Two-Fisted Computing 236
whiterat writes "3Dconnexion is selling a variety of input devices that provide a left-hand complement to the traditional computer mouse. The devices control the position of on-screen objects in design programs such as Adobe Systems' Photoshop and its 3D modeling application, Maya. That enables designers to work without constantly togging between 'view' and 'create' modes." Smash TV veterans need no extra training.
Adobe Maya? (Score:3, Insightful)
Does Adobe own Alias?
Re:Adobe Maya? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Adobe Maya? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Adobe Maya? (Score:5, Informative)
Aah, no.
Maya [alias.com] is a high end 3d design and rendering tool used primarily in TV/ feature film and video-game production. The main relation it has to Photoshop [adobe.com] is that you can paint textures for objects using photoshop.
As for the article, this seems mildly redundant at best and useless a worst. Graphic Design is my living (not exactly by choice . . ), and despite the spin in the article, my left hand is often as useful or more so than my moue hand. I taught myself photoshop 3 and have been getting more efficient at using it since then.
To get the most out of its tools, access to the shift and alt(option) keys is nessecary (subtracting from a selection for example). Holding down the spacebar completely eliminates the need to use the scroll windows at all. Learning keyboard shortcuts eliminates the need for most menu operations in a session, not to mention being that "cmd(ctrl) L" is much more effecient than menu selecting "Image>Adjustments>Levels."
I'm sure this device is useful for CAD, but the description doesn't sound like it is easier than pressing the space bar in photoshop or the option key to navigate Maya.
Two handed computing is nothint new (Score:4, Funny)
My right hand...........
Re:Two handed computing is nothint new (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Two handed computing is nothint new (Score:5, Funny)
Generally, we learn to mouse with the right hand, as most computers are set up this way and changing it is generally not feasible except at your own.
Since our left hand is the dominant one, this has certain.. advantages....
Re:Two handed computing is nothint new (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Two handed computing is nothint new (Score:2, Funny)
But thats just me.
Re:Two handed computing is nothint new (Score:2)
Actually in this case, you do realize you can reach downwards with your hands right?
Uh oh - from the patent infringement dept (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powermat e/
Interesting - looks like there my be a patent infringement in the works here. The Griffin PowerMate is a super useful product for video and time code manipulation.
I doubt anyone'll mind (Score:2)
nothing new... DIALS AND BUTTONS!!@ (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.rrzn.uni-hannover.de/Grafik/sgi/onyx/di als-and-buttons.jpg [uni-hannover.de]
Basiclly two panels... one covered with programmable buttons, the other with programable knobs. These, plus a SpaceBall, and you really didn't need to spent much time using the keyboard. I see that Magellan/Logitech still sells Spaceballs--they're sure neat, especially when using an app that
Two quite different devices - I think (Score:4, Informative)
I think it's a spinoff of the old SGI SpaceBall [schrotthal.de] pointer devices, which allowed for multiple axis input - you can push, pull, and move it left and right. The powermate just turns left and right on a vertical axis and can be pressed as a button. Looking further at their other products [3dconnexion.com], the SpaceBall 5000 [3dconnexion.com] looks a lot like the old SGI unit. The SpaceTraveler's just a smaller portable version.
Of course, they don't seem to mention how many axes of input the thing provides on the website, so I dunno.
Can someone with some experience in these programs (Score:2)
It even mentions spreadsheet jockeying, but that just makes me more confused, as I would think you'd be taking your hands off both devices for data entry.
Re:Can someone with some experience in these progr (Score:5, Informative)
The deal with Maya is that to easily create in 3d, you actually work in a 3d environment. Navigation, just as in a video game, is done with one hand on the mouse and one on the keyboard. The keyboard hand is used to select tools, etc, and to choose what mode the mouse input goes in. The mouse is used to rotate, scale, and pan the object in front of the camera (or the camera around the object, depending on your philosophy). For example, holding CTRL while using the left mouse button rotates (if I remember right--I really can't tell offhand without actually doing it).
