Connect a controller

With a controller, an operator can fire hot buttons and control sequences without the mouse. A bound key does the same thing as the matching on-screen control.

Open Configuration, and then select External control under Venue.

The Controllers list always shows Keyboard, the keyboard of this computer, and you cannot remove it. Dedicated hardware controllers are available on Audio and higher plans. See Plans and limits.

On Free, the list shows each hardware controller dimmed, with not used on Free and a Audio required badge. The controller keeps its assignments but does not fire actions, and you can still open it and read its settings. When you upgrade, the controller becomes active immediately, without a restart.

Every change on this pane saves immediately.

Add a controller

1. Connect the controller.
2. Next to Controllers, select +.
3. In Add controller, next to the device that you want, select Add.
4. Select Done.

Add controller lists each device that ArenaDirector finds under Found, with its connection and, for a Stream Deck, its serial number. A device that is already in the list shows Added. On Free, a device shows Audio required in place of Add.

If the list stays empty, check the USB connection, and then select Rescan. The dialog then shows No known controllers found.

A new Launchpad or Stream Deck starts with its keys on the visible hot button page. See Assign the keys to hot buttons.

Read the status

The header shows the name of the selected controller and its status:

Status	Meaning
Connected · USB · serial …	A Stream Deck is connected.
Connected · MIDI · …	A Launchpad is connected, with the name of its MIDI port.
Connected · USB HID · …	A Preh KeyTec panel is connected.
Always available	The keyboard.
Disconnected · keys stop working until it is plugged back in	The controller is not connected. The list shows disconnected.
Disabled	Enabled is off.
Not used on Free	Your plan does not include hardware controllers.

When you plug a disconnected controller back in, it reconnects automatically, with no new scan or restart. While it is disconnected, its keys show faded, and you can still change their assignments.

On macOS, a controller that does not connect might need the Input Monitoring permission.

1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
2. Give the Input Monitoring permission to ArenaDirector.
3. Connect the controller again.

Enable, rename or remove

• Enabled in the header turns the controller on or off. A disabled controller does not fire actions, but it keeps its assignments. Use it for a panel that someone might touch by accident.
• Name is in the General card.
• Remove controller… in the header removes the controller and its key assignments, after ArenaDirector asks you to confirm. The Keyboard has no Remove controller….

Assign keys

The Keys card (Pads on a Launchpad) shows the keys in the same arrangement as the controller. Its title line shows the number of keys and the hot button page on screen, for example 32 keys · page 1 of 6 · Matchday.

1. Click a key. A white outline marks it. Two cards open beside the layout: the Key card (for example Key 12 or Pad 12) with the settings of the key, and the Actions card.
2. In the Actions card, select + Add step ▾ and choose an action.
3. Set the parameters of the action, if it has parameters.

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Examples of parameters are a hot button number, a row and a column, or a sequence.

The key shows the new action in the layout. For a hot button key, the step shows the name of the hot button, for example 12 · Goal 2 · page 1.

A key can run more than one step. Select + Add step ▾ again to add a step, and drag a step by its handle to change the order. A key with 2 or more steps shows a count.

On a Stream Deck or a Preh KeyTec panel, type your own text for the key in Label in the Key card. An empty Label shows the name of the action.

An orange outline on a key means that ArenaDirector cannot do its action, because the action is unknown or a parameter is not set. Click the key, and then choose the action again.

A key without an assignment shows Not assigned. The settings in the Key card are disabled, with the text Choose an action first, until you add a step.

To remove the assignment of a key, select Clear key… (Clear pad… on a Launchpad), and confirm. The key then shows Not assigned. To remove one step, select ✕ on the step.

For a list of all available actions, see Controller actions.

Assign the keys to hot buttons

On a Stream Deck and on a Launchpad, you can assign all keys to hot buttons in one step:

1. On the Keys card (Pads on a Launchpad), select Reset keys… (Reset pads…).
2. Select a layout:

Layout	The keys fire
The visible hot button page	The hot buttons of the page on screen, in the same rows and columns. When the page changes, the keys change with it.
Hot buttons 1–64	Hot buttons 1–64, from the top left, on each page. The item shows the number of keys of the controller, for example Hot buttons 1–15.

