I recently purchased my UM2 after owning 2 reprap, so I also made the move from Slic3r and Skeinforge to Cura.
As I’m sure for any one who’s done the change I’m pretty dissapointed by the limited options.
Understandably they want to keep it as user friendly as possible but I miss my honeycomb unfill, skip every x layer infill, wipe and so on…
Disappointingly S3D don’t offer any trials, so has anyone bought it? How are you finding it?
It’s still early days for the software but it’s certainly looking promising!
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The guys at @So_Make_It may be able to help?
Not at this time sorry to say! We’re familier with Cura/Skeinforge etc but most of us are fairly in love with Slic3r (which has most of those features you miss)
We have however mailed Simplify3D to see if we might be able to give it a try. It looks nice and easy to use at a glance so could be perfect for us and our members/guests who are new to 3D printing.
I also emailed them but unfortunately they refused to provide me with a trial version.
I got the impression that S3D was more tailored to advanced users.
I love Cura - but I bought S3D a few weeks ago as the models that I was being asked to print were more complicated.
I mainly started to use it because I wanted to control where the zscar went and it can do that.
But i also now use ti a lot to control temp at the beginning and alter as I go through the print - and to have different profiles for different objects that I have on the plat - which can have completely different settings (layer heights/temps etc.)
I think you can use it to do different layer heights on differernt parts of the smae print - but have not needed to do that yet so have not.
Slices fast - good toolpath preview.
Infill types are rectilinear and concentric - but you can anjust the angles.
Support is very interactive - like it alot.
I am using it as my main slicer to force me use the features - but Cura is v close behind.
Daft thing is speeds are in mm/minute!
Some good youtube videos on features.
James
Haven’t tried it neither yet… thx for the insight @James_2.
@ProdPoint curious what you find
Ah still no honeycomb infill then but guess it shouldn’t be long until they bring it in.
How do you compare the interactivity of the support with Meshmixer?
Have you seen any difference in terms of the quality of code generated? (bugs, details…)
Pricing module also seems pretty smart.
I would also love to see a live gcode tracker along with the toolpath preview.
Thanks for your feedback!
I like support with Meshmixer a lot (I don’t use Slic3r support feature anymore). S3D also refused to provide me with a trial =(
Still looking forward to try a better slicer tool…
I’ve been using S3D for a few months now and really like it. Especially in comparisson to MakerBot Desktop / MakerWare.
I’ve written a small comparisson review about it on my website. Read it here.
After I wrote that I’ve been using it a lot with the Leapfrog Creatr I’m reviewing at the moment and I will be testing it even further when the Creatr HS arrives in the coming weeks.
A short list of pros and cons so far:
Pros (so far)
- A lot of clearly organized options - most of the options have a tooltip explaining what they do
- Very fast - even extremely high-poly ZBrush models I made sliced in seconds at very small layer heights
- The ability to create multiple “processes” and assign them to different models is very nice, especially when doing dual extrusion prints
- Interactive, custom placable support material is the killer feature for me, especially the ability to generate them automatically but having the flexibility to delete unwanted supports (in small holes or unreachable places).
- Being able to change extruder and bed temperatures on layer basis. I found out that heating the bed is sometimes nice to get PLA to stick on the first layers, but after that I just switch the heater off. Saves a lot of electricity too.
- Setting criteria for speed reduction on based on print time per layer
- Easily safe custom profiles for processes
Cons (so far)
- Somehow the interface of the Mac version acts weird on mouse input. Sometimes buttons are sticky, so when I click a button to increase a setting it sometimes stays clicked and increases the setting more than I wanted. Zooming is the same: it’s almost impossible to use a the scrolling on my trackpad or magic mouse. I yet have to e-mail them about this, maybe it’s Mavericks related.
- The Machine Control panel is clear but not very intuitive in my opinion. The buttons are layed out in steps of 10x - 0,1mm / 1mm / 10mm / 100mm - and I find the step between 10 and 100 to big. For manual extrusion for example, 10 isn’t doing a lot and 100 extrudes for second. Steps of 25 or 50 in the middle would make me very happy.
- Setting pre-heat temperatures for two extruders works fine but the dropdown interface for this is a bit counter-intuitive, because it says “extruders” for the temperature bu you have to set them seperately. Would have been a bit easier if they just made multiple fields: extruder 1 temp + extruder 2 temp.
- It let’s you change speed and height for the very first layer, but it doesn’t seem to be possible to change the layer height for the first few layers of a model. This would be handy when printing something at very small layer heights.
- Personally I like my speeds in mm/s instead of mm/min but there’s no preference setting for this.
- It has no purge wall / wiper wall function which could be handy when doing multi color prints with dual extruders
Overall I like S3D a lot. The slicing speed and custom support feature made it worth the money for me. And since paid software from a company that only makes this software, I see a lot of things fixed in each version (updates are free) and expect it to go from good to great soon!
