6XC

Timelapse Calculator

How many photos, how long to shoot and how much storage for your timelapse — from interval, clip length and frame rate.

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Planning a Timelapse

The math: frames needed = clip length (s) × fps, and shooting time = frames × interval. A 10-second clip at 25 fps needs 250 photos; at a 5-second interval that is about 21 minutes of shooting. Interval guidelines: fast clouds 1-3 s, regular clouds and street scenes 3-8 s, sunsets 5-10 s, star trails and night sky 20-40 s, construction projects minutes to hours.

Storage adds up fast — 250 RAW files at 30 MB is 7.5 GB. Many shooters use JPEG for timelapse unless heavy grading is planned.

Frequently Asked Questions

What interval should I use for a sunset timelapse?

5-10 seconds works well: a 45-minute sunset at a 6 s interval yields 450 frames — an 18-second clip at 25 fps that captures the color change smoothly.

24, 25 or 30 fps for the final video?

Match your delivery: 24/25 fps looks cinematic and stretches your frames further; 30 fps suits web and mixed-footage projects. The same 300 frames give 12.5 s at 24 fps but 10 s at 30.

How do I avoid flicker?

Shoot fully manual — fixed aperture, shutter, ISO and white balance. Aperture flicker from the lens re-stopping each frame is the top culprit; manual lenses or "aperture priority lock" tricks solve it.

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