Animated number counter for video: subscribers from 0 to 100,000
A counter is one of the most requested bits of motion graphics: subscribers, sales, downloads, days to launch. In a template you dig through expressions to change the number. In After Effects you build the count, the easing and the glow yourself.
Here the number, the header and the closing line are in the prompt. The counter races up fast, slows down as it gets close, lands exactly on 100,000, then the rings flash and the thank-you line comes in word by word.
The prompt behind this clip
This exact text produced the clip above, word for word. It is in Russian, and the plugin reads English prompts the same way:
📝
Анимированный счётчик подписчиков: цифры быстро растут от 0 до 100 000, на финале вспышка и подпись «Спасибо, что вы с нами»
Translation for reference (the clip was made from the Russian text above): an animated subscriber counter: the digits climb quickly from 0 to 100,000, at the end a flash and the caption "Thank you for being with us".
Settings: Ultra tier, 16:9, 1080p, 60 fps, 8 seconds. The page plays a smaller copy of the render.
How to make it in Premiere
Open your project and go to Window → Extensions → Butter Motion. The panel docks next to your other windows, so you never leave the edit.
Set the chips under the prompt to match your sequence: 16:9 and the frame rate of your sequence, 8 seconds so the count has room to slow down before the finale. Matching aspect, resolution and frame rate means the clip lands on the timeline with nothing to conform.
Leave Background on With background if the graphic fills the frame. Pick Transparent if it should sit on top of your footage: you get a MOV with alpha (ProRes 4444), and it needs an empty video track above the shot.
Leave the tier on Ultra, the default, in the box left of the Generate button. Flash is cheaper and fine for a quick draft.
Paste the prompt, put in your own text and numbers, and press ↑ (or Cmd+Enter / Ctrl+Enter). The card goes through queued, generating, checking layout and rendering. It takes a few minutes, and you can keep cutting while it works.
On the result screen, choose Unlock customization (free for subscribers) to change text, colours and fonts by hand, or type a change into the Tweak bar ("make the count slower").
Press To timeline. The clip is rendered on your computer, imported into the «ButterMotion» bin and placed at the playhead.
What to change for your number
The final value. Write the exact number you need. In this clip the final value is its own control (Final value), so if the count changes before publishing, type the new number instead of generating again.
What is being counted. Subscribers, orders, kilometres, donations. The header line on top comes from the prompt and is a text control afterwards.
The finale. "A flash and the caption" gives the moment after the count. Ask for confetti, a badge or nothing at all if the counter should just stop.
Overlay or full frame. For a counter over footage, pick Transparent. The background in this clip is also a switch in the controls.
Speed. The controls include speed, the colours of the glow and the progress line, the font and the sizes.
Why not a counter template
A counter template counts to the number its author typed, and changing it means opening expressions or the Essential Graphics panel and hoping the formatting survives. Here the number, the thousands separator and the closing line are part of the request, and the clip renders at the resolution and frame rate of your sequence.
What it costs
One generation at the tier you picked: Flash 7 credits, Ultra 10, Animation 15. Transparency, resolution, frame rate and length do not change the price. For subscribers the controls and the first tweak on each generation are free, and each tweak after that is 5 credits. Rendering and dropping the clip on the timeline cost nothing, and there is no watermark. Plans and credit packs are in the pricing section, the details in How credits work.