Second Life ???

Questions and answers about 3Dconnexion devices on Windows.

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ettore
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Re: Secondlife Support and getting other vendors on the ball

Post by ettore »

joltdude wrote:Secondlife support for the Spacenav is in the RC candidates of the viewer..

My only problem is it tends to ignore any change of user settings from the Spacenav control panel and handle things internally..
On Windows our driver is cut out. You have to open the preferences inside Second Life to tune the device usage to your taste.
joltdude wrote:Having a bit of a time trying to figure out how to stop tilting the camera angle when i move forward.. would like to make it less sensitive to tilt so i can actually use it to move forward and backward.. Anyone else running into this issue with it? Also I dont think SL's module lets you calibrate the Spacenav which might help this issue..
that's easy to do. Open the Second Life preferences (File->Preferences) and you will see 3 columns or Scale and Dead Zone controls: one for Avatar motion, one for Build mode, one for flycam.

The Scale values are basically multipliers applied to each axis: reduce it if it's too sensitive or too fast for you. If it's 0, the axis is turned off completely.

Dead zones are like a motion threshold: if the pressure on one axis is smaller than the dead zone, it will be discarted. So if you set the deadzone to the minimum, every single microscopic tap you do on the device will be used accordingly. But if you max out the dead zone that axis will be dead.

Seems like you have to adjust the Avatar settings for Tilt. Try increasing the Tilt dead zone for avatar. Decreasing the tilt scale could also help.
ettore pasquini
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pseudomass
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frustrating!

Post by pseudomass »

Grrrr. I was impressed by the videos of a Linden using the SpaceNavigator so bought one right away... It came yesterday but so far I have not been able to get it to work for Second Life.

I have downloaded the latest Navigator driver and software. I have downloaded the latest version of the Release Candidate. I hit alt-shift-f to enable joystick flycam. Nothing....nada.

The navigator works just fine with Google Earth so it isn't a hardware issue.

Any suggestions?

I call technical support but nobody answers. I email technical support but no reply.

-pseudomass
ettore
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Re: frustrating!

Post by ettore »

pseudomass wrote:Grrrr. I was impressed by the videos of a Linden using the SpaceNavigator so bought one right away... It came yesterday but so far I have not been able to get it to work for Second Life.

I have downloaded the latest Navigator driver and software. I have downloaded the latest version of the Release Candidate. I hit alt-shift-f to enable joystick flycam. Nothing....nada.

The navigator works just fine with Google Earth so it isn't a hardware issue.

Any suggestions?

I call technical support but nobody answers. I email technical support but no reply.

-pseudomass
Which platform are you using? (I assume Windows, but just making sure)

Did you try clicking the SpaceNavigator defaults button, under Preferences -> Input&Network (CTRL-P inside SecondLife)?
Last edited by ettore on Thu May 15, 2008 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ettore pasquini
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Bryan
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Second Life Usage

Post by Bryan »

Dear pseudomass,

Who is your Internet Service Provider and what plan to do you have with them?
What Operating System are you using?
How much RAM are you using?
What is your Screen Resolution/Size?
What graphic card are you using?

Specifically what release version do you find listed in the About Item under the Help Menu in the 3Dconnexion Control Panel?
What is the version number of the Second Life Installer?
Are you using the PE version or the SE version or the FN version of the SpaceNavigator?

Sincerely,
Bryan
pseudomass
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Post by pseudomass »

Hello Bryan,

Service provider is Surewest, fiber optic connection, at 20 Megs
Windows XP
2Gigs of Ram
1920 by 1200 screen resolution 24" widescreen monitor
nVidia 7xxx (dont' remember) is the graphics card

3Dconnexion release version 3.6.4
driver 6.6.1
firmware 3.18

Second Life Release Candidate 1-20-6-86925 (downloaded today)

And the SpaceNavigator is the PE version bought thru Amazon.

I hope this helps.

BTW, I've played Second Life for 17 months with no major issues. I have run Second Life, Second Life Windlight, Second Life Release Candidate, the Nicholaz patches, and the OnRez viewer...all work fine.

Thank you for your time in helping me out.
pseudomass
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Post by pseudomass »

ettore said, "Did you try clicking the SpaceNavigator defaults button, under Preferences -> Input&Network (CTRL-P inside SecondLife)?"

Oh, I haven't tried that. I'll give it a whirl. Thanks.
pseudomass
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Post by pseudomass »

I see the Input & Camera in the Preferences box, then Joystick Setup button. I click that and see the SpaceNavigator Defaults button and click that.

