CGTimer

Production clocks for CasparCG, Ontime, and Blackmagic HyperDeck — all in one configurable, layout-driven dashboard.

CGTimer started as a media-time monitor for CasparCG playback and has grown into a general-purpose broadcast control room display: drag and drop the widgets you need, save the layout, and pull it up live during a show.

If you are using CGTimer, share some pictures and I'll open a gallery on the wiki — code@jcalado.com.

☕ Like CGTimer? Buying me a coffee at ko-fi.com/jcalado keeps the features coming.

Screenshot

What's new in 3.0

• Drag-and-drop layout editor. Split widgets left/right/up/down, resize panels, save multiple layouts and switch between them on the fly.
• HyperDeck recorder widget. Connect to one or more Blackmagic HyperDecks over the legacy text protocol (TCP/9993), see live STBY / OFFLINE / recording timecode with a recording indicator.
• Ontime integration suite. Five new widgets that mirror Ontime over OSC: current timer, event title, playback state, on-air indicator, and expected finish time.
• Time-of-day countdown. Counts down to a target wall-clock time (e.g., 20:00:00); goes overdue with a + prefix.
• World clocks. Pin a configured timezone with a city label and live GMT offset.
• Per-widget styling. Custom label, foreground / background / label colors per widget, with reset.
• OSC layout switching. /layout/load "Show A" swaps the active layout remotely.
• OSC-driven stopwatches. Trigger named timers from OSC: /timer/{name}/start, /stop, /reset, /toggle, /set <ms>.
• Fullscreen toggle. Press F (or use the on-hover button) to enter fullscreen on the configured display.
• Preferences shortcut. Cmd/Ctrl + , opens settings.
• Portable Windows build. A single cgtimer-x.y.z.exe portable binary is now produced alongside the NSIS installer.

Widgets

Group	Widget	Notes
Clocks	World Clock	Pick from a configured timezone list
Clocks	Local Clock	Local system time
Playback	Remaining Timer	CasparCG remaining time (red under 10 s, blinks at end)
Playback	Elapsed Timer	CasparCG elapsed time
Playback	Loop State	Spinning loop icon while looping is active
Playback	Now Playing	Filename of the clip playing on the CasparCG layer
Playback	Pause State	Playing / paused / no-clip indicator for the CasparCG layer
Playback	Next Clip	Clip cued via LOADBG; flashes NOT CUED as the playing clip ends
Playback	Clip Progress	Progress bar for the playing clip
Playback	Channel Format	Video mode and framerate of the CasparCG channel
Playback	Server Health	CasparCG AMCP connection, version and round-trip latency
Timers	Time-of-day Countdown	Counts down to a target HH:MM:SS
Timers	OSC Timer	Named stopwatch driven by /timer/{name}/... OSC commands
Ontime	Ontime Timer	Mirrors timer.current
Ontime	Ontime Title	Title of the currently running event
Ontime	Ontime Playback	Play / Pause / Stop / Roll / Armed icon
Ontime	Ontime On-Air	● LIVE / OFF indicator, blinks while on-air
Ontime	Ontime Expected Finish	Wall-clock time the current event is expected to end
Recorders	HyperDeck Recorder	Live status + record timecode for a Blackmagic HyperDeck
Recorders	HyperDeck Media	Remaining record capacity on a HyperDeck's active slot
Recorders	All Recorders	n/m REC rollup across every HyperDeck, with offline warning
Audio	X32 Channel	Mute state and name of an X32/M32 input channel
Audio	X32 Meter	Live input level meter (dB scale) for an X32/M32 channel
Utility	Variable Tile	Shows any value pushed to /display/{key} over OSC

Configuration

Open settings

Press Alt to reveal the menu, or Cmd/Ctrl + , to jump straight to Preferences. From there you can configure the OSC port and CasparCG channel, pick the display, set default colors, and manage your timezones and HyperDecks.

CasparCG connection (AMCP)

Setting a Server address in Preferences opens an AMCP connection (TCP/5250 by default) that powers the Server Health widget: reachability, server version, and round-trip latency via PING. On CasparCG 2.4+ the connection also issues OSC SUBSCRIBE, so the server streams OSC to CGTimer with no casparcg.config changes. Older servers refuse the command; the health widget then shows a NO OSC PUSH badge and you configure the OSC target in casparcg.config as before. Leaving the address empty disables the AMCP client entirely; OSC listening works as always.

