Time-lapse Plan Calculator

Capture plan

Check the shooting plan

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Motion preset:

Start from clouds, sunset, traffic, stars, construction, plant growth, or product turntable timing.

Planning mode:

Use a known interval, hit a target clip length, plan around frames, or derive the shoot duration needed.

Shoot duration:

Set the available capture window on location.

Capture interval: {{ formatDurationShort(intervalSeconds) }}

{{ solve_mode === 'duration' ? 'Set the intervalometer spacing used to derive the required shooting window.' : 'Adjust the intervalometer spacing; exposure plus write buffer must fit inside it.' }}

Target clip length: {{ formatDurationShort(targetClipSeconds) }}

Set the edit length you need; frames equal target seconds times playback fps.

Target frame count: {{ formatInteger(targetFrameCount) }} frames

The calculator derives the capture interval and final clip length from this count.

Playback frame rate:

24, 25, 30, and 60 fps are common delivery targets.

Photo file profile:

Choose JPEG, RAW, RAW plus JPEG, or enter your own camera average.

Average file size:

Use a recent RAW or JPEG average from your camera.

MB/frame

Card capacity:

The plan flags whether the shoot fits one card or needs a swap.

Battery runtime:

Use a tested runtime for your camera, intervalometer, heater, or external pack.

hours

Exposure time:

The readiness table checks exposure plus write buffer against the interval.

Write buffer:

Keep a small gap to avoid missed frames when writing large RAW files.

Reserve margin: {{ reserveMarginPercent }}%

A 10-25% margin is practical for unattended shoots.

Start time:

Leave blank when finish time is not needed.

Max frames per clip:

Use 0 when your camera or edit workflow has no known segment limit.

frames

Opening frame:

Keep enabled for practical intervalometer setup.

Plan item	Value	Details	Copy
{{ row.item }}	{{ row.value }}	{{ row.details }}

Load item	Value	Readiness	Copy
{{ row.item }}	{{ row.value }}	{{ row.readiness }}

Subject	Interval range	Fit	Planning note	Copy
{{ row.subject }}	{{ row.range }}	{{ row.fit }}	{{ row.note }}

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Time-lapse planning turns a long real-world event into a shorter playback clip by choosing how often the camera captures a frame and how fast those frames play later. The same scene can feel smooth, jumpy, slow, or rushed depending on the capture interval, total shoot duration, and playback frame rate.

The practical risk is not only visual. A time-lapse shoot can fail because the memory card fills, the battery runs out, the exposure is longer than the interval, or the final clip is too short for the edit. Planning these numbers before setting the camera helps match the creative idea to the card, power, and intervalometer limits available on location.

Frames captured across a long time-lapse shoot becoming a shorter playback clip.

Subject speed drives interval choice. Fast clouds, traffic, and turntables usually need shorter spacing than construction progress, plant growth, or other slow changes. Long-exposure night work adds another constraint because the shutter time and camera write time must fit inside each interval.

The final plan is still a planning estimate. Camera menu limits, card write speed, image review, autofocus, changing light, condensation, heat, and power delivery can all change what happens in the field. A short test sequence is still the best way to confirm that the numbers produce the motion and reliability you need.

How to Use This Tool:

Start from the closest shooting situation, then choose whether the known value is the capture interval, the desired clip length, or the target number of still frames.

Choose a Motion preset such as Cloud drift, Sunset / blue hour, Traffic / crowds, Stars / night sky, Construction progress, Plant growth, Product turntable, or Custom. Presets load a realistic starting interval, duration, file profile, battery runtime, exposure, write buffer, and reserve margin while keeping the fields editable.
Set Planning mode. Use Known interval when you already know the intervalometer spacing. Use Target clip length when the edit needs a specific playback duration. Use Target frame count when a camera, intervalometer, or edit workflow requires a fixed still count. Use Required shoot duration when the interval and final clip length are fixed and you need to know how long to stay on location.
Enter Shoot duration for normal planning modes, or let Required shoot duration derive it from Capture interval, Target clip length, and frame rate. The summary updates the frame count, shoot duration, computed interval, storage with reserve, and final clip length.
Select Playback frame rate and Photo file profile. Use Custom average and Average file size when your camera's recent RAW or JPEG files differ from the listed profiles.
Set Card capacity, Battery runtime, Exposure time, Write buffer, and Reserve margin. These fields drive the card-fit, battery, and interval-readiness checks.
Open Advanced when you need an estimated finish time, a Max frames per clip segmentation check, or a different Opening frame count convention.
If Check the shooting plan appears, fix the named field before trusting the result. The most important warning is exposure time plus write buffer exceeding the computed interval, because that can cause skipped frames on real cameras.

Interpreting Results:

Read Frames to capture, Capture interval, and Final clip length together. A plan can have the right frame count but still feel wrong if the interval makes motion too jumpy, or if the playback frame rate makes the final clip shorter than the edit needs.

