Looking for beta testers.

[illuminarti 18]

Thanks, Daid!! I'm looking forward to trying out this evening.

And thanks for thinking about the speed issue - I think the base is one area where the slicer can be smarter on behalf of the user.

Speed in general is a thorny issue, I think. I'm certainly not one to advocate speed at all costs (especially on new machines with inexperienced users) - I think the volume/sec limitation is something that isn't as widely appreciated as it needs to be, and speed for its own sake just stresses everything more than is good for it.

At the same time though, I think a lot of users are way more cautious than they need to be in choosing their print parameters. Sometimes as I see users on here, or in off-list discussions, talking about how long some parts take to print, I'm amazed they have the patience - they're taking several hours, days sometimes, to print things that my gut tells me could be printed far faster and with little if any noticeable reduction in quality (and, sometimes, even with better quality).

Now, of course, there are always exceptions, and some people have specific needs or visions, and really need that last percentage point of print quality. But I think that a lot of the time people just don't realize that it's ok to go faster... maybe they got burned at the really fast end of things, and over-compensate now. I wonder if it wouldn't be possible to make some kind of wizard based on analysis of the print during slicing, that recommends a range of print speeds and quality settings...

You've been gathering usage stats in Cura now for a while, Daid... is anything interesting emerging from the data that is being reported?

 

[owen 19]

Hi Guys

I've been enjoying using the new Cura and pretty happy with the settings available. I think a feature that would cover what Simon is wanting and many other different scenarios is this though maybe a bit tricky to do the UI for it.

On layer n add this code, do it for n layers, repeat every n layers

Be able to add as many of these lines as you like.

This would enable the user to change fan speed, extrude more or less, increase/decrease nozzle and bed temperature or go faster/slower for different layers.

 

[darrenm36 0]

Nice work Daid,

I've got a print running now and my retraction is back to where it was with my original settings, retraction in general has decreased significantly and quality is looking great.

I'm looking forward to the morning to see what the finished parts look like.

 

[Daid 306]

Don't forget to let me know if there are any issues. I can hardly test everything and some bugs might slip under my radar.

However, I do think this 13.05.2 version is excellent.

First I need to do a true release now I think. Then I can work on things like:

* Selecting multiple objects, to apply scale/rotation/deletion to all of them.

* Better support for dual-extrusion (oh yes, this is happening!), lots to do here.

* Proper "duplicate outlines" support, not the half baked SF implementation.

Keep on printing!

 

[darrenm36 0]

Hi Daid,

So checked the print I had running overnight this morning and it looks great.

The least stringing on retraction I've had in ages, probably retraction is slightly to much on my settings I'll need to tune it a bit, but the outer surface quality is great and some really thin walled components came out perfect. I was also printing faster than I normally do (still not fast, but for me it's faster)

I'll do some more testing tonight, but I think you've got a great version there.

Looking forward to the dual extrusion, any word on an official kit, plus a kit for heated bed?

My biggest problem I need to resolve is I get a lot of quality issues from ringing. Even though all the belts are tight I just don't seem to be able to get rid of it unless printing really slow. Maybe direct drive will be my next mod.

Keep up the good work.

 

[lars86 42]

 

My biggest problem I need to resolve is I get a lot of quality issues from ringing. Even though all the belts are tight I just don't seem to be able to get rid of it unless printing really slow. Maybe direct drive will be my next mod.

Keep up the good work.

What are your max XY acceleration and jerk settings?

I have also had good luck supergluing a heavy steel weight to the front underside of the bed. I think the bed is more prone to ringing than the head, and this helps.

 

[markab 0]

v13.05.2 mac

Hi Daid,

Is retraction fully working in 13.05.2 my printer seems weirdly quiet with so little reverse actions on the extruder drive? I made a print last night and found that there was no retraction on long moves, but it seemed that more short moves seemed to have retraction. For example when printing the first layer and perimeters when the head needed to reposition to somewhere in the print it did no retractions at all resulting in the first layer finish scarring where the print head moved with no retraction.

Again, would it be possible to implement the force retraction over a set threshold like some of the previous versions?

I also notice that on certain very thin fill areas (but not all) I am still seeing lots of small zig zag fill with a retraction each pass, I thought this was now supposed to be one fill line?

Just something about retraction doesn't seem to work as well as it used to, aside from that I think other areas of print quality are much better!!

Thanks

 

[Daid 306]

I cannot confirm or deny the development of a dual-extrusion kit.

 

[illuminarti 18]

It was openly discussed and, indeed, featured on a giant banner at MakerFaire.

 

I cannot confirm or deny the development of a dual-extrusion kit.

 

[olivierc 3]

Hi Daid, I just tested this new version of cura today and I must say, very nice work, the speed increase is really amazing. I have not tried printing yet, will do tomorrow. Just a quick question though, sorry if it has already been answered: is there a way to disable the slicing auto-update? I find it kind of annoying to have it start slicing every time I move the model or change a parameter, especially when working on large model (the reason I switched to the new version, because hte old one could not handle them). I'm just nitpicking, I know you can't please everyone and other people might like it that way, but what was wrong with the good old slice button?

