Ergonomics & Modeling - which sofware is best?
polycounter lvl 8
Hi all,
for the past year or so I have been suffering from pain in the wrist and elbow whenever I model for a long time and it's starting to be really unbearable, to the point that I had to almost stop modeling altogether this summer.
There's no way in hell I am quitting 3D over this so I have been trying to figure what specific action is the biggest trigger for my pain and I found that the worst offenders by far are
1) arc rotating
2) using 3d manipulators (gizmos)
So at a very basic level, anything that require to keep pushing a mouse button for prolonged amounts of time while moving my wrist or arm is bad for me.
Once I figured this out, I started to try and find ways to rely less on gizmos and/or try to map rotating to a hotkey instead of a mouse button.
I am a Max user, and I really like it for all its flaws. I use tons of scripts and I customized it very well over the years to suit my needs. I also use splines a lot, and nothing beats Max for that.
But as much as it saddens me, there is very little in the way of what I need for ergonomics in Max. I don't think it's possible to map arc rotate to a single key, it looks like it can only be one key PLUS one mouse button. And I couldn't really figure a way to work without gizmos either.
Recently I gave a shot to Blender again and for what I am looking for it's brilliant:
- You can map arc rotate to just one key. For instance I map it to Spacebar and I don't need to click a mouse button while I'm inspecting my mesh.
-You don't need gizmos at all, you just hit G and then if needed constrain the translation to any axis you like, be it X, Y, Z or a combination of 2.
After modeling for a couple of weeks in Blender, I noticed that I do not actually feel much pain anymore and it's great! But sadly as good as Blender is in its current state it is still not at the level of Max. It has some very annoying bugs and some other quirks that would need me to dabble in Python to solve, and I'm simply not there yet. And scripts are hard to find, and when you find one, chances are it's been abandonned for one release or more, etc. There are plenty of great threads about Blender so I'm not going to make this another one, I am just interested in knowing if I can get another profesional 3D package to work as Blender for these two things - arc rotate = single key and bypass the use of gizmos.
Any thoughts?
for the past year or so I have been suffering from pain in the wrist and elbow whenever I model for a long time and it's starting to be really unbearable, to the point that I had to almost stop modeling altogether this summer.
There's no way in hell I am quitting 3D over this so I have been trying to figure what specific action is the biggest trigger for my pain and I found that the worst offenders by far are
1) arc rotating
2) using 3d manipulators (gizmos)
So at a very basic level, anything that require to keep pushing a mouse button for prolonged amounts of time while moving my wrist or arm is bad for me.
Once I figured this out, I started to try and find ways to rely less on gizmos and/or try to map rotating to a hotkey instead of a mouse button.
I am a Max user, and I really like it for all its flaws. I use tons of scripts and I customized it very well over the years to suit my needs. I also use splines a lot, and nothing beats Max for that.
But as much as it saddens me, there is very little in the way of what I need for ergonomics in Max. I don't think it's possible to map arc rotate to a single key, it looks like it can only be one key PLUS one mouse button. And I couldn't really figure a way to work without gizmos either.
Recently I gave a shot to Blender again and for what I am looking for it's brilliant:
- You can map arc rotate to just one key. For instance I map it to Spacebar and I don't need to click a mouse button while I'm inspecting my mesh.
-You don't need gizmos at all, you just hit G and then if needed constrain the translation to any axis you like, be it X, Y, Z or a combination of 2.
After modeling for a couple of weeks in Blender, I noticed that I do not actually feel much pain anymore and it's great! But sadly as good as Blender is in its current state it is still not at the level of Max. It has some very annoying bugs and some other quirks that would need me to dabble in Python to solve, and I'm simply not there yet. And scripts are hard to find, and when you find one, chances are it's been abandonned for one release or more, etc. There are plenty of great threads about Blender so I'm not going to make this another one, I am just interested in knowing if I can get another profesional 3D package to work as Blender for these two things - arc rotate = single key and bypass the use of gizmos.
Any thoughts?
Replies
I think this also should be possible in Max via autohotkey + Max hotkeys or scripts.
but yes, blender is nicer overall in the usability department and more configurable when it comes to input methods. i was able to abandon the mouse in it. hard work tohugh, to dive into it initially and change all that bothers you.
increasing cursor speed - i only had bad experiences with that when i got a 'gamer' mouse after my last intellimouse broke. constantly overshooting the point i wanted to click on was not cool at all. got a numb mouse again and it feels soooo much better. less tantrums -> hardware longevity increases.
