Where I can I get a counter thingy for a powerpoint slide?

June 28, 2006 8:42 AM

I'm looking for a counter to put on a powerpoint slide that will count up to a number of my choosing. Is there such a thing? I want to be able to say e.g. there are surprising number of widgets in this country and then have the counter ticking up as I'm tallking and then stop at the right number. Variable speed would be good, in case I need big numbers. Any ideas?
posted by janecr to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

VBA. Check around the office to see if anyone knows it. Aw, hell, here's 90% of what you'll need...


const COUNT_TO_THIS_NUMBER = 1000000
Dim intCount as integer

for intcount=1 to COUNT_TO_THIS_NUMBER step 1
me.lblCounter.caption = cstr(intCount)
next intcount


For timed counts to a certain number, you'll have to integrate it with a timer. See your programmer for more details.
posted by unixrat at 8:54 AM on June 28, 2006

If you can find/create an animated GIF, you can insert it into a slide (Insert > Picture > From File...).
posted by davcoo at 8:55 AM on June 28, 2006

or a QT movie or a Flash show...
posted by Gungho at 9:17 AM on June 28, 2006

Couldn't you also do this strictly in Powerpoint through the use of transitions?
posted by utsutsu at 9:35 AM on June 28, 2006

If you have access to a webserver you can use javascript:

http://www.thinkvitamin.com/features/ajax/create-your-own-ajax-effects
posted by empath at 9:41 AM on June 28, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks for suggestions so far, but no one in my office knows VBA, don't have a programmer, don't know to create an animated GIF or QT movie or Flash show or have access to a webserver (and I was hoping to use it tomorrow!) Transitions sounds more promising although haven't used these before either... Will check this out, but any other lower tech, quick solutions very gratefully received...
posted by janecr at 11:38 AM on June 28, 2006

I just tried out my idea in Powerpoint. It's not transitions, I should have said Animations.

What I did was create a slide and added a handful of random clipart. In your case, you could create images of each number, all the same size.

Place the images where you want them, all stacked on top of each other. Select the first image and add an animation to it. I chose Entrance > Appear. Then right click on the animation (in the list in the "Custom Animation" pane on the right), choose Start after Previous. Then, right click on it again and choose Timing. Set the Delay for 1 second.

Repeat this for every number image and boom, each number replaces the last at a 1 second interval. Also, you can set the first one to "On Click" instead of "Start after Previous, so the count wouldnt start until you click or press space bar.

This is a pain to set up and is a lot of work if you are counting to a high number, but it gets the job done without using any external software except for maybe a graphics editor.
posted by utsutsu at 12:41 PM on June 28, 2006

I agree with utsutsu, transitions is the simplest/lowest tech way to do it. Just make a series of images with the numbers you want, then quickly transition them from one to the next. You can count by 10s, 100s, etc. for larger numbers. I've done it before and it's more of a time consumer than a challenge.

You can also do the same with graphs. Just replace each image with the next one in series.
posted by Bobtheordinary at 12:41 PM on June 28, 2006

Dang, utsutsu, you're quick! Animations, you're right. Numbers are easy, they're just text boxes. Graphs or other pictures require creation to make but work the same way once they're made.
posted by Bobtheordinary at 12:43 PM on June 28, 2006