Video Storage Cost Calculator
Calculate video data footprint in GB, TB, and TiB based on shooting hours and camera codec bitrates (ProRes, REDCODE, BRAW), implementing the 3-2-1 backup rule across local NAS RAID arrays and cold cloud archival.
Footage Hours & Codec Bitrate
ProRes 422 4K ~500 Mbps, RED 5:1 ~800 Mbps
3-2-1 Storage Pricing
Footage Footprint & 3-2-1 Backup Storage Formula
Storage TB = (Footage Hours × 3,600 × Bitrate Mbps) / 8,000,000; Total Cost = (Local Copies × TB × Hard Drive $/TB) + (Cloud TB × $/TB/Month × Months)- Bitrates: ProRes 422 4K (~500 Mbps), ProRes RAW / REDCODE 5:1 (~800 Mbps), Sony XAVC 4K (~240 Mbps), H.264 (~50 Mbps).
- 3-2-1 Rule: 3 copies of data on 2 different media types, with 1 copy stored securely offsite or in cloud cold storage.
- Local vs Cloud: On-premise NAS drives purchased upfront ($18–$25/TB), AWS S3 Glacier Deep Archive ($1–$4/TB/month).
Step-by-Step Worked Example
Calculation Steps:
How to Use This Calculator
Assumptions & Limitations
- Estimates are based on standard national averages and current prevailing construction materials and contractor rates.
- Actual trade bids may fluctuate according to local building code requirements, permit fees, and site topography.
- Always obtain multiple written bids from licensed, bonded, and insured contractors before commencing work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 3-2-1 backup rule in video production?
The 3-2-1 backup rule mandates having 3 total copies of all raw camera footage, saved on 2 different types of storage media (e.g. fast NVMe editing scratch disk and a local RAID 6 NAS array), with at least 1 copy kept offsite (such as encrypted LTO tape or AWS S3 Glacier cloud storage).
Why is there a difference between decimal TB and binary TiB?
Hard drive manufacturers market capacity using decimal Terabytes (1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes = 10^12 bytes). Operating systems (like Windows and macOS) read storage in binary Tebibytes (1 TiB = 1024^4 bytes = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes). Thus, a 10 TB drive formats to approximately 9.09 TiB of usable space.
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