3dconnexion plugin.enu

7/14/2019 3Dconnexion Plugin.enu

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/3dconnexion-pluginenu 1/9

13Dconnexion

form•Z Plugin

3Dconnexion

Contents

1 Introduction: 3Dconnexion plugin 3

2 The 3Dconnexion palette 5

auto I N Csyses

TEL : (614) 488-8838

Columbus, Ohio 43221

2011 Riverside Drive

FAX : (614) 488-0848

Product Information & Support

(614) 488-9777



3Dconnexion2

December 2004

COPYRIGHT: © auto•des•sys, Inc., 2004. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transcribed, transmitted, or translated into

any language in any form by any means without the written permission of auto•des•sys, Inc.

TRADEMARKS: form•Z ® , RenderZone ®, and RadioZity ® are registered trademarks of auto•des•sys, Inc.

LightWorks® is a registered trademark of LightWork Design Limited. ACIS® is a registered trademark of Spatial Technology, Inc.Apple, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, and the MacOS logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.

Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

All other products mentioned in this document are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.



33Dconnexion

1 Introduction

3Dconnexion motion devices can be used with form•Z using the 3DConnexion Plugin. A mo-

tion device is a secondary input device with a handle that moves with 6 degrees of freedom thatwill allow you to move and rotate objects and views along all 3 axes in a form•Z model window.

The plugin supports the following 3Dconnexion products: SpaceBall 5000, SpaceTraveler,SpaceMouse, and Cadman. Sample of these are shown in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.2 : 3Dconnexion handle controls for (a)movement about 3 axis and (b) rotation about 3 axis.

The device’s control handle is supports 6 degrees of freedom. That is movement along three

axes and rotation around three axis. When the handle is moved, the motion is translated into anaction in form•Z. Since using 6 degrees of freedom simultaneously can be hard to control, the

buttons on the device can be used to constrain the motion or adjust the sensitivity as follows:

Button 1: Translations are disable or enabled. Pressing the button toggles the state. Transla-tions are on by default.

Button 2: Rotations are disable or enabled. Pressing the button toggles the state. Rotations areon by default.

Button 3: Dominate Axis is disable or enabled. When enabled, motion along only one of the sixdegrees are recognized. The largest movement of rotation or translation along one

axis is recognized by the device. All other movements are ignored. Dominate Axis areoff by default.

Button 4: Reset the device to the zero location (no motion).

Button 5: Decrease sensitivity. Movements will result in slower or smaller motions.Button 6: Increase sensitivity. Movements will result in faster or larger motions.

Button 7: Reset sensitivity to the default.Button 8: Fit the current the view in the form•Z window.

Button A: No assignment

Button B: No assignmentButton C: (Mac) no assignment. (Windows) Display Control Panel.

a

Figure 1.1: 3Dconnexion devices.

b



3Dconnexion4

The plugin adds a new palette in which the device can be enabled and its options can bechanged. With the device enabled, the plugin can manipulate the view or form•Z objects.

Objects can be moved or rotated along all 3 axes, regardless of which tool is currently selected.The direction of movement and rotation can be relative to the world coordinates, the current

reference plane, the current view, or the object’s local coordinates. In addition, multiple se-lected objects can be manipulated relative to each object’s local coordinate system or relativeto the local coordinate system of a single object.

The plugin can also manipulate the view in the active form•Z model window. The view can be

moved (pan, zoom or depth) and rotated along 3 axes with the center of rotation about thecenter of interest, the camera position, or the center of the scene. The options can be set tomanipulate only the view or only objects, or manipulate the selected objects and the view, if no

objects are selected.

The 3Dconnexion plugin is installed using a separate installer available on the form•Z Install disk.

For Windows: Any 3DConnexion device that is supported by the 3DxWare driver can be usedwith form•Z. Drivers are available on the software disk supplied with the device or from3Dconnexion’s website (http://www.3dconnexion.com). You must install both the 3DxWare driv-

ers and the 3Dconnexion plugin to be able to use the device with form•Z. Note that the driversinclude a control panel which can be used to change the default button actions described in

previous section.

