Getting Started

Get up and running with BPTimecode in under 5 minutes

Installation

BPTimecode runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Choose your platform below for the quickest installation method.

curl -fsSL https://timecode.bpshowtools.com/install.sh | bash

For more installation options (manual download, architecture selection), see the Download page.

First Run

Start the BPTimecode server:

bptimecode serve

You should see output like this:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║   ____  ____ _____ _                            _                    ║
║  | __ )|  _ \_   _(_)_ __ ___   ___  ___ ___  __| | ___              ║
║  |  _ \| |_) || | | | '_ ` _ \ / _ \/ __/ _ \/ _` |/ _ \             ║
║  | |_) |  __/ | | | | | | | | |  __/ (_| (_) | (_| |  __/            ║
║  |____/|_|    |_| |_|_| |_| |_|\___|\___\___/ \__,_|\___|            ║
║                                                                      ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

  Version:  1.0.0
  Web UI:   http://localhost:8080
  OSC:      localhost:9000

  Press Ctrl+C to stop the server

Open http://localhost:8080 in your browser to access the web interface.

💡 Tip: Use --port to change the HTTP port, or --no-browser to prevent auto-opening the browser.

Create Your First Slot

Timecode slots are the core of BPTimecode. Each slot is an independent timecode source that can run at its own frame rate and be routed to multiple outputs.

Using the Web UI

Click the + New Slot button in the top right
Enter a name (e.g., "Main TC")
Select a frame rate (e.g., 24 fps for film)
Click Create

Using the CLI

bptimecode slot create "Main TC" --frame-rate 24

Using the API

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/v1/slots \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Main TC", "frameRate": "24"}'

Once created, you can control the slot with play/pause/stop buttons in the web UI, or via CLI and API commands.

Add an Output Device

BPTimecode can send timecode to various output protocols. Here's how to add common device types:

Art-Net Output

bptimecode device add "Art-Net Out" --type artnet --address 10.0.0.50

sACN (E1.31) Output

bptimecode device add "sACN Out" --type sacn --universe 1

LTC Audio Output

bptimecode device add "LTC Out" --type ltc --device "Built-in Audio"

You can also add devices through the web UI by going to Settings → Devices.

Configure Routing

The routing matrix connects your timecode slots to output devices. Each output device can receive timecode from one slot at a time.

Route a slot to an output

# Route slot 1 to Art-Net output
bptimecode route set 1 "Art-Net Out"

# Or use the slot name
bptimecode route set "Main TC" "Art-Net Out"

In the web UI, you can drag and drop slots onto devices in the Routing tab, or use the dropdown menus.

💡 Tip: One destination, one source — you can route a slot to multiple outputs, but each output can only receive from one slot.

Next Steps

Now that you have the basics down, explore these features: