Time-Lapse Interval Calculator
Work out the interval, shooting time, clip length, frame count and card space for a time-lapse.
More options
Fill in the fields above — the shoot plan updates as you type.
- Number of shots
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- Interval
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- Shooting time
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- Clip length
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- Speed-up
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- Card space
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How it works
A time-lapse is just a stack of stills played back as video, so the whole thing rests on
three lines of arithmetic: shots = shooting time ÷ interval,
clip length = shots ÷ frame rate and
speed-up = interval × frame rate. Shoot for two hours at a five-second interval
and you get 7200 ÷ 5 = 1440 frames; play those back at 24 fps and the clip runs
1440 ÷ 24 = 60 seconds, a 5 × 24 = 120× compression of real time.
Pick which of the three unknowns you want solved and the calculator fills in the rest, plus the frame count and a card-space estimate (shots × average file size — around 25 MB for a full-frame raw, 6–10 MB for a JPEG). When you solve for shooting time or interval the frame count is rounded to a whole number of shots, so the clip length shown is the one you will actually get rather than the one you asked for. Everything is plain JavaScript running in your browser: nothing is uploaded, there is no sign-up and there are no ads.
Frequently asked questions
How do I work out a time-lapse interval?
Divide the time you can shoot by the number of frames you need. Frames = clip length × frame rate, so a 10-second clip at 30 fps needs 300 frames; spread over one hour that is 3600 ÷ 300 = a 12-second interval. Set the calculator to "Interval" and it does this for you.
How many photos do I need for a 30-second time-lapse?
Multiply the clip length by the frame rate: 30 seconds at 24 fps is 720 photos, at 25 fps it is 750 and at 30 fps it is 900. The calculator also shows how long you must shoot at your chosen interval and how much card space those files need.
What interval should I use for clouds, sunsets or stars?
As a starting point: 1–3 seconds for traffic and crowds, 3–5 seconds for moving clouds, 5–10 seconds for sunsets and shadows, and 20–30 seconds for stars and slow weather. Enter your choice and check the speed-up factor — interval × frame rate — to see how compressed the motion will look.