SketchUp from a game controller
The SketchUp layout is built into InputConfig, free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.
On a Mac: SketchUp orbits with the middle mouse button held, which this layout can hold. Its tool rows come from a Blender-style template, so give them SketchUp's letters.
Yes, you can navigate SketchUp on a Mac from a game controller: hold a button to orbit, zoom on the right stick, select and undo. SketchUp's entry in the Smart Preset Maker is a 3D template that gets navigation right and the tool letters wrong for SketchUp, so the tool rows need SketchUp's own keys, which takes a few minutes in the editor.
The layout, control by control
How the layout thinks
- Orbit. Hold the right face button and it holds the middle mouse button, so moving the left stick orbits.
- Pan. Add Shift to that row, or make a second row with Shift and Middle Click, and the same move pans.
- Zoom. The right stick scrolls, which SketchUp reads as zoom.
- Select, undo, save. Select (left click) on the bottom face button, undo (Command Z) on the left trigger, save on Share or View.
Holding a button to orbit works as shipped. Hold the right face button and push the left stick to orbit.
Give the tool rows SketchUp's keys
The left and top face buttons, the bumpers and the right trigger send G, R, S, Tab and X, which suit Blender. In SketchUp, G makes a component and R draws a rectangle. Change them to SketchUp's own tool keys from its shortcut list:
- Move: M.
- Rotate: Q.
- Scale: S (already right).
- Push/Pull: P.
- Line: L.
- Eraser: E, in place of the X row.
- Zoom Extents: Shift Z on a stick click.
- You: Open the left face button's row and record M, then work through the others.
- InputConfig: Sends SketchUp's tool keys.
- Check: Press the left face button and SketchUp's Move tool is selected.
The 3D mouse page covers smoother orbiting. Change the tool rows to M, Q, P, L and E, and the layout fits SketchUp.
Get it in two clicks
- Get InputConfig free on the Mac App Store, open it, and click Smart Preset Maker on the welcome screen.
- Search for SketchUp and pick it. The layout is created as a preset in your sidebar, named and ready.
- Press Activate. Every row can be changed afterwards: the editor's Scan button rebinds any control the moment you touch it.
Every binding, as a table
| Controller | Sends | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Left stick left | Mouse motion left (speed 16) | Cursor left |
| Left stick right | Mouse motion right (speed 16) | Cursor right |
| Left stick up | Mouse motion up (speed 16) | Cursor up |
| Left stick down | Mouse motion down (speed 16) | Cursor down |
| Right stick down | Scroll down | Zoom out |
| Right stick up | Scroll up | Zoom in |
| A / Cross | Left click | Select (left click) |
| B / Circle | Middle click | Orbit / pan (middle click) |
| X / Square | G | Grab / move (G) |
| Y / Triangle | R | Rotate (R) |
| LB / L1 | S | Scale (S) |
| RB / R1 | Tab | Toggle edit mode (Tab) |
| Right trigger | X | Delete (X) |
| Left trigger | Command (Left), Z | Undo (Cmd+Z) |
| Back / Share / Select | Command (Left), S | Save (Cmd+S) |
Button names follow the Xbox / PlayStation pair shown in the editor, so A / Cross is the bottom face button on either pad. On a Switch Pro Controller the bottom button is labeled B; the mapping still fires on position.
Questions
Why do the tool keys not match SketchUp?
The entry starts from a Blender-style template. Change the tool rows to M, Q, P, L and E and it fits.
Why does the right stick zoom instead of orbit?
It sends the scroll wheel, which SketchUp reads as zoom. Orbit is the held middle button on the right face button plus the left stick.
Related
Completely free. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon. Open source on GitHub.
Updated