Beta testing Cura 2.5 | Closed.

[SandervG 1,519]

Hi,

We have exciting news to share! Cura 2.5 Beta is here

Just like always, we put in a lot of hard work to make your 3D print experience even better. And now we would like to know what you think of it.

After all, it is because of you why we do the things we do. And your feedback makes our software even better.

Previously, we have done some closed Beta-testing using a tool called Asana and a smaller group of testers. But we never really felt comfortable in this routine. We feel we could do a better job collecting feedback and involving more testers via our forums. So I am really excited to see how it will go! If there is anything I have learned, it is that you guys are not shy of providing feedback. So I have high hopes!

Testing would become a lot easier if you had an idea what to test. Besides the default features of course.

What to expect.

My personal favorites are, more speed, auto-scale off by default and a pretty fancy new layer view for computers that support OpenGL 4.1. For a full list of changes, here is the changelog.

And another interesting discovery can be made! When selecting your print cores, to your surprise you may find some new print cores: 0.8 print cores! They are not out yet, but have made their way into Cura 2.5 Beta.

When selecting two AA 0.8 print cores, you get to choose between 3 profiles.

- Draft print

- Very draft print

- Super draft print

I got the confirmation that these names were generated 'on purpose', so someone would come up with a better name. Or perhaps it was just a lack of coffee. In any case, I am pretty sure we can come up with some better descriptive names that suggest a difference in draftiness. How would you call them?

Ok, want to give it a try? Download it here!

Let us know what you think

An important footnote:

When upgrading Cura from an older version (Cura 2.4 or below), the configuration settings might be overwritten. Back up your configuration folder before installing Cura 2.5 beta. Learn how to find the folder here.

Edited May 23, 2017 by Guest

[LePaul 314]

I like the open Beta better...I'm sure Asana is easy for the developers to work in, a bit awkward for me!

[burtoogle 509]

Hello beta testers,

I have contributed some new features that are in 2.5 and thought it would be a good idea if I say a few words about what those features are and how they are used.

Expand Skins Into Infill

This new infill setting gives you the ability to specify that skin layers are expanded so that they extend further into areas of infill. This is particularly useful when you have a horizontal surface with other features (walls, etc.) on top and sparse infill below.

Up till now you were forced to have very dense infill to avoid the holes that often appeared where a horizontal surface and a wall (above) met. There are settings to specify how much the skins should be expanded and also how much they should be shrunk before expanding. This avoids expanding narrow areas of skin that lie next to walls that are not vertical.

Minimum Infill Area

Another infill setting that allows you to specify that areas of infill smaller than the given area are replaced with skin.

Top/Bottom Line Directions & Infill Line Directions

This settings let you specify a list of integer directions (angles) that are used cyclically as the layers progress for those patterns that make sense (i.e. line, zig zag). The list syntax is numbers separated by commas and surrounded by square brackets. Empty lists mean just use the default values which are 45 and 135 degrees. When to use them? Well, for example, I have a part that I want the zigzag infill to be as strong as possible in one direction so I use [45, 0, 135, 0] which makes every other infill layer be in a N direction and the other layers alternate between NE and SE.

Retract Before Outer Wall

In the travel section, enabling this option will force travel moves that are going to an outer wall to use retraction. This reduces the chance of the nozzle dragging plastic to the wall when combing.

Improved Spiralize Mode

The spiralize mode has been rewritten. It now works harder to produce a smooth spiral which (given a suitable model) will produce a watertight end result (good for vases!)

If you have any problems using these features, please open a thread and if you find bugs, please open an issue on github.

[SandervG 1,519]

Hi @smartavionics, great to hear from you and thank you for your contributions! It is awesome to hear from those who have made a contribution.

[SandervG 1,519]

I like the open Beta better...I'm sure Asana is easy for the developers to work in, a bit awkward for me!

 

It is indeed not for everyone. I think this works better, and it suits us better too Curious to hear what you think of this beta!

[nallath 1,117]

As for the name; The best other name we could come up with is Drafty McDraftFace. So yeah, It's probably best if some of you can come up with something better

[nallath 1,117]

I like the open Beta better...I'm sure Asana is easy for the developers to work in, a bit awkward for me!

 

Eeh. Not really. I kinda dislike Asana.

