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Clocks and timers

Choose Clock / Timer from the add-object toolbar. It has the same font, alignment, fill, outline and effects controls as text, with a Clock / Timer section in Properties.

  • Clock displays system time. Choose local time, UTC or an IANA zone such as Europe/Istanbul, 12- or 24-hour display, and AM/PM casing.
  • Count up starts at the initial value and can stop or loop at an optional limit.
  • Count down starts at the initial value and stops at zero, continues into negative overtime, or loops. Whole-second displays round up while time remains.

Formats​

Choose a format such as hh:mm:ss, hh:mm, mm:ss, ss or hh:mm:ss.SSS; control the leading zeros independently. Timers show total minutes or seconds when larger units are omitted, so mm:ss can show 90:00. Custom formats accept h, m, s, d (or doubled forms), SSS for milliseconds, A/a for meridiem, and [literal text]. Prefix and suffix add surrounding text.

Automatic and manual time​

Automatic uses the system clock or runs the timer. Timers have Start, Pause, Reset and Restart preview controls, Auto-start on Take In, and Pause when off air. Reset returns to the initial value and pauses; Restart returns to the initial value and runs.

Choose Manual (external data) to display a supplied time without advancing it. Set a fallback and choose an External value data field; connect that field to your feed in Data or change it from Preview & Export. Numeric values are milliseconds. Clock fields also accept 14:30:05, 2:30 PM, or an ISO date/time with an explicit offset, such as 2026-01-01T14:30:05Z. Timer fields accept mm:ss or hh:mm:ss, optional milliseconds and a minus sign for overtime. An invalid feed value leaves the fallback visible. Switching back to Automatic preserves the field binding for later use.

Changing settings on air​

Operators can also change how a clock or timer behaves from data, while it's on air. + Add binding offers Time format on both, Time zone, Hour cycle (12/24) and Show AM/PM on a clock, and Timer duration and Timer end behaviour on a timer. A Select field with a value map turns these into plain choices, such as a Time zone list or a Run into overtime toggle.

  • Changing the display never disturbs the timer. Changing the end behaviour keeps it running.
  • A new duration resets the timer to that value and rearms its alarms. It keeps running if it was running and stays paused if the operator paused it.
  • Durations are milliseconds, mm:ss or hh:mm:ss. A value the setting can't take, such as an unknown time zone, leaves the authored setting on air.

Use real-time output for these on-air setting changes. Scheduled duration and end-behavior updates have not yet been certified for standalone non-real-time rendering.

Animated changes​

Choose an effect in Update text FX and enable Replay on time change to animate displayed clock or timer changes. Keep the animation shorter than the update interval. System clocks use real time during live playback; saved reference time keeps offline frame captures and scrubbing repeatable. Automatic timers use elapsed time rather than counting ticks.

Alarms​

In Clock / Timer → Alarms, use + Add alarm for each threshold. A game-show countdown can have a warning at 00:05 and an ending at 00:00. Each row has its own checkbox, time and Edit rule button. Edit opens the same record in the unified Rules pane, where you choose conditions, actions and targets. A new alarm has no action until you configure one.

Alarms fire once per run on a value crossing, including skipped frames or external data jumps. Reset/Restart rearms them; Pause/Resume retains their fired state. Manual Reset/Restart rearms alarms without replacing the external value. Disabling an alarm keeps its configuration. Countdown rows appear from higher thresholds to lower ones; count-up rows use ascending order. Time-of-day mode retains the settings without running these timer alarms. Playback and testing remain in Preview & Export; editing and scrubbing do not issue live operator commands.