Free Film & Video Tool · Calculator
Video Storage & Bitrate Calculator
Work out how much card or drive space a shoot needs from bitrate, recording time and number of cameras — in GB and GiB — plus recording time per card and how many cards to bring.
Deterministic maths that runs entirely in your browser — no AI model, no uploads, no account. Formulas and assumptions are explained below the calculator.
Inputs
Results update as you type.
Use the bitrate your camera lists for your codec, resolution and frame rate. Mbps = megabits; MB/s = megabytes (8× larger).
Recording time is per camera.
As sold (decimal: 1 TB = 1000 GB).
Space kept free on each card for overhead and peace of mind.
Results
Total footage
45 GB
41.9 GiB as some operating systems report it
Cards / drives needed
1
1 per camera at 256 GB with 10% kept free
Recording time per card
5 h 7 min
On one 256 GB card
Data rate
12.5 MB/s
45 GB per hour of recording
A card's usable space is less than its label (formatting and file-system overhead), cameras with variable bitrate may record below or above the stated rate, and audio or proxy files add more. Treat this as a planning estimate and keep spare media.
How it works
Running out of media mid-shoot is avoidable. Enter the bitrate your camera lists for the codec, resolution and frame rate you'll use, how long each camera will record, and the cards or drives you have — the calculator shows the total footage, recording time per card and how many to bring.
The formulas
- File size (bytes) = bitrate (megabits per second) × 1,000,000 × seconds ÷ 8
- Data rate (MB/s) = bitrate (Mbps) ÷ 8
- Recording time per card = usable capacity ÷ data rate, where usable capacity = capacity × (1 − safety margin)
- Cards needed = footage per camera ÷ usable capacity per card, rounded up, × number of cameras
Worked examples
| Scenario | Footage | Media |
|---|---|---|
| 100 Mbps for 1 hour | 45 GB (41.9 GiB) | 2 h 50 min fits on a 128 GB card |
| 400 Mbps for 2 hours | 360 GB (335.3 GiB) | 1 × 512 GB cards with 10% kept free |
| 3 cameras × 6 hours at 200 Mbps | 1.62 TB | 3 × 256 GB cards per camera (9 total), 10% kept free |
Units used
- 1 Mbps = 1,000,000 bits per second; 1 MB/s = 8 Mbps.
- 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes (as cards are sold); 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes; 1 TB = 1,000 GB.
Assumptions and limitations
- Variable-bitrate codecs record above or below their stated rate depending on the image.
- Audio tracks, metadata, proxies and file-system overhead add to the total; actual usable card capacity is slightly below the label.
- Bitrate isn't resolution: always use the figure your camera lists for your settings.
- Planning long-term archive costs rather than shoot media? Stuvelo's video archive storage cost calculator covers that.
FAQ
- What's the difference between Mbps and MB/s?
- Mbps is megabits per second, the unit cameras use for bitrate. MB/s is megabytes per second, the unit used for card and drive speeds. One byte is 8 bits, so 100 Mbps is 12.5 MB/s.
- Why does my 256 GB card show less space on my computer?
- Cards and drives are sold in decimal gigabytes (1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes). Some operating systems report binary gibibytes (1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes), so the same card shows about 238 'GB'. Formatting also uses a little space.
- Does 4K always use more storage than HD?
- Not necessarily. Storage depends on bitrate, which is set by the codec, compression level, frame rate and resolution together. A heavily compressed 4K file can be smaller than a lightly compressed HD one — always use the bitrate your camera states.
- Why aren't there codec presets?
- Bitrates for the same codec vary with resolution, frame rate, chroma sampling and camera. A generic preset would often be wrong, so the calculator uses the bitrate you enter; the chips are round example numbers only.
- Is it free to use?
- Yes. There's no signup or account, and the calculations run entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent to a server or an AI model.
- Can I share or save my results?
- Yes. Your inputs are saved in the page address as you type, so “Copy link” gives you a URL that reopens the calculator with the same settings. “Copy results” copies a plain-text summary.
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