How do you calculate shooting interval for time-lapse?

The shooting interval equals the total shooting duration divided by the total number of frames required (Interval = Shooting Time / (Clip Duration × FPS)). For example, to record a 1-hour sunset into a 10-second clip at 30 fps (300 frames), the interval is 3,600 seconds / 300 frames = 12 seconds.

What is the 180-degree shutter rule in time-lapse?

The 180-degree rule dictates setting your shutter speed to approximately half of your interval time (Exposure Time = Interval / 2). For instance, with a 2-second interval, an exposure of 1 second using neutral density (ND) filters introduces organic motion blur, preventing jerky, stuttered playback in moving clouds, water, or traffic.

How many frames are needed for a 10-second time-lapse?

At 24 fps (cinematic standard), 10 seconds requires 240 frames. At 30 fps (standard web video), 10 seconds requires 300 frames. At 60 fps (ultra-smooth), 10 seconds requires 600 frames.

How do I calculate SD card storage for time-lapse?

Storage equals total frames multiplied by the average file size per shot. A 600-frame time-lapse shot in 45MP uncompressed RAW (~55 MB/frame) requires approximately 33 GB of storage.

Time-Lapse Calculator & Intervalometer Planner

Time-Lapse Parameters

Solver: Real-Time

Calculate / Solve For Primary unknown variable

Shooting Duration (In Field) 1 hour 30 mins

Hours

Minutes

Shooting Interval Delay between shots

Subject Speed Presets Standard interval recommendations

Video Clip Length Final video Seconds

Playback FPS Frame rate

Camera Shutter Exposure 180° Shutter Rule: 2.0s

Image Format

SD Card Size

Camera Battery

Ambient Temp

Slider Length Centimeters (cm)

Pan Rotation Degrees (°)

INTERVAL

Shooting Interval

6.0 sec

Delay between shutter activations

FRAMES

Total Frames

360 shots

15s clip @ 24 fps playback

Shooting Time

36 mins

Total time spent on location

Video Clip Length

15.0 sec

Time compression: 144x faster

Storage Required

10.8 GB

8.4% of 128 GB card (360 RAWs)

Battery Consumption

1 Battery

~18% consumed • Safe to shoot

Interactive Time-Lapse Motion & Playback Simulator

Speed: 144x Realtime • 24 FPS

Storage & Battery Health Gauges

360 RAWs • 10.8 GB • 1 Battery

SD Card Capacity (128 GB) 8.4% Used

Used: 10.8 GB Free: 117.2 GB

Battery Consumption 18% of 1x

Estimated: 360 / 2,000 shots Status: Plenty of Power

Motorized Slider & Pan-Tilt Motion Parameters

Travel: 80cm • Step: 2.22 mm/shot • Pan: 0.25°/shot

Slider Step

2.22 mm

Pan Step

0.25 °/shot

Slider Speed

1.33 m/hr

Mode Feasibility

SMS Feasible

Hardware Intervalometer & In-Camera Setup Guide

Sony • Canon • Nikon • Fuji

Intervalometer Setting	Calculated Value	Camera Setting / Note	Best Practice Guideline

Complete Time-Lapse Photography & Interval Planning Guide

Time-lapse photography compresses hours, days, or months of real-world motion into captivating seconds of video. Achieving smooth, professional-grade footage requires precise calculation of frame rates, shutter angles, shooting intervals, and storage capacity before pressing the shutter.

1. The Fundamental Time-Lapse Equations

All time-lapse math is derived from the relationship between the final video playback duration, playback frame rate, and real-world shooting duration:

Total Frames (F) = Final Clip Duration (seconds) × Playback Frame Rate (FPS)
Shooting Interval (I) = Total Shooting Duration (seconds) / Total Frames (F)
Shooting Duration (T) = Total Frames (F) × Shooting Interval (I)
Time Compression Factor = Shooting Duration / Clip Duration = Interval × FPS

For example, to produce a 15-second video clip at 24 frames per second, your camera must capture exactly 360 photos ($15 \times 24 = 360$). If your event lasts 36 minutes (2,160 seconds), your shooting interval must be set to $2160 / 360 = \mathbf{6.0\text{ seconds}}$.

2. The 180° Shutter Rule & Motion Blur in Time-Lapse

A common beginner mistake in time-lapse photography is shooting at fast shutter speeds (e.g., 1/1000s). This results in a "stuttering" or "strobe" effect because moving objects jump across the frame with zero motion blur.

Cinematic time-lapses adhere to the 180-degree shutter rule: the shutter speed should equal approximately half the interval time ($t_{\text{shutter}} \approx \frac{\text{Interval}}{2}$).

Ideal Shutter Speed = Shooting Interval / 2
Example: At a 4-second interval, use a 2-second exposure.
Tool Required: 6-Stop or 10-Stop Neutral Density (ND) filter to prevent overexposure during daylight.

3. Buffer Margin & Camera Write Limits

An intervalometer cannot trigger the next shot while the camera sensor is actively exposing or while the internal image buffer is saving to the memory card. Always ensure that:

Shooting Interval ≥ Shutter Speed + 1.0 to 1.5 seconds buffer margin

If shooting a 20-second night sky exposure with Long Exposure Noise Reduction (LENR) enabled, the camera takes an additional 20-second dark frame, meaning your minimum interval must exceed 41 seconds!

4. Motion Time-Lapse (Sliders & Pan-Tilt Heads)

For motorized sliders and pan-tilt heads, the rig operates in either Shoot-Move-Shoot (SMS) or Continuous Motion mode. In SMS mode, the motor halts during the exposure to prevent vibration blur, then advances by the calculated increment:

Step per Shot (mm) = Total Rail Travel (mm) / Total Frames (F)
Pan Rotation per Shot (°) = Total Angular Pan (°) / Total Frames (F)

Frequently Asked Questions

Sunsets and sunrises change rapidly over a 45 to 60-minute window. An interval of 5 to 12 seconds is ideal. Because light levels drop drastically (up to 12 exposure stops), shoot in Aperture Priority (Av/A) with Exposure Smoothing enabled or use auto-ramping intervalometer software to eliminate exposure flickering.

Disable Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, image stabilization (IBIS), and turn off the LCD screen or EVF auto-sensor. For sessions exceeding 2 hours or in sub-zero winter temperatures, use a USB-C Power Delivery (PD) power bank connected directly to your camera's USB port or insert a dummy battery connected to a D-Tap / V-mount pack.

Always shoot RAW if you plan to edit with Adobe Lightroom, LRTimelapse, or DaVinci Resolve. RAW preserves maximum dynamic range to recover clipped shadows and highlights during twilight transitions and enables batch deflickering. Choose 14-bit compressed RAW to save memory card space and speed up buffer writes.

Aperture flicker occurs when modern camera lenses reopen wide to preview focus and re-close to the shooting f-stop between frames. Mechanical aperture blades cannot stop down with 100% micro-precision every single shot. To prevent this, shoot in full Manual (M) mode with Manual White Balance, and either shoot wide open or use the "lens twist trick" (disengaging the electronic lens contact) or use software deflickering.