Timer
Cliqer has one timer for the room. You run it from the main window, presenters see it in their room bar, and it can also appear on a second screen as a timer window or on your network as an NDI source.
Run the timer
The timer starts at 15:00, counting down, stopped.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| -5, -2, -1, +1, +2, +5 | Remove or add that many minutes. Works while it runs, without stopping it. While the timer is stopped, it changes the time shown and the time Reset returns to. |
| Presets 5m, 10m, 15m, 20m | Sets the time to that length and waits for you to start. |
| Start and pause button | Tooltips Start and Pause. Starting after a pause carries on from the time shown. |
| Reset | Stops the timer and goes back to the last time you set. |
| Clock digits (Classic) | Click them to type a time. On macOS the hint reads "Click to type a time" (not shown in overtime). On Windows a Set time box opens with Minutes and Seconds fields. |
| Set time | In the Studio layout's Timer section. On macOS press Type a Time, and the clock's minutes and seconds fields open. It is also the time Reset returns to. Typing a time into a running timer restarts it from that time. |
The time can be set from 0:00 up to 999:59. With a preset lit and the timer stopped, changing the time changes that preset.
The timer counts down by default. To count up from 0:00, set Direction under Mode in the Timer section to Counts up (Windows: Count up), or set Counts to Up in Settings, Show, Timer: "Up starts at 0:00. Changing it restarts a running timer."
- Classic Panel: the timer card under the room link has the clock icon, the steppers, the time, the presets, Fullscreen Timer, NDI, and to its right the start and pause button and Reset.
- Split View: the Timer section has the big clock with its state (Ready, Running, Time nearly up, Over time or Paused) and the toolbar button Start, Stop or Resume. Below it, Adjust (Minutes -5, -1, +1, +5, Set time and Presets 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min), Mode (Direction: Counts down or Counts up) and Outputs (Timer Display with Show, Timer NDI and Limitimer).
- Timer menu: Start or Stop (Option-Command-T), Add 1 Minute, Remove 1 Minute, Presets (5 Minutes, 10 Minutes, 15 Minutes, 20 Minutes) and Show Timer Display or Hide Timer Display.
- Classic layout: the same timer card, with the start button named Start timer or Pause timer and the reset button Reset timer.
- Studio layout: the Timer page with big digits and its state (Ready, Running, Time nearly up, Over time or Paused), Start or Stop and Reset, then the groups Adjust (Minutes -5, -1, +1, +5, Presets 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min, and Set time), Mode (Direction: Count down or Count up) and Outputs (Timer display with a button that shows the timer window, Timer NDI and Limitimer). The page's command bar has Start timer or Stop timer, and under More: Add 1 minute, Remove 1 minute, Reset timer, Show timer window and the other shared items.
- Timer menu, in the menu bar of the Studio layout and the Studio window and under the Menu button of the Classic layout: Start or Stop (Ctrl+Num 0), Add 1 Minute (Ctrl+Num +), Remove 1 Minute (Ctrl+Num -), Presets (5 Minutes, 10 Minutes, 15 Minutes, 20 Minutes) and Show Timer Display or Hide Timer Display. See The Windows menu bar.
If your plan does not include the full timer, the Classic timer stays visible but blurred and switched off behind one frosted lock that reads Timer. Press the lock to open the upgrade page. In the Studio layout the minute steps, presets, the timer window, Timer NDI and Limitimer carry the same lock, and in the Timer menu everything but Start or Stop is locked. A Limitimer plugged in says once that it needs the plan. This is the same on macOS and Windows.
Colours and states
The clock changes colour with the state, in the main window, the timer window, on presenters' phones, on the Stream Deck and in the NDI picture.
| State | When | Colour |
|---|---|---|
| Idle | Not started, or reset | Neutral |
| Talk | Running with time left | Green |
| Warning | Running, under a minute left (0:59 and below) | Yellow |
| Overtime | At 0:00 and past it | Red, counting up as a negative time |
| Paused | Started, then stopped | Yellow |
Overtime
When a count down reaches zero the clock shows 0:00 for a second, then -0:01, -0:02 and so on, in red. It does not stop. If you pause during overtime, the overrun is kept and starting again carries on from it. A count up never leaves the Talk state.
