SpaceMouse - poor input performance (SU '22)

Have you tried removing the 3DXware software according to the instructions on the 3d Connexioon site and installing as the directions indicate? I always right click and choose “run as administrator”.

I would suggest disabling rendering features that are “view dependent” - that is the amount of work that has to be performed by SketchUp depends on what viewpoint you have. Examples are:

  • Silhouettes
  • Realtime shadows

Yeah, I’ve tried installing in numerous ways. Admin, unzipping the package and only installing the SU .exe, etc. All the same result. It works fine in Enscape. Something’s up with SU’s performance.

If that is the case, something might wrong with your setup. If you are in the US try calling 3d Connexion. They have a 1-800 number on the website, and will try to get you fixed up.

Yes, the performance of the SpaceMouse is worst with recent Sketchup versions and big models, especially when you have certain tools activated, like the move tool.

This is maybe why this issue doesn’t happen when orbiting with the mouse, because in this case Sketchup switches to the orbit tool, which doesn’t look for inferences and isn’t trying to do anything else while orbiting (and it might be optimized for moving within the model).

I recently upgraded my computer from an old i7-2600K to an i7-12700K (with the same RTX 2070 GPU), and the much faster CPU (especially its single core performance) does make a big improvement within Sketchup. But if I have the move tool over some object while using the space mouse, it still studders a bit.

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Thank you for confirming this behavior. It does feel like the SpaceMouse fights for priority or something within SketchUp.Particularly when things slow down. My models are not overly complex, just large. And I’ve definitely noticed a decrease in performance over the past 1-2 releases in regards to camera FPS.

I tested by turning off my mouse but didn’t see any improvement.

I wonder if there is a way to watch a log file and see what’s happening live? It really feels like there is a process getting “stuck” or something- as I linked earlier.

having performance issues right now. Yeah, feels like SU/Spacemouse combo can’t handle large model orbiting, becoming frustrated, just oppened a support ticket in 3dconnexion’s website.

Do you have the same orbiting issues using a standard three-button mouse? Your profile indicates you have an integrated GPU. Maybe the GPU is just choking on your large model.

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Oh yeah, get a better than “Nothing fancy”, and/or switch off Edge profiles.

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I ran into this same problem just today, after reading this thread out of sheer curiosity.

My 3dmouse suddenly became super slow, while ordinary sketchup orbiting and panning was full speed with mouse+keyboard.

I finally realized I had turned on hidden geometry. While that was on: slowwww orbiting. As soon as I turned it back off, the model was back to normal movements with the 3d mouse.

The model is a complex house with 4 sets of cad elevations and 12(!) sets of floor-plans visible at the time, so there was plenty of line-work to get in the way.

I hope this helps!
Cheers,
Brett.

3D Connexion replied:

  • Does this issue occur in other applications?
  • Does it occur in the 3Dconnexion Viewer? The 3Dconnexion Viewer is installed with the software. You can find it by searching for 3Dconnexion Viewer on your system or open the 3Dconnexion Home Application to find the shortcut. This is a 3D File viewer. It will help in the troubleshooting process.
  • Are you connected directly to the computer or using a Dock or HUB?
  • Are you using the device on a local machine or are you connecting to a remote system?
  • Are you using a VM software (i.e. VMWare, Parallels or VM VirtualBox)
  • Would it be possible to send a short video of the issue occurring? It can be captured with a phone.
  • Also, if you could please send me a screenshot of the firmware version of the device while it is plugged in via cable.

So did some videos, here’s the problem:https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMlnqMbr_MUO2hn1utN499uYS61rsRKgyz9dvrTrTWJZjriY_3Z1t0IKHhX_f-zUw/photo/AF1QipMWM8XVNjo-dzOCNvfbQJ7z1D7_2LbJxhZ1DYRR?key=U1diUEJVdEwya2pCSTR2Y3duV0d0MVZvRTQyMjZR

And found out that, somehow, after unhiding the floor plan, the problem goes away, wtf: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMlnqMbr_MUO2hn1utN499uYS61rsRKgyz9dvrTrTWJZjriY_3Z1t0IKHhX_f-zUw/photo/AF1QipMk1CEpqoq2sKUDJnJn6P_MXykI5lIQDw75iSgd?key=U1diUEJVdEwya2pCSTR2Y3duV0d0MVZvRTQyMjZR

So Im having the same issue with another model, about the same size, with no floor plan available this time, and yeah, same issues, so 3Dconnexion replied again:

Did the test, copied the file, same behavior. Sending diagnostics to them now.

How about sharing your .skp file so we can see what you are working with?

You never responded to my question about trying a standard three-button mouse. Or my comment about the possibility of your ho-hum integrated GPU struggling with your large file.

Hey Dave, sure, here’s one of the skps giving me navigating issues while using the 3D Mouse.
SU-Model-Dan.skp (4.2 MB)

Everything works perfect when using mouse/keyboard to navigate.

Updated my profile, im using a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU.

Thanks for updating your profile. That information is useful in helping you out and when it’s incorrect it leads us down the wrong path.

Have you updated the graphics drivers recently? Are the graphics drivers updated for Windows 11?

Try this version of your file. Does it behave any differently?
SU-Model-Dan.skp (4.2 MB)

BTW, I fixed the incorrect tag usage from your imported CAD file.
Screenshot - 11_11_2022 , 9_17_15 AM

Dave, that file you sent runs smoothly with the 3DMouse. But, the original file was running smoothly using the Keyboard/Mouse, so, does this mean I have to be extra careful with what exactly on my next models? what did you do?

And yeah, an update was needed, so went ahead and did that. The driver that shipped in with the Win11 laptop, was a Win10 driver, go figure.
image

What do you mean incorrect tag usage? I know tags are messy when importing from CAD files, but does that affects performance also?

Thanks a lot.

Good.

I edited the style to turn off the Profile edges. Profile edges require extra work from the graphics card. Turning them off eases that. The fact that without Profiles the model behaves more smoothly implies that it’s a GPU-related thing.

Did you try running your original file after updating the drivers and restarting your computer? Have you checked to see that it’s really the Nvidia card being used to display SketchUp?

All edges and faces should be untagged. Only groups and components should be given tags. It’s not likely that the incorrect tagging would impact performance on its own but it can greate other problems. Especially when you start using the incorrectly tagged edges to create faces in the model.

As a habit I always check models I get from others for tagged geometry and I purged unused stuff from the files. In your model there were only unused tags after fixing the tag usage but many times there’s a lot of unused components, materials, and styles. These bloat the file and can cause performance issues.

Yup, basically turning off the profile edges resolves all the issues. I notice that using mouse/keyboard with the profile edges on has the same effect, meaning the navigation is choppy, but I guess it was so fast i was not aware of it, it was too obvious with the 3d SpaceMouse because the way it navigates, and it seemed slow-mo.

After update and restart I did try the original file and also tired activating profile edges on the file you sent. Same issues, choppy but fast on mouse/keyboard, slow-mo on 3D SpaceMouse.

I’m trying to check if the Nvidia card is being used to displa SketchUp, is this it?
image

What steps did you take to clean tags in this file? Trying to recreate, thanks!

So not really a problem with your SpaceMouse. It might not hurt to contact their customer support and let them know.

It looks like it.

I used a plugin call Default Layer Geometry by TIG and available from Sketchucation.

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Exactly, just did that, and sent them a link to this thread.

Thanks for all your help Dave!

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