creating a countdown timer for a scene

[xfoo]

for a short i am making theres a part where i need a composite between a shot of a bomb with a timer on it counting down from 60 - 0 in seconds and another scene with someone running through a building trying to find it in time. i have thought of 3 possible ways of going about making the timer but dont know which would be the easiest/ most effective.

FIRST WAY - use 4 7 segment led's with the proper ic's tocontrol them and a pulser for the timeing. - PROBLEM : i have made a timer with a single 7seg led but it was just a 0 to 9 counter.... it was going forwards and not to 60. what i need is to go from 60 to 0 in seconds, and it would be nice if i could have the milliseconds too.

SECOND WAY - using the 4 7 seg led's, the ic's to control them, and a parllex basic stamp. i have found a few places on the web that show you how to make a regular clock using a basic stamp soo i was thinking of maybe going with this and trying to modify the program soo instead of displaying hours and minutes it shows seconds and milliseconds but counting down instead of up. PROBLEM : i have done some basic things with a basic stamp (servo control, blinking led's) but never anything this complex, i just want to know if anyone has any suggestions for doing this, if its even possible to program in such a way.THIS ONE WOULD ALSO LOOK THE COOLEST BC
OF THE BASIC STAMP IS A CIRCUT BOARD :)

THIRD WAY - do the whole basic stamp set up but film it with the 7 segment leds off then in post go into apple motion 2? or adobe after effects? to make it look like the led's are lit up and set as a timer. is this possible? would it be difficult? i have alittle experience with these 2 programs, but have used flash for a few years soo i know alittle about animation.

can anyone give me any suggestions for any of these ideas? or give me a possible idea of your own? any input would be much appreciated :)

thanks!

[TeamJoeDawn]

for a short i am making theres a part where i need a composite between a shot of a bomb with a timer on it counting down from 60 - 0 in seconds and another scene with someone running through a building trying to find it in time. i have thought of 3 possible ways of going about making the timer but dont know which would be the easiest/ most effective.

FIRST WAY - use 4 7 segment led's with the proper ic's tocontrol them and a pulser for the timeing. - PROBLEM : i have made a timer with a single 7seg led but it was just a 0 to 9 counter.... it was going forwards and not to 60. what i need is to go from 60 to 0 in seconds, and it would be nice if i could have the milliseconds too.

SECOND WAY - using the 4 7 seg led's, the ic's to control them, and a parllex basic stamp. i have found a few places on the web that show you how to make a regular clock using a basic stamp soo i was thinking of maybe going with this and trying to modify the program soo instead of displaying hours and minutes it shows seconds and milliseconds but counting down instead of up. PROBLEM : i have done some basic things with a basic stamp (servo control, blinking led's) but never anything this complex, i just want to know if anyone has any suggestions for doing this, if its even possible to program in such a way.THIS ONE WOULD ALSO LOOK THE COOLEST BC
OF THE BASIC STAMP IS A CIRCUT BOARD :)

THIRD WAY - do the whole basic stamp set up but film it with the 7 segment leds off then in post go into apple motion 2? or adobe after effects? to make it look like the led's are lit up and set as a timer. is this possible? would it be difficult? i have alittle experience with these 2 programs, but have used flash for a few years soo i know alittle about animation.

can anyone give me any suggestions for any of these ideas? or give me a possible idea of your own? any input would be much appreciated :)

thanks!

I would fake the whole thing in photoshop and composite on top of your black or dark bomb console..

Get the perspective right and match the look well, and I don't think anyone could tell.

Of course, this is easier if you are locked down when filming the bomb.

J

[xfoo]

ya.. pretty much that would be it for the main part... but when he gets too it and tries to diffuse it the scene will show the bomb but the camera will be moving and will be harder to match im guessin...

[TeamJoeDawn]

ya.. pretty much that would be it for the main part... but when he gets too it and tries to diffuse it the scene will show the bomb but the camera will be moving and will be harder to match im guessin...

Yeahh.. but its all in how you shoot it..

Im not a master at after-effects or something similar, but with that, you can motion map images onto moving video with key anchorpoints.. I could help with the photoshop part, but id be lost in the motion matching.

J

[xfoo]

yah... the photoshop part i could prolly do but same... the motion map... owell monday in electronics im gunna mess with the basic stamps some more. basically i think im gunna have to write a command for every single segment for every single second soo 60 seconds x 14 segments (2 leds) = 800 commands... and thats w/o doing milla seconds :(