Device drivers are connections between the device plug-in (such as an electronic keyboard, MIDI board, or mouse) and Softimage that get and set the values or execute commands or events. You then use the device to animate the object and capture the information, resulting in function curves.
A device driver contains a collection of channels and can implement a dialog box to configure the device, either through the user interface or the description file.
There are three device drivers provided in Softimage for you:
If you want to create your own device driver, you can write one using the SDK. See Custom Devices [SDK Guide].
Overview of Using Device Drivers
This is a basic overview of how to use device drivers with Softimage:
Make sure the devices you want to use are connected to your computer and the driver installed.
Choose Tools 
Devices Manage Device Drivers from the Animate toolbar to open the Device Manager.
Add a driver to the list — see Adding and Removing Device Drivers.
Set up the driver's channels — see Setting Up the Device Driver's Channels.
Make sure you're playing the scene in realtime playback — see Playing Back All Frames or Playing in Real Time [Viewing and Playback].
Start capturing animation information — see Capturing Animation Information.
