A placeholder is a short token in triple braces, typed anywhere inside the words of a text layer, that turns that part of the text into something live: a number that counts up, a countdown clock, a word that keeps changing, letters that decode, or a value you set once for the whole project. The words around it stay ordinary text, and everything that styles text styles the placeholder too.
Insert a placeholder
- Select a text layer.
- Click fx next to TEXT LAYER ▸ Content. The Insert placeholder list explains what each one does.
- Pick one. Its token lands at the cursor in Content (or at the end of the text), ready to edit.
You can also type a token by hand, for example Orders shipped: {{{COUNTER:0-2,480}}}.
For a counter on its own, use Layer ▸ Counter in the timeline toolbar: it adds a text layer named Counter that already holds {{{COUNTER:0-100}}}.
Font, colours, gradients, outline, shadow, the caption bar, text animation, the randomizer and Text on Path all apply to a placeholder; in a text animation it is one unit of the split. Layer names and the timeline show a readable value instead of the token (a counter shows the number it lands on). A token that doesn’t read correctly stays visible as typed, braces and all, which is the sign to check its spelling.
Placeholder types
| Placeholder | Token | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Counter | {{{COUNTER:0-100}}} | A number counting between two values. |
| Timer | {{{TIMER:00:10-00:00}}} | A clock counting down or up. |
| Word cycle | {{{CYCLE:fast|simple|yours}}} | Words separated by | take turns: each one holds, then rolls, fades or blurs into the next. |
| Scramble | {{{SCRAMBLE:Access granted}}} | Random characters that decode into the text one by one, keeping its final width the whole time. |
| Variable | {{{VAR:product}}} | A project variable: set its value once and every text using it updates. |
| Marker name | {{{MARKER}}} | The name of the last timeline marker the playhead passed. |
| Timecode | {{{TIMECODE}}} | The playhead time as hh:mm:ss:ff. |
| Frame number | {{{FRAME}}} | The current frame number. |
One text can hold up to 64 animated placeholders, each with its own settings.
Counter formats
A counter’s format follows the way you type its range:
| You type | You get |
|---|---|
0-100 | Whole numbers from 0 to 100 |
1,000-25,000 | Thousands separators |
0.0-9.9 | Decimals, as many places as you type (up to 4) |
00-59 | Zero-padded digits |
10-0 | A count down |
-50..50 | Negative numbers |
250 | One value counts up from 0 |
Between the two values you can write -, .., to, an en or em dash, or an arrow. A counter holds up to 15 digits.
Timer formats
A timer takes ss, mm:ss or h:mm:ss, with an optional decimal for tenths (00:10.0). Every field after the first has at most two digits and stays below 60. {{{TIMER:05:00}}} counts down from five minutes to zero; {{{TIMER:00:00-01:30}}} counts up.
A timer runs in real time: {{{TIMER:05:00}}} takes five minutes, and its digits simply change like a clock. To make it run faster or roll like a counter, change Duration, Easing or Style on its card.
The PLACEHOLDERS section
As soon as a text holds an animated placeholder (Counter, Timer, Word cycle, Scramble, Timecode or Frame number), a PLACEHOLDERS section appears in the Animate tab with one card per placeholder, named by type and value, for example “Counter 0 → 2,480” or “Timer 00:10 → 00:00”. Two counters in the same sentence can have different styles, durations and easings.
Every field has a green dot that puts it back to its default. The dot in a card’s header resets all of that placeholder’s settings.
Counter and Timer
| Option | What it does | Range / default |
|---|---|---|
| Style | Odometer — every digit rolls on its own and the digits land in a cascade. Roll — a mechanical counter: the last digit spins fastest and each carry turns the next digit. Count — the digits just change. | Odometer (timers: Count) |
| Start | When the count begins, in seconds into the layer. | 0–3600 s; 0 |
| Duration | How long the count takes. | From 0.05 s; 1.8 s (timers: their own length) |
| Easing | The count’s curve. | Power3 Out (timers: Linear) |
| Direction | Odometer and Roll: which way the digits roll — Auto, Up or Down. | Auto |
| Width | Fixed keeps room for the widest value, so nothing around it moves. Fit closes the gap, so the neighbouring words slide as the number grows. | Fixed |
| Turns | Odometer: extra spins on the last digit. | 0–10; 3 |
| Lands | Odometer: Left first, Right first or Together. | Left first |
| Cascade | Odometer: how spread out the landings are (not with Together). | 0–90 %; 45 % |
| Spin blur | Odometer and Roll: motion blur on the spinning digits. | 0–100 %; 35 % |
| Fixed-width digits | Count: gives every digit the same width, so the number doesn’t jitter. | On |
Keyframe a counter or timer
The clock button in a Counter or Timer card’s header gives that placeholder its own progress track in KEYFRAMES, named after it (for example “Counter 0 → 100”). 0 % is the start value and 100 % the end value. The track starts out keyed to match the timed count, so nothing changes until you move a key. From then on the track drives the count instead of Start, Duration and Easing: hold a value to pause, ease the keys in the graph editor, or key it back down to count back. Click the clock again to stop keyframing and remove the track. See Keyframe Builder.
