Customer Reviews

3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator SE (Standard Edition) 3D Navigation Device USB ( 3DX-700028 )

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

1st make sure you read all other reviews. They all have pertinent information. I'm a mechanical product developer for the aerospace industry. Using Solidworks for 3D modeling and Mastercam for programming CNC machining centers, I find the Space Navigator priceless. I do own the Space Pilot, and the Space Traveller and the Space Navigator. All are worthy of their intended capability. So if you need to design/model intriquete parts where you need to explore inside cavities to confirm interaction of mating parts, this is the tool that does make it easier and faster than any other tool in the CAD industry. If you want to play with one for anything other serious CAD modeling, buy the cheapest one and get it out of your system. There's no need for this device unless you're needing 3D solid model control. As far as the differing prices, I'm equally satisfied with my $59 Navigator as I am with my $499 Space Pilot. If you need this tool and don't need the customizable features, spend the $50+.

Anyone doing 3D modeling, particularly in architecture, really has to have one of these devices if their software supports it.

The SpaceNavigator supports several products that I use on a daily basis: Graphisoft ArchiCAD, Abvent Artlantis Studio, Google SketchUp and Google Earth. [Right-handed user assumed here...] It is placed to the left of the keyboard, so that you have you right hand still on your mouse. It is not a selection device, but a navigation device.

Navigating in 3D in many 3D applications is a jerky process - smooth pan, rotate, etc followed by moving your mouse to a new position (causing a pause in the action) and start moving again.

With the SpaceNavigator, movement is fluid and (if you change the preferences to high speed) - fast (and fun)!

The SpaceNavigator can be set up to work in your model in either a fly-through mode or in 'object' mode. I prefer 'object' mode. If I am looking at a building, the movement of my hand on the SpaceNavigator is identical to if I was holding a physical model of that building in my hand. If I rotate away from me, the building rotates away. Push to the left, the building pans to the left. Lift on the knob, the building rises on the screen. Etc. Extremely intuitive and slightly immersive.

In ArchiCAD or Artlantis, I can work much faster than with mouse alone... and in perspective mode, so the views are more realistic. I can instantly get to the back side of the building, looking up at the fascia to deal with a rafter issue there, for example.

I'm a heavy user of keyboard shortcuts, and do not find that it interferes at all with that, as suggested by another reviewer. The device is immediately to the left of my Cap Lock key, so it is milliseconds to get my hand back over the keyboard.

With clients, there is almost no need to generate animations (movies) since you can move accurately and fluidly in OpenGL to walk through a building in real time. But, even for animations, the SpaceNavigator lets you quickly set up camera positions.

Google Earth is pretty fun with it, too - again, completely fluid navigation, vs the move, pause, jerk kind of navigation achieved with a mouse.

Note that this review is on the SE page, but applies to the PE model as well. The license is the only thing I hate about this thing. The SE and PE models are identical, differing only in their license details. The SE is for non-commercial work, the PE for commercial (for profit). You can 'upgrade' an SE to a PE on the manufacturer web site - although it is cheaper to buy a PE here at Amazon in the first place.

Purchased Space Navigator through Amazon and use it daily with Blender 3D and Adobe Inventor. If you use hotkeys for 3D modeling routines (and you should), you need this. Even if just used for simple rotation, translation and scaling, it is a time saver. I use it in addition to a digital tablet. It is not replacement for a mouse but will increase your productivity by concentrating a bunch of functions into one device.
Pros:
Big time saver (after you get used to it).
Did not slow my computer (with Inventor and Blender and Google Earth).
Excellent customer service - failed unit was quickly replaced, no questions asked.
Cons:
Heavy if you carry it around in a bag with other items (like a digital tablet).
A little fragile - mine failed after about 5 months possibly from note being stored in a case. I now store mine in the plastic bubble case it came in.
Make sure that the application you want to use it with has a driver, some are not supported (POVRay, Rhino3d).

This is an amazing product -- we use it to create camera effects in 3D spaces for live shows and recordings in the virtual world environment of Second Life.

One you try it, you will never be able to do frame capture work with just the normal mouse. But it's not a replacement for your mouse -- I use my mouse on the right, and the SpaceNavigator on my left (admittedly sometimes with both hands just for a bit of extra control and concentration).

I have used this SpaceNavigator SE for a few months now on 3D modelling programs such as Inventor 9 and Solidworks 2008. I find it very helpful, although I wish it had more than two buttons. It does take a while to become accustomed to manipulating it, but it is well worth it.

