Time-lapse capture planner

A long moment.
A short sequence.

Plan how many photographs fit your capture window, or work back from a playback target. Keep the interval, shutter and extra busy time visible, with exact frame arithmetic and a local checkpoint export.

Free + browser localExact timing modelNo camera connection

Map the capture to the playback

ONE RETAINED PHOTO → ONE PLAYBACK FRAME

01 / Choose your timing constraint

Start with the time
you want to plan around.

Planning modeA capture window includes final entered busy time. A playback target rounds up to complete frames.

Available capture windowFrom the first exposure start to the end of all model activity, including the final additional busy time. Zero is allowed.Capture window unit

Start-to-start interval · secondsTime between consecutive shutter starts, not a delay added after each exposure.

Shutter duration · secondsPositive decimal seconds; enter 0.25 for 1/4 second.Additional busy time · secondsYour allowance after each shutter closes. Include it once; zero is an explicit assumption.

Playback frame rate · fpsPositive decimal or fraction, for example 24, 29.97 or 30000/1001. Those last two are different exact rates.

All decimal inputs accept up to 12 places. Shutter plus additional busy time must fit within the interval. This checks entered arithmetic, not device performance.

02 / Your ideal timing plan

Retained photographs / playback frames

Playback duration
Playback frame rate
Last exposure starts
Last shutter closes
Model completion, with final busy time
Spare time per interval
Entered busy time per frame

Frame	Starts	Shutter closes	Model ready

First start is elapsed 0. Times are seconds; rounded displays are marked. Copy and CSV retain exact fractions. More than 12 frames shows the first five and last five only.

A planning model for one photograph per interval and one frame per photograph. It does not connect to your camera, predict skipped shots or drift, evaluate exposure, estimate storage or establish supported settings. Relative durations do not model calendar dates, time zones or clock changes.

Define the interval.

Enter consecutive start spacing. If your equipment asks for a post-exposure gap, translate the model deliberately using its manual.

Budget the busy time.

Combine the shutter with your extra processing or recovery allowance. Equality leaves zero spare margin, and a numerical fit is not a reliability pass.

Keep the plan.

Export exact summary values and clearly labelled checkpoints locally. The files are reference notes rather than camera control or import instructions.