<p>The most complete answer is probably to simply describe the way data rates are calculated.  Basically all HD video uses some amount of compression, but the simple algorithm is to take the number of horizontal pixels times the number of vertical pixels times the color depth (in bits) times the frame rate to get the raw, uncompressed data rate per second.</p>

<p>For 1080p 24bit color at 30fps, this is 1920x1080x24x30 bits per second or 186 megabytes per second of uncompressed video.  That makes 671 gigabytes per hour for an uncompressed stream at 24 bit color and 30fps.</p>

<p>The level of compression typically used can range anywhere from 1:3 to 1:300 so you could be looking at anywhere between 230gb an hour to 2.3 gigabytes for an hour (and possibly even less if they compress really heavily.)</p>

<p>The acceptable level of compression also depends on the format used, the compression options chosen and the level of movement and similar color areas in the video.  So it really is extremely hard to estimate without an idea of what you want to work on with it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-28T14:55:49.647Z
2013-01-28T14:55:49.647Z
AJ Henderson
<p>I'm brand new to video so I don't even yet have a favorite software package.</p>

<p>In general, on popular software like FCPX or Premiere, how many MB per minute of 1080p will I need?</p>

<p>I realize there are a hundred different ways to compress the video, but I'm just asking about the rough storage requirements for a typical editing workflow.</p>

<storage>
How much storage does video editing take?
themirror
# How much storage does video editing take?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-01-27)

I'm brand new to video so I don't even yet have a favorite software package.

In general, on popular software like FCPX or Premiere, how many MB per minute of 1080p will I need?

I realize there are a hundred different ways to compress the video, but I'm just asking about the rough storage requirements for a typical editing workflow.

**Tags:** storage


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-01-28. Score: 0

The most complete answer is probably to simply describe the way data rates are calculated. Basically all HD video uses some amount of compression, but the simple algorithm is to take the number of horizontal pixels times the number of vertical pixels times the color depth (in bits) times the frame rate to get the raw, uncompressed data rate per second.

For 1080p 24bit color at 30fps, this is 1920x1080x24x30 bits per second or 186 megabytes per second of uncompressed video. That makes 671 gigabytes per hour for an uncompressed stream at 24 bit color and 30fps.

The level of compression typically used can range anywhere from 1:3 to 1:300 so you could be looking at anywhere between 230gb an hour to 2.3 gigabytes for an hour (and possibly even less if they compress really heavily.)

The acceptable level of compression also depends on the format used, the compression options chosen and the level of movement and similar color areas in the video. So it really is extremely hard to estimate without an idea of what you want to work on with it.


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