[The3DPrintStudio 5]

Is there a way to change the currency for the filament cost?

[Tomhe 21]

I got the confirmation that these names were generated 'on purpose', so someone would come up with a better name. Or perhaps it was just a lack of coffee.

I can confirm that this was not a lack of coffee, as I don't work before I have had some double expressos. I do like a recent suggestion from the community: Coarse and Very Coarse. Then maybe we could call high and normal: Very Fine and Fine. But what is faster/draftier/coarser: Draft or Coarse? Struggles....:angry:

[qwerty8224 16]

Multithreading and it works

Faster cut layers:P:P:P

[ahoeben 1,848]

Is there a way to change the currency for the filament cost?

 

Check the general preferences, next to the language-selection

[ManuelW 2]

Found two things. Cura won't use a language change.

And, if i set my own gcode for temps, Cura set this temps but place its own temp code in the beginning of the gcode also. In 2.4 Cura set no own temps when the variables for this was in the gcode.

[The3DPrintStudio 5]

 

Is there a way to change the currency for the filament cost?

 

Check the general preferences, next to the language-selection

 

That worked, thank you!

[Labern 774]

Is it too hard to implement zoom in direction of mouse pointer?

viewing layer view and multiple parts sucks without it.

[DaHai8 74]

- Draft print

- Rough Draft print

- Brutal Draft print

[Labern 774]

- hurry up

- Im impatient

- I want it now

[mastory 42]

Not a bug, but has turning off the perspective in the viewer ever been tried? Would it be hard to implement? I would find this to be an advantage, along with being able to look straight down at the bed. for placing objects, and analyzing layer by layer... Most mechanical CAD systems I have ran have perspective as an option, and most users in my experience prefer it off.

[ahoeben 1,848]

I tried it briefly. It did not work straight away, and there were more important things to do, so I lost interest and moved on. But I could revisit this if I find some time.

[ahoeben 1,848]

Is it too hard to implement zoom in direction of mouse pointer?

 

I don't know, is it too hard to suggest this as a feature without sounding like a nag? ;-)

There are lots of things that may not be too hard to implement, but there is a limited amount of time.

Ask nicely, and make sure the usecase or usability improvement is clear, and it may get implemented.

[Labern 774]

 

Is it too hard to implement zoom in direction of mouse pointer?

 

I don't know, is it too hard to suggest this as a feature without sounding like a nag? ;-)

There are lots of things that may not be too hard to implement, but there is a limited amount of time.

Ask nicely, and make sure the usecase or usability improvement is clear, and it may get implemented.

 

Yeah, it does sound like a nag when I read it now. But it wasn't my intention.

Most CAD packages zoom into the area where the mouse pointer is pointing when you scroll the mouse wheel.

This allows you to point at a part you want to zoom into and scroll the wheel to get a closer look in that direction.

[ahoeben 1,848]

Yeah, it does sound like a nag when I read it now. But it wasn't my intention.

 

No problem.

You do make a valid point with the zooming. It would be a shame if it gets lost in this thread. Posting requests like this on github has a larger chance of being noticed (and remembered!) by devs. http://github.com/ultimaker/cura/issues

[SandervG 1,519]

 

Is it too hard to implement zoom in direction of mouse pointer?

 

I don't know, is it too hard to suggest this as a feature without sounding like a nag? ;-)

There are lots of things that may not be too hard to implement, but there is a limited amount of time.

Ask nicely, and make sure the usecase or usability improvement is clear, and it may get implemented.

 

Cookies are not even required anymore?.. what happened?

Edited March 24, 2017 by Guest

[Labern 774]

I know right?

not even Stroopwaffles?

[nallath 1,117]

Cookies are not even required anymore?.. what happened?

 

Well... required.. That makes it sound so mercenary. Let's just say that it wont hurt the odds of it getting done

[LePaul 314]

 

Yeah, it does sound like a nag when I read it now. But it wasn't my intention.

 

No problem.

You do make a valid point with the zooming. It would be a shame if it gets lost in this thread. Posting requests like this on github has a larger chance of being noticed (and remembered!) by devs. http://github.com/ultimaker/cura/issues

 

I second the zooming suggestion. I wind up doing a lot of moving around to see what I want to see the first time! SolidWorks and others have that same zoom where the mouse is feature. Thanks!