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Two-Fisted Computing
whiterat writes "3Dconnexion is selling a variety of input devices that provide a left-hand complement to the traditional computer mouse. The devices control the position of on-screen objects in design programs such as Adobe Systems' Photoshop and its 3D modeling application, Maya. That enables designers to work without constantly togging between 'view' and 'create' modes." Smash TV veterans need no extra training.
No, but SGI does.
I remember back in the early 80s your response was the same one that many people used when the Mouse first appeared. It was pointless, applications would need extra more complex code to support it, and nobody would end up buying one because there was no application support.
Now they're ubiquitous.
On another point, I once worked as a computer operator for landscaping data. We had tablets with large areas for digitizing maps where the 22 button tablet (yes, as large as a mouse) was used for tracing outlines, a 5-key chorded keyboard used on the left for other functions, and key pedals used for switching context. It didn't take long to get used to, and for the purpose it was needed for saved a great deal of time on a keyboard+mouse only. Everything has its uses
The deal with Maya is that to easily create in 3d, you actually work in a 3d environment. Navigation, just as in a video game, is done with one hand on the mouse and one on the keyboard. The keyboard hand is used to select tools, etc, and to choose what mode the mouse input goes in. The mouse is used to rotate, scale, and pan the object in front of the camera (or the camera around the object, depending on your philosophy). For example, holding CTRL while using the left mouse button rotates (if I remember right--I really can't tell offhand without actually doing it).
So because input is so odd in such a program, I can imagine many ways to do it differently (unlike, say, typing, in which there really is only one obvious paradigm--one key per letter). I don't know specifically how they implement this, and I do personally feel relatively comfortable with the current setup, but it could be neat.
On a tangent, though, I think personally the big issue with working in 3d is not input per se, but the fact that the input and display are both two dimensional, despite the goal being to create something three dimensional. So for example, how two dimensional movements on a mousepad translate into three dimensional rotation can be kinda hard to get used to, and quite hard to be precise with. Also, I occasionally found myself, when I was first learning Maya, trying to move my head to look around the edges of an object (quite silly, I know). So the limitations of a two dimensional screen are also clear.
Manipulates the joystick
Too many zeros, not enough ones