Asemblance Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Hi All - Short and sweet for this one.. I have a new mouse with a couple of spare buttons. Any recommendations for the most useful Vectorworks commands or scripts to map to these buttons? Prize for the most useful answer/winner (I shall write you a poem) A Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Cool competition. How many entries each? I can think of a bunch off the top. 1 Quote Link to comment
Asemblance Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 Throw down as many as you can be bothered to type! Ideally ones that you may already be using yourself and find time saving on a day to day basis.. Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Matt Panzer Posted April 23, 2020 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted April 23, 2020 A number of years ago, I had a mouse with a right and left side button (for thumb and ring finger to push). I mapped the left to "Cmd-[" and the right to "Cmd-]". In Vectorworks, this let me easily navigate in and out of groups and symbols. In web browsers, it let me easily navigate to the previous or next page. It was great and I used it for many years. Hmm... Maybe it's time to get a new mouse with this buttons again. I'm really looking forward to that poem. 😉 1 Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Yes you got me thinking - I must pay more attention to those buttons. The one I use the most is Previous View/Next View other useful ones are: Undo Selection Tool Activate Class Show Other Objects in Edit Modes <- I don't think this is mappable as it's a preference Flyover (ctrl + mmb is less handy for me than shift c) ... 1 Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 I am not able to remember more than 2 extra Button Mappings, so I ignore further Buttons. My standard 2 extra Buttons for VW are "X" for Selection(*) and CMD+6 for Zoom "Fit to Objects" (*) Explicitly Keystroke "X" and not VW's "Selection" Command, which 3DConnexion Driver offers, as this will not work as a "double X" to skip an existing Selection. Generally for all the extra Buttons on Wacom Remote, 3DConnexion Devices, 3rd party Mice .... I gave up on setting special App Commands for each Software as I forget it soon. Instead I use it just to map simple Option Keys, standard Operations like View Navigation, File Save and such. Each App may need a different Key or Macro but the Function is basically the same for all Apps, so I can remember them. Often used App specific Commands find their way into my customized, context sensitive right click Option Menus. 1 Quote Link to comment
Taproot Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 My hands down favorite is <escape> 2x in a row. That allows me to exit the text tool and other stuck operations. I use it ALL the time. Another good combination is the toggle keys for the mode groups. Found in the workspace under "keys" I have both the first and second mode groups set to a button. That allows me to quickly change the behavior of tools while I'm drawing rather than having to navigate to the top bar each time. @Matt Panzer 's recommendation about forward and back is a good one as well. Right click and "undo" are also classics... 1 Quote Link to comment
_James Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 I have a couple of buttons by the thumb which I think are most commonly used for forward and back in browsers. I map these to Cmd-up and Cmd-dwn to cycle through layers. Very handy for sheet layers when checking large amounts of sheets. I also have a button just behind the scroll wheel to toggle smooth or indexed scroll, I map this to Cmd-4 or whatever the keyboard command is for 'Fit to Page Area' so I can always quickly centre back on the whole building. Mouse is a logitech MX master 2 I think. I must say, double esc would be very useful - I still have a button spare below the thumb so will maybe use that. 2 Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 This would be a good candidate for a voter survey once you have all the ideas in. (I'll not be double voting 😉 ) I'm in for 1st prize. Quote Link to comment
Asemblance Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 Thanks for all the responses so far - Some good ideas, I can see I'm going to have to test a couple of them out (and might wish I had more buttons).. I'll wait until this time tomorrow before setting up a poll and/or announcing a winner! Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Matt Panzer Posted April 23, 2020 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted April 23, 2020 1 hour ago, bcd said: This would be a good candidate for a voter survey once you have all the ideas in. (I'll not be double voting 😉 ) I'm in for 1st prize. Great idea! We might need another survey for favorite multi-button mouse! I'm starting to think I need to buy something to replace my regular 2-buttons. 1 Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Asemblance said: (and might wish I had more buttons). I think if you work 80% with the same Application, like VW, it might be a good option to have many extra buttons. Like you would also have on a Space Mouse Explorer or some other input devices for musicians or gamers. I would just look for something standard with good Drivers and comfortable Options on per App basis. (like from big vendors Wacom, 3DConnection, Logitec and such) That is not given under Linux in general or more exotic vendors like MadCatz with my beloved R.A.T 5 Mouse. Quote Link to comment
