Send large video files to clients and collaborators
Camera masters and edits get large quickly. An hour of 1920 x 1080 ProRes 422 HQ at 25p is about 83 GB at Apple's target data rate. The same hour as H.264 at YouTube's recommended 8 Mbps for 1080p is about 3.6 GB.
This page shows how much footage fits in one transfer, what your client can preview in the browser, and how to send it with Dropvi Free, which takes up to 50 GB per transfer.
Updated 16 September 2026.
How much storage an hour of footage takes
ProRes figures are Apple's target data rates. ProRes is variable bit rate, so actual sizes are usually close to these figures but not exact. H.264 figures use YouTube's recommended upload bitrates for SDR video.
| Format | Frame size and rate | Data rate | Storage per hour | Footage in 50 GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple ProRes 422 Proxy | 1920 x 1080, 50i, 25p | 38 Mbps[1] | 17 GB[1] | 2 h 56 min |
| Apple ProRes 422 LT | 1920 x 1080, 50i, 25p | 85 Mbps[1] | 38 GB[1] | 1 h 18 min |
| Apple ProRes 422 | 1920 x 1080, 50i, 25p | 122 Mbps[1] | 55 GB[1] | 54 min |
| Apple ProRes 422 HQ | 1920 x 1080, 50i, 25p | 184 Mbps[1] | 83 GB[1] | 36 min |
| Apple ProRes 4444 XQ (no alpha) | 1920 x 1080, 50i, 25p | 413 Mbps[1] | 186 GB[1] | 16 min |
| Apple ProRes 422 (QFHD) | 3840 x 2160 (QFHD), 25p | 492 Mbps[1] | 221 GB[1] | 13 min |
| Apple ProRes 422 HQ (QFHD) | 3840 x 2160 (QFHD), 25p | 737 Mbps[1] | 332 GB[1] | 9 min |
| H.264 1080p (YouTube recommendation) | 1080p at 24, 25 or 30 fps | 8 Mbps[2] | 3.6 GB (calculated) | 13 h 53 min |
| H.264 1080p, high frame rate (YouTube recommendation) | 1080p at 48, 50 or 60 fps | 12 Mbps[2] | 5.4 GB (calculated) | 9 h 15 min |
| H.264 2160p (YouTube recommendation) | 2160p (4K) at 24, 25 or 30 fps | 35 to 45 Mbps[2] | 15.8 to 20.3 GB (calculated) | 2 h 28 min to 3 h 10 min |
Scroll sideways to see all columns.
ProRes rows come from the appendix table of Apple's ProRes White Paper (April 2022), which uses decimal gigabytes. H.264 storage per hour is calculated as Mbps × 3,600 ÷ 8 ÷ 1,000. Footage in 50 GB is calculated from storage per hour and rounded down. Dropvi enforces its limit as 50 GiB, about 53.7 GB, so these figures leave a little room.
What your client can preview
Dropvi previews MP4, WebM, OGV and MOV video, and MP3, WAV, OGG, AAC, FLAC and M4A audio, using the browser's own player. Playback depends on the recipient's browser supporting both the file format and the codec inside it.
MDN's Web video codec guide gives browser compatibility for AVC (H.264) as "All versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Safari", and notes that Firefox relies on the operating system's codecs for it. The guide does not list Apple ProRes among the codecs most commonly used on the web.
Whether a MOV file plays depends on the recipient's browser as well as the codec: MDN lists browser support for the QuickTime (MOV) container only for older versions of Safari. If your client needs to review footage in the browser, add an H.264 MP4 review copy to the transfer alongside the master.
Previews are turned off on transfers that have a download limit. Leave the limit off if you want your client to watch before downloading.
How to send footage with Dropvi
- Open dropvi.com and add your files. You do not need an account to send a link, and the free plan takes up to 50 GB per transfer.
- Leave the download limit off if your client should preview the footage. On Business Pro and above, you can add a PIN or password if the material is confidential.
- Confirm your email address with a one-time code if you want to know when your client starts downloading. Dropvi sends one email when the first download starts.
- Share the link. Free transfers stay online for up to 7 days. Business Pro and Teams & Suite keep them for up to 30 days.
- Your client downloads single files, which can resume, or the whole transfer as one ZIP. A dropped ZIP download starts again, so single-file downloads are safer for large masters.
Checking files arrived intact
For files up to 500 MB, Dropvi shows a SHA-256 checksum computed in the sender's browser. The server does not verify it. For larger masters, compute a checksum of the original and of the downloaded copy with the checksum verifier, and compare the two.
Frequently asked questions
How much footage fits in a 50 GB transfer?
It depends on the codec and data rate. At Apple's target rates for 1920 x 1080 at 25p, 50 GB holds about 54 minutes of ProRes 422 or 36 minutes of ProRes 422 HQ. At YouTube's recommended 8 Mbps for 1080p H.264, it holds just under 14 hours.
Will my client be able to preview ProRes files?
It depends on their browser. Dropvi plays video with the browser's own player, so the browser has to support the codec. MDN lists H.264 as supported in all versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera and Safari (Firefox relies on the operating system's codecs), but its codec guide does not cover ProRes. To be sure your client can watch, include an H.264 MP4 review copy.
What if my footage is more than 50 GB?
Dropvi Free takes up to 50 GB per transfer. Business Pro takes up to 200 GB and Teams & Suite up to 1 TB, and a single file can be up to about 156 GiB (about 168 GB). On Free, split the delivery into several transfers, for example one per shooting day or one per reel, or send review copies first and masters separately.
Why is there no preview on my transfer?
Previews are turned off on transfers that have a download limit. A video may also use a codec the recipient's browser cannot play. In both cases the files can still be downloaded.
How long does my client have to download?
Up to 7 days on Dropvi Free, and up to 30 days on Business Pro and Teams & Suite. If you confirmed your email address, you get an email when the first download starts.
Related pages
- Video bitrate calculatorWork out file size from bitrate and duration, and how long the upload takes at your connection speed.
- Checksum verifierWork out a file's SHA-256 or MD5 checksum in your browser and compare it with the one you were sent.
- Client asset deliveryPIN or password access, download limits and branded subdomains on Business Pro, for client handovers.
Send your footage now
Up to 50 GB per transfer on the free plan, with no account needed to send a link or to download.
Sources
Checked on 16 September 2026.
- [1]Apple ProRes White Paper (April 2022), appendix table of target data rateswww.apple.com
- [2]YouTube Help: recommended upload encoding settingssupport.google.com
- [3]MDN Web Docs: Web video codec guidedeveloper.mozilla.org
- [4]MDN Web Docs: Media container formatsdeveloper.mozilla.org