For Macintosh: The plugin installer also installs the framework and kernel extension required inorder to use the device. The framework (HIDGeneric3Dx.framework) is installed to the /Library/ Frameworks folder, and the kernel extension (3DUSBDriver.kext) is installed to the /Systems/

Library/Extensions folder. The installer requires authentication in order to install these files,and will display a dialog asking for the administrator password.



53Dconnexion

2 The 3DConnexion palette

The 3DConnexion palette is divided into 3 sections; one for global settings, one for manipulat-

ing the current view, and one for manipulating selected object.

Figure 2.1: The 3Dconnexion palette.

Use 3Dconnexion device: This op-tion will enable the use of the attached

3Dconnexion device. This option is notavailable if the device is not connected or

is in use by another application. All otheroptions are disabled when this is not se-lected.

Sensitivity: This option controls howthe movements of the device handle aretranslated into movements on the screen.Moving the slider to the left will decrease

the sensitivity. Moving the slider to the rightwill increase the sensitivity. This can be

used along with the built-in sensitivity set-tings on the device to increase or decrease

the speed of the motion.

Change View: When selected,motion from the 3Dconnexion device’s con-

trol handle is used to manipulate the cur-

rent view. Manipulation of the current view changes the Eye Point and Center Of Interestas seen in the View Parameters dialog.

In all view types, moving the device handle left, right, up, or down will move the scene left, right, upor down on the display. Twisting the handle on the device along any of the 3 axes can rotate the

scene. The are 3 options to control the vertical and horizontal axes of rotation. These motions are

illustrated in Figures 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4.

Rotate Around Center of Interest: When this option is on, the view will rotateabout the axes that run through the Center of Interest.

Rotate Around Center of Scene: When this option is on, the view will rotate

about the axes that run through the Center of the visible objects.

Rotate Around Camera Position: When this option is on, the view will rotateabout the axes the run through the eye point. This will have the effect of looking up and down or

left and right.



3Dconnexion6

a b c

Figure 2.2 : Move view camera along :(a) view X axis (left/right), (b) view Y axis (up/down), and (c) view Z axis (depth in/out).

Figure 2.3 : Rotate view camera using Rotate Around Center of Interest:(a) view Y axis (left/right), (b) view X axis (up/down), and (c) view Z axis (spin).

Figure 2.4 : Rotate view camera using Rotate Around Camera Position:(a) view Y axis (left/right), and (b) view X axis (up/down).

a b c

a b



3Dconnexion8

a b c

Figure 2.5 : Move view object along :

(a) world X axis, (b) world Y axis, and (c) world Z axis.

Figure 2.6 : Rotate object around:

(a) world X axis, (b) world Y axis, and (c) world Z axis.

a b c



93Dconnexion

Center of Rotation: There are three options under this label which control the axesof rotation.

Plane Origin: When selected, the objects are rotated about the origin of the

plane selected for the Translation options. This option is not available if the Object Coor-dinate System option is selected.

Object Origin: When selected, the objects are rotated about the origin of theObject Coordinate System. The axes of rotation are the same as the translation axes, but

the origin of the axes will be set the to the origin of the object. This is the default if the Trans-late Relative To Object Coordinate System option is selected. The object origin is the

same as the origin set in the Query Object dialog.

Object Centroid: When selected, the objects are rotated about the centroid of

the object. The centroid is the same as the centroid defined in the Query Object dialog. Theaxes of rotation are the same as the translation axes, but the origin of the axes will be set the tothe centroid of the object.

Rotate Multiple Objects: There are two options for rotating multiple objects. These

options are available if the center of rotation is defined to be the Object Origin or ObjectCentroid.

Individually : When selected, each object is rotated and translated about its own

origin or centroid. If the Object Coordinate System option is selected, it is possible that trans-lating objects will result in them moving in different directions, relative to each of the individualobjects’ axes.

First Picked: When selected, all picked objects are rotated and translated about

the origin or centroid of the first picked object. This rotates and translates the objects as agroup, and every object will move in the same direction.

3dconnexion plugin.enu

Documents