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Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

  • 1.  Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 05-04-2021 17:25
    Hello,

    After a few hours of scrubbing through the forums, I couldn't find an answer. Hoping I didn't miss something glaringly obvious.

    We are utilizing a ClockTimer Widget to count down from 15:00 to 0:00. I have it set to output in the "NN:SS" format. Once the timer reaches 9:59, a 0 appears in the first "N" slot. Ideally, we would display the clock as "9:59" rather than "09:59. The same happens when we get below a minute, as it displays "00:59" instead of ":59".

    There doesn't seem to be an easy way to do this through visual logic, but perhaps there's a scripting solution available?

    Open to any and all ideas.


    ------------------------------
    Jake Zink
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  • 2.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 05-04-2021 19:03
      |   view attached
    Type the format in the widge as N:SS


    This will solve your first 0 as it will format like this. 


    You'll still have the leading "0" like this though


    To remove the other "0" takes a little more work but can be solved with visual logic. 

    You can use 2 text blocks like so

    Then use visual logic to connect it up like so. 

    Then hide the text box that is linked to the widget and you will only see the correct timer. 




    I have attached a project with the template in.

    ------------------------------
    Simon Redmile
    Ross Video
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    xpf
    timer_hide_00.xpf   10 KB 1 version


  • 3.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 05-05-2021 11:39
    Simon,

    That worked perfectly! Thank you so much for the assistance.

    ------------------------------
    Jake Zink
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  • 4.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 05-05-2021 12:21
    No worries, pleased it worked for you. :)

    ------------------------------
    Simon Redmile
    Ross Video
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  • 5.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 04-19-2025 04:04
      |   view attached

    This no longer works in version 11. I tried doing exactly how the sample is shown n n nope. I also downloaded your project and that's no bueno neither. Please help. Need to hide the 0 when it drops after a minute mark. 



    ------------------------------
    Alejandro Galvan
    LA36 LOS ANGELES TV ACCESS
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 04-20-2025 18:04

    Hey Alejandro!

    In the bottom screen in your image, you can see that the "Continuous Animation & Other Effects diamond" (blue diamond that's 4 items to the right of the visual logic icon on the designer viewport) isn't selected, meaning that Visual Logic isn't running on your designer scene. (It will still run when being output). Try turning that on to see if there's any difference, and if it's not already on, in your Visual Logic editor, go to View and turn on show block values or something to that effect.



    ------------------------------
    Zachary Fradette
    United States
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  • 7.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 04-21-2025 14:14

    Thank you for the reply, but I have tried it with having the Continuous Animation on and off and it doesn't work in the editor nor on program. I had seen (maybe on another post) another user tried the same steps and it wasn't working for that operator neither. I feel that something change in Xpression.



    ------------------------------
    Alejandro Galvan
    LA36 LOS ANGELES TV ACCESS
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 04-22-2025 09:43

    What is your exact XPression version and build number? 

    Ex. 11.5 build 5814




  • 9.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 04-22-2025 17:02

    Alejandro,

    From your screenshots, it looks like you're in Version 11.0 build 5650. I tested this scene out and found the same behavior. Looks like the Widget isn't updating the original text object (Text1) when it's hidden. Turning on the visibility of the text object makes the widget time work again.

    Only way I found to make this work is to keep Text1 visible, but assign it a font with a 0% alpha face. XPression will still render the text, so the widget countdown will apply to the object, but it won't be visible in your scene.

    Just make sure to keep the text object inside the viewport, otherwise, the widget will stop counting again.

    Tested in 12.0 and found the same behavior.



    ------------------------------
    Jeff Mayer
    Ross Video
    ------------------------------



  • 10.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 04-23-2025 02:48

    Thank you for your insight, indeed I am running version 11.0 Build 5650. We have a truck shoot this weekend, i will try it then and update you. Thank you for looking into it. I feel like this is so "simple" that it should be easier to accomplish this but it is what it is.

    v11.0 Build 5650

    s. 



    ------------------------------
    Alejandro Galvan
    LA36 LOS ANGELES TV ACCESS
    ------------------------------



  • 11.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 05-31-2025 02:26
    Hi there, Jeff. Sorry, it's been a while. I finally got access to Xpression Designer and can test scenes much quicker.
     
