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3D Connexion Spacepilot Pro Configuration

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Message 1 of 11
spackle42
6735 Views, 10 Replies

3D Connexion Spacepilot Pro Configuration

Ok, so I've just bought myself one of these whizz-bang mice, but I'm finding setting it up is a bit of a headache.  My problem is that most of the commands aren't very well labelled.  For example, I wanted to set up an assembly quickbutton so that I could easily toggle part visibility.  I tried the 'assembly' subfolder in the configuration screen but there was no suiable command so I needed to go to the 'all commands' list.  In there are 19 commands, all simply labelled 'visibility', which meant trial and error until I found the right one...

 

From the 3D Connexion forums, I understand that the Autodesk add-in is authored by AD themselves, so what I want to know is whether there is any way I can modify the names of commands to make them more user friendly? Having a button that either opens a selected part from an assembly or opens a completely new file is frustrating to learn as the labels are the same!

 

I've added this to Idea Station Here but given that there seem to only be a small number of users that this affects, so I'm guessing I'll need to sort this on my own.



Justin Smith

Inventor Pro 2015 SP1
HP Z400 Workstation
Intel Xeon W3565 @ 3.20GHz
12Gb RAM
Win 7 64 Pro SP1
Spacepilot Pro v3.17.4
10 REPLIES 10
Message 2 of 11
scottmoyse
in reply to: spackle42

Justin,

 

I'm afraid I have the same viewpoint as you here. It sucks and the only way I have established to figure it out is Trial & Error. I was originally really surprised at how bad this is, that has deteriorated into disappointment to tell you the truth.

 

There is some degree of correlation between whats disaplyed in the Add-in Categories & commands as what appears in the Customise Ribbon dialogue. It would only help in a very few circumstances.

 

Sorry I couldn't be of more help other than leading a sympathic word.


Scott Moyse
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Design & Manufacturing Technical Services Manager at Cadpro New Zealand

Co-founder of the Grumpy Sloth full aluminium billet mechanical keyboard project

Message 3 of 11
jeanchile
in reply to: spackle42

We used trial-and-error also to get all of ours set up the way we wanted then created a document that showed which command was mapped to which button. The frustrating thing is that there are multiples of each commands for different environments and some of them work only in those environments. Finding the right ones that worked was a huge pain.

At least when you are done there is no way to save your settings or export them for other users. :::sarcasm:::.

I love my controller and wouldn't work without one but the software/drivers/support for these things sucks. We have these devices for each employee but every time someone gets a new workstation it is a nightmare to set it all up again.
Inventor Professional
Message 4 of 11
mcgyvr
in reply to: jeanchile

After a few weeks muscle memory will take over and you won't look at any of the text anyways..



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Inventor 2023 - Dell Precision 5570

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Message 5 of 11
kwilson_design
in reply to: jeanchile

"I love my controller and wouldn't work without one but the software/drivers/support for these things sucks."

 

Careful there buddy! Smiley LOL

 

I'm not sure if any 3DConnexion guys browse here or not but last time I gave them my opinions about improving their products, I was scoffed at when I gave them my...OPINIONS. The funny thing is they were the ones ASKING people about ways to improve their product while at an AU conference. Here's a tip for the 3DCx guys: don't get bent when you ask for peoples opinions to improve your product. I agree the UI/driver interface is horrid and looks to have little thought put into it aside from just throwing in commands from CAD software.

 

I use an SP Pro. It's got a ton of features most real-world people and engineers could care less about IMO. Why do I want to read email or RSS feeds off that tiny screen when I have 2-3 perfectly fine large monitors already in front of me? I don't have 20/20 vision so reading that itty-bitty screen is much harder than the SpacePilot's large, wide and bright display was. As mentioned, you gain a ton of muscle memory from these things so the screens aren't used as much as they intended us to use them. Still though I really wished they would bring back the OG SpacePilot mouse but with the better ergos and advanced button options like the SP Pro has. The entire "viewing area" of the SP Pro could of been used for a much wider and larger display by ditching (or moving) the D-pad buttons off to the side in favor of a slider button or push buttons. Anything would of been better than that poor use of space they chose. A shame really because it's a really nice device with a lot of potential.

 

3dconnexion_spacepilot.jpg

Regards,
Kenny
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Message 6 of 11
blair
in reply to: kwilson_design

The same thing with "Measure", it's a pick and check until you get the correct one. About 2-3 years ago the descriptions were much better. 


