Timelapse Interval Calculator

What this generator does

Solves the relationship between interval, shooting time and clip length for whichever one you do not know, then derives the frame count, the card space and the batteries from it.

How to use this tool

1. Say which of the three you want to work out.
2. Choose a subject to start from, or set the interval yourself.
3. Fill in the other two numbers and the frame rate.
4. Read the answer, with the card space and the batteries.

Understanding the controls

What do you want to work out

The clip length from an interval and a shooting window, the interval needed to fill a clip of a given length, or how long you must shoot to get one.

Start from a typical subject

Common intervals: a couple of seconds for traffic and crowds, three to five for clouds and sunsets, twenty-five for stars, minutes or half-hours for building work and growing plants.

Seconds between shots

What the intervalometer is set to. This is the number that decides how much real time each frame represents.

Minutes you will be shooting

How long the camera actually runs. Two hours at one shot every five seconds is 1,440 frames.

Seconds of finished video

How long the clip should be when it plays. At 24 frames a second, ten seconds of video needs 240 frames whatever the subject.

Frame rate of the video

24, 25 or 30 for most projects. A higher frame rate needs proportionally more frames for the same clip length.

Megabytes a frame

Roughly 25 to 50 for a raw file from a full-frame camera, far less for JPEG. This is what turns the frame count into a card size.

Shots a battery lasts

For a rough count of how many batteries the shoot takes. Zero leaves it out.

Common use cases

• Working out the interval for a sunset you have forty minutes of
• Checking whether two hours of clouds gives a usable clip
• Seeing how much card a night of star trails needs
• Planning a construction timelapse over weeks rather than hours
• Knowing how many batteries to take before you set off

How this generator works

Frames are the shooting time divided by the interval, and the clip length is the frames divided by the frame rate — one relationship, solved for whichever term is unknown. The check closes the loop in both directions: the frames implied by the interval must give back the clip length, and the clip length must give back the interval, so the three numbers cannot drift apart. Card space follows from the frame count rather than the clip length, which is why a two-second interval fills a card that a two-minute one barely touches, and the battery count is checked to cover every frame.

Randomness and fairness

Nothing is random. The same three numbers always give the same fourth.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

• The interval assumes the exposure fits inside it; a thirty-second exposure cannot be shot at a five-second interval.
• File sizes vary with the scene as well as the camera, so the card figure is an estimate.
• Batteries last far fewer shots in the cold, which is when timelapses tend to be shot.
• Deflickering, cropping and stabilisation in post can all lose frames at the edges.

Privacy and your data

The plan is worked out in your browser. No shoot details are transmitted or stored.