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Suggesting a better layer preview


tonycstech

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Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

If model is small, preview all layers as normal (as it used to be)

if model is medium size, preview only X amount of layers at the time, hiding previous layers as you move the slider up.

Same for large models.

Instead what 14.03 does is it hides infill and other stuff that sometimes just make me want to puke (downgraded to 14.01 to avoid that)

Determenation of how many layers to show per model needs to be done by a formula calculating model dimensions (average distance side to side both axis of an object PER OBJECT in the viewport) and its layers.

If layer number is (so much) and total (if multiple objects) average dimention is (so much) then apropriate percentage of (show layers at the same time) is set.

Users should be able to set how much percentage of layers they want to see in the viewport. UI would need to have 1 small input area "View % of layers" or something for quick access to override.

Options to skip those calculations could also take place and allow users to manually chose how many layers to display at the time per selected layer by disabling automatic layer count preview.

 

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    Feel free to build it. As I'm spending my time on other things right now.

    Note that the 14.03 update cause the layerview to work a lot better for mid to low end PCs, and I get a lot of happy reactions because of it.

    And infills are not hidden in the lower layers, they are yellow outlined.

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    "Feel free to build it"

    C'mon daid, no need to get snarky. It was just a suggestion.

    As a workaround for tony I would suggest giving Repetier Host a try to view the generated Gcode. It's a bit of a pain to move between two different programs but you will be able to view the layers in full, in sections or a layer at a time. Personally the thing I miss most in cura is a true top down, non perspective view of single layers at a time.

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    "Feel free to build it"

    C'mon daid, no need to get snarky. It was just a suggestion.

     

    The suggestion was not worded very nice and suggestion like. And more like a command. (with words like puke, needs and should)

    And he polluted another unrelated topic with his disagreement on the updated layerview.

     

    Personally the thing I miss most in cura is a true top down, non perspective view of single layers at a time.

    That is something I'm working on! My GUI rewrite repository has different view modes, including a top-down isometric view.

    The new GUI looks like this: http://i.imgur.com/6hd4ODx.png

    And is horribly incomplete. But it's a rebuild of just about everything, cleaning up a lot of structural code mistakes I made.

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    Daid,

    The new UI looks nice and very polished.

    LOL - "Big and Bold - That's what she said!!!!'

    Is the Cura icon changing to a pink horse/unicorn?

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    Daid,

    The new UI looks nice and very polished.

    LOL - "Big and Bold - That's what she said!!!!'

    Is the Cura icon changing to a pink horse/unicorn?

     

     

    Hello daid when will be available next cura? Good luck in your very good work

     

    The new GUI is a lot of work in progress, it currently does not generate gcode yet. The mockups I have look even better. There is some cool stuff in there.

    (The unicorn is an internal joke ;-) )

    I'm planning to do a maintenance release on the current release first. There are a few bugs that need fixing. As well as a new firmware for an upgrade kit.

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    i said what i thought. i hate sweet talk, it makes me sick because its lies.

    i want the truth to my face instead of back stab with a smile on your face.

    if i dont like somethign, ill tel you. if i hate you, ill tell you and vise versa

    sorry i am not very good at chosing words when i post request.

    i would really like to see change. If no change then atleast options.

    None of those suggestions are in my power so all i gotta do is sit here and wait hoping that someone would find it as "good idea" and implement it

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    >>> As well as a new firmware for an upgrade kit.

    Did you just let something slip? What upgrade kit??!?!?!!?!!!?!!??!!?!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111one

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    Hot candidates are the heated bed and the UM2 electronics for the UM1 and the dual extruder for the UM2, I guess.

    edit: it seems to be the first one after having a look at the Ultimaker Marlin repository.

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    Hey Daid,

    the new GUI looks f*** awesome! Love it. Looking forward to useing that babe. Thumbs up. Keep doing what you do, Daid. You do it right.

    I am really exited about the upgrade kit.

    If we are at suggestions, I have a small one, but a bigger story to tell. A year ago a good friend of mine got married, I printed out this: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:45731

    filled it with rosepetals and the compulsory bank note. The bridal pair loved it! The perfect gift! I did this on my selfbuilt Mendelmax with slic3r and the concentric top bottom fill pattern, which looked awesome. For the next marriage, I used my Ultimaker, made trys with Cura, but the normal infill pattern did not look that nice. So I used slic3r only because of that fill pattern. The print result was not as good as it would have been with Cura and useing it was no comparison to Cura.

    Three more marriages to come this year... Please don´t make me use slic3r again only because of the fill pattern. I would love to use Cura and my UM, good usability, geeting out the perfect results AND the good look of the concentric surface...

    It would be great if this small feature could be integrated. A small step for you a really big one for me. Or perhaps somebody with the programming skills can realise this as a plugin. Did not find a plugin like this. I myself am no programmer. I am good with mechanics, have done a little programming with Arduino, but that´s it. Don´t know how to implement sth. like this.

