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New Space Pilot Pro

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It's not really about buttons on these devices (they are nice though) - it's all about zoom, pan and rotate. If you use a Spaceball type product for 2 weeks you'll never give it up.
Gerald
Spaceball 5000 USB
 
Actually, I've got the Navigator version. I only find it useful for quick navigation when having to select huge numbers of surfaces (for draft) or edges (fillets, whatever). Otherwise, I'm quicker with my keyboard navigation, since I need my hand free for number input anyway. Not that I don't like it or anything, but I rarely have cause to use it. (I set up SolidWorks long ago to work entirely without such a device, so now I'm all old and crusty about it.)



Jeff Mowry
A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.
 
I have the Spaceball 5000 USB also and most of the buttons are not programmed. Like gwubs, I use it mainly for zoom, pan and rotate too. I also have the Space Navigator that I use at home and the round puck is a bit more comfortable than the round ball of the Spaceball 5000.

As for the newer ones, rather than having to look down on an LCD screen, it would be better if it brought up a window on your computer monitor as a heads-up display.

Flores
 
I've tried these things at trade shows and conferences but have never really seen what the hype is about a space pilot unless I was trying to do annimations or screen capture recording. Can someone tell me what the benefit is other than having this neat thing that lets you move your model around, which is already easy to do with the mouse and keyboard. I'd rather use keyboard shortcuts than map buttons to a second mouse thingy. I guess it may be good on a laptop? Right hand mouse left hand keyboard is the way I roll and I can't see moving my left hand from keyboard to space pilot and back a forth. I may just be closed minded, lack certain motor skills, or just lack patience when it comes to operating a computer, as I hate trackballs. I feel I loose my precision and some control. If you put a space pilot in my left and a trackball in my right I think I'd last 10 minutes. It would be fun to have some sort of race or benchmark to try to determine which is the best setup.

rfus
 
I have one. The new programmable buttons are very nice. Most of us need quick access to about 10 or so commands (in each mode) that we use most commonly. The programmable buttons allow you to move most of those to one area. They can be programmed differently for Part, Drawing and Assembly modes, though there is no special mode just for sketching. (Tehnically, every work area button on the device can be programmed, but I don't recommend changing other buttons because their functionality is related to how the 3d-mouse works or zoom-to)

It only took an hour for me to get used to the nagivation button (i've never owned a 3D-mice before, and have only played with them sortly before this).

You'll still need the mouse in your right hand in order to do the usual pick-and-placing.

I'll be giving more indepth reviews of my experiences with the device at my blog over the next month or so.

Matt Lorono
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
and Mechnical.Engineering Yahoo! Group
 
I too have never been able to get attached to one of these. I have tried them out a few times since my company tends to order one with a new workstation. I use the mouse center wheel to zoom in and out and press the wheel to rotate. I do not bother to scroll I just zoom out then change the mouse position to zoom back in on a new center. My mouse is set to ultra sensetive. I move my wrist about .25" and my mouse will move all the way across both monitors. It is pretty fast and keeps my left hand free for entering dimensions and short cuts.
 
I just got one yesterday, but I've been using a SpacePilot for years. It's definitely made me quicker, Jeff. I've posted about it a couple of times on my blog.
As for the SpacePilot Pro, my initial impression is "wow". It feels much nicer in the hand, more ergonomic. I'm just now getting into playing around with it, though. Like Matt, I'll be posting about it.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP, Certified DriveWorks AE
CAD Administrator, Ultimate Survival Technologies
My Blog
 
I've used most of the different Space* devices over the years. I won the first one and was about to give up on it after two weeks and then in a last ditch effort I went in and changed the zoom/pan settings from the default to what I considered more natural.
Within minutes I was flying like a pro. Now in situations where I don't have it I find myself constantly reaching for it.
I have a SpacePilot but only played with programming it one day when I had some free time. My 2-button Navigator suites me just fine. Probably has 1 button too many as I only use the zoom all.
I find it particularly useful in placing fillets, in assembling parts with assembly constraints and, this might be key - simply constantly moving a complex part around while I figure out how I'm going to tackle the next geometry. The constant motion is like physically manipulating the part in my hand - a virtual representation of the real world. Really helps me think and plan out an attack on solving the geometry problems.
 
My favorite use, actually, is with Google Earth. Now that they've got the 3D mountain/terrain data in there, it's a real trip checking out the forteeners we look at with Google Earth, and definitely much faster with a Space Widget.

Otherwise, I'm with rfus in having such a good rapport already with arrow key and number pad navigation, it's just not as quick for me. I think a lot of it is that I often build things in the context of the assembly and therefore and converting/offsetting entities quite often. I like to be normal to the edges I'm working with (and yes, I do have one of my buttons programmed to snap to normal to surface).



Jeff Mowry
A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.
 
I think that many people who have not learned to use the spaceball see it only as a gimmick. One area where it really shines is in assemblies. Being able to zoom in on faces for selection to mate, and measure is just one example. Many people who try a spaceball get frustrated because you now are teaching your left hand to do something it is not accustomed to. Think back to the first time you held a standard mouse, not many of us would say that moving the cursor with the keyboard is the way to go. If you have a spaceball sitting unused on your desk, I challenge you to really try to use it. If you do that, I predict that you won't want to do without is after 2 weeks.
 

Being able to customize it really speeds things up for me, and not just in SolidWorks. Having both monitors available, and photo's open, along with e-mail, it doesn't take long to get to where it's just not the same without the 3D controller.
I have several "generic" functions pgm'd into my space explorer that "cross-over" into other applications: escape, delete, Ctl., Enter, several more too. It's just, whatever you get used to doing.
Mine works very good when I'm sorting through the morning SPAM--- select the top e-mail, hold 'shift' with the 3d controller, use mouse to select last "junk item",then use programmed "DELETE" & "Enter" with the 3D controller. Never have to touch the keyboard.
Another thing I like is the way is will "scroll through" the feature tree. As long as you have your cursor over the tree area, 'pulling' or 'pushing' on the controller will scroll through a long list of parts - good for selecting planes, faces, or axis very quickly. No way I would be able to work as productive with only a keyboard and mouse, but then again, It's just what you get "used to."
Since our parts library is on a network, the first button I programmed on my controller was a "SAVE". Working along, and accidently hit 'save' every 4 or 5 minutes, really has eliminated some pain and suffering for me.
 
I have no idea why but people either love these or hate them. I'm in the love column.

I bought one off e-bay out 7-8 years ago just to try out and can't work without one any more.

I use the two button navigator and it works well but I would love to upgrade. My company doesn't buy stuff like large monitors and 3D controllers so I'm on my own. Hopefully with the release of the Pro the earlier USB units will start to come down in price.

Like I said, I can't work without one, but I also can't justify spending that much money just to have all the bells and whistles.
 
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