It Pays To Be a Nerd: Using Gaming Devices For AutoCAD

[tomhamlet]

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!

[genmech]

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.

[StykFacE]

It might pay off to be a nerd, but.... who wants to be a nerd?

[RobDraw]

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.

Right Click.png

[tomhamlet]

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!

[StykFacE]

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.

[BlackBox]

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.

[RobDraw]

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.

[tomhamlet]

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!

[Cad64]

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???