How to make a cock hero beat meter

The beat meter is the part of a cock hero you actually play. The clips set the mood; the meter tells you when. It is also the part that has always taken longest to make: every beat of every round has to be placed by hand, in time, for 10 to 30 minutes of video. This guide covers what a good meter needs, then two ways to build one - drawn in automatically, or keyframed by hand.

What a beat meter is made of

• A lane - a fixed path the cues travel along, usually a bar across the bottom of the frame or a column down one side.
• Cues - one per stroke. Each appears at one end of the lane and travels toward the target.
• A target - the fixed point where each cue lands. The moment a cue reaches it is the moment to stroke, and it has to be exactly on the beat you hear.
• Lead time - how long a cue is visible before it lands. Around 2 seconds lets viewers see what is coming; much less and fast sections become guesswork.
• An accent - a bigger cue on the first beat of each bar, so viewers can feel the phrasing.

What makes a meter readable

• Accuracy beats decoration. A cue that lands a frame or two off the beat is felt immediately. Time cues from the song's real beats, not from a constant BPM: many songs drift.
• Contrast and a backing. A semi-transparent dark strip behind the lane keeps cues visible over bright footage.
• One position. Keep the meter in the same place all session. Keep it clear of anything else on screen, such as a watermark.
• Warn before the pattern changes. Switching from every beat to double-time without warning throws viewers off. A short label just before the change ("Double-time") fixes it.
• Say why it is empty. During a rest or a break, a quiet "Rest" label tells viewers the empty lane is intentional.

Which beats get a cue

• Every beat - the default, and the right choice for most rounds.
• Half-time - every other beat, starting on the first beat of the bar. Good for slow, teasing rounds on fast songs.
• Double-time - a cue on every beat and halfway between. Use it sparingly, for the hardest rounds.
• Downbeats only - one cue per bar. Very slow; good for warm-ups and cool-downs.

Option 1: drawn in automatically (Onset Engine)

Onset Engine draws the meter into the video while it renders, timed to each beat of your song as heard. The cues land on the beat you hear, to within a fraction of a frame.

1. Import your clips and add your songs. Several songs can be rounds: click Rounds... to give each one a pace, a beat pattern (every beat, half-time, double-time, downbeats only or rest), a break with a 3-2-1 countdown, and a title card (Core).
2. Under More options → RHYTHM BAR, tick Show a rhythm bar and pick a style: Lane (cues slide along a bar), Falling (cues drop down a column) or Pulse (a ring closes onto a target). Set the lead time and a color.
3. Tick Click track if you want a tick on every cue, mixed into the sound.
4. Generate: the draft shows the meter, so you can check the style before the full render.
5. Render. The meter, round cards and countdowns are in the video, and the cues are saved next to it as a .csv and a .funscript, timed to the video.

The rhythm bar and click track work on every plan, including the free demo (720p with a watermark; the bar sits clear of it). Rounds, Length and shaping the difficulty curve need Core.

Limits worth knowing: the meter comes in three styles and five colors rather than a design you draw yourself, and the beat patterns are the four above plus rest. On-screen text is round titles, countdowns and the bar's labels.

Option 2: by hand in an editor

If you want a meter that looks exactly the way you designed it, you build it yourself in an editor with keyframes (After Effects, DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro):

1. Get the beat times. Don't tap them in. Export the song's beat grid as a CSV or Audacity labels - Onset Engine does this for free on every plan (see the beat grid export) - and use it to place a marker on every beat.
2. Build one cue. Animate a shape from the start of the lane to the target over your lead time, ending exactly on its marker.
3. Repeat it for every beat. Duplicate the cue and shift it to each marker. For a 15-minute session at 120 BPM that is about 1,800 cues, which is why this is the slowest step by far.
4. Add the target, the accents and the warnings on their own tracks.
5. Check it by playing it. Watch with sound and stroke along; fix anything that feels early or late.

Frequently asked questions

What is a beat meter in a cock hero?

The on-screen indicator you stroke along to: cues that travel to a target and land on it on every beat. Without it, viewers can only guess the rhythm from the cuts.

How long does a beat meter take to make?

By hand, many hours - more for a full multi-round session than a short single-song meter. Drawn in by Onset Engine, it is part of the render.

Can I use a beat meter with a toy?

Yes: export the beats as a funscript. Onset Engine saves the meter's own cues as a .funscript next to every render that has one. See funscripts explained.