Pulsing navigation movement in Softimage 2013..

[aphex_guy]

I decided to post this issue seperately to my other recent post, since they are unrelated.
It seems that spacemouse pro exhibits slightly bumpy/pulsing movement speed whenever navigating via the spacemouse pro. To be more specific, motion on every axis including rotation on each axis is not smooth. It is not jerky either, simply it alternates between moving slightly faster and slightly slower frequently during any movement. This is almost imperceptible when making grand motions, but becomes bothersome on smaller precise movements. It would be great to get some input as to what could be the problem for me here.

To be clear, this is a softimage problem only. I tested the movement of the mouse on other applications such as photoshop and google earth and they all appear fine.

[Barbara]

Hello

Try turning off the auto-rotation center option. When auto-rotation is turned on, the software calculates the volume center of the model as it moves. The calculation process uses more resources so could affect the navigation.

Press the Menu button on the SpaceMouse Pro to open the popup menu in Softimage, select Rotation and un-check Auto.

The popup menu is the default mapping for the Menu button. If it has been re-mapped you can return it to the popup menu by selecting it from the drop-down menu.
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Barbara

[aphex_guy]

Thanks for the feedback, I will try this out in the evening when I am back at my workstation. I should point out though, that this problem shows up even on an empty scene with just the grid visible. So if this were a horsepower problem, I should hope it would work in that case. At any rate, I will keep you posted when I know if that fixed it or not.

[aphex_guy]

hello Barbara,

I have searched high and low for the auto-rotation option in the menu popup in XSI, but I don't see this option anywhere. I also tried to load up the 3dx control panel as well hoping it might have different options, but found nothing about that either. Only options involving rotation are the rotation center modes, but nothing with the word auto.

I am beginning to think that maybe I might not have the latest version of the mouse software perhaps? When i first got the mouse i immediately downloaded the latest from your company website, which is version 3.17.8. I also checked to see if any new versions came out, but it told me I have the latest version. Am I doing something wrong here?

[aphex_guy]

It's been a few days, any chance getting some clarity on this issue? Thanks in advanced.

[Barbara]

Hello aphex_guy -

Which options are you seeing in the popup menu inside Softimage when you press the Menu button on the SpaceMouse Pro?
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Barbara

[aphex_guy]

here it is:

Pause Motion
Speed > various speeds
Customize buttons... > brings up keymapper
Object Mode
Camera Mode
Rotation Center > Camera View/Focal Point/Scene/Object
Lock Horizon
Advanced > Fly Mode/Only view 3d view/Move Objects

[Barbara]

Hell0 aphex_guy -

That is the right menu. You're right , of course and I apologize - there is not an option called 'Auto'. The equivalent here is having the software calculate the center of a moving scene with nothing selected.

If Scene/Object is used, a selected object or sub-object is used as the rotation center. If nothing is selected, the the center of the scene used. In a large or complex scene, when the software is calculating the volume center as the scene is being moved it can affect navigation.

If that is not the circumstance where you are seeing the problem , can you tell us more about what you are doing in Softimage when it happens ?
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Barbara

[Barbara]

Hello again aphex_guy -

The difference in Softimage may be scale. Scaling a Softimage scene down equals less resources , smoother navigation.
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Barbara

[aphex_guy]

Hi,

A I have mentioned in a previous response, this issue seems to be independant of scene complexity, as I am getting the same issue on an empty scene with only the floor grid visible. As for scale, the empty scene's default grid layout is 20x20 XSI units. I would consider that a pretty small scale empty scene, and despite that, I get slightly irregular movement.

[Barbara]

Hello aphex_guy -

Right again - scale wouldn't have much effect in an empty scene. The problem is unusual so I'm looking for any posible cause. You mentioned the SpaceMouse Pro is new and it works smoothly in other applications - has the PC had previous 3Dconnexion software ?

The reason I ask is that over time we sometimes see things happen with registry keys or profiles that cause odd behavior - but that would not apply if this is an initial install. It sounds like its happening with anything you do in Softimage - camera mode , object mode - but only in Softimage, is that right ?

Here are 2 more areas that may not apply here but they have been know to cause issues so I should mention them. Direct connection - the SpaceMouse Pro should be plugged into a USB port on the PC rather than a hub, adapter or extender. Permissions for an application and add-in [xsi.exe and 3dxsrv.exe] need to match - with both using standard permissions [recommended] or both using elevated permissions [Run as administrator].
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Barbara

[aphex_guy]

The is a fresh install of the 3dconnexion software, and I have never before had a 3d mouse.
Yes, this issue appears to only happen within XSI, and no other application that I have tested (Unity3D, Photoshop, and Google Earth).
The mouse is currently plugged directly into my workstation laptop, as I have run out of empty slots on my USB hub. It is good to know that plugging it into a hub could cause problems though.

As for permissions, I have not messed with any permission/elevated privilege settings for the regular XSI executable, so I don't think it's set to anything special. For the 3d mouse, everything is also default, so I would assume that is also set as regular permissions.