3D Space Navigator Opinions Please ??

[Spence]

I got a spacepilot pro for use with Rhino and Onecnc. Abso-f*c*in-lutely fabulous with both. In Onecnc you can't rotate with mouse unless you hold down the ctrl key. In Rhino you can rotate much more effectively and efficiently with the spacepilot. Worth every penny.

BULLETIN FOR JOHN WELDEN: With the pilot, you STILL have the mouse right there for anything you want. One hand on the mouse and one hand on the pilot. About 25 hot keys with the left hand on the pilot and three buttons and a wheel on the mouse for the right hand.

Spence

 

[El Mustachio]

I've had a space pilot for a number of years now. Only program I use it for is SW.

Using it with Single Parts; it's OK but I'm not really any faster with it than a mouse.
Using it with Assemblies; I'll never give it up. My assembies are the size of semi trailers and it really, really speeds up navigating through the mess when mating new components.
Using it with Drawings... never even tried it, don't expect it would do anything.

How it helps with assemblies alone is enough for me to justify never going back.

 

[John Welden]

I got a spacepilot pro for use with Rhino and Onecnc. Abso-f*c*in-lutely fabulous with both. In Onecnc you can't rotate with mouse unless you hold down the ctrl key. In Rhino you can rotate much more effectively and efficiently with the spacepilot. Worth every penny.

BULLETIN FOR JOHN WELDEN: With the pilot, you STILL have the mouse right there for anything you want. One hand on the mouse and one hand on the pilot. About 25 hot keys with the left hand on the pilot and three buttons and a wheel on the mouse for the right hand.

Spence

What I need to do is try it with a large assembly in Solidworks. With single parts in CAM and CAD it's really not all that useful to me. I don't have any problem orienting the model where I want it to be with the mouse.

 

[kuraki556]

I use an older 3Dconnnexion Spaceball 5000. I wouldn't model without it. It's big and clunky and looks stupid, but I can leave my left hand on it because it has 12 programmable hotkeys.

Fantastic for constraining assemblies.

 

[cmailco]

I have a Space Controller and I'd recommend one to anyone who works with a lot of assemblies. It took me a while to get use to it... after I actually convinced myself to start using it more. Old habits die hard, but I can't imagine modeling without the thing now. The fact that you can drive a menu with the 'wheel' under the navigation wheel is a huge time saver with some functions.

The Navigator is nice too, I might have went that route had I not picked this one up on a deal.

 

[BillT]

I find it interesting in this day and age to see comments that would even question the efficiency of a space mouse vs. hot keys. I could not imagine doing cad/cam work without a 3d controller as a tool in this or even the last decade. They really come into play when you are using a system that has an efficient context sensitive mouse button interface. And, from a purely selfish view: all those snappy keyboard clicks for view changes using arrow/hot keys to move around get annoying for others to hear. ( MC9 graduates you know who I'm talking to... :-p )

--
Bill

 

[lazylathe]

We use them on all of our 3D CAD computers.
People were reluctant in the beginning and there are still a few that do not like them, but most of them cannot live without them.
Speeded up production a lot!!

Andrew

 

[Toolroomguy]

I just got one, I like it.

Anyone else make a part go flying away from an assembly, yawing and rolling like Darth Vaders ship after he gets clipped by another fighter?
It was good for a laugh from a coworker. You gotta do the Vader breathing thing at the same time for greatest effect.

 

[Kev h]

Well it arrived today !

Quickly unboxed , plugged it in and then loaded the latest drivers off website.

I then opened up Alibre and started to do the darth vader thing without even trying and began getting that sinking feeling that i'd just wasted £100 !!

Went and did some work till lunch then returned to it as i thought this must be easier to use than this ... I then began fiddling with the settings ... the first huge main improvement was to allow only the dominant movement not a mad uncontrollable mix of them all.

Next to change zoom to up and down and invert it so down is zooming as it seem easier to control.

Then adjusted speeds of each control.

Finally found that different speed profiles were needed for each program as they all seem to handle the sensitivity a little differently but can adjusted to act the same with each saved profile.

So after a dodgy start out of the box am beginning to think this is an excellent piece of kit even if a little pricey and hopefully only improve!!

Thanks for all replies and advice and if you didnt get on with it the first time give it a second chance and make sure the settings suit your program!!

Cheers Kev

 

[John Welden]

I've been forcing myself to use my pilot for about a week now. Uggggh. Not there yet.... Not giving up though.

 

[xlr8tr]

I use a Space Pilot Pro at my desk and the laptop version of the Space Navigator when I'm on the road. I wouldn't give either of them up and can't ever imagine working without some sort of 3d controller.

 

[Kev h]

I've been forcing myself to use my pilot for about a week now. Uggggh. Not there yet.... Not giving up though.

Hi John , just checking , have you adjusted the settings as i described above or are you still on factory settings which are pretty much unusable...

Cheers Kev

 

[John Welden]

Hi John , just checking , have you adjusted the settings as i described above or are you still on factory settings which are pretty much unusable...

Cheers Kev

Yes, thanks. I've got the speed settings adjusted to my liking. (only using it in solidworks)

I've got the latest drivers too.

I guess it's one of those things that takes a lot of getting used to. I don't quite understand the people that claim they couldn't imagine not having one. Really? At this point it feels like it's trying to fix a problem I don't have. Now i can manipulate the model orientation with ease! uhhhh... okay... How about Solidworks stops crashing/locking up. That would help me a lot.

 

[fpworks]

I definitely don't think a 3d mouse is faster. I have one because I needed to take some mouse load off my right hand. Too much motorcycling and mountain biking in my past, and I was becoming very uncomfortable having trouble working CAD or CAM more than 3-4 hours. It was coming to the point where handshakes were painful.

Needless to say, the discomfort for me is now a thing of the past. But no way does the 3d mouse make me faster.

 

[scudzuki]

I have a Pilot (HP branded) I got off ebay used a while back for around 1/2 original price.
I found it to be an improvement (and strangely intuitive) with Alibre.
When rotating with the selector in Alibre, I often grabbed the wrong "handle" and the rotation would take a few tries to get right.
The Pilot, while taking a more practiced hand, lets me move/zoom/rotate in multiple axes to the desired zoom/orientation in one movement.
It works pretty well for me.

Joe