I don’t know why attempting to move your model by jabbing a dead mole into your screen doesn’t work, but you’ll be interested to know about Maide control while you work out the details. When Maide first debuted, it was only avaialable for SketchUp and Rhino 4. Two months later and that has completely changed. Maide now support five additional 3D software packages and an array of versions among them.
Maide Control
Least you forget, this wee 3D iPad app is more than just about moving models around. It’s also capable of allowing multiple connections for group viewing/collaboration as well as helping you access commands for modeling. Here you’ll see the viewing functionality demonstrated in Maya, 3ds Max and Rhino along with a preview of the gyro-based motion control with the iPhone app.
If you download/update to the latest server, you should automatically get the full feature and beta plug-ins. Tell us if you catch any bugs we didn’t see, and let us know what you think. Also, stay posted for new updates on the ui. We’ll be posting some design updates soon for both the iPad and the iPhone.
Here are the supported apps so far:
3ds Max 2010
3ds Max 2011
3ds Max 2012
Maya 2010
Maya 2011
Maya 2012
Maya for Mac (all versions)
Rhino 4
Rhino 5
Rhino 5 for Mac Beta
SketchUp 7
SketchUp 7 for Mac
SketchUp 8
SketchUp 8 for Mac
SolidWorks 2011 Beta (no command menu)
Maide Control SolidWorks plugin
I have tried out the SolidWorks plugin in SolidWorks 2012 (which isn’t supported yet) and while zooming and panning about was a bit clunky, you definitely get the sense of the usability. Adding the command menu and gestures will only make this better. Honestly, with the motion you’re capable of, you don’t feel the need to push or pull on a physical object to move your model around. And that right there, has big implication for makers of 3D Mouse hardware.
You can grab the updated Maide Connect plugin at Maideinc.com.
*UPDATE*
Oleg has written over at the Maide blog about their direction for the future. It’s an interesting read taht shows the new on-screen Ring menu and how it’s used. Video below…
Via Maide