 

[dinac 0]

I've just uploaded 13.05.2 for both Windows and MacOS.

This version fixes the large amount of retractions on infill parts.

It changes lots of small infill moves into a smooth line with the proper amount of extrusion.

It doesn't load GCode until you switch to GCode view, which keeps the GUI responsive in model view after slicing.

And most likely I fixed a few other small odds and ends. I sometimes forget to note down small fixes.

And finally:

It adds 3 new "Fix horrible" settings in the expert menu. These settings modify how the slicing works in some odd ways and can help in properly print "bad" models which are not manifold. As the all effect which parts are seen as solid and not.

I'm working on another setting for this, which can also produce better results on some models. All these settings are at your own risk and always look at the final GCode, as odd things could happen.

The new setting that I'm working on will be called "extensive stitching", and will take some time to implement.

I just tested the retraction settings on this version, and there they worked.

(Illu, your comment about faster printing has been noted, and I'm thinking about how to improve it)

 

[olivierc 3]

I understand that part, it does not load it until you display the layer, which is a good idea, but it does regenerates it every time you do something else. Once again, as I said, this might not be a issue for small models, but when you're handling a 15cm tall bust with 200000 polygons, it is.

 

[lars86 42]

I agree. The auto-regeneration makes the interface incredibly tedious.

 

[chopmeister 0]

I agree. The auto-regeneration makes the interface incredibly tedious.

+1 on that. I usually change more than one setting between prints, and the interface stutters a lot then, especially with hi-poly models. IMHO, the slicing is so fast now that it really doesn't benefit from working in the background.

 

[Daid 306]

+1 on that. I usually change more than one setting between prints, and the interface stutters a lot then, especially with hi-poly models. IMHO, the slicing is so fast now that it really doesn't benefit from working in the background.

Be sure to test the 13.05.2 version, I noticed most of the stutter came from the GCode loading in the GUI and I changed some things there so prevent most of it.

(Adding a slice button to prevent stutter isn't the best solution, removing the stutter is)

 

[lars86 42]

Be sure to test the 13.05.2 version, I noticed most of the stutter came from the GCode loading in the GUI and I changed some things there so prevent most of it.

(Adding a slice button to prevent stutter isn't the best solution, removing the stutter is)

I am using 13.05.2

The code it generated is really pretty nice in support and print quality.

I just don't see the upshot to using this auto-regen. Almost every time, I am making multiple changes to settings and it slows me way down. I do not see clicking a button when I'm ready to be a bad thing at all.

 

[owen 19]

Maybe a tick box that says 'slice now'.

That way we could leave it ticked for the smaller jobs so as to maintain the current behavior.

I like it as is, as you can see print time and material use get updated as you change settings.

 

[baasb 6]

Hey Daid,

Yesterday I was printing a buste and noticed this:

The infill starts fine, just the normal square infill lines. But then, when the print gets wider, the lines from upper-left to down-right stay straight but the down-left to upper-right lines are shifting. So you get these diagonal 'walls' as infill. And because the lines shift so much that they don't touch eachother, it affects the strenght of the infill. I hope it's clear what I mean :wink:

This is not a very big problem but still something that maybe can be fixed.

 

[Daid 306]

Yes, every infill is aligned to the layer instead of the model, I might change this. I didn't like the KISSlicer "infill pattern depends on the model position" behavior, so that's why I went for this.

 

[lars86 42]

Yes, every infill is aligned to the layer instead of the model, I might change this. I didn't like the KISSlicer "infill pattern depends on the model position" behavior, so that's why I went for this.

On my last print this feature worked pretty well... for most of it. When it got near the top, that horizontal shift had some jumps in it I guess, because the infill started failing. Subsequent layers jumped over too far and there was no overlap.

 

[baasb 6]

Ok, that would be great :smile: And one more thing which I really miss are the up- and down-buttons for selecting a specific layer! Now, with large prints, it sometimes jumps with steps of 6 layers when sliding through them.

But I'm sure you're very busy with all this. The results of the last version are already fantastic.

 

[gr5 2,172]

I'm 90% sure daid added a secret key to let you do this. He might even have done it in 13.04. There should be a keyboard shortcut help window that lists them all.

There are quite a few features in Cura that don't seem to be documented. Like how to rotate more preceisely or PAN. Did you know you can pan now?

 

[baasb 6]

Alright! I'll check that out tonight

 

[Daid 306]

After clicking on the 3D window you can use the up/down keys to switch layers =)

 

[cyrus104 0]

Issue I'm having with 13.05.2 is that when I click print the heated bed option does not come up. I can not click disconnect either.

When I unplug the reprap w/ marlin firmware and then plug it back in I get the option to connect. Once I do that both tempatures are available for me to set and use. These work fine all through the printing process till the next object printing or I reload Cura.

Thanks