Estimate how much of your shoot day will be consumed by lighting and camera repositioning, accounting for crew efficiency.
Camera moves, lighting adjustments, grip changes, and full relights can consume a large share of a shooting day. The Setup Time Calculator estimates that workload and turns a setup plan into a practical production-time estimate.
Use it to calculate Total Setup Time, Average Setup Time, and Setups per Day from the number of camera positions, the mix of standard setups and full relights, crew efficiency, and camera-ready hours.
This calculator focuses on production setups within a scene or shooting day. It is not designed to estimate room turnover between client bookings. Results are planning estimates, and actual setup time can change because of location access, equipment, crew size, blocking, lighting complexity, safety requirements, or technical issues.
A setup is a distinct camera position or coverage configuration that requires the crew to prepare the camera, lighting, grip, and related elements before shooting. Some changes are relatively small, while others require a complete relight.
The calculator separates those workloads. Standard setups combine three components:
Time per standard setup = Camera reposition time + Lighting adjust time + Grip and rigging time
Full relights use the separate Full Relight Time input instead of adding the standard camera, lighting, and grip values.
Crew efficiency then adjusts the raw estimate:
Adjusted total setup time = Raw total setup minutes ÷ (Crew efficiency factor / 100)
At 100 percent efficiency, the workload is unchanged. Below 100 percent, additional time is added.
Start with the number and type of setups, then enter realistic averages for the work required to complete them.
Enter Total Setups as the number of camera positions planned for the scene, sequence, or shooting day.
Then enter Full Relight Count, the number of those setups requiring a complete lighting rebuild. Full relights are included within total setups, not added on top.
Standard setups = Total setups – Full relight count
If the plan contains 24 total setups and four full relights, the remaining 20 are standard setups. The full relight count should never exceed total setups.
Use Camera Reposition Time for the average minutes required to move, level, and re-frame the camera. The default is 10 minutes.
Enter Lighting Adjust Time for changes between angles within an already lit space. The default is 20 minutes. Use Grip and Rigging Time for flags, stands, dolly track, and rigging, with a default of eight minutes.
Together, these values create the standard setup time. At the defaults, one standard setup takes 38 raw minutes.
For Full Relight Time, enter the average minutes needed for a complete lighting rebuild. The default is 60 minutes. Do not also add the standard setup components to those relight setups.
Set Crew Efficiency Factor to reflect how efficiently the crew can execute the planned work. The default is 90 percent. A familiar crew in a straightforward location may operate closer to 100 percent, while a new crew or tight space may justify a lower figure.
This factor is a planning assumption, not a judgment of individual crew performance.
Enter Shooting Hours per Day as camera-ready hours excluding the meal break. The default is 10 hours. This converts total setup hours into Days Equivalent and Setups per Day.
Read the hero metrics with the component breakdown to understand both total workload and what is driving it.
Total Setup Time is the adjusted number of hours consumed by all setups after the crew efficiency factor is applied.
Average Setup Time divides adjusted setup minutes by total setups:
Average setup time = Adjusted total setup minutes ÷ Total setups
The calculator labels an average under 30 minutes as Fast Turnaround, 30 to 50 minutes as Standard Turnaround, and over 50 minutes as Slow Turnaround. These are directional planning signals, not universal production standards.
A slow result can indicate that full relights, setup complexity, or efficiency assumptions are consuming substantial time. Depending on production needs, teams may consider pre-lighting, reducing avoidable relights, simplifying coverage, or adding grip support.
Standard Setup Time shows the workload created by setups within an existing lighting environment. Full Relight Time isolates the minutes assigned to complete lighting rebuilds.
Efficiency Loss is the difference between the raw total and the adjusted total:
Efficiency loss = Adjusted total setup minutes – Raw total setup minutes
Full Relight Share of Setup Time compares relight minutes with raw setup minutes. A high share shows that relights are responsible for a meaningful portion of the workload.
Days Equivalent converts total adjusted setup hours into shooting days:
Days equivalent = Total setup hours ÷ Shooting hours per day
Setups per Day divides total setups across that equivalent workload.
These figures describe setup capacity only. They do not include performance time, rehearsals, takes, resets, company moves, meals, or other production activity.
The Setup Load Breakdown shows each component with setup count, minutes each, total minutes, and share, helping identify where setup time is concentrated.
Consider 24 total setups, including four full relights. Camera repositioning averages 10 minutes, lighting adjustment 20 minutes, grip and rigging eight minutes, and a full relight 60 minutes. Crew efficiency is 90 percent, with 10 camera-ready shooting hours per day.
Twenty setups remain standard:
24 total setups – 4 full relights = 20 standard setups
Each standard setup takes 38 minutes:
10 + 20 + 8 = 38 minutes
The standard setups consume 760 raw minutes.
20 × 38 = 760 minutes
Four full relights add 240 minutes, bringing the raw total to 1,000 minutes.
At 90 percent efficiency:
1,000 ÷ 0.90 = 1,111 adjusted minutes
The efficiency adjustment adds about 111 minutes. Total Setup Time is approximately 18.5 hours, and Average Setup Time is about 46.3 minutes.
At 10 camera-ready hours per day, the workload equals about 1.85 days, or 13.0 setups per day. Full relights account for 24 percent of raw setup time.
The average falls in the Standard Turnaround range. It does not mean every setup will take 46.3 minutes. It is an average across standard setups, relights, and the efficiency adjustment.
Use the calculator to compare alternatives before locking coverage and department plans. If the result is slower than expected, identify whether camera repositioning, lighting adjustments, grip work, relights, or the efficiency factor is creating the largest load.
Removing a full relight can have a different impact from trimming a few minutes from every standard setup. Adding more setups may improve coverage but increases workload unless another part of the plan becomes faster.
Use these estimates alongside a detailed film production workflow and department input. Creative intent, safety, equipment, location limitations, and technical quality still determine what setup plan is appropriate.
Setup estimates are more useful when they reflect current schedules, project requirements, crew assignments, equipment plans, and production conditions.
Studio Hero connects scheduling, projects, crew coordination, budgeting, invoicing, equipment tracking, inventory, client workflows, and media assets in one connected studio management system.
Studio Hero’s production management capabilities connect planning, tasks, schedules, resources, and financial information, giving setup-time assumptions context within the wider project workflow.
A setup is a distinct camera position or coverage configuration that requires preparation before shooting. Use a consistent definition across the plan.
A standard setup adjusts camera, lighting, and grip within an existing lighting environment. A full relight requires a complete lighting rebuild and uses the separate Full Relight Time input.
No. It estimates setup workload only. Performance, takes, resets, rehearsals, company moves, and other shooting activity are outside this calculation.
Use a realistic assumption based on crew familiarity, workspace constraints, coordination, and expected conditions. The default is 90 percent, while 100 percent means no efficiency adjustment.
The calculator divides raw setup minutes by the efficiency percentage. A lower percentage therefore increases adjusted time for the same workload.
No. Lighting Adjust Time is one component of a standard setup. Average Setup Time reflects the full adjusted setup workload divided across all setups.
Update it when coverage, lighting approach, crew assumptions, location conditions, rigging requirements, or the number of full relights changes materially.
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