Time-Lapse Calculator (Interval, Clip, Storage)
Enter how long you plan to shoot, the interval between frames, your playback frame rate, and the average size of each photo. This calculator works out how many frames you will capture, how long the finished clip will run, and how much card and disk space the sequence will consume. It is a planning tool for setting your intervalometer and packing enough storage and battery, not a guarantee of the exact file sizes your specific camera and settings will produce.
Clip length
48.00 s
1,440 shots ÷ 30 fps
Shots
1,440
Storage
28.13 GB
Shots & storage by interval
Shots by interval
Compare scenarios
Run the same calculation with two or three input sets side by side. Differences are highlighted; every number comes from the same tested formula as the calculator above.
| Input | Scenario A | Scenario B |
|---|---|---|
| Shoot Duration Seconds | ||
| Interval Seconds | ||
| Fps | ||
| Avg File Size MB |
How it works
The number of frames is the shoot duration divided by the interval, rounded down to a whole frame: a two-hour (7,200-second) shoot at a 5-second interval captures floor(7,200 / 5) = 1,440 frames. The interval is the single most important creative choice — it sets how much the scene moves between frames and therefore how smooth or how fast the final motion looks. Short intervals (1–3 s) suit clouds and crowds; long intervals (20–30 s) suit sunsets, stars, and construction.
Clip length is simply the frame count divided by your playback frame rate: 1,440 frames at 30 fps play back in 1,440 / 30 = 48 seconds. Raising the frame rate makes the same frames play faster and the clip shorter (24 fps would stretch those 1,440 frames to 60 seconds), while lowering it slows the motion down. Because clip length depends only on frames and fps, the only way to make a longer clip is to shoot more frames — by shooting longer or shortening the interval.
Storage is the frame count multiplied by the average file size, then divided by 1,024 to convert megabytes to gigabytes: 1,440 frames at 20 MB each is 28,800 MB, or about 28.13 GB. RAW frames from a full-frame camera can easily run 20–50 MB apiece, so long or short-interval shoots add up fast. Use the estimate to bring a card with headroom and to plan power, since a shoot long enough to fill that card will usually outlast a single battery.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose the interval between frames?+
The interval controls how smooth or how fast the motion looks, because it sets how much the scene changes from one frame to the next. As a rough starting point, fast subjects like moving clouds or busy streets look natural at 1–3 seconds, medium subjects like a sunset at 5–10 seconds, and very slow subjects like stars or a construction site at 20–30 seconds or more. Shorter intervals capture more frames and smoother motion but cost more storage, battery, and shutter actuations, so it is a trade-off rather than a single correct answer.
Why is my clip so short, and how do I make it longer?+
Clip length is frame count divided by playback fps, and nothing else, so a short clip means you did not capture enough frames for your chosen frame rate. At 30 fps you need 30 frames for every second of finished video — a 20-second clip needs 600 frames. To lengthen the clip you must capture more frames: shoot for longer, shorten the interval, or accept a lower playback frame rate. Raising the fps alone makes the clip even shorter because the same frames play faster.
How much storage and battery should I bring?+
Estimate storage as frames times your average file size, and give yourself margin: RAW files vary with ISO, scene detail, and compression, so the real total can differ from a flat average. Bring a card comfortably larger than the estimate. Battery is the other limit and is not modelled here — long shoots often outlast a single battery, and cold weather drains cells faster, so plan for external power, a battery grip, or spares whenever the calculated shoot runs beyond an hour or two.