Disappearing Mouse Pointer [SOLVED]
LosingSignal
Posts: 409
It seems that while moving around in Studio, if I accidentally hit both mouse buttons at the same time (or too soon after each other), this causes the mouse pointer to vanish. I know it's still active on the screen because I can blindly run over buttons and get them to light up and function, but the pointer itself is not there. The only solution I've found so far is to shut Studio down and restart it (Or be more careful with my mouse clicks, I suppose). Has anyone else encountered this and found a better solution?
Post edited by LosingSignal on
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Yes, I have had that problem since the 4.11+ betas but I thought it was because my Bamboo tablet had accidently got turned on but maybe that wasn't the case.
Yes, I have also had this same problem with a disappearing Mouse Pointer with the 4.11+ beta. I thought it might have something to do with having recently added a Bluetooth mouse to my PC. But maybe it is a bug in the beta. I had the same problem with the disappearing Mouse Pointer several DS versions ago but it went away with later versions.
you don't need to restart Studio just try to blindly navigate it to the viewport/camera selection tab and click there
I've had this problem occasionally in 4.10 also, and Wendy_Carrara's solution works here as well.
4.11 made keyboard and mouse in Win 8 freeze completely on one occasion though so I had to reset. AFAIR it was when I was clicking on something on the Scene tab (I think I clicked on two different things quickly after each other). I'm using Mouse Without Borders btw, it's possible that 4.11 may conflict with that in some ways.
If you go into control panel and go to devices find the "mouse" properties. In there click "show location of pointer when I press the CNTRL key".
I turned in a problem ticket on this exact problem several years ago. It was probably back in the version 3.x days.
Nice! Finally got the problem to show back up again (its been too inconsistant for me to give an accurate description for a support ticket), and I can confirm that the solution from @Wendy_Carrara works in 4.11 Beta. Thanks!
I just had the same problem with 4.11 official release. I have no idea what it was I did to cause it. The only way I can find to get rid of it is to blindly move the mouse to save my work and then exit Daz3d and restart it. Please devs, fix this, it has been around for years (since 2013).
As mentioned above "you don't need to restart Studio just try to blindly navigate it to the viewport/camera selection tab and click there".
Disappearing Mouse Pointer [SOLVED] ???
Where exactly has this been solved?
This problem, is a scourge and needs attention.
The mouse pointer disappearance while accessing a view control via one of the viewport modifier icons (e.g. the translate or rotate icon) can be avoided if you use a keyboard shortcut-equivalent (in my case, which may not be default/factory setting, the keys are as follows: CTRL+ALT, LMB to orbit/RMB to rotate; CTRL+SHIFT: LMB to pan/RMB to dolly). The combinations can be set from workspace customization under the "Windows" menu item, or by pressing F3 (at the bottom, under viewport shortcuts).
When I use the keyboard shortcuts instead of the viewport icons, the program behaves slightly differently: when one of the modes is activated by pressing/holding either combination of keyboard keys and LMB/RMB, if the other mouse button is then pressed while still in the previous mode, the program switches to the new mode that would result from the new keyboard/MB combination. More importantly, it appears that the bug in the software lies in this section of code -- because unlike with the viewport control icons, the pointer does return once view control mode is exited -- regardless of what (sequence of) mouse button(s) is pressed.
Also, you can switch from icons to shortcuts seamlessly; e.g. as long as the MB you're holding down and the keys you are pressing would enter the same view control mode as the one activated by the correspondingh MB-icon combination, you would stay in that mode (rather than exiting/re-entering, which might incur a given delay, depending on the display/rendering settings, complexity, etc.) but program behavior is now governed by behavior resulting from the shortcut-MB combo: unlike with viewport icon-induced modes, you can now transition directly into other modes by keeping the key combination pressed and then transitioning to the other MB (e.g. if previously holding LMB, press RMB, then let go of LMB). If you entered a view control mode via a corresponding viewport icon, then switch seamlessly to the same mode with shortcut keys (e.g. in my case, press LMB while on rotate icon, then while holding LMB press and hold ctrl+alt), the program behavior changes to allow for mode transitioning (by changing e.g. from LMB to RMB) and the mouse pointer now also reappears once you exit whatever mode you were in (by releasing the MB/keys).
Did that make any sense? In summary: to avoid losing the mouse pointer, use keyboard shortcuts with the mouse to control viewport views instead of the viewport icons.
