After countless videos trying to figure this out, I finally found you. What a relief to have a clear and concise video. Thank you for the well done tutorial!!
AntiMicroX is a cross-browser software (no macOS I'm afraid) to map controller inputs to key events. I'm not sure what they use under the hood, but it might be something to look into
There’s definitely space in Blender for interactive experiences like this! Even if not a full game engine, I’d love to see them support more hardware inputs
Thanks a lot for this amazing tutorial! :p I have a question though: I've been trying for a while now to animate the position of some object using the XInput Reader node group driving the offset in a Set Position node within a simulation zone. This works well but the problem is that I can't seem to figure out how to then then bake the cached simulation data (probably using the Bake node I suppose), so I could effectively record the position for further use. It seemed rather straightforward so I've been wondering whether there perhaps exists a good/known way to achieve this? :)
Could this addon be an alternative to control the camera with the gamepad? I was using AddRoutes but it's a shame that it doesn't work in 4.2. There's also NodeOSC but it's complicated to record the data in the timeline. AddRoutes was perfect because you could control with OSC and MiDi. Thanks for contributing to the Blender Community, people like you who explore new ways of working with Blender are greatly appreciated. Greetings!
How would I control a camera using a controller with this addon ? I'd like to use my controller to live direct shots. I'm trying with a geometry node setup and a transform geometry node in a simulation zone, but the camera doesn't move in local coordinates but in global coordinates. Also, the pivot point of the setup doesn't change, so the rotation of my camera is always around the original pivot point instead of where my camera now is.
You would need to create a whole object move with forward axis defined and then the camera can hook to one vertex while looking at another. Maybe mix some of the rest of the driving game series with some of the control anything tutorial where I control a camera. Might also be worth looking into some other addons that do things like mapping the camera to your phone in real life so you just move it around like virtual production
man this is opening up a whole new world for me.. i was thinking about setting up a geometry node setup that can react with sound for my dj friends to make some cool live visuals but with this i could propably link the dj controller directly to blender and make it even better in the way it interacts with the music.. is there a way to make a displacement blob which is controlled by the stick control? so if i push up the blob distorts upwarts and if i press the a button it adds an extra noise or something like that, the triggers turn the noise scale up and down and stuff like that.. you are the smartest blender geometry node person i know, you think there is a way to set up something like that?
Oh yeah for sure! This addon is just bringing the controller data in as 0..1 floats and Booleans so you can map that to whatever you want. Maybe look at my metaball stream I did last week so see how you might get some crazy reactive geometry shapes working
Can I pick your brian? How would you do a toggle switch in geometry nodes to convert the momentary buttons to toggle? I'm not sure if you did something like that in this series. Thank you!
Check if the previous frame and current frame changes from 0-1. If so then invert your stored Boolean. If 1-1 do nothing, if 1-0 do nothing. Check the video where I set up the camera. The camera switching logic is the same rough idea you’re after
I'm thoroughly impressed with all your content as usual, but my overwhelming question before watching all these hours of content is.... Why do this in blender? It can't be exported as an interactive experience, right? Is this just for the novelty And learning experience?
I had this weird situation after installing this xinput addon on a alpha 4.3 build. Where all my usb storage devices would turn off and on under certain conditions. But disabling the add-on stopped it
Ive always been interested in this topic! i will bookmark this video first! anyway, can i use playstation controller for it? i only got PS4 controller for now
I would have thought so but I've not tested. You might need to modify the addon script for it. If you look at line 104-123 in the init file you'll see where the xinput reader values are being mapped to the "xinput_reader_empty". You'll want to find what your PS4 controller is sending through xinput and add the entries there
I just went down the rabbit hole and discovered UPBGE, which is meant for building games. It handles game logic even better and you can also use geometry nodes. Best of all gamepad and joystick are supported natively and you can also export a .EXE with your icon.
I did not get on with Unity shaders 😅 maybe I should have another go but so much of it is really half baked nodes (which I can confirm is actually how they are, not just user error, because I worked there for 2 years and we did not like them 😂)
I‘m currently working on an interactive art project. I mainly work in geo nodes and i really dont want to export it into unity and build the logic there💀
I’ve added another video to the series that kind of handles the export. It’ll be out tomorrow. The reason is that this is an exercise to help people understand geometry nodes and simulation zones. I wouldn’t really recommend anyone actually builds games this way. People don’t realise how much they’re learning if they’re having fun though. I’m just tricking them into learning
After countless videos trying to figure this out, I finally found you. What a relief to have a clear and concise video. Thank you for the well done tutorial!!
