Looking for beta testers.

[owen 19]

The GCode save option is also available from the file menu btw :wink:

And you can add custom temperature code. If you add:

"M190 S{print_bed_temperature}"

To the start code, then Cura won't put the bed inheating above the start code. And if you put an:

"M109 S{print_temperature}"

In your start code, then Cura won't put the nozzle heating above the start code.

 

It keeps getting better

 

[Daid 306]

The "allow your own temperature start code" has been in there for quite a while. From the 12.08 release I think.

Anyhow, for the testers. I've uploaded an 3th test version for windows (Mac version will follow, but my Mac is in use right now for something else)

I've fixed:

* Zig-zag bug (during infill it sometimes was oddly moving back and forward only printing in 1 direction)

* Single wall didn't produce infill bug

* Extremely verbose GCode reduced. This improved print quality on my tests. But I'm not 100% sure all issues here are fixed.

* Added infill overlap setting (for flexble PLA this is very important, as well as tweaking that final bit to get your top perfect)

* Removed the crash on bad layer height (when editing the layer height the engine crashed)

* Allow loading of GCode files for direct GCode printing or viewing (press the load button, in the bottom right of the file box select the gcode option)

* Show moves on the currently viewing GCode layer (helped me catch the zig-zag problem)

* Fixed 0% infill problem

I've also added my experimental dual-extrusion nozzle offset calibration routine. It's not perfect yet and still requires some manual tweaking afterwards. But I want to make some steps to make dual-extrusion easier from a software point of view.

 

[mhk3000 0]

I would like to be a beta tester.

thanks and regards

Mohammed

 

[mhk3000 0]

I would like to be a beta tester.

thanks and regards

Mohammed

 

[IRobertI 520]

Just a quick one. I was printing this and noticed some odd behaviour:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:44118

Settings were 0.2mm layers with 1.6mm walls (forgot to dial it down). The weird thing is for the bottom layers on the solid infill it filled every other line in one direction and then went back and did the remaining lines. That explanation sucked... hmm... Epic drawing skills to the rescue! Arrows indicate head movement. So, on the same layer it is doing the green infill first and then the red infill.

I guess this behaviour might tie in to the "patchyness" of the infill. What I mean is that it fills one patch, moves to another spot, fills another small patch, moves and so on.

Haven't been able to do much testing as I'm currently struggling with under extrusion. Not sure what the hell is going on, no plugs, no grind marks, extruder tightened down. Oh well, I'll fix it eventually.

 

[fluxline 0]

noticed the same striping, even on the first layer ,when i printed some slats that are about 2mm wide and 60 long using .4mm walls. almost stopped the print with a wtf ?

as far as extrusion, i've noticed that it seems that in some places there is under extrusion but when you compensate other areas get over extruded. still not dialed in when as i'm just getting back to testing after some other work.

 

[IRobertI 520]

Just to clarify re the under extrusion. That was unrelated to cura. I switched back to KISSlicer to remove that variable and it's still happening.

 

[mgg942 0]

Beginner here.

Running Windows 8, 64 bit, and Ulticontroller.

I think that the GUI is very fine, can't think of anything that I'd like different.

However I did notice that settings made in 'quickprintt' (eg diamter; support structure) are not carried through to 'full settings', and vice versa.

I've made a number of items (some original designs, an extruder gear, xy belt tensioners, whistle, folk flute etc) using Steam Engine - all turned out well IMHO.

But, I tried the Klein bottle in Steam Engine and that was an abject failure. After 1 1/2 hours the print was only 7mm high and looked very wrong. I had the impression that the z-axis movement had stopped.

Then ran the Klein bottle on 13.04 - no problem. Finished in 3 hours and 2 minutes.

Mike.

 

[mgg942 0]

Beginner again.

Tried Cushwa's Owl with Steam Engine.

Perfect up to just above the nails of the talons.

When I next checked I found that the printing had shifted 20mm to the left and the Ulticontroller bore the message that the X-axis stop had been reached (or words to that effect).

I'm surprised that hitting the stop didn't abort the print - should it have?

I realise that this may not be associated with Steam Engine (a power spike?), but, then again, it might...

BTW the machine is printing normally now.

No damage. No unduly slack belts.

I plan to try the Owl again tonight - but with 13.04

Mike.

 

[Daid 306]

If a X shift came from the new engine, then you could see it in the GCode. But I'm 100% positive that it was something else and not the engine. I've printed the owl at FabCon without any problems.

Something i would like to know from the testers is, do you think it's near ready for a release? (After I've fixed the expert menu problem on MacOS, which is quite annoying for the Mac users, and a few other small things). Because I'm having this feeling that it's good, sure it can be better, it always can. But at some point I have to release something. Else I'll be developing forever.

 

[greengecko 8]

HI Daid,

That is a tough questions. I personally really like the speed, but still missing some things. E.g. plugins color change does not work (others I did not test I assume it is the same) and also some other features (half layer steps at the outside to have a better quality there). This (the skinning) is in my view something that I really miss and therefore I would not use the steam engine for most of my prints if I want to have quality. On the other side for standard prints it is really superfast and great (minus some infill jumps which potentially can be problematic if the model is ripped of , though that did not happen so far). So if you release it I would clearly mark it as a beta release and let people know that due to the nature of a beta people should be catious and for example should not print larger prints unsupervised. Also it would be good to let users know what features are still missing so they can judge by themself if they would miss something.

Having said this I think the new slicer is really superfast and therefore will be very appealing to most people if they do not want to use too many advanced settings.

 

[gr5 2,173]

mgg942 - tighten all your set screws. Sometimes they start to get loose after a while. Tighten the heck out of them. There should be 6 on each axis for a total of 12. Or alternatively, use a sharpie and mark the location of all 12 pulleys and if you have a shift check the marks to see if one of the 12 slipped.