So because input is so odd in such a program, I can imagine many ways to do it differently (unlike, say, typing, in which there really is only one obvious paradigm--one key per letter). I don't know specifically how they implement this, and I do personally feel relatively comfortable with the current setup, but it could be neat.
On a tangent, though, I think personally the big issue with working in 3d is not input per se, but the fact that the input and display are both two dimensional, despite the goal being to create something three dimensional. So for example, how two dimensional movements on a mousepad translate into three dimensional rotation can be kinda hard to get used to, and quite hard to be precise with. Also, I occasionally found myself, when I was first learning Maya, trying to move my head to look around the edges of an object (quite silly, I know). So the limitations of a two dimensional screen are also clear.
Re:Can someone with some experience in these progr (Score:2)
Re:Can someone with some experience in these progr (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, Maya is used in a number of high end 3d design shops, including many, if not all, that make 3d animated movies and special effects (think Shrek, etc). Renderman is a rendering plugin that allows for better looking renders. I've used it, and it does indeed look better, but I'm not expert enoug
Re:Can someone with some experience in these progr (Score:3, Informative)
It produces better looking renders for a couple of reasons. First, they support just about every rendering gizmo under the sun (ie it was designed from the beginning with support for motion blur). Next, the texture
Re:Can someone with some experience in these progr (Score:2)
Not much different from how animation software incorporates physics (how does a ball bounce naturally?).
The best engineering software can simulate actual, individual grades of steel and how they react under loads.
These devices help you cope with the limitations (Score:3, Informative)
Pulling very lightly upward on one of these will slowly move you toward the model. A sharp tug followed by a slow release rips you toward the model with a nice slowdown just at the end, etc...
You will find using one of these handy when doing things like shaping surfaces. You can select a group of control points then use the mouse to manupulate them while also roving around the model to see it from different
It's a knob that (Score:2)
See my earlier post for a better description than that.
It is also spring loaded so it returns to its position all the time and does not spin all the way around.
When you apply pressure, the pressure equates to motion along the axis in the model space you are working in.
Most of us work with 2 hands in the real world (Score:2)
Operating with just one mouse has always made me feel like a bird using its beak to weave a nest. Birds can do a lot of manipulation with a single pointy beak. They can build pretty fantastic nests. But who wants to do projects that way if they don't have to?
We work with both hands at once all the time in 3D space. Why not on-screen too?
C. Crowley--Mou
Re:Can someone with some experience in these progr (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Can someone with some experience in these progr (Score:2)
I'm left handed (Score:3, Interesting)
Now they just need to make ambidexterous people (Score:4, Insightful)
On a digital device like a keyboard, where I either do, or do not, hit a target I can get away with this, but an analogue pointing device like a mouse is another question. And I expect using two similar pointing devices in different hands will add some disorientating effects on top of that.
The device is an interesting idea, now they just need to engineer the people who can use it efficiently.
Tendonitis learns you good, fast (Score:5, Interesting)
Because I make my living as a computer geek, I was surprised and dismayed to find just how messed up my right wrist was after that boneheaded combination of events. I tentatively switched over to using the mouse left-handed, meaning to do it temporarily, but discovered that within a week I was pretty comfortable, and within two weeks I had fully adjusted.
Five years later I'm still using it left-handed, which seems to mess up both righties and lefties when they try to use my workstation. I used to use xwrits [lcdf.org] to remind me to take regular mouse breaks so I don't (&%# up this wrist too, but I've been bad lately.
I've thought about a two-mouse system, but editing code and writing tech docs really lends itself to a keyboard. If I was an artist maybe a two-mouse system would let me switch brushes and colours midstroke, but I'm no artist. Just a recently minted ambidextrous person. I suppose if I were in Russia, I could say that the mouse manipulated ME...
