tomhamlet Posted October 19, 2012 Posted October 19, 2012 When I am not at work, hanging with buds, or watching football (Go Colts), I can ussually be found playing Xbox or PC games such as Starcraft or LOL. When I play games on the computer I tend to be very competitive. As a result, I own gaming input devices such as a gaming mouse or gamepad. However, these can also be used in AutoCAD to boost speed greatly. The mouse sitting at my desk is a Cyborg RAT 7, dubbed the transforer mouse. Using only my mouse I can switch between four different layers, and activate 8 different commands all without ever touching the keyboard or leaving the model space. Gamepads let you have more accessible hotkeys. No matter how fast you are at moving your cursor or typing in a command, hotkeys set up on a mouse or pad are quicker! Hope you enjoy this tip and that it will help speed up your drafting! Quote
genmech Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 I am the same way. i use a Rat 5 programed with windows commands to switch between AutoCAD ,adobe and browsers. my keyboard is the G15 and i have my osnaps programed to the side macros and my lcd running a timer and i use a G13 gaming keypad with 3 profiles and the lcd programed to watch my cpu and ram. i rarely ever touch the keyboard now. If only they would give me a third monitor i could reprogram the mouse. Quote
tzframpton Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 It might pay off to be a nerd, but.... who wants to be a nerd? Quote
RobDraw Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 The nerd in me knows that the right click menu gives me access to the context menu which has dozens of commands. I have a 5 button mouse that I haven't programmed at all. Quote
tomhamlet Posted October 25, 2012 Author Posted October 25, 2012 StykFacE, everybody wants to be a nerd! RobDraw, I do love the right click menu in AutoCAD. However, using that method requires 1. left click 2. move cursor over and 3. left click on command. A programable mouse or gamepad requires one click of a conviniently located button! But to each his own. Some don't wanna drop that kind of cash to save a few seconds which is completely understandable. Its like owning a smart phone, I dont need it, but now that I have had it, I am not going back! Quote
tzframpton Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 Don't worry, I'm a big nerd myself. I always tell my wife, I have NO idea why she married me. Just doesn't add up. She's waaaay too hawt for me. Quote
BlackBox Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 It might pay off to be a nerd, but.... who wants to be a nerd? ... I rock out with my [nerd] out, all the time, Styk. Years ago... I was into gaming, fresh out of college, between military deployments... But my then girlfriend (soon to be wife, aka Future Mrs. RenderMan) shook me down with her naughty parts, and I ended up promptly selling my console to Babbages (a buy/sell game store). Been getting it in ever since. Some don't wanna drop that kind of cash to save a few seconds which is completely understandable. Wait... You have to buy your own hardware!? Guess that's one of the few benefits of working for an international company, I just submit a purchase order and hardware shows up at my office... For example, 'the company' just bought me a Logitech G13, G510, and G700. I also just put in a request for each CAD user to receive a new pair of 27" widescreen monitors. Quote
RobDraw Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 I tend to be more of an OOTB type of guy and avoid a lot of uneccessary customization. Not that I don't see the value in it but by not relying on it, I can go to just about any system and be almost as productive as I am on my home turf. Quote
tomhamlet Posted October 25, 2012 Author Posted October 25, 2012 Don't worry, I'm a big nerd myself. I always tell my wife, I have NO idea why she married me. Just doesn't add up. She's waaaay too hawt for me. I have that same discussion with my wife! RenderMan, My company does take care of us, but good luck to the 21 yr old trying to convince his supervisor he needs an (at the time) 100 dollar mouse when all the old guys around him think its a transformer. I happened to already own this mouse at home, I used it for gaming, so I brought it in. Just in time for them to come out with a new one and for me to have the perfect argument for my wife as to why i need it! Quote
Cad64 Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 Wait... You have to buy your own hardware!? Guess that's one of the few benefits of working for an international company, I just submit a purchase order and hardware shows up at my office... For example, 'the company' just bought me a Logitech G13, G510, and G700. I also just put in a request for each CAD user to receive a new pair of 27" widescreen monitors. Do you think they would notice if you slipped in a purchase order for a new 3DBoxx 7620 workstation and had it shipped to me??? Quote
BlackBox Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 Do you think they would notice if you slipped in a purchase order for a new 3DBoxx 7620 workstation and had it shipped to me??? Unfortunately, they would... While management is very liberal with allowing technology purchases (for the purposes of production), there's a not so small army of MBA holding bean counters that chase every penny... you know, 'cause otherwise... Quote
tomhamlet Posted October 25, 2012 Author Posted October 25, 2012 I tend to be more of an OOTB type of guy and avoid a lot of uneccessary customization. Not that I don't see the value in it but by not relying on it, I can go to just about any system and be almost as productive as I am on my home turf. I totally agree Rob. Using technology for shortcuts is great but it is important not to lean to much on them! That being said, I may have a problem! Quote
BlackBox Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 Rob... Are you holding out for cerebral input, so your J.P.-style office will finally be complete? Screenshot from Grandma's Boy; which seems fitting given the topic. Quote
Cad64 Posted October 25, 2012 Posted October 25, 2012 The gay robot? What the heck kind of movies are you watching Renderman? Quote
BlackBox Posted October 26, 2012 Posted October 26, 2012 The gay robot? What the heck kind of movies are you watching Renderman? You disappoint me Cad64 ... I cannot believe you've never seen Grandma's Boy (image is also linked): Quote
tzframpton Posted October 26, 2012 Posted October 26, 2012 Gosh I love that movie. I need to see if that's on Amazon.... forgot about that little gem. Quote
tomhamlet Posted October 26, 2012 Author Posted October 26, 2012 That is a great movie. The original gay robot sketches between Nick Swardson and Adam Sandler were halarious. Quote
Cad64 Posted October 26, 2012 Posted October 26, 2012 You disappoint me Cad64 ... I cannot believe you've never seen Grandma's Boy Nope. Never even heard of it until now. I'll have to check it out one of these days. Quote
tomhamlet Posted October 26, 2012 Author Posted October 26, 2012 I assume gay robot is great with CAD. Way better then J.P. Quote
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