Review: SpaceNavigator 3D Mouse

(Originally published in 3D Artist issue 30)

SpaceNavigator 3D Mouse Price $99 Website www.3dconnexion.co.uk/

Built for speed and comfort the SpaceNavigator 3D Mouse now supports more software applications than ever before.

With the release of an updated beta driver the SpaceNavigator 3D Mouse’s functionality has been given a significant boost. The main benefit, until now, of using a 3D mouse has been the time-saving ability to pan, zoom and orbit all at once in many 3D applications. Its typical setup is to augment your regular mouse, by having the 3D mouse in one hand for navigation, and a 2D mouse in the other for executing operations. It can take a while to master, but it does become an intuitive way of working.

In a nutshell, the new 3DxWare 10 driver enables the 3D mouse to emulate the 2D mouse, keyboard, joystick or any combination of. For example, by default it delivers scroll and zoom functionality in browsers such as Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Office apps. Media players and some games are also supported. Beyond these, you can create custom profiles and assign the 3D mouse axes to whatever you like. Such as cursor keys, 2D mouse movement, 2D mouse movement plus a keystroke etc. The ability to use the 3D mouse outside of core CAD applications does make it much more useful although it doesn’t remove the need for a 2D mouse entirely. Being a beta driver, there are some bugs, but overall, in testing many 3D applications responded well and most of the mainstream software is currently catered for apart from Softimage 2012. Games fared less well such as Crysis 2 which was unplayable when using it to navigate. But the demo version of Wings of Prey with the 3D mouse setup in a joystick profile is great fun. Because of this it’s advisable to check support for your preferred 3D app, browser, media player or game before investing.

Physically, the SpaceNavigator has a chunky base designed to keep it firmly planted on the desk when manipulating the controller cap. But it would benefit from being a bit heavier as it’s easy to accidentally lift it up. Two buttons, one on either side, are conveniently placed for the fingertips and can be re-mapped to different functions such as Undo and Redo in a 3D app, or forward and back in a web browser. The USB cable has a good length and it feels very comfortable to use, for long periods of time. The drivers shipped with the device support Windows, Mac and Linux but currently Linux is unsupported with the 3DxWare 10 driver. Being more expensive than a traditional mouse and despite its expanded repertoire unless your working heavily in 3D it’s currently more of a luxury item than a must have.

Summary: It’s not intended to replace your traditional mouse, but for some tasks it’s looking increasingly likely to.

Ergonomically designed with a polished metal base, glossy black plastic controller cap and lit with a blue LED, the SpaceNavigator looks extremely good. The SpaceNavigator 3D Mouse is intended to sit on the left of your keyboard for use when required. Application profiles are easy to manage with the 3DxWare 10 driver. Additional user generated profiles are available to download from the 3DConnexion forum.