I did find that the rubber on the bottom does not stick well to my desk's surface so I grabbed some spare silicone rubber sheet (McMaster-Carr part no. 86045K411) and trimmed it to match the bottom. It is really grippy. The fit and finish is very nice. The software is good and has enough adjustments to satisfy a picky user like myself. I wish more applications supported it though.

I am very happy I spent the money on it and would buy it again if I had to. It is also fun to watch coworkers use if for the first time as they fumble around. Most can't keep a solid model on the screen for very long :)

I you are a CAD designer & have not tried any of the 3Dconnexion products...what are you waiting for. I migrated from a SpaceBall 4000 to the SpaceNagigator & love it. I opted for the SpaceNavigator because I didn't use the bottons on my SpaceBall, so why spend the extra money for features I wouldn't use. The SpaceNavigator handles a little differently than the SpaceBall, but I got used to it pretty quickly. If you want to increase productivity & flexibility while designing you need a 3D mouse. They take a bit to get used to, but you can adjust the sensitivity of the puck until you get used to it & then gradually increase it until it fits your style.

The SpaceNavigator is very heavy & stays put during use. I also like the small footprint so it gives me more room on my desk top. What more can I say, except this is a must have for every CAD designer.

I recently purchased the Space Navagater and was impressed by it's sleek style and response BUT if you're using it in Maya 3D it will grind even the most powerful CPU to a halt.I have a quad core G5 with 6 gigs of RAM. I work in Maya as a CG artist and instead of drivers this thing uses mel scripting to function and will choke your system full of callback info and become useless and unuseable after about 2 minutes of use. The company claims on the box it works well with Maya well it simply doesn't. Someday when they write a good driver perhaps I will be back in business, BUT for now it is a paperweight at my workstation.

Here's my evaluation of the Space Navigator (used primarily for DAZ Studio).

The hardware is first class, solid heavy duty unit sits on the desktop beautifully and is a joy to view and manipulate.

The configuration/setup is very poorly done. It is really confusing and does not allow you to actually interact with the controller in order to decide and then immediately set whether you want normal or the inverse directional setting. The number of motions/directions are poorly illustrated and explained. This is not a trivial point, because not having this done right means wasting a lot of time once you understand what you need to do and what works for you.

The worst problem is that one of the main control movements is not clearly explained. If you grasp the Space Navigator and anchor your hand on the desktop to provide a firm anchor and simply move it laterally, without tilting or pulling or pushing the center knob (e.g. restrict movement to the lateral plane parallel to desktop) you get a pure motion but this is never properly explained. The other manipulations such as tilting, or pushing or pulling the central knob are fairly reasonably.

It is absolutely crucial that you ANCHOR your hand to the surface the Space Navigator rests on, in order to get the purely lateral movement to work properly. If you are not properly anchored and get even miniscule tilt or push pull, you will get unintended "confusing" movements of your target.

The configuration/setup and various guides fail to explain this, or do so very poorly. I figured this out purely by trial and error.

A very minor complaint is that a popup comes up everytime you open Photoshop and there is no easy way to tell it not to do that. This is trivial and I mention it simply to show that the software people are not paying attention to users.

In summary, this is a Superb 3D Controller, hobbled by an unforgiveably poor SOFTWARE for Configuration/Setup. It's a terrible shame. If you are willing to waste a lot of time figuring it out it is a very useful tool.

Like too many computer and computer related devices, this product suffers from software ergonomics problems. The programmers have very poor judgement when it comes to making things easy to learn and use. They need to hire people who understand how to do this and then test and revise software based on improving the areas where people are having difficulty. This needs to be done iteratively until problem areas are gone and novice users learn to configure,setup, and use the product rapidly with little or no complaints. Only then will the ingenuity and creativity of the the hardware designers be fully realized and appreciated.

I was skeptical of this device at first, and probably did not need the so-called Standard Edition (but the price was acceptable either way).

I am a Mac user, and since 3DConnexion only released Mac Drivers for the SpaceNavigator a few months ago, the application support is rather sparse, but growing.

It works great in those apps that are currently supported, though support varies from app to app, and is dependent on how the application developer chose to use it.

this is a most interesting interface device. I am a mechie using Solidworks, and I also enjoy Google Earth. I am very excited at being able to utilize all it can do........ but using it with the left hand while I use my MS Exlpoler ball with the right hand is down right trippy.

will update in a week or so.........