Ultimaker Cura 5.1 beta

[ArunC 24]

The Ultimaker Cura 5.1 beta has arrived, and it builds upon the changes made in 5.0 to bring exciting improvements to owners of Ultimaker printers, like simplified metal FFF printing and increased surface quality. As well as brand new advancements like faster prints when using support materials as well as a streamlined slicing experience.  

 

New metal FFF features enable metal printing

 

Alongside the launch of the Metal Expansion Kit, Ultimaker Cura 5.1 has enabled new metal printing capabilities. The following slicing features can be used alongside the Ultrafuse® 17-4 PH, Ultrafuse® 316L, and Ultrafuse® Support Layer* materials by BASF Forward AM:

 

• DD print core support*. Support for the new DD 0.4 print core, a new print core made for handling the Ultrafuse® Support Layer material. 
• Automatic shrinkage plate feature. When using a compatible Ultrafuse® metal material profile, a shrinkage plate will automatically be created that prevents your part from deforming during the debinding and sintering process. 
• Automatic support interface feature. When using the Ultrafuse® Support Layer material, an interface layer will automatically be created between the object and the metal supports as well as between the model and the automatic shrinkage plate. This slicing strategy is specific for metal printing and ensures that the part will be well-supported and that the supports can be easily removed after sintering.

*Currently only available in Europe. The Ultimaker Metal Expansion Kit is sold without the BASF Forward AM Ultrafuse® Support Layer and Ultimaker Print Core DD 0.4 at a lower MSRP in other territories (including North America)

Along with these improvements, metal printing is also aided by the following improvements to the Ultrafuse® 17-4 PH and Ultrafuse® 316L print profiles that were previously released in Ultimaker Cura version 5.0:

 

• Automatic scaling. Your part is automatically scaled to compensate for shrinkage that takes place during the debinding and sintering process. Users 
• Alternate wall directions. The direction of walls is alternated to prevent distortions during the debinding and sintering process.
• New slicing engine. The new slicing engine reduces internal gaps in your part that can lead to line delamination and cracks during debinding and sintering, as well as allowing for the printing of thinner walls and finer details than was previously possible when printing with metal materials. 

Combined, these allow for a complete metal FFF solution that’s more reliable and simpler than ever. Enabling affordable and effective printing of stainless steel parts.

If you want to find out more about these new features, as well as the Metal Expansion Kit, watch our recent metal FFF roundtable webinar.   You can also watch our Ultimaker Academy course on metal FFF printing.

 

Better surface quality with increased segment resolution 

 

In our never-ending quest to help you get the best-looking prints possible, we have massively increased the segment resolution of your prints when using Ultimaker S-line printers. Meaning that when printing models with smooth curves like spheres, cones, and cylinders. As well as more complex models made up of many organic shapes, up to twice as many individual segments will be printed. The result is noticeably improved surface quality. This was achieved by implementing a new resolution algorithm, as well as the removal of unnecessary jerk and acceleration from travel commands within gcode. The removal of these redundant commands resulted in reduced printer vibrations, as well as gcode files that are up to 20% smaller.

 

When judging surface quality improvements, the biggest differences can be seen when comparing against Ultimaker Cura 4.13. This is because the foundation of these improvements was made in both Ultimaker Cura 5.0 and S-line firmware version 7.0.3, with print profile tweaks and changes that were made to reduce buffer underrun, respectively. 

Note: This feature requires you to be using firmware version 7.0.3 or above on your Ultimaker printer. Download the latest firmware version to make sure your printer is fully compatible.  

 

Faster printing when using support materials

 

We have improved both the speed and quality of supports printed with the Ultimaker PVA and Ultimaker Breakaway support materials. Resulting in faster prints, more reliable support structures, and improved surface quality on the part of your print that is being supported. Support structures printed with the Ultimaker PVA support material will also dissolve more quickly, reducing the time it takes to remove supports after printing. Print times when using these new support structures can be as much as 20% faster. 

These improvements have come from a variety of tweaks but the most significant are that when printing with these profiles, supports will now be printed using a zig-zag pattern instead of the previous triangle pattern. The outer wall around the supports has also been removed and the density of supports has been increased. 

