Video / ProRes Storage Calculator

About Video / ProRes Storage Calculator

Video file sizes vary enormously depending on the codec, resolution, and frame rate. A one-hour 4K recording can be 45 GB in H.264 or 790 GB in ProRes 4444 XQ. This calculator estimates file sizes for professional codecs so you can plan storage for shoots, archives, and transfers before you run out of space.

How Video File Size Is Calculated

For constant-bitrate codecs like ProRes and DNxHR, file size scales linearly: File Size = Bitrate x Duration. The bitrate for these codecs is determined by the resolution, frame rate, and quality tier. For variable-bitrate codecs like H.264 and H.265, the calculator uses typical average bitrates for each quality tier.

Factor	Effect on File Size	Example
Resolution (2x)	~4x file size	1080p to 4K = 4x more pixels per frame
Frame rate (2x)	~2x file size	24 fps to 48 fps = twice as many frames
Codec quality tier	2x-10x depending on codec	ProRes 422 Proxy vs ProRes 4444 XQ = ~6x difference
Colour depth	~1.5x for 10-bit vs 8-bit	10-bit captures finer colour gradations

Codec Comparison at 4K 24fps (1 Hour)

Codec / Quality	Typical Bitrate	1 Hour at 4K 24fps	Use Case
H.264 Low	~20 Mbps	~9 GB	Web delivery, proxies, social media
H.264 Medium	~45 Mbps	~20 GB	Streaming master, good quality archive
H.264 High	~100 Mbps	~45 GB	High-quality delivery, camera recording
H.265/HEVC Medium	~30 Mbps	~13.5 GB	Same quality as H.264 Medium at ~40% less size
ProRes 422 Proxy	~66 Mbps	~30 GB	Offline editing proxies
ProRes 422 LT	~132 Mbps	~59 GB	Lightweight editing, review copies
ProRes 422	~198 Mbps	~89 GB	Standard production codec, post-production
ProRes 422 HQ	~264 Mbps	~119 GB	High-quality mastering and grading
ProRes 4444	~396 Mbps	~178 GB	VFX work, alpha channels, colour-critical
ProRes 4444 XQ	~594 Mbps	~267 GB	Highest-quality ProRes, HDR mastering
DNxHR HQ	~264 Mbps	~119 GB	Avid Media Composer editing
Blackmagic RAW 5:1	~340 Mbps	~153 GB	Camera RAW with moderate compression
CinemaDNG (RAW)	~900+ Mbps	~405 GB	Uncompressed RAW, maximum flexibility

ProRes Family Comparison

Apple ProRes is a family of six codecs with different quality-to-size trade-offs. All are constant bitrate (CBR), so file sizes are perfectly predictable. ProRes rates are published by Apple and scale linearly with resolution and frame rate.

ProRes Variant	Quality	Data Rate (1080p 24fps)	Colour Depth	Alpha Channel
422 Proxy	Lowest - for offline editing	~15 Mbps	10-bit 4:2:2	No
422 LT	Light - 70% of 422 size	~26 Mbps	10-bit 4:2:2	No
422	Standard production quality	~37 Mbps	10-bit 4:2:2	No
422 HQ	Broadcast and mastering	~56 Mbps	10-bit 4:2:2	No
4444	VFX and grading	~84 Mbps	12-bit 4:4:4	Yes (up to 16-bit)
4444 XQ	Highest quality	~126 Mbps	12-bit 4:4:4	Yes (up to 16-bit)

The 4:2:2 in "ProRes 422" refers to chroma subsampling - the colour information is sampled at half the horizontal resolution of the luminance. ProRes 4444 samples colour at full resolution (4:4:4), which matters for green screen keying and colour grading.

Storage Planning for Shoots

Knowing your file sizes lets you calculate how much storage to bring on location. The calculator shows how many hours of footage fit on common drive sizes, but here is a quick reference for ProRes 422 at popular resolutions:

Drive Size	1080p 24fps	1080p 60fps	4K 24fps	4K 60fps
256 GB	~15.5 hours	~6.2 hours	~2.9 hours	~1.2 hours
512 GB	~31 hours	~12.4 hours	~5.8 hours	~2.3 hours
1 TB	~62 hours	~24.8 hours	~11.5 hours	~4.6 hours
2 TB	~124 hours	~49.6 hours	~23 hours	~9.2 hours
4 TB	~248 hours	~99.2 hours	~46 hours	~18.4 hours
8 TB	~496 hours	~198.4 hours	~92 hours	~36.8 hours

A good rule: bring at least 50% more storage than you think you need. Shoots always run longer than planned, and having to stop because you ran out of drive space is the worst possible outcome.

H.264 vs H.265 (HEVC) vs AV1

Codec	Compression Efficiency	Encoding Speed	Hardware Support	Best For
H.264 / AVC	Baseline	Fast	Universal - every device since ~2010	Compatibility, real-time streaming, fast turnaround
H.265 / HEVC	~40% smaller at same quality	2-3x slower to encode	Most devices since ~2017	4K delivery, storage-constrained archives
AV1	~50% smaller than H.264	Very slow (software), fast with hardware encoders	Recent GPUs and devices (2022+)	Web streaming, YouTube, future-proof archiving

For delivery (web, streaming, sharing), H.265 and AV1 save significant storage at the same visual quality. For production (editing, grading), ProRes and DNxHR are preferred because they decode faster and handle repeated re-encoding without quality loss.

Camera Recording Formats

Camera System	Common Format	Typical 4K Bitrate	1 Hour at 4K
iPhone / smartphone	H.265 / HEVC	~135 Mbps (ProRes on iPhone 15 Pro+)	~60 GB (HEVC) or ~135 GB (ProRes)
Mirrorless (Sony, Canon)	H.264/H.265 (internal), ProRes (external recorder)	100-400 Mbps	45-180 GB
Blackmagic Cinema	Blackmagic RAW	200-900 Mbps	90-405 GB
RED	REDCODE RAW	300-1200 Mbps	135-540 GB
ARRI	ARRIRAW / ProRes	500-2800 Mbps	225 GB - 1.26 TB

If you already have footage and want to estimate transfer times, try the file transfer time calculator. For converting between storage units, the storage converter handles GB, TB, and binary equivalents. All calculations run in your browser with nothing sent to a server.