Working with Pads

Pads are complete monitoring configurations — think of them as saved snapshots of your entire setup. Why did we call them Pads instead of pages? Well we wanted to keep a little reference to Laika and her launch pad!

What a Pad Saves

When you save a pad, Laika stores:

Pad name (for identification)
Active layout (2x2, custom layout, etc.)
Source assignments for every viewer (which source goes to which tile)
NDI® Output configuration (if pad has dedicated NDI® output enabled)

Pads do not save:

Audio monitoring state (which viewer you’re listening to)
Fullscreen state
Window position or size

Why Pads Matter

In live production, you need different monitoring states for different phases:

Pre-Show: Engineering check feeds, test signals, backup sources
Live: Program, preview, camera ISOs, graphics, replay
Break: Standby feeds, sponsor content, backup routing
Post-Show: Archive feeds, teardown checks, facility return

Switching pads lets you jump between these states in under a second. No manual reassignment, no confusion, no mistakes.

Individual NDI® Broadcast:
Each pad can be configured to broadcast as its own NDI® source with a unique name. This allows you to route different monitoring configurations to different destinations — send your “Live” pad to the control room wall while simultaneously broadcasting your “Engineering” pad to tech monitoring stations.

Creating Pads

Saving Your First Pad:

Menu → Pads → Save Current Pad

Enter a pad name (like “Pre-Show” or “Live”).

Laika saves the current layout and all source assignments as a recallable pad.

Pad Naming Conventions:

Clear names help operators:

“Show Name - Live”
“Morning Show - Program Wall”
“OB Truck - Primary”
“Studio A - Baseline”

Avoid vague names like “Config 1” or “Test” — you’ll forget what they mean within a month.

Loading Pads

From Menu:

Menu → Pads → Select Pad Name

The pad loads immediately. Layout switches if different, and all source assignments apply to their viewer tiles.

From Keyboard:

Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+9 load pads 1-9 in your pad order
Ctrl+PageUp/PageDown cycle through pads sequentially

Pad Overview:

Menu → Pads → Pads Overview (or Ctrl+O)

This opens a grid view of all saved pads with live thumbnails showing the layout and active sources for each pad. Click any thumbnail to load that pad instantly.

This is the fastest way to jump between pads during live production — you can see what each pad looks like before switching.

Managing Pads

Menu → Pads → Manage Pads

This dialog lets you:

View all saved pads
Delete pads you no longer need
Reorder pads (for keyboard shortcut order)
Rename pads (update labels without losing configuration)

Reordering pads:

The order in the Manage Pads list determines keyboard shortcut assignment:

First pad = Ctrl+1
Second pad = Ctrl+2
And so on through Ctrl+9

Drag pads in the list to reorder them for optimal workflow.

Pad Best Practices

Create Contingency Pads:

Keep backup pads for common failure scenarios:

“Fallback - No Graphics” (when graphics machine fails)
“Emergency - Direct Feeds” (bypass routing for critical feeds)
“Engineering - Diagnostics” (technical feeds for troubleshooting)