Stop designing with one arm tied behind your back... Get 2 hands on your 3D models with the SpaceMouse Pro. A good design delivers comfort & ergonomics, programmable function keys for increased productivity - all the while letting you work on your 3D design with both hands.
The SpaceMouse Pro was released just before Christmas 2011 - and what a nice gift it would make for any 3D designer even today. The design has stayed and 3DConnexion refreshed the 3D mouse with the wireless version half way through 2014. Both are still the gold-standard in 3D mice. Whether you choose the wired or the wireless SpaceMouse Pro, the result will be the same: better productivity and faster 3D modeling. Why? The reasons are outlined below.
PGW originally had a look at the SpaceMouse Pro after getting a demonstration from the European Sales Director, Uwe Rechkemmer. The benefit is simple to grasp in the video below. You can work in your 3D modeling program - in this case Autodesk Inventor - using two hands instead of just one. This means faster work, fewer hand movements, fewer mouse-clicks, and higher productivity. As you will see below, the function keys, the programmable buttons, and the heads-up display add to the productivity you will experience.
Uwe Rechkemmer demonstrates the benefits the SpaceMouse Pro offers for 3D modeling and design
3DConnexion has done the work to integrate their 3D mice features seamlessly into many many applications. For the launch of the SpaceMouse Pro Wireless, the company showed PGW their 6-degree of freedom mouse running PTC Creo. It doesn't matter which 3D modeling program you are using, you will most certainly increase your productivity with this 3D mouse.
3Dconnexion demonstrates the SpaceMouse Pro wireless features at PTC Creo
This is a solid, attractive design. Sure it is going to impress your colleagues, but the benefit for the company will come when they start asking how much better you work and it then becomes standard equipment for all working in 3D.
After interviewing 3Dconnexion about the launch and visiting them at Imagina, we took a look at the new 3D mouse. Yes, as with any new equipment, there will be a short time where your hands learn and adapt to working in a new way. But the transition should be short - less than a week. After that, you probably will never want to work without it again.
Let's take a quick tour of the device.
The 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse Pro 3D mice will boost your productivity in any 3D modeling application by letting you work with both hands.
The SpaceMouse Pro has a weighted, solid feel and 6 non-skid pads on the bottom of the device. This 3D mouse is going to stay in place. The palm-rest lets your hand rest naturally on the device which is even more important than the ergonomics of a 2D mouse as your hand relaxes into place for a day's work be it engineering, design, or architecture. In the middle is the 6-degrees of freedom control knob with a responsive feel, supple feel. Under the knob you'll find one of those details that is nothing more than just a nice touch, but one that is appreciated anyway - the blue glow from the SpaceMouse Pro's lights telling you that the device is powered and running.
Starting on the left side of the controller are 5 easy-to-access buttons.
- Menu : fast access to the SpaceMouse Pro configuration menu. This lets you adjust the parameters, speed, sensitivity, command options, etc, on the fly while you work.
- Alt, Shift, Ctrl, & Esc buttons that correspond to your keyboard commands. This simple idea keeps your hand on the controller and increases your efficiency.
On the right side of the controller you'll find the "QuickView" keys which give easy access to 12 views of your model. In the middle of these buttons is the rotation toggle. This locks & unlocks the rotation of the SpaceMouse letting you pan and zoom without any other changes in the view.
Finally, across the top of the SpaceMouse are 4 programmable function keys. These are programmable for all applications which allows application-specific commands.
3Dconnexion provides tools to help new users adapt to the 3D mouse. Upon installation a guide takes you through the basic concepts and they also provide a practice program, a viewer, and a puzzle game as aids to training your hands to work with a 3D mouse.
In particular, these simple tools are appreciated because most 3D users have adapted over the years to systematically translating the 2D mouse movements to the 3D environment where they work. The "adapting" to a 3D mouse is perhaps really more a process of un-learning this extra layer of 3D-to-2D abstraction demanded by a normal mouse so that you begin to work more naturally in a 3D environment.
In the past, I have been skeptical about the utility of 3D mice. Today that skepticism is gone. If you are working in 3D most of the day, then these devices will increase your productivity - a major benefit - since you will be designing with 2 hands now. In addition it will likely reduce the non-ergonomic stresses imposed on you by using devices designed for a 2D computer world, i.e.: that old 2D mouse.
The price of the unit is just 249£. If you spend most of your day working in 3D, then even a small gain in productivity will pay for the SpaceMouse Pro in just a few of weeks. But then, once you and your colleagues have been de-programmed from working with only 2D tools, I doubt that you'll have "just" a small gain in productivity!
