Introducing Ultimaker Cura 3.6 | Beta

[Guest maht]

 

Ultimaker Cura 3.6 beta is available and out in the wild! It comes with new features, bug fixes, and UX improvements. We would really like to have your feedback on it to make our stable release as good as it can be. As always, you can download the beta for free from our website, for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

 

A few new things that are new in Ultimaker Cura 3.6 beta:

 

Settings refactor. We’ve been working on optimizing the software engine for more stable releases in the future. The CuraEngine has been refactored to create a more testable, future-proof way of storing and representing settings. This makes slicing faster, and future development easier.

 

Gyroid infill. Gyroid infill is a new infill pattern and one of the strongest infill types for a given weight, has strength in multiple directions, and prints relatively fast, with reduced material use and a fully connected part interior. Thanks to @smartavionics for this fantastic contribution.

 

 

Firmware checker/Ultimaker S5. The update checker now checks when firmware updates are available for the Ultimaker S5, and the code has been improved and tested for more reliable firmware update notifications in Ultimaker Cura.

 

A big thanks to: @smartavionics, @bagel-orb, @ahoeben, adecastilho, KangDroid, kaleidoscopeit, Kriechi, jscurtu, ValentinPitre, stelgenhof, and paukstelis. You are vital to the development and progress of Ultimaker Cura.

 

Want to try it out? Download Ultimaker Cura 3.6 right here.

Need more information? Here is our blog.

 

Please note that this is a beta release, so performance may not be perfect. We encourage you to give us any performance feedback here - this will help us to make the stable release (coming mid-November!) as good as it can be.

 

Let us know what you think below ?

Questions? Comments? Corrections? Please tell us!

 

[Shadowman 53]

42 minutes ago, maht said:

 

Ultimaker Cura 3.6 beta is available and out in the wild! It comes with new features, bug fixes, and UX improvements. We would really like to have your feedback on it to make our stable release as good as it can be. As always, you can download the beta for free from our website, for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

 

A few new things that are new in Ultimaker Cura 3.6 beta:

 

Settings refactor. We’ve been working on optimizing the software engine for more stable releases in the future. The CuraEngine has been refactored to create a more testable, future-proof way of storing and representing settings. This makes slicing faster, and future development easier.

 

Gyroid infill. Gyroid infill is a new infill pattern and one of the strongest infill types for a given weight, has strength in multiple directions, and prints relatively fast, with reduced material use and a fully connected part interior. Thanks to @smartavionics for this fantastic contribution.

 

 

Firmware checker/Ultimaker S5. The update checker now checks when firmware updates are available for the Ultimaker S5, and the code has been improved and tested for more reliable firmware update notifications in Ultimaker Cura.

 

A big thanks to: @smartavionics, @bagel-orb, @ahoeben, adecastilho, KangDroid, kaleidoscopeit, Kriechi, jscurtu, ValentinPitre, stelgenhof, and paukstelis. You are vital to the development and progress of Ultimaker Cura.

 

Want to try it out? Download Ultimaker Cura 3.6 right here.

Need more information? Here is our blog.

 

Please note that this is a beta release, so performance may not be perfect. We encourage you to give us any performance feedback here - this will help us to make the stable release (coming mid-November!) as good as it can be.

 

Let us know what you think below ?

Questions? Comments? Corrections? Please tell us!

 

Thank you all for your hard work as well as the manner that Ultimaker Cura 3.6 Beta is being presented along with the request for feed back.

 

Takes care.

[LePaul 321]

Downloading... fingers crossed!

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Still has silent crashes.

[Shadowman 53]

14 minutes ago, kmanstudios said:

Still has silent crashes.

Well then; you saved me this exercise.

 

For this I thank you 

 

bummer 

[SandervG 1,521]

16 minutes ago, kmanstudios said:

Still has silent crashes.