Re:Tendonitis learns you good, fast (Score:4, Interesting)
Ya know, you bring up an interesting point, something that I've really notice in myself in the past year of so: I want to be a keyboard commander.
I look for the key board short cuts for EVERYTHING I do on a regular basis. Anything I can do with out taking my hands off the keyboard is a a moment saved, and when you're moving at the speed of thought... well, that's a good thing.
Examples: Using firefox. I used to instinctively reach for the mouse when I wanted to click a link... now I find myself just typeing the text of link in, and Firefox goes to it. Killer.
Co workers: I design and make online applications for my coworkers, and I KILLS me when they go the a form, type something in, and then remove their hands from their keyboard to click the submit button. I'm always going, 'hey, you don't have to do that, JUST HIT ENTER!'.' Ack.
Programming. I've gotten to the point where when I edit, compile, deploy code, I can do it all with out using the mouse. I just avoid it. I went so far as to install a macro program that will execute commands that are not available in a given program. I can bounce around text code with the keyboard faster with the keyboard that I ever could with a mouse.
I even had a conversation with a lady neighbor friend who works with H&R block that does taxes... her comment was that she does a lot of clicking... and I was like, well, don't hey have shortcuts? A couple of days later, she mentioned to me that she started paying attention to that, and now she can do stuff a lot faster becuase she doesn't have to shift to the mouse as much any more.
Similar... (Score:2)
In my case it was a complete unstable distal radius fracture and dislocation of the distal ulna.
The hard part is using other people's mice. Most mice are really only designed for right-handers. I actually find a trackball best, as It doesn't have to move around so it keeps my left hand close to the keyboard. Qwerty keyboards are left-biassed for writing text, which is a blessing when you can't use your right hand, but moving back and forth to the mouse is a pain.
Re:Tendonitis learns you good, fast (Score:2, Interesting)
However, I decided to get a universal mouse (a Microsoft Optical Mouse that is uniformly shaped) and make it a real left handed mouse where the primary button is on the right side. It took me 3 days of using the mouse left handed to train my hand and mind to get used to the form.
By two weeks, it was natural to us
Practice (Score:2)
Left handers learn to use their right hand, you can learn to use your left. You might not ever be as good, but you can do just fine. I can use the mouse in either hand, I like to switch to save my wrists. You can too, if you practice. In fact for some tasks your left hand might be better on the mouse since it frees your right hand to use the keyboard. Or in this case a different mouse.
Re:Now they just need to make ambidexterous people (Score:2)
I can even eat using chopsticks, with my left hand, and I'm right handed.
Maybe if you tied your right hand behind your back for a week, you'd become a *lot* more dextrous with your sinister hand!
Re:Now they just need to make ambidexterous people (Score:2)
I think you could pick it up with practice. Think of playing the guitar. Right handed people don't have too much trouble learning a right handed guitar (where your left hand actually needs to be more agile than your right).
I'm ambidexterous, so it's not a huge problem for me, but I think even someone who is predominately right handed could learn to use a mouse with great accuracy with his left hand.
Re:Now they just need to make ambidexterous people (Score:2)
portable 6 DOF spaceball + 8 buttons (Score:3, Informative)
Looks nice, but the buttons are placed around the rim and look like they'd be easy to confuse because they're identical.
(sorry for using the words spaceball, knob, and rim in this post)
price (Score:3, Informative)
Robotron 2048 (Score:2, Informative)
I think Robotron 2048 had the double-joystick controls long before Smash TV came around...
Re:Robotron 2048 (Score:2)
Smash TV (Score:2)
"More Money! More Prizes! I Like It!"
Err... (Score:4, Interesting)
What I wish is that there was a one-handed keyboard so I could type with one hand and mouse with the other.
Traversing back & forth between using the keyboard and the mouse causes noticable slowdown when you use the computer all day.
