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Newbie – how do I count from 0 to 25,000?
Hi,
I’m working on a project where I need to superimpose some numbers over most of a video sequence, starting with 0 and stopping on 25,250 near the end (total sequence about 3 minutes duration).I tried this in After Effects 6.5 but the counter seems to work on a fixed timecode and doesn’t seem suitable. I wondered if I can do this in Motion. I’ve got FCS2.
Any ideas on how to do this would me most welcome.
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9 Replies
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Will the numbers go from 0 to 25,250 in a linear order?
Stephen Smith
Lone Peak ProducitonsCheck out my DVD Money Making Graphics & Effects for Final Cut Studio 2
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Yes, the numbers will ascend in a linear order – although in about 2.5 minutes or so they will appear pretty much as a blur – maybe I’m answering my own question – perhaps I need to make it look as if the numbers are counting?
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Seriously, for this project I would stick with AE 6.5. To do this in AE create a Solid. Go to Effects, Text , Numbers. Hit OK so the numbers appear in your comp. Change Decimal Places to 0. Create a key frame for the “Value/Offset/Random Max”. Move the play head 2.5 minutes down the timeline and crank the “Value/Offset/Random Max up to 25250. Create another layer and add the comma yourself when it should appear in the animation. And it will look fantastic, I just did this a month ago.
Stephen Smith
Lone Peak ProducitonsCheck out my DVD Money Making Graphics & Effects for Final Cut Studio 2
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Alan,
Here is a link to a video I did using the steps above.Stephen Smith
Lone Peak ProducitonsCheck out my DVD Money Making Graphics & Effects for Final Cut Studio 2
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Thanks very much Stephen – so its back to After Effects after all! Thanks again.
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I forgot to mention: In AE make sure the Type is set to Number. Also, as for the video that I mentioned above, I only did the numbers in AE and the rest was done in Motion because I felt I could build it faster that way.
Stephen Smith
Lone Peak ProducitonsCheck out my DVD Money Making Graphics & Effects for Final Cut Studio 2
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Hi – tried again with AE 6.5, this time following your advice and got it running exactly how I want it – many thanks – Alan
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Alan,
Very cool! Thanks for letting me know.Stephen Smith
Lone Peak ProducitonsCheck out my DVD Money Making Graphics & Effects for Final Cut Studio 2
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I thought I should mention to all those who are looking for a way to do this in Motion that there is a way in Motion 4, in Steve’s defence I don’t think Motion 4 was on the market when he made his post and I’m guessing it’s not all that easy in pervious versions. I wanted a quick answer of how to do it recently and I don’t do AFX so Steve’s post wasn’t much joy for me (sorry Steve I know you meant well)
Anyway it’s quite simple to do and here’s how. Go to the library – under Generators you’ll see Text Generators and here you can find Numbers. This generator will count for you all day long. Drag it on to your canvas and set your in and out points for where you want it to start and stop. In the inspector you can set the start number and end number and and that’s it AND it’ll do the commas for you!
I found setting the layout method (under the layout tab) to Paragraph and the alignment to Right looked more natural to me.
Hope this helps
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