Help CenterThis guide will help you estimate the storage space needed for your time lapse projects with the ATL4500, and ATL4500G and E10 4K timelapse camera.
Photo File Size
The size of each individual 4k photo can vary.
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Average Size: A typical photo is between 4 MB and 6 MB.
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What causes the difference? The amount of detail and light in the shot.
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Larger Files (~6 MB): Bright, daylight scenes with lots of detail, like a busy city street.
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Smaller Files (~4 MB): Darker scenes with less detail, like a few streetlights on a quiet road at night.
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How Time Lapse Video is Created
A time lapse video is a sequence of photos played back quickly. The camera combines the individual photos it takes into a single MP4 video file.
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Playback Speed: The default speed is 25 frames per second (fps).
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The Formula: This means for every 25 photos the camera takes, it creates 1 second of video footage.
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50 photos = 2 seconds of video
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250 photos = 10 seconds of video
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Example: A Full Day of Shooting
Let's look at a real-world example to see how storage is used.
Scenario: A camera at a construction site is set to take one photo every 20 seconds for 8 hours a day.
Step 1: Calculate Total Photos Taken
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First, find the total seconds of shooting: 8 hours × 3,600 seconds/hour = 28,800 seconds
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Next, calculate the number of photos: 28,800 seconds / 20 seconds per photo = 1,440 photos
Note: The actual number of photos taken per day may be slightly lower. The camera can sometimes skip a frame due to sudden changes in light, which is normal.
Step 2: Calculate Storage Needed for Photos
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Using the largest file size for planning: 1,440 photos × 6 MB/photo = 8,640 MB or 8.64 GB per day.
Step 3: Calculate Final Video Length & Size
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Video Length: 1,440 photos / 25 fps = 57.6 seconds of video.
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Video File Size: When the camera encodes these photos into a 4K video, the file is compressed to be much smaller. The nearly 58-second video will only be about 305 MB.