Maybe that's why I like CLIs so much? *shrug*
Don't get me wrong, I use GUIs all the time, too, but you can't type in data with a mouse... (at least, not with any program I have)
Re:Err... (Score:3, Informative)
I'm sorry, you must release your 557057 user ID and go to the back of the line.
There are Dvorak one-handed keyboard layouts for your system, whatever it is. In Windows you can change to it in the control panel; In X I know it can be done but don't know how offhand. Several Slashdotters use this scheme, and at least one will probably beat me to a reply since I'm using the old slow QWERTY layout.
Re:Err... (Score:2)
Re:Err... (Score:3, Interesting)
First of all, have you sat with a stopwatch and timed yourself, or does the mouse just feel slower? When TOG created the mac he did that, and discovered many tasks where the CLI felt faster, but by the stopwatch the mouse was. This includes time switching back and forth between the keyboard and mouse! Note that this is a more limited statement than most mac users think, the mouse is not a perfect input device. Nobody normal person writes a novel with only the mouse.
As for data, when you are working wi
Re:Err... (Score:2)
Unless I have to type something really convoluted or an odd key combination (fsck is strange to type, with that unnatural key combination, it lends itself to mischevious typos... unless you alias the typo to the command) or perhaps browsing a complex man page (even the sendmail man page beats having to deal with Clippy *shudder*), there are some things that a CLI is just better suited to.
Not to mention that you can pipe multiple commands into each other without having to wait for the in
Re:Err... (Score:2)
I used to do a lot of CAD work when I was younger. Like most any graphics programs you constantly alternate between choosing your tool and providing direct input with the mouse. The two methods of doing this were either to type the command, or click the correct
Re:Err... (Score:2)
Task 1: Delete a file in the current folder: GUI probably wins, since this specific task was anticipated by the GUI designers.
Task 2: Rename 30 files changing underscores to dashes and change the first character of the filename to 'f' if the first character is 'd': CLI probably wins, primarily due to the fact that it is easier to pipe different tools together to achieve the desired result.
There is also the mat
Re:Err... (Score:2)
Re:Err... (Score:2, Informative)
That was the plan (Score:5, Informative)
http://sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1968Demo.html [stanford.edu]
steveha
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Err... (Score:2)
Ugh. You can keep the twiddler. I tried one of those for a while. It was an older Twiddler 1, awhich is a slight bit less ergonomic than the Twiddler 2, but they haven't fixed the real problem. Try it yourself: put your hand in this position [handykey.com] for a few seconds and you feel your whole forearm start to freeze up. It's great as a one handed, no desktop keyboard, but it's an RSI waiting to happen. That Frogpad [frogpad.com] thing looks inter
Left Handed Dvorak (Score:2)
Pretty much all they're useful is when one of your hands has become disconnected from your body, as it much slower to type with one hand(50WPM max or so), even slower than it is to switch the right hand from mouse to keyboard rapidly.
I'm still looking for this layout for KDE3/XFree86 4.4, or how to make my own layouts.
Re:Left Handed Dvorak (Score:2)
Unless you want to define a whole god damn system-wide keyboard with XKB (THIS IS NOT FUN!!!!), the easiest way to do this is to create an xmodmap that maps the keys to the positions you want.
I know little about Dvorak keyboards.. I'm going to assume that the function keys and arrows of a regular Dvorak keyboard match the same keycodes as a left-handed dvorak. In that case, you could set your keyboard to Dvorak layout (KDE provides an easy facility for this) and then fix the k
Re:Err... (Score:2)
Or how about a two-handed keyboard that lets you mouse?
I bought an IBM TrackPoint keyboard, and I love it. Sure, the TrackPoint is more cumbersome than a regular mouse, but since most OSs these days support multiple pointing devices, you can use it in addition to a regular mouse. If I need to do a lot of keyboarding but only a little mousing, I can use the TrackPoint; if I need to do a lot of mousing but only a bit of keyboarding, I use the mouse.