If the reset replaces keys that you assigned yourself, ArenaDirector asks first and shows the number of keys, for example Replaces 3 bound key(s). On a Launchpad, the reset assigns all pads of the grid again. The visible hot button page also makes the top row change the pages. On a Stream Deck, keys with other actions, for example Stop all, do not change. After the reset, you can change each key independently.

With The visible hot button page, a page smaller than the controller leaves the extra keys dark. On a page larger than the controller, the controller fires only the rows and columns that it has.

Show the page of a fired hot button

On a Stream Deck and on a Launchpad, the General card has Firing shows the hot button's page. When it is on, a key bound to Hot button shows the page of that hot button on screen when you fire it. When it is off, the page on screen does not change. This setting does not change the keys.

Key colors

A key bound to Hot button or Hot button at page position shows the color of its hot button. The Key color row (Pad color on a Launchpad) then shows Hot button color.

For all other actions, choose a color from the same palette strip that hot buttons use. For any other color, choose Custom, then type a code such as #12AB9F or use Pick…. Clear removes the color.

On a Launchpad, a Go to page key is bright white for the page on screen and dim white for your other pages. It stays dark for a page that does not exist or that your plan does not include. For a color other than white, select a Pad color.

Elgato Stream Deck

ArenaDirector supports these Stream Deck models with buttons:

• 15 keys: Stream Deck, MK.2, MK.2 Scissor Keys, 15-Key Module.
• 32 keys: XL, XL 2022, Module 32.

The Mini, Neo, + and Pedal are not supported.

Before you add the deck, quit the Elgato Stream Deck software. While it runs, it holds the deck and ArenaDirector cannot open it.

The Key card of a Stream Deck key has a Display choice:

• Tile: the key color, with the title of the hot button or the name of the action.
• Picture: an image that you choose (PNG or JPG) with Choose…. The key shows only the image, which suits logos and icons. Remove removes the image. To change which part of the image the key shows, see Crop a picture.
• Color: a plain fill in the key color.

Key color sets the color for Tile keys and Color keys.

When a hot button plays, its key shows a frame and counts down the remaining time. A Tile key shows the time in the tile, and a Picture or Color key shows it along the bottom. Some hot buttons have no end, for example a hot button with only streams, or with only a video that loops continuously. Their keys show no time.

Crop a picture

When you choose a picture, Crop picture opens at once. To open it again later, select Crop… next to Choose… in the Picture row.

The square frame shows the part of the picture that the key shows. Drag the frame to move it, or drag a corner to make it larger or smaller. You can also use the keyboard:

• Click the frame, or press Tab to focus it. The arrow keys move the frame. Hold Shift to move it ten times as far.
• Alt (Option on a Mac) + ↑ or ↓ makes the frame larger or smaller around its center.
• Enter is Done. Esc is Cancel.

Fill sets the largest centered square, and Fit shows the whole picture. When the frame reaches past the picture, Background sets the color that fills the rest. The default is black.

Preview shows the key at its real size, Idle and Playing. The readout under the picture shows the size and position of the frame in pixels.

If the frame covers fewer pixels than the key has, a warning says that the key will look soft. You can still select Done.

Cancel keeps the previous picture. If you cancel right after you chose a file, the new file is dropped. Choose another… replaces the picture and keeps the crop when the new picture has the same shape. Otherwise the crop resets to Fill, and the dialog says so.

ArenaDirector keeps the original picture. Moving or deleting the file does not change the key, and each deck model gets the picture at its own key size. A picture saved with an earlier release has no original, so Crop… stays disabled and the card shows Saved before cropping existed · choose the picture again to crop it. Choose the picture again to crop it.

You can crop while the key's hot button is on air. The key changes when you select Done.

