[Z-Axis skips]

Thanks! Setting the z-axis current in the ultimaker settings from 1300 mA down to 900 mA totally worked for me

[3D Object Auto-Rotate PlugIn for Cura 15.04 & 2.3]

Finally, the technical white-paper is out: researchgate.net/Tweaker

It provides background informations, the functional declaration and benchmarks + comparisons with StrataSys's Catalyst

[3D Object Auto-Rotate PlugIn for Cura 15.04 & 2.3]

I fixed some further performance issues.

Now, the Tweaker rotates about 300000 facets per second (in cmd line).

Happy printing

[STL-Tweaker: The Open-Source auto-rotate module.]

The latest and really fast Tweaker 3 is now available. Check it out on UltimakerBlog or Github.

There are also Plugins for Cura

[3D Object Auto-Rotate PlugIn for Cura 15.04 & 2.3]

Hi,

I'm the author of the Tweaker, an open-source Auto-Rotate module for 3D Objects in FDM Printing, which I've posted here some time ago. However, the latest version of the Tweaker has such an improved performance, along with a plugin for both Cura 15.04 and 2.3, that I want to repost it.

The Tweaker finds an optimal orientation for 3D printing, even for complex objects.

This object's optimal orientation was found in only 0.10 seconds in command line. This is an enourmous improvement compared to the previous version and it is now very smooth to use it directly in the GUI.

How to get the plugin:

• For Cura-Users 2.3: Download the CuraOrientationPlugin and move the folder into the Cura's plugin directory. Thanks to Nallath for building the Plugin around the Tweaker.
  
• For Cura-Users 15.04: You can replace the Cura's layflat function by the Auto-rotate function. Download MeshTweaker.py and the modified printableObject.py and move it into Cura's plugin directory.
  

Have fun with it!

Chris

[Automatic orientation plugin]

I'm glad you like it! I'm still about to improve the algorithm, so if you have troubles or have found insufficient results, please let me know!

[STL-Tweaker: The Open-Source auto-rotate module.]

An updated version of the Tweaker is now available. The improvements in a nutshell:

Link to the 3d print orientation tool

 

• bi-algorithmic mode: Two different algorithms complement each other
  
• simpler to apply, both in command line and IDE
  
• command line parser for presetting tweaking mode
  
• significant improvements for objects without plain surfaces
  

 

[STL-Tweaker: The Open-Source auto-rotate module.]

 

Update 03.09.2016:

The Tweaker's performance has been improved significantly. It tweakes now more than 5 times faster and is written more modular.

In addition to that, you don't have to install any packages necessarily, you can simply convert your STL-object to an ascii-STL and start tweaking!

[STL-Tweaker: The Open-Source auto-rotate module.]

To put it in a nutshell, the STL-Tweaker uses the mesh format for the calculations.

The function >tweak< manages the internal workflow, while the other functions are callable form external python code.

Notice the function >arrange<: This one reads the facetts of the mesh format and puts each facett into a 4x3Matrix (Normal vector plus 3 vertices)

If you need more infos, feel free to ask!

[STL-Tweaker: The Open-Source auto-rotate module.]

It could use a bit more documentation in the functions. I'm willing to give it a go to make this into a plugin, but I will need to do a bunch of re-factoring to get it to work (eg; I don't want the plugin to load a file, I want it to use an already loaded file (so it can work for all Cura supported file types)

 

I'm glad you like the STL-Tweaker. I will publish a extended version of the Tweaker in the next days, which supports also the 3mf format. In this version, the internal work process is clearer.

If you wish, I'll send you a preliminary STL+3mf Tweaker-version (it works just in Linux right now)

[STL-Tweaker: The Open-Source auto-rotate module.]

It says on the page that there are instructions for adding it to cura, but I can't find any?

 

Well, there are informations for software developers to use the Tweaker as a module.

Currently, there is no plug-In available.

[STL-Tweaker: The Open-Source auto-rotate module.]

Hi makers & designers!

I'm working on a project to fully integrate 3D-Printing into the manufacturing process. However, this tasks requires a reliable auto-rotate module which positions the object files on the build plate in their optimal orientation.

So I wrote the STL-Tweaker, available as open-source from Github.

This 3D object positioning tool, written in python, is also intended as module for Cura. So feel free to integrate the STL-Tweaker into Cura, your own Software or invoke it from the command line.

A prototype with its tweaked clone, tweak your objects

Check out the STL-Tweakers Blogpost for detailed informations and the direct comparison between the STL-Tweaker and the StrataSys' CatalystEX auto-rotate function. You will be amazed!

I'm glad to hear about your applications!

Chris