Storage with reserve and Card fit are capacity checks, not promises that the camera will keep up with every write. Battery sets estimates how many tested battery runtimes are needed after the reserve margin. Exposure and write gap is the timing safety check to read before an unattended run.

Card fits: the reserved storage estimate fits within one selected card.
Card tight: the plan uses at least 85% of one card, so file-size variation, retries, or test frames can matter.
Cards needed: the reserved storage estimate exceeds one card and the result gives a card count.
Interval clear: exposure time and write buffer leave a practical remaining gap inside each interval.
Interval tight: the remaining gap is below 0.5 seconds or below 10% of the interval, whichever is larger.
Interval shortfall: exposure time plus write buffer is longer than the interval, so revise the timing before capture.

Technical Details:

A time-lapse sequence is governed by three connected quantities: real shoot duration, captured frame count, and playback frame rate. Capture interval controls how many stills are recorded during the real event. Playback frame rate controls how quickly those stills become screen time. Storage and power planning then scale from the frame count.

The opening-frame convention changes frame counts by one in interval-based plans and changes the derived interval in target-based plans. Many practical intervalometer setups include a frame at the start of the shoot. Some software-style calculations count only duration divided by interval. Matching that convention matters when you are trying to reproduce a camera menu or an editing spreadsheet exactly.

Formula Core:

The core formulas use seconds for time, frames for still count, megabytes per still for file size, and gigabytes for storage estimates. Frame count is never allowed below one; a one-frame target plan treats the interval as the full shoot duration.

\begin{matrix} F_{interval} & = & floor (\frac{D}{I}) + O \\ F_{clip} & = & ceil (C * R) \\ I_{target} & = & \frac{D}{F - O} \\ D_{target} & = & I * (F - O) \\ C & = & \frac{F}{R} \\ S & = & \frac{F * M}{1024} * (1 + \frac{P}{100}) \\ G & = & I - E - W \end{matrix}

Time-lapse formula symbols
Symbol	Meaning	Field or output
`D`	Real shoot duration in seconds.	Shoot duration.
`I`	Capture interval in seconds.	Capture interval, or the derived interval in target modes.
`F`	Captured still-frame count.	Frames to capture.
`O`	Opening-frame adjustment: 1 when enabled, 0 when disabled.	Opening frame.
`C`	Playback clip length in seconds.	Target clip length or Final clip length.
`R`	Playback frames per second.	Playback frame rate.
`M`	Average megabytes per captured still.	Average file size.
`P`	Reserve margin in percent.	Reserve margin.
`E` and `W`	Exposure time and write buffer in seconds.	Exposure time and Write buffer.
`G`	Remaining timing gap inside each interval.	Exposure and write gap.

For a 45 minute shoot at a 3 second interval with the opening frame enabled, the interval plan records floor(2700 / 3) + 1, or 901 frames. At 24 fps, the final clip is 901 / 24, or about 37.5 seconds. The speed-up factor is the real shoot duration divided by the final clip length, so this example compresses the scene by about 72x.

Readiness Rules:

Readiness labels combine the arithmetic with practical guardrails for cards, timing, and motion rendering.

Time-lapse readiness rules
Check	Rule	Meaning
Card fit	Reserved storage divided by selected card capacity.	Below 85% is treated as fit, 85% or higher is tight, and more than one card requires a swap or larger card.
Battery sets	Shoot hours divided by tested battery runtime, multiplied by the reserve factor, then rounded up.	Unattended runs need enough charged batteries or external power for the reserved duration.
Exposure and write gap	Interval minus exposure time minus write buffer.	A negative value is a timing conflict. A very small positive value should be tested before capture.
Motion blur read	Exposure time divided by capture interval.	Below 10% can look crisp or staccato, 45% to 70% is near a smooth motion-blur target, and above 85% risks missed frames.
Clip segmentation	Frame count divided by the optional maximum frames per clip, rounded up.	Use this when a camera or edit workflow splits long sequences after a known frame count.

Interval Guide:

Scene motion determines interval choice more than the calculator can know from the numbers alone. Use the guide as a starting comparison, then test the exact scene.

Time-lapse interval guide ranges
Subject	Interval range	Planning note
Fast clouds or traffic	1 to 3 seconds	Short spacing helps rolling motion read smoothly.
Slow clouds or crowds	3 to 8 seconds	Moderate spacing can reduce files without losing broad motion.
Sunrise or sunset	5 to 15 seconds	Gradual light changes still need exposure and flicker testing.
Stars on a fixed tripod	15 to 30 seconds	Long exposures need enough remaining interval for card write time.
Construction progress	300 to 1800 seconds	Long intervals fit changes that happen over days or months.
Plant growth	300 to 3600 seconds	Stable light and fixed framing often matter more than short spacing.
Product turntable	0.5 to 2 seconds	Dense frames help controlled rotation appear continuous.

