Zooming in Hexagon 2

[-ash-]

hi, inneractive.

I personally have no problems with ALT mouse button with my Intuos, works like a charm in Hex, C5Pro and Silo.

The way I do it is;

hold down the ALT key
press down on the tablet and keep pressing
move the pen around (keep pressing)
take the pen off the tablet
release the ALT key

This should work for any tablet, so I'm not sure I understand why it is not working for you. What kind of tablet are you using?

Anyway, as far as know there are keys for all the things you want. Can't remember off hand but they are all in the manual.

[inneractive]

I use a Wacom Graphire 3 A6. I guess the problem is that the navigation is based on an ALT+MouseClick method. If I touch my Pen Nib to the Tablet it is always a Left-MouseClick, even if I am holding the Right or Middle pen button down.

The workaround I have found is to "hover" the Pen Nib a millimeter over the Tablet as I hold down ALT + Right or Middle Pen button. Every time the Pen Nib touches the Tablet I will rotate (Left MouseClick), so it takes practice. In every other program I set up navigation for Key+Left MouseClick to solve this.

If there is a way to assign Rotate Mode, Pan Mode, or Zoom Mode to keys that would be helpful as well because I would not mind just switching between modes as an option, but I have not found any hotkeys for them.

So far I am learning to work with Hexagon the way it is, but I think version 2 will go a long way towards making it easier to customize the UI.

[inneractive]

Originally Posted by -ash-

The way I do it is;

hold down the ALT key
press down on the tablet and keep pressing
move the pen around (keep pressing)
take the pen off the tablet
release the ALT key

If I do this it would just Rotate as it is seen as ALT+Left MouseClick. I do not mind this. Pan and Zoom are my concern.

[ronjurman]

Originally Posted by inneractive

The workaround I have found is to "hover" the Pen Nib a millimeter over the Tablet as I hold down ALT + Right or Middle Pen button. Every time the Pen Nib touches the Tablet I will rotate (Left MouseClick), so it takes practice.

That is one way (and works well enough for me), but the side button operations can be changed so that they operate with the pen tip held down.

Check your Wacom tablet driver (in the Windows Control Panel). Under 'Pen', mine has an 'Options...' box near the bottom, which brings up a couple more options. One is for Left/Right handedness, but the other is labled as 'Side Switch Expert Mode' and it changes the side switch operations so that they only operate when the pen tip is held down/clicked, which I feel is definitely easier.

An additional option, maybe, is if your pen has an 'eraser' button (which, set to the default of 'erase', currently isn't of use in Hexagon, maybe Hex 2 though), set it to MMB.

And don't forget, that through Wacom's 'Applications' properties, that you can customize the pen/tablet operation for Hexagon, as well as for other applications.

hth

rj

[-ash-]

Originally Posted by ronjurman

Check your Wacom tablet driver (in the Windows Control Panel). Under 'Pen', mine has an 'Options...' box near the bottom, which brings up a couple more options. One is for Left/Right handedness, but the other is labled as 'Side Switch Expert Mode' and it changes the side switch operations so that they only operate when the pen tip is held down/clicked, which I feel is definitely easier.

This is how I have mine set too! It's been like that for so long that i forgot it's not the default

I have my buttons set for:

tip = left click
rocker switch 1 = right mouse click
rocker switch 2 = double left click

This works really well for me as well, most definately easier to control, especially for right click and double click. I couldn't go back to using it in the default setting.

[inneractive]

Sadly my Graphire with the latest drivers has no Options Button or Applications Tab and the only thing I can customize on the Eraser is the sensitivity. I checked the Intuos manual on the Wacom site and saw the settings you both refer to. I knew I should have got an Intuos!

Thanks for the help though. Next time I will get an Intuos anyway. I got a Graphire because I never tried one out and was not sure if I would like it, but I love it.

As for Hexagon I am getting used to my setup. It can only get better with version 2.

[-ash-]

Originally Posted by inneractive

Sadly my Graphire with the latest drivers has no Options Button or Applications Tab and the only thing I can customize on the Eraser is the sensitivity. I checked the Intuos manual on the Wacom site and saw the settings you both refer to. I knew I should have got an Intuos!

Thanks for the help though. Next time I will get an Intuos anyway. I got a Graphire because I never tried one out and was not sure if I would like it, but I love it.

As for Hexagon I am getting used to my setup. It can only get better with version 2.

That's a shame . Using the tablet this way is much better IMHO. If you do decide to go for an Intuos I can recommend the A5 size. Or if you have 2 monitors or a widescreen then go for the A5 wide (this is currently on my list of upgrades when I have enough money )

[ronjurman]

Inneractive,

I'm also using a Graphire (actually both a v1 and v3, driver works with both), so maybe you need a driver update. Go to the Windows Control Panel, open up 'Wacom Tablet Properties', and click the 'About' box down at the bottom left of the lower panel (the 'Options' button refered to would be to the right of the 'About' button if you had/have it). Mine says Control Panel Version 4.93-3 (Driver Version 4.94-3). The driver updates (which I believe include the Control Panel software) are available at http://www.wacom.com/productsupport/...XP&product=CTE
I selected the top one on the list, which looks to be the latest of the three. (Note: I'm running Windows XP, you may need a different driver if you are not). hth

rj

[tuffmac]

This might be too late to suggest for H2, but here you go...

