Mouse advice needed

[3DMK]

hi all,

I have just tried some speech recognition software, and the results are looking very positive.
Although I have only just started using it, I can see a huge health benefit and increased production.
although it may be difficult to incorporate all aspects of 3DS Max and Vray it will certainly be nice to take a break from pressing keys and buttons to some degree.
This post has been returned while while sip on a cup of coffee and smoke a cigarette.
I didn't press a single key or button... And although it's quite disconcerting to talk to a computer at first, you soon get used to it. who knows, we may even become friends one day.

All the best

[Olli96]

Thanks agian for all the input , its really appreciated.
@HAWF: I got the G7 at home and i am quite happy with it. For my home use its enough but i need something at my workplace that is more healthy for my wrist and hand.

I ordered the Wacom Intous 4 A5 and the Evoluent Mouse, i will report back in a couple of weeks if it was helping.

@3dmk: What software did you tried? Got a link?

[oligophant]

i want it to hear more from you guys about wacom and max workflow, pros & cons , i have an intuos 4 mid , i've tried but always returned back to keyboard and press the shortcuts, any advice on that would be great

[3DMK]

@3dmk: What software did you tried? Got a link?

http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeak.../preferred.asp

I ended up buying it and it's certainly powerful but you obviously need to set it up to work a certain way in max... but it seems easy enough to do that,although it may take a bit of understanding of how the UI works max....Something I unfortunately don't have, but others do [the smart ones!]

Straight out of the box ....I read about 2 mins of text & i was away transcribing my words to text..... they have done a good job of making it easy at a beginner level.
It's actually quite amazing the first time you try it & the biggest problem at first is remembering to NOT speak slowly as it prefers normal talking speed.
You can customise it to work in your operating System, as well as different for other programs......it may take a bit of time setting up in max but I think it will be worth it in the end......

I'll post progress.....

See ya

[beestee]

My next mouse adventure:
http://cyborggaming.com/
Release yet to be announced.

Right now I use a Logitech G9 at work and an Elecom Scope Node at home. They are both smaller than average, which I prefer. When I first started using the Scope Node, I couldn't really tell any difference between it and any other optical/laser mouse that I have used, but over time I have come to prefer it for it's minor advantages in accuracy and it's simplicity.

The G7/G500 is a great design, probably the most consistently comfortable traditional mouse I have ever used.

If you are fighting injury though, something more drastic like the evoluent, a wacom or exercise as mentioned is probably a necessity.

[raymarcher]

http://www.openofficemouse.com/pr110609.html
http://warmouse.com/

or this one, 18 buttons, pretty hardcore for a mouse

[pskdude]

Somehow that mouse seems not so well built. or comfortable at that. :/ but great idea nevertheless

[Olli96]

Thanks again for all the inputs. I've been using the evoluent mouse and a wacom for almost 2 weeks now and my wrist is much better. I am still not comfortable using a wacom in max, but the evoluent mouse is pretty good for working in max. The xmouse drivers for it are also working quite good. So right now i am always switching between my regular mouse and the new ones and i am quite happy with it.

[voltron7]

not for me

I had to give the Evoluent a try. I think it is good for the wrist/forearm issues, but I have other issues with this mouse.
-The orientation makes it so that clicking the buttons makes you "click-drag" way too frequently. It happened no matter what setting I used in the driver.
I was dangerously close a few times to accidentally moving things in explorer. I think that might be why most mice are made so the clicking is in a downward motion, not horizontal.
-There were also (3) buttons and the bottom one, had to be turned off because just moving the mouse, my finger would always press it and the default function was "back." This really sucked.
-Although not a real issue for me, it should be known that the drivers do not support or install in a 64 bit OS. You have to download and use a shareware driver if you have 64 bit...

Other than those things, it seemed just like any other mouse...
I have gone back to my Intous3 and Logitech MX Revolution (still love it!)
Picked up a cheap SpaceNavigator thingy to try out to try to limit keyboard use...

[3DMK]

I had to give the Evoluent a try. I think it is good for the wrist/forearm issues, but I have other issues with this mouse.
-The orientation makes it so that clicking the buttons makes you "click-drag" way too frequently. It happened no matter what setting I used in the driver.
I was dangerously close a few times to accidentally moving things in explorer. I think that might be why most mice are made so the clicking is in a downward motion, not horizontal.

It's the unstable drivers that are causing the drop & drag issue. Does exactly the same on my 64 bit XP pro due to the crappy Drivers, although it works perfectly on my 32 bit XP pro.
It does take a little while to get used to the different hand/click position [a couple of weeks or so] & at first you may be inclined to push the mouse when you click. You need to put slight pressure on the mouse with your thumb to counteract the button click pressure.

-There were also (3) buttons and the bottom one, had to be turned off because just moving the mouse, my finger would always press it and the default function was "back." This really sucked.

That's as easy as turning that button OFF with the software

-Although not a real issue for me, it should be known that the drivers do not support or install in a 64 bit OS. You have to download and use a shareware driver if you have 64 bit...

This IS a big issue for me [and many others] as the current shareware drivers SUCK. I have had communications with Evoluent & the 64 bit driver is currently in testing stage. Not ready for a couple months yet

Other than those things, it seemed just like any other mouse...
I have gone back to my Intous3 and Logitech MX Revolution (still love it!)
Picked up a cheap SpaceNavigator thingy to try out to try to limit keyboard use...

I have also started using Speech recognition software & that is very cool to replace a lot of repetitive keyboard use.
If you write emails a lot or long text in general then it is a MUST. I don't have to type a single email or scene info for work mates anymore.....just sit back & talk.

[the one i bought was 'Dragon - Naturally speaking']

Cheers

Jamie

[voltron7]

I've hear Dragon is quite good. There was a guy using it my AutoCAD class 7 years ago...

See my last post, I did turn the third button off.

"-There were also (3) buttons and the bottom one, had to be turned off..."
The point is, it should have 2 buttons, and leave the space open instead of a third button. Sorry, just complaining about this $90 paperweight
So, the Evo is going to e bay, I guess.

[glyph]

hey Jamie - you've got me thinking speech recognition could be really useful - I write a lot of emails
a while ago I decided to phone my clients instead and they said 'great, now if you could just put that in an email...'

- does talking to your computer annoy your co-workers?