Word cycle
| Option | What it does | Range / default |
|---|---|---|
| Style | Roll, Fade or Blur into the next word. | Roll |
| Start | When the cycle begins, in seconds into the layer. | 0–3600 s; 0 |
| Hold | How long each word stays. | 0–60 s; 1.2 s |
| Duration | How long each change takes. | 0.05–10 s; 0.45 s |
| Easing | The change’s curve. | Power3 Out |
| Direction | Roll: Up or Down. | Up |
| Width | Fit resizes to each word, so the sentence closes up around it; Fixed keeps room for the longest word. | Fit |
| Loop | On, the words keep cycling; off, the cycle stops on the last word. | On |
Scramble
| Option | What it does | Range / default |
|---|---|---|
| Start | When the decoding begins. | 0–3600 s; 0 |
| Duration | How long it takes to decode. | 0.05–60 s; 1.2 s |
| Characters | The random characters: Symbols, Letters, Digits, Binary or Blocks. | Symbols |
| Order | Left to right, Right to left or Random. | Left to right |
| Flicker | How often the random characters change, per second. | 1–60; 18 |
Timecode and Frame number
Time counts from the Timeline start or from the Layer‘s own start. Timecode also has a Format: hh:mm:ss:ff, hh:mm:ss, mm:ss:ff, mm:ss, ss:ff or ss. Both are written into the token, as in {{{TIMECODE:clip mm:ss}}} or {{{FRAME:clip}}}.
Settings live inside the token
A card writes its settings into the token itself, after a semicolon — only the ones you changed. For example, a timer set to finish in ten seconds on a Power2 Out curve reads {{{TIMER:05:00; duration=10; easing=power2_out}}}. Because the settings travel with the words, copying the text to another layer or project brings its animation along.
You can type the settings yourself too:
| Placeholder | Settings |
|---|---|
| Counter, Timer | style (odometer, roll, count), start, duration, easing, width (fixed, fit), digits (tabular, natural), turns, lands (left, right, together), cascade, direction (auto, up, down), blur |
| Word cycle | style (roll, fade, blur), start, hold, duration, easing, width (fit, fixed), direction (up, down), loop (on, off) |
| Scramble | start, duration, chars (symbols, letters, digits, binary, blocks), order (ltr, rtl, random), flicker |
Times are in seconds, cascade and blur in %. easing is an easing name in lower case with underscores, such as power3_out, expo_out or linear. A setting the editor doesn’t recognise is ignored, and the placeholder still plays.
Project variables
{{{VAR:name}}} is replaced by a value you set once for the whole project, so a product name, price or date can change in every title at once. Variables become ordinary words: they wrap, split into words and animate like text you typed.
- Under a text layer’s Content, a Variables field appears for each variable the text uses. Type the value there.
- With nothing selected (or on the Project page of the left rail), PROJECT · TEXT VARIABLES lists every variable. Type a name and press Enter or Add to create one, edit its value, or remove it with ×.
Names can use letters, digits, spaces, _, . and - (up to 40 characters) and are not case-sensitive; a project holds up to 64 variables. Until a variable exists, its token shows as typed. Variables are saved with the project.
Marker name
{{{MARKER}}} shows the name of the last timeline marker the playhead passed, so a chapter title follows your markers. Before the first marker it is empty; {{{MARKER:Intro}}} shows “Intro” there instead, and also for a marker with no name.
Examples
| Text | What it does |
|---|---|
Starts in {{{COUNTER:10-0}}}s | Counts down from 10 inside the sentence |
{{{COUNTER:0-2,480; style=roll; duration=2.5}}} orders | A mechanical roll to 2,480 over 2.5 s |
{{{TIMER:05:00; duration=3}}} | A five-minute countdown that plays in 3 seconds |
Make it {{{CYCLE:fast|simple|yours; style=fade; loop=off}}} | Fades through three words and stops on the last |
{{{SCRAMBLE:Access granted; chars=binary}}} | Binary noise decoding into the words |
{{{VAR:product}}} is live | Shows the project’s product name |
Chapter: {{{MARKER:Intro}}} | Follows the timeline markers |
{{{TIMECODE:clip mm:ss}}} | The layer’s running time |
Agents that edit your project, such as GLEA, write the same tokens and settings, so you can ask for “a counter to 2,480 that rolls in over two seconds” in plain words.
Where to go next
- Text Layers and Text Animation — typography, caption bars, presets and the caret
- Keyframe Builder — easing a counter’s progress track
- Timeline Markers — the markers MARKER reads
- Design Tokens — the project’s shared colours, next to Text Variables in the project settings
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