Add a Countdown Timer to Your Video in a Couple of Clicks

Timers can be a handy addition if you want to emphasize the duration of a particular moment in a video. They are widely used for timelapses, progress videos, tutorials, and sports highlights. Countdown timers can also serve as teasers at the beginning of a video or a new scene.

If you’ve been looking for a way to add a countdown timer to your video, there are two easy ways to do that:

1. You can quickly add a simple timer right in VSDC Free Video Editor.
2. You can download a video with a countdown timer from a free marketplace and add it to your clip.

Depending on your goals, one of these methods will surely help you. Below, we’ll review them both, one after another.

How to add a countdown timer to a video in VSDC

VSDC allows you to quickly create a generic timer for a video. You can have it on throughout the entire video or you can display it for a short period.

To try it for yourself, follow the instructions below:

1. Install VSDC on your PC, launch it and import your footage.
2. On the left-hand side, find the “T” icon and select “Counter”.
3. In the pop-up window, select “Whole parent duration” if you want the counting to continue throughout the entire video. Otherwise, select “From cursor position” and hit OK.
4. Manually place the timer on the scene.

Once you’ve added the timer, you’ll be able to customize two things: the design of the numbers and the counting approach. To tweak the design of the numbers, use the text editing menu at the top. You can change practically anything: their size, font, color, outline, and opacity.

To change the counting approach, go to the Properties window on the right-hand side and use the following parameters:

Playing backwards – select ‘True’ if you need a countdown timer, and ‘False’ if you want a direct time count.

Object duration time – if you want to display the timer for a short period of time in the video, use this option to manually set count duration in seconds or in frames.

Pattern – select the desired display option from the dropdown menu. For instance, you can display total days, hours, minutes, seconds, milliseconds, or frames.

And this is it for the first method! If you have any questions left, this video tutorial should make things clearer:

How to add stock countdown footage to your video

If you want to use a more stylized countdown timer in your video, here is a lifehack: use ready-made stock footage. That’s right, sometimes it’s the fastest and the easiest way to achieve the desired look.

1. Search for countdown timer videos on marketplaces like Videezy, Pixabay, Pexels, or Videvo.
2. Carefully read the terms of use and download the footage you like.
3. Place it before the scene you wanted to create suspense for.
4. Merge files using one of the transitions available in the Video Effects menu.

In the example at the beginning of this tutorial, we’ve used the ‘Wipe’ transition that imitates the movement of the clock.

VSDC Pro user? Check this video tutorial

If you happen to be a VSDC Pro user, you can create your own circular progress bar from scratch and customize it the way you want. Watch the tutorial below to find out how.

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