3D Mouse Support?

[superboot]

Hello everyone!

This is my first message to the forum, so first I'd like to say thanks for the great software! I've had a lot of fun learning and using it.

I use a 3d mouse from 3dconnexion for other software (sketchup) and would love to use it in Inkscape for panning and zooming.

Is there a plugin architecture for Inkscape? I know there are the extensions, but not sure if that is limited to scripts run in a one-shot fashion, etc.

On linux I see there is the SpaceNav project: http://spacenav.sourceforge.net/   and the spnav python module for getting data from the device.

If this isn't implemented I'd be interested in working on programming a plugin in python.

Any information would be helpful.

Thanks again!

-Superboot

[brynn]

Welcome Superboot!

Gosh, I've never even heard of a 3D mouse!  If it's an input device, I wonder if it would work without an extension?  See Edit menu > Input Devices.

I can't tell you much about the technical side of Inkscape extensions.   I would say they are mostly one-shot scripts, but I don't know if it's restricted to one shot.  It seems like I've heard of some extensions that repeat the same thing, over and over.  Sort of a loop, I guess.  But I can definitely tell you where to get started! 

This is fairly a brief overview.  https://inkscape.org/en/develop/extensions/   As one of the community members who were asking for a guide, I was told that the possibilities for Inkscape extensions are so broad and wide-ranging, that it's hard to put into a step-by step guide.  But if you follow all the links there (and the links from those pages) eventually find your way.

For more detailed questions, or if you can't find specifically what you need, you'll want to use either the development IRC or the development mailing list.  For some reason, Inkscape developers don't often participate in forums.  Info for IRC and mailing list:  https://inkscape.org/en/community/

Also, you might find some other helpful info about how Inkscape works and how it's made, from the Develop submenu on the website.

[Gunars]

Is there any updates or drivers, plugins available to use with Inkscape so i can use my 3d mouse made by 3dconnexion ?

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

I've never heard of a 3d mouse plugin or extension for Inkscape.  And given the fact that Inkscape does not provide 3d modelling, I'd say it's unlikely that one will be created.

Are there some features of a 3d mouse which could be used in a 2d image program like Inkscape?

For 3d modelling in open source, see Blender.  I wouldn't be surprised if Blender can be used with a 3d mouse.

[Moini]

Input devices are usually not handled per application, but per system. Then there are programs (on Linux) that can match certain inputs (per program) to certain outcomes. Not sure I understand your question.

[superboot]

What a 3d mouse would offer to Inkscape is the ability to draw and move at the same time. Once you get used to using one, you feel as though you are interacting with the object in the real space around you (3d object in a normal 3d modeling program, but in our case, the canvas), much like you might move your head while drawing with real paper and pencil.

This video gives you some idea of how it would be used in Inkscape (it's being used in Photoshop in the video):

What would be desired in the use of the 3d mouse would be smooth zooming, and of course standard panning. The panning would be much like panning with the space bar held down, except that you don't need to reset the mouse position after you've panned one screen width. The zooming however, IIRC, is stepped, and would be too jerky. I don't know if this is simply how the mouse wheel is setup, implying that the underlying rendering engine could support "smooth zooming", or if it is in fact a limitation of the renderer.

If  a developer is interested in working on this, I'd be happy to send them a 3d mouse for free. FREE STUFF!!!!

-John

[Gunars]

I am using 3d mouse for 3d modeling in SketchUp. The potential for 3 d mouse in Inscape  or any other 2 d drawing program (they actually have plugin for Adobe Photoshop) is to scroll up and down, left and right  with ease pulling the 3d mouse up and down to zoom in and out  and i have space mouse pro that you can map macros (any key combination )

[Moini]

Doing the zoom rendering in a smooth fashion could potentially become very resource-intensive. It is possible now already to set the step width for zoom (Edit > Preferences > Behavior > Steps) with +/- keys. You could probably write a macro with that?

[Lazur]

Ctrl+mouse wheel scrolling can be "smooth" or smoother. Some mice have the scroll wheel without the stepping -useful when working&scrolling through large documents.



Had one of these before. The free spinning mode was a bit too sensitive for me though.

[brynn]

Actually my regular touchpad mouse provides smooth scrolling and zooming already!  (not at the same time - but I can't draw that fast anyway)  I will miss these dearly when I switch to Linux, where they likely won't be supported.  (My experience asking Linux users about this leads me to think they just have never tried it, and don't know what they're missing.)

In any case, this message will tell you how to contact developers and/or request a new feature:  https://forum.inkscapecommunity.com/index.php?topic=628.0