The Frame Build Curve samples the same plan across the shoot duration. Captured frames climb as elapsed time increases, and the storage line scales with file size and reserve margin. If the chart is unavailable, the Plan Brief and Camera Load Ledger still contain the same computed values.

Accuracy and Privacy Notes:

The numbers are planning estimates based on the settings you enter. They do not inspect photos, measure real card write speed, read camera firmware limits, or confirm that an intervalometer will follow the plan exactly.

Use recent camera files for Average file size, especially when switching between JPEG, RAW, and RAW plus JPEG capture.
Test the shortest planned interval with the same exposure, card, autofocus, image review, and noise-reduction settings you will use during the real shoot.
Cold weather, screen use, lens heaters, wireless connections, and long standby periods can reduce real battery runtime.
No photos are uploaded or analyzed. The calculation works from the numeric camera and playback settings entered on the page.

Worked Examples:

Cloud drift with a known interval. A 45 minute shoot at a 3 second capture interval, 24 fps playback, 28 MB RAW files, a 64 GB card, 2.5 hours of battery runtime, 0.5 second exposure, 0.4 second write buffer, and 15% reserve gives Frames to capture of 901. Final clip length is about 37.5 seconds, Speed-up factor is about 72x, Storage with reserve is about 28.3 GB, Card fit uses about 44% of one card, and Exposure and write gap leaves about 2.1 seconds.

Sunset with a target clip length. A 90 minute shoot planned for a 12 second clip at 24 fps needs 288 frames. With the opening frame included, Capture interval is about 18.8 seconds. Final clip length is exactly 12 seconds, and Speed-up factor is about 450x. If the average file size is 32 MB with a 20% reserve margin, Storage with reserve is about 10.8 GB.

Reverse-planning a field window. A 10 second deliverable at 24 fps needs 240 frames. If the interval must stay at 5 seconds and the opening frame is included, Required shoot duration derives a capture window of about 19.9 minutes before storage, battery, and exposure checks are applied.

Long construction progress. A 10 day construction plan at a 600 second interval and 30 fps produces Frames to capture of 1,441 and a Final clip length near 48.0 seconds. With 8 MB JPEG files and 20% reserve, Storage with reserve is only about 13.5 GB, but Battery sets can rise to 24 when each set is expected to last 12 hours.

Troubleshooting a short interval. A 20 minute traffic test at a 1 second interval, 30 fps, 12 MB JPEG files, 16 GB card, 0.8 second exposure, and 0.4 second write buffer produces about 1,201 frames and a 40.0 second clip. The warning appears because exposure plus write buffer is 1.2 seconds, so Exposure and write gap shows a 0.2 second shortfall. The card is also tight at about 96.8% of one 16 GB card after reserve.

FAQ:

Which planning mode should I use?

Use Known interval when the interval is the creative choice. Use Target clip length when an edit needs a specific duration. Use Target frame count when a camera, intervalometer, or post workflow is limited by a known number of stills. Use Required shoot duration when interval and deliverable length are fixed but the real capture window is unknown.

Why does the opening frame setting change the result?

Including the opening frame counts a capture at the start of the shoot. In known-interval mode that usually adds one frame. In target modes it slightly changes the derived interval because the time between the first and last frame is divided across one fewer gap than the frame count.

Why does the plan warn about exposure time and write buffer?

Each frame needs time for the exposure and a small write buffer before the next frame starts. If those values exceed the computed interval, Check the shooting plan reports that exposure time plus write buffer is longer than the interval.

Does this create the time-lapse video?

No. It plans the capture sequence and reports frame count, interval, clip length, storage, battery, exposure gap, interval guide fit, chart data, and structured results. You still need the camera or editing software to record or assemble the movie.

Are my photos uploaded for the calculation?

No photos are uploaded or inspected. The calculation uses numeric settings such as duration, interval, frame rate, average file size, card capacity, battery runtime, exposure time, and reserve margin.

Glossary:

Capture interval: The time between captured frames, measured in seconds.
Intervalometer: A camera feature or accessory that triggers frames at a chosen interval.
Playback frame rate: The number of frames shown per second in the final video, such as 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps.
Speed-up factor: The real shoot duration divided by the final clip length.
Reserve margin: An added storage and power buffer for retries, file-size variation, cold weather, and setup uncertainty.
Exposure and write gap: The remaining time inside each interval after exposure time and write buffer are subtracted.

References:

Time-Lapse Movie Techniques, Nikon Professional Services, 2024.
Time-Lapse Recording: Preparation and Basic Settings, Nikon Professional Services, 2024.
Time-Lapse Movies, Canon, 2024.
Time Lapse Tips and Tricks Using Nikon Mirrorless Cameras, Nikon USA.
How to create time-lapse videos, Adobe.