Time-lapse Plan Calculator

Planning mode:

Work from a known interval, target clip length, target frame count, or required shoot duration.

Shoot duration:

Changing units preserves the same capture window.

Capture interval: {{ exactReadout(interval_seconds, 's') }}

Short spacing creates more files and smoother motion; long spacing compresses slower events.

Target clip length: {{ exactReadout(target_clip_seconds, 's') }}

The planner rounds up to enough whole frames to meet the requested playback time.

Target frame count: {{ exactReadout(target_frame_count, 'frames') }}

The planner derives both capture interval and final clip length from this count.

Playback frame rate:

The same still count produces a shorter clip at a higher frame rate.

Motion preset:

Choose clouds, sunset, traffic, stars, construction, plant growth, turntable, or Custom.

Opening frame convention:

Keep the opening capture for most intervalometer plans; use the alternate convention only to match a known workflow.

Photo file profile:

JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG, and a custom measured average are available.

Average file size:

Storage is calculated from this average, whole frames, and reserve margin.

MB/frame

Card capacity:

The readiness result shows fit, tight capacity, or the number of cards required.

Battery runtime:

Cold weather, screens, wireless features, and heaters can reduce real runtime.

hours/set

Exposure time:

Long exposures can smooth motion but leave less time for writing the file.

Write buffer:

Use a measured safety gap when large RAW files or in-camera processing slow the sequence.

Reserve margin:

{{ displayReservePercent }}%

A 10–25% margin is a practical starting range for unattended capture.

Local start time:

Leave blank to omit finish time. The planner performs timezone-free wall-clock arithmetic.

Maximum frames per clip:

The neutral default is 0, meaning no declared segmentation limit.

frames

Capture plan

{{ row.label }}: {{ row.display }}

Planning arithmetic:

Review the whole-frame convention, playback calculation, storage allowance and exposure gap.

{{ row.label }}: {{ row.value }} {{ row.note }}

Loading capture chart…

The chart renderer is unavailable. The capture plan and readiness tables remain usable.

Storage curve unavailable: {{ optionalIssues.storage }} Captured-frame checkpoints remain available.

Check	Result	Readiness note	Copy
{{ row.label }}	{{ row.display }}	{{ row.detail }}

Subject	Starting range	Current fit	Planning note	Copy
{{ row.subject }}	{{ row.range }}	{{ row.fit }}	{{ row.note }}

Time-lapse photography turns a long capture period into a short sequence by recording still frames at regular intervals and playing them back much faster. The interval controls how densely motion is sampled; the playback frame rate controls how quickly those stills pass on screen.

Three quantities form the basic plan: shoot duration, capture interval, and frame count. Knowing any two usually determines the third. Final clip length then follows from frame count and playback rate. A higher playback rate shortens the clip unless more frames are captured.

Short intervals preserve quicker motion but create more files, use more storage, and leave less time for each exposure and card write.
Long intervals compress slow changes efficiently but can make clouds, traffic, or people jump between positions.
Long exposures can smooth motion, yet the shutter and file-writing time must still fit before the next scheduled capture.
Reserve capacity protects against test frames, larger-than-average files, battery loss, and field conditions.

Frame counting has a small but consequential convention. Many intervalometers capture immediately at time zero, producing one more frame than the number of completed intervals. A workflow that waits one full interval before the first capture does not include that opening frame.

Scene-based interval ranges are only starting points. Wind speed, subject distance, focal length, camera movement, exposure changes, flicker, and the desired visual style can all move the useful interval. A short test sequence reveals cadence problems more reliably than a generic preset.

Storage and battery results are planning estimates. Real files vary in size, battery runtime changes with temperature and camera features, and some cameras impose file, frame, heat, or intervalometer limits that must be checked before an unattended shoot.

How to Use This Tool:

Choose the quantity you already know, then let the remaining timing values follow from that planning mode.

Choose Known interval, Target clip length, Target frame count, or Required shoot duration.
Enter the shoot duration and the active target for that mode. Set the playback rate to the frame rate of the intended edit or delivery timeline.
Open Advanced for presets and equipment refinements. Choose Capture at time zero for an immediate-start intervalometer, or Wait one interval when the camera delays its first frame.
Choose a file profile or enter a measured average file size. Add card capacity, battery runtime, and a reserve margin that reflects the shoot conditions.
Enter exposure time and write buffer. A negative Exposure and write gap means the cadence cannot fit; shorten the exposure or buffer, or lengthen the interval.
Review Frames to capture, final clip length, card fit, battery sets, and any segmentation count. Test the selected interval and file-writing behavior on the actual camera before the full shoot.

