3D Connexion mice

[Greg_J]

certain views are just easier to obtain with a regular mouse.

I find this hard to believe. but this is your opinion so I believe it for you.

Just to put an example behind the statement I made, when i zoom into a part it's hard to not rotate the part while zooming so the easier way to me is to just use the mouse wheel.

 

It just takes time a using it to it, it's just so instinctual to use a mouse I have to force myself to use SpaceNavigator.

 

I do like the fuction of moving/zooming my part while I have my toolpath parameters open.

 

It DOES NOT replace a mouse, it enhances it

 

I've got a homefor it if you don't want it.

 

I understand what you mean, it does enhance the mouse and no you can't have it.

[Joe788]

Greg, when I first got mine, I spent about 1 minute with it, and figured there was no way I could possibly get used to it. You might have the same problem as I did, from playing Playstation too much. The stock settings are for moving the part around. If you're used to playing video games, you want to move the camera around - so you gotta reverse everything.

 

Go into the settings and try this:

 

Set zoom direction to pulling up and down on the puck, not pushing forward and back on it

Reverse the Pan left/right

Reverse the Zoom

Reverse the Pan up/down

 

After doing that, the functions became automatic for me.

[Jayson Kramer]

Greg,

when i zoom into a part it's hard to not rotate the part while zooming so the easier way to me is to just use the mouse wheel.

Go's with this thought.

It just takes time a using it to it,

This just takes a little getting used to it. I hate using the mouse wheel if I have a space ball. So much smother and easier after you get used to it.But I can tell you see the usefulness of it but just getting comfortable with it is the issue.

 

I alwas tell people to start on a low setting for speed then move up as you get more comfortable with it.What throws me off is when a student changes the directions on the ones in the class and I walk to help and it is going every other way but the way I want. LOL.

[gcode]

I bought a Space Ball way back in the day.. and couldn't get used to it.

It sat there next to my keyboard unused for about 6 months.

One day I decided that I was going to learn to use it cause I'd spent serious coin on it.

I set it at the slowest speed possible and started using it.... now I can't live without one.

I literaly do not know how to use Mastercam without a 3d mouse anymore.

The current generation of Space Pilot Pro is far superior to the original Space Ball too.

I've got it running at top speed and don't even think about it.

After a while, it's second nature

[Greg_J]

Thanks for the tips.

 

What do the buttons on the Spacepilot Pro do?

[gcode]

Thanks for the tips.

 

What do the buttons on the Spacepilot Pro do?

 

I use the ones on the right the most

You've got

Front, Top Right Iso and spin CW

a long press on the same buttons gives you

Back, Left Bottom and spin CCW

the lowest button is Fit as in Alt F1

 

one I use alot is Rotations,, which toggles between 2D/3D mode

there is another set of keys on the left.that are already loaded with Mastercam commands

 

all the buttons can also be customized to suit

[Greg_J]

Gcode that sounds very handy, looks like you can do almost everything with out a keyboard.

 

Do you find it may be what you machine might make having one more valuable.

 

Joe,

You might have the same problem as I did, from playing Playstation too much.

 

What are you saying, there is no such thing as too much!

[Joe788]

Greg, the Space Pilot software makes it really easy to assign the keys to whatever you want. The ones I use the most are

 

Analyze Distance

Analyze Properties

Named Views

Level Manager

 

And then I re-assigned the "Top" view button the GView = Tplane

[stuflo]

I set most of my analyze buttons and a few others to come up when I right click the mouse.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

On my SpaceNavigator i have the right button set to toggle shading and my left button set to pick rotation point.

[Mick]

I have my right button set to dial the pizza order through....

[Rotary Ninja]

[danielm]

I say get one now before some kid shows up with one and makes you really wish that you had one.

[LancoUSA]

I looked into one too, I ended up getting a logitech G13 that i programmed and made a lot of hot keys and Macros for. It is sweet for key mapping in Mastercam. The best was the 59.00 bucks it cost!

