Time Lapse Calculator
A time lapse is just arithmetic: clip length × frame rate gives the photos you need, and photos × interval gives the time you must stand there. Set any three values below and the fourth follows.
Your clip
Result
How the numbers work
Short answer: photos = clip length × frame rate. Shooting time = photos × interval. A 10 second clip at 24 fps needs 240 photos, which at a 2 second interval takes 8 minutes of real time, a 48× speed up.
- Photos: 10 s × 24 fps = 240 frames. Round up, always, because a clip one frame short shows as a stutter at the end.
- Shooting time: 240 × 2 s = 480 s = 8 minutes. The interval is measured from the start of one exposure to the start of the next, so add your shutter speed to the interval if the camera cannot overlap them.
- Speed up: shooting time ÷ clip length. 8 minutes into 10 seconds is 48×.
- Long exposures: if the exposure is longer than the interval, the interval becomes the exposure. Keep exposures under half the interval or the camera never returns to the start position in time.
Common clips worked out
| Clip (24 fps) | Photos | 2 s interval | 5 s interval | 10 s interval | 30 s interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 seconds | 120 | 4 min | 10 min | 20 min | 1 h 0 min |
| 10 seconds | 240 | 8 min | 20 min | 40 min | 2 h 0 min |
| 15 seconds | 360 | 12 min | 30 min | 1 h 0 min | 3 h 0 min |
| 20 seconds | 480 | 16 min | 40 min | 1 h 20 min | 4 h 0 min |
| 30 seconds | 720 | 24 min | 1 h 0 min | 2 h 0 min | 6 h 0 min |
Common questions
What interval should I use for a sunset time lapse?
3 to 10 seconds. At a 5 second interval a 10 second clip needs 240 photos and 20 minutes of shooting, which covers the gap between the sun touching the horizon and the afterglow fading. Shorter clips of 4 to 6 seconds are often enough for social media.
How many photos do I need for a 10 second time lapse?
240 at 24 fps, 250 at 25 fps, 300 at 30 fps and 600 at 60 fps. Shoot about 10% extra so you can trim frames where someone walked into the shot.
Does the interval include the exposure time?
On most cameras the interval is the start to start time. If your shutter speed is 1 s and the interval is 1 s, the camera drops frames. Keep the exposure at or below half the interval, and turn off long exposure noise reduction, which doubles the black frame time.