    Regards,

    Philip

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    You can kind of fake that effect by setting the wall thickness to something really really high. Worth a shot.

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    Hey Daid,

    the new GUI looks f*** awesome! Love it. Looking forward to useing that babe. Thumbs up. Keep doing what you do, Daid. You do it right.

    I am really exited about the upgrade kit.

    If we are at suggestions, I have a small one, but a bigger story to tell. A year ago a good friend of mine got married, I printed out this: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:45731

    filled it with rosepetals and the compulsory bank note. The bridal pair loved it! The perfect gift! I did this on my selfbuilt Mendelmax with slic3r and the concentric top bottom fill pattern, which looked awesome. For the next marriage, I used my Ultimaker, made trys with Cura, but the normal infill pattern did not look that nice. So I used slic3r only because of that fill pattern. The print result was not as good as it would have been with Cura and useing it was no comparison to Cura.

    Three more marriages to come this year... Please don´t make me use slic3r again only because of the fill pattern. I would love to use Cura and my UM, good usability, geeting out the perfect results AND the good look of the concentric surface...

    It would be great if this small feature could be integrated. A small step for you a really big one for me. Or perhaps somebody with the programming skills can realise this as a plugin. Did not find a plugin like this. I myself am no programmer. I am good with mechanics, have done a little programming with Arduino, but that´s it. Don´t know how to implement sth. like this.

    Regards,

    Philip

    Code for the concentric infill is actually in the engine:

    https://github.com/Ultimaker/CuraEngine/blob/master/src/infill.cpp#L6

    But it's never called, as I did not want to add too many settings. With the new GUI I have the possibility to add more configuration options without cluttering the UI. As you can customize which settings you want to see.

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    The 'new' Cura sounds a bit like christmas. Hopefully, we will not have to wait until christmas... :???:

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    @Daid: If I have a thin object in Cura 14.04-RC1, I get a moiré like pattern and some kind of strange partial transparency in normal view mode:

    Thin object in Cura 14.04-RC1

    The thickness of the displayed object is 0.6mm. Cut off is set to 0. Layer view is ok.

    Do you see any chance to improve the situation?

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    @Daid: If I have a thin object in Cura 14.04-RC1, I get a moiré like pattern and some kind of strange partial transparency in normal view mode:

     

    The thickness of the displayed object is 0.6mm. Cut off is set to 0. Layer view is ok.

    Do you see any chance to improve the situation?

    That's Z fighting:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z-fighting

    It's a tricky thing to prevent properly in all cases. The blue checkerboard is actually drawn a bit higher to prevent Z-fighting with the platform model.

    As for the new UI, I think a very early beta is a few weeks out. I have tons of stuff to do. The screenshot I showed just allowed me to load objects. And I made the objects drag-able today.

    No slicing, no view-modes, settings are not saved yet. Pretty much nothing that you see actually works :-)

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    You can kind of fake that effect by setting the wall thickness to something really really high. Worth a shot.

    Great idea, gave it a shot and put in 10. Looks very good. For the first layer it works. Only for the top layer it does not. Will try it as soon as I can occupy the kitchen for a night. Everywhere else in this appartement my UM1 is too loud, running at night... Although I have done sth. for noise reduction.

    Code for the concentric infill is actually in the engine:

    https://github.com/Ultimaker/CuraEngine/blob/master/src/infill.cpp#L6

    But it's never called, as I did not want to add too many settings. With the new GUI I have the possibility to add more configuration options without cluttering the UI. As you can customize which settings you want to see.

    Thanks Daid. So it´s already there, but I cannot call it. Interesting, that these 14 short lines are able to do this... Only possibility to use it at the moment would be to write a small plugin, call that function and hand over the variables... Have to get more knowledge how plugins work and how to implement them. Can´t be that difficult. Although I have never written sth. in Python...

    I like the idea of a configurable UI. The expert mode is great for not irritating beginners, but uncomfortable if you use it every day. And you are right it is growing bigger and bigger from version to version. For me Cura is growing with my abilities, which is good. But you have to know which settings are where and what they will influence. Cura is way more intuitive, than slic3er ever was. Had to search for settings in slicer often, although I knew they existed. No intuitive way to find them. This would be great in the new Cura, an intuitive way to find the parameters.

    With customizable GUI, I think you are doing exactly this. Sounds like there will be one window where you can decide which parameters to show and than you will have all the parameters for e.g. retraction in one place. Also the comments for each parameter are great for learning Cura.

    The 'new' Cura sounds a bit like christmas. Hopefully, we will not have to wait until christmas... :???:

    I prefer having Christmas at least twice per year :-D

     

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    Posted · Suggesting a better layer preview

    I prefer having Christmas at least twice per year :grin:

     

    Reminds me of this:

    :-P

     

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