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Using the live console and operator tools

Main window

The main window has three working areas:

  • the target video viewport in the center
  • a five-button strip for Capture, Mute, Snapshot, Record, and Settings
  • a right-edge tools panel for Paste, Snippets, Shortcuts, Macros, mouse sensitivity, and related controls

Use the always-visible right-edge handle to open the tools panel. The top menus provide the same major session, device, view, tool, and help actions.

Capture and release input

To send local keyboard and mouse input to the target:

  1. click the live viewport or select Capture
  2. wait for the capture banner/hint
  3. use the target normally
  4. hold Left Ctrl + Left Alt to release input

The release chord is modifier-only so it works even when the target operating system is unavailable. Change it under Preferences > Input if it conflicts with your workflow.

While input is captured:

  • the local cursor is confined to the Controll3r viewport
  • keyboard and relative-mouse input is routed to the target
  • local utility hotkeys such as Paste and OCR are consumed by Controll3r
  • the configured release chord is reserved for Controll3r and is not sent to the target

Fullscreen

Use F11 or the View menu to enter or leave fullscreen while input is idle. The capture-release chord remains the way to leave active input capture.

Video display

Preserve Aspect Ratio is enabled by default. It fits the complete target image inside the viewport and may add black bars. Disabling it stretches the image to fill the viewport.

For UVC capture:

  • choose a capture mode under Preferences > Video
  • use Match source format when the selected mode does not agree with the target signal

For DeckLink:

  • the input format is detected from the live signal
  • Preferences shows the currently detected format
  • source-format changes are handled automatically

Audio

The Mute button controls only the Controll3r monitoring session. It does not change the target computer's master volume.

Under Preferences > Audio you can:

  • choose target audio capture and local playback endpoints
  • change monitoring volume
  • enable loudness leveling
  • adjust loudness-leveling controls

DeckLink embedded audio follows the active DeckLink video device.

Take a snapshot

  1. ensure live video is available
  2. select Snapshot
  3. wait for the non-blocking confirmation

The default folder is the operator's Pictures\Screenshots folder. Change it under Preferences > Video.

Record video and audio

  1. ensure live video is available
  2. select Record
  3. use the target normally
  4. select Record again to stop and finalize the MP4

The default destination is the operator's Videos folder. Preferences can change:

  • output folder
  • H.264 or HEVC codec
  • bitrate
  • match-source, 1080p, 720p, or 480p output
  • match-source, 30 fps, or 60 fps output

HEVC is available only when Windows reports a usable encoder. Audio is included when an audio session is active.

Recordings capture the target's audio as received, before monitoring volume, Mute, and loudness leveling are applied. A recording can therefore sound quieter than what you heard live when loudness leveling was boosting a quiet source — the recorded audio is intact and can be amplified afterward. Note the corollary: Mute does not silence recordings.

Paste text as typing

The target receives pasted text as real keyboard input; no clipboard crosses to the target.

  1. open the right tools panel
  2. expand Paste
  3. enter or paste text locally
  4. select Send Text, or press Ctrl+Shift+V

Smart punctuation is converted to typeable ASCII where possible. Characters that cannot be represented in the selected target keyboard layout are skipped by default and reported non-modally.

Use the typing throttle only for targets that miss input despite reliable delivery, such as unusually slow firmware consoles.

Paste Snippets

Paste Snippets are reusable plain-text entries:

  1. expand Snippets
  2. create or edit an entry
  3. optionally assign a hotkey
  4. select the entry and choose Send

Snippet hotkeys work while Controll3r is focused or input is captured. Do not assign a chord that begins with the complete modifier-only release chord; the release action must win for safety.

Shortcut buttons

Shortcuts send complete key combinations through the Controll3r Interface. They are useful for combinations intercepted by the operator computer or difficult to press consistently.

Edit them from the Shortcuts card. The supplied Ctrl+Alt+Del shortcut uses the opposite-side modifiers needed to avoid the default release chord.

OCR copy

  1. display the target text in the viewport
  2. press Ctrl+Shift+C
  3. drag a rectangle around the target text
  4. release the mouse

Recognized text is copied to the operator clipboard. By default it also replaces the Paste-panel text and opens the panel for review. Disable that handoff under Preferences > Input.

OCR runs on the operator computer using Windows OCR support. It does not send the image or text to the target.

Latency test

The latency test measures the delay between an absolute-pointer command and the corresponding visible change in a captured frame.

  1. make sure the target cursor will be visible against the area near the center of the target display
  2. open Tools > Latency Test
  3. read and accept the movement warning
  4. let the test collect several samples
  5. review minimum, median, maximum, and running average

The test resets the absolute pointer and moves it between two fixed points near the center of the target display; the pointer location at test start does not affect the path. Results include the target response and capture path through frame availability, not the time for the local UI compositor or monitor to display that frame. USB capture devices can vary substantially.

Diagnostics

Press Ctrl+D or choose View > Diagnostics.

The overlay reports current rates and status for:

  • keyboard and pointer intake
  • Controll3r Interface traffic and ping
  • video frame rate, latency, and GPU path
  • audio packets and format
  • recording queue state
  • Visual Anchor backend, scores, and timing

Use Copy when collecting a support report. Use Reset to clear the displayed counters before reproducing an issue.

Useful keyboard commands

Command Default
Release or recapture target input Left Ctrl + Left Alt
Paste panel text to target Ctrl+Shift+V
OCR copy Ctrl+Shift+C
Stop macro recording or playback Esc
Toggle diagnostics Ctrl+D
New session Ctrl+N
Open sessions Ctrl+O
Save session Ctrl+S
Save session as Ctrl+Shift+S
Open Preferences Ctrl+,
Toggle fullscreen while idle F11

The input release, Paste, OCR, and macro stop controls can be changed under Preferences.