Video & Storage
8K Video Storage Calculator
Work out how many terabytes an 8K shoot needs - per hour, per day and across the whole project.
Free to useNo sign-up requiredNo watermarkRuns in your browser
8K has four times the pixels of 4K, and in intra-frame codecs such as ProRes the data rate grows with it. An hour of 8K ProRes 422 HQ at 30 fps is well over a terabyte and a half, so an 8K project is planned in terabytes per day, NAS volumes and proxy workflows rather than in cards.
Pick 8K UHD or 8K full width, the frame rate and a codec - including ProRes 422 Proxy for the proxy files you will edit with - and see GB per hour, TB per day, per week and per month, and the total for your shoot and cameras.
How this tool works
Choose the 8K format
8K UHD (7680 × 4320) or full-width 8K (8192 × 4320), and the frame rate.
Choose the codec
In-camera H.265, a ProRes flavour (Proxy, LT, 422, 422 HQ) or RAW-class.
Enter your own bitrate if you have it
Raw and H.265 bitrates vary so much between cameras that your figure is worth typing in.
Describe the shoot
Hours per day, shooting days and the number of cameras.
Plan the storage
Use the per-day figure for on-set offload drives and the total with backup for your NAS or archive.
How it works
Storage per hour is the bitrate × 3,600 ÷ 8. Per day multiplies by hours and cameras; the total multiplies by shooting days. Week and month figures assume recording every day, as for continuous capture.
ProRes rates for 8192 × 4320 are Apple’s published targets. Apple does not tabulate 7680 × 4320, so for 8K UHD those figures are scaled by frame area (7680 ÷ 8192 = 93.75%), which is how ProRes data rates behave.
H.265 and raw are the least predictable. Phones that record 8K may use well under 100 Mbps; cinema cameras can record raw at several gigabits per second. The defaults are rough stand-ins - enter the figure from your camera’s data-rate table whenever you can.
Adding ProRes 422 Proxy files for editing is common for 8K: compute the camera originals first, then switch the codec to Proxy with the same hours to see how much the proxies add.
Common use cases
- Sizing a NAS or RAID volume for an 8K production, including a second copy.
- Working out how many high-capacity SSDs or recorder media to rotate each shooting day.
- Comparing 8K ProRes 422 HQ with ProRes 422 or H.265 before committing to a workflow.
- Estimating how much space proxy files will add to the project.
Apple ProRes 8K target data rates (8192 × 4320)
From the target data-rate table in Apple’s ProRes white paper. Real ProRes files are usually close to these targets. For 7680 × 4320, multiply by about 0.94.
| ProRes 422 Proxy, 24p / 30p | 622 / 778 Mbps · 280 / 350 GB/hour |
|---|---|
| ProRes 422 LT, 24p / 30p | 1,400 / 1,750 Mbps · 630 / 788 GB/hour |
| ProRes 422, 24p / 30p | 2,011 / 2,514 Mbps · 905 / 1,131 GB/hour |
| ProRes 422 HQ, 24p / 30p | 3,017 / 3,771 Mbps · 1,358 / 1,697 GB/hour |
| ProRes 422 HQ, 60p | 7,542 Mbps · 3,394 GB/hour |
Planning an 8K workflow
- Offload drives: at least one day’s footage, plus room for a verified copy.
- Editing: proxies (ProRes 422 Proxy or LT) keep an 8K timeline responsive on most computers.
- Network storage: 1 Gbps Ethernet moves at most about 125 MB/s, so a 1 TB day takes over two hours to copy; 10 GbE is common for 8K.
- Archive: keep at least two copies, ideally one off-site.
Formula
GB per camera-hour
bitrate (bits/s) × 3,600 ÷ 8
TB per day
per hour × hours per day × cameras
Total
per day × shooting days
Double it for a backup copy.
ProRes at 7680 × 4320
Apple’s 8192 × 4320 rate × 0.9375
Worked examples
One 8K camera in H.265 at 400 Mbps, two hours a day for five days
400 Mbps is 180 GB per hour, so 360 GB a day and 1.8 TB for the shoot - 3.6 TB with a backup copy.
Two cameras at 2,000 Mbps, three hours a day for ten days
2 Gbps is 900 GB per camera-hour. Two cameras for three hours make 5.4 TB per day, and ten days make 54 TB before any backup.
Frequently asked questions
How much storage does 1 hour of 8K video need?
Anything from under 50 GB (8K on a phone) to well over a terabyte. In-camera H.265 at 400 Mbps is 180 GB per hour; 8K ProRes 422 HQ at 30p is about 1.7 TB per hour at full width. The codec decides it.
What is the difference between 8K UHD and full-width 8K?
8K UHD is 7680 × 4320, the television standard. Full-width 8K (8192 × 4320) is about 6.7% wider and is used by some cinema cameras. ProRes data rates scale with that difference.
Should I edit 8K natively or with proxies?
Many editors use proxies for 8K. They take extra storage - the calculator can size them if you switch to ProRes 422 Proxy - but make editing far smoother. Modern computers with hardware ProRes decoding can handle native 8K ProRes better than 8K H.265.
Why are the week and month figures so large?
They assume you record every day at the hours you entered, which suits continuous capture. For a production, the total - day figure × shooting days - is usually the number you need.
Is the RAW-class figure accurate?
No - it is a placeholder at ProRes 4444-level rates. Raw data rates vary with the camera and the compression setting. Enter your camera’s published figure for a real plan.