what is the file size limit in Cura ?

[ian 32]

what is the file size limit in Cura ?

I have a model 356MB in size.

And Cura chokes and dies every time i try and open it.

What is the size limit for cura ?

Thanks.

Ian :-)

 

[lohiaprateek 0]

I dont think CURA has a size limit, it has a polygon limit.

http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/226-polygon-count-reduction-with-meshlab.html

Good article to cut down on polygons making it easier to slice on CURA

 

[ian 32]

ahh ok ! :-) thanks for the useful link !

Ian :-)

 

[gadgetfreak 7]

I somewhere that most (even commercial) slicers has a limit at around 300MB, I can't remember where now.

But I guess that Netfabb (Professional) needs to be able to handle more, how else would the big printing houses like Shapeways etc be able to pack the big trays full of hundreds of models?!

/Daniel

 

[lohiaprateek 0]

Well I have netfabb basic for Ultimaker, could you send me the file via a dropbox or something. I'd try and slice it on netfabb with my custom profile

 

[olivierc 3]

I dont think CURA has a size limit, it has a polygon limit.

 

Well polygon count and file size are linked, the more poly, the bigger the file.

Be careful with meshlab decimation, while the result might look good, it's pretty destructive, it generates non-manifolds faces on a previously clean meshes. When I prepared my pyro for printing, it was too heaving for cura so I ran it through mesh lab. But then I had to spend hours cleaning the mesh, removing non-manifold faces in maya.

Now I decimate meshes directly in mudbox, the latest version has an optimization tool that is less destructive.

 

[gadgetfreak 7]

If you have a slicer that supports "large" stl files (like Netfabb; I don't know about Cura), then it really helps to:

- Use a 64-bit computer

- Have a lot of memory and a fast CPU

- Only import binary stl files (they are a lot smaller/more efficient than ASCII stl files)

From the Netfabb FAQ:

Q: What is the maximum file size I can handle with netfabb?

A: You are not limited by your file size but only by the RAM of your system. A minimum of 2 GB RAM is recommended.

Again, from Netfabb (system requirements):

CPU & RAM

•

For a fluent workflow 2 GB RAM and a 2 GHz Prozessor are recommended.

•

Generally: The bigger and the more complex the 3D file is, the more RAM is required.

•

For the Automatic Packing add-on at least 4 GB RAM are required (the higher the

better).

 

Ian, I can try slice something for you in Netfabb for Ultimaker which I have.

Although it was a really long time since I used it so I don't have the proper configuration. Somebody here posted a snippet of a new config though (might have been Owen?).

 

/Daniel

 

[Daid 306]

(Back after 2 weeks vacation)

 

The Cura GUI can run out of memory while loading models, it's the limit where you run into right now. This is an annoying issue which can cause odd issues. The limit depends a bit on your machine, but seems around 200MB binary STL on my machine. The engine can handle much larger files then that (but using the engine without GUI is a bit hard)

 

It's quite possible that improvements could be made on this area, but it does not have my focus right now.

 

[3dcase 37]

Hi,

Curaengine.exe quits running while slicing this dual Vase https://www.youmagine.com/designs/rorschach-plasma-vase.

I've managed to slice one G-code file with 0.24mm layers, its 171Mb.

Like to print it with .18 or.12 thickness. (slicing with 0.2 or 0.3 crashes as well)

I see only 1 download (mine?) on youmagine, no one else dared to give it a try I guess :(.

Would somebody give it a try please, like to know if it's a limit in my laptop or something.

slicing with cura 13.11.2, dual, shellthickness 0.4, bottom 0.8, 20%infill.

Thanks,

Kees

 

[lohiaprateek 0]

Well I just successfully sliced a file which had 2 Million plus faces, takes approximately 5 minutes on a intel q6600. But works like a charm.

 

[3dcase 37]

Well I just successfully sliced a file which had 2 Million plus faces, takes approximately 5 minutes on a intel q6600. But works like a charm.

 

I did not count the faces, No idea How to, but as said it was a 171 Mb gcode file.

What was the size of your gcode file?

 

[Chongboy59 0]

I was just able to load a 2.7 gb file into cura v3.3.1

I have a lulzbot but was right away not able to load the file. Cura 3.3.1 just took a few minutes but it took 4 gb of ram to do it,