Highpass

PPTimer – presenter view countdown

Controls PPTimer, which draws a countdown on top of the presenter view (visible to the presenter only, never on the audience screen), or on any screen: the PPTimer app on Windows (PowerPoint) or on a Mac (Keynote and PowerPoint). Needs PPTimer 1.0.0 or later; layouts need 1.1.0 or later, and 1.0.3 or later is recommended so feature toggles stay correct when pressed quickly.

Setup

1. Windows: run install.cmd from the PPTimer folder on the presentation PC (accept the admin prompt, so it accepts network connections). Mac: open PPTimer.app.
2. Enter the computer's IP address here. The default port is 9595. If you set apiToken in PPTimer's config.json, enter the same token (it is stored as a secret).
3. Drag presets from Timer control, Adjust time, Speed (hidden from the presenter), Features on / off, Set duration and Layouts onto your buttons.

Layouts

A layout is a saved preset of where the timer is shown and how: on PowerPoint's or Keynote's presenter view, or on a screen (main, external, or a numbered one), with its position, size and look, optionally with the rest of the screen black (a fullscreen timer). PPTimer starts with PowerPoint, Keynote (Mac), Screen and Fullscreen; create, rename and edit them on the PPTimer web page (http://<computer>:9595/). The layout dropdowns list the layouts PPTimer reports; you can also type a name.

Actions

• Start, Pause, Start/pause toggle, Reset (to duration, paused), Restart (to duration, running)

• Set duration: 90, 5:00 or 1:05:00, optionally start or pause afterwards

• Add / remove time (same formats)

• Speed: run faster / slower: changes the speed by a step (%, default 5)

• Speed: set: sets the speed (100% = real time, 50–200%)

  The presenter never sees the speed, only the time. At 105%, 10:00 lasts 9:31. Set duration, Reset and Restart go back to 100%.

• Layout: select (by name) and Layout: next / previous

• Overlay show / hide / toggle

• Overlay position / size / opacity of the active layout (easier: drag it on the PPTimer web page)

• Colour thresholds (amber / red, as m:ss)

• Turn a feature on / off / toggle: amber, red, blink at zero, count up after zero, minus sign, sound at zero, and for the active layout: transparent background, outline, black screen behind the timer

• Play test sound

Invalid times (empty, 1:, 5:75) are not sent; a warning goes to the connection log.

Variables

$(pptimer:remaining), remaining_seconds, duration, duration_seconds, progress_percent, phase (normal / warning / critical / expired / offline), status (running / paused / offline), running, overlay_visible, presenter_view (the timer is placed: presenter view or screen found), layout, target ("PowerPoint presenter view", "Screen 2 · DELL U2720Q"), speed ("105%"), speed_percent (105)

Feedbacks

Timer phase, Running, Paused, Overlay visible, Timer placed, Layout active, Speed changed (not 100% / faster / slower), Feature enabled, Not connected

Connection

PPTimer sends its state on every change plus a heartbeat every 5 s. Once the first heartbeat has arrived, the module reconnects if nothing arrives for 12 s.