Sub-timers

Add extra timers to a cue for the things that run alongside it - a walk-on, a VT, a Q&A window or a changeover.

What are sub-timers?

Every cue has its own duration, but plenty of things inside a cue need timing too. A keynote might have a 5 minute Q&A at the end, a segment might roll a 1:30 VT, or a stage manager might need to count up how long a changeover is really taking.

Sub-timers let you add up to 20 extra timers to any cue. They sit directly under the cue’s duration, and each one can count down or up, run with the cue or on its own, and show on your outputs.

A cue with three sub-timers under its duration — A cue with sub-timers under its duration

Add a sub-timer

Hover over a cue and click + Sub timer under the duration. Fill in the settings and click Add.

The New Sub Timer popover — Adding a new sub-timer

Each sub-timer has the following settings:

Setting	Options	Default
Name	Optional, up to 100 characters	Empty
Direction	Count down or Count up	Count down
Duration	Any length up to 100 hours (count down only)	00:00:00
At 00:00	Stop or Keep counting (count down only)	Stop
Start with cue	Runs the timer automatically while its cue is live	Off
Show on output	Shows the timer on rundown outputs	Off

At 00:00: Stop or Keep counting

Stop - the timer holds at 00:00 and turns amber.
Keep counting - the timer runs on into overtime, shown in red with a + prefix, so you can see exactly how far over you are.

Edit or remove a sub-timer

Click the timer to open its settings. Change what you need and click Save, or use the trash icon to remove it.

Clicking outside the popover saves your changes, and Escape discards them.

Reorder sub-timers

Drag a sub-timer by the grip on its right to move it up or down the list.

Running sub-timers

Each sub-timer has its own controls underneath it:

Start / Pause - start the timer, pause it, and resume from where it left off.
Reset - visible on hover. Stops the timer and returns it to its full duration (or to 00:00 for a count up timer).

Sub-timers run as part of the show, so the show has to be started before you can run them. Until then the controls are disabled.

Tip

If a countdown set to Stop has reached 00:00, reset it before starting it again.

Start with cue

A sub-timer with Start with cue turned on follows its cue. It starts when the cue goes live, pauses when the show pauses, and stops when the show moves on. These timers are marked with a bolt icon.

As soon as you press Start, Pause or Reset on one of these timers yourself, you take over. From then on it runs independently of the cue, and the bolt icon greys out to show it.

Independent timers

A sub-timer without Start with cue only runs when you start it. It keeps running even after the show moves on to the next cue, which is useful for things that span more than one cue.

Resetting the rundown

Resetting the rundown timing returns every sub-timer to its starting state, ready for the next run.

Who can do what

Editors can add, edit, remove and reorder sub-timers. They can’t be changed on cues that have Prevent edits turned on.
Show callers can start, pause and reset sub-timers, just like the main transport controls, but can’t change their settings.
Viewers can see sub-timers but not control them.

Duplicating cues and rundowns

When you duplicate a cue or group, duplicate a rundown, or create a rundown from a template, the sub-timers are copied too. Each copy gets its own new ID, so the copies run independently of the originals.

Sub-timers and the API

You can list sub-timers and start, pause or reset them from the public API - handy for Stream Deck buttons or Companion.

Each sub-timer has an ID. To copy it, open the cue’s settings (cog) menu, choose API, and under Sub-timers click Copy “<name>” ID.