Timelapse Calculator Suite

A timelapse calculator answers the four questions every timelapse shooter asks: what interval between shots, how long to shoot, how many photos that produces, and how long the final video will be. The four are locked together by two simple relations: frames = event duration ÷ interval, and clip length = frames ÷ playback fps. Enter any three and the calculator solves the fourth — for example, a 1-hour event shot every 5 seconds gives 720 frames, which plays back as a 24-second clip at 30 fps. This suite goes further than a basic timelapse interval calculator: it adds a storage estimator, the 180-degree shutter rule, scenario presets, and a holy-grail day-to-night planner.

Divide the event duration (in seconds) by the number of photos you want: interval = event ÷ frames. If you think in final video instead, use interval = event ÷ (clip length × fps). Example: you want a 30-second clip at 30 fps from a 2-hour sunset — that is 900 frames, so the interval is 7,200 ÷ 900 = 8 seconds. Use the Solver tab above, pick "solve for interval", and enter your event duration and target clip length.

Multiply the clip length you want by the playback frame rate: frames = clip seconds × fps. A 10-second timelapse needs 300 photos at 30 fps, or 240 photos at 24 fps. A 30-second clip at 30 fps needs 900 photos. Remember that shooting hundreds of frames takes real time: at a 5-second interval, those 300 photos for a 10-second clip require 25 minutes of shooting.

It depends on the interval: shooting time = frames × interval, and a 10-second clip at 30 fps needs 300 frames. At a 4-second interval (typical for sunsets) that is 300 × 4 = 1,200 seconds, or 20 minutes. At a 25-second interval (typical for stars) the same 10-second clip needs 300 × 25 = 7,500 seconds — 2 hours 5 minutes. Use a scenario preset above to get a realistic interval for your subject, then check the shooting time in the solver.

The 180-degree rule says the shutter speed should be about half the frame duration: shutter = 1 ÷ (2 × fps). At 24 fps that is 1/48 s (use 1/50 s on the dial), at 25 fps 1/50 s, at 30 fps 1/60 s, and at 60 fps 1/120 s. It comes from cinema, where a 180° rotating shutter exposes each frame for half the frame period, and it gives the familiar amount of motion blur. For timelapse with long intervals, the companion guideline is to expose for about half the interval (e.g. a 2-second shutter at a 4-second interval) for smooth, cinematic motion blur.

Use the 180-degree rule relative to your playback fps (1/50 s at 24 fps, 1/60 s at 30 fps) for normal subjects, or about half your shooting interval for extra-smooth motion blur with long intervals. Two exceptions: for stars and the Milky Way, keep the shutter shorter than the 500 rule — 500 ÷ (focal length × crop factor) — so stars stay as points (about 20.8 s at 24 mm on full frame); for star trails, do the opposite and expose as long as possible (30 s). The Shutter tab computes all three for your settings and warns you if the shutter would exceed the interval.

Multiply the per-frame file size by the number of frames. A 24 MP camera writes about 7.2 MB per fine JPEG and about 36 MB per lossless-compressed RAW, so 300 frames need roughly 2.16 GB as JPEG but about 10.8 GB as RAW. A 900-frame RAW timelapse can exceed 30 GB — more than one 32 GB card holds in practice (about 29.8 GB usable). The Storage tab estimates this from your megapixels and format, checks it against card sizes, and also estimates the rendered video size from codec bitrate (e.g. 30 s of 4K H.264 at 100 Mbps ≈ 375 MB).

The "holy grail" is a timelapse that runs through a huge light change — typically sunset into night — with smooth, flicker-free exposure. Because daylight to night spans 10+ stops, you cannot leave the camera on auto (it steps exposure in visible jumps that cause flicker). Instead you ramp exposure manually in tiny 1/3-stop steps as the light fades: lengthen the shutter first, then raise ISO, and only open the aperture last. The Holy Grail tab plans the whole ramp for you: enter your start and end settings and it produces a step-by-step schedule.