Thanks so much! I hope it does what you need
Let me know if you have a Linux or Mac alternative for gamepad controls!
AntiMicroX is a cross-browser software (no macOS I'm afraid) to map controller inputs to key events. I'm not sure what they use under the hood, but it might be something to look into
And here I thought RBC having controller support was wild, holy cannoli. This is beyond impressive!
I can’t believe the Royal Bank of Canada has controller support!
@@Erindale I know right?! I was so shocked when they added it in the latest update, and the gameplay really feels like a million dollars
Thank you so much! This addon is exactly what I've been looking for! I will send you the video I am making using this.
I've been waiting for something like this for about 3 years, thanks for your video!
Hope it’s useful!
Thanks so much for this, chief.
This is all super fun. It really makes me want to start a new project just to learn more about it... but I've got too many going as it is!
I feel you! Took me from August to now to get around to posting this 😅
We got controller nodes before gta 6
Blender foundation contemplating coming full-circle to their game engine roots after this video 😂
There’s definitely space in Blender for interactive experiences like this! Even if not a full game engine, I’d love to see them support more hardware inputs
@@Erindale Add this series to watch list that said people will be surpised what you can do phyton code and ardinio :)
Thanks a lot for this amazing tutorial! :p I have a question though: I've been trying for a while now to animate the position of some object using the XInput Reader node group driving the offset in a Set Position node within a simulation zone. This works well but the problem is that I can't seem to figure out how to then then bake the cached simulation data (probably using the Bake node I suppose), so I could effectively record the position for further use. It seemed rather straightforward so I've been wondering whether there perhaps exists a good/known way to achieve this? :)
Could this addon be an alternative to control the camera with the gamepad? I was using AddRoutes but it's a shame that it doesn't work in 4.2. There's also NodeOSC but it's complicated to record the data in the timeline. AddRoutes was perfect because you could control with OSC and MiDi. Thanks for contributing to the Blender Community, people like you who explore new ways of working with Blender are greatly appreciated. Greetings!
Ah. Custom plug-in. I was wondering "why haven't I heard about this before??" :-) Very cool.
A few people have done it generally but this is specifically catering to node workflows
It's been 5 minutes and I'm losing my mind. WOW! 😁
thank u for making this great series, gonna learn a lot from it!
I hope you enjoy!
Amzing work!
Thank you!
How would I control a camera using a controller with this addon ? I'd like to use my controller to live direct shots. I'm trying with a geometry node setup and a transform geometry node in a simulation zone, but the camera doesn't move in local coordinates but in global coordinates. Also, the pivot point of the setup doesn't change, so the rotation of my camera is always around the original pivot point instead of where my camera now is.
You would need to create a whole object move with forward axis defined and then the camera can hook to one vertex while looking at another. Maybe mix some of the rest of the driving game series with some of the control anything tutorial where I control a camera. Might also be worth looking into some other addons that do things like mapping the camera to your phone in real life so you just move it around like virtual production
@@Erindale Thank you for guiding me, these are excellent ideas ! I'll definitely try the addons that let me use my phone as a camera.
This is beautiful man. ❤🎉
It would absolutely wonderful if support for keyboard could be added, for example how it works in Unity!
Interesting idea! I don’t think xinput library would handle it but maybe the inputs library 🤔
man this is opening up a whole new world for me.. i was thinking about setting up a geometry node setup that can react with sound for my dj friends to make some cool live visuals but with this i could propably link the dj controller directly to blender and make it even better in the way it interacts with the music.. is there a way to make a displacement blob which is controlled by the stick control? so if i push up the blob distorts upwarts and if i press the a button it adds an extra noise or something like that,
the triggers turn the noise scale up and down and stuff like that.. you are the smartest blender geometry node person i know, you think there is a way to set up something like that?
