{"success":true,"version":"v1","request":{"tool":"get_calculator_schema","calculator_id":"time-lapse"},"result":{"entity_type":"calculator","id":"time-lapse","calculator_id":"time-lapse","canonical_url":"https://tttkmbb.com/photography/time-lapse","name":"Time-Lapse Calculator","title":"Time-Lapse Calculator – Shooting Interval, Frame Count and Storage for a Clip Length","category":"photography","category_name":"Photography & Optics","tool_name":"calculate_time_lapse","featured_mcp_tool":false,"description":"Computes the number of frames, the shooting interval and the playback speed-up factor for a time-lapse from the real event duration, the desired clip length and the frame rate, plus storage needs from a per-frame file size.","use_when":"You are planning a time-lapse and need the intervalometer setting, how many shots it takes, or how much card space is required.","do_not_use_when":"You need the file size of a normal video (use video-file-size) or the size of individual photos (use image-file-size).","inputs":[{"name":"event_duration_minutes","label":"Event duration","type":"number","unit":"min","required":true,"max":1000000,"exclusive_min":0,"description":"Real-time length of the event to record, in minutes.","example":120},{"name":"clip_duration_seconds","label":"Clip duration","type":"number","unit":"s","required":true,"max":86400,"exclusive_min":0,"description":"Desired length of the finished time-lapse clip, in seconds.","example":30},{"name":"fps","label":"Playback frame rate","type":"number","unit":"fps","required":false,"default":30,"min":1,"max":240,"description":"Frames per second of the final video (24, 25, 30, 60).","example":30},{"name":"file_size_per_frame_mb","label":"File size per frame","type":"number","unit":"MB","required":false,"max":1000,"exclusive_min":0,"description":"Optional size of one captured frame in MB (RAW 25–50, JPEG 5–12); returns the total storage needed.","example":25}],"outputs":[{"name":"frames","label":"Frames to shoot","type":"integer","decimals":0,"description":"clip_duration_seconds × fps, rounded."},{"name":"interval_seconds","label":"Shooting interval","type":"number","unit":"s","decimals":2,"description":"event duration / frames: the intervalometer setting."},{"name":"speed_factor","label":"Speed-up factor","type":"number","unit":"×","decimals":1,"description":"Event duration / clip duration: how many times faster than real time the clip plays."},{"name":"shooting_time_text","label":"Shooting time","type":"string","decimals":4,"description":"The event duration written as hours and minutes."},{"name":"storage_mb","label":"Storage needed (MB)","type":"number","unit":"MB","decimals":0,"description":"frames × file_size_per_frame_mb (only when the file size is given)."},{"name":"storage_gb","label":"Storage needed (GB)","type":"number","unit":"GB","decimals":2,"description":"Storage in decimal gigabytes (only when the file size is given)."}],"input_schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"event_duration_minutes":{"description":"Real-time length of the event to record, in minutes. Unit: min.","type":"number","maximum":1000000,"exclusiveMinimum":0,"examples":[120],"x-unit":"min"},"clip_duration_seconds":{"description":"Desired length of the finished time-lapse clip, in seconds. Unit: s.","type":"number","maximum":86400,"exclusiveMinimum":0,"examples":[30],"x-unit":"s"},"fps":{"description":"Frames per second of the final video (24, 25, 30, 60). Unit: fps.","type":"number","minimum":1,"maximum":240,"default":30,"examples":[30],"x-unit":"fps"},"file_size_per_frame_mb":{"description":"Optional size of one captured frame in MB (RAW 25–50, JPEG 5–12); returns the total storage needed. Unit: MB.","type":"number","maximum":1000,"exclusiveMinimum":0,"examples":[25],"x-unit":"MB"}},"additionalProperties":false,"required":["event_duration_minutes","clip_duration_seconds"]},"output_schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"frames":{"description":"clip_duration_seconds × fps, rounded.","type":"integer"},"interval_seconds":{"description":"event duration / frames: the intervalometer setting. Unit: s.","type":"number","x-unit":"s"},"speed_factor":{"description":"Event duration / clip duration: how many times faster than real time the clip plays. Unit: ×.","type":"number","x-unit":"×"},"shooting_time_text":{"description":"The event duration written as hours and minutes.","type":"string"},"storage_mb":{"description":"frames × file_size_per_frame_mb (only when the file size is given). Unit: MB.","type":"number","x-unit":"MB"},"storage_gb":{"description":"Storage in decimal gigabytes (only when the file size is given). Unit: GB.","type":"number","x-unit":"GB"}}},"formula":"frames = clip_duration_seconds × fps; interval_seconds = event_duration_minutes × 60 / frames; speed_factor = event_duration_minutes × 60 / clip_duration_seconds; storage_gb = frames × file_size_per_frame_mb / 1000","method":"The interval must be longer than the exposure time plus the camera's write time; intervals below about 1 s exceed what most intervalometers allow. Frame count is rounded to a whole number before the interval is derived.","sources":[{"name":"Wikipedia – Time-lapse photography","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-lapse_photography","type":"reference","retrieved_at":"2026-09-24"},{"name":"Wikipedia – Intervalometer","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervalometer","type":"reference","retrieved_at":"2026-09-24"}],"freshness":{"type":"static","max_age_seconds":null,"note":"Deterministic formula with fixed constants; results never go stale. Inputs supplied by the caller determine the output."},"examples":[{"name":"2-hour event as a 30 s clip at 30 fps, 25 MB RAW frames","inputs":{"event_duration_minutes":120,"clip_duration_seconds":30,"fps":30,"file_size_per_frame_mb":25},"expected":{"frames":900,"interval_seconds":8,"speed_factor":240,"storage_gb":22.5,"shooting_time_text":"2 h 0 min"},"url":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/time-lapse?event_duration_minutes=120&clip_duration_seconds=30&fps=30&file_size_per_frame_mb=25"},{"name":"6-hour sunset as a 20 s clip at 24 fps","inputs":{"event_duration_minutes":360,"clip_duration_seconds":20,"fps":24},"expected":{"frames":480,"interval_seconds":45,"speed_factor":1080},"url":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/time-lapse?event_duration_minutes=360&clip_duration_seconds=20&fps=24"}],"faq":[{"q":"What interval should I use for clouds, sunsets or stars?","a":"Rules of thumb: fast clouds 1–3 s, sunsets 5–10 s, slow clouds and shadows 10–30 s, stars 20–40 s (limited by the exposure), plants and construction minutes. Compute the interval from the planned clip length and check it against these."},{"q":"Does the shutter speed matter?","a":"The exposure time must fit inside the interval with margin for the camera to save the file; for smooth motion many shooters use a shutter of about half the interval ('dragging' the shutter)."}],"tags":["time lapse","timelapse calculator","intervalometer","shooting interval","frames","storage"],"related":[{"calculator_id":"image-file-size","reason":"Per-frame file size from resolution and format."},{"calculator_id":"video-file-size","reason":"Size of the rendered clip from its bitrate."},{"calculator_id":"data-storage","reason":"Convert the storage figure between units."}],"links":{"html":"https://tttkmbb.com/photography/time-lapse","markdown":"https://tttkmbb.com/photography/time-lapse.md","json":"https://tttkmbb.com/photography/time-lapse.json","api":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/time-lapse","schema":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculators/time-lapse","openapi":"https://tttkmbb.com/openapi.json","mcp":"https://tttkmbb.com/mcp"},"version":"v1","updated_at":"2026-09-24"},"timestamp":"2026-09-24T03:45:03Z"}