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Install the skill (once)
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Install the Recharm video effects skill: download https://recharm-growth-staging.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/website/downloads/recharm-video-effects.zip and unzip it into ~/.claude/skillsAsk for the effect
Add a countdown timer to input.mp4 Label: SALE ENDS IN
Several videos, several effects, one ask
Put your clips in the folder, mention them with @, and ask for everything at once. Claude runs one tested script after another on each clip, then joins them.
Add a countdown timer to @clip1.mp4, put a sale badge on @clip2.mp4, give @clip3.mp4 a VHS look, then join all three with crossfades.
Settings you can change
Ask Claude to change any of these, or edit them at the top of the script.
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
START | 23:59:59 | What the clock shows on the first frame. |
LABEL | SALE ENDS IN | The line above the clock. |
In other editors
From each editor’s own help pages, in our words. We haven’t run these ourselves.
Built in: countdown timer styles · web
- Select Elements in the left menu.
- Under Progress Bars, pick one of the countdown timer styles.
- Change the colors, choose how long it appears, and add animations if you like.
- Press Export to save your edits.
Source: Countdown Video Maker - Animated Progress Bars (VEED), checked October 22, 2026.
Without the skill
Don’t want to install the skill? Paste this prompt into Claude Code and Claude writes the script itself.
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Add a countdown timer to input.mp4: near the top center, a dark translucent rounded box with "SALE ENDS IN" in yellow and a white HH:MM:SS clock under it that starts at 23:59:59 and goes down one second every second. Use Python with Pillow to draw it and ffmpeg to put it on the video (don't rely on ffmpeg's drawtext filter), keep the audio, and save it as output.mp4.Run it without Claude
This is the exact script we tested. Save it as countdown-timer.py and run:
python3 countdown-timer.py input.mp4 output.mp4Show the script
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Countdown timer: a "sale ends in" clock that ticks down one second at a time.
Usage: python3 countdown-timer.py input.mp4 output.mp4
Needs ffmpeg and Pillow (pip install pillow).
"""
import json
import math
import subprocess
import sys
from pathlib import Path
from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
LABEL = "SALE ENDS IN"
START = "23:59:59" # what the clock shows on the first frame (hours:minutes:seconds)
Y = 0.11 # where the timer's center sits (0 = top, 1 = bottom)
FONTS = ["/System/Library/Fonts/Supplemental/Arial Bold.ttf", # macOS
"/usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSans-Bold.ttf", # Linux
"C:/Windows/Fonts/arialbd.ttf"] # Windows
FONT_FILE = next((f for f in FONTS if Path(f).exists()), None) or sys.exit("No bold font found: add one to FONTS")
def clock(t):
hh, mm, ss = (int(x) for x in START.split(":"))
left = max(0, hh * 3600 + mm * 60 + ss - int(t))
return f"{left // 3600:02d}:{left // 60 % 60:02d}:{left % 60:02d}"
def overlay(t):
img = Image.new("RGBA", (w, h))
draw = ImageDraw.Draw(img)
label_y, digits_y = h * Y - digits.size * 0.55, h * Y + label.size * 0.45
x0, _, x1, _ = draw.textbbox((w / 2, digits_y), "00:00:00", font=digits, anchor="mm")
pad = w * 0.04
draw.rounded_rectangle([x0 - pad, label_y - label.size, x1 + pad, digits_y + digits.size * 0.7], radius=pad, fill=(0, 0, 0, 170))
draw.text((w / 2, label_y), LABEL, font=label, anchor="mm", fill=(255, 214, 0))
draw.text((w / 2, digits_y), clock(t), font=digits, anchor="mm", fill="white")
return img
def probe(path):
info = json.loads(subprocess.check_output(["ffprobe", "-v", "error", "-select_streams", "v:0", "-show_entries",
"stream=width,height,r_frame_rate:format=duration", "-of", "json", path]))
s = info["streams"][0]
num, den = s["r_frame_rate"].split("/")
return s["width"], s["height"], s["r_frame_rate"], float(num) / float(den), float(info["format"]["duration"])
def render(src, out):
"""Draw overlay(t) on every frame of src and save to out, keeping the audio."""
ff = subprocess.Popen(["ffmpeg", "-y", "-v", "error", "-i", src,
"-f", "rawvideo", "-pix_fmt", "rgba", "-s", f"{w}x{h}", "-r", rate, "-i", "-",
"-filter_complex", "[0:v][1:v]overlay=shortest=1,format=yuv420p[v]",
"-map", "[v]", "-map", "0:a?", "-c:v", "libx264", "-crf", "18", "-c:a", "copy", out],
stdin=subprocess.PIPE)
for i in range(math.ceil(duration * fps)):
ff.stdin.write(overlay(i / fps).tobytes())
ff.stdin.close()
if ff.wait():
sys.exit("ffmpeg failed")
src, out = sys.argv[1:3]
w, h, rate, fps, duration = probe(src)
label = ImageFont.truetype(FONT_FILE, round(w * 0.045))
digits = ImageFont.truetype(FONT_FILE, round(w * 0.12))
render(src, out)
