I’m going to be the oddball here and state that I use the ever popular wired Spacemouse (an ex-coworker gifted it to me years ago)as well as the Elecom EX-G Ballmouse. Space is at a premium, both at home and in the office so the ballmouse fits the bill rather well. I’ve been using it for a great many years, but didn’t start off that way. Of all people, my father got me interested in one and I never looked back. moving the cursor around is much much quicker than using a traditional mouse. it has 5 programmable buttons, two DPI settings and the tracking of the ball is smooth as butter.
From a functionality point, you could certainly get something that would do the same as it. I got it in a package deal on NewEgg.com where I got both the CAD and Spacemouse, primarily for the latter.
An option for shortcuts is a Android tablet (the one pictured was $40) and an app from Matric (matricapp.com) I think I paid $20 something for a lifetime subscription. You can have infinite screens and many functions I would never use for Sketchup. I think you could even create a custom pen/tablet. Its easy to create a layout with one touch shortcuts. Ive tried programable mouse keypads ect none did what I wanted. This works pretty good. You could create Sketchup Icons if you really had to have them. I just need to know where the button is and it saves three key shortcuts. I made a numeric keypad to have it on my left hand so I seldom have to let go of the mouse. Switching between “Decks” takes seconds so one for Sketchup, Layout or rendering (Vray) is seamless.
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I’m an Architect, and I use SketchUp for everything - design, presentations and working drawings. I have found the combination of a Logitech MX Master3S (wireless mouse, bit pricey, but Logitech builds are usually both easy to use and reliable) and Logitech MX Master key board (wireless - I’ve gotten tired of the cable games) to be fast, reliable and flexible.
The mouse is very programmable via the Logi Option+ software (free download with purchase (has lots of pre made options for a very wide variety of different programs Including SketchUp’s keyboard shortcuts).
I also use a Space Mouse wireless for zooming about in Sketchup, but it does take some serious getting used to.
I admit to having to space out time between purchases. Budget and that sort of consideration. And I envy your typing speed & accuracy!
Exactly as the user above. Spacemouse left hand MX Master right hand.
I use a fifteen year old completely basic Spacemouse (The cheapest) I cant imagine how I lived without it!
Now’s the odd bit. The simple compact Spacemouse has a pushbutton on each side. I am a clumsy keyboard phobic so in place of shortcut keys I use the two buttons on the Spacemouse to provide pop up onscreen radial menus directly under my cursor which I can simply click to choose the main functions that would otherwise be assigned to keys. It’s fast, instinctive and dead easy. The onscreen radial menus are a part of the standard software that comes with the Spacemouse.
For my setup, I use a Logitech G502 mouse which is nicely weighted, however, I use the Razer Tartarus Pro (in the bottom left of the photo) for all shortcuts. It’s AMAZING. Mapped all the hotkeys in Sketch-Up and Layout as well as in Adobe products. Feels great.
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I have to chuckle reading all of this. It would be easy for me to go down the rabbit hole of cool devices, but I’m so used to what I’ve always used, and guess I’m stuck with that. Both my keyboard and mouse are discontinued long ago. For keyboard, I use a PC Concepts Win95 keyboard! When I need a replacement, I can usually find one on eBay, often new in box. What I love about it is a) it’s ergonomic, and b) in the split between keys are the tab and backspace keys. So much more useful than the legacy typewriter location of those keys, and probably better for avoiding carpal tunnel syndrome. Every once in a while I search to see if anyone else makes an ergonomic keyboard with tab and bs in this location, or even programmable keys, but nobody does. For mouse, I much prefer a trackball, and I use the Logitech T-RB22. Again, discontinued, but on eBay, they can fetch hundreds, as buyers rue that they ever discontinued it. Do love my 42" and 30" monitors though!
Does the Tartarus thumbstick work (e.g., rotation or pan) in the SU model space?
I’ve had two CAD Mouses/mice - very good to use but both expired just out of warranty. For the money, the reliability wasn’t good enough. They are also quite large, although comfortable to use.
I moved to a cheap Amazon deal Logitech MX Master. It must be over 5 years old, works great with Bluetooth & the wireless USB dongle and the software is application programmable, although not to the extent of the CAD mouse.
I also tried a Space Navigator- great quality in comparison with the CAD mouse. I found I had to use it regulary to build in some muscle memory, but most of my time was 2D CAD, where the puck wasn’t so useful. In SketchUP, I was always torn between having my hand on the puck or my keyboard for pressing hot keys. You also need a decent sized desk for the additional space required.
I’ve never had a decent keyboard for some reason, so the other comments are interesting to read.
If you’re talking about views, you can map it to it, but honestly, I prefer to use my mouse. However, I use the thumbstick on the Tartarus for switching the axis direction for flip/rotation/angles/guides etc. Very handy.
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I just got a G502 to replace a wireless logitech that the scroll wheel wasn’t working as it should. 2 days into it and while comfortable, works great on internet and surfing, but in Sketchup it seems really touchy. Hope I get used to it. Time will tell.
Maybe you can adjust it in the Logitech software…
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there is a buttom behind the wheel that changes from hyper scroll to regular scroll. found it after reviewing online manual at Logitech