Visual viewport controls I've been using Blender since 2007 and before I've used (in that order) MiniCAD, Strata Studio Pro, Alias Wavefront and Cinema 4D. I love blender and I could never go back to my previous love Cinema 4D because I think Blender is simply better once you get the hang of it.

Now I am starting a 3D project with other people and most of them are using Cinema 4D. We decided to use Blender and I am introducing them to the workflow. A general issue with the interface is viewport navigation. Most of them are used to point and click so I am thinking about writing a plugin for Blender.

Basically what I want to achieve is this:



I have a lot of experience with Ruby and JavaScript programming and I will be able to get into Python really quickly. I only need a few pointers to get me started. So here are a few questions:


how can I add such a hanging tab to the 3d viewport
how can I activate pan/zoom/rotate of the viewport when the mouse button is pressed
is there an existing addon to build on?
Download this addon 
Blender > File > User Preferences (Ctrl+Alt+U) > 


Add-ons Tab > Install from file... > Choose the downloaded file > Save user setting
Input Tab 



  Save user settings > Close User Preferences




Now in the viewport you can use


touchpad > drag = rotate
touchpad > Alt+drag = moving
touchpad > Ctrl+Alt+drag = zoom


In the Node Editor you can use


touchpad > Alt+drag = moving
touchpad > Ctrl+Alt+drag = zoom