How many photos make a 10-second time-lapse?

Multiply duration by playback rate

A ten-second clip at 30 frames per second uses 300 frames. At 24 fps it uses 240 frames. These are playback choices. The real-world time covered by the sequence depends on how far apart you capture those frames.

Spread the frames across the event

For a one-hour capture window and 300 complete capture slots, the interval is 3,600 divided by 300, or 12 seconds. The starts run from zero through 3,588 seconds. This is the convention used by the interval calculator: there is no extra capture at the ending boundary.

Decide whether both endpoints matter

If you specifically want 300 frames including one at the start and one exactly at the end, there are 299 gaps between them. Dividing the hour by 299 gives about 12.04 seconds. The difference is small here but explains why two calculators can disagree while using consistent assumptions.

Account for whole frames and storage

The calculator rounds the desired frame count upward. Fractional frame rates or clip lengths can therefore create a slightly longer result. Multiply the final whole-frame count by a measured average photo size to estimate source storage. Rendered video size depends on encoding settings and needs a separate estimate.

Before you use the result

Check the measurement units, use the actual materials or equipment in your project, and test a small example. The linked calculator shows its assumptions and provides a worksheet you can keep with your project notes.

These examples were prepared for this site. They are not a report of a laboratory test or a product certification.