Sounds like a good plan, it would be great to come from your 3D application and be able to navigate 3D Coat in exactly the same way.
Softimage|XSI has several different options. The main controls are
S key +
- Left-click and drag to pan.
- Middle-click and drag to zoom.
- Right-click drag to orbit.
F key focuses the camera on the centre of the current selection and orbits around it.