Interpreting Results:

Frames to capture is always a whole number. In target-clip mode, the requested playback length rounds up to enough frames, so the actual clip can be slightly longer. In known-interval mode, the selected shoot duration and opening-frame convention determine the count instead.

Card fit includes the reserve margin. Fits uses less than 85% of one selected card, Tight uses at least 85% but no more than one card, and a multi-card result reports the rounded-up card count. These labels assume the average file size is representative. Invalid optional settings mark only their dependent readiness results unavailable.

Exposure and write gap is the time remaining before the next capture. A nonnegative value only proves the entered exposure and buffer fit mathematically. Camera wake-up time, autofocus, noise reduction, review screens, and slow media can still cause missed frames.

Technical Details:

Durations are normalized to elapsed seconds. Storage uses decimal units: 1 GB = 1,000 MB and 1 TB = 1,000 GB. Intermediate values retain full precision; counts of target frames, cards, battery sets, and segments round upward where the plan must provide enough capacity.

Formula Core

Let D be shoot seconds, I capture interval, F whole frames, R playback frames per second, and O equal 1 when an opening frame is included and 0 otherwise.

\begin{matrix} F = ⌊ \frac{D}{I} ⌋ + O \\ L_{clip} = \frac{F}{R} \\ speed-up = \frac{D}{L_{clip}} \end{matrix}

Target clip length L_target first becomes a whole-frame requirement. Target-clip and target-frame modes then spread the available gaps across the entered shoot duration. A one-frame plan uses the full duration as its computed interval.

\begin{matrix} F_{target} = ⌈ L_{target} R ⌉ \\ gaps = F - O \\ I = \frac{D}{gaps} \end{matrix}

Required-shoot-duration mode uses F = ceil(L_targetR) and D = (F − O)I. This reverses the usual question by finding how long capture must continue at the entered interval.

With average file size S MB, reserve m%, card capacity C GB, and battery runtime B hours per set, capacity is:

\begin{matrix} G_{reserved} = \frac{F S}{1000} \times (1 + \frac{m}{100}) \\ cards = \max (1, ⌈ \frac{G_{reserved}}{C} ⌉) \\ battery sets = \max (1, ⌈ \frac{D / 3600}{B} \times (1 + \frac{m}{100}) ⌉) \end{matrix}

Lookup Core

The scene guide provides heuristic starting ranges, not a camera or cinematography standard.

Starting capture interval ranges by scene
Scene	Starting interval	Main concern
Fast clouds or traffic	1 to 3 s	Keep rolling motion smooth
Slow clouds or crowds	3 to 8 s	Reduce files without losing broad motion
Sunrise or sunset	5 to 15 s	Test exposure change and flicker
Stars on a fixed tripod	15 to 30 s	Leave time for long exposure and card writing
Construction progress	300 to 1,800 s	Match changes across days or months
Plant growth	300 to 3,600 s	Prioritize stable light and framing
Product turntable	0.5 to 2 s	Sample controlled rotation densely

Rule Core

Exposure gap equals interval minus exposure time minus write buffer. A negative gap is Shortfall. A nonnegative gap below the larger of 0.5 seconds or 10% of the interval is Tight; equality at that threshold is Clear. A positive maximum-frames-per-clip value produces ceil(F / limit) segments, while zero disables segmentation.

Accuracy Notes:

Measure several representative files on the intended camera and card, and test real battery runtime with the same display, wireless, heater, autofocus, and long-exposure settings. Cold weather and ageing batteries can reduce runtime sharply.

The optional finish time adds elapsed seconds to the entered wall clock without a time zone or daylight-saving transition. Use a calendar-aware schedule when a shoot crosses a clock change. The half-interval shutter value is only a motion-blur reference, not a required exposure.

Worked Examples:

A 45-minute cloud sequence

A 45-minute shoot at 3-second intervals with an opening frame produces 901 frames. At 24 fps, playback lasts about 37.54 seconds. With 28 MB RAW files and a 15% reserve, the storage estimate is about 29.01 GB, which fits on one 64 GB card. A 0.5-second exposure plus a 0.4-second write buffer leaves a 2.1-second gap, so the entered cadence is clear.

References:

NIST decimal and binary storage prefixes defines the MB and GB units used here.