Introduction
You're in prep for a 10-day documentary shoot. The DP wants to shoot RED V-RAPTOR 8K at 29.97fps in REDCODE RAW 8:1. Your line producer needs a hard number for media costs. You estimate 20 TB of storage. The calculator tells you it's actually 38 TB. That gap is the difference between a smooth DIT workflow and a frantic midnight call to a rental house for more SSD magazines.
The storage and footage calculator takes your codec, resolution, frame rate, and shoot duration and returns a precise storage estimate in gigabytes or terabytes. This is the tool you use before you build the equipment list, not after you run out of cards on day three.
What This Tool Calculates
The calculator accepts five inputs: video codec or format (such as ProRes 422 HQ, REDCODE RAW, ARRIRAW, H.265), resolution (2K, 4K, 6K, 8K), frame rate in fps, daily recording hours, and total number of shoot days.
It returns the data rate in megabits per second, storage per hour of recording in gigabytes, total storage for the entire shoot in gigabytes and terabytes, and the number of standard-capacity cards or drives needed based on common media sizes (128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB).
The Formula and How It Works
The core calculation is: Storage (GB) = Bitrate (Mbps) times Duration (seconds) / 8 / 1000. The division by 8 converts megabits to megabytes, and division by 1000 converts megabytes to gigabytes (using the SI convention; some systems use 1024).
Each codec has a known bitrate at each resolution and frame rate. For example, Apple ProRes 422 HQ at 4K (3840x2160) 24fps has a data rate of approximately 707 Mbps, according to Apple's ProRes White Paper. One hour of ProRes 422 HQ 4K at 24fps: 707 times 3600 / 8 / 1000 = 318 GB.
REDCODE RAW uses a compression ratio system. At 8K and 8:1 compression, the data rate is approximately 600 Mbps. At 5:1 compression, it rises to approximately 960 Mbps. These figures come from RED's official data rate calculator published on red.com.
For 10 days of shooting at 4 hours of recording per day in REDCODE RAW 8K at 8:1: 600 Mbps times (4 times 3600 seconds) times 10 days / 8 / 1000 = 600 times 144,000 / 8000 = 10,800 GB = 10.8 TB. Add 15% overhead for safety margins and you reach approximately 12.4 TB.
Real-World Examples
Feature Documentary on RED V-RAPTOR
A documentary team shooting over 10 days at 8K REDCODE RAW 8:1, averaging 6 hours of recording per day at 29.97fps, used the calculator to estimate storage. The result: 38.2 TB. The producer budgeted for 20x 2TB RED MINI-MAGs plus a 48TB RAID array for the DIT station. Without the calculator, the initial estimate of 20 TB would have run out by day six, halting production.
Broadcast Commercial on ARRI ALEXA Mini
A commercial production shooting ProRes 4444 XQ at 4.6K on the ARRI ALEXA Mini for a 3-day shoot averaging 3 hours per day calculated storage at 1340 Mbps data rate. The result: 5.4 TB. The DIT prepared 8x 1TB Codex Compact Drives and a 12TB shuttle drive for overnight offloads. The budget included rental for an additional set of drives as hot spares.
Wedding Videography on Sony A7 IV
A wedding videographer shooting XAVC S-I 4K at 60fps on the Sony A7 IV (bitrate: 600 Mbps) for an 8-hour event day calculated 2.16 TB of storage. This required three 1TB CFexpress Type A cards with a mid-day card swap. The calculator also showed that switching to XAVC S 4K at 60fps (200 Mbps) would reduce storage to 720 GB, fitting on a single 1TB card with room to spare.
Common Codecs: Bitrate and Storage per Hour at 4K 24fps
| Codec | Bitrate (Mbps) | 1-Hour Storage (GB) | Quality Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARRIRAW (4.6K) | 2790 | 1255 | Uncompressed RAW |
| REDCODE RAW 5:1 (8K) | 960 | 432 | Compressed RAW |
| REDCODE RAW 8:1 (8K) | 600 | 270 | Compressed RAW |
| ProRes 4444 XQ | 1340 | 603 | High-end intermediate |
| ProRes 422 HQ | 707 | 318 | Standard intermediate |
| ProRes 422 | 471 | 212 | Offline/broadcast |
| H.265 (HEVC) high | 150 | 67.5 | Consumer/delivery |
| H.264 standard | 100 | 45 | Web delivery |
Pro Tips and Common Mistakes
Pro Tips
- Always add 15 to 20 percent overhead to your storage estimate. File system formatting, camera metadata, and sidecar files consume space beyond the raw video data. On a 10 TB shoot, that overhead can reach 1.5 to 2 TB.
- Calculate storage per shooting day, not just the total. This tells you how many cards or magazines you need available each day and whether your nightly offload can keep up with the shooting pace.
- If you're deciding between two compression ratios (like REDCODE 5:1 vs 8:1), run both through the calculator and compare the storage difference against the quality difference. On most projects, the visual difference between 5:1 and 8:1 is negligible outside of heavy VFX compositing work.
- Factor in backup copies. Industry standard is a 3-2-1 backup strategy: 3 copies on 2 different media types with 1 copy offsite. Your true storage requirement is roughly 3x the calculated shoot volume.
Common Mistakes
- Using the camera manufacturer's estimated recording time instead of the actual bitrate calculation. These estimates are based on average bitrate, and complex scenes with lots of detail (like foliage or water) spike the data rate significantly above average, sometimes by 30 to 50 percent in VBR codecs.
- Forgetting to account for high-frame-rate scenes. A single day of 120fps B-roll can use more storage than three days of 24fps principal photography at the same codec and resolution.
- Confusing gigabytes (GB) with gibibytes (GiB). Hard drive manufacturers use GB (base 10), but operating systems often display GiB (base 2). A drive labeled 1 TB actually provides about 931 GiB of usable space. Always use the operating system's reported capacity when planning card swaps.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much storage does RAW video use per hour?
It varies enormously by camera and resolution. ARRIRAW at 4.6K uses approximately 1,255 GB per hour. REDCODE RAW at 8K with 8:1 compression uses roughly 270 GB per hour. Blackmagic RAW at 8:1 in 6K uses about 180 GB per hour. Always check your specific camera's RAW bitrate.
What is the difference between RAW and ProRes for storage?
RAW records the unprocessed sensor data with no debayering or color processing. ProRes records a debayered, processed image. RAW files are generally larger at the same resolution but offer more flexibility in post. ProRes 422 HQ at 4K uses roughly 318 GB per hour, while ARRIRAW at 4.6K uses roughly 1,255 GB per hour.
How do I calculate storage for multi-camera shoots?
Multiply the storage per camera by the number of cameras, then add overlap time. If cameras roll simultaneously for 4 hours per day and you have 3 cameras, your daily storage is 3x the single-camera estimate. Don't forget to calculate separate media for audio recorders and any witness cameras.
Can I reduce storage needs by recording to a lower resolution?
Yes, but resolution and codec choice are usually creative and technical decisions, not storage decisions. Dropping from 4K to 1080p roughly quarters the data rate for the same codec. If storage is the primary constraint, explore higher compression ratios at the same resolution first, as this preserves the resolution pipeline while reducing file sizes.
Start Calculating
Storage miscalculations are one of the most common production oversights, and one of the most expensive to correct mid-shoot. Running the numbers before you build your equipment list means you rent the right cards, budget the right drives, and never stop rolling because a magazine is full.
Plug your next shoot's parameters into the calculator above. What codec and resolution do you shoot most often, and has a storage estimate ever surprised you?
