3Dconnexion/Blender Beta Feedback

[visualgroup]

Hi,

The folder is in the correct place, the plugin is named correctly and I've full read/write access to all folders.

No debug information is displayed in the console window.

The device works correctly with Pro/Engineer, SketchUp, MSOffice, Photoshop etc.

I'm an experienced user of 3DConnexion devices and Blender.

I really hope this can be sorted out, too many people are having similar problems.

[simon'ese]

Starting blender gives this console output:

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fullname = 'F:\blender3dx\blender.exe'
Shortname = 'F:\BLENDE~3\blender.exe'
Compiled with Python version 2.5.
'import site' failed; use -v for traceback
Checking for installed Python... No installed Python found.
Only built-in modules are available.  Some scripts may not run.
Continuing happily.
ndof manager
plugin path=F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug; ndofLib=00000000


maybe this helps to find the cause, output of "FileMon.exe" windows version of strace

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17:03:05   blender.exe:500   QUERY INFORMATION   D:\wbin\Wintab32.dll   FILE NOT FOUND   Attributes: Error   
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   QUERY INFORMATION   D:\Programme\Gemeinsame Dateien\GTK\2.6.9\bin\Wintab32.dll   FILE NOT FOUND   Attributes: Error   
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   QUERY INFORMATION   D:\Programme\SSH Communications Security\SSH Secure Shell\Wintab32.dll   PATH NOT FOUND   Attributes: Error   
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   QUERY INFORMATION   F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS   Attributes: A   
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   OPEN   F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS   Options: Open  Access: Execute   
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   QUERY INFORMATION   F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS   FileNameInformation   
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   QUERY INFORMATION   F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS   Length: 790528   
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   CLOSE   F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS      
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   QUERY INFORMATION   F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS   Attributes: A   
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   OPEN   F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS   Options: Open  Access: Execute   
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   QUERY INFORMATION   F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS   FileNameInformation   
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   CLOSE   F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS      
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   OPEN   F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug.2.Manifest   FILE NOT FOUND   Options: Open  Access: All   
17:03:05   blender.exe:500   OPEN   F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug.2.Config   FILE NOT FOUND   Options: Open  Access: All   
17:03:05   csrss.exe:1180   OPEN   D:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\Policies\x86_Policy.8.0.Microsoft.VC80.ATL_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_x-ww_5f0bbcff\   FILE NOT FOUND   Options: Open Directory  Access: All   

"3DxNdofBlender.plug.2.Manifest" and "3DxNdofBlender.plug.2.Config" ?
Button 1 and 2 are dead too

[mobed]

Hi,

I've got bad news. Restarting my machine this evening and corrected the read/write access und now also button 1 and button 2 are dead. I've got also no problems in Pro/E, other 3D applications.

[kidb]

Code: Select all

17:59:51   blender.exe:1476   QUERY INFORMATION   E:\NDOF\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS   Attributes: A   
17:59:51   blender.exe:1476   OPEN   E:\NDOF\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS   Options: Open  Access: 00100020   
17:59:51   blender.exe:1476   QUERY INFORMATION   E:\NDOF\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug

SUCCESS Length: 180224

Code: Select all

17:59:51   blender.exe:1476   CLOSE   E:\NDOF\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS      
17:59:51   blender.exe:1476   QUERY INFORMATION   E:\NDOF\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS   Attributes: A   
17:59:51   blender.exe:1476   OPEN   E:\NDOF\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS   Options: Open  Access: 00100020   
17:59:51   blender.exe:1476   CLOSE   E:\NDOF\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug   SUCCESS      


Filesize of my "working plugin" is 176 KB (180.224 Bytes)
You can download it from:
http://blendertestbuilds.de/Plugins/ndof/Windows/
But I downloaded the package from blenderbuilds.com. So i do not know if this helps.

[fphillips]

Ok, hopefully I can provide help for those on Linux who see this:

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fp@slack12:~$ blender
guessing 'blender' == '/usr/local/bin/blender'
Compiled with Python version 2.5.1.
Checking for installed Python... got it!
ndof manager


When I strace the process I get this line:

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open("/usr/local/bin/plugins/3DxNdofBlender.plug", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

So it is looking for the plugins directory in wherever it was run from, in my case a symlink.

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fp@slack12:~$ ls -l /usr/local/bin/blender
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 40 2007-08-22 16:18 /usr/local/bin/blender -> /usr/local/blender-NDOF-20070802/blender*

My suggestion to those on Linux having this problem is to run the binary directly, instead of from a symlink, until the builds/plugin is fixed. This way it now works for me.

Code: Select all

fp@slack12:~$ /usr/local/blender-NDOF-20070802/blender
Compiled with Python version 2.5.1.
Checking for installed Python... got it!
ndof manager
1 client
3Dconnexion blender plug-in: loaded.


Frank

[kidb]

Oh sorry, simon'ese used the debug-plugin, so the filesize is different. My fault.

[klogath]

If you have problems getting Blender NDOF run with your space navigator,

download the vcredist.exe (2.6 MB) from Microsoft homepage (The MS Visual C++ Redistributable 2005) and install it.

Now my space navigator is detected when starting blender and the navigator works perfect now!

However, make sure that the mouse pointer is over the 3D Window, otherwise it will not work. I had to reconfigure the buttons and axis of the navigator also (e.g. invert axis and increase speed and the like). Once you are satisfied, save the configuration e.g. as "Blender".
This process was a little bit confusing, but finally worked.

