topic Re: magic trackpad in Installation & update

magic trackpad

Stephen Dolbee — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:56:57 GMT

Apple just announced the release of the Magic Trackpad. I have always thought the mouse worked better than a trackpad could, but I have never done CAD work on a laptop. Does anyone think this is a viable alternative? What are the pros and cons now that it is available for the desktop?

Re: magic trackpad

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:11:26 GMT

no easy middle click (must use key combo as well) makes me not so sure it'd work as well as a mouse...I'm still waiting for the big screen drawing board, and for the record I wouldn't mind putting my hands on that...(literally!!)

Re: magic trackpad

vistasp — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:56:42 GMT

Stephen wrote:
Apple just announced the release of the Magic Trackpad.

And Wacom have come up with the Bamboo Touch. Let's see how this thing pans out. There's a comparison at the bottom of this article.

Re: magic trackpad

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:41:43 GMT

I want one!

Do you think a pinch to zoom setup would also work if implemented with AC?

Re: magic trackpad

vistasp — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:05:17 GMT

No clue how well either of these gizmos would work for AC. Let someone else try them and report. 😉

I'm just breaking the bank on a new i7 system and, in any case, I'd wait until such devices mature a bit instead of being a guinea pig. Have the Wacom Bamboo Pen (mostly for fooling around with photo/art) - and I love it!

Re: magic trackpad

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:35:04 GMT

ok i've dived in & bought one, so will report back on monday! as for the i7 they are fantastic!

Re: magic trackpad

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 22:25:02 GMT

ok i've been using it for a couple of hours now & have actually put my mouse away. The gestures are great for switching between apps etc.

it would be great if a patch was released for AC allowing the pinch to zoom to work!

Re: magic trackpad

Stephen Dolbee — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:35:43 GMT

How do you pan and zoom?

Re: magic trackpad

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:48:56 GMT

Stephen wrote:
How do you pan and zoom?

as i've been using their magic mouse for a while, i'm slightly more use to it. eg i have space bar set up for pan, & you use two fingers for scrolling (zoom),

i'm not sure if i'm completely sold on it yet, it's great for everything else, but with CAD type apps, the rest of the gestures really need to be integrated...

Re: magic trackpad

Greg Kmethy — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:03:50 GMT

We are still waiting for our Magic Trackpad to arrive, so I could not test it, but ArchiCAD 14 users be aware that ArchiCAD 14 supports zoom and pan on the Macbook's trackpad:
- 2-finger scroll is zoom
- ALT+2-finger scroll is for pan

Same stands for the Magic Mouse, but with one finger.

You can switch zoom and pan in the Work Environment/Mouse Constraint panel ("Use wheel for an and alt+wheel for zoom", or "Use wheel for zoom and alt+wheel for pan")

Re: magic trackpad

David Maudlin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:05:09 GMT

gkmethy wrote:
...
but ArchiCAD 14 users be aware that ArchiCAD 14 supports zoom and pan on the Macbook's trackpad:
- 2-finger scroll is zoom
- ALT+2-finger scroll is for pan
...

To get the Pan to work, I had to go into System Preferences > Trackpad > Two Fingers, click on the Screen Zoom Options... button and disable Zoom while holding (otherwise the entire ArchiCAD application zoomed in, pushing the Info Box, Navigator, etc. off screen). I had known about the zoom, but not the pan, very cool. [and that is Option on the Mac, not Alt ]

HTH

David

Re: magic trackpad

Greg Kmethy — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:12:39 GMT

David wrote:
[and that is Option on the Mac, not Alt ]

Mine says alt !

For some strange reason Hungarian Mac keyboards do not even have 'option' written on them, just alt. US keyboards say both alt and option.

Re: magic trackpad

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:35:45 GMT

ok good news about the pan. thanks!

Re: magic trackpad

Erika Epstein — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 03:37:14 GMT

gkmethy wrote:
David wrote:
[and that is Option on the Mac, not Alt ]
Mine says alt !

For some strange reason Hungarian Mac keyboards do not even have 'option' written on them, just alt. US keyboards say both alt and option.

Re: magic trackpad

Aaron Bourgoin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:52:52 GMT

Hungarian is a difficult language and there may have been a translation issue.

"Option" may mean something ambiguous or unintended when the word "option" is translated from Hungarian to English.

As an example, you are all well aware, I'm sure, the the word "Custom" derives from the Hungarian. Its a word that means "incomplete or unresolved thought"

🙂

Re: magic trackpad

Anonymous — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 13:35:31 GMT

Hungarian is difficult?

What about English. Custom can mean either: unique OR ordinary.
As in:
Its a custom motorcycle.
It's our custom to do it that way.

Snap = fast, broken, easy, a change in weather, closure, aggressive ...

Re: magic trackpad

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 21:11:37 GMT

sdb wrote:
eg i have space bar set up for pan, & you use two fingers for scrolling (zoom)

how do you set up Spacebar to Pan? That would be very useful... Can it be done on 13 also?

EDIT: found it - just viewed the shortcuts in alphabetical order

bus some kind of "tripple click + drag" for middle button Pan would be better. perhaps with bettertouch tool or jitouch...

Re: magic trackpad

Stephen Dolbee — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:40:22 GMT

I wonder if the coming of Lion on the mac will make the trackpad more appealing for users with AC15-increased gesture control. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Re: magic trackpad

aahatimo — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:34:48 GMT

how about magic numpad?
http://www.cultofmac.com/cool-sticker-turns-your-magic-trackpad-into-a-magic-numpad/111507
looks like there are ways to program other info into trackpad.

Re: magic trackpad

stefan — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:21:38 GMT

gkmethy wrote:
We are still waiting for our Magic Trackpad to arrive, so I could not test it, but ArchiCAD 14 users be aware that ArchiCAD 14 supports zoom and pan on the Macbook's trackpad:
- 2-finger scroll is zoom
- ALT+2-finger scroll is for pan

Same stands for the Magic Mouse, but with one finger.

You can switch zoom and pan in the Work Environment/Mouse Constraint panel ("Use wheel for an and alt+wheel for zoom", or "Use wheel for zoom and alt+wheel for pan")

The panning (ALT + 2 Fingers) works fine in 2D but does not react in 3D... Is that the intention?

Zooming works reasonably fine in 2D and 3D. In fact, 2-finger zooming is much more fluent than with the Magic Mouse (the one with a tail). Since everytime you click the button on this mouse, it also starts scrolling a tiny bit... I love the idea of the Magic Mouse (two-way scrolling and side-button), but the scrolling button gets dirty and does not react that well in most 3D programs.