Just installed IC8 Trial, and what a nice surprise, the 3DConnexion Space Explorer (I have the Enterprise version, with the screen ) is now supported!! After being accustomed to many years using it in 3DX Max, I felt like having lost my left arm when using IC7 so, this change alone would made the upgrade worth it for me.
However, there are some things that might be improved ( I couldn't find anything about it in the manual ):
- When the camera is in Orthographic mode, Zooming doesn't work. In fact, it seems to control the camera location instead. Works fine in Perspective camera.
- Having the 3DConnexion control scrubbing on the Timeline is a nice idea, because it feels like a proper scrubbing controller, however the direction seems to be reversed: rotating clockwise scrubs back on the timeline, and counterclockwise scrubs forward, which is a bit counterintuitive. Can this be changed in some setting ? I couldn't find any.
- The 3DConnexion changes its behavior automatically from scrubbing to moving the camera, depending if the Timeline or the 3D View is on focus. While this might be useful, it would be best having the ability to turn it off, and set it to control ONLY the 3D view, no matter what is in focus. As it is right now, is not very comfortable, because if you want to make adjustments on the timeline, you can't orbit/pan around the view at the same time, because the Timeline is in focus, so the controller controls scrubbing or zooming in the timeline, which might be confusing, because you must remember to click back on the 3d view, otherwise you are controlling the timeline.
That extra click almost nullify most the main advantage of using the 3D controller, which is the ability to do one thing with your regular mouse your right hand, while simultaneously control the camera with the 3D Controller in your left hand (well, assuming you are right-handed...), so it's a major showstopper to the huge increase in productivity support for a 3D Controller would otherwise grant. Please add the ability to lock the 3D Controller to always control pan/zoom/orbit in the 3D View, no matter what it's in focus.