Cuez is rundown and automation software for broadcast and structured shows: scripted rundowns, automation hooks, and production workflows around them. Teams comparing alternatives are usually deciding something simpler than feature lists — whether they need a production platform at all, or just the timing layer that keeps a show on schedule.
MaestroTimer is that timing layer. This page describes what it covers and how to judge the fit against a platform like Cuez for your own productions.
Platform or timing layer?
The distinction is practical, not philosophical. A platform earns its place when scripts, automation, and editorial workflow live inside it — the rundown is the production's home, and timing is one of its columns.
The timing layer is the opposite shape: your production already has its homes — scripts in documents, playout in your existing tools — and what is missing is the clock everyone can see. Countdown on the confidence monitor, running order for the crew, cues to the stage, all without adopting a new system of record.
What MaestroTimer covers
One room per show; every surface is a link.
The core:
- A running order of timers with names, speakers, and notes — readable as a rundown by anyone with the agenda link.
- Manual starts, linked timers that auto-advance the show, and scheduled starts at a set time of day.
- Countdown and count-up modes for fixed and open segments.
- Wrap-up thresholds that change the display as time runs low — the talent sees the warning without a call.
- Messages to the stage: bold, colored, or flashing, next to the countdown.
- Five views as five links: controller, stage viewer, agenda, moderator, operator.
- A live connections view listing every attached screen, so the gallery verifies reception before air.
Judging the fit
Look at your last three shows and count what the rundown tool actually did. If automation fired graphics, scripts lived in the rundown, and the team edited it all day, you are a platform customer — evaluate Cuez against other platforms.
If the honest answer is that people mostly looked at the clock and the next item, the platform was overhead around a timer. A browser-based timing layer sets up in minutes per venue — a room and a handful of links — which also suits freelancers and rental crews who cannot standardize every client on a system.
Trying it without migrating
Nothing needs migrating to evaluate a timer: rebuild one show's running order as named timers, open the viewer on a spare screen at rehearsal, and drive it from a phone.
The live connections view shows every screen attached, the agenda link gives the crew the schedule, and the whole trial costs a browser tab per display.
FAQ
Is MaestroTimer a rundown automation platform like Cuez?
No. It is the timing layer: running order, live countdowns, cues, and synced screens. It does not script your show or automate playout, and it does not try to.
Can the crew see the rundown without controlling it?
Yes. The agenda view is its own link and shows the running order read-only; control stays in the controller view.
How fast is setup in a new venue?
Minutes. Create a room, add timers, and open links on the screens that need them — nothing is installed on venue hardware.
Does the show advance automatically?
Yes, when you want it to: linked timers start each segment as the previous ends, and a scheduled timer starts the show at a set time of day.
Keep the show, skip the platform
MaestroTimer runs in the browser: a running order of named timers, five synced views, silent cues to the stage, and a live list of connected screens.