Building a Clock Overlay For Your iMovie Videos

macmost.com/e-2266 If you need a clock or countdown timer in your iMovie video, you can create one in Keynote and export it to use in iMovie. You can manually create each second as a slide, or use this simple script to add all of the slides automatically. In iMovie you can adjust the size, color and even reverse the overlay to count down or up. (Text of the script is at the link above.)
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[@jam7204]

In case no one has told you today, you're incredible. You're videos are so helpful! Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise with us. Much appreciated.

[@macmost]

Thanks!

[@elementchurchmi]

This is epic. I was trying to figure out how to edit the script to make the countdown count down instead of up (i.e. start at 2:00 and end at 0:00 instead of counting up from 0:00 to 2:00), but you can export the slide show as a video and then easily reverse the video in iMovie in order to create the countdown. Watch until the end and he explains it! Really helpful video.

[@burnts0x]

Masterful comment: you summarized the entire video! (minus the script)

[@illogicalsavings8268]

How?

[@kouskous5657]

Wow thank you so much !! For French People : Pour les français, il faut remplacer dans le script "Statement" par "Déclaration" pour que ça fonctionne :)

[@FitnessLusya]

Thank you so much, you help me like no one! Today i will put on my new workout on my KZbin channel new timer created by myself !

[@ericahicks7212]

I have been trying to figure this out for months now!!! Thank you so much for this video!

[@AllanLeonardJr]

Wow, I didn't realize Apple's Script Editor recognizes JavaScript!!! This is awesome!

[@SuciSum]

Gary, the MacGyver of Keynote 👍

[@renojames8]

Starting a KZbin channel and you are amazing thanks!!!!!

[@libbybenedict]

This was SO incredibly helpful! Thank you so much!

[@clemfitness]

Hey man, that was super helpful, I was dreading manually building an 8 minute timer, that made it super easy!

[@pleaseplantme-lawnmowingse3859]

Wow this is how peter McKinnon does the count down in 2 min tues. this is incredible. Your videos are making me delighted and eager to get back to the edit rm. so much value !

[@davidgmicrobio]

You, sir, have just earned another subscriber. Well explained and to the point (I can see how this video could've been 20 minutes long with how many steps were involved). Thank you!

[@PamelaDalmatian]

This script was AMAZING! made a 5:00 countdown so fast. first time using script and keynotes haha

[@krismurrell8344]

Omg this has been the best video. I have to make a countdown clock for my escape room (3600 1 second slides), so the scripting has been a MASSIVE time saver. Thank you for making this so easy to understand!

[@nlctraining1483]

Gary you are a genius!!!

[@emilio_319]

Thank you for this outstanding and very easy to follow tutorial. I used your instructions to create several countdown timer movies that I am then placing inside of keynote presentations that I use as a math teacher. Your instructions worked perfectly. Your channel is extremely informative and I already have several other things I’m planning to learn with your videos. Thank you so much!!!!

[@facingthefifties]

You are a genius! Thank you so much for sharing this information. Incredibly helpful!!!

[@SpaceNewsUnfold]

I love you! ❤ Thanks for the incredible helpful video!

[@JessZamarripa]

This is amazing! Thank you so much! I've been wanting to do some pomodoro study with me videos and this helped A LOT!

[@LeandroDaRosaMarques]

We love how you present your tutorial videos. Your timer works perfectly. Will sub and come back often. Thank you.

[@SaptanshuThakur]

great video, clear and crisp explanation.. thank you!

[@shamanstation6821]

This was really informative. I especially liked the script editor. Many thanks Mr Gary 👍

[@THEBLKYOGI]

hey I really appreciate you! thank you for your videos, although I have to watch several times to keep up your content is hands down by far the best ive seen yet! thank you. -upcoming youtuber.

[@seradii]

Fun Fact: Switch your computer language to english for the script to work. Great video - thank you Gary!

[@simplyfitandcurvyyoga]

Thank you so much! This was extremely helpful. I am so glad I found your video and you gained a new subscriber. I would like to add if anyone is using the updated version of keynotes, when you go to edit the masterslide under>>View ...Masterslide is no longer an option. It is now changed to Slide Layout. It took me a while to figure that out.

[@CicelyReneeDoesLife]

Thank you SOOOOOOO much!

[@simplymeditations]

this was so incredibly helpful!! thank you so much for this!

[@albertjanschol]

Okay... I'm not the "reaction kind of guy", but this makes an exception. THANKS A THOUSAND...

[@HaleySchultz]

This was SO helpful! Anything with a program seems intimidating but it was so easy to copy and paste and get this timer going! I made a 25 min and a 5 min (:

[@nicholaswilde3037]

Haley, how did you get the clock format? Mine won't display 00:00

[@xMATHIEx]

I found 2 fixes for this if you are using UK localisation 1. If you get the object error - your app script should say this in the 3rd line (or match master slide name) var slideMaster = presentation.masterSlides["Title - Center"]; 2. If you get blank slides it is because you need to ensure that the master slide layout has the apperance set to 'body' not 'text' Hope this helps!

[@ellerase]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and making it so easy!

[@parallaxx101]

Great solution !

[@JustinMaxwellbiz]

Thank you so much for putting this video together!

[@theotofam5312]

This was really very helpful. I do two minute book reviews on my channel and I've been looking for how to get a timer on iMovie, so thank you so much!

[@Abirella]

wow amazing job. thank you

[@BikeHard]

Great video! Thanks!

[@krennerite1487]

This is so good. I cannot thank you enough.

[@davidhodgson3574]

Genius thanks for this, loved the script that was new to me, but very powerful.

[@tanyaannn]

SOOOO helpful! Thank you!

[@AdrenalineRushAdventures]

Everything works great, but when I try to export Keynote crashes and says it quit unexpectedly... any ideas? Thanks for the great videos!

[@macmost]

Try a restart and see if that works. Otherwise, you'll need to talk to Apple Support.

[@AdrenalineRushAdventures]

@@macmost thank you!

[@aprendebudismo]

Amazing video! clear and it works! I have a spanish laptop, so if your language is different it might show the message like "Error - can't find object". Change the name of the slide from "statement" to the name in your master slide. This worked for me. Thank you Gary!!

[@souzamotasacul]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Amazing!!! Thanks a lot!!!

[@0pshut]

Thank you! This was immensely helpful

[@alexrock9898]

this was a great help. thank you so much.

[@sanjeethoskoti5268]

Hello Gary, I have seen all of the videos those are amazing it helped me to understand my Mac. Can you make all of these I Imovie tutorials for a visually impaired person? With screen reader? I am asking you because your explanation is very easy and simple to understand, by the way, myself I am a visually impaired person I faced a lot of problems while editing movies or videos on Mac in iMovie.

[@MercadoRengelLaw]

Trying to build a 48 minute timer and I Keynote just seems to get stuck. Do you know if that's too large? Otherwise your video is awesome and your explanations are clear and concise.

[@TheSupersizzina]

Super clear and helpful, thank you very much!

[@thehalalgirl6744]

Amazing THANKS SO MUCH!!!

[@beamazingat]

Really useful. Well explained. Saved me loads of time. Thanks

[@jamesthornton1829]

Thanks a lot, this is a great explainer!

[@hcstacktrek]

Very helpful! Thank you!

[@wyattb3138]

Apple updated keynote and the script doesn't work anymore. The slides are added but there no clock. I put "Title - Center" instead of "Statement". Edit: I got it to work because I selected Body and not Title in the edit slide layout mode. I have a timelapse and but I want to see the time of day.

[@wordmasterallison]

Thank you so much!! This was immensely helpful!

[@everwoo]

You’ve literally taught me a whole new way of using iMovie. You are THE BEST!

[@ericgcastile]

Just An Excellent Tutorial As Always!

[@joshmoonphotography]

Really decent video

[@andreahunter590]

So smart! Thank you.

[@ekembasooh5151]

So thankful! If I wanted to change the Jave script for a 30sec or 60 second timer would I just change for......(var i=0;i

[@macmost]

Yes. Try it. The way you work with code like this is you try things and see the result.

[@michaeladesouza8663]

this video is super great!!Well explained,does anyone know how to do the writing black with the background lighter??

[@snaxalig]

Yet another great explanation. How do you change the script to fit also for the new version of Keynote that uses other variables? For instance, the "SlideMaster" is not valid anymore...

[@macmost]

Not sure what you mean. First, it is Keynote that you are controlling with the script, not iMovie. This should still work.

[@snaxalig]

@@macmost Thanks, I changed the question to be about Keynote, of course. My fault. When I first ran the script with Keynote 12.1 I got errors, so I managed to find the Dictionary for Keynote and changed a variable name in the script and then it worked. The funny thing is that when I now try your original script again - well, it works, as you say. I don't know what happened in between, but it works. Great! I'm happy! :)

[@timelytimer]

This is still so helpful.

[@Dai.Natreacts]

this was great! but how would you do it so it can show hours as well? i did one for an hour and 45 min but it just did the whole thing in minutes and seconds

[@macmost]

More difficult. You'll need to do the math to calculate hours, just like calculating minutes in this script. Then get the remaining minutes, then the remaining seconds from that. Then format it all correctly in the string part.

