Recorder & Ghost Practice

The Recorder captures a complete controller session and plays it back so you can study exactly what you did. Ghost Practice puts a saved run beside your live inputs so you can match a target line frame for frame.

Overview

The Recorder is a Pro feature that records everything your controller sends during a session: every button press, both stick positions, both trigger pulls, and motion data, all against a precise timeline. Once recorded, you replay the session with a scrubbable timeline, change the playback speed, loop a segment, and watch a controller-animation preview light up each input as it happened.

Ghost Practice is the analysis layer. It plays a saved recording beside your live inputs, shows live stick and trigger deltas, runs timing analysis against the ghost, and reports a match percentage so you know how close you are. A dedicated practice mode lets you repeat a run until your inputs line up.

Recordings live in a library you can search, rename, duplicate, sort, import, export, and delete, so a good run is kept and shared rather than lost.

How it works

A recording is a timestamped log of controller state. At each tick OmniControl stores button states, left and right stick coordinates, trigger values, and motion readings, together with the elapsed time. Because the timeline is captured at input resolution, replay reproduces the timing of the original run, not just the sequence.

Replay reads that log back. Scrubbing moves you to any point on the timeline. Variable speed slows a fast sequence down for study or speeds a slow one up for review. Loop repeats a chosen span. The controller-animation preview renders the stored inputs on a 3D pad so you see the movement, not only the numbers.

Ghost Practice loads one recording as the ghost and compares it against what you are doing right now. The stick and trigger deltas show the difference between the ghost and your live input at each moment. Timing analysis measures where you lead or trail the ghost, and the match percentage summarizes how closely the two runs agree.

The Recorder is distinct from Macros. Macros exist to play inputs back into a game and can auto-enable emulation for controller playback. The Recorder is built for capture, review, and self-comparison. If you want to turn a recorded sequence into something that drives a game, build it as a macro instead.

Getting started

Common use cases

Study a run you executed cleanly and identify the exact inputs and timing that made it work. Slow the replay down to see a stick movement you cannot register at full speed.

Build muscle memory for a combo or a movement sequence by setting your best attempt as the ghost and repeating it until the match percentage climbs.

Compare two attempts to find where a run diverged. Duplicate a recording, keep the original as a reference, and export the pair to share or archive.

Review sim racing or flight inputs where smooth stick and trigger control matters more than button timing, using the deltas to spot where you overshot or applied too much travel.

Best practices

Keep recordings short and focused on one sequence. A tight recording is easier to scrub, loop, and compare than a long session with many unrelated moments.

Name recordings clearly as you save them. A descriptive name in the library saves time later when you are choosing a ghost.

Pick a genuinely clean run as your ghost. The match percentage is only useful when the target line is one worth matching.

Pair the Recorder with a profile per game so your stick curves, trigger feel, and calibration snapshot are consistent between the recorded run and your practice attempts. If the tuning changes between sessions, the comparison drifts.

Run calibration first so hardware drift does not show up as a false delta against the ghost.

Tips

Use the Live Controller Viewer alongside a replay when you want to confirm that your physical hardware reports the same inputs the recording shows. It is a quick way to separate a technique problem from a hardware problem.

Troubleshooting

Motion is missing from a recording. Motion is captured only where the pad provides it. On DualSense, gyro and motion come over USB only, so a Bluetooth session records buttons, sticks, and triggers but not motion. Reconnect over USB and record again.

The match percentage stays low even when the run feels right. Confirm the ghost was recorded with the same profile and tuning you are using now. Different stick curves or trigger travel change the stored values, so identical technique can read as a delta. Align the profile, then re-record the ghost if needed.

A replay looks different from what I remember doing. Replay reproduces the stored inputs, not the game's response. If the game state differed between the recorded run and now, the same inputs can produce a different outcome. The Recorder captures your inputs, not the game.

I want the recording to play into a game and it will not. The Recorder is for capture and review. To drive a game from a saved sequence, rebuild it in Macros, which plays inputs back through emulation.

FAQ

Is the Recorder free?

No. The Recorder and Ghost Practice are Pro features. Pro is a one-time purchase with free updates, and you can see the full split on the pricing page.

What does a recording capture?

Buttons, both sticks, both triggers, and motion, all stored against a timeline. Motion is included only where the pad reports it, which on DualSense means USB.

How is this different from Macros?

The Recorder captures and reviews your inputs and compares them against a ghost. Macros play inputs back into a game. Use the Recorder to study a run and Macros to automate a sequence.

What does the match percentage mean?

It summarizes how closely your live inputs track the ghost recording across the run. Combined with the live stick and trigger deltas and the timing analysis, it shows where you lead, trail, or diverge from the target line.

Can I share a recording?

Yes. Every recording can be exported from the library and imported on another install, alongside search, rename, duplicate, sort, and delete.