Hidden option=disabled ?

[tonycstech 5]

Cura 4 has so many options its absurd.

I dont understand what value or no value will disable the parameter.

I sit there for hour trying to understand what each does and uncheck the boxes of 95% of them so i dont have to see them.

When options are not visible, does that mean they are disabled ?

 

Options that make me confused layer height and number of top/bottom layers dont seem to effect each other in any logical way.

Since i know how many layers height will result, i dont want to see the option for layer count. Thats just one example.

 

Speed settings is also confusing.

Some speed values are automatically set half of print speed.

If i hide them, will they be ignored ?

Leaving anything blank seems to give errors instead of ignoring it.

 

I tried to remove retraction limit by setting it to 0 and i got error so i had to leave it at 99.

Confusing....

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

Good thing about Cura and its detailed settings is that you don't have to set values for them - unless you have to (for individual objects or materials).

Detailed settings start with the default settings if you switch over. And they stay like this independent of whether they are visible or not. If you set a different value in one or more detailed settings, you override the default setting.

As you pointed out, you may use only a few of them and don't want the others to be visible. For that purpose you can use one of the presets from the three-line-menu right of the search box. You can also set your own visibilities by using the visibility dialog started by clicking on a cog symbol at the header of each category of settings. If you like a certain visibility setting so much that you want to save it you can use the "Custom Setting Visibility Set Creator" plugin by @ahoeben (to be installed from the Marketplace).

For what all the different settings do you get a tooltip if you hover with the mouse over it. If that is not clear enough, there is a plugin called "settings guide" that currently did not yet make it into version 4.0 but is made by the Ultimaker devs so I guess/hope it will soon be in the Marketplace again.

Finally, or as for the time being, you find a lot of explanations (actually the content of the settings guide) here: https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/manuals/software

The pages for Cura 4 are filled day by day I think but a majority of the settings are already documented under Cura 3.

I hope this helps you (and others) to find your way through the Cura detailed settings. And don't forget, you still can use the default settings and don't have change anything (for standard materials and many objects).

[ahoeben 1,948]

3 hours ago, tonycstech said:

Cura 4 has so many options its absurd.

 

This is why I cringe when people instruct new users to make all settings visible as a first step. Don't do that. Stick with the basic set, use the search field for options that you heard about, and if you end up using them a lot you can make them visible.

 

To answer your question: settings that are not visible still have a value, and affect your print. Most settings have a "sane" default value, especially if you use a printer that has specific profiles (that someone tweaked from the default defaults). But if you enable supports and then make the Enable Supports setting invisible, supports will still be printed.

 

 

[tonycstech 5]

Can someone answer my question ?

How to disable options ? Leave them blank or with 0 ?

[Smithy 1,144]

You cannot disable a setting/option when it needs a numeric value. Only the checkbox options are to enable or disable.

Every setting has a value, independent if it is visible or not.  

 

Some settings are auto calculated from other settings (i.e. speed settings) which can be overwritten by you if you don't like the calculated values. 

 

My advice is to start with the basic set of settings to get more familiar with it. Most settings are confusing and the default values are good to go without any need to change them.

[tonycstech 5]

i cant start simple if there are 100's of options.

cura 15 had like 5 options to change the print.

Layer height, infill percentage, bed temperature ad support.

Now there are hundreds of options per option and they are not even organized that well.

 

I dont understand the "quality" group for example. Support has allot to do with quality yet its not there.

 

Reason for so many groups and they lack of order is because options are organized based on what they do instead of based on how user sets up the print job.

For example, basic settings such as layer height and temp and speed should be grouped into BASIC category because they are the foundation of the print result.

Everything else is tweaks and they can be broken down in groups according to their functionality.

[Smithy 1,144]

Just use the recommended tab and ignore the custome one. Then you have only a few options and that´s it.

[tonycstech 5]

Cant do it knowing there are options that effect the print in ways i am not aware of.

 

Old cura had few fundamental settings and everything else was controlled by plugins created by the community.

Any problem could be addressed and resolved with plugins.

Now all possible plugins are hard coded into the engine making the engine cluttered.

If there were fewer settings and all the extreme settings are plugins, i would be able to remove unwanted plugins from the list but i cant.

 

Cura gained its popularity for its simplicity in settings, simple user interface and plugin capability.

Today its cluttered, confusing piece of junk.

 

Went back to Cura 15 again 😞

Edited March 27, 2019 by tonycstech

[Smithy 1,144]

Feel free and use whatever version you are comfortable.

 

But the great thing with current Cura version is, you can use the recommended tab, with only very few settings, so a newcomer can start the software, slice, and print. If the user is more interested in the settings, then he can switch over to the custom tab and search for a setting he is interested in, and change the value.

 

Turning off options or disabling settings is not working. I guess also Cura 15 had defaults but haven't seen it. There must be defaults for a lot of settings, otherwise, you would not be able to print. For example speed settings, if you disable them, what should happen?

 

I understand that you are overwhelmed by the mass of options in Cura, but again, you don't have to use it, leave them with the default values as is and use the recommended tab. All other users are able to print with this setup, so I don't understand why it should not work for you. 

[tonycstech 5]

Have you ever taken car transmission apart and put it together ?

After doing so, driving is not the same anymore. You will have gears rotating in your head imagining the processes inside. You will become what is known as "gear head"

After doing so, modes such as "sport" are nonsense because you know the mechanics.

My problem with recommended settings is exactly the same as "sport" mode.