[@Dai.Natreacts]

@@macmost okay thank you!

[@whisperseriously]

Thank you for the awesome video!

[@solvillaverde7566]

excellent video again I love all our videos. I am struggling with one thing. when I try to open script editor the same you did I takes me to the 'save document page'. im using "command and then typing script" could you please help

[@davecarr6718]

Very useful, great to build a timer from scratch like this and the script is a real bonus. I have been trying to add a disappearing circle to represent the countdown but Keynote doesn’t seem to offer it, the line build outs only last for up to 1 minute and the wipe for example only works in a straight line - it would wipe around the border of a circle shape - any suggestions welcome

[@macmost]

Haven't done this with Keynote, but years ago I know you could do it in any animation app by using 4 half-circles: left half white, left half black, right half white, right half black and then stack them in the right order and rotate the black ones over the right ones. Takes some know-how and logic and way too many steps to talk about here. But I'll mention it anyway in case it gives you enough to go by.

[@Eddypok3]

A easier way to do this is to record a google timer/stopwatch. On iMac, press cmd shift and 5 to record. Then press on the select area.

[@Eddypok3]

when you finished recording go to the top of your desktop and press the circle with the square in side

[@macmost]

One problem with that is that it wouldn't be transparent. So a box with the time in it, not a transparent overlay. But for something quick, it could work if quality isn't an issue.

[@Eddypok3]

@@macmost you could use a png creator to erase the black

[@aminaasha197]

Excellent!! Thank you

[@elizabethnewman5600]

Hello, thank you so much for this video! For some reason the timer background is showing up black rather than transparent in iMovie. I triple checked my export settings and they are the same as yours - Apple Prores 4444 and Export to a transparent background box is checked. Any suggestions on how to fix this? Thank you!

[@macmost]

Check everything again. Make sure your Keynote is up-to-date too.

[@JenningsNicky]

So helpful thank you. Is there a way to add a beep too? Like for each second there's a audible noise. I'm guessing this would also be easiest doe through keynote. Thanks again.

[@macmost]

You can try adding that to each slide, sure. Not sure how well that would work in practice, though. It may be easier to make a track in GarageBand that has a beep every second (a loop that you extend for as long as you want) and add that as a separate soundtrack in iMovie.

[@nathelenwanjiru1577]

I can't begin to thank you for this! I have a problem tho I barely know any of the code and I'm trying to do a countdown for more than an hour long videos ( it's for study along videos ) and I can't seem to know how to fix the code where I can see Hours:Minutes:Seconds. Do you have any suggestions on what to change inside the loop as far a creating a new variable h and what to do with minutes and seconds and how to display all of them on the slides??

[@macmost]

Yes, it will take some changes and you'll need to understand the code first. I can't help with that. But if you just want to know the time remaining on a video you don't need this. You can usually just see it in the controls at the bottom.

[@nathelenwanjiru1577]

@@macmost Thanks for the reply! I was able to just do the seconds without including a new variable for an hour. Yes! in case you’re wondering, the file was pretty large but worked perfectly for my vlog video.

[@leticiacallaway9275]

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but when it creates the slides, they are blank instead of having numbers on them. I need a 5 minute timer. Please help! Here is what I'm using...

[@lisaquintana8651]

I know you mostly talk about Macs, but what is your opinion on the Airpods and Airpods Pro? I'm thinking of getting a set, but can't decide which ones to get. The Pros are definitely more expensive, so are they really much better than the standard Airpods?

[@macmost]

I love my AirPods. I haven't tried the AirPods Pro yet as the AirPods are so good that I don't feel the need to get anything else.

[@StrawberryLemonBooks]

Does anyone know how to add a zero in the beginning? For example, 2 minutes would be 02: 00 and and 58 seconds would be 00: 58 instead of just 0: 58 But for something like 10 minutes it'll still stay as 10: 00 Also, this video was so helpful!!! It was pretty easy to figure out how to make the timer count down instead of up from the code you gave! Saved me so much time!

[@macmost]

It gets a bit more complex. Unless you are a coder, it may be easier to just type the text in the frames yourself.

[@StrawberryLemonBooks]

@@macmost Thanks so much for replying so fast! And ok- I'll just do that then lol 😂

[@yvettemasullo5879]

I'm not sure if my problem is that now it is the year 2023 and things have changed or what but I've typed the code (more than once) and it keeps giving me an error Error -2700: Script error. Syntax error: unexpected line at end of script. Any thoughts please? I'm trying to make custom timers for my classes. Thank you.

[@macmost]

A syntax error means you have typed it wrong. Click on the link in the description and try comparing your code to mine.