Okay, I am puzzled. Are you entirely modeling on your wacom...? I have one too, I simply cannot ever start to imagine how this can viable on a 3d package. Maybe maya and pie menus...?
It could be the most confortable mouse in the world, I would still get pain if I need to maintain clicks on it.
Now that's interesting but I need to learn a scripting language to do that...? First time I hear about it, been checking out their site but it's lacking practical, beginner-friendly example. Any idea where to start?
Edit: I'm a dumbass, they got a tutorial section
Definitely. I was checking out Pior's customization thread on Blender Artist and I'm not sure I could bitchslap Blender into working the way I want without becoming a programmer. I don't really have the time to stop and learn Python just for that...
Oh yeah... I used a Razer Naga... tried to use... it was insane... I presently use a CM Storm Xornet, I can toggle it between 500, 1000, and 2000 DPI. I Almost never use the 2000 DPI setting (it really slings the cursor across my monitors), I typically use 1000 DPI for my dual monitor desktop use, and I switch to 500 when I'm doing something single monitor, and when I'm playing shooters, set the DPI down low for precision and crank up the sensitivity.
Lower DPI mice can be more precise than higher DPI, basically... DPI is all marketing speak.
A faster mouse means a bit less movement of your hand/wrist and that might help a bit. It was just an idea.
I didn't mean to make it sound I didn't value your input, sorry. The actual movement is not the worst part it's really having to keep pressing a mouse button.
-when running Max in admin mode, it doesn't seem to pick up Send commands at all.
-the following code seemed perfect but for some reason it acts buggy in Max, randomly jumping and jittery in arc rotate mode.
Space:: SendInput, {MButton down}
Return
Space Up:: SendInput, {MButton up}
Return
My workaround was to make 2 hotkeys, one to toggle arc rotate on and one to togle it off (in this case ctrl+space):
Space:: SendInput, {MButton down}
Return
^Space:: SendInput, {MButton up}
Return
It will work that way but if anyone knows what the issue can be be with my first code snippet please let me know.
Now for Gizmos, I don't even know where to start... Any ideas, Nox?
I also use a wacom to model. I can use both max and maya with my wacom tablet. The only difference is that I like to set the rotate gizmo to arc, instead of linear, motion. I do use a lot of marking menus/quad menu commands.
I started using my wacom specifically because of carpal tunnel problems. You get used to it.
That's really intriguing. I wonder if you could share a little bit more about your hotkey setup and some general tips?
-Use the wacom control panel to setup profiles for max/maya/photoshop that remap the pen buttons to use all three mouse clicks (left, middle, right)
-Put as many commands as you can in the Quad menus
- set your rotate gizmo to 'arc rotate' (I mentioned this)
- I still put my left hand on the keyboard so my actual keyboard shortcuts haven't changed
From an ergonomics advantage the big difference is the angle of your wrist when you're holding the pen. This is great for carpal tunnel. It's also easier to hit the pen buttons if you've got small hands which is the problem with a lot of mice.
But when it comes to wrist pain and anything coming close to carpal suffering I swear by the magnetic bracelets. Usually an overnight fix for me. ( chances are u have a friend or family member that already has one n u can borrow to test? )
It feels natural after a while. I started using exclusively Intuos 2 for all my Maya task since 2009 and never looked back. Only need to do some click on mouse on rare occasions. Today I'm using Bamboo Pen with Modo and it's pretty pain-free as well. My left hand is still placed on keyboard by the way.
1 of my colleague is using huge size Intuos 4 with Houdini on CentOS. He got carpal syndrome a few years ago and he quit using mouse altogether since then.
Second one binds left mouse click to G key, so you can use it instead of clicking. You also need to bind axis constraints to some keys, e.g.: x, y, z. It should work somewhat similar to Blender.
~vk53:: SendInput {Blind}{Alt down}{MButton down} KeyWait vk53 SendInput {Blind}{Alt up}{MButton up} return ~G:: SendInput {Blind}{LButton down} KeyWait G SendInput {Blind}{LButton up} returnThank you Nox, I'll give it a spin tonight
Hey a wacom runs on magnetism!
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/tablets/wacom-tablets1.htm
You should just use a wacom instead. You'll be holding your hand next to magnets all day.
Also: I use my wacom on the couch too - I have a laptop that goes on a bed table with my wacom next to it.