 

For that reason i hate automatic transmissions. They shift gears when they want, not when you want. Sometimes not even when you expect.

 

Edited March 27, 2019 by tonycstech

[Smithy 1,144]

57 minutes ago, tonycstech said:

My problem with recommended settings is exactly the same as "sport" mode.

I understand what you mean, but therefore you have the custom tab with all the settings.

 

But what you want, to completely disable settings, is like you take apart the car and want to drive with only one gear, because you want to understand this gear first before looking in the next one. Will also not work.

[ahoeben 1,948]

It is more like insisting to be able to drive with wheels without profile, because you don’t want to have the choice between summer- or wintertires.

 

Most settings in Cura intrinsically affect slicing, whether you want to be able to change their value or not. You cannot print without a print speed; there HAS the be a speed. You can hide the setting, but there is still a value.

[tonycstech 5]

1 hour ago, ahoeben said:

It is more like insisting to be able to drive with wheels without profile, because you don’t want to have the choice between summer- or wintertires.

 

Most settings in Cura intrinsically affect slicing, whether you want to be able to change their value or not. You cannot print without a print speed; there HAS the be a speed. You can hide the setting, but there is still a value.

No no no.
You are throwing fundamental print settings into the same pool with tweaks.

Print speed, temperature, infill, support and retraction are fundamental settings.

Everything else are tweaks.

 

It would be great to have those tweaks are plugin files in Cura installation folder so that user can remove unwanted once.

It would also be great (for the lack of above) to be able to disable and create your own category of tweaks VS jumping from one to another.

I would have 5-10 tweak parameters on the screen that would be enough to work with any plastic with any printer any model.

[burtoogle 513]

10 minutes ago, tonycstech said:

I would have 5-10 tweak parameters on the screen that would be enough to work with any plastic with any printer any model.

 

In your dreams!

 

[tonycstech 5]

Aside from build volume and nozzle diameter, fundamental settings for printing would be

1.nozzle temp

2 bed temp

3. layer hieght

4. print speed

5. On OFF Support

6. On OFF Raft/Brim (only use skirt to extrude material before start)

 

Thats it.

Everything else are TWEAKS such as

1. nozzle Temperature changes

2. bed temp changes

3. adaptive layer height

4 .1st layer speed, last layer etc.

5. support types they infill parameters for support

6. Raft/Brim parameters

 

I did not mention retraction because retraction because it could be under tweaks set to 0 for no retraction.

 

With old cura i would not have to google "what does this option mean" when every option was kinda obvious.

Explanation in the menu helps but not giving you any visualization of how it effects the print.

Craftware gives you visual feedback on cnahge you make in slicer before you even slice.

[ahoeben 1,948]

I am sorry, I thought you were asking us how Cura works. 

[DivingDuck 104]

I really don't understand this discussion. This is all there and it was already mentioned twice where to find it. Theses days it seams easy to blame everything without a basic knowledge of the tools they are using. Having a first look in the manual before initializing such a discussion is more helpful. Maybe reading a manual and build up knowledge about a tool is in these days a mater of illness.

 

In attached picture I don't see a lot needed basic entries for a successful print.

1. Choose your printer.

2. Choose your material.

3. Choose your layer hight (aka part of the quality entries).

4. Choose your infill.

5. Choose support if you want.

6. Choose adhesion if you want.

 

That's all a user need for a basic setup and is nothing a user will overcharge. If I want to have more control, I can switch to custom mode and choose first the basic view. It will give additional basic controls and most ( all for basic mode) of the setup entries are well documented as direct tool tip and as well in the manual. I can even dig deeper if this mode do not have all switches I want to use for my print. Simple and easy as long as a user is willing to spend a bit time for understanding the UI.

 

There are other places where such a discussion is really worth to spend some time, like: 

- why Cura isn't able to update existing profiles and tell a user he have corrupted settings with the effect that I need to setup all printer, materials and tunings again with all Cura major updates. This is a quite unusual behavior for all kind of professional software.

- why is Cura saving each manipulated parameter for a print directly as a change for a master setup. This is a time eater especially if there is more than one user using the software and even for a single user this is sometime a painful situation.

There are workarounds to minimize these issues, but they are a wast of time and you need to be aware all the time that you can come in trouble for the next print if you or someone else forgot to be careful using Cura.

 

Anyway, I use different slicers and all have different behaviors a user need to understand. Good slicers have all the same problems: they are more complex in matter of settings if they want to be useful for all kind of use-cases.

 

[tonycstech 5]

The discussion is simple. I want hidden options to be disabled and not influence the toolpath generation.

Just because i cant see something does not mean its not there, it also does not mean it has no effect on my print.

I just want them go away as if they were plugins. You know, delete the plugin, deletes the settings associated.

[tonycstech 5]

Or perhaps someone can give me a preset that has absolutely no tweak to how toolpath is generated and then i can go from there tweaking hand full of changes to make the preset i want.

[ahoeben 1,948]

If you start with a Custom FFF Printer, all settings will be at their defaults. 

[tonycstech 5]

1 hour ago, ahoeben said:

If you start with a Custom FFF Printer, all settings will be at their defaults. 

That created more problems then i thought would be possible.

It generates weird pieces around model.Its like 2 small pillars attached to the side. Why ? Old cura 15 does not do that.

 

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by tonycstech

[DivingDuck 104]

A bit late but do you need really a support setup for this? I had seen this some time ago too. If I remember correct, this behavior came from enabling support in combination with an additional experimental setting. But I can't remember what exact, maybe something with tree support?