Frame Rate File Size Calculator
Raw video size is fully determined by its geometry: pixels per frame, bits per pixel, frames per second, and duration. This calculator multiplies those out to show how large uncompressed footage is, then compares it to a target encoded size based on a bitrate you provide. Enter the width and height in pixels, the frame rate, the bit depth per pixel, the clip duration, and a target encode bitrate. You get the raw size, the data rate, the encoded size, and the effective compression ratio. The raw formula divides total bits by 8 to give bytes.
Video file size formula
Bits per frame = width * height * bits per pixel
Raw bits = bits per frame * fps * duration
Raw bytes = raw bits / 8
Raw data rate(Mbps) = bits per frame * fps / 1,000,000
Encoded bytes = bitrate(Mbps) * 1,000,000 * duration / 8
Compression ratio = raw bytes / encoded bytes
Raw video is uncompressed; the encoded estimate uses your target bitrate. Real codecs vary with content complexity.
Video storage context
- 1080p (1,920 by 1,080) has about 2.07 million pixels per frame.
- 4K UHD (3,840 by 2,160) has four times the pixels of 1080p.
- 8-bit color is 24 bits per pixel; 10-bit HDR is 30 bits per pixel.
- One minute of raw 1080p30 24-bit video is roughly 11 GB.
- H.264 and H.265 commonly reach compression ratios from 50 to 1 up to several hundred to 1.
Frame rate file size calculator: frequently asked questions
How is raw (uncompressed) video size calculated?
Raw size equals width times height times bits per pixel times frame rate times duration in seconds, divided by 8 to convert bits to bytes. Uncompressed video is enormous: one second of 1080p at 30 fps with 24-bit color is about 187 megabytes.
What does bit depth mean for video?
Bit depth is the number of bits used per pixel to record color. Standard 8-bit color uses 24 bits per pixel (8 bits each for red, green, and blue). 10-bit color uses 30 bits per pixel and is common in HDR. Higher bit depth means more color precision and larger files.
Why is the encoded file so much smaller than raw?
Codecs such as H.264 and H.265 use temporal and spatial compression, removing redundancy between frames and within frames. Compression ratios of 50 to 1 or higher are typical, which is why a streamable file is a tiny fraction of the raw size.
How do I estimate encoded size from a bitrate?
Encoded size equals the target bitrate in megabits per second times duration in seconds, divided by 8 for megabytes. A 10-minute clip at an 8 Mbps target is 8 times 600 divided by 8, which is 600 megabytes. Enter your encoder's target bitrate for this estimate.
Does frame rate change the file size proportionally?
For raw video, yes: doubling the frame rate doubles the number of frames and so doubles the size. For encoded video the relationship is weaker, because compression exploits similarity between consecutive frames, but higher frame rates still increase the encoded size.
Official sources
- International Telecommunication Union: ITU-T H.264 advanced video coding standard.
- NIST: National Institute of Standards and Technology, units of digital information.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 17 June 2026. See our methodology.