Oh yeah for sure! This addon is just bringing the controller data in as 0..1 floats and Booleans so you can map that to whatever you want. Maybe look at my metaball stream I did last week so see how you might get some crazy reactive geometry shapes working
You can use a ready made Arduino project that can take midi inputs and output a xinput compatible HID
You may want to check out TouchDesigner if you haven't already
Can I pick your brian? How would you do a toggle switch in geometry nodes to convert the momentary buttons to toggle? I'm not sure if you did something like that in this series. Thank you!
Check if the previous frame and current frame changes from 0-1. If so then invert your stored Boolean. If 1-1 do nothing, if 1-0 do nothing. Check the video where I set up the camera. The camera switching logic is the same rough idea you’re after
@Erindale You're a legend! Thank you.
Here we go!
Rock n roll baby
I'm thoroughly impressed with all your content as usual, but my overwhelming question before watching all these hours of content is.... Why do this in blender? It can't be exported as an interactive experience, right? Is this just for the novelty And learning experience?
It’s a good way to explore the simulation zone and data flow and attributes. The best way to teach is to trick people into learning while having fun
mind = blown.
I had this weird situation after installing this xinput addon on a alpha 4.3 build. Where all my usb storage devices would turn off and on under certain conditions. But disabling the add-on stopped it
Oh that is weird… I wonder if that’s an Alpha build issue. Not sure how you would dig down the the root cause
Very nice project! The addon, XinputReader, can work with a PS5 controller? Please, if anyone know it, let me know 🙏
Mmmmmm seem interesting
Upbge exsists tho with logic nodes
But seems fun anyway lol will be watching that xD
This is true! The point of this series is more about learning to get comfortable wet simulation nodes and geometry nodes than actually making a game
Ive always been interested in this topic! i will bookmark this video first! anyway, can i use playstation controller for it? i only got PS4 controller for now
I would have thought so but I've not tested. You might need to modify the addon script for it. If you look at line 104-123 in the init file you'll see where the xinput reader values are being mapped to the "xinput_reader_empty". You'll want to find what your PS4 controller is sending through xinput and add the entries there
what works for me is to start Blender through Steam(Games/Add a non-Steam Game..)
@@rumoKartenspiel make sense, since steam can read my ps4 controller directly. thanks man!
Does Xinput work for Blender 4.2? It doesn't work for me.
Someone pushed an update which I merged in which should make it work… I didn’t do a release but you should be able to download the repo
@@Erindale Understud, I downloaded the repo and installed the zip and worked fine. Thank you!
@@Erindale I have error’s in files “init_.py” and “XInput.py”. Where can i get the ‘repo’ on your github?
Click the green Code button and then “Download ZIP”
I just went down the rabbit hole and discovered UPBGE, which is meant for building games. It handles game logic even better and you can also use geometry nodes. Best of all gamepad and joystick are supported natively and you can also export a .EXE with your icon.
Would it be possible to control a puppet like figure using a game pad with this method?
Yes absolutely. The gamepad is just sending 0..1 values into blender so you can use them however you want via drivers or geometry nodes
@@Erindale This..... this is very exciting.... I will let you know what I come up with!
Good luck!
Bro we need your megamind in unity shader graph
I did not get on with Unity shaders 😅 maybe I should have another go but so much of it is really half baked nodes (which I can confirm is actually how they are, not just user error, because I worked there for 2 years and we did not like them 😂)
Стой, то есть ты действительно делаешь такую серию обучений бесплатно? Уважение +
The Blender community is built on sharing!
I fear the cursor, but cannot look away.
Truly a magnanimous God
THIS IS greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat
I‘m currently working on an interactive art project. I mainly work in geo nodes and i really dont want to export it into unity and build the logic there💀
This game is literally the result of me working for Unity and feeling like it would be better if I never had to leave Blender 😅
U think this is compatible with blender game engine?
I would think UPBGE would have controller support surely?
@@Erindale
Thanks for ur answer
why didnt u build it in bge so u can export it afterwards into an application? 🧐
I’ve added another video to the series that kind of handles the export. It’ll be out tomorrow. The reason is that this is an exercise to help people understand geometry nodes and simulation zones. I wouldn’t really recommend anyone actually builds games this way. People don’t realise how much they’re learning if they’re having fun though. I’m just tricking them into learning