If you really want a one-handed keyboard, as others
Looks kinda like an actually useful version of (Score:2)
More axes, more buttons (Score:2)
why can't i just use a second mouse? (Score:4, Interesting)
why hasn't someone written a driver which lets you use a second mouse/trackball as a "view" device. for example, in autocad, it'd have the same functionality as the main mouse, but would be dedicated to view commands.
Re:why can't i just use a second mouse? (Score:2)
Re:why can't i just use a second mouse? (Score:2)
Sort of. There are programs that can handle multiple mice (in fact that RagDoll Kung Fu game can use up to 6), and you can use a mouse and a tablet at the same time. XP aparently doesn't mind having multiple mice plugged in, but only one can control the cursor.
Re:why can't i just use a second mouse? (Score:2)
Rather, they all control the cursor. On my laptop, I can simultaneously guide the pointer with the trackpoint, the touchpad, and a USB mouse.
While Windows just considers all pointing devices equivalent, these programs know how to differentiate the events.
Re:why can't i just use a second mouse? (Score:2)
Of course the regular quake mouse + wasx is also quite similar.
Learn the hotkeys. (Score:2, Insightful)
Pressing "m" for marquee would be faster than moving a mouse to the toolbox and click the tool. Also, you'd need AMAZING hand eye coordination to use two mice at once. Just try using one with your left hand (or right, if you're a lefty).
Re:why can't i just use a second mouse? (Score:2, Insightful)
The device allows you true 3d manipulation. You use the ball by twisting, pushing/pulling to the left/right/front back, and then by lifting and depressing the entire ball/puck/whatever this thing uses. When you add a couple buttons at the fingertips around the ball you've got a hella powerful interface.
It's crazy how useful these are, I'm only
Re:why can't i just use a second mouse? (Score:2)
No. (Score:4, Funny)
left hand?? (Score:2)
thought we already had a "device" for our left-hands...
Nostromo? (Score:2)
Big deal.
Re:Nostromo? (Score:2)
I think they even came out with a new one. I have the older N50. The N52 looks like it has an ex
My idea.. (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd like to be able to have two mice, two pointers, on the screen at the same time. Say you're working in Photoshop. It's a pain to have to go to the left-hand side to switch tools. What if you could select tools with the left-hand mouse and paint/select with the right-hand mouse? (This is different from what they are doing in that I would like two seperate, fully functioning mice and cursors.)
It ain't possible in Windows.. is anything like this doable with X under Linux?
I don't know, it could turn out to be a terrible idea in practice (end up something like trying to pat your head and rub your belly at the same time), but I think it would be neat to try..
Re:My idea.. (Score:2)
But for Photoshop, what's the point? Unlike AutoCAD, Photoshop has single-letter hotkeys for practically all of the toolbox buttons. You can put one hand on the keyboard, the other o
Re:My idea.. (Score:3, Funny)
Wouldn't that mean four times as many shutdowns? I.E., "Windows has detected mouse movement, You will have to restart your computers twice."
Oh, you're using Linux, sorry about that comment. And to the other guy that was saying the same thing twice, see both of my comments above.
-Sir George Head [confused.org]
Just get a YTREWQ keyboard (Score:3, Funny)
Microsoft's RTS game device? (Score:2)
Yawn (Score:2)
Been there, done that (Score:5, Informative)
The TDI Explore system (the 3D software that was purchased by Wavefront, merged with Alias and became Maya) was based on the SGI "knob box".
This was a set of 8 rotary encoders, and virtually every function used the knobs. For instance, X and Y movement would be handled by the mouse, and Z with a knob. Z, Y and Z scaling would be three more knobs. Z, Y and Z rotation would be another three.
The knob functions would change based on what object you were manipulating. So the camera would have "Field of View" as one knob, and while the mouse handled U and V translation around the target, a knob would handle "trucking" (movement towards the target).
