Cura tutorial video shows confusing material option for UM2+

[jaknil 0]

In the

video on the Cura software frontpage it is show that you should select the material in Cura for an Ultimaker 2+. This will do nothing since for the UM2+ material needs to be set on the printer itself.

This must be confusing for new users who will try to tune their material settings in the Cura material library instead of on the machine?

Edited March 2, 2017 by Guest

[ahoeben 1,948]

No, the video is actually quite right.

It turns out that for better results, you need to change more settings in the slicing parameters than can be set on the printer. That is why for the UM2+ you set the material both in Cura and on the printer.

[jaknil 0]

No, the video is actually quite right.

It turns out that for better results, you need to change more settings in the slicing parameters than can be set on the printer. That is why for the UM2+ you set the material both in Cura and on the printer.

 

What settings are you saying change when you change the material in Cura for an UM2+?

"The Ultimaker 2 (Go/Extended) and Ultimaker 2+ (Extended) use UltiGCode. This means that the material settings are not in the gcode itself, but stored on the machine." https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/20982-custom-materials-ultimaker2-plus

[ahoeben 1,948]

Lots of them. For example when you print with CPE+, by default Cura selects a Raft for buildplate adhesion. It also prints with more overlap between the infill and the shell. PC prints support with Lines pattern and with a different support angle. These defaults are all because apparently the Ultimaker materials team has figured out this results in better prints, and they can't be simply inserted by the printer.

Ultigcode worked for the UM2, in a world where basically noone was printing with materials other than PLA and ABS, which don't require very different settings other than temperatures, retraction distances and fan settings so it did not matter how you sliced. Since the UM2 was created, the materials landscape has become more complex, and the Ultigcode "trick" does no longer suffice. As a result the UM2+ is a bit schizophrenic, with some of the parameters on the printer, and some in Cura.