While a Limitimer leads, the warning follows its sum-up window instead of the last minute.
The timer window
The timer window is a second screen for the speaker: only the digits, no controls. Open it with Fullscreen Timer (Classic), Show Timer Display (Timer menu), Show (macOS Split View), the Timer display button on the Windows Timer page, or Show timer window in the Windows command bar. The Fullscreen Timer button stays lit while the window is open.
Window title Timer Display, with a hidden title bar. It can use the system full screen. The digits take the colour of the state on the look you choose in Settings, Show, Timer, under Timer window.
Window title Cliqer timer, 960 x 540 to start, and Cliqer remembers the size and place you leave it at. Below 100 % opacity the window is see-through glass: "At 0 the desktop shows through the timer window's glass."
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Digit colour | "Replaces the idle and running colours. Warning and overtime stay yellow and red." Pick the colour under Digits. |
| Background | Any colour, black by default. |
| Opacity | 0 to 100 %, in steps of 5. |
| Font | Roobert, System, Monospaced. |
NDI output
Switch NDI on in the Classic timer card (Studio layout: Timer NDI) and the timer appears on your network as an NDI source called Cliqer Timer. Pick it up in any NDI receiver, for example vMix, or as an NDI input in Studio. With a watermark on your plan, such as the Free trial, the NDI timer carries the same moving watermark as every other output.
Settings, Show, Timer has the output options, with the same names on both platforms:
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Send the timer over NDI | The switch, in Settings on macOS only. "Starts off at every launch." |
| NDI size | 360p, 720p, 1080p |
| NDI frame rate | 10, 15, 24, 30, 60 fps (default 30) |
| NDI alpha | "Transparent background in the NDI output." |
| NDI digit size | 6 to 30 % (default 14). "Share of the frame width." |
If the output cannot start you see Timer NDI Output Failed. NDI sources are found on the local network, which on macOS needs Local Network permission (see Permissions).
When NDI cannot run, the NDI controls are greyed out with a note: "NDI® is not installed on this computer. Install NDI Tools, then restart Cliqer.", "This build of Cliqer has no NDI®." or, on Windows on Arm, "NDI® has no Windows on Arm version. The x64 Cliqer has NDI and runs on this PC."
Limitimer
A DSAN Limitimer connected by its USB cable and the Cliqer timer keep each other in step. Which one leads is set by DIP switch 1 on the Limitimer, and Cliqer follows it. See DSAN PerfectCue and Limitimer for the cable and the switch.
| Mode | Status | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Limitimer is master | Limitimer drives the timer | The Limitimer's time, program, sum-up and signal phase are mirrored. Starting from Cliqer is ignored. |
| Limitimer is slave | Cliqer drives the Limitimer | The Cliqer timer sets the Limitimer's total time and counts it down on the device. |
| Nothing attached | Not connected |
The status shows next to Limitimer under Outputs in the Studio layout's Timer section, on both platforms.
In the Classic layout, with a Limitimer attached, the clock icon becomes Set Sum-Up. Click it and the steppers set the sum-up window (0 to 99 minutes); clicking the time opens Sum-Up minutes and Sum-Up seconds. Two toggles appear: Blink signal lights for this program and Beep for this program. The Devices pill shows the clock and a phase label: Talk, Sum up, Overtime, Setting, Idle or Driven by Cliqer.
Other ways to run the timer
- A paired phone running Cliqer Remote starts, pauses, adjusts and resets the timer, and can set its time. See Cliqer Remote.
- Stream Deck and Bitfocus Companion buttons run the same actions. See Stream Deck and Bitfocus Companion.
- The timer actions (start, stop, reset, add or remove minutes, presets, NDI) can be bound to keys in External Control.
- Presenters in Cliqer Remote see the timer in their room bar. They cannot start or change it.
Timer settings live in Settings, Show, Timer: the count direction (Counts), the timer window look and the NDI output, on both platforms.
Presenters and Chat
Who is in your room, what each presenter is allowed to do, how to remove or block someone, how many presenters your plan allows, and how to chat.
Screen Sharing
Share a display, the Studio Program or an NDI source with the whole room or with one presenter, with sound, and what each platform needs to allow it.