I don’t know if you use 3D printing for personal or business purposes, but from a business point of view the price is very low in my opinion. That said I still don’t understand why they don’t offer a trial version or a demo to let users test the interface and speed.
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Thanks for the comment, very informative, also read your article and it seems like I will make the move to S3D.
Zbrush :0, I’m a Sw user but just started to learn Z mainly for 3d printing, pretty exited! 
May I ask why you chose Z and not another poly modeller?
I’m a C4D user and I’m also learning ZBrush mainly for 3D modeling! Check my very first model here - made with the DynaMesh feature.
I tried the sculpting features in C4D (they’re adding new features in the upcoming R16 release) but we only have a license for the Broadcast version and the sculpting features are only included in the Studio version of which the upgrade alone would cost €1500+. So that’s a no-go price-wise, although I like C4D’s user interface.
I also tried Autodesk MudBox and though the UI is better than that of ZBrush the options seem a little more limited to me.
Actually I think the UI of ZBrush is the worst thing I’ve ever encountered since using a computer! I still have the shortcuts printed out for reference. But… after watching hours of tutorials (and there are a lot good ones on the ZBrush site itself) I’ve come to realize that ZBrush offers the most natural way of sculpting and has many, many features. I’ve been experimenting with DynaMesh and Z-Spheres and you can really create great things with them quickly - once you get past the incredibly steep learning curve of the interface.
And ZBrush is fairly priced in my opinion.
Same, I contacted S3D to see if they had a trial version and they said no. I used MeshMixer to create very conservative supports, since ReplicatorG produced supports that were extreme in use of material and print time. However ReplicatorG is choking on the object created with MeshMixer supports. It seems, as near as I can decipher, ReplicatorG/java ran out of memory to complete the slicing.
TomOH
13
I bought S3D a few weeks ago and it works fine, the settings for PLA, ABS are fine and produce good results (fewer failures than with the Makerbot software). It has some cool options for support definition, a nice preview and works just fine for me.
Their product “support” is pathetic, probably because they are a small 6 people show. Even after purchasing it took several nasty e-mails until they finally (manually…) sent me the link to access the software on their download page.
Now, today the problems started… the software suddenly stated “too many activations”?? I am only using it on my PC or on the notebook attached to my printer, then the software only started to show a pop-up to log on to the account but did not recognize credentials any more. No problem, there is a “reset my password” function… Well yes, “problem” as that does not do anything (and no, my email server is 100% under my control, there is not even an attempt from their side to send anything). No problem, there is a support e-mail, let’s try that… Well yes, “problem” as that comes back as “account unknown”… Obviously, there is no phone number to call and last resort, an e-mail to Joey Kramer and James Wagner (seem to be employed there). Of course with the same result - nothing. No print for me today I guess…
If you can live with the most pathetic support and a software that decides on its on when and when not to work, go for it and throw your money out of the window. I feel bad having spent that much money for a functionally cool, but from a support and working standpoint ridiculous/useless product.
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rvjr
14
I just wanted to add my two cents: the software itself is good and in my view also better than the freeware alternatives I’ve used. BUT: somehow the licensing implementation has a bug such that on my computer the program thinks it is starting on a new machine every time I launch it. So it stopped working after two startups; then I could delete the newly created licensed devices via my online account a few more times, and then that was it. Simplify3D does not launch anymore, and I wrote to their support many times. No reaction since a week now, and there is no phone number.
The fact that it needs an internet connection to run is also a pita, but if need be that’s something I could still accept.
Anyway, right now I have a 140USD software refusing to run on my legally licensed computer and it keeps me from printing parts. I will now have to go back to the freeware tools I used to work with about a year ago.
I don’t want say S3D is a bad software. I used to like it a lot. But you should consider carefully for yourself if you want to buy it under these circumstances.
I was intending to purchase it (at my risk), but looking at the comments - I won’t.
Support (after all) is 50% of the worth of the product - buying something that may be buggy, knowing you’ll get zero help is not a game I like playing - it shows that the developer either doesn’t have faith in his own product or, has unreasonable high-expectations.
If HE doesn’t have faith (or has unprofessional, high-expectations) - I won’t take the required leap.
Red
Perfectly agree. I’m getting into things with a FlashForge Pro, and was researching the software to use, but after all the bad reviews on support that I’ve been reading via multiple sites, I’m looking for an alternative. Any suggestions based on the device?
TomOH
17
Steve, I think the software would be good for you. I have the FF Pro as well and Simplify3D works just fine. I did not need their support in over a year now, so even though their “support” is useless, realistically you will most likely not need to reach out to them anyhow.
Their license issues seem to be fixed as well and you can now do online resets of issued licenses.
