3Dconnexion Adds Blender Support With New Beta Plugins

Logitech subsidiary 3DConnexion has announced the public beta release of new plugins designed to allow the company's line of 3D navigation devices to work with Blender, a free, open-source tool for 3D modeling and animation. Available now for download, the new plugins include support for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux versions of Blender. Using the plugins, Blender artists and designers can use 3DConnexion's line of peripherals, including the recently released SpaceNavigator 3D mouse “for a better design experience when animating, rendering, modeling, texturing, and creating interactive 3D applications, including game creation,” according to a statement. 3Dconnexion’s devices are used as companions to the mouse and keyboard and are held in the alternate hand to simultaneously pan, zoom and rotate camera views as well as 3D objects. The 3Dconnexion product line also supports more than 100 other popular applications such as Google Earth, Adobe Acrobat 3D, and Autodesk Maya. “The Blender community will benefit from using the SpaceNavigator with Blender’s free and open-source 3D creation suite,” said Ziva Nissan, 3Dconnexion’s director of product marketing. “3Dconnexion’s devices not only simplify 3D navigation and control, but add an element of fun for designers and animators alike, enhancing the overall Blender experience.”