I like the idea of fully customizable short-cut keys. But like most of you, I like being able to Zoom, Pan and Rotate my view without having to take my left hand off the Alt, Control and shift keys (Option, Control and shift for the Mac). I'm a Lightwave Modeler user, but am really considering a switch to H2. But using the demo verison of V1.2 messes with the zoom. Yes, the middle scroll button works, but it's not smooth.

What I'd like is full customization or at least set it up like this:
Rotate (hold the option or Alt key down)
Pan (hold the option + Shift key down)
Zoom (hold the option + Control key down)

This, or something like this would be great because it keeps the 3 main view methods all together in a nice neat little bundle. Full customization of the keyboard would correct this problem too.

[-ash-]

Originally Posted by tuffmac

What I'd like is full customization or at least set it up like this:
Rotate (hold the option or Alt key down)
Pan (hold the option + Shift key down)
Zoom (hold the option + Control key down)

This, or something like this would be great because it keeps the 3 main view methods all together in a nice neat little bundle. Full customization of the keyboard would correct this problem too.

Yes, this is the sort of thing I would like to have. Though as a Carrara use I would like to have it work the same as in C5 assembly room (CNTRL+ALT+RMB for zoom). That way I would not keep using the wrong method when I jump back into hex for a quick tweak of the model

Full customization of these functions would definately correct the problem.

As no-one has replied to my original question, it seems likely that this is not in Hex 2

[tuffmac]

Well, that's kind of a bummer if it's not in Hex2.

I must be an idiot, but what is the RMB key? I've used C3 and personally have a hard time with the manipulation keys way up in the letters like "W" "D" etc. Did C5 correct this?

[-ash-]

Originally Posted by tuffmac

Well, that's kind of a bummer if it's not in Hex2.

I must be an idiot, but what is the RMB key? I've used C3 and personally have a hard time with the manipulation keys way up in the letters like "W" "D" etc. Did C5 correct this?

I'm not saying it isn't in Hex 2 but no-one is confirming or denying it.

RMB = right mouse button. In C5Pro, holding CNTRL+ALT and right mouse button enables zooming in and out by moving the mouse (or pen in my case). This was not the case in C4. I don't have any older versions.

Sorry for the confusion.

[toonman]

Originally Posted by tuffmac

I like the idea of fully customizable short-cut keys. But like most of you, I like being able to Zoom, Pan and Rotate my view without having to take my left hand off the Alt, Control and shift keys (Option, Control and shift for the Mac). I'm a Lightwave Modeler user, but am really considering a switch to H2. But using the demo verison of V1.2 messes with the zoom. Yes, the middle scroll button works, but it's not smooth.

What I'd like is full customization or at least set it up like this:
Rotate (hold the option or Alt key down)
Pan (hold the option + Shift key down)
Zoom (hold the option + Control key down)

This, or something like this would be great because it keeps the 3 main view methods all together in a nice neat little bundle. Full customization of the keyboard would correct this problem too.

I agree with this. Full control over Hexagon's "shortcut Editor"
to customize ANY key combination, including FULL MOUSE BUTTONS customization, would be a super helpful and needed feature.

[inneractive]

Originally Posted by ronjurman

Inneractive,

I'm also using a Graphire (actually both a v1 and v3, driver works with both), so maybe you need a driver update. Go to the Windows Control Panel, open up 'Wacom Tablet Properties', and click the 'About' box down at the bottom left of the lower panel (the 'Options' button refered to would be to the right of the 'About' button if you had/have it). Mine says Control Panel Version 4.93-3 (Driver Version 4.94-3). The driver updates (which I believe include the Control Panel software) are available at http://www.wacom.com/productsupport/...XP&product=CTE
I selected the top one on the list, which looks to be the latest of the three. (Note: I'm running Windows XP, you may need a different driver if you are not). hth

rj

This is interesting. Are you using a Graphire2? On my Graphire3 I tried your drivers, (Was using 4.95-4) and the options were not added. I double-checked the Graphire3 and Graphire4 manuals and the control panels do not have the options mentioned. However, when I checked the Graphire2 manual it had the options!

The Graphire2 drivers did not work with my Graphire3, so I emailed Wacom about it. I think it is sad if these features were removed from newer models.

[ronjurman]

Originally Posted by tuffmac

But like most of you, I like being able to Zoom, Pan and Rotate my view without having to take my left hand off the Alt, Control and shift keys (Option, Control and shift for the Mac). I'm a Lightwave Modeler user, but am really considering a switch to H2. But using the demo verison of V1.2 messes with the zoom. Yes, the middle scroll button works, but it's not smooth.

Hi Tuffmac,

The scroll wheel does zoom, but not smoothly (I think it depends on your settings, I have the scroll wheel set to scroll 3 lines/roll). But when I refer to MMB, I am 'not' referring to rolling the scroll wheel.

