Hi, I saw this originally listed in the poser store at efrontier, it's a 3rd party mouse type device for poser and other 3d apps:

http://www.3dconnexion.com/3dmouse/spacenavigator.php

I just bought one via amazon.com (look up space navigator personal edition), it's just $59 and it's great... I wish I'd bought one earlier ... it lets you rotate your characters, fully redefinable keys, a 3d type mouse device that makes it a lot easier, than clicking on the camera etc controls in the upper left corner of poser, to move objects.

Does anyone/everyone else use this yet?  Any tips for using it?  I just got it last week.

thx...

Another sample of "viral marketing"?

Quote - Another sample of "viral marketing"?

no, someone talking about something a lot of others have.

Just $59!  Now I've got to get one.  I thought they were around $300,
which was out of reach.

Does this low-priced model *definitely *work with P7?

What I've found so far is that using the Navigator to control the camera, once you adapt to -not- using the mouse to do so, lets you close the trackball and hotkey which camera you use. So you reclaim that workspace for other things. The main problem I have is that the smoothness of control with the Navigator isn't consistent. One time it's a dream, another time a spastic nightmare. No doubt there is something running in the background that is conflicting with the Navigator, I just haven't found out what yet. That said, it has proven to be a wonderful addition to the controls for the apps that support it. Now if e-on would implement control compatibility with Vue, I could easily see it being used to fly the camera about.

Quote - Just $59!  Now I've got to get one.  I thought they were around $300,
which was out of reach.

Does this low-priced model *definitely *work with P7?

Ockham; Yep, it do! I got the the personal edition on the desk, and it works as advertised (minus the config issue I haven't clobbered just yet). The $300 one is a bit more capable than the personal; you have the control and two programmable buttons on the base. But that base is solid machined steel (so ignore the images you see that look plastic; it ain't. The steel and black with the blue LED ring is the standard now). So far as I can tell, the only difference between the PE and the Pro version next up is cost and paid support. If there is any other difference, I'd really like to know....

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2715971

That''s good to hear GG. I've been thinking about picking one of those up for a while now, though I would be using it in Max more than anything. I was curious if it would work with other proggies though...good to hear of your success.

Awwwww, man -- I just bought a Wacom tablet, and now I've got to buy one of these, too......?

$59?  Cheap.

I'm not clear on the commercial use vs. non-commercial use license and precisely what that entails.  If support is the only difference, then I can live with that.  I'll need to investigate further when I have the time.

Xenophonz,

The tablet is a must...great tool, huh?

I like the tablet a lot.  Once you've gotten the hang of using the pen, it's faster than using the mouse -- even for everyday tasks such as navigating through windows.  However, I have found that the pen can be a little hard to handle when it comes to camera controls in 3D.  Camera rotations are sometimes prone to go "crazy" when using the pen to do the rotating.  So the "space navigator" might be just the thing for dealing with cameras.

Quote - I'm not clear on the commercial use vs. non-commercial use license and precisely what that entails.  If support is the only difference, then I can live with that.  I'll need to investigate further when I have the time.

from the support forum:

Quote - The text that is added to the PE Software license agreement is as follows:

This license agreement pertains exclusively to the SpaceNavigatorâ„¢ Personal Edition navigation device. By downloading, installing or using 3Dconnexion software or any portion thereof ("3DxSoftware") you agree to the following terms and conditions. The 3Dconnexion Software, and any portion thereof, are referred to herein as the "Software."
The software is to be used for non-commercial or academic purposes only. The software may be used for commercial or professional use for a period of 30-days. After the 30-day period has terminated, the user must upgrade to the professional version of SpaceNavigator in order to be used for commercial purposes.

Hmmmmm.  $99 bucks it is, then.

Thanks for the info, Tyger_purr.

That is a strange license for a hardware device.  I'm used to seeing such restrictions on software -- but not on hardware.

