Creating the Digital Countdown Clock

To create the illusion of a digital clock ticking on the screen, we'll place a set of "digital clock" titles on the Timeline, each displaying a time that is one second later than the title that proceeded it. We'll also add a "beep" sound in a later task. This "digital clock" sits in the center of the screen as the videos we'll add later will build around it in small windows called "PiPs."

Create the Prototype Clock Titles

Click the Add Text button on the Monitor panel.

Select Arial Black as the font.

Set the font size to 50.

Click the Center Text button to center the text.

Type 07:59:55 to replace the default Add Text text.

Click the Color Properties button on the toolbar.

Set the text to to the same golden yellow as the opening text:

• R: 240

• G: 186

• B: 24

Click OK to apply these settings and close the Color Properties dialog box.

Center the text up and down by clicking the Vertical Center button.

Center the text left to right by clicking the Horizontal Center button.

Adjust the Duration for Title 02 on the Timeline and on the Media Panel

Click anywhere on the Timeline to return to the Edit workspace.

Right-click on the Title 02 clip on the Video 2 track and select Time Stretch from the contextual menu. This opens the Time Stretch dialog box.

Set the Duration to 00;00;00;20.

Click OK to close the Time Stretch dialog box.

On the Available Media view of the Media panel, right-click on the Title 02 clip and again select Time Stretch from the contextual menu.

Set the Duration to 00;00;00;20 here as well.

Click OK to close the Time Stretch dialog box.

Did You Know?

You can download digital fonts from the Web. Free fonts are available from many sources on the Internet and many variations on that "digital" look would work well for the clock we're building here. The digital numerals aren't essential, so we're building our clock for this project using a standard Windows font. However, if you want that digital look, use your favorite Internet search engine and search for free fonts. One of our favorite sources for free fonts is www.pizzadude.dk. Of their many free fonts (pizzadude also has fonts for sale), DigitaldreamFat.ttf is perfect for this project. If you'd rather purchase your font directly from a more well-known font company, Monotype's website, www.fonts.com, has a huge browsable and searchable font collection.