How To: Create a Manual Timer

Some users may wish to display their own timer that starts and stops at times of their choosing, rather than simply displaying the lap times from a data file. To do this, you will just need to create a simple data file to feed that timer...

As a starting point, click here to download "Timer.csv"

The "Timer.csv" file is set to run the timer for 15 minutes (900 seconds). For optimal results, you should edit your saved copy of it and change the 900 number to be your completed lap/segment time (enter the number of seconds), but that is your option. The following row should be set to a value that is 10 or more seconds higher, as that allows the completed lap/segment time to be held on the screen for several seconds.

Add the file as an input in your RaceRender project, then cancel out of the data template menu that appears. Now right-click on it in the Input Files list, select Create Display Object, and choose the Lap Timer. You should now have a timer that starts running at the start of your project. To choose when it appears and starts running, use the Input File Synchronization Tool to set its Offset Within Project box to the desired time in your project.

If you do not edit the file to set the desired length, you can instead use the Trim Tool to shorten it, but that will not freeze the completed lap/segment time on the screen at the finish line like you would see if you had edited the data file instead.