Peripheral Devices

This section covers the following supported peripheral devices:

Dial box - an alternative to the mouse for Views functions
Spaceball - an alternative to the mouse for Views functions
Space mouse - made by Logitech, it can be used to control Views functions or issue animation time slider commands
Plotter setup - how to use two translation programs, called filters, to output either PostScript or HP/GL plots.
Printer setup - SGI Impressario printer support.

Dial Box

Overview

The Dial Box is an alternative to the mouse for Views functions.

The Dial Box allows you to use the Views functions without interrupting the current function and without having to move the mouse from the current position to another pop-up menu.

Using the Dial Box

The dials work in a similar way to the current dolly and track icons that appear in each window. The Dial Box has eight dials with one function for view manipulation assigned to each dial. The input from the dials is interpreted according to your left/right turning movements. These functions can be used at any time. Like zoom, track, and tumble icons, they are accessible even inside other functions.

The following illustration shows the dials numbered from one to eight:

All modeling and SBD windows accept input from the dial box.

To undo a change made with the Dial Box view controls, select Cameras Reset view.

The dials on the Dial Box perform the following functions:

Dial 1 View Track Horizontal Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Track feature where the mouse is moved left and right while holding down the middle button. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise to track the active view to the left and clockwise to track the active view to the right.

Dial 2 View Track Vertical Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Track feature where the mouse is moved up and down while holding the right button pressed. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise to track the active view to the bottom, and clockwise to track the active view to the top.

Dial 3 View Tumble About the World Up Axis Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Tumble feature where the mouse is moved left and right while holding the middle button pressed. The tumble function only works in the perspective window, so using this dial automatically changes the current window to a perspective window. If there is more than one perspective window, the one with the highest priority is chosen (priority 2 is higher than priority 3). If the perspective windows have the same priority, the most-recently current perspective window is chosen. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise to revolve the camera clockwise about the Z axis, and clockwise to revolve the camera counter-clockwise about the Z axis (in the Z-up coordinate system). If you are working in the Y-up coordinate system, rotation is about the Y axis.

Dial 4 View Tumble Vertical Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Tumble feature where the mouse is moved up and down while holding the right button pressed. The tumble function only works in a perspective window, so using this dial automatically changes the current window to a perspective window. For more than one perspective window, see Dial 3 above. Rotate the dial to revolve the camera vertically.

Dial 5 Dolly View In Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Dolly feature. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise rotation to dolly the active view out, and clockwise to dolly the active view in.

Dial 6 View Twist Similar to the Cameras Local Move camera Twist feature. The twist function only works in a perspective window, so using this dial automatically changes the current window to a perspective window. For more than one perspective window, see Dial 3 above. Rotate the dial clockwise to rotate the camera clockwise, and counter-clockwise to rotate the camera counter-clockwise.

Dial 7 Anisotropic View Scale Horizontal Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Dolly - feature, with Scaling set to NON PROPORTIONAL, where the mouse is moved left and right while holding down the middle button. This operation only works in an orthographic window view. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise to decrease the view scale along the horizontal axis in the active view, and clockwise to increase the view scale along the horizontal axis in the active view.

Dial 8 Anisotropic View Scale Vertical Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Dolly - feature, with Scaling set to NON PROPORTIONAL, where the mouse is moved up and down while holding the right button pressed. This operation only works in an orthographic window view. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise to decrease the view scale along the vertical axis in the active view, and clockwise to increase the view scale along the vertical axis in the active view.

Dial 1 View Track Horizontal	Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Track feature where the mouse is moved left and right while holding down the middle button. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise to track the active view to the left and clockwise to track the active view to the right.
Dial 2 View Track Vertical	Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Track feature where the mouse is moved up and down while holding the right button pressed. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise to track the active view to the bottom, and clockwise to track the active view to the top.
Dial 3 View Tumble About the World Up Axis	Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Tumble feature where the mouse is moved left and right while holding the middle button pressed. The tumble function only works in the perspective window, so using this dial automatically changes the current window to a perspective window. If there is more than one perspective window, the one with the highest priority is chosen (priority 2 is higher than priority 3). If the perspective windows have the same priority, the most-recently current perspective window is chosen. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise to revolve the camera clockwise about the Z axis, and clockwise to revolve the camera counter-clockwise about the Z axis (in the Z-up coordinate system). If you are working in the Y-up coordinate system, rotation is about the Y axis.
Dial 4 View Tumble Vertical	Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Tumble feature where the mouse is moved up and down while holding the right button pressed. The tumble function only works in a perspective window, so using this dial automatically changes the current window to a perspective window. For more than one perspective window, see Dial 3 above. Rotate the dial to revolve the camera vertically.
Dial 5 Dolly View In	Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Dolly feature. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise rotation to dolly the active view out, and clockwise to dolly the active view in.
Dial 6 View Twist	Similar to the Cameras Local Move camera Twist feature. The twist function only works in a perspective window, so using this dial automatically changes the current window to a perspective window. For more than one perspective window, see Dial 3 above. Rotate the dial clockwise to rotate the camera clockwise, and counter-clockwise to rotate the camera counter-clockwise.
Dial 7 Anisotropic View Scale Horizontal	Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Dolly - feature, with Scaling set to NON PROPORTIONAL, where the mouse is moved left and right while holding down the middle button. This operation only works in an orthographic window view. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise to decrease the view scale along the horizontal axis in the active view, and clockwise to increase the view scale along the horizontal axis in the active view.
Dial 8 Anisotropic View Scale Vertical	Similar to the Cameras World Move camera Dolly - feature, with Scaling set to NON PROPORTIONAL, where the mouse is moved up and down while holding the right button pressed. This operation only works in an orthographic window view. Rotate the dial counter-clockwise to decrease the view scale along the vertical axis in the active view, and clockwise to increase the view scale along the vertical axis in the active view.

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