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I need an architect worthy mouse


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7 hours ago, Christiaan said:

Zooming is the main reason I love it.

 

Interesting !

That is my main problem with Magic Mouse in CAD or 3D.

Did that got better with the neweset MM ?

(the one that needs to load from the bottom ?)

 

Because for me for anything standard Apps, MM works great.

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11 hours ago, zoomer said:

 

Interesting !

That is my main problem with Magic Mouse in CAD or 3D.

Did that got better with the neweset MM ?

(the one that needs to load from the bottom ?)

 

Because for me for anything standard Apps, MM works great.

 

To be honest I don't remember ever having a problem with zooming in VW with the MM. Mine has the charging socket on the underside, yes.

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All this talk of mice has reminded me I've had an unopened CadMouse sitting on my desk for 2 months. Not sure why I bought it as v happy generally with a Magic Mouse. But would be good to have use of extra buttons if I could figure out how to assign things to them... can anybody help? I'm not techie in the slightest. I have pan on middle button which is useful but can I assign VW keyboard shortcuts to the other buttons?

I can't really make head or tail of these settings:

2044618344_Screenshot2021-02-18at15_10_18.thumb.png.b441aace078115b732d5ebb24e7f0142.png

Any help gratefully received thank you

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I was wondering what magic mouse is, so I looked it up, one of those Mac things.  For the guy who asked the original question, just get a decent simple gaming mouse, I got one from HP cost about €19 or $23.  I gave up on the wireless types and went with a wired version, so never have to worry about batteries or charging.  It does the job, zooming etc. and the sensitivity can be adjusted with a click of a button.  

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1 hour ago, Tom W. said:

All this talk of mice has reminded me I've had an unopened CadMouse sitting on my desk for 2 months. Not sure why I bought it as v happy generally with a Magic Mouse. But would be good to have use of extra buttons if I could figure out how to assign things to them... can anybody help? I'm not techie in the slightest. I have pan on middle button which is useful but can I assign VW keyboard shortcuts to the other buttons?

I can't really make head or tail of these settings:

2044618344_Screenshot2021-02-18at15_10_18.thumb.png.b441aace078115b732d5ebb24e7f0142.png

Any help gratefully received thank you

 

 

Well, first,

 

1.

Check Device Tab, if it is the Device you want to edit - in case you have more than one

 

2.

Check "configure Drop Down to have the desired App selected

 

3.

Select the Button or interface element you want to edit in the list

 

4.

Select "Mapping" Dropdown and choose on of the available Options.

There are several Groups to choose from,

Like "Keystroke", lets you add a Short Cut like "X" for Selection Tool in VW

or

"Application Command", which will offer some Commands specific to

your App, if delivered by the App, like VW does.

or

"Macro", available when you created some custom Macros in the Macro's Tab.

Macros are a bit like simple Keystrokes. But more capable as you can add

multiple keys and keystrokes that will work one ofter the other.

or

more. What is available depends on the Device.

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@Tom W. That software looks much different than the PC version, and much less intuitive.  What it looks like you will want to do is to go to the Macros tab and record the key combinations you are looking for.  Vectorworks isn't supported nearly as well as AutoCAD by 3DConnexion products, so the VW specific tools are strictly related to views, anything else would require a macro.

 

My personal set up is to use have a Radial Menu (built in the Radial Menus tab) mapped to the Forward Button that controls all of my views using the commands under the Vectorworks category, looking something like this:

image.thumb.png.ebc9dde94004000615886a472e6d8ae1.png

 

But you could feasibly fill up a radial menu with macros if you'd rather have some of the short cuts over quick view changing.  You will have to make a macro out of the Number Pad 0 key if you want Top/Plan view, since that's not one of the views provided.

 

On the Back Button, I have a macro for the CTRL key since I can use it to copy an object while click-and-dragging and also quickly go in to Flyover camera mode when used in combination with the middle mouse button.

 

Because the mouse has a dedicated middle-mouse-button, I use the Wheel Button to do a Zoom to Fit operation, found under the the 3Dconnexion category.

