Product Description

Until now, advanced 3D navigation has been reserved for high-end design professionals. With the introduction of the SpaceNavigator, 3Dconnexion has made this exciting technology accessible and affordable for architects, artists, students and anyone else who wants to enjoy the 3D experience. 3Dconnexion's SpaceNavigator offers natural and intuitive navigation of 3D environments and objects for today's most popular and powerful 3D applications. Simply push, pull, tilt or twist the SpaceNavigator's controller cap to simultaneously pan, zoom and rotate 3D imagery. You'll experience an easy, simple and fun way to fly through 3D environments like Google Earth using 3Dconnexion's award-winning technology. Two programmable keys store your favorite application functions.SpaceNavigator Standard Edition is your ideal companion in the world of 3D navigation devices, for use in a professional environment.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5665 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: 3D Connexion
• Model: 3DX-700028
• Platforms: Windows, Macintosh, Linux
• Dimensions: 2.00" h x 3.00" w x 3.00" l, 4.00 pounds

Features

• Advanced 6 degrees-of-freedom optical sensor
• Simultaneously pan, zoom and rotate 3D models
• 2 programmable function keys
• SpaceNavigator SE model includes commercial use license and full technical support
• Ideal for 3D designers, CAD engineers, architects

From the Manufacturer

Let a 3D mouse empower your Design A true 3D mouse, SpaceNavigator represents a great leap forward in price and performance for controller technology. Unlike a conventional mouse that confines movement to a flat plane, the SpaceNavigator 3D mouse makes it much easier to control 3D models and scenes. By gently pushing, pulling, tilting or sliding the SpaceNavigator’s pressure sensitive controller cap users simultaneously move objects with six degrees of freedom. By varying the amount of pressure on the cap users can easily accelerate or decelerate actions with precision.

The Perfect Companion for 3D applications. Unique pressure sensing technology makes the 3D mouse a virtual extension of a user’s body—and the perfect companion for today’s most popular 3D applications, including SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk 3ds Max, Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended, ArchiCAD, and many more.

An Indispensable Asset
"I've been a user since 1998. I find your products are an indispensable asset in doing my job easier and quicker and with less repetitive stress. If you work on a CAD system, do yourself a big favour and get one of these products." Dana Fiorucci Senior Design Engineer

Why use a SpaceNavigator 3D mouse?
The key advantage of a SpaceNavigator over a mouse and keyboard is the ease of performing intricate adjustments to camera views and models without repeatedly stopping to change direction, zoom, or rotate. With a SpaceNavigator you can do all three at once while simultaneously using the mouse to access commands and tools.

Heavy for precision.
A heavy (479 grams) brushed stainless steel base keeps the SpaceNavigator stationary and provides a stable platform for the spring-mounted pressure sensitive controller cap.

Convenience.

• Universal compatibility: Works with all your favorite 3D applications--on Windows, Mac, or Linux.
• Affordable precision: Step up to advanced 3D technology--at a price that’s comparable with many 2D mice.
• Space saving: The small footprint of SpaceNavigator 3D mouse conserves space. Your work area remains uncluttered, even if you’re also using a conventional mouse.

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Customer Reviews

Not a mouse replacement -- a 3d navigation tool
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).

Revolutionary, Must-Have 3D Device for Architecture and More
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.

A good tool
This is an excellent tool to use with the programs that it works with, like Solidworks, NX, and 3d programs. It would be even better if it worked with gaming programs like world of warcraft and other's. For now I find it more useable at work than home.