Quote - That is a strange license for a hardware device.  I'm used to seeing such restrictions on software -- but not on hardware.

It is very strange in light of the fact that this particular piece of hardware has no affect on the items produced, it only provides an easy way to look at them while they are being made.

it actually brings up many questions as to what constitutes "commercial use".

I think i may have to write the company for clarification.

I wonder if Microsoft is now going to come out with a 2-tier pricing scheme for their hardware products -- $79 for a Microsoft mouse for "non-commercial use", and $159 for "commercial use"?

In the case of the space navigator, it's a $40 price difference over a technical license matter.  Odd.

In my case, if I want the item then I'd have to go with the higher price -- although I'd do it under protest.  Even if it's a great device.  But if you want the product, then you buy it under their terms.

I wonder how they'd ever verify that the device was only being used as is specified in their license -- at least as far as individual users (not companies) are concerned?  Send somebody to look over your shoulder as you worked?  It's an honor-system thing, I suppose.  It would almost have to be.

graphicsguy are you related to choover3 by any chance?

Xenophonz,
I was wondering the same thing. They are taking quite a chance expecting peps to really behave and stick to the honor system.

It's kind of sad that last statement I made, there used to be a time when honest folks ruled the day. Now?

GraphicsGuy,
How long have you had it and is your hand in a weird contorted position? That was my only concern with it, looked like you had to have your hand in "the claw!" position to use it.

No relation to graphicsguy!  Just on the same wavelength.

The hand position is very comfortable and takes only the slightest movement to control.

Forward, backward, left, right, tilt right, tilt left, tilt forward, tilt backward, up, down;  did I forget any?  It's sweet.

I am a graphics tablet fan also, someday I will get one of those also.

Meh - I'll keep my Razer Diamondback optical, thanks much - the 1600 dpi resolution couples nicely with the 1600x1200 screen, and the Mac picked it up and ran without needing any kind of special drivers.

/P

I have the space navigator and love it. I especially like the smooth zoom and pans when photo browsing.

There's also a alternate replacement driver in developement:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/software-software-development/93930-space-navigator-pe-driver-development-thread.html

I've just had it a few days, but I really love this thing.. makes rotating models so much more easy.. it also has a couple of buttons on it... what's impressive besides the fine degree of control, is just how solid/heavy this thing is... (order from amazon.com )... I put it next to my mouse, on the right side, and use it there.. it's very very well built, and in fact I like it better than my wacom tablet, though that's a neat tool, too..

it's on the list of "hey why didn't they tell everyone about it?" stuff when getting into 3d modeling.. I wouldn't run my programs without it anymore, esp. poser... it's so easy, and there's no setup, it just works great... (download the latest driver pack from their site and install that, instead of what's on the cd).. sorry i sound like a commercial for this doggone thing, but I really do love it.. it's a "must have" for sure, for 3d work, like coffee :p

you can even choose to turn off the cool-looking blue led light, so it's not distracting... it's neat though, when someone asks about it, you can say "it's my professional 3d modeling control unit" and get that "ooh ahh" look on their face lol

Sorry choover3 & graphicsguy, was just having a bit of fun :D the thing does look pretty neat though I have to admit.

Hmm.  Bought the thing a couple of weeks ago, and it finally arrived today.

Plugged it in, ran the CD; the CD installed a small amount of code in Program Files,
but didn't seem to do much.  Tried in Poser; nothing. 

Downloaded the updated driver as mentioned above, went through the same steps.
Again a small amount of stuff in Program Files, but again no visible action, no
light on the Navigator, no icon in the system tray.

The system does seem to recognize the device by name; when I plug it into a
different USB jack, Windows does the Bong-Bong thing and shows a tooltip
indicating the Space Navigator has been plugged in.

But still no light and no action in Poser.

What am I doing wrong?

Poser 7 Service Release 2.1?

OH.  I skipped SR2.1 ... Is that where the Navigator was added?