 

Can you provide any information about this so we can reproduce and fix it for the stable? Perhaps there is something in your set up that makes it crash which doesn't have to affect others though.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

12 minutes ago, SandervG said:

 

Can you provide any information about this so we can reproduce and fix it for the stable? Perhaps there is something in your set up that makes it crash which doesn't have to affect others though.

 

I open it. I close it. It leaves bits and pieces in the tray until I mouse over it. the "Silent Crash" is the term @ahoeben used, so that is what I am calling it until I hear otherwise.

 

Just started to really test it. Will leave it open to see about memory leaks.

 

The brim issue has gone back to previous behaviour. But, according to what I read, I am not sure this is good as it was suggested by @bagel-orb to have a third version as what did happen in 3.5.1 was technically correct (By way of going from outstide to inside to outside and again to inside) and can serve a purpose as he noted. On the thread that I was pointed to, he suggested a third option which I find to be the most satisfying of all.

 

But for now, I am not getting brim on the debossed lettering negative spaces I place against the buildplate.

[ahoeben 1,948]

2 hours ago, maht said:

A few new things that are new in Ultimaker Cura 3.6 beta:

 

And a few old things that are new:

* a memory leak in Cura Connect and OctoPrint was fixed. Note that the Toolbox contains a new OctoPrint plugin that works in both 3.5 and 3.6 which includes the fix.

* a couple of issues related to USB printing are fixed (temperature updating during heatup sequence, and extraneous "Press to resume" messages during printing with Marlin 1.1.8+

[ahoeben 1,948]

4 minutes ago, kmanstudios said:

I open it. I close it. It leaves bits and pieces in the tray until I mouse over it. the "Silent Crash" is the term @ahoeben used, so that is what I am calling it until I hear otherwise.

 

A more proper description would be that Cura does not close cleanly, leaving behind systray icons when you quit Cura (if I understand you correctly). The "silent crash" name was just me trying to separate this from a "memory leak", which this is not. What seems to be happening is that Cura exits ("crashes") before cleaning up the tray icon, without showing an error message ("silently")

[ahoeben 1,948]

Note that these orphaned tray icons by themselves are very much harmless. Yes, the not exiting cleanly part may be indicative of something else also not being cleaned up properly, but don't focus too much on the tray icons.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Seems like as good a name as any other. Until you come up with a better name, I am sticking with this as it seems to be an odd issue. And, I wonder if it leaves little pieces in other places cluttering up a system. That I cannot say.

 

Just finished slicing something and am going to let it just sit there to see if the memory leaks happen again. And, I am not using the monitor or octoprint in this. I just slice and send. I use the browser app to monitor the prints and rearrange them as need be.

 

And the GUI in the dark mode seems to be functioning fully visually as I can discern at this early phase.

 

[kmanstudios 1,120]

And as I went to capture one last bit of task manager before I walked away for a bit, I could actually watch the memory usage grow in real time.

 

First opening, first file closed, first loaded file:

 

Second loaded file (Go figure):

 

After sitting for ten minutes:

 

Time between screen caps:

 

At this point I noticed I could watch it go up in real time.

 

Cura Log:

cura3.6REmemusage.zip

Edited October 31, 2018 by kmanstudios

[Msuurmond 28]

Do you run mutliple Cura's at the same time?

What plugins do you have installed?

Edited October 31, 2018 by Msuurmond

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Nope. One is enough to keep up with.

 

to be clear though, I do have a previous version installed, but only run one at a time.

[Msuurmond 28]

6 minutes ago, kmanstudios said:

Nope. One is enough to keep up with.

 

to be clear though, I do have a previous version installed, but only run one at a time.

Having multiple installed should not be a problem. Does it also get slower if the memory usage grows?

[kmanstudios 1,120]

yes. and it greatly interferes with other programs. It has crashed my system. This version has not had time to do it, but the other one did.

[jonnyplastic 0]

Still unusably slow on my older iMac. (Core 2 duo on El cap.)

