To the artists: special controller for drawing, someone?

Hmm, that looks good. Really good.

I'm just a bit wary about the 4 additional buttons besides the directional pad. I'm a bit afraid that this is either prone to accidental presses of the edge buttons or needs to be so big that moving the thumb around is going to be uncomfortable pretty soon.
Maybe a hat switch instead of a d-pad would be worth considering, too.

I'd personally like buttons for the ring finger and pinky, but I guess that's a matter of taste.

I'll think a bit more about shapes and how to manufacture switches in there this evening, maybe some really good idea strokes me.

 

Logitech used to make one back in the day that worked on illustrator and Corel. I have on in my closet back home i hsed with an old wacom graphire. It's called a nulooq navigator. They have a few devices like this that were built for rendering and modeling. Worked pretty good as far as I recall. Been a long time since I've used it

 

I was also looking for a hardware controller for Photoshop a while back.
Long story short, I think the best option is to hook up a PS3 Move Navigation controller via usb and use MotionInJoy (driver) + JoyToKey (key remapper to convert joypad output to keyboard shortcuts)


other interesting links :

Tab-Mate controller by Celsys

originally it's designed only for IllustStudio/ComicsStudio but it seems that the device is recognized as a joypad controller in windows, so you should be able to use Joy2Key to remap the joypad buttons to keys/shortcuts (note that I can't guarantee that it will work since I do not own this product...)
a review in japanese :
????????????Tab-Mate Controller????? ? ?????????????

a video of a guy using a ps3 joypad :
Youtube - Poor Man's Tab-Mate Controller

another interesting video by a TVPaint user (Lemec on the TVPaint forums) demonstrating his hardware/software setup (joypad/midi controller pedals/wacom) :
Moatddtutorials - FAQs and answers Pt. 1

Please let me know is you find other interesting alternatives or links!

Phil

 

I was also thinking that what I'd really ideally like is some thing that I could "attach" in some way to the side of the tablet pc. It could be, say, shaped like some sort of c-clamp, or could actually slide into the USB port, and perhaps have a thin top (where the buttons are?) be partially supported by the bezel of the computer. Then you'd get the much more ergonomic experience of the left hand being more engaged in where the rest of your body is working, as well as the fact that you might be able to partly support/hold still the computer a bit with that same hand. You could still have a 4-way directional button and a few others.

 

you mean like this??



also, Razer sells a much more affordable Nostromos than belkin. $70 instead of $250...:

Razer Nostromo - Gaming Keypad | Razer Online Store


I also thought the peregrine glove would rock, Home | The Peregrine until I realized that it would mean I wouldn't be able to use the touch on the screen with my left hand anymore, which sort of destroyed the point of getting multi touch.

 

Yeah!! That's the guy.

I've been looking f'ing everywhere for that project, and I couldn't remember where I'd found it. Thanks for diggin' it up.

It's not quite as sophisticated button-wise as we've been discussing, but I liked the setup idea, in that it's "attached" to the computer in some way. His isn't supported by the actual frame, which seemed like a design issue too, as I thought it might put a lot of potential weight and stress on that. His is also only through the USB port, which means you couldn't decide where you wanted it to go. But I thought the idea had some potential.

 

Right now what I'm using for art is a wired 360 controller and Xpadder. I'm left-handed so I hold it in my right hand, and I can easily access the main buttons and the trigger buttons of the right side giving me 6 keys. Half of it is wasted since my left hand is using a pen, but it's a good possibility.

 

This is by far, to me, the most interesting and functional device mentioned so far. It actually looks a bit more like one of the extra mockups I drew up without knowing it existed.

So often, I've seen mini-keyboards mentioned, but that's not truly portable to me-- and its not really set up to be used sightless. There's only so many key combos I think you could accurately hit on a keyboard blind. I've also seen the Belkin stuff mentioned many times, but it seemed so huge and clunky. Probably very functional at a desk though. The video linked to, with the guy that has foot pedals and stuff... I dunno. LOL. Sometimes I feel a bit nerdy, but that one was just too much for me. Cool in its own way, but too much. I'm looking for a simpler setup.

But this Ps3 controller... It's a really intriguing (and cheap!) idea. Only 20$ used on Amazon with shipping, and the JoyToKey program you mention is free.....!! I wish it was as small as the Tab Mate you linked to as well, but it has more buttons than that device, which is nice. It looks like its wireless from the pics, which would also be very nice.. Do you have one?

I was trying to figure out how you use the L1 and L2 buttons-- are they like Fn keys? And can you reset ANY key? Even the Menu and Start buttons? Also, can you reset not only the 4 way directional button, but also the rotational joystick? I'm trying to figure out how you would use that part of it. Even without it, and just using the 4-way and the 2 extra buttons, that plus 2 Fn keys is atleast 6 x 3 buttons= 18 buttons minimum. ?? You can easily hold it in your hand, and it looks wireless. I'm willing to drop 20$ on that to check it out.

In a perfect world the TabMate would be wireless and have a couple of extra buttons that I could use as easily accessible Fn keys. It's about the size I really want, as I don't have particularly large hands. On the Ps3 controller, I was trying to imagine using the joystick, then the 4-way directional buttons, while also using the L1 and L2 buttons. I'm not sure my hand can stretch that far.....??

It would be really cool though if the AHK script I'm helping to build could be accessed by it. You mentioned maybe being able to do this Hattori? We're slowly pushing into some sort of finished stage, and so I might be able to pass it along soon. If you're curious though, you can go and check it out in the Software forum. There are links there.

Oh, and here's a mockup of the other version I thought of-- I did this other day, in an effort to get something thinner, like a joystick, so holding it would be more ergonomic.

 

^ yes I currently use the ps3 navigation controller with my slate 7 in photoshop and zbrush. I think it works really well for what it is. for roughs and speedpainting in PS, I don't miss the keyboard at all.

some of the nice features imo :
. it's inexpensive but very well made and feels durable
. it's a bluetooth wireless device packing its own batteries, so it won't strain the tablet pc (however you will need to hook up a usb cable to install it the first time) - ** the bluetooth driver will override any standard driver so you can ONLY use the ps3 controller **
. it's lightweight and it's actually pretty small, you can reach all buttons easily even if you have a small hand. I usually use index + middle finger on the front triggers and the thumb for the stick/d-pad/3 buttons
. you can remap all the buttons (including triggers and ps button) and the stick too (the stick can be pressed also so you get an extra button). As Magedark mentioned,Xpadder is a very nice remapper that can emulate both the keyboard and a mouse at the same time. You can also map multiple keypresses on a single button and save multiple remapping sets / profiles. I think Xpadder is not a freeware anymore though, but it works great.

 

I have a Move controller at home, so I'll try it out when I get back. I didn't know Xpadder was paid I had an older version. A dedicated tool for artists would be great though.