Trackball for sketchup advice needed

[Ruperto Mendiones]

My logitech trackball fx broke. I have the marble mouse usb but the setup software I have been able to download demands a wireless setup [despite being designated as usb]. I'm hoping to get recommendations for a trackball configurable for sketchup. Mainly, I want to be able to navigate using my trackball hand.

[Dave Richards]

I guess you could get a new Logitech Trackball M570. I tried to use SketchUp with a trackball and hated it. It made navigating around the model very slow and clumsy. I much prefer a simple mouse with a center wheel/button.

[John K Jordan]

I tried to use SketchUp with a trackball and hated it. It made navigating around the model very slow and clumsy. I much prefer a simple mouse with a center wheel/button.

Same here. I put the trackball on the shelf and went back to a mouse with 4 buttons and a center wheel button. I think a trackball is fine for web and general use but not for precision control needed for modeling. Others may disagree.

Perhaps I am old and set in my ways. I did high-end technical/scientific 3D modeling and animation for years (not with SketchUp) and became somewhat adept at using the mouse for modeling. I also did internet tech support for Autodesk/Discreet/Kinetix and I didn't remember anyone working professionally who used a trackball unless they had some kind of physical problem with their hand(s).

Note: for real efficiency, do as much as possible with keyboard shortcuts with the left hand. I adapted a full-sized programmable keyboard with function keys down the left side and with my left hand could reach all combinations of Ctrl/Shift/Alt with 10 function keys and all the keys on the left side of the keyboard. I almost never had to slow down to pick a tool or command from the screen. I haven't done this yet for SketchUp since I only just recently started using again. The last time was with some of the first versions by Last Software, before they sold it to Google. (I see not much has changed in the base program.)

PS, in case you are interested this is a sample of one kind of thing I did with my non-SketchUp software:

3D_buildings.jpg

JKJ

[Dave Richards]

Cool stuff John.

[Scott Brandstetter]

I use Sketchup for my real job as well as for the wood shop. I use a logitech M570 trackball mouse in the right hand and a 3dConnection Space Mouse in the left hand. I am lost without either of these although, I will admit, it took me a day or two to get used to them but now, everything is so much easier, efficient, faster, etc.

http://www.3dconnexion.com/products/...ewireless.html

[Greg R Bradley]

I think trackballs should be outlawed and all forced to be destroyed. Just looking at one makes my hand hurt. I've seen a few people use them, including my father, but in the time I was an AutoCAD dealer and had businesses with rooms full of full time CAD users, I've never seen a professional that used them for very long.

[Jamie Buxton]

I have a Logitech USB Marble Mouse, and use it with Sketchup all the time.

Why a trackball? I'm right-handed, so I used a right-handed mouse for decades. But I've developed some carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand, so using a mouse gets painful. I tried putting the mouse in my left hand, but my left hand is not precise enough for Sketchup. However, I've found that I can get the precision I need with the left-handed trackball.

[Paul F Franklin]

I second the 3d connection space mouse. Use it with my left hand while driving a Reddragon hi res mouse with the right hand, and I can fly. Between the two they have enough buttons for the most common commands and the multi axis motion of the space mouse is a dream for zooms, pans and especially orbits.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Third for the 3Dconnection. That's what all the "serious" modelers use.

[John K Jordan]

Cool stuff John.

Thanks, Dave! Maybe 1/2 of my modeling was architectural with medical, biological, mechanical, optical, forensic, and other projects keeping me off the streets at night. I did a lot of PR work and a little for TV. And LOTS of modeling related to homicide forensics (ever hear of OJ Simpson? Ha! Anyone want the plans to his house?) I had developed serious problems in both hands from years of software development but fortunately was able to switch to the 3D work for the last 15 years before I retired.

I LOVED the work but don't really miss it. These days I feed the llamas, play in the shop, hang out with little kids.

In case you are interested, this is a shot of half of my basement "studio" before I moved to the farm:

dungeon_PA149365s.jpg

Even the rendering was a huge effort years ago - creating a simple animation required a networked "render farm", overnight rendering, and a video editing suite just to get it on tape and DVD. With today's computers and software things are SO much easier.

JKJ

[Dave Richards]

Very impressive, John. I expect it is nice to change things up and spend more time outside.

Dan's almost right. Some serious modelers use 3D Connexion devices. Not all, though.

[Chris Padilla]

Some of you guys must not be "serious" enough since it is a 3DConneXion mouse....

[Dave Richards]

Some of you guys must not be "serious" enough since it is a 3DConneXion mouse....

Good on you, Chris.

[Dennis Peacock]

Some of you guys must not be "serious" enough since it is a 3DConneXion mouse....

Ha! Leave it up to a moderator to fix spelling errors.

[Ruperto Mendiones]

I didn't know the space mouse existed. Looks like a great sketchup tool [at a green-kool-aid price]. Thank you all.