This was everywhere in the program, and I found it to be the fastest 3D interface I've ever worked in. The whole idea of "one hand on the mouse, one on the keyboard" is actually a canard - most people actually type with both hands, and have to bring their main hand into play to type anything of any length.
Of course the system had keyboard shortcuts. But most keyboard shortcuts are used to switch the mouse's functions. With the knob box, we had 8 adjustable parameters, plus the mouse. There are few items on a 3D world that have more than 8 parameters to change at a time.
I miss it.
Re:Been there, done that (Score:2)
I don't know. I do a lot of modelling in Lightwave. I've got all of my most commonly used commands remapped to use the left side of the keyboard, including shift and control. I don't have to use my right hand on the keyboard for anything except, of all things, the number pad. I'd rather have it on the left side of my keyboard, honestly.
My big complaint about most 3d modelling interfaces is that they're incredibly dumb. I have yet to find one that will let me remap the axes of my mouse (or other controller)
Won't somebody PLEASE think of the smokers? (Score:2, Interesting)
3D Rotation and CAD (Score:2)
Makes sense to me; in fact I proposed such a device to Infogrip [infogrip.com] about 10 years ago.
This is not to claim that I'm some sort of genius, it just seems to be an obvious progression for someone that needs to access a lot of variable-level commands regularly.
For example, all the variations of copy, rotate, extend, offset, and the most important one: undo.
When working in 3D design, you need at least 2 views of everything since it's ea
Where are mass market data gloves? (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm amazed it is taking so long to get there.
Re:Where are mass market data gloves? (Score:3, Funny)
Whoops, sorry! I thought we were talking about crude clothing [shomertec.com].
Re:Where are mass market data gloves? (Score:2)
The mass-market data gloves are not here because the technology is still patented. The main patents were granted from 1975 through 1977, so those suckers should be expiring any moment now. Check out:
Nothing new: ShuttlePro (Score:4, Interesting)
This is nothing particularly new. I've been using a Contour Designs ShuttlePro [contouravs.com] for years now with my left hand. It's a Jog/Shuttle controller, which you can of course use for video editing, but it's completely programmable for any other use, so I've configured it for back/forward buttons when in Mozilla, delete/compose/send/reply buttons in my mail client, scroll up/down in most applications (it's far easier on the hand then a wheel mouse), etc...
It's well worth checking out, especially because of their great programmable software which lets you do just about anything from the controller. It takes a little getting used to, but worth it in the amount of time it saves.
Hmm... so this is what happened to the SpaceOrb! (Score:4, Insightful)
1. Find awesome concept company about to go under and buy.
2. Change design a little, and sell for 5-6 times the price.
3. PROFIT!
I am sorry, but I still stand behind modifying a PS2 AsciiSphere (the console version of the same hardware! check the insides! identical parts!), or just simply getting a ps2 - usb adapter. cheaper cost, same quality.
http://www.planethardware.com/spaceorb/asciisph
6 axis of awesome. Serious Sam was never quite the same after this toy
Game Developer's Review (Score:3, Informative)
"If you work in 3D, navigation in space probably occupies far more of your day than you realize. But just as a painter doesn't give much thought to how he positions his brush on the canvas, experienced 3D artists don't really think about moving around in three-dimensional space. Unless you're using an unfamiliar application, say, switching from Maya to 3DS Max, navigation is simply an integral part of what you do and there's not much room for improvement. Or is there?
The $599 Space Traveler, which looks like a volume control knowb (complete with a purple LED accent on the buttons around it's rim) is designed to make 3D operations faster and more intuitive.
