Footage Storage Calculator
How many terabytes to bring, and how many cards, before the DIT tells you at 4pm that you are out. The calculator above takes codec, resolution, frame rate and hours and returns GB per hour, total TB, card count and backup volume — computed in your browser, with no sign-up and nothing leaving your device.
Footage Storage Calculator
- Footage per day
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- With all copies
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- Cards needed
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- Offload time (1 copy)
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Data rates: ProRes/DNxHR are per-frame constants from the Apple/Avid specs; RAW derives from resolution × bytes/pixel (nominal). Details further down this page.
What the number actually depends on
ProRes 422 HQ at UHD 25p runs about 387 GB per hour — a 10-hour day fills a 4 TB drive, and 2 copies do not fit on it at all.
ARRIRAW at 4.5K is roughly 8× the data rate of ProRes 422 — the same shoot day needs 8 times the drives.
The gap between a number that goes into a quote and one that holds on the day is rarely the formula — it is whether the constraints were entered honestly. That is why the inputs are spelled out below.
Common mistakes
These come up most often in practice. They rarely break the maths; they routinely break the day:
- Calculating for one copy when the insurance requires two
- Forgetting that high frame rate multiplies the data rate linearly
In day-to-day production
The 3-2-1 rule doubles your on-set volume: every terabyte shot is two terabytes carried.
The number belongs in production planning — the point where a decision is still free to change. Working it out on the shoot day is no longer calculating; it is finding out.
In TillyGen this is not a separate step: the result sits inside the plan itself, alongside the shot list, schedule and call sheet. Change a constraint and the dependent values move with it — the affected parts of the plan are flagged rather than quietly left behind.
Pre-computed variants
For these 31 cases the numbers are worked out on their own page:
- ARRIRAW 4.6K (Alexa 35) storage requirements
- BRAW 12:1 storage requirements
- BRAW 18:1 storage requirements
- BRAW 3:1 storage requirements
- BRAW 5:1 storage requirements
- BRAW 8:1 storage requirements
- Cinema RAW Light LT storage requirements
- Cinema RAW Light storage requirements
- DNxHR 444 storage requirements
- DNxHR HQ storage requirements
- DNxHR LB storage requirements
- DNxHR SQ storage requirements
- H.264 ALL-I 400 Mbit/s storage requirements
- H.265 200 Mbit/s storage requirements
- H.265 50 Mbit/s storage requirements
- ProRes 422 HQ storage requirements
- ProRes 422 LT storage requirements
- ProRes 422 Proxy storage requirements
- ProRes 422 storage requirements
- ProRes 4444 storage requirements
- ProRes 4444 XQ storage requirements
- ProRes RAW HQ storage requirements
- REDCODE HQ storage requirements
- REDCODE LQ storage requirements
- REDCODE MQ storage requirements
- X-OCN LT storage requirements
- X-OCN ST storage requirements
- X-OCN XT storage requirements
- XAVC-I (Class 300) storage requirements
- XAVC-L storage requirements
- XF-AVC Intra storage requirements
Frequently asked
How accurate is the Footage Storage Calculator?
The maths is exact; the inputs rarely are. Treat the result as a solid floor and add your buffer deliberately rather than smuggling it into the inputs — a flattered input hides the buffer from everyone who plans with it later.
Is the calculator free?
No. It runs entirely in your browser, with no sign-up and nothing transmitted. There is no usage limit and no account.
Where does this fit in production planning?
In production planning. There it is a basis for deciding; later it is only a finding.
Can I export the result?
The calculator itself only displays the value. In TillyGen it lands directly in the shot list, schedule and call sheet, and goes out as PDF, CSV or through the API to everyone working from it.
What does the calculator return?
GB per hour, total TB, card count and backup volume. The first value is the one you carry into the plan; the rest show how sensitively it reacts to the inputs.
What should I watch for in the result?
Mainly this: calculating for one copy when the insurance requires two. That is the mistake that most often turns a correctly calculated number into one that does not hold.