Do i also check the 'enable joystick logitech precision gamepad usb at the top? (i have that gamepad plugged in...is that interferring?)

The other question is, do I check Joystick Flycam under view or not? when I do and then use the regular arrow keys to move, my avatar moves away from the camera and the camera is static. When I uncheck the flycam, the camer snaps back to just behind the avatar.

Anyway, with any combination of the above, the navigator doesn't move the avatar.

I feel i'm almost there! thanks
ettore
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Post by ettore »

pseudomass wrote:I see the Input & Camera in the Preferences box, then Joystick Setup button. I click that and see the SpaceNavigator Defaults button and click that.

Do i also check the 'enable joystick logitech precision gamepad usb at the top? (i have that gamepad plugged in...is that interferring?)
Ahhh, that's probably it. Currently SL supports one joystick only. It could be that SL is picking up your gamepad instead of the SN. Try connecting only the SpaceNavigator and disconnect all other joysticks.
pseudomass wrote:The other question is, do I check Joystick Flycam under view or not? when I do and then use the regular arrow keys to move, my avatar moves away from the camera and the camera is static. When I uncheck the flycam, the camer snaps back to just behind the avatar.
I'm not sure I got it, but I'll try: If you select Joystick Flycam you enable the Flycam, and when the flycam is enabled, you can't move the avatar (you move the... flycam :)) Another thing to watch out is build mode: if you are in build mode you move the selected objects, not the avatar.
So to move the avatar, just make sure you are not in Build Mode nor in Flycam mode. And make sure under the preferences the "Avatar" checkbox is checked. Hope this helps.
ettore pasquini
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Post by pseudomass »

all right! that did it: unplugging the gamepad...the SN works now... thank you ettore (and everyone else)!

Now, how do I decrease the sensitivity. When I walk my avatar around with the SN, i can't walk forward without pressing it down like one micrometer, and then the avatar goes to crouch or crouch walk....how can I decrease the sensitivity of that direction (up and down on the knob). Thank you again.
pseudomass
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Post by pseudomass »

I'm sorry...I figured out how to change the sensitivity.

so, forgive me, but now I'd like to ask about programming the left button.

Specifically, I'd like the left button to be Page Up or Jump (in SL).

I see in the Control Panel / Button Configuration an L and R windows and I can see that L has 'fit' (whatever that is) and R has 3dxWare Panel. I click the right button, I get the control panel.

In SL, I click the left button, and I go to flycam mode, click it again and back to avatar movement mode.

So I see I can make a macro for buttons and make one for the L window called "Jump" and make the macro one keystroke 'page up'.

Great so far.

Hit L now, in SL, and still get the flycam mode. Hit R and get the control panel...everything's is the same. But then hit R again and the control panel goes away, and the avatar jumps!

Isn't that odd? I programmed the left button, but it changes the right button and left remains unchanged.
laurens
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Post by laurens »

The SpaceNavigator works great in SecondLife. Recently some small issues have been ironed out, so it works even better now.

Of course, I use it in Poser and Maya as well. (I cant work in Maya anymore without it). However, together with SecondLife something weird happens.

If I open both Poser and SecondLife, and SecondLife is the active program both Poser and Secondlife react to the movements of the SpaceNavigator. This even happens if Poser is minimized. If Poser is active only Poser is affected. The same happens with Maya. This can be annoying.

As happens only with SecondLife. Poser and Maya work good together, I suspect it is something within SecondLife. What is 3dconnexion's experts opinion about this ?
rstadie
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Post by rstadie »

Hi laurens,

We were able to reproduce the issue you described - thank you for making us aware! We will have to look more deeper into this issue.

I am currently not sure how this can be fixed - again - thank you for letting us know!
Robert Stadie
laurens
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Post by laurens »

From 3dconnexion I received a cfg file for Secondlife, and it works great.
I can now keep Poser and SL open without risking to ruin my animation or model. I'm so happy!

Amazing product, and service!
aria_p
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Second Life: SpaceNavigar vs SpaceExplorer vs SpacePilot

Post by aria_p »

Hello,

I am looking into purchasing at least a SpaceNavigator, and I am wondering if there are any features of the SpaceExplorer or SpacePilot which could also be useful in Second Life. I don't plan to use one of these devices in any other program, but if there is a good reason for me to spend a bit more money, I would not mind.

Thanks for any feedback,
Aria P.
laurens
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Post by laurens »

aria, if you want to spend money, buy two. One for youself, and one for a friend who definitively will want one :)
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