Using the Space Traveler is almost immediately familiiar. You plug it into your USB port and install the driver software (plug-ins are provided for Maya and Max, and built into MotionBuilder, Cinema 4D, and BodyPaint 3D, but the controller doesn't work with every 3D tool). To use it, you simply push, pull, tilt, and tist the single contol knob. Your finger movements translate directly into 3D space- x,y, and z rotation and translation, often referred to as six degrees of freedom - in your application. Lift th knob and you move up in y, push it forward and you move forward in z. Twist the knob and you'll rotate in y; tilt it, and you'll pitch forward or back, left or right. The tricky part is learning not to traslate on z when you pitch on x, and not to translate on y when you actually mean to roll on z (a temporary filter can be turned on that blocks non-dominant movements). But with a few minutes worth of practice to get a feel for it, the Space Traveler becomes very natural to use, although it is quite sensitive to even fine movement. However, you'll soon find yourself tumbling a scene around as easily as you would with your standard keyboard and moust combinations, and rotating a camera is certainly more intuitive than, say SHFT-CTRL-ALT-middle-mouse dragging.
Which brings us to the most obvious question about this device: who needs it? If you're already comfortable working in a 3d application, and navigation with the standard key commands and mouse actions has become second nature, why bother with yet another input device? In my experience, many 3D operations, such as architectural modeling, dynamics, and texture manipulations, simply require too much keyboard input to benefit from the Space Traveler at all. I need my hands on the keyboard, and mouse, and instant access to pop-ups and marking menus provided by my right hand mouse button, which just doesn't leave enough hands for a third input device.
On the other hand (literally) when it comes to operations that require one-handed navigation, the SpaceTraveler is a terrific idea. For example, when sculpting an organic model or painting textures on surfaces with a Wacom tablet, you can rotate and tumble the model with one hand, while painting with the other. While doing character animation, the SpaceTraveler can be used as a low-speed motion capture input device that lets you use gestures, rather than explicit rotations, to move a joint, although you'll have to set up your characters to work with this input. The device's eight buttons can be mapped to common keyboard shortcuts, and the defaults for Maya activate the Hot Box, translate, rotate, and scale commands. However, the buttons are too small with terrible ergonomics, and I still need to use the keyboard for other commands, such as the marking menus.
The SpaceTraveler, as the name implies, is small and portable. Although on-the-road walkthroughs of real-time-3D scenes seem unlikely, I found the SpaceTraveler useful as an accessory to a high-end 3D laptop for bringing work home. My Compaq runs all my 3D applications, but the built-in trackpad is all but useless for 3D navigation, and the keyboard is cramped, with a non-standard layout, which also makes navigation clumsy. The SpaceTraveler really i
This is sort of old news really, (Score:5, Informative)
Spaceball.
They have been around for a long time. CAD programs such as, Pro/e, I-deas, Solid Edge, Maya, Alias Studio Tools and others all have support for these devices, though Maya only recently joined that group for some reason.
The primary advantage is being able to very quickly establish a particular point of view for working on the model. A secondary one is to be able to dynamically change that point of view without having to leave the command you are in, or divert your mental attenion away from the task at hand.
Most other input schemes involving the keyboard and mouse cause you to give up your current state only to rotate or scale the model then re-establish said state. With one of these it is possible to be picking on things, making decisions, assembling parts all while moving (or flying as I see it) around the model space.
They also save considerable time over traditional nav tools, even if they are well developed and mature tools. Most nav tools have the hardest time helping the user deal with large changes in scale or orientation. Often the best comprimise is to use stored views in lieu of many repetitive command, mouse drag, command mouse drag sequences.
These devices allow motion in all 6 degrees of freedom without any context changes. A simple pull of the knob upward maintained for a half-second or so, combined with a slow twist throughout can perform the same function as zoom all, pan, zoom window or area, and rotate commands do.
(Picture looking at one small part of a 1000 part assembly knowing the next item of interest lies behind you and to the left. If you were to just 'move' there that is what these little devices do. Using the keyboard and mouse is like telling somebody else where the item is and how you would like to get there. --For what that is worth!)
They tend to be costly little buggers though.
