Timers for SSP

This Plug-in is a Media Extension for SongShow Plus providing a timer display.  Timers are displayed in the display window and act similar to video files.  A timer can count down, count up, or display the time of day.  Several timers are provided for your use, but you can build your own timers as well.  

SongShow Plus 5.5 Release 3.2 or later is required for use of this plug-in.

A timer can be set with a begin or end time, a font type, a color (including a gradient color) and optional shadow.  The size of the text can also be specified.  The timer is placed within the margins but follow the same settings (stretch to margins, stretch to screen) as video files.

Creating or using a timer:

• In SongShow Plus, select the menu item View > Show Timers Panel or click the icon.
• You can use any one of the pre-made timers or,
• Click New to create a new timer.  This will open the Timer Properties window.
• Select the properties for the new timer, specify a name, then click Save.
• You can now use your new timer by clicking on the green diamond next to it.

Note: If a timer's text is quite large in the display, the text may not be font smoothed.  This is due to a limitation in Windows.  A later version of the timer may address this issue.

Warning: If you are using low-end video hardware (cards earlier than Ti 4200/ Radeon 9000 cards), do not attempt to use the block or blur shadow options for timer text.  Performance will be bad using low-end cards and these options.  

Important: If you notice instances where the timers don't look right but instead render "garbage" to the screen, this is probably due to out-of-date AGP drivers for your motherboard.  This can occur when using large text, such as when a timer is displaying only seconds and is at a size of 100%.  Updating your AGP drivers involves going to the website of the manufacturer of your motherboard and downloading and installing the latest drivers they offer. 

09/2009

• Fixed problem that was causing a lock-up when  used with PowerPoint.

07/2008

• Updated for compatibility with July 2008 Edition of SSP.
• Fixed problem with Shadows (feature broken in an previous edition of SSP).
• Fixed problem with the stock 10-second counter.

12/2007

• Minor fix needed for the October 2007 Edition of SSP.

05/11/2004

• Implemented support for optional upper and lower text.
• Implemented support for Blur Shadow.  (Note: It is recommended that you not use blur shadow unless you are using SongShow Plus 5.5 Release 4.0 or later).
• Fixed problem with Backup / Restore utility.

01/14/2004

• Fixed problem with time-of-day display at noon hour.
• Improved performance.

12/31/2003

• Original Release