[@thegolfgiveaway5290]

Thank you so much...you've been very helpful! Quick question for anyone: Can you export via ProRes 4444 on your iPhone? This is the only thing slowing me up currently as I didn't see the option (running an iPhone 11 w/ current update). My current workout around has been green screening but that is difficult because I have less freedom to move whatever I build-out.

[@macmost]

You can't export transparent video from Keynote for iOS, only Keynote for Mac. You can export transparent images, but not movies.

[@thegolfgiveaway5290]

@@macmost thanks for the speedy reply. Kind of what I expected but thought I’d give it a shot👍

[@rcarendsen]

Well I don't know what went wrong but it does not work. It grabs the wrong slide and not the "statement".... perhaps it has something to do with the newer versions of keynote ? I got it to work but I had to start with a " Statement" slide

[@sixthwrist]

Great tutorial, although I'm having an issue. Every three seconds, there's a frame where the previous slide clips with the next, causing both numbers to overlap each other briefly. I've followed every step including "go to next slide after: 1 second". Any solutions?

[@macmost]

Not sure what you are experiencing there. Check the keynote document to make sure each slide is how you want it. Make sure there is no transition between slides. Double-check your export settings.

[@sixthwrist]

@@macmost All slides look normal in Keynote and export settings are exactly the same. However, the problem occurs within the video. My Mac's battery needs a service and shuts down if I do anything that requires more CPU usage than reading emails or watching videos. No one else seems to have problems with the timer so this may be why I'm experiencing the issue. I went ahead and uploaded my file unedited to KZbin (without the timer), and of course, the laptop crashed. I'm taking it into Apple today. Thanks for your support and contribution to the community!

[@reveriepop6228]

Hi. The longer my timers are , the more they end up a few seconds off by the end. Eg my 5 minute timer is 5:04 and my 10 minute timer is 10:08. When I start playing the timer, the seconds match up perfectly but over time they are a little bit off more and more. Do you know what could be causing this? The exported video file straight from Keynote has the issue, so it's not iMovie.

[@macmost]

Maybe because Keynote is not meant to do this with precision. But note that in iMovie you can change the duration/speed so maybe try adjusting the 10:08 to 10? Or just let it be 10:08. Does it matter for what you are making?

[@reveriepop6228]

@@macmost Thanks for your response. Yes precise timing was important for my video, although people probably wouldn't notice unless they looked. Speeding up the iMovie solved the issue for now.

[@Ransomed77]

Awesome, thanks for the script! I'd also like a countdown time from 2 min to 0.....so, I changed the script, but the it added infinite number of sides until I stopped it. What am I missing? This is what I changed it to (only changed the var line): var i=121;i>=0;i++)

[@macmost]

Your loop needs to start at 120, but then you need to use i-- not i++ to count down.

[@duncancampbellcreative]

how would I script it if I didn't want the colon or leading zeros? Like from 60 to 0?

[@SmartHomeMakers]

I think I found the solution to my problem!

[@fenerhacerbetul]

The export page asks about an FPS as a difference. In the end, 25 mins video took 25:16. What's the mistake? I did a 5 min timer and this time it's 4:56 why? I do everything as you say. The only difference is that it's asking for FPS, what's that? Also when I choose CUSTOM and 4444, I get results like 3GB videos. It this normal?

[@macmost]

FPS = frames per second. Not sure why the difference. Maybe some extra at the start and end of your Keynote presentation. 3GB is normal since 4444 is no compression in order to have it be transparent.

[@fenerhacerbetul]

@@macmost thx for the answer. No, unfortunately, it doesn't work well, I still have the problem. So I have to download a timer video and put it on my clips on movie, which wasn't really what I wanted but there's no choice.

[@SoNowWhat]

Amazing!

[@felipemontupin7476]

one more subscriber here

[@travishutchinson2801]

The exported video seems to be slow by 1%, for ever 100 seconds, it is off by exactly 1 second. (ie 1:40passes in real life, and the video is only at 1:39). The first 10-15 seconds look good, but then it starts to be noticeable as more time passes. (at 3:20, the video is only at 3:18)

[@macmost]

Depends on what you are doing. Creating some drama in a video and I don't think anyone is going to care. Doing scientific studies or something, then you'd probably be using professional apps, not iMovie.

[@hasanmd4177]

Hey if you could answer my question it would greatly help, i am trying to do mine for 30 minutes and all the steps are going well except for when i try to save it and send it to imovie, it wont let me and it says that it cannot be transferred. Why might this be and what other options do i have to fix it ?

[@macmost]

Hard to say what could be wrong. 30 minutes is a lot of slides. Maybe try 1 minute and build that first.