Asemblance Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 Hi All, Will give this a couple more days until Monday, but have been testing a couple of these today and possibly have a winner in mind 😉 Quote Link to comment
LarryO Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 ctrl up and ctrl down for VW for switching thru pages. and if mouse driver is application aware switch it to page forward and backward for browsers and windows file explorer. and similar for Bluebeam or Acrobat Reader. although if there are even more buttons than two thumb buttons, I think I would try forward delete and keypad enter if you are a left-hand typist on a full size keyboard. That way you don't have to release the mouse quite as often. 1 Quote Link to comment
SCParker Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 My four extra buttons go to: X ESC Fit to Object(s) Top/Plan 3 Quote Link to comment
Sebastiaan Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 I have a razor naga trinity with 12 macro button under my thumb I have: duplicate array Move by points select similar Normal perspective view orthogonal view paste in place OpenGl Wireframe Custom renderworks set lighting options. Spotlight numbering Find an Modify after some practice I can find those buttons without thinking now. it has left, down and right scrollwheel click and I put spaces and Expose under that. So it can do everything the Magic Mouse can do. Spacemouse and streamdeck on the other side. 2 Quote Link to comment
Andy Broomell Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 My favorite that I've added: DOUBLE CLICK (mapped to a single mouse button, the one near my thumb). There's so much double clicking in Vectorworks that this has really helps reduce the number of clicks each day, and in return reduces wrist pain. It's even useful outside of Vectorworks, such as opening files and folders in Finder. 2 Quote Link to comment
Asemblance Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 So I've just got around to reviewing the latest couple of posts on here. I must admit I am impressed with the breadth of ideas people have come up with. This is going to be trickier than I thought! Judgement delayed once more so I can test a couple of the newest suggestions.. Quote Link to comment
halfcoupler Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 I checked which functions I use most and put those on the mouse buttons: - selection tool - move by points - undo - redo - open GL 1 Quote Link to comment
_James Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 @halfcouple how are you able to check? If vectorworks gave counts of functions used that would be great Quote Link to comment
halfcoupler Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Just now, _James said: how are you able to check? very simple and non academic: Observing what I do when drafting. 😉 After that, trial and error check if the choice was right . Quote Link to comment
Asemblance Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 Good evening all - as promised! Thanks to you all for your tips (or pointers should I say), on using my mouse in a more effective way. I've tried them all out, there were quite a few, from move-by-points to flyover, activate and redo. Its hard to pick a winner, I'd like to use them all, I wish I had a bigger mouse, now it seems a bit too small. But It is @Taproots top tip, about group modes hencewith, that I'll be picking to keep when I'm through. Cycling selection types, wall junctions, polygons and end caps, Theres a lot you can do changing modes forth and back. You've saved my arm from making some unnecessary movements, thanks once again for your suggested improvements. A Quote Link to comment
Taproot Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 That got a grin - I'm glad the feedback was useful. Thanks for adding some levity to the forum! 1 Quote Link to comment
Asemblance Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 Well a promise is a promise! On a more practical side, here is a consolidated list of suggestions for anyone looking in the future (shout me if I missed any). Selection Tool (X) Double Click Paste in Place Escape (x2) to exit text editing etc. Move by Points Undo / Redo Open GL (and other render mode options) cmd-[ and cmd-] (previous and next layers etc.) Activate class Flyover mode Camera (top down plan, perspectives, etc.) Zoom to Objects / page area Toggle mode (left, right) Duplicate Array Select Similar Find and modify Quote Link to comment
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