But shouldn't it seem more "alive" outside of Poser?  It doesn't
light up blue, and there's no system icon for it that I can find.

the blue light is an option you might need to turn on, and you should see it in your system tray..  (3dxware) and it looks whiteish.

Nope, nothing new in the systray, nothing new in the Control panel.  Tried
rebooting, tried the "add new hardware" step, still nothing.

That's why I'm thinking the whole installation just didn't work for some reason.

Yes, you definately need to install the SR.  It was not supported prior to that.  I agree, it seems that the lights should work regardless, but I do not know that for a fact.  The lights are on whether I am running Poser or not.  It worked for me straight out of the box.  I ran it for several days on the CD driver with no problems.  I did eventually download the new driver but it didn't seem to make any difference.  I would, however, use the new driver anyway.

Okay, I'll get the SR and see if that makes any difference.  Thanks for quick answers!

Adding to the last post ...

You should get a shortcut icon on the desktop and a Control Panel.  Also USB 2.0.

The instructions indicate that the device should be plugged in prior to loading the driver.

Yup, I plugged it in first.  No new icons at all, after three
separate tries. 

I'll try the CD again after updating Poser.

when you installed it, you also got an ption to use it's optional image viewer.

click a picture, and see if you can zoom in and out using the SN

it also works with google earth, so you could test it with that as well.

Well, it works beautifully now!  Not sure if it was the Poser SR that
made the difference, or I just somehow picked the wrong choices
on installing before.  The installation went through all the proper
stages and placed all the proper icons this time.

Now to the Python drawing board, to see if there's a way to pick up
the camera motion and apply it to a figure instead.....

Glad to hear it.

Attached Link: http://www.e-frontier.com/article/articleview/2266/1/861/

No need to use Python. When you set one of the SN buttons to be sent as button #1 (the default mappings are not set that way), you can switch with it in Poser between camera and actor movement. You will probably also be happy to hear that you can map Python scripts to buttons, see the attached link.

Aha!  That's even better!

Hmm never even tried that!

Only thing that I dislike, is I prefer some of the axis's reversed with teh camera, but not reversed with figure manipulation.

Maybe once I get used to posing figures that way, I'll feel more comfortable with it as it is.

I also had to run my sensitivity way down until I really got more used to it.

Not that I've done much serious research into the subject yet (because I haven't), but I am curious as to what advantages the more expensive models of these devices have to offer?  With a quick once-over, I see additional features like a greater number of programmable buttons, some hard-wired view styles, and an LCD readout on the most expensive model.  I wonder if all that the LCD does is to duplicate information which is already available on your PC's screen - like a lot of other devices with LCD's that I've seen?

I don't know if the SpacePilot is worth $399 vs. the SpaceNavigator's $99.  If anyone has used the upper tier devices, and knows the differences / advantages vs. the lower-priced devices, then I'd be curious to learn more.

I'm still going to try a 3d Hansel/Gretel script.  Something like this:
You use the Navigator to "drive" the dolly cam through the paths and
rotations you want, then the script transfers this real-time movement 
to animation frames, with options to smooth, keep on ground, etc.

Have you tried this?

Um.. you expect me to actually look at preferences??

DOH!

Hello:

I have a question regarding the Space Navigator. 
I have just installed the the above device, SE edition,  on an Intel/Mac running Poser 7 (latest SR) and have in addition installed the latest Mac driver that was posted for the first time today (10/30/07) on the 3D Connexion web site.  The various movement characteristics seem to work as described (i.e. pan, rotate, etc.) , however, I have noticed that the programmable buttons do not.  The right button functions outside of Poser when, for example, on the desktop but  they do nothing at all from within the program.  The macro function does not work either.   A call to Tech Support did not reveal a solution.  This phenonema was noted with the above described driver as well as the previous 1.3 iteration.

Has anyone else encountered this anomaly?

Thank you in advance.