 

[owen 19]

do you think it's near ready for a release?

 

The time has come. I think so anyway.

It's fairly stable.

Slices very well.

Retraction good.

Settings are good.

Rotating Model good.

I really like KISSlicer but I haven't used it since I started using the New Cura.

It has Brim feature.

Not many bugs just a few feature requests

 

[IRobertI 520]

Why not. If nothing else the large influx of new users will quickly reveal any major issues. Again, sorry for not testing more than I have but it's not for lack of trying. To me the most annoying part still remaining is the "pathing" for a lack of a better word. But I imagine that is a tricky one to "fix".

Just make it clear when you release it that there might be settings/features missing and if they need those they should stick to the old one for a bit longer.

 

[fluxline 0]

Maybe think about labelling it as an RC, and then people know it’s almost good to go but still needs a larger group to look at it. I think some might be disappointed that some features are missing, everybody has different wants, you know how users can moan if their thing is not there Just make sure you label clearly what is there and what not ... release notes, including known bugs.

It still has a few big issues, one being this seem on curves, it just pushes that nozzle out there. And this stripe solid layers that in some places it doesn’t just fill in but goes over it again. Speed is a huge improvement though, well done. People will like the bed placement and view shift as well.

 

[mgg942 0]

mgg942 - tighten all your set screws. Sometimes they start to get loose after a while. Tighten the heck out of them. There should be 6 on each axis for a total of 12. Or alternatively, use a sharpie and mark the location of all 12 pulleys and if you have a shift check the marks to see if one of the 12 slipped.

 

Thanks - will do so.

More vigour with set screws - less with the hot end brass tube which I've just broken. Might not be the last, either, very thin walled.

 

[markab 0]

I would like to beta test please.

Will this beta version fix fill in narrow area's of the print because that is what I would like to test.

 

[Daid 306]

For those that want to test. I've uploaded a 13.05 release to this location:

http://software.ultimaker.com/Cura_closed_beta/

Consider it a public beta right now. Note that this 13.05 will NOT be the final version. I noticed the Mac version has an issue with coping files to SD cards. So be warned on that, the windows installer misses a feature to map AMF files to Cura. (oh, yes, Cura can load and save AMF files now)

I build this version with the hope to it being the final version for release. But the SD card copy is something I cannot ignore for Mac.

The "skin" feature will return later. It's quite complex to implement properly. The increased quality that the SF skin offered doesn't work very well with all types of objects. So I want to do this a bit better, but that will take some time to lay out properly.

The 13.05 version has an "infill speed" option in the advanced tab. This can greatly reduce the print time while keeping outside quality. I personally still prefer to print everything at the same speed, but now you can do it different if you want.

The "skirt" settings have moved to expert, due to the brim option you hardly need to adjust these settings anymore.

 

[greengecko 8]

I really like the different speed. Setting. One step closer to allow different qualities within a print.

[markab 0]

Hello,

I started testing 13.05 last night, a couple of things I noticed...

There is no longer an option to set force a retraction on movements over a certain distance, will this be implemented again?

When solid filling the fill seems to be erratic, for example if I print a basic cube with no other detail it will diagonal fill from one corner to the other however if I have detail in the flat surface it seems to jump about as it fills in one line of fill here then moves to a total different part of the face and does another line of fill, in previous versions it seemed to fill around perimeters in more sensible larger chunks before moving resulting in a possible better finish.

When partial filling sometimes it seems to fill like every second line and then pass over again filling between so each fill section has more than 1 pass of the extruder.

The layer view does not seem to show the tool path on solid fill as clearly as in previous versions.

 

[Daid 306]

I fixed an issues yesterday related to the erratic infill movements. We've had some models where it would start in the middle with the infill, and then jump between doing a line on the left, and then a line on the right. I discovered the problem in my algorithm and fixed it. (This was caused by the update to remove the zig-zag problem where it could start at the wrong point of the line)

The layerview indeed currently does not have the 'rounded corners' that the previous version had. I've rewritten all that code (it was a mess in the old version) but I haven't got around to implement the rounded corners yet.

 

[mostlyatomicbob 34]

Loving the new Cura, it is sooooooo fast.

One question, will you be putting the feature that enables you to sink your print into the bed in this version?

Sorry can't remember the features name!

I find it very useful on some prints.

Thanks

Bob

Edit: sorry i was being blind just noticed the option. sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[baasb 6]

Yes, this option is still available but... It's now very hard to see how far it sinks at the bottom. In the previous version you could check this by looking from the bottom on to the object and the part that was lowered, had a different color.

Best features I think is to add more then one object, move objects and different speeds for wall thickness and infill!

I still miss some options but that was to be expected ;-) Keep up the great work Daid!

 

[Daid 306]

The bed sink feature will be visible again in the next version. One of the small things I noticed that where missing and fixed. (Overhang view is also missing)

We've also noticed at UM that the combing is causing some scars at the outsides, I've done some tests and I managed to prevent this, but now it doesn't always comb properly. So I have some more things to fix.

 

[edis 0]

i've done couple of prints with this beta version. And first, i'd like to thank you for such a great work, it's amazing how you've managed to build your own slicer and cura, ofcouse, great respect for you!

I've printed 2 identical parts, using multiply option from right click menu. 1 part finished ok, the info screen showed that it was 86% done (though another identical part remained), then second part started and after like 2mm print stopped, so somehow part of code was missing.

Same thing on single part, it started printing allright but haven't finished whole part and print stopped, there was like 3mm remaining, it looks like the code was generated not for full part.

Don't know if you're aware of these issues.