Data Rates Planner

Calculate recording time from media capacity, or required storage from recording time — based on your codec bitrate.

Input

1 MB/s = 8 Mbps. Cameras often advertise in Mbps, cards rate in MB/s.
Mode
Accepts: HH:MM:SS, MM:SS, SS or digits-only (HHMMSS).

Result

Recording time —

History

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    How the Data Rates Planner Works

    Bitrate and Storage

    Every codec compresses video to a target bitrate — the number of bits (or megabytes) written per second of footage. Knowing the bitrate lets you calculate exactly how long a card lasts, or how much storage you need for a given shoot.

    The Formulas

    Recording time = Storage (MB) ÷ Bitrate (MB/s)

    Required storage = Recording time (s) × Bitrate (MB/s)

    Units: 1 GB = 1 024 MB, 1 TB = 1 024 GB. This tool uses the binary (IEC) definition, which matches how storage cards actually work.

    Mbps vs MB/s

    Camera specs use Mbps (megabits per second). Storage card speeds use MB/s (megabytes per second). Divide Mbps by 8 to get MB/s. Example: 200 Mbps ProRes footage = 25 MB/s.

    Common Bitrates

    H.264 4K (camera internal): 50–200 Mbps (6–25 MB/s).

    H.265 / HEVC: 35–100 Mbps (4–12.5 MB/s) — more efficient than H.264.

    ProRes 422: ~147 Mbps at 1080p, ~588 Mbps at 4K (18–74 MB/s).

    ProRes 422 HQ: ~220 Mbps at 1080p, ~880 Mbps at 4K (27–110 MB/s).

    BRAW / ProRes RAW: highly variable by resolution, compression ratio and ISO.