Data rate and storage calculator for camera files

In short: Hourly storage in gigabytes is the bitrate in megabits per second × 3,600 ÷ 8 ÷ 1,000. A camera recording 100 megabits per second uses about 45 GB an hour. Multiply by the hours recorded and the number of cameras, then by at least two for the copies you will keep. Take the bitrate from the camera's manual or its recording settings, not from a guess.

By James Jones, founder of Granary Digital · Updated 5 November 2026

What the calculator tells you

It gives the storage a shoot needs before the first card is formatted. Enter the bitrate, the hours of recording, the number of cameras and the number of copies. It returns the total storage in gigabytes or terabytes.

You can pick a codec preset (Sony XAVC S and Apple ProRes presets are built in, with a choice of HD or UHD and a frame rate for ProRes) or choose Custom and type the bitrate from your camera's manual. It also takes the number of separate audio channels at 24-bit 48 kHz, which it adds once for the shoot. Enter the size of one card or drive and the share you plan to fill, and it tells you how many cards or drives each copy needs and how many minutes one camera fits on one.

Codec preset

Resolution

Frame rate (fps)

Bitrate (Mb/s)

From the camera's manual or recording menu.

Number of cameras

Hours recorded per camera

Separate audio channels

24-bit, 48 kHz, written once for the shoot.

Copies kept

3-2-1 means 3 copies.

Card or drive size

Fill each one to (%)

Leave room for a late take.

A card can hold the files and still be too slow to record them. Check the card maker's sustained write speed against the bitrate.

How this is worked out

GB per hour (one camera) = Mb/s x 3,600 / 8 / 1,000. Dividing by eight turns megabits into megabytes, and dividing by 1,000 turns megabytes into gigabytes. GB per minute uses 60 in place of 3,600.

Copy size = (GB per hour x cameras + audio GB per hour) x hours. Audio is channels x 24 bit x 48 kHz, which is 1.152 Mb/s a channel, and is counted once. Total storage = copy size x copies. Cards or drives = copy size divided by (size x fill %), rounded up, then multiplied by the copies, because each copy sits on its own media. Sizes are decimal gigabytes, as printed on cards and drives. Formatted capacity is a little lower, which is why the fill figure defaults to 90%.

Only bitrates published by the manufacturer are built in. For anything else, choose Custom and type the figure from your camera's manual.

Apple ProRes target data rates: Apple, Apple ProRes White Paper, which lists 24p, 25p, 30p, 50p and 60p rows at 1920 x 1080 and 3840 x 2160 (read 5 November 2026). 23.976, 29.97 and 59.94 fps use the 24, 30 and 60 rows. The rate rises with frame rate and falls with simpler content, so treat it as a planning figure.
Sony XAVC S: Sony, α6400 Help Guide, Movie recording formats, which gives approximately 100 or 60 Mb/s for XAVC S 4K and approximately 100, 60, 50, 25 or 16 Mb/s for XAVC S HD (read 5 November 2026). Other Sony cameras offer different settings, so check your own camera.

The formula

Storage per hour for one camera:

GB per hour = megabits per second × 3,600 ÷ 8 ÷ 1,000

The first division by eight turns megabits into megabytes. The division by 1,000 turns megabytes into gigabytes. For the whole shoot, multiply by the hours and the cameras, then by the copies.

A worked example

A three-camera shoot, six hours a day, each camera recording 200 megabits per second:

One camera: 200 × 3,600 ÷ 8 = 90,000 MB, which is 90 GB an hour.
Three cameras: 270 GB an hour.
Six hours: 1,620 GB, or about 1.6 TB for the day.
Two copies: about 3.2 TB of storage to buy or hire for the day.

Audio is usually small by comparison. Four channels at 24 bit and 48 kHz come to about 4.6 megabits per second, which adds roughly 2 GB an hour. Include it if the recorder writes it to the same drives.

Figures to check before you start

The bitrate. Take it from the camera's recording menu or manual for the exact frame size, frame rate and codec you will use. The same camera can record very different bitrates at different settings.
The card or drive write speed. A card can hold the file size but still fail to keep up with a high bitrate. Check the manufacturer's sustained write figure for the card you own.
The copies. Storage for a shoot is the total of all the copies, not the size of one copy. See the data wrangling checklist for how many copies to keep and where.

Common mistakes

Mixing up megabits and megabytes, which is a factor of eight. This is the most common error on a storage estimate.
Using the highest bitrate the codec can produce, rather than the setting the shoot will use.
Forgetting the second and third copies, and buying only enough drives for the first.
Planning to fill every drive to the top. Leave room so that a late take or a re-record does not stop the day.

Where it fits

Storage is one of the numbers you set with the camera's frame rate and shutter. Read frame rates and the 180 degree shutter for the settings that decide the look, then the bitrate follows from them.

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Related guides

The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.

Questions we get asked

How much storage do I need for an hour of 100 Mb/s footage?

About 45 GB for one camera. Multiply 100 megabits per second by 3,600 seconds, divide by eight to get megabytes, then divide by 1,000 for gigabytes.

What is the difference between megabits and megabytes?

A byte is eight bits. Camera bitrates are usually given in megabits per second, while drives are sized in gigabytes, so divide the bitrate by eight before you size the storage.

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