Recording Size Calculator
Gameplay recordings fill drives fast. Enter the bitrate from your recording settings and how long you record, and see how big the file will be and how many hours your free space holds.
OBS shows it in Kbps: 20,000 Kbps = 20 Mbps.
Recording size
Where to find your bitrate. In OBS it's under Settings, Output, Recording (switch Output Mode to Advanced to see it). NVIDIA's and AMD's recording overlays show it in their video quality settings. If you record with a quality setting such as CQP or CRF instead of a bitrate, the file size depends on what's on screen, so record a minute of gameplay and check the file to find your real figure.
Recording a console? See our capture card picks, and for drives that keep up with long recordings, the best NVMe SSDs for gaming.
How this works
- File size in megabytes = (video bitrate + audio bitrate, in kilobits per second) × duration in seconds ÷ 8 ÷ 1,000.
- It shows the result in GB (1,000 MB), and how many hours of recording fit on the drive space you enter.
- Bitrate is what you set in OBS, ShadowPlay, AMD ReLive or your capture software; the tool doesn't assume one.
Recorders using a constant bitrate (CBR) land very close to this figure. Variable bitrate (VBR) and quality-based modes such as CQP or CRF vary with what's on screen, so treat the result as a guide.
Where the figures come from: Unit conversion only: 8 bits per byte, 1,000 kilobits per megabit.