Configurator basics
Everything you need to find your way around the configurator: the workspace, what each tab does, and how a design becomes the overlay in your scene.
The short version
- The preview sits in the middle, the tabs on the side, Save and Generate link at the top.
- Plug in your controller: the preview reacts to every input, live.
- Saving a design is separate from publishing it. Only a change applied to a link counts.
How is the configurator organized?
- The preview. Your controller, in the center. Click any piece on it to select it, and zoom in for detail work.
- The model switch. Arrows next to the preview move between controller models: PS5, PS4, Xbox and more.
- The tabs. Each one edits one aspect of the design, described below.
- The top bar. Save and load your designs, undo the last change with Ctrl+Z, and generate your overlay link.
Which tab does what?
| Tab | What it does |
|---|---|
| Colors | Color each piece of the controller, with a separate color for the idle and pressed states. |
| Skins | Replace a part with another shape instead of tinting it. |
| Effects | Finishes for buttons and sticks, such as neon, metal or gold, and the surface of the shell. |
| Text | Up to 5 text zones, placed by dragging, with a wide choice of fonts. |
| Elements | Your own images, such as a logo: PNG, JPG or WebP up to 300 KB, transparency kept. |
| Animation | An animated layer cut to the shape of the controller, with blend mode, opacity and speed. |
| Background | Transparent, or green screen if your software needs it. |
| Reference | An image kept next to your controller while you design. It stays on your device and never appears in the overlay. |
| Settings | How the controller reads on screen: stick travel and dead zones for the display. Your game receives nothing different. |
| Preview | Exactly what your Browser Source will show: transparent background, no labels. |
How do I preview with my own controller?
Plug in your controller and press any button. From then on, the preview follows every input as you design, so you see the pressed colors, the trigger fill and the stick movement as they will appear on stream. The Settings tab shows the raw values of each stick and trigger, and the Preview tab shows the final output on its own.
Nothing shows up? Go through Controller not detected.
How do I save and publish my design?
- Save your work with a name from the top bar. You can load it again later and keep editing.
- Generate link when the design is ready, then paste the link into a Browser Source.
- Apply changes to that same link later. Only an applied change counts: a Standard link includes 5, and Premium and Creator plans allow unlimited edits.
What a link contains and what it costs is covered in How Padcraft works.
What makes a design readable on stream?
- Make pressed states obvious. A pressed button should change clearly, in color or brightness, or viewers will miss it.
- Keep text short. A name or a logo reads well; a sentence does not at overlay size.
- Dose animations. Lower the opacity or the speed so the animation does not compete with your inputs.
- Check the real size. Look at the Preview tab, then at your scene on a phone before going live.
What does a clean design look like, step by step?
- Pick the model you actually hold. Viewers who play the same game recognize a PS5 layout on an Xbox stream, and the button labels would not match.
- Choose one base color. A dark shell stands out on bright arenas such as Rocket League; a light shell reads better on dark games such as Warzone at night.
- Give pressed buttons your accent color. One strong color, used only for the pressed state, makes every input obvious.
- Add one text zone. Your channel name in a single font. Two fonts on a controller-sized graphic look busy.
- Add your logo in Elements. A transparent PNG under 300 KB, placed on the touchpad or between the sticks.
- Keep animation subtle. Low opacity and a slow speed, so the animation never competes with the inputs.
- Check the Preview tab before generating the link: it shows exactly what OBS will show.
Which link settings suit which game?
Once your link is generated, its settings page adjusts how the controller reads on stream. Good starting points:
| Game | Useful settings |
|---|---|
| Rocket League | Turn trigger fill on: viewers see how long throttle and boost are held, which is the skill. |
| Warzone, Apex Legends, Fortnite | Set stick movement toward expressive, so small aim adjustments stay visible. |
| Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8 | Strong pressed colors on the D-pad and face buttons, where motion inputs happen. |
| EA Sports FC 25 | Moderate stick movement, so skill moves drawn with the right stick read clearly. |
| Any game, between matches | Hide the controller when idle, so it disappears during menus and breaks. |
Open the configurator
Plug in your controller and start from a blank design or a shop design.
Start designing