Video footage storage per hour: what a shoot day weighs, codec by codec
From 16 GB to nearly 1.2 TB per hour depending on the codec. The manufacturers’ own tables, the maths for a full shoot day, and how to hand over footage without shipping a drive.
The short answer. An hour of footage weighs anywhere from 16 GB (ProRes Proxy, 1080p, 24 fps) to nearly 1.2 TB (Blackmagic RAW 6K at 3:1). In UHD at 24 fps, ProRes 422 HQ writes 318 GB per hour: three hours of rolling camera is already close to a terabyte.
A shoot day fits in one line: hourly rate × hours actually recorded × number of cameras. The result almost never fits on a USB stick or through a free transfer service.
How much an hour of footage weighs, codec by codec
Two first-hand sources, consulted on 15 September 2026: Apple's ProRes white paper (April 2022 edition), which lists target data rates in gigabytes per hour, and the tech specs of Blackmagic's Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, which list them in megabytes per second. The “3 hours” column is simple multiplication.
| Codec and resolution | Manufacturer's rate | 1 hour | 3 hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProRes 422 Proxy, 1080p, 24 fps | 36 Mb/s | 16 GB | 48 GB |
| ProRes 422 HQ, 1080p, 24 fps | 176 Mb/s | 79 GB | 237 GB |
| ProRes 422 LT, UHD, 24 fps | 328 Mb/s | 148 GB | 444 GB |
| ProRes 422, UHD, 24 fps | 471 Mb/s | 212 GB | 636 GB |
| ProRes 422 HQ, UHD, 24 fps | 707 Mb/s | 318 GB | 954 GB |
| ProRes 4444 XQ, UHD, 24 fps | 1,591 Mb/s | 716 GB | 2.1 TB |
| Blackmagic RAW 12:1, 4K DCI, 30 fps | 35 MB/s | 126 GB | 378 GB |
| Blackmagic RAW 8:1, 6K, 30 fps | 121 MB/s | 436 GB | 1.3 TB |
| Blackmagic RAW 3:1, 6K, 30 fps | 323 MB/s | 1.16 TB | 3.5 TB |
Mind the units: Apple counts in megabits per second (Mb/s), Blackmagic in megabytes (MB/s). One byte is eight bits, so 35 MB/s is 280 Mb/s. It is the most common mistake when comparing two spec sheets.
Working out your shoot day
The trap is counting hours on set. A ten-hour day rarely produces ten hours of images; a two-hour interview on two cameras produces four. What counts is hours recorded, camera by camera.
- Documentary, one camera, ProRes 422 HQ in UHD at 24 fps, 3 hours recorded: 3 × 318 = 954 GB.
- Two-camera interview, ProRes 422 in UHD, 2 hours: 2 × 2 × 212 = 848 GB.
- Music video in Blackmagic RAW 6K 8:1, 90 minutes recorded: 1.5 × 436 = 654 GB.
Then double it. Footage only really exists in two copies: the evening backup drive weighs as much as the day itself. And if you shoot at 30 fps rather than 24, add about 25 %.
“The file is too large for the destination file system”
This one lands just as you copy the day's footage onto the stick or drive you meant to hand to the editor:
The file is too large for the destination file system.
Free space has nothing to do with it. The drive is formatted FAT32, and Microsoft's technical documentation is clear that a single file on it cannot exceed 4 GB. In ProRes 422 HQ UHD at 24 fps, one clip hits that ceiling in about 45 seconds. Reformatting to exFAT fixes it — and wipes everything on the drive.
Handing over footage: what holds, what breaks
Three ways to get a shoot day to the editor or the client.
- A hard drive by courier. It holds the volume. But drives get lost, dropped, need collecting, and the editor waits until tomorrow.
- A free transfer service. WeTransfer's free plan stops at 3 GB per transfer, Smash guarantees 2 GB without queuing, SwissTransfer goes up to 50 GB (checked on 15 September 2026, detailed in our comparison of the three). One hour of ProRes 422 HQ in UHD fits in none of them.
- A download link. Upload the day, send an address. It is the only method that depends neither on a courier nor on a low ceiling.
That leaves upload time, which mostly depends on your upstream speed. A terabyte at 1 Gbps takes roughly 2 h 15 min; at 100 Mbps, roughly 22 hours. Check your real upload speed before promising same-evening delivery.
Send a whole shoot day as one link
toobigtoshare takes up to 2 TB per transfer: an entire camera card goes in one go. Gather the day's clips into a single archive — an uncompressed zip is enough, the footage is already compressed — upload it, and send the link to the editor however you like. They click and download: no account to create, for you or for them.
A multi-hour upload survives a dropped connection: it resumes where it stopped instead of starting from zero. The file is deleted after 3 days, on a date and time shown in advance, so the editor knows exactly how long they have. And the price doesn't depend on size: $5.49 per transfer, whether it weighs 50 GB or 1 TB. No subscription for a once-a-month shoot.
Send your footage with toobigtoshare — up to 2 TB, no account, one link for the editor.
Frequently asked questions
How much storage does an hour of 4K ProRes take?
According to Apple's white paper, at 3840 × 2160 and 24 frames per second: 65 GB in Proxy, 148 GB in LT, 212 GB in 422, 318 GB in 422 HQ and 716 GB in 4444 XQ. At 30 frames per second, allow about 25 % more.
Is Blackmagic RAW smaller than ProRes?
At comparable settings, often. In 4K DCI at 30 fps, Blackmagic lists 82 MB/s for BRAW 5:1 against 117.88 MB/s for ProRes 422 HQ — roughly 295 GB per hour against 424. BRAW 3:1 climbs back to 136 MB/s.
How big a drive do I need for a shoot day?
Multiply your codec's hourly rate by the hours actually recorded and by the number of cameras, then double it for the backup. Three hours of ProRes 422 HQ in UHD on one camera: close to 1 TB of footage, 2 TB with the copy.
Should I transcode footage before sending it?
No, unless the editor asks. Transcoding to ProRes Proxy cuts the size about fivefold, but the originals will still be needed for grading and the final export. Send the card files as they are.
A day of footage to deliver?
toobigtoshare carries up to 2 TB per transfer, with no account for you or the editor. Uploads resume after a dropped connection. $5.49 per transfer whatever the size, file deleted after 3 days.