3DConnexion's SpacePilot Pro 3D mouse
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted April 16th 2009 5:06PM
posted April 16th 2009 5:06PM
3DConnexion has always had a place in our heart for their reasonably priced and smartly designed three dimensional controllers. Now the company is back on the scene with the SpacePilot Pro, which ups the ante -- and the price point -- considerably. This bad boy sports an LCD screen and lots (and lots) of buttons, including controls for various isometric views and navigation settings (pan and zoom, rotation, speed). If that weren't enough, there are function keys for various apps and an applet for checking your MS Outlook mail. Ships with drivers for Windows XP and Vista, Solaris 8 and 10, and Linux -- as always seems to be the case with this company, Mac users are stuck without for the time being. Retails for $499, available now.
[Via The Inquirer]
[Via The Inquirer]
and this is not iPhone-like? Oh wait, no.. it's not touchscreen! D'OH!
Totally buying this for Quake.
Is that like the iDrive from BMW for the PCs? It sure looks like a dashboard from a car...
Why pay $499 when you can find the exact same thing for $79 (Gyration Air Mouse: http://www.gyration.com/?l=en#productDetail/mobility/airMouse)
Are you blind, stupid, or both?
He's just a fan/supporter of that airmouse thingy and saw a chance to plug it I'm figuring.
OK... check this out and understand it..
http://www.3dconnexion.com/spp/index.php
The controller cap floats and you can push in any direction
left / right / forward / backward / up / down / Tilt in any direction.
It's meant for 3d Applications like 3d studio / Maya / Softimage etc.
Correct although floats is a bit of a misnomer, it goes up and down and left/right/forwards/backwards/tilts/rotates (partly rotates since it springs back).
Meant for CAD and 3D packages to be used simultaneously with a regular mouse, it rotates the scene or object while you manipulate it with the mouse in normal fashion.
I know, I'm overposting on this subject, sorry, I'm not affiliated with 3D connexion nor its parent company logitech in case you start to get that impression.
hell yeah!
Looks like it was cut straight out of the armrest of Cpt. Picard's chair.
I bought one of the lower end models from 3DConnexion before realising that all of the 3D software packages I use have keyboard short cuts that do the exact same thing as this product offers. Except a keyboard will put you back £10.
Damn sexy!!!
I think They missed out on not having the screen at the top being larger and touch screen - it could have been fully customisable. As it's Logitech company they have the experience in the all in the all in one touch screen remotes.
Email widgets etc are a bit pointless. But they do point out that it's all open source wisgetmongery so you can do whatever you want with the LCD. Just why didn't they make it touch screen!?
And well to be honest... I'd expect for for £480!!! (what the hells that all about $499 in the US) Might as well get the new Space Navigator for £50... does the same thing with out the buttons and the pointless screen.
That said I have the original SpacePilot cheap from the USA when the Dollar was tanked and cost me about £130 and it rocks. It really does speed up working. if only for creating nice realistic camera movements. After a few hours you'll be surprised how good it is for modelling and fine movement. It's just something you have to try and either like it or not.
too high tech for me
I have the older spacetime 3D. The think is brilliant! Lets see if i can convince my company to upgrade to this one!!
Why the *fuck* is there a… Symantec logo 'shopped onto the photo, both here *and* at The Inquirer?
I think this comment thread should be a pinup of engadget stupidity
As someone else mentioned above, this is not a mouse and as such does not control your cursor. It's a controller for manipulating viewports in multiple axes in 3D and CAD programs. I do 3d aniation professionally, own three of their lower-end models and can tell you that if you do 3D for a living they're worth every penny.
Oh, and there is no keyboard shortcut combination in any program that will allow you to simultaneously zoom, pan and spin a viewport as you can with these products - all with one hand, and all while simultaneously controlling the mouse with the other hand.
Thanks for clearing things up. I had always thought these things were mice, like the old pucks, but you're saying they're not replacing the mouse, they're partly replacing menu's / keys / other shortcuts. That sounds pretty useful actually.
Using a SpacePilot with AutoDesk Inventor & Studio Max is a dream. I also use the Navigator (just the joystick + 2 buttons) but miss the pilot with all the functions buttons (no need to move your hand to and from the keyboard).
To those that think this is just an over priced mouse don't understand or use any 3D design software.
As far as costs go, switching from the Pilot to the Pilot Pro, that's not an easy decision (but will probably upgrade), but going from nothing to the Pilot Pro, any capable 3D application user (Inventor, SolidWorks, Studio Max, Maya, etc) will more that make the money back in increased efficiency within a month.
Bring on the Pro with even more features!
Phil
I'm an hobbyist 3D artist, and I use the SpaceNavigator. Other than the fact that I tend to pick up the puck (its just the movement thing with a weighted base), it makes 3D work several times faster. I use Blender 3D mostly (uses keystroke tool menu popups mostly). If I could justify spending the money on this, I would jump all over it. The movements are precise and the thing is highly customizable (speed, function presses, macros, etc).
To be fair, I have not yet had a chance to try any 3D mice.
