Tech Reviews: November 2007 Archives

3DConexxion Space Navigator and Poser 7 Review

By Steve Yatson on November 13, 2007 11:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Back in my Ray Dream days there was a 3D navigational device going around the office that ran something like a rediculous $1500. A faded memory (and most likely defunct venture). That was until recently. I was given two devices by a good friend at 3DConnexion a while back. As pictured below, the one on the left, is a Space Navigator. The one on the right, is a Space Traveler.

Maybe they'll come out with the Steve Miller Band signature "Space Cowboy" real soon. I must admit I quickly ditched the Traveler as I have very large hands (and feet) and eventually passed it on to a co-worker. Both are nice looking and extremely well made little gadgets. The Space Navigator weighs in at a beefy 40lbs with the cable..... It's actually only 16 and 3/4 oz. but still good for any office brawls. I didn't weigh the Traveler.

We'll stick to the Space Navigator for review purposes. When you pick up this little device, you instantly realize, it's quality. I remember in 4th grade science, picking up a small block of lead and an apple at the same time. This is like that small increadibly heavy block of lead. But alas those were different times, and no kid I ever saw wore a helmet. The first app I tried it with was Google Earth and that was fun. For about 10 minutes. (You Stoners might get a cool 6 hours.) That was before the Poser 7 drivers were finished. I recently revisited the device as I needed fodder for this blog and I really really like the feel of it.

To try it yourself you'll need to make sure Poser 7 is updated to at least 7.0.2. Poser has built in support and the set up is fairly easy. the only real problem I encountered was that if you don't have the device connected the control panel will not open. This was only tested on WinXP.

Just after the 3Dconexxion install process you're asked to run through a learning tutorial. I highly recommend this for everyone. This is one of those devices that, once you get used to it, you're naked without it. But, it takes a little getting used to and the default settings are difficult to deal with. The tutorial walks you through step by step and it's literally "hands on" training with the device.

I've really only encountered one issue with this device in Poser 7. And that was that the sensitivity is just too high and I was constantly resetting the camera or undoing my last move. I figured out that in the 3DxWare control panel I can set the sensitivity of not only the entire device, but also of the individual motions. This changed everything for me so, first thing, turn it down a notch. The default to me was like "this one goes to eleven". this has nothing to do with Poser 7 by the way. This is how the device functions by default. I've even gone further now and cranked up some of teh individual settings and left some low, like the zoom.

So after set up and a little practice the ability to use both hands really helps. The movement is smooth and the device doesn't seem to get in the way of productivity, but helps. All in all this is a great device and I would recommend it for anyone using Poser that has about $50 of disposable income. It has saved me some time and I can see where in the future it will save me more. I think I'll easily get $50 out of it, and it's just so well made that archeologists will be digging mine up long after I'm toast.

We don't sell the devices through e frontier other than bundled with P7. Amazon is probably your best bet if you're interested. The PE or "Personal" edition is going for about $50 right now and the SE or Standard is about $90. The difference is the license, the device is the same. Personal means not for commercial use in any way so you kids play nice!

PE on Amazon

Thanks for reading