Show one picture across several keys

This works on a Stream Deck only.

1. Select the first key, then hold Shift and click the last key to select a rectangle of keys.
2. In the card that shows the number of keys, select Picture across keys….
3. Choose the picture, move the frame, and select Done.

Every key needs an action first. While a key has no action, the button is disabled and shows the reason. Clear keys removes the actions and the pictures from the selected keys, after the app asks you to confirm.

One frame covers all the keys, and at first it covers the whole rectangle. The picture leaves out the gaps between the keys, so lines run straight across them. Each key keeps its own part.

Crop… on one of these keys edits the whole picture. The key card shows its place, for example Across keys 5–8 · 2 of 4. To take a key out of the picture, select Detach, which replaces Remove on such a key. The other keys keep their parts. Choose… gives the key a picture of its own: the key leaves the shared picture when you select Done, and stays in it if you select Cancel.

Brightness in the General card sets the brightness of the deck. Launchpads have the same setting.

Import a Preh KeyTec layout

A .mwf file has the physical key positions, the key legends and the key assignments of a Preh KeyTec panel. Without this file, the Keys card shows generic key identifiers.

1. In the list, select the Preh KeyTec controller.
2. In the Layout card, select Import .mwf….
3. Open the file that came with the panel.

The Keys card then shows the physical layout of the panel. The Layout card shows the file name and when ArenaDirector applied it, for example Applied 18 Oct, 09:12 · 54 keys.

To assign the keys from the file again, select Apply layout.

Give a Preh key a new key code

If the panel sends a different code for a key than the file says, teach ArenaDirector the code.

1. Click the key.
2. In the Key card, next to Key code, select Learn.
3. When the field shows Press a key…, press the key on the panel.

The key keeps its action with the new code. To stop without a change, select Cancel.

Use the keyboard

The Keyboard controller binds keys of the computer keyboard to actions. It is available on all plans, and it is a good fallback if a controller fails during an event.

Select Keyboard in the list. The Bindings card shows one row for each binding: the action, its target (for example the hot button or the sequence), the key, and a count such as +2 steps when the binding has more steps. A new installation has no bindings. The card then shows No bindings.

Add a binding

1. Select + Add binding. The list gets a New binding row, and the New binding card opens adjacent to the list or below it.
2. In Actions, select + Add step ▾ and choose the action. The Keyboard has the same actions as a hardware controller. See Controller actions.
3. Set the fields of the action, for example Hot button or Sequence.
4. At the top of the Actions card, next to Key, select Learn. The key field shows Press a key….
5. Push the key on the keyboard.

ArenaDirector saves the binding when you press the key. If you select a different row before you press a key, the new binding is not saved.

Change or remove a binding

Select the row of the binding. The Actions card shows its steps, its fields and its key. A change in the card applies immediately. The Keyboard has no Key card with a label, picture or color.

• To give the binding a different key, select Learn and press the new key.
• To stop a learn without a change, select Cancel.
• To remove the binding, select ✕ in its row.
• To find a binding, type in Filter actions. The filter finds the action, the target and the key.

When the key is already bound

If you press a key that another binding uses, the key shows in orange with the binding that has it, for example G is already bound to Start sequence · Matchday. Nothing changes until you select one of these:

• Move it here: the other binding is removed, and this binding gets the key.
• Learn another key: press a different key.

Only keys on the computer keyboard can be bound here. A hot button key that you bound with Learn in the hot button also shows in this list.

Keyboard bindings do not work while you type in a text field. Click outside the field before you press a bound key.

If you go to a different controller or close the settings while the card shows Press a key…, the learn stops and binds nothing. A new binding without a key is removed.

When you update from an older version, keyboard keys that were bound on a hardware controller move to the Keyboard controller. If the Keyboard already uses a key, it keeps its own binding.

If Enabled is off for the Keyboard, its status shows Disabled and no keyboard binding works. Learn in a hot button then cannot bind a keyboard key.

See also

• Run a show from a controller
• Controller actions