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On 2/15/2021 at 11:23 AM, RGyori said:

Out of curiosity us anyone tried a track ball such as the Kensington Expert Trackball? Over the years I have grown to appreciate the long session arm/hand comfort, 4 customizable buttons that work individually or in combination and programmable tracking/scrolling speeds that has proven ideal for my limited desk space. Works very well with my many photo editing apps as well. 🤔

 

Our engineering firm is outfitted with these at every desk (on Windows computers). I bought one for my home computer as well, after getting used to it at the office.

 

On 2/16/2021 at 9:09 PM, LarryO said:

.. The placement of <CTRL> and <ALT> on most PC keyboards makes it next to impossible to use many frequent short-cuts with one hand without incurring repetitive stress injury from stretching one's fingers too far apart...

 

Our office has a custom workspace we deploy which shifts the shortcuts we use to the left half of the keyboard for easier access. One hand on the trackball, one on the keyboard, off you go. Just to throw out one possible way of mitigating that concern...

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I use a Wacom with my right hand (pen buttons set to right click and MMB, tablet buttons set to all kinds of shortcuts.) and a Logitech Trackman Marble Mouse with my left...

 

Marble Mouse is unfortunately the only left handed Logitech trackball.

They're discontinued and I've bought up a supply so I can keep using them when they break!

 

I had a Kensington trackball about 15 years ago and didn't like it - I probably should give them another shot.

 

I bought a 3Dconnexion space mouse for use with VW but I find it better for client presentations than actual work.

It's just not quick or accurate enough - especially compared to a Wacom.

 

I really can't imagine how you all get by without a Wacom!

 

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40 minutes ago, hollister design Studio said:

 

I really can't imagine how you all get by without a Wacom!

 

 

Yes, the Wacom is one of the true pleasures in life, when one is drawing.

And it heals  injuries no ergonomic mouse can ever even remotely hope to heal.

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On 2/20/2021 at 3:35 AM, _c_ said:

 

Yes, the Wacom is one of the true pleasures in life, when one is drawing.

And it heals  injuries no ergonomic mouse can ever even remotely hope to heal.

 

Can't agree more!  Since using Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet only I do not have this pain/ knot in my back I used to have when using a mouse.

Edited by C.T
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On 2/18/2021 at 4:31 PM, Helm said:

I was wondering what magic mouse is, so I looked it up, one of those Mac things.  For the guy who asked the original question, just get a decent simple gaming mouse, I got one from HP cost about €19 or $23.  I gave up on the wireless types and went with a wired version, so never have to worry about batteries or charging.  It does the job, zooming etc. and the sensitivity can be adjusted with a click of a button.  


Yes the magic mouse is terrible in usage and also if you need to charge it (ones in a while) Apple was so creative to design the cable connection on the bottom of the mouse. So when you're in the middle of a project (need to finish something of course) and your running out of mouse juice and need to recharge. .. you cannot use the mouse while it is charging! 🤣🤣

More magic is using a (wacom) pen tablet in my opinion! 🙏

Edited by C.T
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I will most likely start an argument, but I am getting the impression that Apple is not paying a lot of attention these days to the graphic side of its business, especially when it comes to architecture.  I think I read that most of their income comes from the phone business.  

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Although I've got a PC myself, I loved to work on an Apple Mac computer as well. Just couldn't work with it's Magic Mouse, but Yes that's just me.. 😅

Since you ask @Christiaan in my opinion:

- Not ergonomic (too flat for your hand palm)

- Middle mouse tapping doesn't feel natural... it performs as a mouse and touch pad at the same time. 🙄

- Wireless issues: 1. Charging location 2. In the office we had 6 Macs placed together on one working table. Somehow the mouses got muddled up which made it impossible to start up the computer (since you need the mouse to activate the user login box). There is no way to connect the mouse to the computer when it is wireless, not plug and play....

 

 

@Helm I agree, the Apple attitude and focus is going down: there where Vectorworks 2019 performance problems upgrading system to macOS Catalina or macOS Mojave (can't remember which one).

Edited by C.T
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3 hours ago, _c_ said:

It is somewhat like coriander, there is those who hate it and those who love it.

I also love it.

 

Whether you like the taste: More phones means we need more Coriander (to filter out the heavy metals from your body) 😊

But that's way off topic, sorry about that.

Edited by C.T
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