Timelapse Calculator
Calculate timelapse photo count, final video length, and storage from shoot duration, interval, and playback frame rate.
Returns shots and GB needed.
Timelapse photography compresses a long real-world event into a short video clip. The key variables are: how long you shoot, how often you capture a frame, and what frame rate you output.
Core formulas:
Total Frames = Shooting Duration (seconds) / Interval (seconds)
Clip Duration (seconds) = Total Frames / Output Frame Rate (FPS)
Interval = Shooting Duration / (Clip Duration × Output FPS)
Standard output frame rates:
- 24 FPS: Cinematic feel
- 25 FPS: PAL broadcast standard
- 30 FPS: NTSC broadcast / YouTube standard
- 60 FPS: Smooth motion, sports, slow-motion timelapse
Worked example — Sunrise timelapse:
Shooting duration: 90 minutes = 5,400 seconds.
Desired clip length: 30 seconds. Output: 24 FPS.
Total Frames = 5,400 / Interval
Total Frames needed = 30 × 24 = 720 frames
Interval = 5,400 / 720 = 7.5 seconds → shoot every 8 seconds
Exposure time rule (prevent flicker): Your shutter speed should be no longer than half the interval to avoid motion blur stacking. At 8-second intervals → maximum shutter speed: 4 seconds. At 5-second intervals → maximum shutter speed: 2.5 seconds.
Subject-to-interval guide:
| Subject | Recommended Interval |
|---|---|
| Fast-moving clouds | 1–3 seconds |
| Normal clouds / weather | 5–15 seconds |
| Sunrise / sunset | 5–10 seconds |
| Flowers blooming | 30–120 seconds |
| City traffic | 1–5 seconds |
| Stars / Milky Way | 15–30 seconds |
Storage estimate:
Storage (GB) ≈ Total Frames × File Size per Frame
RAW files: ~20–50 MB each. JPEG: ~4–10 MB each.
720 RAW frames at 25 MB each ≈ 18 GB — plan your memory card accordingly.