Inventor 2020, In-Cad, Simulation Mechanical

Just insert the picture rather than attaching it as a file
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Message 7 of 11
jeanchile
in reply to: kwilson_design


kwilsonamerex wrote:

Careful there buddy! Smiley LOL

 

I'm not sure if any 3DConnexion guys browse here or not but last time I gave them my opinions about improving their products, I was scoffed at when I gave them my...OPINIONS.


Bring 'em on! I've been telling these guys for years (over the phone and on their forum) that this workflow is BS. I've also been promised a fix for it for years. We have to change 29 (drag-n-drop) settings in 14 different environments on 17 different workstation. THAT'S 6,902 stupid drag and drop operations from a command menu that is less than user friendly. There is no "supported" way of copying and saving the settings and the file-copy/registry-hack thing posted on their forum hasn't worked for us in seven tries.

 

 

The product is great and I can't live without it. We've programmed our buttons to match our workflows in different environments and the drawing creation workflow settings alone have reduced our errors by 9% and increased productivity by 11% when creating drawings so it's COMPLETELY worth it....

 

... it still sucks though.

 

For what it is worth I have attached a copy of one of our settings documents but I don't think it will help much unless your working the same way we are.

Inventor Professional
Message 8 of 11
scottmoyse
in reply to: jeanchile


@jeanchile wrote:

 

Bring 'em on! I've been telling these guys for years (over the phone and on their forum) that this workflow is BS. I've also been promised a fix for it for years. We have to change 29 (drag-n-drop) settings in 14 different environments on 17 different workstation. THAT'S 6,902 stupid drag and drop operations from a command menu that is less than user friendly. There is no "supported" way of copying and saving the settings and the file-copy/registry-hack thing posted on their forum hasn't worked for us in seven tries.


In 3D Connexion's defense, it's my understanding they don't create the command labels in the 3dx Inventor add-in. It's been my experience on the 3dx forums in the past that there has been some degree of arrogance from the employees, when it came to suggesting changes etc.. It appears that is changing/has changed. They are becoming more and more active about seeking customer's opinions. They're extremely active on Twitter for example.

 

With regards to the settings, Jean sums it up completly. I only have a Space Navigator and it irks me that each time I use a new PC or format my PC I have to go through this hideous pain again. I'm frankly gobsmacked & hugely disappointed that there isn't an easy to use & highly visible backup the investment we make in setting these devices up in each program as they are intended. It's a massive failure of the 3D Connexion product team that this 'simple' & normally standard feature of any software hasn't been implemented after all these years. 

 

I was pointed to this post by the OP by a 3D Connexion employee so I could offer some advice. That alone is a sign they care and that change is a foot, bearing in mind Autodesk have a significant part to play here. Fingers crossed guys & gals.


Scott Moyse
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Design & Manufacturing Technical Services Manager at Cadpro New Zealand

Co-founder of the Grumpy Sloth full aluminium billet mechanical keyboard project

Message 9 of 11
spackle42
in reply to: scottmoyse

This was what I gleaned from the 3D Connexion forums.  From the sounds of it, this requires effort from both AD to improve their command descriptions, and 3D Connexion to allow us to save the setups.  I must admit, I genuinely can not understand how a product like this gets released to market without these features, especially when it's directly pitched to the likes of Skoda who will probably buy 200 units in a swing and then want to set them all up identically.



Justin Smith

Inventor Pro 2015 SP1
HP Z400 Workstation
Intel Xeon W3565 @ 3.20GHz
12Gb RAM
Win 7 64 Pro SP1
Spacepilot Pro v3.17.4
Message 10 of 11
brian.cranston
in reply to: spackle42

The devices are great, but they really drop the ball on the details like mass deployment.  I've been successful porting custom settings by setting it up once on my computer, then exporting the entire User Registry section covering the Inventor Add-In.  It's worked flawless for my SpacePilots since 2007.  I'm having trouble getting the SpacePilot Pro's to do the same thing, but I haven't had a chance to really figure it out.

 

This is the beginning of the REG file that shows the section to export...

*************************************

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\3Dconnexion\3Dconnexion Add-In for Inventor]...

*************************************

 

-Brian Cranston

Message 11 of 11
scottmoyse
in reply to: brian.cranston

Cheers for sharing that Brian


Scott Moyse
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EESignature


Design & Manufacturing Technical Services Manager at Cadpro New Zealand

Co-founder of the Grumpy Sloth full aluminium billet mechanical keyboard project

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