3D and 2D Visualization¶
Live visualization of every button press, stick movement, trigger pull, key press, and MIDI note, with click-to-record hit testing on every drawn input.
Which view shows¶
PadForge picks the view from the slot's controller type.
| Controller type | Default view | 2D/3D toggle |
|---|---|---|
| Xbox | 3D model | Yes |
| PlayStation | 3D model | Yes |
| Nintendo | 3D model | Yes |
| Extended | Procedural schematic. On a Valve profile (Steam Deck, Steam Controller 2015 or 2026), that pad's 3D model | Valve profiles only |
| Keyboard + Mouse | Keyboard and mouse layout | No |
| MIDI | Piano keyboard and CC sliders | No |
| VR | Both SteamVR hands side by side | No |
On Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo slots, and on an Extended slot running a Valve profile, a corner button switches between the 3D model and the flat 2D overlay. The button's tooltip reads Switch to 2D view or Switch to 3D view depending on the current view. Your choice persists across sessions. The button is hidden on slots that have no second view.
The schematic stays the default for Extended because a profile there can be a wheel, a flight stick, or an arcade panel, and a gamepad drawn under those would be wrong. PadForge ships art for every Valve profile, so those draw the pad. Change the profile and the view follows.
3D model¶
The active model swaps with the assigned profile. Ten meshes cover the Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo slots and the Valve profiles on Extended slots:
| Mesh | Profiles it serves |
|---|---|
| Xbox 360 | xbox-360*, plus the arcade-stick / dance-pad / wheel siblings |
| Xbox Series | xbox-series-*, and also Xbox One, Elite, and Adaptive |
| DualShock 3 | dualshock-3 and dualshock-3-full |
| DualShock 4 | every other dualshock* |
| DualSense | dualsense* |
| DualSense Edge | dualsense-edge* |
| Switch 2 Pro | switch2-pro*, and also the original switch-pro |
| Steam Deck | steam-deck, steam-deck-composite |
| Steam Controller (2015) | steam-controller, steam-controller-composite |
| Steam Controller (2026) | steam-controller-2 |
The Steam Deck body is Handheld Companion's per-part model. The two Steam Controller bodies are meshed from Valve's own CAD: the 2015 pad from the STEP file in Valve's 2016 design release, the 2026 pad from the STEP file in Valve's SteamController hardware repository. Both are meshed at the exact surface, so the edges are true molded edges rather than a decimated scan. The DualShock 3 body is a model bought on CGTrader and split into the same parts as the others. Its 2D set is drawn in the DualShock 4 art's style from a front photograph of the controller, since the asset pack has no DualShock 3.
Two meshes are shared by profiles that do not all carry every control. The Series mesh serves the whole Xbox One / Elite / Series / Adaptive family, and only xbox-series-* profiles get a live Share button. The Switch 2 Pro mesh serves both Switch generations, and the S2-only parts (C button, GL / GR, the four player LEDs) render on an original Pro Controller as inert meshes. Borrowed-but-absent controls draw either way, but they are wired into the hover, click-to-record, and highlight maps only for the profile that actually has them, so nothing maps or flashes wrong.
The 2D sets do not share the same way. Xbox One and Series keep separate artwork, and so do the two Switch Pro generations, because Switch 2 Pro art carries a C button and the GL / GR grip tiles.
Each model registers hit regions for every button, stick, trigger, and the touchpad. Click anywhere on the model to target that control.
Colorways¶
A model family that ships more than one appearance shows a Colorway picker in the top-right corner, left of the annotation toggle. The choice is per virtual controller and is saved with the slot, so two slots of the same family can wear different colorways. Families with a single appearance hide the picker.
The two views carry separate sets. In 3D the picker appears on Xbox Series (21 colorways), DualSense (10) and DualShock 4 (2). The Xbox 360, DualShock 3, Switch 2 Pro, DualSense Edge and the three Valve pads each ship one appearance. The 2D view has six sets of its own: DualSense and DualSense Edge with six each, Xbox Series with six, DualShock 4 with five, Xbox One with four, and Xbox 360 with two. Both views read the same stored choice, and a view with no art for it draws its default colorway.
Camera controls¶
| Action | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|
| Rotate | Left-click drag | Single-finger drag |
| Zoom | Scroll wheel | Two-finger pinch |
| Pan | Right-click drag | Two-finger drag |
| Toggle annotations | Button (top-right) | Button (top-right) |
| Reset view | Button (top-right) | Button (top-right) |
The top-right corner holds the Mapping Annotations toggle (tag glyph) with Reset View on its right, and the Colorway picker to their left on families that have one.
Rotation is turntable-style. Horizontal drag controls yaw. Vertical drag controls pitch, stopping short of straight up or down. Reset View snaps the camera back to the default angle.
Tip: Zoom in before using click-to-record so you can target small buttons accurately. Right-click drag to re-center after zooming. Click Reset View to snap back to the default angle.
Live highlights¶
| Element | What changes |
|---|---|
| Buttons | Swap to accent color when pressed. Multi-mesh buttons highlight together. |
| Thumbsticks | Tilt in proportion to deflection. Ring blends toward accent color with distance from center. |
| Triggers | Rotate downward in proportion to pull depth. Material blends toward accent color (0–1). |
| D-Pad | Active direction swaps to accent color. |
Click-to-record¶
Click any button, trigger, D-Pad direction, or stick ring to start recording a mapping. Press or move an input on your physical controller and PadForge assigns it to the control you clicked.
Clicking a stick ring picks the axis from where on the ring you click.
| Click position | Maps to |
|---|---|
| Center | Stick button (L3 / R3) |
| Right / Left | X axis positive / negative |
| Top / Bottom | Y axis negative / positive |
This is a quicker alternative to the grid in Button and Axis Mappings.
Map All flash¶
During Map All (from Button and Axis Mappings), outputs flash orange one at a time in sequence. Stick axes show a directional arrow and quadrant wedge on the ring. The flash holds until the mapping is recorded, then advances to the next output.
2D overlay¶
Switch between 3D and 2D with the view-mode button in the top-left corner of the Preview tab. The 2D view draws a flat controller diagram with image overlays for each control. It supports the same interactions as 3D: live highlights, click-to-record, hover previews, and Map All flash.
Each controller type has its own 2D layout that places buttons, sticks, triggers, and the touchpad over the base diagram. Click anywhere on a control to record a mapping, the same as in 3D.
Your choice of view persists across sessions.
| Element | What changes |
|---|---|
| Sticks | Slide to follow input, no tilt. Hovering lights the half of the stick a click would map, or its center for the stick button. |
| Triggers | Fill rises from the bottom as you pull. Zero is empty, full pull is solid highlight. |
| Buttons / D-Pad | A pressed-state overlay appears on the control, in the asset pack's cyan rather than the 3D view's accent color. |
Tip: The 2D view uses less GPU. Pick it on low-end hardware or if you prefer a flat diagram.
Mapping annotations¶
The Mapping Annotations toggle labels the model with your current mappings. It sits in the top-right corner of both the 3D and 2D views, marked with a tag glyph. It starts off, and the state lasts only for the current session.
Turn it on and PadForge draws:
| Overlay element | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Chips | One chip per mapped output, docked along the view edges. Each chip names the output. When several inputs drive one output, they share that chip. |
| Leader lines | A thin line from each chip to the control it labels on the model. |
| Trigger bars (3D view only) | Two slim bars beside each trigger: the raw input coming in and the output going out. |
A chip flashes when its input is active, so you can see which mapping fires as you press. Click a chip to jump straight to that mapping's row in the Button and Axis Mappings grid. Hover a chip to read its wiring in a strip along the bottom of the view: each input's device and name, marked Inv., Half, Toggle, or Rapid Trigger when the source is inverted, reads half its axis, or has Primary Mode set to Toggle or Rapid Trigger.
The overlay hides itself while you rotate or pan the 3D model, then reappears when you let go. Mouse-wheel zoom keeps it visible and moves the chips with the model. Chips whose control projects off the edge of the view (or behind the camera) drop out until you bring it back into frame.
Touchpad preview¶
PlayStation slots (DualShock 4, DualSense) and Extended slots on a Valve profile show a live touchpad preview on both views.
| View | Touchpad rendering |
|---|---|
| 3D model | Live finger contact spheres positioned on the touchpad surface mesh. Sphere position and count follow the slot's combined touchpad output. |
| 2D overlay | Finger dots drawn on a flat representation of the touchpad area. Same data as the 3D view. |
The touchpad surface is a click target for mapping. Click anywhere on the touchpad in either view to start recording a Touchpad Click mapping. During Map All on PlayStation outputs, Touchpad Click comes after the buttons and axes and finishes the sequence. A DualShock 3 has no touchpad, so its sequence ends with the axes. Map All skips the motion rows.
On a PlayStation slot the spheres and dots follow the Touchpad mapping rows (Touchpad 1 Finger 1 X through Touchpad 1 Finger 2 Touch). Those rows default to the assigned DualShock 4 or DualSense, so the preview mirrors that pad's touchpad out of the box. Re-map a row to change what drives it: another touch surface, such as a Steam Controller pad, moves the finger as absolute position, while a stick or button source moves it cursor-style.
A Valve pad has two trackpads and the preview draws both. The first finger rides the left pad and the second the right, following the Left Pad X, Left Pad Y, Left Pad Touch, Right Pad X, Right Pad Y, and Right Pad Touch rows. Each pad's click is its own button row, Left Pad Click and Right Pad Click, and lights its own pad. On the 2015 Steam Controller the pads are round, so a finger dot never leaves the circle.
Nintendo preview¶
Nintendo slots get both views, like Xbox and PlayStation. A Nintendo slot runs one of the two Switch Pro Controller profiles or one of the two Switch 2 Pro Controller profiles, and all four draw the Switch 2 Pro mesh in 3D. On a Switch Pro profile the S2-only parts still render but stay inert. The 2D overlay has a set per generation: the Switch Pro art for both Switch Pro profiles, and Switch 2 Pro art that adds the C button and the GL / GR grip tiles.
The overlay draws every control on the pad: sticks, ZL / ZR triggers, L / R bumpers, the face buttons in Nintendo positions (A right, B bottom, X top, Y left), the D-Pad, Minus, Plus, Home, and Capture, plus C and GL / GR on the Switch 2 Pro. Live highlights, hover previews, click-to-record, Map All flash, and mapping annotations work the same as on the other 2D overlays.
A Nintendo slot's mappings live in the same raw button / axis / POV grid an Extended slot uses, with rows named in Nintendo terms: B, A, Y, X, L, R, ZL, ZR, Minus, Plus, the stick clicks, Home, and Capture, plus C, GL, and GR on the Switch 2 Pro. Clicking a control on the diagram records into the matching raw row.
Valve preview¶
An Extended slot on a Valve profile gets both views, like the console families. The three pads differ enough that each has its own body and its own 2D set.
| Pad | What the 3D model carries |
|---|---|
| Steam Deck | Two sticks, two square trackpads, D-Pad, A B X Y, View, Menu, Steam, Quick Access, L1 R1, the two triggers, and R4 L4 R5 L5 on the back. The screen, volume rocker, power button, and Steam wordmark are drawn and never mappable. Each stick's cap ring carries the four directions and the stem and base under it carry the stick button, so a press lights the whole stick below the ring. |
| Steam Controller (2015) | One stick, two round trackpads, A B X Y, Back, Start, Steam, L1 R1, the two triggers, and the two grip paddles, which are the flared wings of the rear battery cover. The left trackpad is this pad's D-Pad: its face is cut into four direction quarters around a center click. The right trackpad is the right stick: its four quarters are the right stick's directions, and a translucent stick stands on the pad and leans with the axes to say what the pad does. The A B X Y letters and the Back and Start arrows are the printed glyphs from Valve's molds, in their printed colors. |
| Steam Controller (2026) | Two sticks, two square trackpads, a real D-Pad, A B X Y, View, Menu, Steam, Quick Access, L1 R1, the two triggers, and R4 L4 R5 L5 on the back. |
The 2D overlays follow one rule: a control the front art cannot show still gets a place to hover, click, and flash. The Steam Deck's R4 L4 R5 L5 and the 2026 pad's bumpers, triggers, and four rear buttons sit as labeled tiles in a column on each side of the body. The 2015 pad's D-Pad wedges are cut out of the left trackpad and its right stick is drawn over the right trackpad, with printed zone lines marking the wedges and each grip's outline. Those printed marks are decals: always visible, never a click target.
A Steam Deck or 2026 Steam Controller profile adds a row of capsules at the top of the view for its touch sensors: Left Stick Touch and Right Stick Touch, plus Left Grip Touch and Right Grip Touch on the 2026 pad. A stick's cap already records the stick button and the grips have no art, so each sensor gets a capsule of its own. It lights while its output is on, a click records its row, and it flashes while that row records. A touched stick's cap also takes a faint wash in both views.
Live highlights, hover quadrant wedges, click-to-record, Map All flash, mapping annotations, and the two-pad touch preview above work the same as on the other views. The mapping rows use Valve's names. See Controller Slots for the row list per pad.
VR preview¶
VR slots draw both SteamVR hands side by side. One slot drives the pair, so there is no single controller body and the 2D/3D toggle is hidden. The art is a flat drawn pack like the branded 2D overlays: one base bitmap with a per-element tint layer composited on top when an element is lit, hovered, or under record.
Interaction matches the other 2D previews. Hover warms an element, clicking records it, and the element under record flashes.
Elements that carry more than one mapping target split into regions, and the region under the pointer lights on its own:
| Element | Regions |
|---|---|
| Stick | Center is the click, the surrounding half-discs are the directions |
| A / B | Inner disc is the press, the outer ring is the touch |
| Trigger, grip | The body is the axis, the tip band is the click |
No direction arrows here. Arrows are the schematic view's grammar, not the drawn packs'.
Extended schematic¶
Extended slots show a procedurally generated schematic instead of a controller model, on every HIDMaestro profile except the five Valve ones. The layout rebuilds when the active profile or count overrides change.
| Element | Appearance | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Thumbsticks | Crosshair circle with a position dot. Each stick uses two axes (X and Y). | 4 |
| Triggers | Vertical bar filling bottom-to-top. | 8 |
| POV hats | Compass with a rotating arrow. A lone POV is labeled "D-Pad". Two or more POVs are all numbered "POV 1" through "POV N", with none labeled "D-Pad". | 4 |
| Buttons | Numbered circles in rows of 8. Accent-filled when pressed. | 128 |
Sticks and triggers share a pool of 8 axes.
Click-to-record, Map All flash, stick quadrant detection, and POV cardinal detection all work the same as in the 3D and 2D views.
The schematic represents the live HID layout for the Extended slot. Xbox or PlayStation visuals render for actual Xbox or PlayStation slots, not for Extended slots that happen to be running an Xbox- or PlayStation-style HIDMaestro profile. The Valve profiles are the one exception, because PadForge ships their own bodies (see Valve preview).
Keyboard + Mouse preview¶
Keyboard+Mouse slots show a keyboard and mouse diagram. The 2D/3D toggle is hidden. A slot set to Mouse Only draws only the mouse, and one set to Keyboard Only draws only the keyboard.
On Windows input the keyboard is a full ANSI layout with the numpad and four media keys over it (Mute, Volume Down, Volume Up, Play/Pause), where 108-key boards have them. A slot set to a keyboard model draws that board's key set instead, from QMK's layout data: full size (ANSI, ISO, or with four keys over the numpad), tenkeyless, 75 percent, 65 percent with or without a blocker, 60 percent, Happy Hacking in ANSI and JIS, and the Keychron Q6. Character keys carry the legends PadForge's input layout types and redraw when the layout changes. Apple boards carry Apple's modifier symbols, and the JIS board its Japanese key legends. A board with no exact drawing shows the nearest set with the caption Drawn as the nearest standard layout under it. On a keyboard with lock lights, three lights in the top right corner show Num Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll Lock as Windows last set them, and each is a control for its key: a click records that key's row. A key the model cannot send, or that no row reaches, is drawn faint and takes no clicks.
A slot set to a mouse model draws the controls that mouse has. It loses the side buttons past the model's button count, a button the model lacks is drawn faint and takes no clicks, the scroll arrows go with a missing wheel, and a mouse that tilts gets left and right arrows on the wheel.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Keyboard | The Windows input layout or the picked board's. Keys show labels, mapping tooltips, and an accent highlight when active. |
| LMB / RMB | Shaped around the scroll wheel gap. Accent highlight on press. |
| Scroll wheel | Center pill for middle-click. Up / down arrows highlight during scroll output, and left / right arrows during tilt output on a mouse that tilts. |
| Movement circle | Dot deflects to show mouse movement. Click a quadrant to map Mouse X or Mouse Y. |
| Side buttons | X1 and X2 on the left edge (back / forward), when the slot's mouse has them. |
Every key, mouse button, wheel and tilt arrow, lock light and the movement circle is a control as well as a display: hover one to read its row, and click it to record a mapping to it. Same workflow as click-to-record on the 3D model.
Tip: Hover a key to see its current mapping target in the tooltip before clicking to remap.
MIDI preview¶
MIDI slots show a piano keyboard and CC slider panel. The 2D/3D toggle is hidden.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| CC sliders | Vertical bars filling bottom-to-top (0–127). CC number labeled below each slider. Click to map. |
| Piano keyboard | Standard layout. White keys carry note labels (such as C4, D4, G5). Black keys stay unlabeled. Keys highlight on active note output. Black keys appear raised. Click to map. |
The layout rebuilds when MIDI configuration changes (note count, start note, CC count, start CC). With no notes configured, only sliders appear. With no CCs configured, only the piano appears. Click-to-record and Map All flash work on every element.
Tip: Adjust the start note and note count in the MIDI config bar first. The piano keyboard resizes to match, making click-to-record targets larger and easier to hit.
Related pages¶
- Button and Axis Mappings: where click-to-record assigns its source.
- Controller Slots: how the 3D and 2D views render different controller types.
- Stick Deadzones and Trigger Deadzones: tuning controls that don't appear on the controller model itself.
- Macros: trigger and action authoring that uses the same recording flow.
Last updated for PadForge 5.2.0.