Time-Lapse Storage Calculator

Memory card capacity from interval, duration, and resolution.

Interval (seconds)

Shoot duration (min)

Output video FPS

File size per frame (MB)

Shoot RAW? (1=yes, 0=JPEG)

Memory card size (GB)

Tab to move between fields

Total frames

1,440

Video length (sec)

Total storage (GB)

35.16

Video length (min)1

Memory cards needed1

Max shoot on 1 card (min)218

Batteries needed (est.)4

Speed-up factor (×)120

How to Use This Calculator

Enter the interval between shots in seconds and the total duration of the time-lapse sequence.
Set your camera RAW file size in MB.
Input the target playback frame rate (typically 24 or 30 fps).
Review the Total Number of Frames, Required Storage in GB, and Final Video Duration.
Use the Playback Speed Multiplier to verify the real-world time compression matches your creative goal.

How the result changes with Interval (seconds)

Interval (seconds)	Total frames	Video length (sec)	Total storage (GB)
360	20	0.8	0.49
1,260	5	0.2	0.12
2,340	3	0.1	0.07
3,240	2	0.1	0.05

Interval (seconds): Time between each frame capture in seconds.
Shoot duration (min): Total shooting duration in minutes.
Output video FPS: Frames per second for the output video (24 cinema, 30 web).
File size per frame (MB): Average file size per image (RAW ~25MB, JPEG ~8MB).
Shoot RAW? (1=yes, 0=JPEG): 1 for RAW files, 0 for JPEG (JPEG uses ~30% of RAW size).
Memory card size (GB): Capacity of each memory card in GB.

Total frames: Total number of images to be captured.
Video length (sec): Duration of the final time-lapse video.
Video length (min): Video duration in minutes.
Total storage (GB): Total storage space required for all frames.
Memory cards needed: Number of cards of the specified size needed.
Max shoot on 1 card (min): Maximum shooting duration on a single card.
Batteries needed (est.): Estimated batteries needed (~400 shots per battery).
Speed-up factor (×): How much faster the video plays vs. real time.

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Interval (seconds) = 5, Shoot duration (min) = 120, Output video FPS = 24, File size per frame (MB) = 25 = 6 input(s) provided
Calculate Total frames
Total frames = floor(shootDurationSec / intervalSec)
1440 = 1440
Calculate Video length
Video length = totalFrames / fps
60 = 60
Calculate Total storage
Total storage = totalStorageMb / 1024
35.16 = 35.16
Calculate Video length
Video length = videoDurationSec / 60
1 = 1
Calculate Memory cards needed
Memory cards needed
1 = 1