Hope that helps.

klogath

[simon'ese]

@klogath It did help Finally it works

Code: Select all

plugin path=F:\BLENDE~3\plugins\3DxNdofBlender.plug; ndofLib=01ADE7F0
1 client

[klogath]

@simon

[visualgroup]

Thanks for that Klogath your fix worked with my Spaceball 5000 USB. Happy days

[mobed]

Hi every one.

Thank you for that advise klogath.
Now it works fine and I'm very very happy.

[twisted]

I just started to play with space nav & blender, appears to work flawlessly on windows xp. (I had Visual C++ 2005 runtime components installed and did not run into the issues described by some - btw, isn't that a blender requirement on windows?)

At first glance, the tilt & spin speed seems to be calibrated a little bit on slow side when compared to the panning motions - even when I move the tilt and spin speed sliders completely to the right, the motion seems "slow" relative to the panning speeds left at the default speed setting. Thoughts?

[ettore]

I just started to play with space nav & blender, appears to work flawlessly on windows xp. (I had Visual C++ 2005 runtime components installed and did not run into the issues described by some - btw, isn't that a blender requirement on windows?)

Oh yeah, I guess it is... doh, I completely missed that (official) requirement:

For the Windows build, you may need to install this official update. Vista doesn't need this, but users of older Windows versions should install it if they experience a crash during startup of Blender. Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Package (x86)

At first glance, the tilt & spin speed seems to be calibrated a little bit on slow side when compared to the panning motions - even when I move the tilt and spin speed sliders completely to the right, the motion seems "slow" relative to the panning speeds left at the default speed setting. Thoughts?

Could be. You have a few ways to adjust the sens - use the individual sliders to adjust sens of one axis relative to the others, and the general slider in the "Device" tab for the overall sens. Next releases will probably be more fine tuned.

[rlishere]

Hallo,

so
THAT IS GREAT,
my SpaceNavigator works in Blender.

Thanks a lot to everyone who was involved to.

Will this become part of standard Blender Versions?

rl

[artfultheory]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since I'm running Vista 64, I should be able to:
1. Install my SpaceNavigator core drivers(*1)
2. Ensure my SpaceNavigator is working with demo apps
3. Download Blender 2.44 NDOF experimental branch(*2) and extract/install
4. Download and install Python 2.5
4. run Blender, with support for my SpaceNavigator!

But it doesn't work. Instead I hit the same dead-end others have reported, which is the Blender initialization completing with:
Compiled with Python version 2.5.
Checking for installed Python... got it!
ndof manager

Conclusion:
There's something wrong with the code, and the SpaceNavigator won't work in my configuration.

Steve, Luke, Ettore, did I miss something? If not, and you don't already know what is up, I've got VSE C++ downloading right now. Please give me your thoughts before I burn any more time on this though.

Thanks,
Shannon


Notes:
1. I assume I don't need to download the plugin(*3) separately and copy it into the Blender folder, although I later tried doing so.
2. Although the installation instructions(*4) at BlenderBuilds reference this plugin, they also reference a version of the NDOF build(*2) for Windows with this plugin included. Also, this thread I'm posting to says
3. Per this thread, the original 3DConnexion builds(*5) are missing some components, and the "Normal" NDOF build(*2) should be used when troubleshooting.
4. BlenderBuilds has various Blender SIG releases, but BlenderFoundation or "BF" posts the widely-accepted and supported stuff. As of this post (BF release 2.45 is current), SpaceNavigator doesn't work in BF builds. Don't bother trying to install the plug-in into a BF folder yet.
5. The seemingly authoritative installation page(*8) at 3Dconnexion's site doesn't mention you must use the NDOF build of Blender, but you must.
6. The announcement(*6) of Blender support for 3D controllers refers to BlenderBuilds releases.
7. The announcement(*7) of 3Dconnexion support for Blender refers to currently beta code
8. The Visual C++ redistributables are required in many cases(*9) for this to work. However, they are included with Vista, and will not install if attempted.
9. The BlenderDev wiki(*10) on this topic doesn't really have any information.
10. There's a long article at (*11) that ends in posters crossing their fingers for support for the SpaceNavigator in Blender 2.45, don't bother reading it.


(*1) http://www.3dconnexion.com/support/downloads.php
(*2) http://mirror.blenderbuilds.com/windows ... _win32.zip
(*3) http://mirror.blenderbuilds.com/plugins ... indows.zip
(*4) http://www.blenderbuilds.com/2007/08/05 ... h-a-prize/
(*5) http://mirror.blenderbuilds.com/windows ... 2_orig.zip
(*6) http://www.blender.org/news/article/3d-device-support/
(*7) http://www.3dconnexion.com/news/press/0 ... lender.htm
(*8) http://www.3dconnexion.fr/solutions/blender.php
(*9) http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthr ... enavigator
(*10) http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Blend ... dofDevices
(*11) http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthr ... tor&page=3
http://www.blendernation.com/2007/08/13 ... r-support/


As an aside, there's random data on this topic in various places. However, most of it is partial reposts of initially incomplete information. I'm a little frustrated that I took "3Dconnexion Announces Support for Blender" at face value, without reading the fine print (forums). Support really isn't there yet, especially from a documentation perspective, since there are neither consistent nor authoritative installation procedures.

I purchased the SpaceNavigator specifically for use with Blender. Thanks for opening your libraries to a GNU project, and I'm looking forward to the first BF release of Blender that actually implements them. Until that time, I hope the information I've gathered here helps save others some of the time this issue cost me.