3Dconnexion SpacePilot Pro 3D Mouse 3DX-700036

I originally purchased a space navigator because I wasn't sure if it would actually be useful. It turned out that after using it for a few weeks I no longer understood how I ever did drafting without it. Just yesterday I finally convinced myself to take the plunge and try this one. Once again unsure how much of an improvement having more buttons would be. I'm want to say now that if you are just a using CAD at home or for fun it's totally unnecessary, and if you really want something get the navigator, but if you work with 3D modeling software day in and day out this is a must have. I'm still working on my button mapping, but it has totally changed how I use Solidworks. At this point I have no complaints, and if I come up with one I will come back and revise this review.I wanted to address a couple of the one and two star reviews on here. In one of the one star reviews someone says that the buttons are smooth, only accessible by his thumbs, and that he wanted it to have some feel to the buttons so he didn't have to look at it. That must have been an older version of the device, the current version has raised bumps on the buttons that make them easy to find. Now I am not sure how he locates his hand on the device, but for me, I am using almost all of my fingers on my left hand to utilize all of the buttons on the device. The LCD screen is a bit of a novelty, but you can have it display what your buttons are mapped to do which makes it easy when learning the button setups or if you change something.I also saw a few reviews complaining about the software/firmware. I am using the most recent version and I will say it is a dream. Those reviews might have been in an older version of the software, but the current version is easy to use, and works wonderfully with all of the software I use.At the end of the day, I love this device, and will probably wear the text off the buttons in a matter of months. I would recommend this product for anyone and everyone who works with any form of 3D modeling software on a daily basis.

So I'm writing this a an environment artist who works in 3d Studio Max, Zbrush, and Photoshop.First off, this does not work in Zbrush. On the 3dconnexion forums, they claim Pixologic should support 3d mice. Pixologic says they won't play favorites and add integration for custom hardware, but have supplied 3dconnexion with the Zbrush sdk, so they should be able to work it out. I'm inclined to agree, especially with the magic others have been able to accomplish via plugins (decimation master and the amazingly awesome UV master).Great hardware. Terrible driver support. For $300, this thing should damn near make me breakfast every morning.Pro:The thing that upsets me the most is that the hardware, when it works as intended, is fantastic. Once you get over the initial learning curve, navigating in 3d Studio Max is so fluid and natural. I would liken it to getting used to playing a FPS with a mouse and keyboard to playing Halo on an xbox controller for the first time. The inclusion of the function buttons that can be remapped greatly increases viability as a tool for modeling, rather than just viewport navigation. You can even set up buttons to have an alternate function for a long press, so I've got a short press on one button to open a group and a long press closes the group. Bound some other stuff to remove edges and connect edges \ verts, quick align, show wireframe, etc.Con:And that's the infuriating part: 3dconnexion already has a great, intuitive, and highly functional UI for assigning macros or keys to function buttons as well as invert axis inputs on the controller cap, but you can only use that UI \ driver interface on supported, detected, and actively running applications, so if Max isn't running, and the last program you clicked on before going to the 3dconnexion control panel, you can't modify the inputs related to Max.Also, note that this does not function as an actual mouse. You can only fly around the viewport, so you still need a mouse and keyboard to edit models. It would be wicked awesome if you could navigate to a point, tap a button to switch to cursor mode, use the thing as a ThinkPad style nubby mouse controller, select things, then go back to navigation mode. I'm sure you could hack something together, but, again, 300 bucks!TLDR; amazing device, terrible driver support. For $300, you should not need to hack together an xml file or download legacy beta drivers to use a broken implementation of functionality in Zbrush. If you just want it for a supported application, you might be happy, but if you want to customize and use this device to function in other applications or remap inputs to joystick x, y, you'll be disappointed.P.S. if you want to almost completely remove the keyboard from your workflow, try using an MMO gaming mouse. One of those with a million buttons on the thumb side. I've managed to map anything that didn't easily fit on the function buttons to a Logitech G600. I'm now zooming along in Max and it feels like I'm working some sort of future computer from the future.

Use this control with Spaceclaim and DelCam Partmaker. Works well with both applications. Also own the portable version of this product. Control is very customizable, very fluid. Nice placement of modifiers (shift,etc). Screen is not really used for my work, and most configuration changes I do from the workstation itself. (BTW, this product works well on MAC OSX, Parallels, and VMware Fusion). Screen is a bit overkill.If you've never used a 3d mouse before, it's really not a replacement for your existing mouse...at least it isn't in my work flows. I'm flipping back and forth between regular and the 3d mouse, sometimes every minute or so. Where this product really shines is the kinda funky looking wrist support. It perfectly positions you hand, such that when you return to this 3d mouse from regular mouse, you are lined up exactly the same way you were last time you used it (This is the problem with the portable mouse, if you don't line up exactly "on plane" pushing forward for example, might really be forward and to the left. The wrist support solves this issue on this mouse.)All extra key modifiers are a nice feature, but I haven't had time to explore them fully. The couple I do use are well positioned and useful. I've used this mouse for a couple months now, and have yet to find a flaw in its function or design.Well constructed, solid, pricey, but actually worth the money.