    That being said, I tried your suggestion, but it didn't work for me. Could you please share a screenshot of your Visual Logic? I feel like I'm missing a step or might have things backward. However, I swapped TEXT1 and TEXT2 in VL to see if that did anything, but had no luck.
     
    My original timer is set for 11 minutes, and it counts down. For some reason, when I connect my "Output" from the Input Selector to "TEXT1 or 2", the numbers disappear. If I change my Index Offset to 1 from the Input Selector properties, the text returns, but does not hide the ZERO. 
     
    I am attaching some screenshots of what I have right now.
     
    Thank you.


    ------------------------------
    Alejandro Galvan
    LA36 LOS ANGELES TV ACCESS
    ------------------------------



  • 12.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 06-02-2025 09:37

    Alejandro,

    From your original post, your Visual Logic should have worked as long as your Clock text object (the one linked to the widget) was visible in the viewport.

    If you're not getting any value out of the input selector, which could be why your Text1 or Text2 number disappeared, it's likely that the incoming Index value didn't match any of the input values. You mentioned changing the Index Offset Value to 1. The Equal To function block will return either a 0 or 1, so if there isn't an input at value 0, and the Equal To block is returning false, you won't get a value out of the Input Selector.

    One thing that could help to troubleshoot is going to View->Show Block Values. That selection, along with turning on Active Rendering in the viewport (blue diamond  icon or F12) should allow you to see the values of each of your Visual Logic blocks as they change, not just the numbers you put in the description.



    ------------------------------
    Jeff Mayer
    Ross Video
    ------------------------------



  • 13.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 06-03-2025 23:30
    Hi there, Jeff, it finally worked. Thank you for your input. You were correct; if I hid the text linked to the widget by turning off the eyeball only, it wouldn't work.
     
    I had to do two things to make sure it worked: One, RESET the INPUT SELECTOR by cycling through the Index Offset numbers up and then going back to O. It's weird, but it did the trick.
     
    The second was changing the "Lenght" in the Right String to 3 to pick up the number of characters I wanted to display once it went below a minute.
     
    After implementing these changes, the countdown finally functioned correctly. Thank you for your input, sir.


    ------------------------------
    Alejandro Galvan
    LA36 LOS ANGELES TV ACCESS
    ------------------------------



  • 14.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 06-05-2025 11:28

    I've tried this and it doesnt work yet. I am not using a widgets, im using dashboard created timer. In sequncer i have the timer info going to thext 1 and 2 but under 1 min the 0 doesnt go away. Am I missing a step?



    ------------------------------
    JP Lemieux
    Producer
    YourTV
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  • 15.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 06-05-2025 11:28

    I've tried this and it doesnt work yet. I am not using a widgets, im using dashboard created timer. In sequncer i have the timer info going to thext 1 and 2 but under 1 min the 0 doesnt go away. Am I missing a step?



    ------------------------------
    JP Lemieux
    Producer
    YourTV
    ------------------------------



  • 16.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 06-05-2025 15:50

    Can you post an image of your visual logic with block values enabled? (ALT + V) 




  • 17.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 06-05-2025 22:36
      |   view attached

    I've attached my Timer project, Let me know if this works for you. If it works the same way as mine, I would build your Dashboard using this project and see if it works.



    ------------------------------
    Alejandro Galvan
    LA36 LOS ANGELES TV ACCESS
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    zip
    CountDownTimer.zip   741 KB 1 version


  • 18.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 04-23-2025 02:50
      |   view attached

    Xpression Studio v11.0 Build 5650



    ------------------------------
    Alejandro Galvan
    LA36 LOS ANGELES TV ACCESS
    ------------------------------



  • 19.  RE: Format XPression Timer (Minutes, Seconds)

    Posted 04-24-2025 05:06

    Hi Garner, Jeff and Simon,

    I have reported this issue to Ross Tech Support at the end of 2024 (Ross Video Case #191464) and they would pass that on to the Dev. people.
    Maybe you guys can 'poke' the Dev. people for a fix.



    ------------------------------
    Gerard de Vries
    Solution Architect Live Graphics & Virtual Production
    EMG / BOOST Graphics
    The Netherlands
    ------------------------------