Cura 4.6.1 not showing support structure in preview

[chrisbrown500 0]

I am not sure what changed, but since I updated to 4.6.1, I cannot see the support structure in  preview mode. I have it on layers. The Generate Support box is checked. I even set the angle to 10 degrees (the part is at an angle that needs support).  The adjustments all add build time, but it doesn't show in the model. Is this a glitch, or is there a new adjustment that has been added that I need to change?

 

Thanks

[gr5 2,069]

So you got it on layers but then you can edit which colors and there are checkboxes - support is grouped into the "helper" group.  Make sure "helper" is checked.

[burtoogle 509]

There was a recent change that made support render slightly transparent so maybe your graphics hw/sw has some problem with reduced alpha and just doesn't show anything?

 

[LMQbiggestfan95 0]

I have the same problem, but I do not know where the 'helper' setting is. I have looked everywhere, yet have not found it.

[gr5 2,069]

Make sure "helpers" is checked as shown here:

[LMQbiggestfan95 0]

I have done that, but it isnt working either. It says it is non-manifold, which i am working to fix in blender, could that be the problem?

[gr5 2,069]

yes.  Most likely.  Blender is one of only 3 cad programs (of 100s that are fine) I know of that will let you easily create non-manifold parts.  Also it often messes up the normals.  Here's how to fix the normals:

 

Quote

I went into edit mode with the object in Blender 2.83 and pressed "a" which selects all faces / vertices / edges, depending on what select mode you are in. The entire object should be highlighted. I then went to "Mesh" (see images), went to the "Normals" section, and selected "Recalculate Outside". This probably will not fix any edges that are not merged, but it will fix the faces that are inverted on the object. 

 

Also you can get visual hints about possible non-manifold issues in "xray view".  In PREPARE mode go to "view type" and change from "layer view" to "xray".

 

Also Cura has an amazing plugin to test your model to see if something is wrong with it and can repair a very few of the many potential problems:
In the upper right corner of Cura click "marketplace" and make sure you are on the "plugins" tab and install "Mesh Tools".  Then restart Cura.  Now right click on your model, choose "mesh tools" and first choose
"check mesh", then "fix model normals" and "fix simple holes" to see if that helps.  Cura doesn't fix most issues so...

netfabb free repair service is here (you have to create a free account first):
https://service.netfabb.com/login.php

[LMQbiggestfan95 0]

Ok, I have it all figured out, it is now manifold and I slightly altered it to where it doesn't need supports. But, in preview, it is not showing my whole model. Is this going to be a problem while printing?

[gr5 2,069]

yes!

[gr5 2,069]

So parts are just slightly too thin.  You could try a few things:

Try checking "print thin lines" and see if that helps.

Maybe try lowering the line width.  If your nozzle is 0.4mm you can lie a bit and set line width to 0.35 or even 0.3mm and the quality won't go down much.

Maybe use a smaller nozzle to get those thin walls (0.25mm or 0.3mm).

You can thicken the walls slightly in cad.  Just those that aren't printing.

 

[camerony3 0]

I was experiencing the same issue where I could not get the custom supports to appear in "preview", but I think that I may have discovered where the bug lies.  My workaround was to temporarily turn on supports and make sure that the "Support Placement" drop-down was set to "Everywhere" and then I turned off supports.  After that I was able to create my custom supports and see them in "Preview".   I should mention that before this I was only able to see custom supports that actually touched the build plate because that was the setting I had in the dropdown.

[ahoeben 1,848]

The Support Placement setting should not affect Support Mesh ("custom support") models in any way. It only affects supports that are automatically created ("Supports enabled").