Video Render Time Estimate Calculator
Estimate how long an export will take from your timeline length, frame rate and how many frames per second your machine can render.
How it works
Frames = minutes · 60 · fps · Render time = frames ÷ render speed (fps)
Export time is governed by how many frames the project contains and how fast your machine can process each one. Total frames are the runtime in seconds times the frame rate; dividing by your measured render throughput gives the wall-clock time. The speed-versus-realtime ratio tells you whether an export runs faster or slower than playback — anything below 1× means the render is slower than watching the clip.
Worked example
A 10-minute timeline at 30 fps holds 10 × 60 × 30 = 18,000 frames. If your system exports 12 frames per second, the render takes 18,000 ÷ 12 = 1,500 seconds — about 25 minutes, or 0.4× realtime.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my render speed?
Export a short representative section — say 30 seconds — and time it. Divide the number of frames in that clip by the seconds it took. Use a section with your typical effects and resolution, since heavy effects and higher resolutions slow throughput dramatically.
Why is the estimate sometimes far off?
Render speed is not constant: complex effects, color grades, noise reduction and higher-resolution segments render slower than simple cuts. Codecs with hardware acceleration also speed up some formats and not others. The estimate assumes an average throughput across the whole timeline.
Does a higher frame rate always take longer?
Yes — doubling the frame rate doubles the frame count for the same runtime, so a 60 fps export processes twice as many frames as 30 fps and takes roughly twice as long, assuming per-frame cost stays the same.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.