[@bettysjoy7379]

Great video! Can you tell me how I need to adjust the code when I'd like to count down 3 hours? It should look like this: 3:00:00. I just can't figure it out :( Thank you!!

[@macmost]

There's no easy answer. It will simply take several lines of new code to extrapolate on what I show here. And that would create a lot of frames in a huge keynote presentation. Probably better to use some pro solution if you need to do that instead, or hire a video pro to help.

[@yvesbenini4438]

great thanks

[@EviesHangout]

Hi! Thank you very much for sharing this tutorial! Has anyone figured out a solution for Keynote "adding" time when you export the slides to video? When I tried this out months ago, it worked. But since then, there has been an update to Keynote, and now when I go to export a timer video, it adds about 16 seconds in total to the runtime of the video. I have the settings similar to the video: (Self Playing, All slides exported, Go to next slide after 1 second, 1920 x 1080, Apple ProRes 4444, no fill in slides), and I have checked at the beginning and end of the video to see if it was extra time added there. It seems to be a slight delay in going through some slides in the video that when added up makes the 16 seconds. Thanks for helping!

[@macmost]

You have to account for everything: the length of the slide, the length of the transitions, the delay on each transition/animation, and the delay on each slide that is part of your export settings.

[@EviesHangout]

@@macmost thank you for your quick reply! Are these in the export settings or do I go into the keynote presentation settings to look at these options? Again thank you for pointing me in the right direction and have a good day

[@macmost]

@@EviesHangout Most of this is on each slide. Bring up the Build list so you can see each element and how long it takes to do things and how everything overlaps, if at all. There is that one setting when you export too. If you want your presentation to export as a video with timing precision, you will really need to micromanage everything.

[@EviesHangout]

@@macmost woo hoo, I got it to work! Thank you again!💜

[@BROVIBRATIONS]

Does anyone know how to modify the script so it is a countdown? Thank you!

[@BROVIBRATIONS]

I tried modifying it. I want to do a 10 minute countdown; so i=600 and this seemed to work out (only changes were on line 5 of the code) : var Keynote = Application("Keynote"); var presentation = Keynote.documents[0]; var slideMaster = presentation.masterSlides["Statement"]; for(var i=600;i>=0;i--) { var m = Math.floor(i/60); var s =i-m*60; var newSlide = Keynote.Slide({baseSlide:slideMaster}); presentation.slides.push(newSlide); newSlide.defaultBodyItem().objectText = m+":"+String(s).padStart(2,'0'); }

[@edrodriguez323]

Do you do any video editing tutorials for Final Cut Pro X?

[@afireinside0]

thank you :))))))))))

[@maskedmarvel09]

Is this still accurate? Because when I run the script it does add the slides in keynote, but they all say '0:00', instead of actually adding a second each slide..

[@jacobstory8154]

Great video. I pasted the script from your website and it is duplicating the slides, but not inserting the numbers. I'm trying to make a 5 minute timer and I am getting the 300 slides automatically, but they all have the default text. The only thing I changed is 120 to 300. What am I doing wrong?

[@macmost]

Just look carefully at what you have and compare it to what I show. Make sure the Keynote presentation is right and all steps are done.

[@Letish1]

I'm having the same issue. Were you able to figure it out? I went over the code several times and it matches except for the slide name

[@modernman8347]

can you do this in powerpoint as i cant download keynote to my pc

[@hasanmd4177]

MINE IS STUFFING UP the numbers come out small and not large

[@luispayano8213]

this video saved me hours.. is there any way you. an help me with the code. I need a count up 1-3000 and I can't get the code correctly everything else Is self explanatory thank you!

[@macmost]

Just change the 120 to 3000.

[@luispayano8213]

@@macmost thanks for the response .. Im trying to make the number go to 1-3000 and with this script is based on increments of 60 and adds a : .. I'm trying my best to fix the code.

[@InvestWithValue]

god send

[@thehalalgirl6744]

when exporting the keynote, after a really long time loading, i get an error message basically saying that it can't be exported. how can i figure out what's wrong/fix it?

[@macmost]

Try restarting and only launching Keynote and exporting. If that doesn't work, maybe duplicate it and in the duplicate try exporting without one frame and see if it works. Then the next, etc., to figure out what is causing the trouble.

[@gurcancimenay]

Great!

[@arshadayyub6282]

as we can not put many layers in imovie, but if we export again and again to add layers doest it reduces video quality in imovie final exported video?

[@macmost]

Yes. Each time you export you are compressing the video and that costs in quality.

[@arshadayyub6282]

@@macmost thank you ❤️