Absolute Coordinates from STL file

[user145 0]

Hi,

I recently started working with Cura, and I'm wondering if the relation between STL vertices and position on the print bed is well-known (or someone can explain to me). Is there just an offset added in each direction, or is it more complicated?

 

Also, is it possible to tell my printer to use the absolute coordinates found in the STL file (adjusted to meet the print bed specifications), rather than try to automatically adjust/center the print?

[nallath 1,124]

STL doesn't define what 0,0,0 means, so it's up to the software to pick one. As it's generally a good idea to print in the middle, we put the X&Y on the middle of the build plate. As in most cases you also want to print the entire object, we also place it on top of the buildplate instead of poking through it.

If you want your models to keep your positioning, you need to use a format that actually supports doing that, such as 3MF (which defines the origin as being the lower left corner of the buildplate)

[user145 0]

31 minutes ago, nallath said:

STL doesn't define what 0,0,0 means, so it's up to the software to pick one. As it's generally a good idea to print in the middle, we put the X&Y on the middle of the build plate. As in most cases you also want to print the entire object, we also place it on top of the buildplate instead of poking through it.

If you want your models to keep your positioning, you need to use a format that actually supports doing that, such as 3MF (which defines the origin as being the lower left corner of the buildplate)

 

Thank you for the quick response! I'll definitely look into 3MF files. So the vertices specified in the 3MF file are directly imported as they are into Cura (without any conversion)?

 

Also, when you say "we put the X&Y on the middle of the build plate", do you mean you find the center of, say, the vertices of the STL file (in x, y) and put that at the center? Is there any automatic rotation involved?

Sorry for the dumb questions ? 

[AbeFM 35]

Quite likely your issue is grouping - I've mentioned this and the team says they don't care one iota.

 

But the solution to a lot of my bad STL's I've downloaded is to right click and pick "ungroup". You can tell if this is the problem - when you load in an STL there will be an empty box bigger than the boundaries of the part.

 

When you ungroup it, the empty space ceases to exist. It is effectively reassigning coordinates, and it seems it could be easily implemented - but if you're using Cura, then you'd better get used to doing that on your own. I hope one day the fix this - I haven't heard a good argument why you would want to leave object unslicable because they have an odd origin.

[user145 0]

I'm really just trying to associate segments in the g-code to vertices in the file. 

 

As I've just started messing around with this, it appears to me that Cura doesn't use the coordinate system defined in the 3MF file? It still seems to center the print even after importing a a 3MF file starting from (0,0). Is there some kind of option I need to check to override this?

[gr5 2,235]

I don't know much about 3mf files but in gcode files it depends if you use a typical machine where 0,0 is the lower left (front left) corner of the build plate or if you choose a delta type machine where 0,0 is in the center of the build plate.

 

Also realize that cura offsets the vertices by the width of the nozzle (or the line width actually). so that the outer edge of the filament lines up with the outer edges of the model.

 

If you install repetier host you can load a gcode file into it and see what it looks like in 3d and then you can highlight the gcode values and you can see in the left window in color where those gcode values occur.  This really helps a lot with finding the exact gcode for a given vertice.

[nallath 1,124]

16 hours ago, user145 said:

I'm really just trying to associate segments in the g-code to vertices in the file. 

 

As I've just started messing around with this, it appears to me that Cura doesn't use the coordinate system defined in the 3MF file? It still seems to center the print even after importing a a 3MF file starting from (0,0). Is there some kind of option I need to check to override this?

It should, but i've seen multiple instances of cad programs not adhering to the 3MF spec.

 

[AbeFM 35]

Odds are you have to select "ungroup" from the menu, on your object.

 

I've mentioned this a bunch of times, and apparently it's not a problem. Unless you download or create objects, then it's a huge problem, but not one the team seems interested in dealing with.

[sphillips5319 0]

On 6/18/2018 at 1:37 PM, AbeFM said:

Quite likely your issue is grouping - I've mentioned this and the team says they don't care one iota.

 

But the solution to a lot of my bad STL's I've downloaded is to right click and pick "ungroup". You can tell if this is the problem - when you load in an STL there will be an empty box bigger than the boundaries of the part.

 

When you ungroup it, the empty space ceases to exist. It is effectively reassigning coordinates, and it seems it could be easily implemented - but if you're using Cura, then you'd better get used to doing that on your own. I hope one day the fix this - I haven't heard a good argument why you would want to leave object unslicable because they have an odd origin.

 

This worked thank you! I imported from microsoft 3d builer which impars wonky artifacts to tons of my models. This worked a charm.