 

 

 

Streamlined slicing process

 

Following extensive user testing, we have modified the slicing process for materials that use intent profiles to make it as intuitive and straightforward as possible. We have now separated out the decision of which intent profile and layer height you want to use into two separate and easy to understand choices. In addition, a tooltip has been added that will notify you when settings have been adjusted. The settings which have been adjusted can then be identified by going to custom mode where they will be highlighted in yellow.

 

 

Included in the available intent profile options is a new custom profile, which allows you to create and save an easy-to-access profile that is tailored to your requirements. This not only increases the control you have over your print settings, but it also allows users and organizations that share printers to offer recommended and approved profiles.

 

Material profiles are now included in 3MF project files

 

3MF project files now contain material profiles, making it easier for you to collaborate with other users while using any of 250+ materials available in the Ultimaker Marketplace. When loading up a 3MF file containing one of these material profiles, you will be prompted to download and install any missing profiles.

 

Additional improvements 

 

The following improvements have also been implemented in the Ultimaker Cura 5.1 beta:

• Material profiles for new upcoming Tough PLA colors (blue, yellow, and gray).
• Numerous bugfixes including security fixes and an issue with monotonic ordering that prevented it applying to the topmost surface layer of prints. A full list of bugfixes can be found here.

 

Download the Ultimaker Cura 5.1 beta now 

 

Let us know what you think of this new engine and show us your results here in the comments below, you can report your bugs on GitHub!

 

 

[3Dexperimenter 0]

Has the issue of the program not showing up in Windows if Cura 5 is installed in a standard (non administrator) account?

[Carla_Birch 116]

Trying to upload prints via cloud from Cura gives me the following error:

 

Uploading via "Print over network" works just fine still.

 

Update: the error seems to have gone away now.

Edited July 7, 2022 by Carla_Birch

[ahoeben 1,948]

As always with a new version of Cura, the Sidebar GUI plugin needs to be updated. I don't have a lot of time to test it myself right now, so it would be nice if some of you could install and test this prerelease:

https://github.com/fieldOfView/Cura-SidebarGUIPlugin/releases/tag/v4.4.0-DEV

 

Download the SidebarGUIPlugin_v4.4.0-DEV_Cura5.0.curapackage, and drop the resulting file onto the buildplate in Cura as it you were opening a 3d model.

 

(note to self: fix packager so it is clearer that the release is for 5.0 and up)

[GregValiant 1,251]

Thank you for taking the time.  I'm used to it being loaded and when it isn't then I have to spend time looking around for commands.

[Dreamz 0]

I wasn't entirely sure where to post this, but it is directly related to Cura 5.1 Beta;

 

Has anybody else noticed the "Horizontal Expantion" and "Initial Layer Horizontal Expantion" are swapped with each other? That has just taken me a while to figure out what on earth was going on (and a fair bit of filament in testing).

 

For testing if you set "Initial Layer Horizontal Expantion" to -1, it does nothing to the first layer size, but will make your prints very skinny indeed! Alternatively you can set "Horizontal Expantion" to 0, and "Initial Layer Horizontal Expantion" to 1 and watch your whole print becoime fat, and not the first layer as it is supposed to be intended to do.

 

Anyway, it would be wonderful if you could swap these value settings back to their correct counterpart please!

[GregValiant 1,251]

This has been written up on GitHub and the Cura team has taken note.

[enriquep 0]

On 7/12/2022 at 5:29 PM, Dreamz said:

I wasn't entirely sure where to post this, but it is directly related to Cura 5.1 Beta;

 

Has anybody else noticed the "Horizontal Expantion" and "Initial Layer Horizontal Expantion" are swapped with each other? That has just taken me a while to figure out what on earth was going on (and a fair bit of filament in testing).

 

For testing if you set "Initial Layer Horizontal Expantion" to -1, it does nothing to the first layer size, but will make your prints very skinny indeed! Alternatively you can set "Horizontal Expantion" to 0, and "Initial Layer Horizontal Expantion" to 1 and watch your whole print becoime fat, and not the first layer as it is supposed to be intended to do.

 

Anyway, it would be wonderful if you could swap these value settings back to their correct counterpart please!

In 5.1.0 beta +304 "Horizontal expansion" is actually "Initial layer Horizontal Expansion" and "Initial layer Horizontal Expansion" affects everything except the first layer.

Edited July 16, 2022 by enriquep