Creating a Countdown in Premiere

One thing you will probably want to get used to is adding a countdown to your tapes before your program, especially if you are outputting for broadcast. Wherever you choose to start your countdown, the last 2 seconds before the program begins should be empty. Therefore, when you create a countdown, you usually see the 2-second mark flash for a split second and then go directly to black. This is why you also never see a 1-second mark in a countdown. This 2-second indicator mark is commonly called a "two pop," because you see and hear the 2-second mark pop in and out for a duration of one frame (1/30th of a second in NTSC standards).

To create a generic countdown, do the following:

1. Select File > New.

2. Select Universal Counting Leader from the pop-up menu. The Universal Counting Leader Setup window appears, as shown in Figure 10.5.

   Figure 10.5. The Universal Counting Leader Setup window for creating standard countdowns in Premiere.

   

3. Set any color attributes in the video portion of the screen.

4. Set any audio attributes in the audio portion of the screen.

5. Click OK.

Notice that the audio section contains two choices. You can add an audio blip at the 2-second mark (the "two pop") or add an audio blip at every second. This helps the person cueing up the tape get a feel for when the program will start.