Also, I didn't understand what was meant by fixing the problem by (blindly) clicking on one of the viewport tabs. That did not fix the mouse pointer problem for me. What did (does) was changing the viewport display mode (e.g. from textured/shaded to NVidia I
THANK YOU!!!!!
~W
I can't seem to make this work... Am I meant to click within the active viewpoint? That doesn't seem to do anything so I'm assuming not. Do you mean using a different layout that has multiple workspaces rather than the singular one in City Limits Lite.
This is the same bug I know of that has been happening for a long time. Controlling the viewpoint or camera via the 'View Controls' and clicking both mouse buttons, or by controling a slider (IE, properties) and pressing ESC.
I am still only able to get my cursor back by closing and reoppening DAZ (and whatever file I was working on)
Try to find one of the controls in the Viewport like the View Selection dropdown (I think the others work too but this one does for sure) with the invisible cursor and then click - the controls will light up when you hower the cursor over them so you can see where it is. That will make the cursor visible again.
viewport/camera selection
For a variety of reasons, this is the most helpful thing I've read so far this year, maybe even last year too. Thank you very much indeed
Not helpful. This does not work. But thanks anyway.
FOr me, I blindly navigate to the hamburger menu next to the drop down which WendyLuvsCatz pointed out. This works for me, but it was a LOT of trial and error to figure that out.
The solution has been posted in this thread already.
I can confirm that I was having this same issue when I would accidentally hit both mouse buttons at the same time. Having to restart Daz every time this happened was really annoying to say the least. To fix it follow the below steps:
1) Press 'win' + 'r' keys or right click the windows start button and choose 'run'
2) Type 'control panel' and hit enter
3) In the top right of the control panel window you'll see 'View By:', click this and select 'small icons'.
4) Find 'Mouse' and click on it which will bring up the mouse settings window.
5) On the mouse settings window choose the 'Pointer Options' tab along the top.
6) At the bottom you'll see 'Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key'. Tick this box and hit apply.
Problem solved. Thank you to user 'Show not tell' for posting the original solution.
As someone pointed out earlier, this is not a solution. This is only a workaround. Similarly, if your car's gas pedal gets stuck and you're flying uncontrolled down the highway, then reaching down and manually pulling it back up is not a solution. Just a workaround.
Maybe so, but given that: a) the issue has existed continuously since 3.x; b) DAZ has known of the issue since 3.x; and c) the workaround has been known since 3.x+1; it's highly unlikely that DAZ is going to waste time and resources chasing a solution to an issue for which there exists a effective, trivial-to-implement, fix, the workaround is, for all intents and purposes, their de facto solution.
That's probably true. It seems that that is a predominant mindset these days. Why do things right when a little chewing gum and string works for the moment.
I think some of the problems in DS is caused by 3rd party libraries which they have no control over. I'm also having problems in some of the programs I write because of that (and asking MS to fix their library bugs is often hopeless).
Longing for the days when the only library bugs were bookworms, or parchment rot.
I couldn't agree more! This never happened on my Mac and now happens in windows all the time. It's incredibly frustrating. This so-called-solltion is not in any way a 'solution'. It's really awkward and I hate it. I prefer switching quickly between apps. Ultimately though it's too much of a hindrance and I just save and restart.
My 2c,
Where to start troubleshooting - What mouse and which drivers?
Over the years, windows has had problems with any/all non-MS non-basic mouse drivers.
There is a similar thread (in the DAZ Studio forum AFAIR) where someone explained what the problem is and how to fix the code in DS, but whether DAZ has seen it I don't know.
Well, that is a wild stab, I can debunk that immediately. It isn't helpful to anyone to send them off on wild goose chases when you have 0 evidence for the assumption. My partner always blames whatever the dog sicks up on what made it sick. It doesn't matter that the dogs been eating that for years with no problems. A scientific mind starts with evidence. Without evidence one looks like a man with knuckle bones in a bag.
Just 30+ years of experience with computers and the countless times the problems went away when a basic mouse that used standard MS drivers was installed.
@AbnerK It's called inductive reasoning. Iron-clad deductive syllogisms are rare in the real world, outside of books on formal logic. By your definition of a "scientific mind" one would never be able to reason about future events because there's not yet any evidence for them. You do think the Sun is going to rise tomorrow morning, don't you? Why? There's no evidence for it, is there?
It was far from a wild stab. It was an educated guess and starting from the fundamentals of "OK, what is the first thing that determines where the mouse pointer is?" i.e. the driver, is not a bad practice. Your beef should be with your partner, not @PertiiA.