[Msuurmond 28]

57 minutes ago, kmanstudios said:

yes. and it greatly interferes with other programs. It has crashed my system. This version has not had time to do it, but the other one did.

I noticed on my windows 10 machine that when I startup and close Cura rapidly a few times, the notification icon indeed is multiplied. When I hover with my mouse over these icons they a removed until the last one (that actually is the Cura that is running). Do the notification icons also disappear when you move your mouse over them?

 

Memory usage is 220MB here, it increases when loading a model, but doesn't grow when I'm not doing anything. Is it possible for you to start 3.6-BETA without your old configuration? How big is your settings folder?

C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\cura

Edited October 31, 2018 by Msuurmond

[AbeFM 35]

Is this memory leak new to 3.6? You make it sound like it's in 3.5.1 as well?

 

What OS are  you running?

[zerspaner_gerd 382]

Has not anyone noticed the Faulty Prime Tower yet?

 

 

https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/issues/4686

 

 

[JohnInOttawa 104]

Hurray for the gyroid infill!  This is going to help me!

 

With thanks to the beta testers.  Sadly not me for at least the next 4 or 5 weeks....

 

J

[kmanstudios 1,120]

5 hours ago, Msuurmond said:

I noticed on my windows 10 machine that when I startup and close Cura rapidly a few times, the notification icon indeed is multiplied. When I hover with my mouse over these icons they a removed until the last one (that actually is the Cura that is running). Do the notification icons also disappear when you move your mouse over them?

 

Memory usage is 220MB here, it increases when loading a model, but doesn't grow when I'm not doing anything. Is it possible for you to start 3.6-BETA without your old configuration? How big is your settings folder?

C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\cura

I do not start up and close rapidly.

 

Am on Win 10.

 

Do not go to the system tray until I close Cura.

 

They do go away when mousing over, but honestly, it makes me wonder what little  bits may be left over elsewhere.

 

5 hours ago, Msuurmond said:

Is it possible for you to start 3.6-BETA without your old configuration?

What do you mean?

 

5 hours ago, Msuurmond said:

C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\cura

This folder is 175MB

This is with both versions residing within.

 

5 hours ago, Msuurmond said:

but doesn't grow when I'm not doing anything.

Lucky you. I have posted the pics as I watched it grow. So, do not know what to tell you.

[burtoogle 513]

Hi Folks, I hope you enjoy evaluating the new gyroid infill pattern, it's very fashionable, right now.

 

Just a quick word to alert you that because the infill pattern is, essentially, a mutating sine wave, it is possible to induce resonance in your printer when printing large areas of gyroid infill if the frequency of the head movement matches the resonant frequency of your printer. So, please observe the print head when you print a large area of gyroid infill the first time and if it is moving side to side more than you would expect, slow the print down to stop the print head thrashing around. When I observed it happening, a 10% speed reduction was all that was necessary to stop the resonance. Reducing the density of the infill will also reduce the frequency.

[Smithy 1,144]

Beside the bugs or fixed issues, I am asking me why we get so quick a new beta with version number 3.6 and not 3.5.2 and so on until everything works fine in the 3.5. branch? Not that I worry about the numbering, but I have the feeling that the only reason why we get so quick a new version is only because of the upcoming marketing start of the new materials and the CC print core. 

 

If this is the reason it is basically ok for me, but in all euphorias about the CC core and the new materials we should not forget about the "basic" which are not working as expected for a lot of users. I assume it will not be off the radar, but just in case I wanted to mention it. ? 

[Smithy 1,144]

12 minutes ago, smartavionics said:

I hope you enjoy evaluating the new gyroid infill pattern, it's very fashionable, right now.

 

I will do a test print with the new infill pattern as soon as a printer is free. It looks great in the layer view and I am sure it will do good job "in the object" ? 

 

But anyway, I want to say THANK YOU for all the resources and efforts, you, and all other external contributors are spending to get new features into Cura and move the application forward. ? ?

Edited November 1, 2018 by Smithy