-07 – I do plan to document the X3 files. They are slightly different, including a “.insp.gyro” file that I never saw on the X2. They also add an “.lrv” extension (so you have a file that starts with “LRV_” and ends in “.lrv”). If you have found any documentation on the changes, please let me know in the comments.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS

This is a work-in-progress document with much more to be added. There are probably mistakes in it, currently. Please comment with any corrections you may have.

TODO:

• Table showing all the various photo and image combinations (HDR, fps settings, PRO/BASIC, etc.)
• Example files to download.
• Conversion tips for .insp to jpeg and PRO to video files.
• .insprj project file info (from Insta360 Studio desktop app)
• …and more…

The Insta360 ONE X2 camera can take photos and videos in a variety of formats:

X2 Photo Formats (Standard, HDR, Burst, Interval or Night Shot)

• 360 (using both lenses)
• Panorama (using one lens)
• 150-degree (using one lens)

Format	Mode	Resolution	16:9	1:1	9:16	3:1	2:1
360	Standard						x
360	HDR						x
360	Burst						x
360	Interval						x
360	Night Shot						x
Panorama	Standard					x
Panorama	HDR					x
150	Standard		x	x	x

Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11FQjS861Hn8RZJ2KkpioXR5pWu5hoFivXcBVIdNekBU/edit?usp=sharing

X2 Video Formats (Standard, HDR, Timelapse, TimeShift and Bullet Time)

• 360 (using both lenses) – 5.7K (30, 25 of 24 fps), 4K (30 or 50 fps), and 3K (100 fps)
• 150-degree (using one lens) – Vertical (portrait) or Horizontal (landscape)
  • BASIC: 1440P (30 or 50 fps) and 1080P (30 or 50 fps)
  • PRO: 1440P (30 or 50 fps) and 1080P (30, 50 or 120 fps).
• NOTE: Not all qualities/fps are available in all modes.

Files are saved as .mp4 video files (150-degree videos, BASIC mode), .insv files (PRO or 360 videos), and .insp (photos).

Format	Mode	Resolution	120	100	50	30	25	24
360	Standard	5.7K				x	x	x
360	HDR	5.7K					x	x
360	Timelapse	5.7K				x
360	TimeShift	5.7K				x	x	x
360	Bullet Time	3K		x
360	Standard	4K			x	x
360	Standard	3K		x
150 BASIC	Standard	1440P			x	x
150 BASIC	HDR	1440P					x	x
150 BASIC	Timelapse	1440P				x
150 BASIC	TimeShift	1440P				x
150 BASIC	Standard	1080P			x	x
150 BASIC	HDR	1080P					x	x
150 PRO	Standard	1440P			x	x
150 PRO	Standard	1080P	x		x	x

Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TGSu1tFUbds-aMb3VNb86Rl29h0Rlqfi3TzXUzv9sWA/edit?usp=sharing

Filename Format:

• PRE_yyyymmdd_hhmmss_xx_nnn.EXT
  • yyyy = four-digit year (2022)
  • mm = two-digit month (01-12)
  • dd = two-digit day (01-31)
  • hh = two-digit 24-hour (00-23)
  • mm = two-digit minute (00-59)
  • ss = two-digit second (00-59)
  • xx = camera
    • 00 – back camera (.dng, .insp, .insv, VID .mp4) or both cameras (.dng and .insp)
    • 01 – back camera (LRV .mp4)
    • 10 – front camera (.dng, .isnp, .insv, VID .mp4)
    • 11 – front camera (LRV .mp4)
  • nnn = sequence number (000-999)

Prefixes:

• IMG_ – photo (ending in .dng or .insp)
• LRV_ – low-resolution preview video (ending in .mp4 or .insv)
• PRO_LRV_ – low-resolution preview video shot in PRO mode (ending in .mp4 or .insv).
• PRO_VID_ – video show in PRO mode (ending in .mp4 or .insv) –
• VID_ – video (ending in .mp4 or .insv)

