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Creating a Timer/Clock!
Hello! I need some help!
I am editing a video in which I want to have a countdown clock in the lower corner of the video and want to be able to control the time (have the timer graphically, not a composite of a clock or anything).
Does anyone have a suggestion on how to either create this or where I could buy a graphic template for this?
Thanks!
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6 Replies
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You can do that easily in After effects.
see this thread:
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/931941“Think of everything in terms of building capacity.”
Kris Merkel
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That’s great – thanks so much!
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Hi John,
I do have a workaround for you. Create a Transparent Video Clip in Premiere of whatever length you need, and to that, apply the TIMECODE effect. This creates a running clock from 0:00:00 on up. EXPORT this as QuickTime with alpha channel (do a short sample first to test the workflow).
Import the resulting clip and place it over any video to have a clock superimposed. I understand that you want it to count down, not up – just go to Speed Change (right-click the clip) and set to REVERSE.
You can also apply CROP if you want to cut off the frames and just show seconds on the right.
When you set up the Timecode effect, I would just place it in middle of screen and make it large. Then, when later using the resulting clip, you can use the Adobe Motion settings to scale and position wherever you wish at any size. Always easier to scale down than up. The timer clip you create can be saved and used on any future project as needed, so you only need to make it once.
If you are proficient with AE, then that may be a simpler method, but in Premiere, the above works. And what I like about having the overlay clip is that any editing changes you make to the underlying video clips do not then need a re-render.
Thanks
Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers -
just logged in to say Thanks Jeff.
This was on my to-do list aswell. -
You’re very welcome, hope it helped
Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers -
Hi, I was surfing for a solution to this problem too and I figured out an easier workaround within Premiere Pro CS6:
Just use the offset option of the timecode effect, it’s a frame number so put a negative number of frames you need.In my case, I need a 2min 30sec countdown so I convert it to frames (30fps in my case) > (2×60+30)x30=4500 frames
Set you desired starting point at 00:00:00:00 with this offset applied and you’ll have the countdown.
You can use the crop effect in order to hide the ‘hours’ or ‘frames’ if you want.
Here a capture:Hope it helps 🙂
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