Softimage: My SpaceNavigator animates the camera

[juhor]

Hello all.

We just started using Softimage at work and I have problem I haven't yet found a solution to.
When ever is navigate with my SpaceNavigator, a keyframe for the camera is being created. I tend to spin around the model quite a bit, and also scroll the timeline back and forth so it's a huge problem my view doesn't stay put.

I can lock the camera, but then my view snaps to default when I touch the timeline, so this isn't a good fix.

Any ideas?

[Barbara]

Hello juhor -

There are options for the behavior in Softimage in the 3Dx pop-up menu. The pop-up should be mapped to your left Space Navigator button.

If the buttons have been re-mapped, you can restore the pop-up menu by returning to Softimage defaults. Open 3Dconnexion Properties while Softimage has the Space Navigator focus and choose 'Options- Restore all Defaults'. A dialog box will say that restoring defaults will remove all changes you have made to the configuration - confirm to restore defaults then go back to the Softimage window and press the left Space Navigator button.

It should open the pop-up menu that allows you to customize Softimage navigation. The Softimage section in the manual [3DxHelp] describes how the options work. Depending on which driver version you are using, the options window may look quite different from the pop-up menu - but the general descriptions of the options can still be helpful.
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Barbara

[juhor]

Hi and thanks, but I can't find anything from the settings that would help in this particular problem. I tried restoring the defaults but it didn't help. Also I tried to change settings in the pop-up menu in softimage, but couldn't get the problem fixed.

I'm running Softimage 2013 by the way, I had the trial for 2012 for some time and at least I didn't notice this problem then. Could this be an issue with the new version?

[juhor]

Sorry, couldn't find a way to edit my previous post, so I'll just make a new post.

I Found a temporary fix. I found the Global Transform Camera and managed to lock it. Now everything works the way it is supposed to, but I hope I don’t have to go through this every time I start Softimage.

BTW: There is an option “Allow AutoKey during Navigation” in the camera options and it’s unticked, but for some reason it doesn’t seem to apply on 3d mice.

Could it be that when I'm moving the camera with my 3D mouse, the software handles it differently than when I'm navigating normally (S key + mouse button held down)?
It seems like Softimage thinks I'm not just navigating but selecting the camera like any object in the scene and moving it around.

[Barbara]

Hello juhor -

You're right - navigation behavior is different with a 2d mouse. For Softimage the 3d device options come from the 3DxSoftimage add-in while navigation with a 2d mouse and keyboard [S + mouse] is internal to Softimage.

You can choose to move the scene or move the camera, but 3d navigation creates a temporary camera during the process while 2d navigation does not.

For the most recent Softimage add-in, you can check that you are using the current 3Dconnexion software from 3Dconnexion Properties under Help-About. The Release version should be 3.16.1 or 3.16.2 and the Driver version 6.16.

You're right about the edit as well - there is not one
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Barbara

[juhor]

Thanks again for the reply Barbara, I checked my release version and it's 3.18, driver is 6.16.0
I usually try the update wizard first when ever I have a problem. Sorry I didn't mention it in the first post.