Most three button mice now days have a scroll wheel that performs double duty. One action is to simply roll the wheel, that is 'not' MMB. The other action (for most scroll wheel mice) is to press on the scroll wheel, not rotate/roll it. 'That' is what activates MMB. And Alt+MMB zooms Hex 1.2 very smoothly (i.e. move the mouse while keeping <Alt> plus the scroll wheel pressed), don't roll the wheel. (Note: The scroll wheel zoom doesn't require <Alt> pressed, just roll.)

So the quick keys for Hex are:

Alt+LMB - Rotate
Alt+MMB (Press, not roll) - Zoom smoothly
Scroll Wheel (Roll, not press) - Zoom quickly (but not smoothly) - (No Alt. needed)
Alt + RMB - Move laterally and up/down

hth

rj

[ronjurman]

Originally Posted by inneractive

This is interesting. Are you using a Graphire2? On my Graphire3 I tried your drivers, (Was using 4.95-4) and the options were not added. I double-checked the Graphire3 and Graphire4 manuals and the control panels do not have the options mentioned. However, when I checked the Graphire2 manual it had the options!

The Graphire2 drivers did not work with my Graphire3, so I emailed Wacom about it. I think it is sad if these features were removed from newer models.

Hi inneractive,

As I noted (but not clearly), I have both Graphire 1 and Graphire 3 tablets. I'm currently using the driver 4.94-3 (Matching the top driver listed at the link to the Wacom drivers that I listed in my earlier post. Note that the web page heading identifies these as for the Graphire 3.), and control panel 4.93-3, both listed from the 'About' box from the 'Wacom Tablet Properties' popup window. Actually, at this very moment I am using the Graphire 1 tablet with this Graphire 3 driver, and it works fine.

Important note: I have both a 'Pen Tablet' icon and a 'Wacom Tablet Properties' icon in the Windows Control Panel. Only the 'Wacom Tablet Properties' popup window has the 'Options' button. The 'Pen Tablet' popup window does not (and I'm not sure why there are two tablet control panels, but there are ...), so check to see if you have same. If you do, use the 'Wacom Tablet Properties' icon, not the 'Pen Tablet' icon.

hth

rj

[-ash-]

Originally Posted by ronjurman

So the quick keys for Hex are:

Alt+LMB - Rotate
Alt+MMB (Press, not roll) - Zoom smoothly
Scroll Wheel (Roll, not press) - Zoom quickly (but not smoothly) - (No Alt. needed)
Alt + RMB - Move laterally and up/down

hth

rj

Now...I never knew this. So zoom is quite well covered if you have a mouse with either MMB or scroll wheel/MMB. Not using a mouse, so no MMB or scroll wheel, I suppose I skipped that bit in the manual.

Of course this is the problem with assuming users will have a certain level of hardware or will purchase the appropriate bit of kit. As I said at the start of this thread this is not an option for me.

This is one area where Silo has the edge at the moment. Anyway still hopeful for Hex 2. If not 2.0 then 2.1

[ronjurman]

Originally Posted by -ash-

So zoom is quite well covered if you have a mouse with either MMB or scroll wheel/MMB. Not using a mouse, so no MMB or scroll wheel, I suppose I skipped that bit in the manual.

Yes, and with a Graphire pen (and probably a lot of others) one has a tip, eraser, and 2 side buttons, so can map those to LMB, MMB, RMB, and still have a slot for Double-click, all of which can be mapped through the Wacom control panel. (With the ability to smooth zoom with MMB emulation, no real need for scroll wheel emulation.)

Regards,

rj

[inneractive]

Originally Posted by ronjurman

Important note: I have both a 'Pen Tablet' icon and a 'Wacom Tablet Properties' icon in the Windows Control Panel. Only the 'Wacom Tablet Properties' popup window has the 'Options' button. The 'Pen Tablet' popup window does not (and I'm not sure why there are two tablet control panels, but there are ...), so check to see if you have same. If you do, use the 'Wacom Tablet Properties' icon, not the 'Pen Tablet' icon.

Yep, the Graphire 1-2 and all Intuos Tablets use the same drivers and their Control Panel is listed as 'Wacom Tablet Properties'. Graphire 3-4 use the same drivers and their Control Panel is listed as 'Pen Tablet', which has fewer features. If you unplug your Graphire1 and plug in your Graphire3 then try to open the 'Wacom Tablet Properties' control panel it may say there is no supported tablet plugged in, which is what it says to me.

[-ash-]

Originally Posted by ronjurman

Yes, and with a Graphire pen (and probably a lot of others) one has a tip, eraser, and 2 side buttons, so can map those to LMB, MMB, RMB, and still have a slot for Double-click, all of which can be mapped through the Wacom control panel. (With the ability to smooth zoom with MMB emulation, no real need for scroll wheel emulation.)

Regards,

rj

I'll need to give this a try, though I wouldn't like to lose one of my current settings of left click, right click, double left click. Having to flip the pen to zoom would really slow me down too. Though, how many things need a doubleclick in Hex? Maybe an application specific setting would work. I think a bit of experimentation is in order here.

However, I would still like it to be the same as C5 or have full customisation, like in Silo. I'm sure Eovia will work this in at some point .