usb / bluetooth controller support (xbox / nintendo / playstation / generic / etc)
i cant afford a drawing tablet. so an idea i had was to use the analog triggers on a controller alongside a mouse. the analog triggers would work as a controllable pressure or size sensor to aid in drawing things like texture, weight, vertex, etc painting
and to expand on this idea could the controller inputs be exposed as drivers? imagine using controller inputs for things like controlling a camera or a bone or a material mix or whatever else
from some digging ive done this is sorta possible currently? but not without modifying blenders python and knowing how to write python scripts which is a lot more then just setting some hotkeys and making drivers
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maybe it could be doable in python using an external library to handle the input, and use bpy to interact with Blender as usual.
the way i found to do it involved downloading XInput through blenders scripts and then making a script called a modal? which is beyond me
you cant afford a drawing tablet ? i highly doubt that, there are entry level tablets for like 70 dollars and lots of used once...not that your idea isnt cool , but please dont waste your precious art time like that. imho, no mockery !
for camera control and game control (like driving a car) there are already plnty of scripts and addons
also could the person that downvoted like... explain why this isnt a good idea?
Certainly.
The request is to add controller support for a myriad of devices and protocols, based on the need of not having a tablet.
I believe the percentage of the userbase that wants to use an analog joystick on a game controller to modulate pen pressure to be quite small.
When one says "I cannot afford a tablet", my initial response would be "but you could afford an Xbox."
Based on the bug reports that already exist with users who have compact keyboards, trackpads, and odd mice - I believe that all of the above points to "go purchase a tablet", instead of "dev team attempts to add all of these various controllers to be supported in Blender."
The response of "But you could afford an (insert expensive as heck console here) is a genius response! People need to learn to get their priorities in order, and learn good saving habits so they can eventually afford the thing they want after just spending their money on something else.
idk millions of games support a multitude of controllers. and isnt there like... sdl or something that supports all current controllers anyway?
the amount of users that thinks to use a controller may be small which is fair. maybe more people would use it if it was actually a thing?
who said you have to have an xbox to afford a $30 controller you can find at literally any walmart?
Wacom and Xpen have tablets that cost as little as $40. Probably not available at Walmart, but Amazon shipping is a thing.
Thank you for explaining, but could you (with respect) focus on the actual idea, and not the (sorry in advance to OP) irrelevant backstory? I do mean this with respect, but what the OP can or cannot afford has nothing to do with the technical request to add standard controller support, which can come from the OS, that is to say: "myriad of devices" is also irrelevant to the technical request (as long as we limit to standard devices).
I added support for myriad devices in my C game in about 10 minutes simply by calling out to an xinput shared library. Microsoft already did the driver work. I'm sure something similar can be used for Linux/Mac.
@davideugenerozierjr - He didn't say he wanted to connect "his" Xbox to Blender, he said a controller, explicitly naming "generic" as an option. I have an Xbox compatible generic controller that I picked up for $15, and it works with xinput. Whether or not OP has an xbox is unknown to both you and me, so please don't make baseless assumptions in an online setting, it just makes everything worse.
I don't know why money was mentioned in the original post, but the actual request is simply about adding controller support, not about the MAGAwoke fad, high-horse shaming of people's financial positions, nor about any other topic.