[Joe788]

Has anybody tried a voice recognition software with Mastercam? Obviously it would be obnoxious as hell in a room with more than one person - but I waste a lot of time taking my hand off the mouse to enter numbers. I have a little auxiliary 9 key that I tried using with my left hand, but it just never really caught on.

[Marshal]

Has anybody tried a voice recognition software with Mastercam? Obviously it would be obnoxious as hell in a room with more than one person - but I waste a lot of time taking my hand off the mouse to enter numbers. I have a little auxiliary 9 key that I tried using with my left hand, but it just never really caught on.

 

you can bring up a num pad with one of the buttons on the 3dconnexion mouse that you could click the numbers with your mouse. It's under the button programming tab. It's also got a setting in the num pad to auto hide or not. Still not exactly ideal, but you can do pretty much everything without the keyboard then.

[drafting3]

Has anybody tried a voice recognition software with Mastercam? Obviously it would be obnoxious as hell in a room with more than one person - but I waste a lot of time taking my hand off the mouse to enter numbers. I have a little auxiliary 9 key that I tried using with my left hand, but it just never really caught on.

 

Never with mastercam, but I have used a voice recognition program in the past with architectural design packages.

 

it sucks. seriously.

 

 

Calling out "end p" repeatedly to snap to endpoints got annoying quickly... and may god have mercy on your soul if you take a phone call and forget to mute your mic :/

 

i did this once and somehow uttered a phrase that the program understood as "select all > delete > save"

 

autosave backups ftw

[Guest SAMCRO]

Never with mastercam, but I have used a voice recognition program in the past with architectural design packages.

 

it sucks. seriously.

 

 

Calling out "end p" repeatedly to snap to endpoints got annoying quickly... and may god have mercy on your soul if you take a phone call and forget to mute your mic :/

 

i did this once and somehow uttered a phrase that the program understood as "select all > delete > save"

 

autosave backups ftw

 

Try Dragon- Naturally Speaking from Nuance.

 

Works great.

[Illuminator]

I wanted one for years and finally broke down and bought a Space Pilot Pro. As mentioned above it is hard to look back after using it for 3d stuff. Still got a ways to go mastering all the button functions, but for manipulating parts on the screen in almost any program its hard to beat. Picked mine up for around $250 on Amazon, think they list for $399..

 

[drafting3]

Try Dragon- Naturally Speaking from Nuance.

 

Works great.

 

that's what i used. hated it.

[BBprecise]

Got myself a Space Explorer (Space mouse pro wasn't out yet) a couple years ago on my own dime and haven't looked back. 3D Connexion used to do a 14 day trial with the option to buy or return at the end. I was gonna return it because of the cost ($299 direct from them, got it to show the owner how much time it would save me), but the lady I was dealing with said there's a price reduction for testers which brought it down to $199 so I had to buy it then (couldn't get company to go for it, now if I go to another job it comes with me so I'll always have it ). Don't know if they still do that or not.

 

Greg, with all of the 3D mice except for the Navigator there is a 2D/3D button, put it in 2D mode and you can't rotate the part at all, so when you zoom it can only move in or out. You probably could program one of the Navigator buttons to do the same, but you would loose something else. I like the way my Explorer is set up compared the the Space mouse pro. The view buttons are arranged in a more logical manner.

[austinav]

I cant see how anyone can work without one.

Absolutely awesome!

[Rotary Ninja]

Can you guys that have used the various models give any comparisons of one versus the other? I am getting ready to order one of these but really have no idea which one I should get. SpacePilot Pro, SpaceMouse Pro, or Space Explorer.

 

Thanks

[gcode]

I've got a Space Pilot Pro at works and Space Mouse Pro at home.

The SPP feels a little better and costs $100 more.. the LCD readout is moderately useful.

[Rotary Ninja]

That is kind of what I figured G. I had a $250 Logitech keyboard with this nifty LCD display that I never used one time.

 

I am leaning toward the SPaceMouse, but the Space Explorer looks nice too. I am not sure if I would use the function keys on the SpaceMouse or not. Is that the only difference between these two?