It takes about 2 hours to bond with the device. After that, you will either love it, or hate it. A lot of this depends on the tool at hand as well. Some CAD tools have pretty good nav tools, so you don't have as much pain dealing with them. Others basically demand a controller like this (hey Unigraphics!) to get work done in a reasonable manner.
This new little toy has 5 or 6 little buttons around the edge that can be programed for different tasks. The device communicates via USB. Most programs need a driver of sorts, though they can be downloaded for free from the website. Some packages have the support built-in. (I-deas, Unigraphics, Pro/e, Alias Studio, others...)
If you have large hands, this particular model will annoy you because it is little. Get one of the older devices that looks more like a hockey puck attached to a little stand. --Easier to manupulate, cheaper, and works exactly the same way.
Personally, I really like these things. Having used a number of CAD programs over the years, I can say they make a big difference. Traditional MCAD programs benefit most from the device when users are performing assembly and modeling, though to a lesser degree for the latter.
They are almost useless for 2D tasks because very few drafting / detailing programs actually make use of the device. For those that do, being able to pan and zoom while picking is nice, but often not much of a help over traditional view manupulation tools.
You can also do bizzarre things with it as well. Doing fly-through animations manually, just by flying around the model is pretty cool. It's easy to whip one of these out compared to keyframing all the different camera locations, or setting up many different views in an MCAD package.
If you are lucky enough to have a workstation configured with the 3D glasses and higher end MCAD software, you will find visualization tasks are excellent using one of these, but the 3D will give you a headache after about 30 minutes.
Anyway, cool stuff that I am happy to see on
Lefties unite! (Score:2, Insightful)
I already use my mouse with my left hand, you insensitive clods!
Oh boy. (Score:4, Funny)
Maya and two-handed input (Score:2)
Re:Pointless (Score:5, Insightful)
Now they're ubiquitous.
On another point, I once worked as a computer operator for landscaping data. We had tablets with large areas for digitizing maps where the 22 button tablet (yes, as large as a mouse) was used for tracing outlines, a 5-key chorded keyboard used on the left for other functions, and key pedals used for switching context. It didn't take long to get used to, and for the purpose it was needed for saved a great deal of time on a keyboard+mouse only. Everything has its uses
Re:Pointless (Score:2, Interesting)
Maybe this will catch on if and when stuff like 3D desktops and Project Looking Glass [sun.com] become more mature.
There's an SDK - Also for Unix/Linux (Score:2)
For the older version of these devices, before they were spun off by Logitech - seems they're supported navitely by OpenGL.
From this page [bmc.uu.se].
Linux GLut-OpenGl-X. Glut v3 seems to support the Spaceball directly. Should try aeroplane demo.
Only classes? (Score:2)
Now, there are only 2 questions left, can I ever make it by Scarface on a single credit, and does anyone have a set of the v8.0 roms to sell me.
Damn it, now I have to go play.......
-Charlie
Re:Only classes? (Score:5, Funny)
That was about five years ago and I'm still twitching.
Ahh, the sound of another Williams (Score:2)
I hear you loud and clear. Smash TV is a great game! You should set it up under MAME and play the Arcade version. --You won't be dissapointed.
Its not the same (Score:2)
Then the real fun of the game, stomping your friends, can't really be done on a PC. You just have to be able to shoulder the poor twit out of the way while you grab the valuable prizes.
-Charlie
Re:Its not the same (Score:2)
I have been kicking around the cabinet thing for a while. Having the right environment would help quite a bit.
---serious Smash envy right now
Actually have it smart ass. (Score:2)
In general, they do a good job. Sometimes the choices they make for television display, or the lack of proper controls for the game spoil the mechanics.
Would be damn nice for them to sell me the ROM as well. I would gladly pay for it. --That game is worth it.
Why not get an account and discuss the matter proper?
Re:Hah! (Score:2, Funny)
Keyboard?
Re:Do they have a driver for Blender? (Score:2)
maya ple [alias.com]