Start in aperture priority or manual at the bright end, then adjust one parameter at a time in 1/3-stop increments every few dozen frames. The classic order: (1) lengthen shutter speed until you reach about half your interval or the camera's 30 s limit; (2) raise ISO until your noise limit (often 1600–3200); (3) open the aperture as a last resort, since it visibly changes depth of field. Example: going from 1/125 s at ISO 100 to 8 s at ISO 1600 is about 14 stops, or 42 third-stop steps — over a 90-minute shoot at 10-second intervals (540 frames) that is one adjustment roughly every 13 frames. The planner above generates the full schedule, including elapsed time per step.

Good starting points: slow clouds 3–5 s, fast storm clouds 1–2 s, sunset/sunrise 3–5 s, stars and Milky Way 25–30 s, star trails 30 s+, daytime traffic 1–3 s, night light trails 2–5 s, crowds 1–2 s, tides 1–2 s, moon 5–10 s, aurora 3–8 s, events 2–5 s, construction 5–15 min, growing plants 10–30 min. These are starting points, not guarantees — wind and light change everything. The Presets tab lists all of these with recommended fps and shutter guidance, and each preset can be applied directly to the solver.

Most shared timelapses are 5–30 seconds of final video. But "how long" in shooting time is wildly different: a 10-second clip at 30 fps always needs 300 frames, yet those take 20 minutes to shoot at a 4-second sunset interval and over 2 hours at a 25-second astro interval. Long-term subjects are extreme: an 8-hour construction day shot every 10 minutes yields only 48 frames — 1.6 seconds of video at 30 fps. That is why the solver shows shooting time, frame count, and clip length together.

Yes — this tool. PhotoPills is an excellent paid mobile app, but its timelapse calculator is one screen behind a paywall and an install. This suite is free, runs in the browser with no sign-up, and covers more ground in one place: a 4-way solver (interval, duration, frames, clip length), a storage estimator with real camera file sizes, the 180° shutter rule plus the 500 rule for astro, 15 scenario presets, and a holy-grail exposure-ramping planner. If you came here looking for a timelapse calculator app, this web tool does the same math with nothing to download — though if you later want field tools like augmented-reality sun tracking, PhotoPills remains worth the money. The two complement each other.

Yes. The math is camera-independent — interval, frames, and clip length work the same whether you shoot on a mirrorless body, a GoPro (timelapse photo mode), an iPhone, an Insta360, or a Brinno construction camera. Two things differ by device: file sizes (an iPhone HEIF frame is ~3 MB vs ~55 MB for a 45 MP RAW, which changes the storage estimate — the camera table covers these) and minimum interval (action cameras and phones often limit how fast they can shoot; check your device specs). For Brinno long-term construction work, use the construction preset with 5–15 minute intervals.

For a cinematic look, 24 fps; for online video and smoother motion, 30 fps. The fps only affects playback, not shooting: 300 frames make a 10-second clip at 30 fps but a 12.5-second clip at 24 fps. Match your fps to your delivery (24 for film-like, 30/60 for YouTube/social) and to your region's video standards if you mix timelapse with real-time footage. The 180° shutter speed follows the fps: 1/50 s at 24 fps, 1/60 s at 30 fps.

Flicker comes from the camera changing exposure in discrete steps between frames — auto ISO, auto shutter, or the aperture blades not returning to exactly the same position each shot. Prevent it by shooting full manual: fixed shutter, fixed aperture, fixed ISO, manual white balance. For holy-grail day-to-night shots where light genuinely changes, ramp exposure yourself in 1/3-stop steps (the planner above) rather than trusting auto modes. In post, deflicker tools (e.g. LRTimelapse, DaVinci Resolve) smooth out residual brightness jumps.

Yes and yes. The calculator is free with no sign-up, no account, and no watermarks, and it is 100% client-side: every calculation runs in your browser with JavaScript, and your inputs never leave your device. It works offline after the page loads. There are no tracking requests to third parties — the only network activity is loading this single page.