Introduction
This calculator is a reimagined version of one of the first programs I made when working at Rhythm and Hues during the late 1990s prior to the emergence of digital cinema cameras.
My motion picture film calculator is designed to be pretty handy and is designed to provide useful information when planning a film shoot.
Basic usage is chosing a format and frame rate and filmCalc will show you all sorts of information on how many frames you get per roll/cartridge, how much recording time, what current camera films are available for the given format, plus a few other tidbits.
Advanced features are entering a desired recording time you're aiming at and it will show you how many rolls or cartridges you'll need to hit that mark.
Another advanced feature is if you have cans or cartridges of film already you can enter that footage count and discover how much roll time you'll get out of it.
* A brief sanity check. I'm showing maximum record times. Depending on your format and how you shoot you'll certainly be losing frames at the head and tail of a roll as well as footage in between takes depending on how many cuts you make. Overprovisioning when shooting motion picture film is ideal. My general mindset is -2-5 feet on 400', -4-10 feet on 1000' for Super 35mm. Scale up or down from there depending on format, camera, frame rate, and workflow.
© phil holland 1999-