Extensions:

• .dng = RAW photo
  • xx of 00 (back) or 01 (front) – one circular image.
    • Examples:
      IMG_20220322_223414_00_211.dng (back camera)
      IMG_20220322_223405_10_210.dng (front camera)
  • Or, xx of 00 – two circular images (front and back cameras)
    • Example:
      IMG_20220322_223429_00_212.dng (both cameras)
• .insp = 150-degree or 360-degree photo
  • xx of 00 (back) or 10 (front) – 150-degree image (single camera)
    • Example:
      IMG_20220322_223414_00_211.insp (back camera)
      IMG_20220322_223405_10_210.insp (front camera)
  • Or, xx of 00 – 360 image (both cameras)
    • Examples:
      IMG_20220322_223429_00_212.insp (front and back cameras)
  • HDR images will have three files with the same yyyymmdd_hhmmss name, xx of 00, and sequential sequence numbers.
    • Examples:
      IMG_20220211_094002_00_065.insp (back camera)
      IMG_20220211_094002_00_066.insp (back camera)
      IMG_20220211_094002_00_066.insp (back camera)
• .insv = 360-degree video
  • LRV_ – 360 low res version of the video. xx will be 11:
    • Example:
      LRV_20220212_070353_11_003.insv (front and back cameras)
  • VID_ – 360-degree full size video. Two files with same yyyymmdd_hhmmss name and xx of 00 for back camera video and 10 for front camera video.
    • Examples:
      VID_20220212_070353_00_003.insv (back camera) VID_20220212_070353_10_003.insv (front camera)
• .mp4 = 150-degree video
  • LRV_ – low res version of the video (vertical or horizontal orientation).
    • Example:
      LRV_20220212_112510_01_054.mp4 (back camera)
      LRV_20220211_153548_11_074.mp4 (front camera)
  • VID_ – full size video (vertical or horizontal orientation).
    • Example:
      VID_20220212_112510_00_054.mp4 (back camera)
      VID_20220211_153548_10_074.mp4 (front camera)

The filename and extension alone cannot be used to determine the type of file. Here is a table of the possible combinations:

Insta360 X2 Filenames

	IMG_	LRV_	PRO_LRV_	VID_	PRO_VID_	00	01	10	11
.dng	x					back / both		front
.insp	x					back / both		front
.insv		x		x		back		front	LRV both
.mp4		x	x	x	x	back	back	front	LRV front

Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Gn9V-no2CSrjV274G4RkZcRgDIFD41GCWQSvPhoFoEQ/edit?usp=sharing

You can see that .dng raw files and .insp image files use the same “00” code for single back lens images and 360 images that use both lenses. Insta360 has suggested using the file size to know if the image contains just one back lens image or both lens images.

360 Image File Examples (.insv)

NOTE: You can preview a .insv file by adding the extension “.mp4” to the end. In this example, I took all my .insv files and renamed them to “filename.insv.mp4” (so I could preserve the original extension in the filename). That allowed me to preview them in GraphicsConverter on the Mac.

You will see there should be an “LRV_yyyymmdd_hhmmss_xx_nnn.insv” file which is a low res preview movie containing both the front and back camera, then two “VID_” files with the same date/time and number, with one having 00 for the back camera and the other having 10 for the front camera:

The LRV_ files are only used by the Insta360 Studio program.

Timelapse 360 Example (.insv)

However, a time-lapse .insv recording will not have a LRV_ version. Here are two .insv time-lapse files for the same recording. 00 for the back camera, and 10 for the front camera:

150-degree Example (.mp4)

The camera will save two files: a low resolution LRV_ file with 01 if it used the back camera or 11 if it used the front, and a full size VID_ file with 00 for the back camera or 10 for the front:

360 Image Example (.insp)

The camera will record one .insp file which contains both the front and back camera images.

150-Degree Image Example (.insp)

The camera will record one .insp file which contains either the front camera image (10) or back camera image (00):

…More to come…