SpaceNavigator driver [OpenSource]

Hi LostPanda,
Short answer:
Currently the device buttons aren’t working, it’s on my todo list though.

Longer answer:
The Unity driver communicates with the windows driver. but not quite in the way that it was designed to do.
This is because the default way uses COM, which isn’t supported in mono.
Therefore I am polling the device for changes, for some reason this didn’t work for the buttons last time I tried.
I’ve heard that a new iteration of the windows driver is upcoming, so this might have an effect on whether the device buttons work in my driver.

Well this is awesome, 3DConnexion sent me a thank-you SpaceMouse Pro for writing this driver :smile:

3 Likes

great, you are deserve to receive it :slight_smile:

This is a great addition- thanks so much!

Is the version with orbit-around-object the one that’s on the asset store? The asset store version is what I have, but I am not seeing the option… tried the link you mentioned above, but seems broken still.

Orbit around object is one of the most useful features in my experience.
… but thanks for what is already there and for making it free!

Cheers man.

lol I like how there is an oculus in the background of that photo - this is probably the first instance of it being “just that thing in the background” rather than “ZOMG a RIFT everyone look at it!”

Any chance the version in the asset store could include the rotate around object mode, I tried importing the dev branch but got errors in latest Unity.

Great tool, thank you making navigating unity much easier. The orbit object mode would be a nice addition. I would also like to request the option to be able to reverse inputs for telekinesis and grab modes. I have my fly mode setup how I like in max but when I switch to the other 2 modes the directions are the opposite of what I would expect them to be (when I push right the object goes left). Does that make sense?

Anyway thanks again. Now I need to get it working in runtime mode as well (think I will get my brother on that).

Thanks for developing sharing!

Any news on Mac compatibility?

The way the space navigator typically works in most 3D programs (such as Maya, 3D-Coat, Blender, etc) is to orbit around whatever the camera is pointing at.

Unity also exhibits the “orbiting” kind of camera behavior if you change your Unity editor view to ISO (isometric instead of perspective PERSP) and then right click and move your mouse around. It would be nice to have that kind of orbiting behavior as an option for this asset instead of only having flying-around behavior.

That way I could use the space navigator in other 3D programs such as Maya or Blender and then seamlessly have the same behavior in Unity. I would be willing to pay for such a modification.

I paid the 3DThrough app long ago which has my desired functionality but it’s no longer working correctly and doesn’t seem to be supported. Another similar app costs $70 I believe, and is not worth it for me to pay that much. Anyway, thank you

Ok, so it seems the orbit mode really needs some love.
I’ll give it a whirl during the holidays.
Adding the feature isn’t really a problem, but making it play nice with the other features is…

Cool, thanks so much. This would make Unity perfect =)

This has been a productive holiday, I’ve just submitted version 1.1 for asset store review.
1.1 contains the following new features :

  • Added Orbit mode.
  • Horizon locking can be toggled.
  • Axes can be inverted (for each operation mode separately).

For those of you who don’t want to wait, you can get the packages via the links on the github page.

Unfortunately there’s no news on the mac front.
There were a couple of people who expressed interest, but I haven’t heard back after that.

Great stuff but too bad it doesn’t have Mac support yet. Do you think you’ll work on that at some point?

+1 for Mac Support

Sorry, but I’m a windows developer, and while I have some experience shipping iOS unity projects, OSX plugin development is not my turf.
My focus for this project lies with getting the current version more stable and robust.

That is just too bad. I got that sweet piece of hardware today and while it’s “usable”, at the very best, in Unity it’s just doesn’t feel as good as, say, if I were using it in Blender.

Hehehe, I feel your pain, that’s what motivated me to write this driver in the first place :wink:

Thanks for writing this plug-in (and congrats on the free SpaceNavigator!) It works great in a 3D scene, but I’m having some problems in a 2D scene. I can only get the camera to pan, but not zoom in/out. Is this something you have looked into with the new 2D features in Unity 4.3?

@Edit Also, the locks in Fly mode don’t appear to work. I tried locking Rotation so that I could only translate, and it still rotates the camera. If the locks worked, I think I’d have a little more success in 2D.

That is awesome. You deserve it. :slight_smile:

Thought a driver was going to cost me $70 on top of the device (which I got new at less than half price - thank you unwanted xmas presents!) which I can’t really afford at the moment so you have my genuine gratitude. :stuck_out_tongue:

@Moohasha: I haven’t looked at 2D yet, but in retrospect I’m not surprised that zooming doesn’t work.
Translation of the SpaceNavigator is applied as translation on the camera, which does exactly zero when going forward in an ortographic viewport. I’ll have a look at it.

Thanks for the spot, locking is indeed not working in Fly mode.
Hmm, I did that by design because I thought the freedom of flying shouldn’t be limited.
Looking at it now I’m thinking that if you check the locks, you want it limited so I shouldn’t interfere with that.
Gonna remove that limitation in the next version.

@Mr Magoo: Thanks for the kind words