Variable tiles

Any OSC sender can drive a Variable Tile by sending /display/{key} <value> to CGTimer's OSC port; sending the address with no arguments clears the tile. In Bitfocus Companion, add a generic OSC instance pointed at CGTimer and a trigger like "on variable change, send /display/cam1 $(atem:input_1_name)", and the tile becomes a live readout for that variable. Arguments are joined with spaces, so multiple values in one message work too.

Companion feedback

Layouts are switchable from a Stream Deck by sending /layout/load "Show A" from a Companion Generic OSC instance. To make the buttons light up with the active layout, set the Companion address in Preferences → Companion: CGTimer then pushes the active layout name to Companion's inbound OSC API (/custom-variable/cgtimer_layout/value, port 12321 by default) on every switch, on startup, and every 10 s as a keepalive. Create the custom variable in Companion under Variables → Custom, then give each layout button a Check variable value feedback comparing it to that button's layout name. CGTimer also emits a generic /layout/active "Show A" to the same target for non-Companion consumers.

X32 / M32 mixer

Set the console address in Preferences → Mixer (OSC port 10023 by default) to enable the X32 widgets. CGTimer subscribes with /xremote and /meters and renews automatically; channel names, mute states and fader levels come straight from the desk, so relabeling a channel on the console updates the dashboard.

Widget setup guidance

In edit mode, every widget card has a ? button next to the split and color actions. It opens a help dialog with what the widget shows, how to read its states, the live status of its data source (never configured, configured but silent, offline, or pointing at a deleted timezone/recorder, with a "last packet" line for OSC sources), and numbered setup steps with an Open settings button that jumps to the right Preferences tab. When the source needs attention, the ? icon is tinted amber (setup needed) or red (offline / broken reference). Run mode is unaffected.

Layout editor

In edit mode (toggle from the dock), drag widgets from the palette onto an existing widget's edge to split it, click the splitter handles to resize, and use the per-widget actions for split-right, split-down, color settings, or remove. Save the result, give it a name, and duplicate / rename / delete from the dock dropdown.

CasparCG

CGTimer expects a CasparCG server configured to output OSC data. In caspar.config:

<osc>
  ...
  <predefined-clients>
    <predefined-client>
      <address>127.0.0.1</address>
      <port>6251</port>
    </predefined-client>
  </predefined-clients>
</osc>

Replace 127.0.0.1 with the IP of the machine running CGTimer.

Ontime

To show the active Ontime event timer (and the rest of the Ontime widgets):

1. In Ontime → Integrations → OSC settings, set OSC Output to on.

2. OSC target IP: the IP of the machine running CGTimer.

3. OSC target port: the same port CGTimer uses for CasparCG (e.g. 6251).

4. Add OSC integrations cycling every second:

   Address	Argument
   /from-ontime/current	{{timer.current}}
   /from-ontime/expectedFinish	{{timer.expectedEnd}}
   /from-ontime/title	{{eventNow.title}}
   /from-ontime/playback	{{playback}}
   /from-ontime/onAir	{{onAir}}

Blackmagic HyperDeck

In Preferences → Recorders, click Add and provide a label, host/IP, and the HyperDeck's text-protocol port (default 9993). CGTimer connects over TCP, polls transport info continuously, and reflects the deck's reported display timecode while recording.

OSC control

Address	Args	Effect
/layout/load or /layout/select	"Layout name"	Switch to the named saved layout
/timer/{name}/start	—	Start a named OSC stopwatch
/timer/{name}/stop	—	Stop
/timer/{name}/reset	—	Reset to zero
/timer/{name}/toggle	—	Start/stop toggle
/timer/{name}/set	<ms: number>	Set elapsed value in milliseconds

Building from source

yarn install
yarn dev          # run in dev mode
yarn build        # type-check + bundle
yarn make:linux   # AppImage + .deb
yarn make:win     # NSIS installer + portable .exe
yarn make:mac     # .dmg + .zip

Releases are built via GitHub Actions → Release app → Run workflow after bumping package.json version.

Credits

The visual design is heavily inspired by dimitry-ishenko-casparcg/timer.