There is a delicious irony here though... mice actually went to the 20 button stage, and came back to the 2 button mouse stage, because you had to spend time learning what each button did and then had to be dextrous enough to hit the right button in the heat of battle. I used to draw on AutoCAD with a 16 button mouse, a tablet to track the mouse position and a crosshair sight. :o I actually got used to it. :o Something like this: http://www.mandeno.co.nz/users/show_item.php?q=1,3,82,248,-1,1,26,174,all&key_word=
I'll tell you that the 2 button mouse and Icons (nah) or Keyboard Shortcuts and on screen Context Menu's (yay) are far easier, in my opinion.
I know some people like these things, but most apps have the shortcuts for the 3D stuff, so I'm not sure how helpful this is. Me personally, I prefer the left hand on keyboard and right hand on mouse method of 3D modeling. Shortcut, point and shoot.
This is doing the same shortcut thing, only in a more ergonomic form factor, plus many additional functions (left hand is on this instead of the keyboard). The motion control over models with one of these is much, much better than you can get with standard mouse/keyboard functions.
My consulting rate (set by my company, I don't see nearly that much green) is $2000/day (SolidWorks Certified Professional). That said, for them to drop the money for that kind of equipment for me is nothing. It is misleading to call this a "mouse". SpaceMouse or 3D controller is more accurate. And for CAD work, they definitely come in handy. Models like this also do far more than the cheaper (but still effective) and smaller portable models.
Its amazing how many people have been freaking out about this thing without any comprehension of its use. As other posters have mentioned.. its for 3d applications. It takes a couple of days getting used to and can make things easier for modelers and animators. I don't know anyone who uses this for autocad, most pros are so ridiculously quick with a mouse or wacom that this is just a luxury tool that may bring some more speed, not necessarily function.
You have to realize, anyone rocking one of these is probably also using a $10k design program to run a $250k CNC machine on a part they're charging the customer $100/hour to mill, so really, in the grand scheme of things, not a big deal.
I got the PE home version, but never use it. I could have gotten the hang of it, but the base, as heavy as it was, still wasn't heavy enough and would lift up when I tried to move it up. This and other versions with wrist support solve that problem, but every one of them is more expensive than I have need.
So clamp it to something heavy, there are 4 screws under the rubber ring (there's a tear-apart online) so you can just use longer replacement screws to clamp something under it.
or use that hook-placement stick on tape that can hold like 30 pounds and stick that underneath and to your desk.
That should not break the bank*
*all statement mentioning banks assume a stable bank in china.
Why does this thing look like a photo shopped Logitech Harmony 1000?
3dconnexion is a logitech company, I think that answers it possibly.
As someone whose company bought me the last spacepilot 4 months ago, I'm officially jealous as f**k.
Thia would be nice for my editing station......
Awesome it will replace my n52 pad (http://www.wolfmanzbytes.com/pc/n52speedpad/n52backlg.jpg)
and my space navigator (http://www.gearcrave.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/space_navigator.jpg)
into one good around device with a lcd device :D
BARGIN!!
So you have to look down at your mouse to select what you want on your computer? Sounds counter-intuitive.
Seriously guys, if you don't use applicable software or haven't actually used it, you really shouldn't knock it.
3D modeling is a lot like working in clay, so when you're building something you spend a ton of time manipulating your view of it, so you end up spinning the object around and panning and zooming in and out a lot. If you don't have this tool, you either click a button with the mouse or use a keyboard shortcut to change from whatever modeling tool you're using, to a zooming or panning or spinning operation, then you use the mouse to do EITHER the zooming or the panning or the spinning. It can take quite a bit of clicking and moving to get the view exactly where you want it. And then you click back on the tool for whatever modeling function you were performing.
With this tool, you never have to click on anything or leave the tool you were using. You just move the knob with your left hand and can spin, zoom and pan all at once. Instantly. And because it has a bunch of fully-customizable buttons on it, you can perform a bunch of operations, such shift- and control-clicks, changing or minimize/maximize viewports etc., without ever touching the keyboard. It's like the HOTAS controls on fighter aircraft.
Also, I own one that is the travel version - it's basically just the knob on a metal base, and I've had zero issues with it moving around while I was using it.
And no, I don't work for the company or own stock. I'm just a guy who saw the thing at the Siggraph convention last year and fell in love.
I bought myself a Space Pilot Pro, and have been using it for about a week now. I previously had a Space Pilot which I liked very much.
Since making the switch I must say that the $500 is worth every cent~!
This Pro version is so much more controlling of your model. I primarily use Solidworks on a daily basis with multi-lcds' and 4-5+cad windows open simultaneously, with the pro I can literally move models around without losing orientation at all...compared to the 1st generation Space Pilot.
The ability to rotate 90degrees is really helpful as well as the bottom & back view buttons. It did feel a bit different from the Space Pilots sensitivity as well as position of the buttons but I have used the Space Pilot for like 2+years.
It's been like a week and I'm already use to the button layout with nearly all of it's features in Solidworks.
Have not yet use it with 3ds Max, Real Flow yet...I did use it with Google Earth and again the control is a drastic improvement over the 1st generation Space Pilot.
If you have a Space Pilot now sell it....That's what I did and paid the difference...you won't be disappointed
Highly recommend this Pro.....any CAD/CAM, Rendering, Animation 3D designers will love this unit...I promise.